Sun 7/18 - AM 2 hours incl. Barr Trail race

An interesting experience to be sure. Very nervous going into this race, no idea if my sea level preparations would hold up to an event that tops out at 10,000 feet. To say nothing of passing hundreds of people on the path going the other way while descending. Pre-race anxiety not helped any by a sudden wave of painful tightness in my back while warming up, which left as quickly and mysteriously as it came. Unable to fully unburden myself beforehand which ended up being much more of an issue. Decided to be even more conservative than I had planned early on. The gun went off and to my surprise, the field went out at a sane pace and I was able to settle right in. It didn't feel that much faster than the training run on this trail three weeks ago much of the time. Passed a few people, passed by a couple others but in general I more than held my own on the way up reaching the turnaround in 12th. Did this despite having stomach pains much of the way up and making a conscious effort to hold back at times. What goes up comes right back down in this race, and the trip back confirmed what's been proven again and again, steep downhill running is not for me. Stomach discomfort increasing, bordering on full-on constipation and of course the jarring and pounding made it feel all the worse. No answer to the people who passed me, including this guy who was the last one to go by and looked like anything but a runner. Not knowing his backstory I was pretty pissed at being left in his dust. Soon after that I hit the deck and fell pretty heavily on both knees but especially the right one, leading to this and this. After eating shit my focus was on surviving above all else, finished at a canter in no-man's land with the slowest descent time of anyone from 10-19th place. Quads of course pulverized, calves felt better than expected. Going in I had goals of cracking the top 20 and running under 1:45, one for two there. I also hoped to be the first flatlander, in hindsight not sure why I should really care. I kept up with the locals on the uphill part. The stomach problems were also a big hindrance, definitely slowed me down on the way back. Possibly from being so worked up about the race but also from what I had for dinner in all likelihood. While I'll probably race on this trail again in the future, it won't be this particular event, racing downhill is for the birds.