I started off at the New Russia trailhead at about 7am. Ran out about 50 feet. Forgot my heart rate strap. Started back out, about a quarter mile, forgot my salt tabs. Finally the third time was a charm. Haha.
My official start time was 7:14am. My legs weren’t with me right from the start. I don’t think I ate or drank enough yesterday, so they were kinda heavy from the start and most of the day on the uphills. I didn’t remember this trail being as hard as it seemed today but I was going much faster than 2 years ago. Made good time and felt pretty good all the way across RPR and Giant. My goals was about 3 hrs, and I made it to route 73 in 3:26.
Trails were very dry, and I knew they would be, so brought my 1.5 liter bladder and two 17oz soft flasks filled with tailwind to start. The only places to refill were Mary Louise Pond and the Giant washbowl, and they didn’t look amazing to filter. Once I hit 73, I saw running water on Beede Brook, so filled up one flask. By the time I got to Boquet river, right by the trail to Noonmark, I was Hurtin for water. Drank a flask and topped off everything. Grabbed some salt, and I was slowly back in bussiness. The Dix climb def took a lot out of me, and drank a lot of the water I had. By Hough, water was low and energy was dwindling. Heart rate was high even at a power hiking pace. Even the small climb up South Dix was daunting. At this point I have maybe 1/3 of a flask of liquid IV and maybe 1/3 of bladder and not sure how much water I will see before the end, so I’m rationing it. The climb up Macomb was long painful. The Macomb slide, even though hard to stay on my feet, felt good since I was going downhill. Finally found a trickle of water after the Macomb slide, which increased moral and got me to a strong finish!