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Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Runs
Friday 6/20/08 – Saturday 6/21/08

Today is Saturday, 6/14/08. I’ll be doing my last long hike before my 2nd 100 miler, the Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run. I love that, what a title!

I haven’t been blogging for quite a while. I’m a little disappointed in myself as I’ve completed some spectacular courses which I’m proud to write about. The excuse? Lazy I guess. The stretch from the beginning of April until now included a 100k, a 50 miler, one of the more difficult 50k’s and a flat and windy 50k in the City. Now I’m sitting here getting ready to meet up with Eldrith for a double dose of the Dipsea Trail.

Bighorn has me a little nervous. Just go to the website and check it out.
http://www.bighorntrailrun.com/

I’m confident in my training miles although the past couple of weeks I’ve probably tapered a little abruptly. After the WS training run a couple of weeks ago, my right psoas is screaming when I run. That concerns me but I keep reminding myself of Bighorn and how much actual hiking I’ll be doing. Hiking up the hills doesn’t aggravate the leg like running does. Then the IT band on the left leg begs for attention as well. So I’ve tailored my last couple of weeks more for hiking than running in hopes of keeping on my feet and moving forward without ripping muscles apart.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

I’ll be doing the Bighorn almost entirely with Brad by my side. We will be driving to Wyoming filling the hybrid up with $5/ a gallon petro. No crew and no pacers. We plan on sticking together. One of my concerns is going to be food or lack thereof. I’ve heard mixed things on the aid stations at Bighorn. It would be nice to have some real food especially before the helacious climb to 9000 feet. Even sitting here typing this, the thought of ingesting shot blocks up that thing nauseates me.

I’ve seen the pictures of the trails: Gorgeous! Finishing would be nice. Coming home would be better. I had to resort to checking with the Wise and Magical Yoda (free with a purchase of $10 or more). First, I gave him the question Will I complete the Bighorn Wild and Scenic 100 Mile Trail Run within the cutoff time? His answer came back: You will know. I was unclear what he meant. Oracles and mystic ones are like that. So I asked him, Will I Brad and I complete the 100 miles together? And his answer was : Yes, it is so.

So there you have it. Shit, I should have clarified that last part. Together does not include a body bag does it?