Adventures in Onionism

It's been too long since this happened, so the report will be quick. I ran a couple races and watched the sun disappear. In August I drove up to Portland, dropped George off with a friend, and continued on up to Washington. It was hot, there was smoke in the air, and the hotels in Packwood, WA were all out of rooms. They mostly looked like meth dens, so I wasn't too disappointed; I was only looking for a room because it was so hot. Thankfully, it cooled off, and thankfully I had an umbrella, which I used in the heat of the day to run through the Mount Saint Helens blast zone at the beginning of the Bigfoot 200. Johnson Ridge Observatory in the Wrong Direction The first night was OK, I slept for about an hour. Apparently this section has great views, but having covered it all at night, I didn't enjoy it much and kept wondering when on Earth I'd get to the Norway "Pass" aid station. Second Morning: Less Haze All day two (Saturday) was unevent...

Some general thoughts on running 200: You probably want to use caffeine wisely. I don't what "wisely" means other than to say "to your advantage," but I think that cutting back before the race would be good, then not using it until you need it during the race is likely beneficial, because then you'll notice its stimulating effects more. I didn't take any until Sunday evening, and then I definitely noticed its effects. I think not drinking Coke at aid stations for the first day and a half makes sense. You probably want to go with maximal shoes. The pounding in my feet, especially on some of the paved sections, or the rocky sections, got so bad that I would stop and stand still and could my pulse in my feet, and the pain radiating up through my entire body, like the pain from a horrible roadwalk on a thru-hike. I started with a fairly new pair of Lone Peak 2.0s, which have a pretty substantial amount of padding, but I think their somewhat boxy fit doesn...