A few more words about the event this weekend. Strategically, there are two key reasons that I do these "backyard ultra" type events. First, a couple of times a year these lap courses allow me to push myself to near exhaustion, to see if my body would stand up to the rigors of climbing a big mountain or managing a multi-day hut traverse. Second, these lap courses, allow me to mitigate risks. At 70+ years of age, I am not going to go off testing myself on a long run or ski (say 50k of the Jackrabbit Trail) and risk collapsing from exhaustion, or spraining an ankle in the middle of nowhere.
A tactical comment about my race is called for as well. In hindsight, I think I was punching above my weight, and suspect I went out too fast, and didn't take the time to fuel and hydrate properly between laps. My sense is, that had I done those first three laps at 55-60 minutes, there would have been gas in the tank - and time - to tag the summit five times. Of course, being the oldest guy in the race (by almost a decade) I don't want to beat myself up too much.
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