Ran a marathon and climbed a mountain at the same time. My legs hurt now.
Went from Whistler village up to Singing Pass, then along Musical Bumps to High Note trail, up to Whistler Peak, then back along Burnt Stew, Musical Bumps and Singing Pass. (This is possibly the cutest naming scheme I've run on - I also passed by Flute, Oboe and Piccolo summits - love it!)
The climb up to Singing Pass didn't seem too bad on the way up. It's 12.5km, with a very mild gradient. Runnable in lots of places. There are a few landslides to keep you on your toes, but all the major creek crossings are bridged. The rest of the trail is in very good condition, and not too technical. There are water sources pretty much all the way up.
Once you get onto Musical Bumps, the climbs get a little steeper. You also have to go up Oboe, then down, then up Flute, then down, then you have a choice to make. I took High Note towards the peak, and it was way more technical that I expected! As we're in the ski area boundary at this point, I was expecting beautifully maintained trails, and for it to be a bit of a doddle. Not so! There was one section with ropes and chains, a lot of sections with gnarly rocks, and a section where I lost the trail! I think I ended up on the gnarliest bit of the gnarliest trail, but it still surprised me!
I was dying on the uphills at this point, and the climb up to Whistler peak was steep. Fortunately there was FRESH SNOW up there, which distracted me a bit, daydreaming about skiiing. Can't wait to do some bowl skiing up there!
I'd originally planned to drop down to the roundhouse and fill up water there, but there was a fortuitous water source just before the peak, so I didn't have to. Took Burnt Stew access road, connected on to another bit of High Note (more runnable) then went back the way I came.
The Musical Bumps bit went fine, but the descent down from Singing Pass just dragged on! It would have been fine if I hadn't seen it all a few hours earlier, or if I'd been running faster and got it over with quicker. But my legs were hurting, and I was only doing 7-8min/km (on a gradual downhill!).
Timings:
Singing Pass - 2:00
Whistler Peak - 4:00
Singing Pass - 5:15
Whistler Village - 6:45
This is the big weekend of training for me, so I'm glad I was out for a long time. It would have been nice to have run a bit more/faster, but time on feet is good. I'll just run a bit longer tomorrow to make up for a lot of the walking today.