Tue 8/6 - AM/PM 6 hour run/hike, Pikes Peak

Further proof I'm a stubborn slave to habit, did the course preview last year at about this point in the trip and decided it would be a good idea to do it again to see the course ahead of time. A worthwhile endeavor but I doubt it's worth what it took out of me this time. Sleep issues haven't smoothed themselves out like I'd hoped they would, stayed up far too late last night for no good reason and it left me feeling flat and listless from the jump. Also meant I started later than I would have liked, which meant by the time I got to Hydro parking lot it was completely full, so back down the street to park in town instead. This added to the distance of course and more climbing (and much later, descending). First 45 minutes of the climb felt utterly lethargic, took a gel for the caffeine. I think it started to kick in by the time I got to Barr Camp, not that I was burning it up. Took a leisurely break at the cabin before pushing on. Still running up to about 11k elevation, after that the lack of acclimation became blatantly obvious as walking breaks inexorably took over. Next to last mile was mostly walking, last mile was all walking. Breathing really hard and feeling utterly terrible, no nausea but a headache which is probably that altitude related brain damage I've read about. Or maybe it was more due to dehydration, although I did my best to take fluids throughout and thought I was well stocked. Plenty more fluids at the summit before heading down. Legs good and tired by this point and quads in particular. The descent went slower than in the past I'm guessing, with more walking throughout. Fatigued and sore which isn't a good combo. By the time I left Barr Camp on the way down it was full on get it over with mode, zombie trudged it in. In hindsight, nothing about my training this summer has really supported this type of effort, at least in terms of length. As for my ostensible purpose i.e. to see the trail it's more eroded than I'd like to see between the Ws and Barr Camp, gully splitting the path in places. The stretch between Barr and A-frame is just as obnoxiously boulder-strewn as I remember, but there was more of that type of thing in the last 3 miles than I had remembered. Something to look forward to. In 11 days time hopefully I'll be much more acclimated, or at least recovered from this because it's certainly going to leave a mark. 

Obligatory pictures:

 east of Sheep Mountain I think

 hummingbird at Barr Camp

 12,500', two miles to go

view from Golden Stairs, lots of switchbacks and Lake Moraine