It was a wacky day. With much worse weather I raced the first half 3min slower than last year (fine yo), and that was 26th place vs. 10th. Then from there I worked my way up, passing women all day until I finished in 13th.

Like a couple of races this year, I’ve been feeling conflicted. Is it a place I’m happy with, no not really. Is it a time I’m happy with, no not really.

But I think I’ve come to peace with this one now. Based on the last month or so, I think I placed correctly. Correctly as in what I deserved. Not because I didn’t put everything into training or optimizing everything I knew how or anything like that, I did all those things. But correctly for my maturity at the moment.

I raced super well at Grossglockner at the end of July, finishing with the win, course record, and 4th overall, slowly chasing down 1st-3rd men while eating 90+g carb/hour. And then the last month.. I put in a bit too much. Any one thing is ok, but all together turns into an issue. Coming back to training quickly, sauna, life stress. This ended up with a depressed heart rate and fatigue. I thought it was from stress but I think it was more than that. Some days off helped a little bit but I think I cope with stress by doing more and that isn’t the mature approach. Doing less is often the way out. And that’s the maturity I’m continuing to work on.

There are a few things during the race that I lightly kicking myself for, like eating ~68-70g carb/hour for 13 hours instead of the 90g I’ve been hitting recently. Totally my own doing. And I have some learnings about how to do my nutrition a bit better to avoid this in the future (the short of it is: if I pack extra I eat less because it’s not in my head as a necessity to finish what I have.. so pack the amount I have to eat, and then eat it)

And there are also a few things I congratulate myself for, like running the un-steep uphills in the second half. Last year I couldn’t run the 5km of 4-6% grade out of Vallorcine, this year I could, and did. And digging really deep. If I’d eaten more it probably wouldn’t have felt like as much digging, but I was proud of how I put my head down and kept working.

I also am grateful to be forced to reckon with not being satisfied. And realizing that I spend so so much of my life pushing forward. It’s really hard for me to exist in any moment.

I’m grateful to all my friends for the congratulations on the race. You’re all totally right, 13th in the world is amazing. I just know I can do so much more. But I also want to stop and listen, stop and learn, to be, and to hear, and to be in the now with the gratitude.

One thing I was so so in awe of, and still am, is that my body could keep going, keep running, keep working that hard for that long. Total awe. That’s why I love 100km. It’s such a game of make and not quite break. What a wonderful puzzle.

So here’s to recovery, to gratitude, to eating, to chilling, to friends, to the community, to existence. Quietly working to appreciate it all.

1. The women’s field in CCC last year, by all accounts, including the live commentators, was the most stacked field of the UTMB World Finals weekend.

2. Top of the first climb is ~1400m d+ at ~9km into the race.

3. The head of the men’s field gets to the top all together, separated by single seconds. For example the top 10 men passed to top of the climb within 30seconds of each other. (Eli 1st to Drew 10th)

4. The head of the women’s field gets to the top separated by much larger chunks of time. Yngvild had a lead of over a minute over 2nd place Blandine & 3rd Anna, then Toni 20 seconds back, then another 10 seconds to Martyna, and another 10 sec to Tabor in 6th etc. A spread of 5minutes for the top ten. (Yngvild 1st to Lotti 10th)

5. If these gaps were due to the women’s field being less competitive than the men’s, then the gaps to the winning times at the finish line would be larger compared to the men. However the opposite is true, the men’s winner Francesco won by over 7minutes. The women’s winner Martyna edged out Sylvia in 2nd by 18 seconds…

6. The rest of the top of the podium followed the same pattern. Here is a list of the gaps to 1st place on the men’s side:
   2nd - 7min, 3rd - 10min, 4th - 20min, 5th - 23min, 6th - 25min.
   Here is the list of the gaps to 1st place on the women’s side:
   2nd - 0.2min, 3rd - 2min, 4h - 11.5min, 5th - 18.5min, 6th - 20min.

7. And the women’s race takes over an hour and a half longer, which means the gaps to the winner time being smaller on the women’s side is even more significant!

8. These finish times being tighter than the men’s confirms that the women’s field at CCC was stacked.

So, what I’m hypothesizing is, the reason the women’s field had such sizable gaps between podium places at the top of the first climb, is because of the way the race is started. We all stand on a mixed gender start line, which is nice EXCEPT, it also means that the head of the women’s race is placed within the traffic of the men’s race. Which makes it impossible to race, until the field clears out. Which, when one thinks about it, is kind of wild. What other sport runs one “equally important race” inside of another?

A rebuttal could be, “well it’s fair, all the women are in the same situation”. Except that it’s not. If you happen to be stuck further back in a train of men there’s not much you can do about it until the race opens up, and if a competitor happened to be in front of the train they have a massive advantage. Also, it creates a totally different race dynamic. It’s not actually racing, it’s running and at some point seeing where you’re at, if you happen to see another woman, at some point.

There have been a rare few races where I’ve somehow run off the line with a pack of women and this experience is absolutely incredible. It actually feels like racing. Running as a pack, pulling each-other along, working together. It’s incredible.

The more and more I think about this, the more I lean towards the concept of having a separate elite women’s start at large competitive events. We’re either racing a real race, or we’re not, and right now we’re doing something in-between.

This may sound intimidating, but it really wasn’t. There was literally no pressure. My task was to go out and learn. To race longer than I’d ever raced before. To eat well. To keep cool. And see where that got me.

It got me 7th. In a time of 12:16:10 which was INSANE. Top 10 in the most stacked 100km in the world. I also ate super well, around 80-90g carb/hour. I paced well. I sustained a harder effort than I’ve ever raced at, for longer than I thought was possible, fueled by memories of all the really hard race moments I’ve pushed through and I then I went beyond.

I set myself into the perfect spot on the first climb. I ran controlled but smooth along the long contouring balcony section of northern Italy. Pushed down any panic at how tired I was a half way, with the quiet statement “I can hike up anything”, and that’s what the main climbs are after Champex Lac. And I held it together, slowly working up through the field as I went.

My trouble now is, I’m going back and racing again this year. And at first pass, thinking back to last year, I raced really well. What can I try to do better this time??

And that’s even after I separate myself from the results. Which is a necessity. (At least for me.) I have zero control over anyone else, or how their days are, or how hard people go out, or how strong they are, or where they’re at. If I start comparing to last year for my position in the race, this gets me NOWHERE.

I also learned at Broken Arrow 46km in June, that I also shouldn’t compare to my prior race times.

I know for a fact I’m stronger this year. In the last nine months I’ve placed:
- 2nd Chiang Mai by UTMB
- 1st Tarawera 50km
- 1st Big Alta 100km (CR)
- 1st Greenland 50km (CR)
- 5th Broken Arrow 46km
- 1st Grossglockner Trail 57km (CR)

Some of these finishes were lucky wins in non-competitive fields, some were really really solid races, but none of that matters. What actually matters is on average my performances have been head and shoulders beyond what I could have done a short time ago.

So I know I’m stronger both mentally and physically and have a solid year more of experience about what I can do.

For a few weeks I was bothered by my race at Broken Arrow, not because of the 5th place, but because of my time. About five minutes slower than last year. But I know I raced way better this year, so what gives? And I realized (after a little while) that last year was a lot cooler in the second half of the race.

We often want to put some hard evidence on improvement or development, but sometimes times aren’t a metric that’s comparable. And there are so so many additional variables.

Which brings me back to CCC this year. The CCC in less than two weeks.

I know I ran last year really really well, for where I was at as an athlete 12 months ago. Five hundred and something training hours ago. Many many miles ago. Tens of hours of racing ago.

My task for this year is to race for where I am now. Stronger at hills (especially at running them), more excited about competition, better at eating, more practiced at cooling, excited to dig deep (while giving my body what it needs to succeed) when it gets hard because boy oh boy does it get hard. (and yes my brain when there too...)

So between now and a week from Friday? Review all the bits of the course. Review my UTMB week schedule. Read all the rules. Do my hydration & fueling calcs. Prep the crew bag. And smile and enjoy.

I was crewed by my coach Robbie Britton and Federico from Vibram, and was greeted at the finish line by my Vibram team (my sponsor at the time), and all the special people in the company that made Vibram feel like a family. I was cheered in by my teammate Scotty Hawker who played a massive part in my being where I am now. It was really really special.

In the hour after finishing I was relatively functional, ie, could still move around, but the idea of having a protein drink or any other type of food was absolutely un-do-able.

So congratulations and hugs and joy, then fetching finish line bag, and some other faffing and a ride back to the chalet. By this time it was probably 11pm-ish and the stiffness starts to set in, and a very stiff legged shower, and a stiff legged hobble to bed. And then the post-race non-sleep of aching legs and general discomfort.

And THEN, at like 1am, it was like my body went into shock. I started physically shaking, and it was like my body was screaming at me, “what the actual F@^#K?! You just asked us to do a crazy huge day, pushing to our limits, which we dealt with, because you’re apparently determined to do these things, and now you’re just expecting us to try to heal and repair with nothing?? Like nothing?! NO nutrition, except for sugar water syrup for 12+ hours and then nothing!?? It’s been five freaking hours?!”

I sat bolt upright (slowly) and was like “Omg SORRY!!! Lemme find something….”

And then I stiff-legged hobbled up the small spiral staircase and tried to find something… There was food in the house for sure, but unfortunately the criteria was
”something that sounded palatable”. Every single food in the house, when I ran through in my brain, sounded impossible. Like totally un-edible gross.

I finally ended up with some rice crackers with cheese which was do-able. And I lay on the couch and maybe dozed but not really, still trying to think of any foods that would work, and then it struck me, AVOCADO. There was an avocado. And I swear, that avocado on rice cracker was the most amazing thing in the whole world at that moment at 2:30am.

So, my learning through that night was, pre-race we’re focused on food for carb loading, food for race performance, etc. However, when a race ends at 9:30pm, and it’s unlikely that food can be eaten for at least a few hours, buying some post-race groceries pre-race is SUPER important.

I’ve subsequently figured out (and corroborated in retrospect by the cheese & avocado situation) that after long races I need fats. Like veggies and fats. I don’t know why (actually I’m gonna message a nutritionist friend and see if there’s a reason for that) but it’s THE thing I can eat.

So here’s my short list of my current best-guess post race foods for my grocery list:
- salad dressing & basic greens
- ramen noodles
- packet of soup
- avocado
- other??

Ie, foods that hit the spot before proper food is manageable. So like, before the pizza the next day... Very open to any other ideas and suggestions anyone has! 😄

I am fully aware of how lucky I am. I have the good fortune to have enough food. To have places to live. To work in the outdoors doing something that’s meaningful to me. It is ultimately a life of privilege.

Also, it’s not all plush, and that’s a bit of what I want to explain in this post. It’s hard work. Enjoyable hard work, but also, hard work.

I want to use a illustration from a few days ago. The “wellness center” at the gym in Tignes. Pretty much a mini spa, three saunas, a cold pool, three massage jet pools, hot and cold showers, etc. If I was here on vacation it would be luxurious. However, the wellness center, for me as a pro athlete training, is a place for me to do stints in the sauna purposefully overheating myself to adapt to racing in hot temperatures. It’s pleasant for about the first 8 minutes, and then objectively unpleasant after that. Unpleasant in a purposeful intentional way, but also deffo not relaxing or particularly enjoyable.

Which leads into the purpose of training. The purpose of training is to be tired, in the exact right amount, so that the body can get stronger. Which also means being tired. Some runs feel great, and a fair number of runs just feel tired.

Here’s an example of the routine.
(Reading back over this routine, it’s really hard to explain that it’s not luxurious. Layer on fatigue, what to eat in France, laundry, all the usual things in life, they all exist here too!)

Monday:
Get up ~7am
Yoga & mobility ~30min
Breakfast
Computer for emails
9am Start 90min shakeout run
11am ~run finished, short grocery shop
noon lunch
12:30 head to gym for sauna sesh
2:30 errands like find sunscreen somewhere..
Bus back
40min on computer in recovery boots
4-6:30pm calls
6:30-7pm chat/call with family
7pm dinner & spend time with a friend
8pm mobility
Sleep ~9:30pm

Tuesday:
Get up ~7am
Yoga & mobility ~30min
Breakfast
Make workout lactate testing plan
Start hill workout with lactate testing 9:30am
Finish run and shower 11:30pm
noon lunch
1pm walk to get a pastry and work on computer
3pm gym for mobility and sauna
5:30-6:30 calls
6:30/7pm dinner
Personal projects, socialize or read.
Sleep ~9:30pm

Repeat, with different permutations for the rest of the week, and the weekend, and the next week, etc.

This week is one of the big weeks leading into CCC, which means 16+ hours of running. I’ll probably also have 2-3 hours of strength, ~2 hours of morning yoga, 4-5 hours of mobility, 2-ish hours of sauna. Which is approaching 30hours of training + transportation + before/after time like changing, showering, gathering run kit & nutrition etc.

And the computer work?
- Substacks like this one
- Race and travel planning & logistics
- Expense invoicing & tracking for taxes
- Coordinating with sponsors about their projects
- Instagram race or training summaries
- Programming athletes
- Building application criteria for a women’s mentorship program
- Analyzing race data to better understand my past races (and to create a general tool)
- Other running related projects like debugging a friend’s training metric system
- etc

The days are very specific which I enjoy, but the specificity is also up to me. There are the runs and mobility/strength sessions assigned by my coaches, but I need to place them into the days. As well as the “computer stuff” above.

Also while keeping myself calm, prioritizing recovery like resting, eating, going to sleep early, etc, while also socializing at least some to keep myself happy.

I do have the flexibility to just faff around between things, but I’m not happy if I’m not intentional with what I do. I have a lot more fun if I organize my days such that I have time to work on projects and make progress as a person, in addition to progress as a pro athlete. Sometimes I’m better at this than other times. But I know I’m happier when I get the balance right.

So, training in France is definitely unusual in location, and is also a full time job.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, find the perks of what you’re doing. The things that “look amazing” also have a lot that’s pretty typical about them. And if you really want something, figure out how to go do it, don’t just wish you were somewhere else. Make a life that’s yours and enjoy it!

I was listening to the podcast Hidden Brain. And they said something… Something that stuck.

This was the core of it:
- Every day might be your last.

And I literally grinned. And was immediately in a better mood.

That is likely not how everyone would respond... but for me this was what happened in my head:
- If this were to be my last day on earth, how would I want to be/feel? I’d want to have a good time. So I did.
AND
- A parallel processing that said, if this was your last day, it’s beautiful out here. Better actually look at it!

It wiped all the stressors on how I’m feeling, if I’m fresh or not, what that means about my next race coming up, how I’m gonna pack for two months three days from now, the housing for THIS Saturday & Sunday that I haven’t sorted yet, etc.

Instead, just today. And the trail in front of me. And I grinned.

For additional context, these two races are extremely different. Western States is a fast smooth fast trail 100miler in California, net descending with winning women’s times around 16 hours. Hardrock is a extremely mountainous 100miler in the rugged terrain with women’s winning times over 26hours. Two super duper different races for the runner, and as I just learned, also super duper different races for the crew.

I’d like to run through what the crewing logistics were like for Hardrock. And this will be a flavor of what crewing is like for front of the pack mountain races. Mid or back pack would be even harder, massive respect for those crews.

Race specs:
Hardrock, a huge loop through the San Juan Mountains, starting and ending in Silverton. Opposite directions every year. This year was clockwise so Silverton, Telluride, Ouray, Lake City, Silverton. Distance 101miles, 33,000 ft of vert, all at elevation between 8,000 & 14,000 feet.

Race morning, the whole crew went to the start at 6am in downtown Silverton. From there, we loaded into some four-wheel-drive vehicles (with the locals Inga & Scooter) and headed over Ophir Pass to the Chapman aid station. (without a four-wheel-drive vehicle the drive around is a few hours but still plenty of time)

All the crew stuff is in two duffels and a cooler backpack. Then we have food for us, and layers for warmth, and mats for sitting. Ie, quite a bit of stufff.

This amount of gear makes a lot of sense for Tara because she comes from multi-day fkt-s. We have all the stuff (for all the contingencies) and all the people. We’re dialed, as in everyone has a job and a responsibility. And we also have a lot of things. Which has shown me that everyone has a different way of racing.

My friend Katie Wright also rolls with all the contingencies. Spare creams, pills, layers, tapes, shoes. I lean towards the more minimal but each to their own!

We walk in and hang at Chapman for a few hours and the runners start coming through. Tara is very shook-en from falling rocks and we try to help her relax as we move her onwards.

Then we hike out two miles to the cars, and head to Telluride. Keeping an eye on the tracker. Doing math from Tara’s prediction spreadsheet, actual tracker timing, other people’s durations on sections between timing spots.

From how she’d been at 15miles, we didn’t know what she’d be like next time we saw her at Telluride. I got a text that she was stumbling and pale on live stream the top of the pass. And another concerned text from a friend who was up there. We rewound the livestream and found the clip. It wasn’t very good. But again, nothing to do except what we could when she came down.

I’m realizing at this point of writing this that I’m not really writing about the crew logistics of Hardrock. I’m writing about what it was like crewing Tara in this double…

Maybe I’ll concise-efy.

When she came into Telluride we triaged and assured as best as possible and she headed off over Kroger Pass to Ouray. We drove around, set up and waited. (mentally separating ourselves (at least subconsciously I was) from what could happen up there on top of the pass)

I realized at one point watching the live stream in Ouray that we had been going as a team for 11 hours, and, that we were only at 44miles. Less than half of distance and like a third of the time. This was going to be, in for the long haul. And this was for the FRONT of the pack. This race is wild.

And that is when I realized how totally different Hardrock is than Western. I knew a lot of the ways that it would be different, but what that meant hadn’t settled in.

In Ouray Tara finally seemed more like herself and she headed off into the late afternoon/early evening with first pacer Jacob.

From there we went back to Silverton for parts of the crew to sleep. I was off crew duty as I’d be third pacer in the morning for when she came out of the other side of the night.

A few of the crew also slept so as to be fresh for the morning and the rest headed off into the late evening to get Rachel to pacing duty number two at Grouse Gulch at 58 miles. They then went on to crew at Sherman at 3am. And then made it back to Silverton as I headed off at 7am to hike into Maggie’s Gulch at 86 miles to relieve Rachel and start as pacer number three.

Everyone who has slept while a runner is on course before meeting up with that runner, knows that sleeping on a night like that means setting alarms for every couple of hours to check the tracker or live results and updating waking up and future tracker checking alarms accordingly. It is sleep (unlike the crew out crewing who wasn’t sleeping) but this version of sleep is for sure an interesting variant.

I won’t get into the details of my pacing section. Just that it was so much mental load. Helping a friend to manage their mind and mindset and thoughts and to keep moving towards one’s goals.

It’s wild. And so difficult. And wild. And when the task is achieved, is such a crazy release of all the uber logical, calculated words and thoughts.

One of my big learnings, these races are no small task. For anyone involved. It’s obvious that the runners work super hard. And this is also amazing. Also, the crews and support teams fly much more under the radar and work so so hard.

So, from being part of the support team for both States & Hardrock in quick succession is, I want to send out a absolutely massive massive kudos to those who crew. Especially long races. Especially races through the night, or multiple nights. It’s a huge task. And such a wild thing to do. Thank you to everyone who crews their friends, teammates, family members. Seriously.

How Tara was feeling, how quickly we should go, or not. Where her headspace is at.

And maybe that’s me taking too much on. But also, it’s our job as pacers (and crew) to help her get to her goals.

The simple version of pacing is, or would be, just a companion. But still, a companion can be present in so many different ways. A grounded force, a positive playful vibe, a story-master, a silent comrade.

This is why I find pacing so hard. It’s like such a massive exercise of “read the room”. What is needed right now. What would be effective. What (if anything) I can do or say.

Through crewing and pacing I learn so so much about my friends, and so so much about what I’d do if I was running a race in terms of crew logistics and gear etc. And I have the honor of crazy-ly connected moments, being present for my friend’s vulnerable struggles.

And it is so hard.

p.s. I’m writing this in the car while crewing (& pacing) Hardrock so I might have a slightly biased angle at the current moment! (but that’s a later this weekend post)

Everyone is healthy, masks and hand washing and luck (lots of wood knocking) did their jobs.

Tara (and all of us) are ready to go!

I haven’t been here for a year, and last year I was only here for a ~week and a half. What is it that makes me feel so connected to this place?

I had a similar feeling last fall when visiting Stockholm on a post-race-season trip with my mom. I’d never been to Sweden before and yet in Stockholm I felt calm and at home. Like I somehow aligned there.

Is it pleasant memories that make some places feel like home? Or is it a vibe of a place that slots into something about myself?

With only this week’s example, I would have thought it’s being familiar with a place, (ex, not needing google maps) combined with pleasant memories. However, adding in Stockholm, I’m less sure.

Maybe it’s people, (most things have to do with people, humans are very interconnected/social beings) but I haven’t figured out what exactly. I do have some Swedish heritage, but I also have Norwegian so why did Norway feel less homey for me? Here in Alpine Meadows maybe it was the combination of engaging connected-ness with TrailCon combined with quiet spaces and close friendships?

Unknown.

I guess I’ll add this feeling into my mental lexicon of experiences and let it percolate along with things yet to happen.

On the do-ing-things side of Olympic Valley last week, I dipped in the swimming pond every day, and also raced Broken Arrow 46km. I’ll try to put together a race summary post later this week.

In the meantime, here’s dip pictures.

Some good habits from the Altra Silverton training camp:

Evening:
- Heading to bed at 8:45/9pm
- Roller-ing & stretching
- Journaling
- Sleeping by 10pm

Training:
- Warming up with leg swings & a few dynamic moves before starting running.
- Working with friends towards goals.

Recovery:
- Some quick mobility right after finishing a run.
- Eating (see bellow)
- Actually properly resting
- Recovery boots & roller-ing

Nutrition:
- Post run protein + creatine.
- Actually eating carbs in day-to-day & snacks. Like a bowl of rice, or two bowls of rice..
- During run fueling with performance fuel vs. whatever.

I think fueling with whatever for sure has it’s place!

Some of my “whatever” staples:
- rice krispy treats (15g carb each, need to eat a lot of these!)
- chewy granola bars (20g carb each, also need to eat a lot of these)
- gummy candies like trader joes Scandinavian swimmers (TJ Swimmers)
- costco chocolate or berry crepes aka “creeps!” (Costco Crepes)

I took my usual “whatever” fueling on the first couple of our large mountain days and quickly realized that I was eating much less than I should be. Simply because most of my “whatever” staples require either 1) a lot of chewing or 2) a lot of eating.

For example, one 40g carb gel = three rice crispy treats or two chewy bars which means lots more munching that I think to do. And also takes up a lot of space if we’re going for 3-4hours.

So I resorted back to using performance nutrition for 1) how much more I tended to eat and for 2) packability. I also know that performance nutrition is $$s. (One of the advantages of “whatever” fueling is that it is often a LOT cheaper.) However I need to practice being in the 90g/hour range and I’m not getting there with nutrition that’s more like food.

So here’s what I now do:
- Short runs <90min - bars or rice krispies or grocery gummy snacks.
- Workouts - performance nutrition to practice eating (literally not being lazy) and digesting while working at a higher effort level.
- Long runs > 90min - performance nutrition so I actually eat close to my targets and also practice eating when I’m more likely to space out about it, which is what I need to stay on top of during races as well.

AND to wrap my head around performance nutrtion $$s, and aim for a semblance of affordability, I made a spreadsheet!

I’ve color coded gels by the $/gram carb from the cheapest (green) to the most expensive (red).

I have a TLDR summary bellow, but if you want to get into the details yourself, here’s the link: Nutrition Pricing Spreadsheet

Note #0, I really like the company Fuel Goods so I’ve pulled all the prices from their website. Also here’s a 15% discount code if helpful: “ROBYNRUNS”

If there are other brands you’d like me to add lemme know!

The TLDR is…

Cheap ones:
- Carbs Fuel gels are the cheapest per g carb at $0.03-0.04/gram.
I’ve said for a while, if you can get down carbs fuel, you can get down anything.
I’ve used them as a cheaper training gel. I wouldn’t race with them but they’re good gut training!
- Next up are Precision Hydration 90g gels (especially if bought in a 10 pack) at $0.06/gram carb.
- Also Honey Stinger Gels (I’ve had one of these once during a race and was like omg so honey-y!… I should perhaps try again but back then they were very strong) at $0.06/gram carb.

Pricy ones:
- A slight surprise, Ucan at $0.14-0.15/gram carb.
- Another surprise, GU Roctane at $0.12/gram carb.
- Unsurprisingly Maurten at $0.12-0.16/gram carb. (the bigger gels are cheaper)

My preferences:
- Relatively neutral bland flavors
- I used to lean towards bigger gels (40-50g carb/gel) because I could eat only two per hour which was a lot easier for me to do. I realize that now I dump my gels into nutrition flasks this doesn’t matter any more. Though it’s still a habit.
- Somewhere around a 2:1 glucose:fructose ratio (most performance nutrition does this now-a-days) (we have two pathways to absorb carbohydrate, the glucose pathway is more efficient but can get overloaded causing gi distress. Utilizing both pathways at the same time is most effective for energy absorption)

My choices:
- I race with the middle of the range of price with SIS Beta Fuel at $0.07-0.08/gram carb.
- If I had a sensitive stomach SIS Isotonic gels go down super smoothly (they’re like sweet water) and though are a bit heavier/g carb (because of being isotonic) are not too too expensive at $0.10/gram carb.
- Training I go with a combo of Precision Hydration 90g gels & Carbs Fuel and whatever else that is on sale or samples that I have laying around.
My philosophy is it’s ok/maybe good to train with things that are a bit harder to digest in training, because then race nutrition is easier on the day and I also don’t get burned out on my great race gels (which are also often a bit more expensive) though it’s important to use race gels a few times outside of racing!

Notes: 😅

Note #1! Often time drink mixes are the cheapest $/gram carb ratios. I’ll add drink mixes to my sheet sometime.. Right now my favorite is the minimally flavored Precision Hydration 30-120g drink mix.

Note #2! I needed to buy protein recently. So the spreadsheet has a partly fleshed out Protein tab. I’m personally very sensitive to the taste of Stevia which is why I can’t stand the very cheap Ascent protein..
I also like at least 20g of protein per serving with a moderate amount of carbohydrate. (this is why I put in the calorie column, gives me an idea of how sweetened the protein is and if they use artificial (or “natural” low calorie) sweeteners 😬). My favorite at the moment (and cheapest) (though I need to add my own carbs) is Momentous protein. Tailwind recovery is a close second on price. I might get both and mix them 50/50 to get a nice protein-carb balance!

Note #3! I’m a bit of a nerd (in general, and especially on nutrition). (I expect you’ve noticed from this post…) If you have any questions or nutrition areas you’d like me to expand upon lemme know!!

Note #4! I had an eating disorder in college, which is one of the reasons I make sure I do my best to keep those tendencies out of my nutrition for performance.. It’s an ongoing task, but if you’ve been in this boat and are working your way out, hit me up. I’ve figured out some ways to make things work. And on that note, I’m gonna go have LUNCH 🥳

It’s been a super fun week. I’ve gotten to join for a couple of adventures. One day was a very race specific day for me for both Broken Arrow and CCC, just bigger and much much higher…

A big fast down, then a big up is practicing the transition between the down and the up between loops at Broken Arrow and the huge big long climb (the biggest on the Hardrock course) is pretty much the first climb of CCC, just much (much) higher up.

But realistically, this combo is what happens when I train with teammates training for both Western (fast downs) and Hardrock (big ups).

Said teammates/adventure buddies:

We’ve also played games (mainly the card game Life, I can say with confidence that I’m much better at the card game Life than I am at actual life life) and ate lots of food.

We had the awesome media duo Emily & Anna to hang.

We’ve gotten atv/4wheeler rides in and out of the mountains and the super Silverton local Jimmy has been our gym and mountain access. What a solid guy.

Ran in some fun shoes with some fun colors.

And am so gratefully for my friends and teammates. 💞

That’s what I’ve got for now. Cheers from the mountains! Xx, -rr

1) In running many people are like “WOA?!” that I went to MiT.

At MiT most everyone is like “WOA?!” that I’m a pro trail runner. (Not in the way that’s like nerds aren’t good at athletics, in the way that’s like what a cool direction to have gone in.)

Different contexts = different framings of what’s unusual.

2) A decade out of college everyone is the same!

I don’t know how this is possible but it is. (Almost) everyone looks and is, almost exactly as they were in 2016.

I’m sure we’ve grown and learned lots, but at the core, we’re very much the same person with the same mannerisms, facial expressions, sense/type of humor, etc. It makes me realize I’ve worried that I’ve changed in various ways, (some not for the better), but I’m probably also just the same!

Additionally, now that I think about it, this has been scientifically proven... Studies looking into how much people think they change, vs. actuality. Spoiler, we actually don’t. In some ways sure, but the engrained pieces of who we are are quite fixed. I feel like this weekend I lived through a multi-day example.

3) As above, everyone is the same, however, people also seem to be MORE themselves.

A bit less stressed about dealing with the real world. Though still bumping along through ups & downs of course, like everyone always; but in directions that are relatively self-aligned. Living into themselves/ourselves! Like actually.

4) I can only speak about my class, but we are so SO varied.

One event was a series of talks & performances by our year classmates about their lives, paths, performances or passions.

The range was: Musical pop performance, to Flight Operator for moon landings. From an incredible Drag Queen show, to something super dry about the landscape of the health sector in the US? (I lost focus in the first 90sec) From 130M revenue Startup story involving 7 massive pivots, to Rap, and then all the way over to personal alignment through Meditation Practice (with an interactive demo 😁).

Zero MiT university/school input, 100% us. And that’s simply who we - MiT 2016 - are. I’m floored and proud and excited and happy.

5) MiT conversations (& specifically with my classmates) are AMAZING.

Real talking. About real things, that are interesting. Zero egos. Real-talk. Excitement and passion. Startups, research, performance art, writing, airplanes, people, the human brains, all topics under the sun. And as above, we do (and are) seemingly almost EVERYTHING!

6) Cambridge Mass (north side of the river from downtown Boston) is ECLECTIC.

No wonder there was a huge amount of alternative culture and hair die-ing and collaborative/corporative living. And diversity.

Which now makes me realize how very very white it is in running. My class is a much more balanced distribution of ethnicity/ies. It was very refreshing.

7) My olden-day bridge loops around sections of the Charles River, are SMALL!

In one easy shakeout run I got SO far. 😆 I pretty much ran a combined version of the two largest loops I ever did at school..

Size is also relative to one’s context.

8) I know a heap of people.

My conclusion over the past years was that during school I’d focused too much on classes and grades, and hadn’t made any friends (besides like two to three).

Turns out I was wrong. Homework buddies, sailing teammates, dorm-mates, class buddies, people in my major, people in majors in which I dabbled, people I know and have no idea how I know (plenty of these 😁).

I’m so grateful. 💞

Each team does it differently but here’s what our schedule was-ish:

Tuesday
- Arrive
- Run
- Team Dinner

Wednesday
- Team group run
- Pack bags
- Breakfast at VF Office
- Product & Marketing Meetings/Sessions (we got to see the crazy stuff for the rest of the year and next spring!!!)
- Lunch & Connect
- New race kits
- Move up to Boulder & Run
- Team Dinner

Thursday
- Breakfast at hotel
- Run
- Individual interviews & headshots
- Gym
- Lunch
- On trail photo/video shoots
- Team dinner & bowling

Friday
- Morning lift
- Sauna
- Breakfast & goodbyes

That’s the official schedule.

I was very lacking in my picture-taking but here is a selection of some of the additional shenanigans.

Therabody recovery boots and a creepy-as recovery mask at the Denver hotel:

The three individual meals that I ordered and ate at one dinner. Runners have deep stomachs…

Mountain top on top of Green in Boulder. Snow run!!

Tara inspecting a map of olden-US states:

Monopoly Go while waiting our turn on the trail photo/video shoot:

Anna’s array of awesome polaroid’s from the week:

(Some of) our attempts to fit eight heads into a photo both. We tried off & on for 2hrs & succeeded!!!

Outfitted in our new team kit, enlightened and educated on the upcoming shoe developments soon to be released and the Altra pipeline (they are CRAZY, stay tuned!!!), team bonded and stored some core team memories. If anyone needs tips on how to fit the max number into a photo booth frame I have some solid, well researched tips. 😅

Here’s to a great year with great people!! Yea TEAM!

Ok, let me back up a bit. The feeling that just came to mind is: that slow realization, in childhood as I grew up, that boys were just going to be stronger than me. Stronger, faster. Sure I could beat some, I might be faster than a few, but rarely muscularly stronger.

As I’ve developed as a pro athlete, moving into my fifth year of training and competing seriously in running (after many many years in sailing), I now know that I can hold pace with a fair number of dudes (I’m fast & strong!) but that the good ones are still stronger and faster. And there’s also a small feeling of sadness and resignation about that being the way the world is. Just reality.

Equal as a child became good but within girls or women.

Then here’s what happened at 40miles into Cocodona. Rachel caught up to the leaders Kilian Korth & String Bean (Joe McConaughy) and they ran off together. All three tied for the lead. So so cool.

For context, Kilian & Joe are great guys. And they are also, THE dudes at the top of the 200+ miler scene.

And Rachel was matching. My teammate Careth Arnold said “they won’t stay together for long”. And I was like “ya, you’re probably right”. Assuming the dudes would move off and ladies would be racing for 3-10th. Then she clarified, “no, Rachel’ll drop them”. “Oh!” I thought, “Really?...”

And then I proceeded for the next 200miles, ~48hours to learn what was possible. Not even learn, experience what was possible. To, will all love, see the dudes crumble behind her. It was flabbergasting. Literally incredible.

The feeling of pacing with Rachel a section starting 170+ miles into the race, moving well and holding a perfectly consistent gap to Kilian behind. 2.5 miles for half a day.

Half a day!! Knowing the speed we were moving and realizing that the chasers us behind couldn’t do more than they were already doing.

And then on a later section, after a blackout period (with no service), to see that our gap had exploded to 7 miles.

Knowing that the best in the sport at this distance are right behind, and that they can’t go any faster. AND they’re dudes.

Gosh, I just teared up. The reason is I just remembered a moment with Dom & Jake (the dudes) on Rachel’s team. I don’t remember the words, but the feeling was support. Real support without ego or comparison or judgement. Just literally support for women. The women on our team, and women in general. That’s not a feeling that’s super common and it was really really meaningful. I now, like truly know, what ally means.

Long story short, this race was about racing. Not the men’s field and then a while later the women’s field. Racing. Everybody. <3

Little Robyn you were right, go and be the best you can be, within people. At least at 200+ miles, strong is strong.

Somebody has to, why not you. - Rachel E

I think this type of event starts to work into my core of adventure, steady movement and unknowns.

That being said, I also have a very grounded smart side. Taking everything step by step, planning for the future. This has served me really well, chipping away, moving forward, moving up the ranks of running.

As I write this I’m still slightly conflicted on my decision to take the well known choice. To stick with the distances I know and perform at. I have some potentially large gains to be made later in the season at CCC (the 100km at the UTMB World Finals). And I am excited to go back to Broken Arrow 46km and give it a good crack after going in overtrained last year.

This is also the professional choice. The choice that mitigates dramatic risks like getting a multi-season injury or deep fatigue. And most likely optimizes my performance on the 50-100km events which are my current focus. Also likely maximizes the durability of body for my career.

Many of the athletes who I massively respect, Ruth Croft, Rachel Entrekin, Katie Schide have taken the steady path I’ve been working through. The path of patience.

However, I need to also find the joy. I really do like training, but training for the main focus of performance, now that I’m performing, it is less of a fulfilling purpose. Yes for sure I have a long way to go to be at the top of the world stage. I had a great race of 7th at CCC last year, but there’s still a long ways to go.

And maybe this is why I’ve been struggling with not having a race planned for May, I likely use races as intermediate goals to work towards, to keep myself inspired on the day to day.

Even though I’m feeling really flat and tired, I’m running really well, setting pbs (personal bests) on random climbs around town without pushing. Running strongly. But as as humans, when we’re progressing, we acclimate so quickly to new norms, it’s hard to feel or see where we’re actually at.

As Peter Engel said at Tarawera, “running never gets any easier, it only gets faster”.

I had a fun little adventure for myself on Wednesday, Earth Day. I biked to my long run, to gym, and to a second group run, all around town. Slowing down a bit, noticing the flowers, the spring, the air. (Video here if interested)

So looking into the next couple weeks/months. Maybe a fast 50km next week. Maybe pacing a couple sections at Cocodona. Maybe helping with the live stream also at Coco. Likely attending a wedding in SF. Seeing friends. A local Durango trail 21km. Altra Athlete Summit. College MIT Reunions.

Two weeks of training in Silverton. A few days in Durango before heading to Broken Arrow to race the 46km, Trail Con to hang, and Western to crew & pace. I originally placated myself about not doing a crazy adventure event by scheduling a fastpacking week for myself the beginning of July, and then likely headed to Europe to race something before the buckle-down training block in Tignes pre-CCC.

It’s a bit of a wild schedule. I’m not sure I’ve fully wrapped my head around it. Or yet figured at a reasonable amount of the travel. That’s probably one of my big tasks for this week.

Looking back, this post has been a bit of a ramble, but it feels like that’s representative of where my brain is at at the moment, so 🤷🏼‍♀️ “autentica”.

I’m listening to The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler and he has a super fun breakdown about amount of time to absorb information vs. the amount of time it takes him to create the information.

Blog post - 3.5min to read - 3 days to create
Magazine article - 20min to read - 4 months to create
Book - 5-10hrs to read - 15 years to create

This reminded me of what I realized about books as a teen, they’re knowledge or information, condensed down from a whole life into a bite sized package to be conveyed to the reader.

Or as Steven says it more eloquently, “consolidated knowledge”.

(If I had a book this would be the perfect moment to plug it but I don’t. 😅)

I think the one part that’s missing is, blogs can sometimes be highlights of information. Especially if they come from experience or a highlight from a book or podcast and are about something where one’s whole life is the research. Then it’s 3.5min for 30 years. Short and sweet saying useful things. That’s my goal with this Substack.

So, I guess my point is, I’m gonna work on reading more books (consolidated knowledge) and the really good and/or enjoyable and/or useful blogs. 😊

Recently I was piecing a few things together from my childhood in terms of why I’m so good at mental dynamics during racing, and I think this is one of those reasons.

Sailing isn’t running, but there are a lot of similarities.

Also, chess isn’t running, but I’ve realized, there are also a lot of similarities.

Into the story:

I was ten, sitting, staring at a chess board. For HOURS.

One of my learnings; if I made a mistake (often the silly ones were the hardest to get over) and I fixated on that mistake, or beat myself up about it, I was much more likely to make another, and another, and another, and then loose. If I said “shoot” or “drat” or “oops” (my ten year -old version of swearing), and then looked at the board fresh, and “moved on with my life” (the game), then sometimes I won! And that was exciting.

I learned to work in the moment, to do the best choices - from now forward. This came back around in varsity college sailing, where sometimes, stuff happens.

Sailing is about working in an unpredictable environment. You can be really good at reading the wind, at learning the pattern, at intuiting the next shift; but sometimes, mother nature does something completely different. Like a big left shift right at the top mark when the wind has been going right all day. And six boats sail past while you’re putting in two last-ditch tacks. Or a ref makes a bad call and you need to do circles when it was clearly the other boat’s fault. Etc etc etc.

A wise sailing coach once told me, “the past doesn’t matter, pretend you’ve been air-dropped into this situation, what is the best thing to be done right now?”

For running, I try to think about “air-dropping in”. What can I do from now forward? What can I do in this moment to set the future on the best trajectory. The past is something to take learnings from later, ie, after racing. Now is the time to think clearly, and make the best-est decision from now forwards.

In running the only thing that’s for certain is that stuff will go wrong. And it’s not about what does or doesn’t happen, it’s about how I handle and continue on after things go wrong. It can bring me down, lead to a series of mistakes and ultimately trash the day. Or, it can be a blib, I make a shift and the day continues on.

Two years ago at Speedgoat 28km, I forgot to take any nutrition from the top aid station. I was a kilometer down the hill when I realized that I had 7km to go and no food. Wellp, there’s nothing I could do about it, besides shrug it off and run fast to the finish. Awesomely, half way down the descent, on a small uphill section, I saw a unopened sleeve of cliff block energy chews beside the trail, scooped them up and proceeded to run fast to the finish, passing into 1st with 2km to go.

I could have spent that whole descent beating myself up about how silly I was to miss taking any nutrition and how dumb that was, and how I’d messed up on such a simple thing after running in 2nd the whole day and this was going to ruin my day, and who do I think I am being a pro runner, and bashing myself about my stupidity/oversight.

But instead, there’s nothing I could do about it at that point, and with a clear head I had enough space for my brain to tell me about the sleeve of cliff blocks as I ran past and all was good!

The part that I also think is important is doing a quick check on if there’s anything that CAN be done. For example, after not taking enough ice or water from the last aid station at Chiang Mai 50km in Thailand last December (hmmm I see a theme here...😆), I was running down the last descent with only a small amount of water and no ice. The problem: minimal water and no ice. The potential issues: getting dehydrated and over-heating.

What I could do in the moment? I had just barely enough water to drink and none extra with which to cool. So if I used all my water for drinking, dehydration might be barely ok, ie, ration my water. So the main issue/task was, somehow keep from getting over-heated. I was running in a close second in front of third, so slowing down wasn’t an option. (Though I would need to carefully gauge my body temperature per effort to keep from imploding before the finish). However, there was something I could do per cooling, and that was quickly dunking in each of the stream crossings. Knowing that cooling was the issue I needed to be aware of, meant that I could brainstorm things to do about it.

The stream dunks held me together just enough to run the last 3km at <4min/km pace, and stumble across the line like this: video of the last steps of Chiang Mai

So friends, take a little pause when something bad happens or you made a mistake. There’s either something you can do to help the issue, (do it) or there isn’t something you can do, (move on!) You’ve been air-dropped into this situation, the past is something to learn from later(!), and you’re in charge of what to do from the right now, forwards!

I’ve also been thinking a lot about structuring the next few years in running, my goals, what might excite me, big picture things so finding this doc from my past self felt opportune.

Having not looked at or thought about or even known this doc existed for years, I didn’t have high expectations for having made any progress on these “goals”.

And this is what I found:

Considering this doc has been NO form of reference, I’ve done a reasonable number! Which is quite surprising. Somehow even without being organized I’ve followed an undercurrent of direction..

Some of the items surprised me, for example, “Challenge 2 overall FKTs” (with the creative spelling 😉). I didn’t even know that I knew what FKTs were then, that it was possible for women to go after the overall records before meeting Tara. Apparently I did??

I also didn’t realize I was interested in going up to 100km in 2023. I’m glad I waited. 2025 was perfect.

Some things didn’t surprise me, public speaking, exploration.

And somehow, even though I never referred to this list, perhaps my excitement for these things kept drawing me back to them. Perhaps it was more the ethos and the feeling behind these “goals” than the drive for the specifics?

I’m also reminded of my recent percolations on trying to incorporate the events I’m excited about. For example, the goal I listed, “Do a Backyards” (ie, run a backyard ultra). It wasn’t on the list for performance or development (development has been my main goal the last three years) but rather, for the fun of it. And the learning of course, which adds to everything I endeavor to perform at in the future, but also, for the experience of it…

I also really love what I titled the tab:

I love this because even though some of these “For Sure ‘One Day’ Goals” are no-longer on my list (though many are!) the “For Sure” was super helpful for me to actually put stuff down. “One Day” goals is too vague to let myself commit to it…

And in all this, I’m trying to decide my schedule for the rest of the year.

I know Aug - CCC, Nov - Ultra Trail Cape Town, and Dec - Stage Race in Argentina (excited about this one!). But up until August……..

And I’m waffling on doing something big and “crazy”. The more I think about it, the more it’s sounding more and more long-term-smart and less crazy…

So I circle back around to excitement. I have the fabulous opportunity to train hard and race races of my choosing. This is the career I’ve worked extremely hard for (and still work extremely hard at!) and how do I now structure the details and the major directions?

Perhaps: Excitement. Being myself. Honoring my friendships. Honoring my brand partnerships. Being the me in life and in running that I aspire to be. Adding to the world. ?

Please wish me luck ;-))

Here’s to a “For Sure ‘One Day’ Goals - 2026” tab.

Maybe because of the race, maybe because of long chats with my sister-in-law the week before, maybe because of my prepare-ed-ness. I’m not totally sure why, but that’s what it was like. I learned from Tarawera that I enjoyed running with people/other women off the start and unlike Tarawera there was a pack that I clicked in with and could run with.

We chatted and exchanged stories. I tried to set a tone of strong, capable and positive. I was very much in the lead with the pack, sometimes exchanging with another lady who pulled us up a hill (ex Brier), sometimes taking the hills myself. Pacing ambitiously but for sure within my capability. And that pack lasted for the first 30km or so. It felt like so much longer than that.. Then Michelle started pushing forwards, on a descent, and I locked in behind her, flowing downhill together.

Micelle took the next hill a bit quicker than I wanted to so I dropped back a bit keeping her close. Then ran smooth to catch back up within the big big climb up to half-way at the top of Mt Tam.

Micelle and I ran together for a bit which was nice, felt like chilling for me which was a nice break for a little, then I kept pushing on up.

Sylvie passed me right near the top of this big climb, but this wasn’t stressful, there was so so much more of the race to go. I kept her in sight on the flat 2km so knew she wasn’t gapping me, just had had slightly more hill power up the climb and that’s totally aok.

I got a bit turned around off the top which increased Sylvie’s lead to around 90sec vs. 20sec, but that’s the way things are, deal with the repercussions later.

I’ve made a bit of a video about the rest of the race here:

More better explained in the video but in words, off the top of Mt Tam was “the rocky-est part of the course” so I focused on running safely and eating well. (my shoes choice opted for fastest which meant I needed to pay attention to staying stable on downhills, especially if rocky)

This all went well then at about 4km from the bottom of the long down from Mt Tam, I had some weird hip pain, did some dig-into-the-hip-hard massage and stretching at the 3/5ths of the way (60km) crewed aid station which made it feel better then kept chipping. In this chunk of time in the aid station I’d glanced up and seen Sylvie leave the aid station, so was pleasantly surprised she was still close-ish/that I’d gained back some time.

The next part of the race was simply about caring for myself and keeping my body happy. Though the hip thing faded pretty quickly, some other muscles were telling me they were pretty shot. (they came back later, as seems to always happen, but they were having a tough time for a bit)

I switched from my mid-race chill music to my it’s-working-time intensity music and put my head down. Maximizing body care, especially in some of the hotter longer sections, staying cool, staying hydrated, really taking my time through aid stations. Efficient of course, but making sure I left with absolutely everything I needed, not cutting any corners.

Side note, the aid station volunteers were AMAZING. SO on it. Directing me as I approached, knowing the distances between aid stations, filling ice bandanas, arm sleeves and bottles. They were rockstars!

I started to see Sylvie ahead and seemed to be smoothly gaining on her, so kept doing what I was doing and caught her easily going into the last crewed aid station at 79km.

A nice smooth walking crew stop and off up the second to last hill. Though Sylvie had been really strong on climbs, I was easily gapping her so kept doing what I was doing.

Pace-wise, kept doing what I was doing for the rest of the race. Except for a couple of small hickups.

On the last aid station I made sure to get everything I needed. 13km till the finish is still enough time to implode, I know because I’ve done it: Flagstaff Skypeaks 28km in 2022, the last 10km can be a hella lot of running if you’re crumbling with every step 😅. I didn’t see Sylvie anywhere behind me (long sight lines) so that was good.

So decided to do my same methods for the last climb. Then half way up started breathing abnormally hard (if anyone’s had this happen lemme know…). It’s happened at a few races recently where breathing hasn’t aligned with effort level towards the end. I started thinking about this and thinking it was odd. But kept chipping.

At some point I saw Sylvie behind. Minutes behind but I did glimpse her so I decided to try to stay out of sight, meaning being strategic about getting behind corners before she came out of the trees below etc. This was probably great per Slyvie, but per Anna who was chugging up behind her and gaining (learned later looking at splits) I was probably loosing time, and might have been better off to just go for maximum efficiency up.

Who knows though, that’s the weird thing about racing, which my coach Robbie has been pointing out. Racing to win isn’t necessarily racing to be the fastest. If you win you are the fastest, but I more mean you’re not (necessarily) racing to minimize your time. If I’d optimized efficiency vs. staying out of sight, Sylvie had seen me ahead and gotten re-vitalized that I wasn’t gone-gone. While I likely would have run/finished faster, would she have had extra juice to run harder? Probably not in this case because the gap was quite large, but if it was 20seconds vs. 4minutes? What would the correct racing move be?

I have hesitations about this last climb because I was precisely on target for my 9:15 race time guesstimate trough 60km and very close through 80km. Then fell off massively in the last 14km. This is how racing long works, it’s about who can slow down the least, and I paced exactly right such that I stayed in the lead. However, I know in my bones that I can (and maybe could have on Saturday) run that course quite a bit faster. So that last climb/section to the finish keeps nagging at me.

I expect I was distracted. Distracted by my breathing, by my tactics, and wasn’t fully paying attention to how I was running. And got a bit complacent from how much and how easily I’d gaped on the second to last climb.

So these are all things to work on. Which is great. I’m so so proud of how I handled myself for 90% of the distance of the race and there were even a lot of good parts about the last 10km also.

Final result: 9:45:36 - Inaugural course record, 11th overall, 1st F.

Congrats to Anna who pushed hard to reel in Sylvie and finished in a very strong 2nd! And also to all the amazing women and other runners out there at Big Alta. 💪🏼

And thanks to Jeremy and Dylan for putting on a super event. 😁 This one’s sweet.