Day 1 - Heat and photo fun

Day 1 is done and we completed the course in 4h40, almost (but not quite) double the time of today's winners (Robert Krar/Michael Smith 2:27.19). A lovely course with superb trails and sweltering heat.

Breakfast was a big deal this morning. I went for some oats porridge with a bit of fruit salad and half a cream cheese bagel. And a flapjack with syrup ;) We hung around at the start for quite a while, meeting and mingling with other runners.

Matt, my new buddy from yesterday's trip through from Denver, was standing next to me at one point and he says, "Have you met Dean?".

"Dean who?", I replied.

"Karnazes. He's behind you."

"No way! Introduce me," I said, elbowing Matt in the ribs.

And so I met Dean "Ultramarathon Man" Karnazes - we chatted a bit and I got a photo with him. Nice guy and way shorter and smaller than I expected. He's about my height, as lean as anything with racehorse-like veined legs.

At 10h00 the proverbial gun went off - music blaring and the race MC pumping the vibe.

The trail started a bit flat and then on to trails as we left the town. In my favour the pace was nice and chilled as we wound gently uphill to a wide open dirt road. Hot, hot, hot - sun blazing!

My heart rate was through the roof this morning - I suffered through the first 90-minutes. Very hot, sweating loads, heart rate high and just feeling like I'd been run over by a steam roller!

Lisa W is VERY strong on the hills - she runs them! To me, up and walk are synonymous... We'll get our pacing sorted over the next few days. I'm nice and comfy on the downs. Tomorrow we've got a big up followed by a big down - so a bit of both for us to play on. The last part today, which Gordon ran with us, was a 3.5-mile flat section... I did the run-walk thing.

The route itself was very scenic. I'll post some images in my next posting. Very well marked too - no chance of taking a detour. One section was so divine for mountain biking. I ran it like I was on a bike - super fun (to use local lingo).

We had a Salomon Camera today - they hand out cameras to people and provide a theme. Today's theme was "Are we having fun out here yet?". We've still got to hand it in... I think we should win with our "Dead End" photo (see next post).

The aid stations were superb today - fruit, water, Gu, Gatorade, cookies, crisps and all kinds of stuff. We both loaded up, especially on liquids. I went through about 4-litres and only now need to pee.

At the finish we walked down to a stream to soak our feet and legs in the icy water.

This posting is a bit random... lots to say but we have to get outta here and back to the camp (ooohhh... BIG tented camp and a Salomon Relax area and hot choc and all kinds of festivities tonight). We are VERY well looked after here. Like wow kinda stuff. Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow to write about this.

I have to shoot. Maybe more tonight...? Definitely more tomorrow.