Decision?

So I think it is going to be Teton. The logistics are the big pull. Also, I've been reading a lot of reports, and everyone has good things to say about it, so I'm pretty tempted. Finally, I really enjoyed Yellowstone, so it would be fun to grab a race in that area again. I'm 90 percent certain. I'll let it percolate for week or so.

Well, coming back to this post a day letter, so much for percolating. I'm all signed up for the Teton 100 on the Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. I have the hotel reserved, the flights booked, the car rented and the plan in motion.

Teton is 4 25 mile laps, with 4, 975 feet of climbing on each lap. The lap starts with an up and back, 1900 feet in 2.8 miles then back down. This is, obviously, the hardest part of the race. After that is a 14.5 mile section called Mill Creek which has a quick steep up followed by a long descent, mostly on a mix of double track and gravel road, followed by a 3.3 mile uphill on pavement, then onto singletrack for 6 miles or so back to the start area. The final lap is a 5.5 mile loop called Rick's Basin which is mostly rolling single track. Then repeat. Three times.

I'm pretty psyched to do this run. I think it will be challenging, but doable. There's a little less than 20,000 feet of climbing, which is 7,000 less than Wasatch, which I was able to finish in under 36 hours. So, the goal is to be to train like I did for Wasatch, maybe a little harder, and see if I can't come in under 34 hours. I want to do a race and not worry about the cutoffs. From everything I have read about, this race is super supported (longest distance between stations is 4 miles) and the race directors do everything possible to see you across the finish line.

The plan is to take a vacation around the race, get there a few days early and relax, drive through the tetons and Yellowstone, go up Fred's Mountain once or twice just to see it . . .

So, now that the race is picked, on to the training . . .