I went into this race knowing that I was severely undertrained. I signed up the Wapack and Back 22 mile a while ago. It’s always good to keep a race on the calendar to give you motivation to get out there. But I haven’t really been running much over the winter and especially have not gotten good long runs in. On top of that, I had done next to none of it on trails. So I did a training “run” in the Fells the week before just to see what that felt like. It was bad. My calves and quads hurt just from 13 miles on only moderate terrain.
So given all that, I guess I should be pleased that I made it through the race. I went in using my poles very explicitly to make sure I kept it easy. I started feeling crampy already before the halfway point. The good news is that I was never that taxed cardiovascularly and definitely could have pushed it a bit more. But every time I tried to go faster, my legs started to seize up just a little bit.
The volunteers and the aid stations were amazing as they tend to be at TARC races. The race was not supposed to have food at all, so I had all sorts of gummies, a stroopwaffel, and even an emergency Clif bar. But I definitely scarfed down a good number of those guacamole and bacon tortillas. Mmmm…maybe a little bit spicy for a race, but oh so good.
Photo Credits: Cody Cutler
