The beautiful finisher's belt buckle of Rocky Raccoon, with the lone star of Texas prominent in its design.
Believe it or not, aside from the Three Days at the Fair last year (that was a looped 72 hour course), this would actually be my first flat 100 mile course I will ever undertake. With Vermont, Leadville, Wasatch, and Western States finishes and an attempt of Burning River (yeah, that race is deceptively hilly), this is a true flat course.
I'm not sure how my body would respond.
Plus my training hasn't really gone as planned. The winter really took care of that. I've had some real horrible long runs leading up to this, cut short by the cold.
I'm much better in the heat than in the cold.
So, how will I perform in a mid-winter race that is totally flat? I don't know.
My goal is to get under 24 hours. I think that's still attainable. Will it happen? Well, we shall see.
Whatever time I finish, I will be qualified for Western States again, so that is a plus.
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Thoughts from the Farther Side
Most of the people that I'll be romming with at Chamonix, France at UTMB have already purchased airline tickets. I'm waiting until after the Texas trip before I purchase mine.
Chamonix is beautiful in pictures. It's probably much better up close and personal also!
One of the cheapest flights right now is IcelandAir, with a stop through Reykjavik. When I was looking at airfare prices, when I plugged in my itinerary, a pop-up box appeared asking me whether to make a day trip of the change-over there.
I find it quite intriguing!
I'm not sure if I'll ever be in Iceland, especially since I'm adverse to this cold, but they do have hot springs there, and I'm sure it would hit the spot after a race like UTMB to soak in those springs over there.
Wow, this looks surreal. Maybe I'll go to Iceland on the way back from Europe.
It's an option I'll definitely weigh.
I'm most likely be partnering up with Karen B. She's a fantastic person; it'll be good to jet around Europe with her. I think she's receptive to this Iceland thing also.
Any way, there will be more on the trip after I'm done with Texas. One race at a time, right? :-)
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