What a great start today! We are staying a second night here at Nova Guides or Camp Hale. Normally bags need to packed by 7 am and breakfast is from 6 to 7 so alarms and tent zippers seem to start at 5 am for some reason. So even if you were confident in your packing speed there was never sleeping much past 5 am. Today I don't think anyone moved til 6 am, it was so nice. We were probably only a couple degrees short of scraping frost off our tents so long underwear and sub zero run tops are in order for sleeping and breaky. Our relaxed morning though provided a window of 6:30 to 7:15 to crawl back into your sleeping bag. Timing was perfect as the sun came over the mountain it instantly became warm enough to handle heading to start line for a little dynamic warm up and race check in, in your run gear without freezing solid. It was an almost typical TR day, very similar to day 2 up over Hope Pass. Even with the knowledge of another very steep climb knowing it was only 14 miles, mentally made going into this day and through this stage much easier. So we headed out on a 2 mile "warm up"' before hitting the trail and going straight up from just around 9000'ft to 11500 ft in just a few short miles. It was the second of 2 days during this week that I consider poles a must. Once we reached the top and ran across the ridge the climb seemed worth it. 360 degree look at the world or at least what the people around here consider some of the most beautiful mountain ranges you'll see in CO. After sightseeing along the ridge for a couple of miles we headed down for about 4 miles that was better then an amusement park ride. Single track trails that gave me the same kind of rush as a nice mtn bike descent. We also had multiple stream crossings and about a 1/2 mile where we actually had to run down the river in the river, flowing at shin to knee height. It ended up being our best result day but even outside of that, in terms of pure enjoyment it was a peak day for that. In the tiny town of red cliff where we finished there doesnt seem to be to much but it has everything a racer needs. The therapeutic icey river for the legs and a bar/ restaurant right at the finish line that has become very highly regarded by TR staff and racers every year. So following a brief interaction with the real world during a momentary contact with wifi we hit the river and then joined the whole race, literally, for an amazing lunch. I have now hit 4 days straight of burger/fries and beer as my post race mid afternoon snack. The afternoon was great back at camp where a shower, massage and chatting with some New Yorkers brought us to dinner and the nightly awards and next day prep banquet. We only have 2 days to go BUt they make up about 43 miles with day 6 being considered the hardest day of the week. I know in 08 I talked more of the amazing event staff then this year. It's not because it has changed, when you meet people here and talk about experiences thus far they all mention the same things, a few of the most common points include:

The staff look like they are having the best time themselves even as they work all day long for the runners.

Shuttles going back and forth all the time for the convenience of the athletes is amazing For the terrain and amount of movement from to day with new start/finish lines and newly constructed tent cities everyday i cant believe nothing ever goes wrong.

The best description I have heard is Club Med Run Camp.

We headed out and in the first mile we knew it was going to be an even stronger day for us. It was a long 24 mile day, or so it was suppose to be. We had a really tough 2 mile climb that brought us up to 11000 feet but after that we knew it was a nice rolling course with awesome single track. At 7 miles we really started to push the pace and before we knew it we were passing runners we have never been up with before. We were definitely going to have our best finish by far. That was until 18 miles. Then it finally happened, surprised it took this long but one and half races at TR and I finally got lost. We blew by the turn and put on an additional 3 miles in total. It hurt, the sails lost there wind for a few minutes after going hard with good success for 11 miles. We pulled ourselves together and tried to finish with the same pace and enthusiasm we had earlier, I think we did. It was another stage finish that drops you out off the trail onto an exposed road for a grueling ~3 plus miles. Today you could see the finish for the whole 4 miles which made it even worse. Life here is good, a mini town of tents, trailers and canopies are set up everywhere. Runners and staff scattered everywhere, working, relaxing and socializing. As hard as this is it probably provides the best mental break anyone here could have. We have 2 nights here this year so that's nice for runners and staff to not have to pack up again first thing tomorrow morning. It a straight up straight down day tomorrow, tough on the legs. We'll evaluate the altitude effects on the big climb and see if we can' t continue adapting and getting stronger with each day.

First big day, opened up with 20 miles, flat by TR standards outside of a 1 mile jaunt up that brought us to 9000 feet. It was HOT! Day 1 is hard when you are not sure who you better not follow and not knowing just what toll the altitude will take. Often running it would feel like everytime you took a breath someone would tighten the belt one notch tighter. The worst part today was probably a 3 mile stretch of road that was dead straight and about3 or 4 % . It was exposed and the distraction of beautiful trails was gone. We battled down that last stretch probably never cracking the 8 min/mile. In the end it was definitely a good day 1, truth will be known on the start line tomorrow, we raced well enough for a 3 hr finish for the 20 miles and 6 th place in the open division. Following a few high fives and lots of recovery food and drink we soaked our legs in the icey Arkansas River, what I think is key to my recovery from day to day in 08 TR. We shuttled back to camp where we entered thru the "tour de TR" motorhomes and rental trucks all parked for the night. Our bags were neatly piled and in order for us to grab and make a home in tent city. Cold tubs and massage were set up at the campground as well. It continues it's first class support that I remember in 08.