So as I sit here 72+ hours post-race, I want to get some thoughts down before I lose them.
First, Trevor is great. I can't name a single other friend I could've done this race with. He struggled badly early, but was a champ by the end of the week. And like I said before, even when he was hurting, he was still a bull - pushing through the pain the best he could to cover as much ground as possible. Thank you for all your hard work this week, man. Of course, thanks also for being a great friend. I dare say we made people laugh everywhere we went and we had a great time doing so. The company was awesome all week long; til next time.
Second, thanks to my wife, my mom, my sister, Scott, Joe, Sean, Brandon, Steve, a couple of Andys and Trevor Mills. You guys have always been great sources of support and encouragement, and there's no way I would've attempted something like this if it wasn't for the commitment you all have made to me over the last 18 years. I'm so blessed to have people who believe in me, push me, inspire me, and love me. So blessed.
Ok, enough with the sappy stuff, let's talk about what I would do differently if I were to do this again.
As far as gear, I would definitely get some shorts that have lots of side or back pockets. Trevor and I both agreed having a Nathan Quickdraw bottle was the best of the four (naked, relying on aid stations; hand-held bottle; fuel belt; Camelbak) hydration options we had each day. But the bottle had little storage area, making carrying the mandatory gear (gloves, hat, jacket, blanket) a little cumbersome. We eventually got it to where I slid the blanket (very small) into the interstitial space between the bottle and the holder on the Nathan, put the poncho in the wasteband of my shorts, put the hat (thin cycling beanie) in my gloves, and clipped the gloves together, tucking one of them in the waistband, opposite the poncho. And when I wore my Adidas (ah-dee-dahs, trust me) shorts with a decent sized back pocket, I could stash 3 gels and a half-dozen salt tablets back there easily. I was good to go, but it took us until Stage 5 to figure this out.
I would definitely bring every small bag I have. The duffel bag TRR gives you is the balls - don't get me wrong. But it's HUGE. And having electronics, food, dirty clothes, clean clothes, racing clothes, hanging out clothes, 4 pairs of shoes, hydration products, mandatory gear, safety pins, toiletries, massage sticks, an air mattress and pump, pillow, sunglasses, race bible, and a headlamp made navigating the duffel very difficult. I had a total of 4 bags in there (race gear, small stuff, food, dirty clothes) but I could've used 3 more.
I would bring more medicine. My biggest complaint of this race, which probably cost us some time, was the medical staff. They would pop blisters and work on my ankle tendonitis, but they had no pain-killers, no anti-nausea meds, basically no over the counter drugs. I put my knee into a tree on Stage 5 and really needed some NSAIDs. "Ask around" said the medic. What? Blood is running down my leg and my knee is the size of a grapefuit, and you want me to ask around? Come on. Also, in the mornings, when we all had to leave at the same time, the line to be treated was 20 people deep. Not everyone got seen by the 2 medics on staff. In the afternoons it was fine as we all trickled in at different times, but not the mornings. I did self-treatment Friday morning on Stage 6, and I know that cost us some time as I had to have my foot wounds properly dressed at Check Point 2. So that kinda sucked.
I would friggin train harder. This summer was rough for hard-core training with an insane project at work, moving, and spending 10 days in New England. Also accumulating only 32 miles in March and April combined really set me back. My body was pretty pissed off after 70 miles in 4 days, and we still had 50 to go in the next 2. I definitely needed to introduce a harder training stimulus prior to this event. Having my feet swell and my ankle tendonitis return mid-race was an unwelcome surprise. I'm not sure how many more miles I would've introduced, but doing some hard, long downhill running would definitely be in the plans if I did it again. The uphills were a relative breeze compared to the smashing and bashing on the steep downhills, of which there were plenty.
I'd get a different partner. Man that chump was dead weight.
I'd bring less food. Breakfasts were awesome, dinners were better, and in the afternoon, I just didn't feel like eating much. I'd have beef jerky or a protein bar, but the finish lines were pretty well stocked with bananas, oranges, CHIPS!, PB&J sammies, pretzels, trail mix, etc etc. Much of our food went uneaten and we just had more to lug around all the time.
Things that went well that I highly recommend:
Get a inflatable mattress. At Camp Hale especially, the ground is cold and lumpy, so being inflated up off the ground was awesome. Yeah, it took up some space and was some work to pump up every night, but it was really worth it.
Bring Gatorade mix, any vitamins you're into, and your protein-dense recovery food. There was plenty of fruit, simple carbs, and salty snacks, but not much in the way of quality vegetable or animal proteins post-race.
Make sure you have business cards, a phone, or a notebook and pen to get information from people. The people, from volunteers to employees to racers to spectators, are absolutely fantastic. They come from every corner of the globe, have had awesome adventures, possess uplifting attitudes, and are worth remembering. Rebecca and Ben, Red and Fern (obviously), Cynthia from GORE, the Hound Dogs, Amy and Sabrina, Nic from Idaho, Martin from France, Ed from Canada, and on and on, there were amazing people around you at all times.
As nice as the people are, bring ear plugs and maybe an eye cover for the evenings. Some people are here to race and some people are here to...have fun. At night it's nice to be able to tune everything out and catch some Zs (on your mattress).
Don't miss dinner at night. The photos and videos were laughter-inducing and really well done. Plus the attention to route-planning and marking was really evident, and you got to appreciate the hard work of the crew. Dinners were some of my favorite memories, and not just because Gourmet Cowboy's food was damn good.
I don't have a lot of caffeine in my life, but even in my training for 3 weeks leading up to the race, I abstained. Great decision. Each time I had a gel, which was 3-4 times each stage, I felt the physical boost and mental clarity that compound delivers. I highly recommend coming off it before the race. Also on the physical side, coming in 2-3 pounds heavy was a good decision that played out exactly how I thought it would. I was at peak race weight by the end of the week; had I started at peak weight I would've been underweight by Stage 5, which would not have been good.
So where am I now? Well, like I said, 72 hours later, I'm still jacked up. I'm currently sporting 6 Band-Aids, 4 on my 4 small toes on my right foot holding toenails on or covering horrible blisters and 2 on my left side, 1 on a toe covering a blood blister and one on my heel. My feet will heal, they're the least of my worries. My right ankle, which was showing signs of tendonitis just like the left one, is already about 90% healed. My left knee, which went into a tree at high speed with 2 miles left in Stage 5 (you have no idea how much I wish this didn't happen...it changed the whole next day for me) is still bruised and scabbed and swollen, but overall it feels ok. It's better than it was on Friday already. What's troubling me is the tendonitis in my left anterior tiabilis tendon. It hurts a good 6" up my shin, which is pretty high compared to how bad it got in the spring when I was sidelined for 2 months. It also makes this weird grinding / creaking feeling when I rotate my foot up. My foot, btw, is swollen, for reasons I don't know but may be related to the bee that stung me at mile 4 on Stage 2 and I never got the stinger out. It's still itchy around where the bastard got me. Also the trauma of everything around it is probably aggravating the daylights out of it. I feel pretty good in the morning but by the evening everything is pretty achy. I'm hoping to be on a bike next week; this week is a punt all around for training. It's totally fine with me; I missed my family and am happy to goof off with them as much as possible. Running sounds nice, but it can wait a little longer.
Would I do it again? In a Boston minute I would. I knew as much after day 1. The people, the scenery, the break from work, the food, but mostly...the challenge. This thing was no joke. I wanted to quit on 3 of the stages - that's when you know you're pushing your limits, and trees in the knee aside, it's good to find your boundaries, your real limits, in this remote-control-everyone-gets-a-trophy life. Their slogan is "Find out what's inside...outside." and they absolutely made you do that. And I loved every minute of it. Thanks, Gore-Tex TransRockies Run, you put on one hell of a race. But for now I think I'll heal up and prepare as best I can for the Bay State Marathon in Lowell, MA on October 16. As always, I'm not one to rest.
Finally, we'll always have Stage 5 : )
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