Section 2
Off I went into the darkness, slowly climbing out from the village. The climb didn’t feel as too bad, but I was moving very slowly. Before I reached the summit the sun was up again and I was treated to an amazing sunrise. The last section became even steeper and more technical, but eventually I made it. I thought I was ready for the downhill…. I wasn’t
There is downhill, there is steep downhill and then there is insanely steep crazy switchback downhill. I looked down in disbelief. How was I going to get down that without trashing my legs? Not only was it steep, but it went down for what seemed forever. I was going down almost as slowly as I went up. For me it mostly unrunnable. I would feel my knees and quads burning just trying to run. I thought “oh well I’ve got plenty of time” and just hiked down the best I could.
After hours it became somewhat runnable. I ran for maybe two minutes before falling on my ass. My only injury was a broken hiking pole, but it really hurt because they were really expensive carbon fibre ultra-light poles. A while later I made it to the next refreshment stop. I took a while here to regroup and try and do something with my broken pole. I ended up with one long pole and one short pole. One of the biggest climbs of the race was next and I wanted my poles.
I met up with another North American runner who was having a tough time so we went out together. Slowly we began climbing again - the endless climb that steadily got steeper and steeper. I just kept going, knowing at some point there would be a downhill. The views made up for the effort so I took photos. We saw mountain goats as we made our way up endless rocks and insane switchbacks. It was also a treat to reach a peak during daylight and get to enjoy the views. Best of all there was a small rescue tent where they had dropped extra water and Coke. Usually I avoid anything with caffeine, but I needed something so I had a few cups of Coke. It gave me the boost I needed. Slowly we made our way down. On the way Leslie, Angelia, Tayna and a bunch of the Canadians and American passed us. They had slept the first night and flew by looking very fresh.
I stopped to fix a hotspot on my foot and was then able to catch up to a few of them. This was one of the few runnable sections of the race so I slowly jogged down the hill and eventually made it down to a nice refreshment stop. A large group of my North American friends were there and we all got to relax for a little bit while getting ready for the last section before the life station. My plan was to try and sleep for the first time at the next life station. Just as I was about to leave Gabi and Erin arrived, it was great to see them briefly then I was on my way. I gave Gabi the broken end of my pole and mentioned if they could find some cheap poles for 25 euros to get them.
I was off. We started up a another massive climb, hold on, I thought there were only two big climbs, but no, look we have a bonus one that wasn’t on the elevation profile, woo hoo, bonus climb! Ok I wasn’t happy about it. To add to the insult I caught my unbroken pole on a rock and “snap”. Now my poles matched. Things just got better in the TDG way. Eventually we started downhill, but I could only describe the trail as a rock blocks trail. Some were like stairs, others were just random blocks, markers were randomly placed and we had to find a route down. It took forever, but eventually I entered a village. I thought “at last I’m here”. I was excited to see everyone and I thought I could make it before my birthday. One of the reasons I signed up was my birthday was during the race and I like to run on my birthday. I followed the markers in then out of the village…”Ok where do I go now?” Then down onto another trail and a long endless fire road. Then onto some more trails, up and down, eventually up a hill to a locked gate. Where are the markers? I had missed a turn. I backtracked half a mile and found the turn, now it was past midnight. Today I needed to run my age. I decided in kilometres would be fine. Eventually I rolled into the life station. Gabi and Erin sung Happy Birthday to me. I felt 10 years older, tired and hungry and I wasn’t even a third of the way yet. The best news was Gabi and Erin somehow found me new poles for 25 euros. It was the best birthday gift ever. Ok they felt like lead compared to my carbon fibre twigs, but hopefully they would last a little longer.
I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. After about 30 minutes I gave up and started to get ready again. I took care of things. The chaffing was getting worse and I was worried. I still had a long way to go. I was told this next section was easier and it was my birthday so I hoped it would be a good day.
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