Perspective is such an essential part of keeping mental balance and not missing out on special moments. Without even having to discuss it I think it's safe to assume Marc and I came to the TR with the same competitive ambitions. We realized in the first couple of days that difficult altitude acclimatization was going to change this and there's nothing either one of us could do about it. In 08 I saw many teams self destruct by mid week because 1 partner was firing on all cylinders and the other was not for any one of a zillion reasons that can nail you in an event like this. Would this week have been any more fun if we got on the podium once or twice? Absolutely not, would it have been an absolute disaster if we got at each other through frustration? Absolutely! By end of day 2 we parked the disappointment and truly just ran for the enjoyment of pushing and testing ourselves out in some of the most beautiful and difficult terrain. Keeping the best parts of this race in mind, we enjoyed our afternoons of icey rivers, beers, burgers and meeting athletes from all over the world. As we were finishing our last few miles of 24 today and running like we were neck and neck with someone in the home stretch I actually asked my self why are we still running like this? It was as hard as we could go for the state we were in. Even with the difficulties we had this week I knew I had the right partner still. Who else would still make sure there's nothing left at the finish line and be be loving what he is doing enough to do it purely on internal passion and not race times or podium finishes.