It's hard to believe that I've lived in Truckee for 14 years as a runner, and I've still only been on about 70% of the Tahoe Rim Trail. What on Earth have I been doing?
Well, that's all about to change.
On Wednesday, I'll be starting a circumnavigation of the lake, running the entire Tahoe Rim Trail, with a small group of intrepid ultrarunners. Unlike so many people I know, we will NOT be doing this all in one push. (There's crazy, and then there's idiotic, right?)
Our relatively civilized schedule will still be quite a challenge for me. An injury after San Diego 100 left me with zero miles for 2 1/2 weeks, and with about 40 miles total for the following 2 1/2 weeks. The only thing giving me confidence now is the absence of injury, and a decent showing at last week's TRT 55K. That 33 miles left me mighty sore, which is worrisome, but feeling that I have enough fitness left to get around the lake in four days.
Considering how in doubt this adventure was for me three weeks ago, I am immensely excited to be setting out on the trail.
Here's our itinerary:
Day 1: (52 miles) Echo Summit to Tahoe City - This one's going to be a doozie. Both beautiful and challenging. Thank God we're doing it on fresh legs.
Day 2: (40.2 miles) Tahoe City to Tahoe Meadows - Easier terrain to start, which will be helpful for sore legs. Summit the high point of the trail, Relay Peak, near the end of the day.
Day 3: (41.6 miles) Tahoe Meadows to Kingsbury - Much of this trail covers the beautiful course of the TRT Endurance Runs. Excellent views, a decent amount of runnable terrain.
Day 4: (38.5 miles) Kingsbury to Echo Summit - This is the section I haven't run before. Hopefully I am not too exhausted to enjoy it!
As one of my running companions, Chris, said, we'll be enjoying hotels and IPA's each night. Honestly, I anticipate being too tired to enjoy much at night but the shower and a decent night's sleep, but I have no complaints about that.
I am so grateful for my friends who did all of the planning (Honestly, I just saw a random Facebook post, and jumped onboard their trip.), and for their friends and family who are doing the crewing. This is sure to be an ass-kicking adventure, and those are just the kind I like.
