's 5 am when he shot out of the WS100, even it is night when a small bunch of 400 riders started to attack directly without heating the slopes of the ski resort of Squaw Valley, the output rate is slow and nobody wants to pull too hard in one of the few hills in this race, so we got together a group with Roes, Anton, Hall and I to set the pace.
The sun is out and I take the second lead to turn around to look for the last time the sunrise behind Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada region of California has some incredible colors waking, ocher, red, green mix to let the hot day we expected.
starts down and every time we met more runners, to be a group of ten to arrive at Duncan Canyon, there begins a small hill where we are already ahead Anton, Roes and me. After traverse some snow we clapas Robinson Flat, where he began a long downhill - flat, I'm surprised and do not stop at the aid stations for a second Roes and especially Anton, keep a steady pace, to get control, they fill the bottles (one for cooling and another for drinking) and continue without stopping to eat or drink, the truth is that you learn a lot running alongside two experts in 100 miles!
Last Chance After reaching the canyons, two slides about 200-300m slope with steep slopes, and this is where I decide to make a change of pace, accustomed to racing here, where is a constant exchange rate (ups, downs, flat, technical, walking ...) American races are more good catch and keep a steady pace, which after a few hours begins to be mentally dull and boring. I run in the downhill and Anton follows me a hundred meters, while Roes stays behind, following its rhythm. As stores at the end of the climb, I stop to eat and drink a little and get Anton, non-stop! I go out with him and we ran together until mile 80.
meantime, we Foresthill, where we expect our Pacers, in my case Rickey Gates, an excellent runner Mountain (4 th in Sierre Zinal 09) It's getting very, very hot , temperatures should be around 43 º and threw water over us, the ice cubes under the cap does not seem sufficient. We 4, Anton continues his pace, always with the same step short but super efficient, and pacer, Rickey and I, who at this time is comfortable to continue this pace and I have cartridges for the end zone after a long ... of llanea the sun, we reached the crossing of the river, where this year, lots of water, the organization has decided to boats to cross. We take a boat to the 4 and the other side we hit the water to cool. started a gentle climb along a track to reach the supplies. Come along, and I start to feel cramps in the legs, is the first time I have been a cramp and truth is that the pain is not very nice ... When you get the fueling, I stretch to cool and drink. Anton continues without stopping, is impressive.
There I still have the other Pacer, Jorge Pacheco, a huge Mexican broker based in Los Angeles for some time, winning, among others, 2 times the Badwater. Start running, I feel good, but the legs will not obey, to lengthen their stride, the ramps again, blocking the quadriceps, and I leave the leg as a bat, the twin crashes and I can flex the foot, y. .. down! We stopped a few times, Jorge me to try to stretch the muscles relax, but by stretching one antagonist enrampa up to pee ... I adductor enrampan! Roes pass in between us and the Pacer as a shot! They put an impressive sprint! we follow a few meters up the legs we return to our site. We stopped at an aid station 20 minutes for massager, eat, drink, salt, sodium, potassium ... to see if it happens, but to which I return to pick up the pace, returning the ramps, and land ... Lucky that is Jorge encouraging to me and saying that it is not much (only 15 miles!) to get, that gives me the strength to not throw in the towel, to keep going, to get Aubrun.
So we at a slow speed that allows the legs without enramparse until 2 miles to the arrival, we go like a rocket Nick Clark and his Pacer, try to follow on the rise, well, at least I can keep up pace with the enramparme plain without, but the plains are a hundred yards. Jorge goes crazy cheering, not to scream: You can, are there, you have more strength, reach! and Jorge, for trying, will be achieved. The ramps appear, but as asphalt, you can still safely within a mile of the arrival follow the 4 side by side, giving our best.
At 800 meters from the finish, accelerated the pace a bit, going to 17 km / h Nick stays a few meters .. 10, 20, 30 ... 40 ... a sprint over to catch a few yards ahead and get to the stadium with a "little" security. The last lap I do enjoy this race, this result has been a last 20 miles very, very hard, no doubt, the toughest 20 miles of my life. And to get to the stadium Aubrun satisfaction is high.
Roes won pulverizing the old record of Jurek Scoot carrerón has done and is very regular and doing some last 40 miles as lightning, In UTMB certainly going to be in front!
Upon arrival onto the ground, and after a blood test, doctors warn me of my race sodium levels. Although many, and I at times we thought we would the miles of the bill would Transpirenaica which were not those, but the temperatures that were. We have learned that few come to run in the U.S. you have to train in heat, and Alps Piris or not hot ... unless you look for a sauna with a stationary bike! and 20km without water at 20 ° are not the same as 20km at 40 degrees ... after learning a lot from the way of running Roes and especially Anton, I hope to recover well from this race and apply, and some at UTMB this year, and sure, the next year, with a preparation for the WAS ...
From time to recover, Road and Manta. I leave today for San Francisco to catch a plane in 15 days in Denver ... by the way are Yosemite, Whitney, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Moab, Boulder ... but no plans to follow ... I hope to get the plane to fly to the Olla de Núria!
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