Snowman 24 Part 7: Race Day 4
Starting Line day 4 (finish line day 3)
It was very cold the morning of the fourth day of racing. Honestly, I think it was the hardest day to get out of my sleeping bag and pack up my kit. Regardless, I was headed out of the tent a few minutes before 5:00 am just like the preceding days. This camp was also the highest of the camps in regards to altitude. At 16,200’ above sea level it posed the greatest risk for altitude sickness. I wasn’t sick but it was the first time on the trip that I didn’t have much of an appetite. With a bit of self talk I convinced myself to eat a piece of toast with two eggs, and chased that with some hot electrolytes. Not long after I joined a really fun warm up dance party which lasted until we were called to the starting line.
Course Marking. Yak Head with pink flagging.
I am not really sure what got in to me, but when the whistle blew and we all started to run, I felt like running hard. And that is what I did. I ran at a pace that didn’t make sense. It was too fast to be the start of the 4th day of a 5 day race, it was too fast for the miles that lay ahead, but it was just right for what something deep inside me wanted. The pace put me out front, of everyone. It was faster than the Sangay, Tashi, or Leki. It was faster than Cody. It also felt really good. Cody did tuck in right with me and together we ran the 8 miles alongside the river. We covered the distance efficiently and it felt great. Also, remember that we were running at 16,000’! After a little over 8 miles of running the route abruptly climbed away from the river and towards a high pass. The shift in pace was so wild as we very soon found ourselves grinding out a 40% grade for 1000’ vertical feet. Here Tashi and Sangay caught up, and Cody also moved ahead. Pascal also got in the mix which was super fun.
My shadow next to Cody’s, Pascal climbing up to us.
We crossed a high pass and then ran through a beautiful high basin. I was still within sight of Cody ahead and Pascal closing behind me. Another pass, and the highest pass of the day brought some breath taking views, literally breathtaking, and the chance to mix things up with a descent. The descent was short and it was at the beginning of this descent that Cody turned and said “I am not sure how long this will last but I am feeling good and am going to go”, that was the last time I saw him until camp. Pascal caught me shortly after and for a bit we ran together. We greeted the military checkpoint together but when I stopped to chug some water from the checkpoint he made a move and went. I tried to catch back up but he was feeling good and opened up a gap pretty quickly.
The pass just before I dropped in to my darkest section of the race.
On the pass I paused to offer gratitude to the mountains for continued safe passage and then started down the very steep descent towards the river. This section would be the hardest section and lowest point of the entire race for me. I am not sure what happened, but as I descended my legs felt so clunky, my knees started hurt, my attitude plummetted. I struggled to find flow and was moving so slowly. This descent is so steep, it follows a creek bed and the path of the water down for over 3,000’ at grades exceeding 45%. The footing is wet rocks ranging from baseball size to basketball and some even bigger. Where it wasn’t rocky it was muddy, or full of roots. I struggled. To add to my foul mood, Pema caught up and blew past me like I was standing still. To be fair I wasn’t moving much faster than standing but damn, it showed how much of the struggle bus I was on. Despite my floundering I kept some version of forward motion hoping that down by the river I could somehow tap into its energy and turn things around. When I did get to the river I continued to feel heavy legs for a while, but eventually I started to feel a little better. I kept eating and drinking knowing that it would eventually feel better or at least I would get to the end of the stage.
Along the river is one of the most beautiful hot springs I have ever seen. I was really looking forward to getting there and had decided that I was going to take 10 minutes when I got there to get in. As I got close to where I thought they were the trail started to climb away from the river, which felt wrong. I couldn’t tell from my watch if it was the wrong way, it looked fine, so I continued. A few minutes later Pascal and Pema came running at me certain that they had gone the wrong way. I pulled out my phone and saw that some distance behind me there was a split in the trail that we had all missed, the good news though, was that the trail we were on paralleled it and in less than a half mile it would rejoin it. So rather than backtracking I convinced them to continue with me forward. Not long after we dropped to the river just a few hundred meters downstream of the hot springs. The deviation though took the motivation away to soak, so I grabbed a cup of hot water (he didn’t have cold water) from a very nice gentleman, and then shifted gears for the longest climb of the day.
Once again Pascal put in a gap, and Pema and I went back and forth for about 30 minutes. She eventually stopped to get something from her pack and I pulled ahead. This particular climb, of nearly 4000’ in just over 3.5 miles, was hard, but did feel much better than the previously discussed descent. I was able to find a good groove of steady power hiking with small bursts of running mixed in. As I neared the top I caught a glimpse of Pascal ahead and no-one close behind. I was very happy to cross the pass at the top of the climb, and enjoyed the novelty of having to pass a horse train as I started the last short descent to camp. It was a huge relief to cross the finish a few minutes later.
After some snacks, tea, and a quick hot shower, I spent the rest of the afternoon wrapped up in my sleeping bag on a rug a few feet from the finish line surrounded by my friends. We sat there so we could rest some, eat snacks, and be right there when our other friends arrived a the finish. It was one of the highlights of the event for me to be sitting there in the post hard effort glow, giggling at silly jokes and relived difficulties of the day with truly remarkable humans. As darkness arrived in the little valley Arafat arrived at the finish line proving how strong and capable he is and an evening of celebration and more laughing followed. After a wonderful dinner we once again quickly found our way to our tents and sleeping bags and were quickly greeted with the reward of deep sleep that only comes after hard effort.
Hanging at the finish line with friends, featuring Cody and Rosanna.