When this FKT route was created, it immediately went on my wish list of tail/routes (it’s pretty long). I run these trails regularly, as they are the closest mountain trails to my house, so to connect them all into one route was genius. Looking at the route I really thought 5:30 could be possible. So I planned for that as my goal. I knew today was not the best day for an attempt, but I typically squeeze these runs in when it impacts the family the least. Next weekend looks nicer, but I wanted to leave it open for family fall activities. I normally run better in the cold anyways and I could possibly avoid filtering water, because I could carry enough when it’s colder.
We received quite a bit of rain up to this point in the weekend so I knew the trails would be small streams. I have had good success with waterproof socks over my compression socks, so I wasn’t too concerned. The early, 2:45am start meant there would be no one else on the trail, and the rain forecast called for a break during this time. My headlamp is not the brightest but figured it would do the trick. Normally I run with a flashlight as well, but today I would need my hands for my trekking poles. Looking back, I should have wrapped another light around my waist to give me better depth perception.
My goal around Lake 22 was 1:10, which I hit, but it was a lot harder than I was hoping. This was my first clue it was going to be a tough goal. 2:20 was my goal for getting back from Heather Lake, but I was there at 2:30. I was definitely dealing with dense fog, drizzle, and darkness, which made fast decents difficult, but my accents were not exactly as fast as I had hoped either. I also got turned around a few times around Heather Lake which didn’t help the moral. The dense fog and poor lighting was partly to fault. I thought I could make up some time climbing up to the Pilchuck trailhead, but instead of hitting the 9:00/mile mark I was shooting for I was hitting 11:00s and 12:00s, I had to walk a lot. I almost turned around, summarizing today was just not my day. But I kept going, not wanting to waste this attempt. The climb up the Pilchuck trail was all hiking, and it hurt. I cramped up about .5 miles from the top, and had to stretch for about 5 minutes. I was really cold too. Now I was really down on myself, but I couldn’t turn around at that point, so close to the top. My original goal was to reach the top in 4:00 hours, but it was now 4:35 elapses time at the top. With the way I was moving and cramping, I had some doubts, but I knew once I started moving down, things would start looking up. I moved ok coming down, and was able to string a few good miles together on the decent. The last 3 miles were so difficult, knowing the end was so near.
Was I over estimating my ability? Or was today just not my day? I guess we’ll find out next year, because I am sure I will try again.
Thanks Andrew for such a great challenge.