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I like to geek out while having real experiences. I maintain an extensive GPS database from my hikes, bikes, runs, and skis dating back to 2008. Feel free to follow the georss feed, explore the map above or download the GPS tracks below.
| Distance: | 31.89 km |
| Track time: | 5:37:07 |
| Wall time: | 5:37:07 |
I had a bit of a rough day leading to my 2nd ever DNF. I felt OK at the start and the weather was great, but man, this course was pretty unforgiving. It started with an 1100 meter climb up relatively easy footing, but then transitioned into another 600 meters of climbing over more challenging terrain (rocky, rooty, sporadic downed logs to climb over). The summit of Toad Mountain was amazing, with 360 degree views from Nelson to Whitewater to a whole range of other mountains that I've never seen despite living here for years. So you get to the summit and think "it's all down hill from here", but really the decent was almost as hard. The trail is *steep* and alternates between jagged rocks that you have to slowly pick your way down and dusty choss chutes lower on the mountain. The descent was also punctuated by little punchy climbs every couple kilometers, just to make sure it wasn't easy. (Toad Mountain, in fact, actually consists of three additional sub-summits, each of which you have to climb and descend). By the time I started coming down Goldmember and Lucky Charms, each of the little climbs going slower and slower, and finishing the race with another 700 meters of climbing up Fairly High seemed unfathomable. Knowing that I could get a ride back from Giveout, I was pretty set on stopping ASAP. Training a bit more probably would have helped. It also *really* didn't help that I had to run on my road running shoes (long story that leave me pretty pissed at The North Face). If there were any course for road running shoes, this was not it. Maybe with a bit more motivation or on a different day I could have pulled it off, but today it was not to be.
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