Survived the Trudge

Laura B. coming up on the Fence line Climb about 5 miles in

I just got back from the Trudge and my next stop is the shower then bed.  This year was by far the hardest of my four trudges.  My time today: 4:09.  Yep, nearly 45 minutes slower than last year and nearly 2 hours slower than 4 years ago.  Most of the course was covered in knee to waist deep snow.  On several occasions, I sank so deep in the snow that I couldn't pull my leg out and I had to resort to crawling out on my hands and knees.  When I made it to the top of the last hill to what I had hoped would be a somewhat runnable downhill mile to the finish, I came face to face with 25-40 mph head winds that I had to lean in to just to stay upright, so I trudged on.  I was relieved to see the cars that marked the finish line in the distance.  I crossed the line, shook Alec's hand and took the dixie cup of liquid that was handed to me.  It took me several seconds after drinking it to realize that it was whiskey and not Gatorade.  I stumbled to the car and got in, so glad to escape the punishing wind. Wow, that was hard.  I haven't finished a race feeling that wiped out in a long time.  Sam, Jen, (who won the men's and women's 11-mile) and Cherilyn had all finished earlier and Laura came in just a few minutes after me.  They all piled in the car and we joked and laughed about the difficulty of the day and severity of the conditions.  Brian came running in before long and climbed in too.  We all struggled to pull off icy gators and wet socks, then said good bye to Sam and Jen and drove back to the warmer climes of Colorado.  While out on the trail today, I seriously questioned my desire to ever go back and do this again.  Trudge #5 in 2013??? I'll let you know tomorrow.

Going to the Trudge

Tomorrow morning I'm heading up to Laramie, Wyoming for my 4th Twin Mountain Trudge.  This is a unique, entry fee-less race put on by Alec Muthig that requires racers to complete one or two 11 mile loops around the Twin Mountains in the snow without snowshoes.  The difficulty of this race varies significantly each year depending on snow conditions and weather.  I have always chosen the one loop option and my times for the past 3 years look like this:

2009:       2:17:30
2010:       2:27:24
2011:       3:26:41

Last year the snow was shin to knee deep the whole way and the last couple miles were directly in to cold blowing snow.  According to Alec's updates, tomorrow's race could be the toughest yet.  Here's the warning he sent yesterday:

A final note on the 2012 Trudge… The snow is deep and covered with a crust
that will make it extra challenging.  In addition, for various reasons the
race is going to be even more on an adventure this year … There will be NO
AID ON THE ROUTE, NO BAILOUT, NO RESCUE (apart from calling in Albany
County Search and Rescue – expensive for you).  Even more than in previous
years, you will need to be fully self-contained.  If you are not sure that
you can posthole for three, four, or more hours, then this race is not for
you.

If you are confident, then I’ll see you Saturday morning!

Alec

PS ---- Remember your required gear!!!

Required gear includes, food, water, lots of warm clothes, a whistle, an emergency blanket, and something with which to start a fire.  It is going to be fun.