Yesterday and today were on a local hill, Tinto. It’s not the biggest hill but it has steep sections that makes it ideal to practice ascending and descending. Going up and down twice is a good workout and repeating it two days in a row means you’re working on tired legs. The second ascent today was particularly tough and it made me think about the challenge ahead.
Tahoe has to be completed in 100 hours which doesn’t seem like a long time when you actually look at the route. The “sleep stations” mean I’ll be sleeping during daylight rather than at night - 3 hours max. Sunset is at 9pm and sunrise at 8am so I’ll be covering a lot of miles in the dark which will be challenging. I could sleep rough but the bears in the woods might put me off that strategy.
The plan so far is to take two 30 minute breaks and a 3 hour sleep every day - that’s moving 20hours a day for 4 days! Depending on how I adapt to the condions, heat, altitude, fatigue the plan may need to be altered during the race but you need a structure to work around. My wife will be meeting me at the check points after the first 63 miles where there is no contact allowed due to restricted access roads/trails. Check points can be 20 miles apart so one of the challenges is carrying enough water and water is heavy!
Navigation will be a real challenge as regular readers of the blog know I could get lost in a car park! I’m going to get some map reading instruction and will be checking out the use of GPS but then you need a power supply. My drop bag strategy will be important so lots to do in the coming weeks.
But back to Tinto. As my heart rate raced and I was short of breath wanting to take a break today, I thought about the conditions I’ll be facing in Tahoe. Man up was the message so I did. More miles, hills and planning to be done thanks for all your support it makes it easier.
