Big Horn 30k

So, before arriving in Dayton Wyoming, we set out for Jackson, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone. It was sweet, except it rained quite a bit. So, we missed the tops of the tetons (clouds) and we were almost dry when we saw old faithful blow (right about on time of course). Luckily though most of the stuff at Yellowstone is on the ground, so cloud cover wasn't a big deal. All the bubbling springs and gurgling caves are pretty dang cool. I'm quite certain that the area will blow up soon, after seeing it first hand. Also - we visited the park on like thursday, and then heard on the radio that a family from Michigan lost their mom after she stepped over the guard rail to take a photo, and fell off of a 500 foot drop off. Common smarts might have come into play there, but I'm not sure. All in all, the road trip was sweet, and that neat little digital camera that holds almost 300 pictures, was useless because we forgot the battery for it. Oh well.

The wild and scenic Big horn trail run is a challenging race, no matter what distance you do. (you can choose 100 mile, 50 mile, 50k or 30k.) Laurie and I choose the 30k, thinking it might be the easy way out. Well, it was still pretty dang tough. The start was at about 7400 feet, and the end was at about 4000 feet, so if you do that math, there's alot of descending. Some rollers before the drop off, but once you get to the drop off, hang on and if you have the balls, you will go fast, but this was some uneven moose trails that were very technical (bad footing). I was with the 2 leaders, (that turned out to be local guys, who probably train on the course) (big advantage) throught the first half where there were some big climbs, but when the down hill started they were like bowling balls going down that thing. I was out of control, and had to bag it, because I wasn't prepared mentally or physically to handle that kind of pace right there. I was thinking to myself, I'm never coming back to this one as I was suffering down that hill, trying to race it. I was wondering how Laurie would handle it, but she did great finishing in under 3 1/2 hours.

So I ended up 3rd overall. Some Bend Oregon friends of ours also kicked ass, w/ Jeff taking 1st in the 100miler (new course record), and Sean and Chris taking 1st and 7th in the 50 miler, respectively. I have not been this sore after a race for a long time, and it's because of the down hill. Well, I think I'll stick to the gentle Bend trails which are like freeways compared to big horn.

So, now what? With my 3rd 'reverse blood doping' (RBD) session yesterday, I'm feeling OK I guess. The day of the RBD, I become super tired afterward, but seem to recover good the next day. And I was able to compete at Big Horn after 2 RBDs, so who knows what the future will bring.

I continue to be a little bummed about the whole blood letting but I have to say I'm am glad I figured this disease out now, instead of when I'm 60, with a ferritin of 8000, a rusty liver that doesn't work and a bunch of other health problems.

word out.