The Pinnacle Ultra was a trail race I participated in last weekend up in Newport NH. The race itself was a 50k (31 mile) trail through the woods and mountains around the Newport High School. Due to its timing in the season, the foliage all through the area was in a beautiful state of flux. Often I found myself struck by the sudden transition from a patch of yellow to red to green all in the course of a quarter mile. Gorgeous! But on to the topic I had in mind to discuss.
I had an inkling at the time, and after the fact the idea has only become clearer, that I was quite unprepared for this race. Now I say that not in the regretful way, but in the astonished way. In the days leading up to the race, and even during the race itself, I was quite worried about a sudden game-changer such as a painful hip or otherwise unsurmountable condition to arise at any time. But it never came. In fact, the more I think about the race and the train in particular, the less I feel like I should have been running that race (especially condiering my training leading up to the event which was almost completely flat ground running). Just to give you an idea of the elevation we are talking about, here is a quick diagram I made to put it all into perspective. It is accurate, except the black line should be much more jagged rather than smooth and straight between crest and valleys.
As you can see, there is a LOT of elevation in this trail.I am still amazed that I felt as good as I did during and after the race. Although this race was by-far the hardest thing I have ever done, I recovered quite quickly: I was working-out fully on Tuesday, playing football on Wednesday and feeling all the better for it. Much more to come soon.