Bishop High Sierra Update

My race prep was not the best in re: to the AR50 but knowing I would be running along a river in one direction and with altitude and climate pretty much staying the same most of the day I was more concerned with my performance and ability.

 

However, the weather is turning interesting.  The RD is hoping for mid 80s with afternoon breeze, but said to be ready for late winter.  Its been raining in southern California so I assume ther is some additional snow drop out in Bishop.  Side note: running in the wind is a battle WWF style.  You feel awful when its full force is messing your pace up, but then when it lets up for a split second your speed ahead only to be stopped by a wall of wind again; that’s really annoying after a while.  Anyway, back to the 50.

 

Bishop Specific:

Aid station cutoffs are as follows:

1.  Edison Loop - 12:30 pm (First pass)

2.  Intake 2 - 4:15pm (second pass)

3.  Buttermilk Road - 7pm (second pass)

 

These are slightly different than I expected.  I thought that cut off would be 7:30 PM at Buttermilk 2.0.  The 7 pm cut off is being out on the course 13 hours which seems like plenty of time to cover 40 miles.  That being said I have not trained in altitude so I am planning not to be battling this cut off and be done or very close to done by that time.

 

Ultimate Direction Wasp has a lot of storage and I want to make sure I have enough nutrition and I will be relatively fresh so I can carry the heavier load.  The pack sits high on the back and I do not want any waist chaffing issues so I am being conservative.  I also want to have the space because I will face all trail types during the first half of the race so I will be prepped for the second half and can run lighter since I know what is coming.  Second half pack (Intake 2 first pass) I will change to the Solomon S-Skin Advanced later in the race but that is still up for grabs.  Heck I may just use the Solomon pack the whole way through if the weather is nice.  The farthest an aid station is from another on is 4.24 miles and that should be ok with a minimal pack, but its going to be a game time decision because of the weather. Sunset on the 21^st is supposed to be 8:11 PM so i should be able to complete it all in the natural light so space does not need to be sacrificed for a headlamp.