In awe

The day has been normal. Couple things: The guy who needed pacing for the Shenandoah run declined my help.

I was excited for a night run and it will be challenging as I have checked the weather and nigh time temperature…It is not something I would do for ‘fun’. The night can drop to near freezing 35 F and day time can rise to 70 F (sweating temp for running). I did a test run last weekend and I know. Plus there will be some rain at night. Not good.

Distance wise too, I was kind of stuck with all my friends being away for the long holiday, so if I do it, there is no one to pick me up after the run and I have to run back to the car. I am looking at 50-60 miles run in less than ideal situation.

It would be on the mountain, which mean I get less support in term of food and water etc. There are creeks and couple way sides (places to buy food), however, most of the route is remote! It is a stress on the logistics if without a friend to refuel you at key places. I was not worry on the way out, since the dude has his support team and I could ‘borrow’ them, but on the return trip, I would be by myself and I would be screwed if I messed up (like out of food/water/twisted my ankle etc).

Lastly and most important is I am the pacer, which mean I manage the clock. As I know when I am racing, clock management is a lot of work. I would have to know precisely where I am at and fast and far to go. It is like solving dozen equations in your head all the time. That the reason people have pacer toward the end of the race when fatigue sets in. I think I am up to the task, but that is a heavy of responsibility! It means I need to totally familiar with the trail (a lot of map studying). I actually started doing it yesterday and already was solving equations ahead, even while sleeping. I could write more about this…It is because our time system of using base 60 is a pain in the butt. You constantly have to convert the time between hour to minute to do the calculation!

I was both disappointed in being declined for the help but at the same time relieved.

Good luck to the man and his team.

He did get me started to plan for my own one day running through the entire Shenandoah on the Applachian Trail. It is 107-110 miles. So I already have a bit of work done.

I forgot what is the second thing I want to write about…probably not as important. I will leave that to another post.

Basically my weekend is free. When is our long weekend? Is it next week?