FKT: Rufus Chaffee - Mount Ascutney (VT) - 2020-09-15

Athletes
Route variation
Triple Loop
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
5h 28m 40s
GPS track(s)
Report

Had run this course about 6 weeks ago but it was 90 degrees and humid so it was pretty brutal, but after getting a sense of it felt like I could put in a pretty strong effort in cooler temps. Followed the outstanding course recommendations set out by Eli, which nicely gave a four or so mile warmup as I ran to the Weathersfield trailhead. Felt strong going up and hit my first summit at 1:20. Felt great down futures despite two pretty good diggers and reached the camp at 2:12 where I used the available water faucet to refill my bottles. Heading up the dreaded auto road which is just miserable I mixed running and power walking while refueling on dried fruit and a bar I'd brought with me. Thankfully hit the parking lot and second summit at 3:20, exactly two hours after my first summit. Windsor trail is always a fun descent and doing the math I had figured needed to be at Brownsville around 4 hours which I hit exactly. Had some concerning hamstring cramps and the ascent up Brownsville almost killed me as the middle section is pretty challenging 19 miles in. I had figured I needed to hit the final summit at 5:05 to have a realistic shot at the existing FKT and I pretty much emptied the tank getting to the top at 5:06. Took a moment to gather myself and just went for it back down Bicentennial, balancing the necessary sense of abandon while descending with keeping myself safe. Once I hit the flatter, less challenging sections just wouldn't allow myself to back off and came in just under the existing FKT. Felt good to run to my ability on a day after having some tough runs over the last month.