July 15th - Prelude to the Wakely: 33-Miles of Wilderness Bliss!

It's been two weeks since the FL 50-miler and one before the Wakely. This 3-week training quagmire has been both a recovery and race taper. (Hmmm.) In the first week I ran 15-miles; in the second 28.5 - I expect to run half that amount in the next 5-days.

Gear Change:
I shelved the Mizuno Ascend 2s for an old favorite - Salomon trail shoes. The Mizuno offered no toe protection from the root infested trails of the FF-50, and I think they were a little too big. My feet really got torched on that last run (blisters and black toe).

July 21st - The Wakely - youwereneverthere

No one really knew what it meant, when RD Jim commented at the start line, Don't worry... no one will get into trouble. I took a little short cut with getting our race permit. But, if anyone asks, youwereneverthere.

OK, let me back up a little. In case you missed it... the Damn, Wakely Damn Ultra is an unsupported, 33 mile trail race on a highly remote section of the Northville-Placid Hiking Trail in the Adirondacks (NY). There's no cell phone service or immediate rescue (that is, until the next day); you pump, filter, purify, bottle and carry all water; what you carry in... you carry out... and, you hope the Band-Aids, epi-pen, PB&J, etc., you ditched at the Start Line to reduce your running load were the right choices!

Fast John and I were running this race for the second time; this year the race was on my 54th birthday. Fast John's (much) younger brother (ER Fred - either he's always getting hurt or he's an ER Doc... we're not sure) was entering the ultra arena for the first time by running the Wakely. The battling brother's had a bet as to who would cross the bridge at Wakely Damn first! As for me? I was running a race recovery & endurance experiment on myself: Could I run the 33-mile Wakely after running the Finger Lakes 50-Miler 3 weeks earlier?

"g" had the CRV packed and was ready to rock. It looked like clear skies from home... but "g" had a rain-plan for camping the night before the race!		It was a 2.5 hr. drive from home, and as "g" approached Indian Lake it started to drizzle. At the Wakely Dam (above left) the rain had settled in for a few hours. The rain-plan was placed into high gear.
Upon arriving at the Wakely Damn, "g" first checked-in at the Race Director's tent, and then set up camp at the Finish Line. Yep... by then it was raining fairly hard. At dinner time, "g" cooked up penne pasta and a batch of marinara sauce from scratch, had a couple of Coors Lights... and waited for Fast John and ER Fred to arrive. Then it was nothing but talk about gear, carbohydrate gels and race day weather.