Attempt it all.
I hit the trail at 5:07 am on Monday, May 28th, Memorial day. Sleeping under a tarp in a wind storm at the Massachusetts/ Vermont border, my buddy Ben and I woke to a perfect first day: slightly damp, and cool, perfect for some fast hiking miles. My goal was to do the 273 mile Long Trail in under 6 days 17 hour 25 minutes to set the Unsupported record.
I wanted to hop on the trail to give this record another try after hitting 185 miles ahead of record pace two years ago. This time I made it 88. Last time I stopped because my body fell apart; this time I stopped because I wanted to stop.
A few months ago I was planning on doing the 888km race at Infinitus during this time, but pulled out of the start due to a calf injury that prevented me from training the last 3 months. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have set out for the full record (I carried all that food and only ate 2 days worth). In reality though, it just doesn't matter. I get into the woods and move fast because it feels good.
What I learned most from this is really that I've held onto quite a bit of my fitness from the winter. I ran less than 20 miles between February 20th and May 20th. I just put about 110 miles on my feet in the last week and most with a 30 pound pack. The good news is that my calf injury hasn't come back up. It's time to get back into training so that I can refocus my efforts.
Day 1: MA/VT border -> Stratton Pond 44 miles 13.5 hours
I felt pretty good all day, covering entirely new terrain. I had some small, minor hot spots on the insides of my arches on both feet. I put on some Dr. Doug's Miracle Balm on and it kept it at bay. I reapplied about every 20 miles and they didn't get any worse.
It's amazing how an entire day can seem like a blur when you're in such a cruiser pace. It's almost like day 1 didn't even happen.
When I got up and over Stratton, I jogged down the other side and was looking forward to taking a dunk in the pond 4 miles from the summit. The first thing I did when I got there was rip off my shoes, then hopped in with my clothes still on to wash the salt out. After I got out, I quickly got devoured by black flies, snapped a photo of the sunset and walked, barefoot, up to the shelter where there were a good 8 or 10 folks hanging out. My spirits were high, I rehydrated some black beans, and got some sleep.
NOW: 7/1
Now that I'm re-looking at all of this with a month of reflection...
I didn't really go into this attempt with much purpose, rather I was trying to avoid being at Infinitus. It was tough for me to be there and not be racing.
I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want the rest of my year looking like. I still have dreams of big athletic endeavors. There are big things that still need to happen in my life. I'm going to start doing big days on the Long Trail to keep preparing for this record. Perhaps this September the record will finally fall.
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