Update and Tahoe Rim Trail 100

 Did I go to Alaska? Man, that feels like forever ago.

As soon as I got back, I got to work on the house in Reno that Amy and I bought. We closed before Alaska but the sellers needed a short rentback. As soon as we saw the house empty I realized there was a bunch of work to do. We painted the whole interior, we had an electrician put GFIs on every circuit and improve wiring, had HVAC people do their thing, and then of course after we painted and moved into the new place and spent too much time cleaning the rental we were moving out of, the electrician did more work requiring drywall repair and repainting. At least we know the paint color--Swiss Coffee! 

The most stressful thing was installing a new exterior front door. God, so stressful. I would trade a lot of stats knowledge for just a little carpentry skills. The new door closes well and is plumb and level and square and true, but I put pressure treated lumber under it instead of a PVC sill, and the latch side reveal is a little wider than I'd like, but it's probably actually fine but it will probably bug me until the end of time if I let it. Oh and this all cost several thousand dollars, of course.

Then I ran the Tahoe Rim Trail 100. Did I mention that between Alaska and major house projects I barely ran at all in the month since Scout Mountain 100?

The TRT 100 has never really been on my radar because I am a High Sierra snob, and because the course has always been somewhat repetitive. My first real experience in the Sierra was the PCT, and as a northbound thru-hiker, the Tahoe area is clearly less spectacular than the High Sierra. Then in 2009 I did my own route through the Sierra starting at Kennedy Meadows and doing Roper's Sierra High Route, parts of the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail, and then the eastern side of the Tahoe Rim Trail, the TRT honestly felt like a sad, boring, waterless joke compared to the western side of Tahoe (Desolation Wilderness), let alone the High Sierra.

Since living in Reno, however, the TRT has become my training ground and site of local races. Even better, it was free, since I volunteered last year. I was on the waitlist for Hardrock the week prior, but I didn't think I'd get in, so I never really made serious plans for it. (In the end I was first on the final waitlist, which is perfect. No money, time, nor rare opportunities wasted.)

The weather in the valley was hot, but under 100, so better than last year. I drove down to Carson City the afternoon before to check in, and fortunately bought an ice bandana available for sale there, but unfortunately dropped my wallet in the parking lot and had to turn around and drive back. My good friends Yuch and Megan also texted me saying they were at their hotel, to which I responded, "Wait, are you running this?!" I'd completely forgotten.

The 5am start in Carson was early enough that it was cool, and I chatted with Megan for much of the climb.

 

I felt good through 40 miles, dreaming of a 30, or even 28 hour finish. I looked at my phone for a minute and learned that my friend Yoshiko Jo had passed away. This was of course very sad, but because of an illness not completely unexpected, and I remembered her amazing endurance and happy love of running to get me through low moments of the race. 

As usual, however, I slowed down a lot after 40 miles. I made a consistent effort to try and maintain fueling. I had some Hüma energy gels with me and in my drop bags, and found their lower viscosity to be much more palatable than Gu gels. Also one of the major aid stations had rice balls that I knew would go down almost no matter how lousy my stomach got. Everything stayed down the front end, but unfortunately it availed itself of the other rapid exit method, and I had to poop about a dozen times during the race. I was carrying my backcountry bidet (a Gu energy gel soft flask filled with water) so I was always able to clean up, but the chafing got bad at times and slowed me down considerably.

I did luck out in that the potentially hottest climb of the day was instead under clouds and even a bit rainy. By the time night came I was very sleepy-tired. I had gotten a decent, but fitful night of sleep the night before, and a 3:30 wakeup is never fun. For some dumb reason I took 400mg of caffeine all at once around 11pm rather than 200mg twice spread out, which I think would have had a better effect. I started taking Imodium, which helped somewhat with the pooping, and I realized I should just carry it in my kit (note to self for my next race!)

The course was indeed loopy (as was my mind later in the night) but you visit two aid stations four times each, and they were relatively well-stocked (one had disgusting straight veggie broth, one had incredible Knorr veggie soup, the other had the rice balls and is staffed by fellow Striders from Reno), and most of the loopiness was once in daylight, once in the dark, so it didn't feel that obnoxious. It didn't hurt that there were amazing views of Marlette Lake and Lake Tahoe. 

 

With the sun fully up again, I started the last 15+ miles and the final descent back from the mountains to Carson City. This section is a new trail (the Capital to Tahoe trail), but it's designed for mountain bikes and a pretty miserable experience as a runner in the heat of the day. Damn is it circuitous. So circuitous. Long lazy meandering switchbacks through a burned-and-starting-to-get-brushy area. Not a fan. 

I finished in 31:45. Not sub-30, but at least in the last mile I passed some folks who had passed me on the aforementioned lousy descent. 56th out of 112 finishers. Literally the median runner, which is what I typically say I am, so I guess, you know, as expected, and 100+ mile race #34 is over and done, and I'm glad I did it. 

P.S. Ice bandanas are excellent, you should use one.