Running (Trail) 1:01:32 [3] 8.77 km (7:01 / km) +133m 6:31 / km
slept:5.75
Rainy run around the Palgrave West trails. It's been 8 days since my last run and my body must enjoy rest because I felt energetic.
It's always a balancing act around Wilderness Traverse time because on one hand, I usually lose a week of training due to race work but on the other hand, my immune system takes a hit from the long hours so it can be smart to avoid training anyway since it might be the "final straw" stressor that makes me sick. (Which has happened after half the races.)
I seem to have dodged the bullet this time, partly because I've just been sitting around eating buttertarts and working on my laptop, and partly because I had top notch support from volunteers at WT this year, especially our HQ and media team and our roving drivers. Although I had the usual DeLorme text conversations with racers lost in the abyss, there were no emergencies and there were always volunteers willing to pick up racers who had to stop.
It was our largest WT by far - 47 teams compared to our previous maximum of 40 - so I'd expected a stressful night. Luckily, the course design made it difficult to drop out of the race during the dangerous "witching hours", as I call them. By the time it was easy for most teams to drop out, the sun had risen and they just had to do a short or long bike ride to get an official finish, which most of them did. Awesome. :)