TransRockies Day 1 Highlights - Buena Vista

About Day 1(Links to other days below):
Stats: 19.5 miles with 2300 feet of elevation gain
Introduction: To start, this is my first ever TranRockies run and stage race for that matter. To fill you in on my racing history, I’ve done many half and full marathons, a 50k, and a full ironman, but nothing quite like what I’m about to embark on. Furthermore, all of my training had been at sea level, so elevation might have affected me more than it could others. But getting into town a day early and being well trained I felt ready for the week. I will be posting more extensive details on GearRules.com after all my highlight videos are complete.
As I mentioned in the video, Day 1 is typically the hottest of the week as Buena Vista is at a lower elevation. Being early/mid august, the climate is dry and the sun can be blistering. I’m told on this particular day it was cooler than previous years, but it ended up being quite hot. The two big takeaways from Day 1 that others could learn from is that I ran too fast and I did bring enough fluids. These two things led to be bonking a bit at the end, but it was overall a great day (bonked at the end).
The beginning of day 1 is perfect for getting folks ready for the week. After crossing the start line at 8:30 AM and running through the small town of Buena Vista, you run on a paved surface on a very gradual uphill, which is basically the theme for the first 3 miles. This got my body used to the elevation and what a comfortable pace was on a relatively flat and paved surface. After mile 3, you reach your first checkpoint and start your ~9 mile climb towards the peak of the day (checkpoint 3) with some rolling hills along the way. After the first checkpoint, the trail is a bit bigger than a single track and eventually opens up to a wide path the size of the lane in a road and remains that way for most of the loop. If it’s a typical Buena Vista day, this is when the sun starts beating on you. Packing only 1 Liter of water, my goal was to finish my fluids by the time I reached each station and top off there, which I did. But because I bonked the last couple of miles during the race, it seems I would have been better off with an additional 0.5 to 1 liter of water that I could work through before both station 2 (mile 6) and station 3 (mile 12). From the start to the third and final aid station is basically all uphill and being the first day of excitement, I ran most of the big hills. Looking back after completing the whole week, it would have probably been in my best interest to power hike some of the bigger hills leading up to checkpoint 3. Once you summit for the day, the next 8 miles are all downhill to back to town. Because it’s all downhill people (myself included) felt like the day was almost done and the hard part was over. However, with temperatures climbing and the last 8 miles without an aid station, you still have a ways to go. You chug along on the wide trail for some time, which opens up on a long exposed dirt road with some light traffic. By this time, I was out of water and the sun was much higher in the sky. The last 1-2 miles is on a beautiful single track into town and where I bonked a little bit having run a little too fast and not taking in enough fuel/fluids. The course ends back in Buena Vista and you shuttle into camp on the other side of town.
Transrockies Run: www.transrocki...
Day 2: • TransRockies Day 2 Hig...
Day 3: • TransRockies Day 3 Hig...
Day 4: • Transrockies Day 4 Hig...
Day 5: • Transrockies Day 5 Hig...
Day 6: • Transrockies Day 6 Hig...
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