Start time: 7am, dropped one car at garden the night before.
Weather: Sunny! Morning temps started around 65 and reached a grueling 85 degrees by the afternoon.
Gear: Running vests, 2L of water each to start and filled up soft flask filters along the way. Water and salt intake was a crucial part of the day due to the heat and humidity. We used a lot of quick nutrition to avoid too many stops - tailwind, LMNT, Gu, Clif Bloks, Precision etc.
Trail Conditions: ADK dry for the most part, plenty of mud here and there but a lot of the trails were looking great! Thank you trail crews!
Report: 35 miles in some of the most unique and lesser traveled areas of the ADK, to some of our favorites!
We made great time the first 10 miles! It was cool outside, and we both felt super stoked! Then the rising temps came along with the Preston Pond reroutes and the lesser traveled Calamity Brook cross over. We slowed but were still in it. We tried our best to fight the heat and elevation gain from Colden Dam to Marcy to summit on pace, and got it done! Then came the descent down the Phelps Trail, it was rugged, slippery and unforgiving. It was both physically and mentally taxing, and we weren't fueling as well as we were in the first half of the day. By Bushnell Falls the FKT seemed out of reach. In just a few short miles we went from crushing it- to feeling like it was nearly impossible. The heat was starting to really hurt us. Alissa was hot but still looked strong, however I was struggling with cramping in my ribs and quads. My toes were blistered, and every step was painful, but I wasn't going to give up. Seeing the glimmer of the JBL roof was exactly what I needed. All I had to do was run from here. I gave the last 3.5 miles everything I had left. Alissa was just out of sight but slowed for me to catch up right before the trailhead. I flew down the stairs to the garden and we finished with just 5 minutes to spare. In the end, it wasn't the crushing effort of our hopes and dreams, but our ability to stay in it and never give up was the biggest takeaway from the day.
- Syd