TALES FROM THE TRAIL (AND SOMETIMES THE ROAD TOO)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Way Past the Fact

Having posted an Old Goat 50 link in my last entry, I just read through it myself.  And I must say that the Old Goat report did not relay everything that I would have wanted, had I waited before writing it.  I think it might be better to let more time pass before making a race report.  Way past the fact, two things that seemed minor at the time, ALWAYS come to mind when I think of Old Goat 50, and I didn’t include them in my report.   

First, when I passed that Holy Jim aid station more than a year ago, before the eight mile uphill climb to the peak, I pretty quickly became ill.  I could barely walk, felt like collapsing, was near delirium.  No lie.  There were some hikers up ahead that I managed to pass.  For a while, I only kept a few feet ahead of them as one of the men struck a conversation with me.  He learned from our chat what I was doing, that I was at approximately mile 31 in my quest.  He could tell that I was sick and possibly getting sicker.  He chuckled questioningly, perhaps nervously, and said these words to me:  “And you do this for fun?”

On that same climb, about three miles later, I came upon another hiker.  He was hiking down Holy Jim as I struggled my way up it.  I thought he was a running friend Scott B.  He looked just like him, and I had seen him earlier that day at the eleven mile aid station.  I thought it odd that I’d see him again, here at mile 34.  Still, I didn’t question whether I was talking to Scott when I said to him, “I don’t know if I can go on much longer.”  He in return answered, “Keep going til you cry uncle.”  You can imagine my confusion when I saw Scott again at the Santiago Peak aid station (mile 39).  It was the real Scott this time.  The man, if there really was a man, on Holy Jim, was not the “real” Scott. 

I find it amusing to see what memories stick with me.

Well to the point of today!  I did get in a run.  I didn’t want to go out hard, as Nanny Goat is just days away.  And, I have been cross-training too, so I am quite fatigued.  Today on the 101st day of my fitness streak, I ran 10.75 miles along Arroyo Trabuco trail.  A lovely run, with few obstacles, except for blasted rocks that want to take me down (but didn’t!).  You might recall, my last big fall was on this very trail.  But not today.  NOT TODAY!

Miles logged:  10.75

No comments:

Post a Comment