After reading the info boards, I popped on Red Rising book 2: Golden Son, warmed up a minute from the parking area to the start of the route, and started my watch right after jumping the gate, with my mind on Ryan’s 22:27 split at the TV Tower. I felt clunky and stiff and come through at 22:22, slower than I was hoping for. I didn’t try to pick up the pace, but got in a better rhythm and this I gained some ground on the invisible pacer during the more substantial climbs. This proved to be accurate when I hit the summit in 1:11:36, 5:20 faster than FKT time. I started pushing the descents and felt pretty locked in, even though my stomach hurt and my legs were beginning to feel the fatigue. I got sick of Darrow and his Golden problems around the hour and a half mark, when I traded him for some nice silence. And boy was it quiet with no breeze - it was deathly still, and still feels that way sitting back at my car as I wrote this; the only sounds the occasional buzz of a fly. I began to get a headache and forces down more carb drink mix, which I think helped. I came back through the TV tower at 1:53:00, at which point I was 11 minutes ahead of FKT pace and I knew it was just a matter of locking in and staying consistent. After jumping the gate at the end for good measure, and set the new FKT with a time of 2:12:34, lowering the previous mark by 14:22.