JMT Trip report – September 12-14, 2015 – another FKT attempt gone wrong

Thank you for sharing your adventure with us!

Great post trip report Allen, I enjoyed reading it.  Any thoughts for another attempt this year?

K

Richard and Kenneth, thanks and glad you enjoyed it!

I have no plans to try again this year…I have a few smaller projects in mind but I’m going to take a break from the JMT. I put a lot of energy into training for it the last two years and it is time for a change of scenery and goals. I’m focusing more on trail running for a while – I’ve got a couple races scheduled in May and June – Miwok 100K and a marathon on the Skyline to Sea trail, then hopefully some long days in the mountains this summer!

Or so you say………….

Allen – interesting and informative read. had not realized you made 4 attempts, was only aware of 2. anyway when you began this attempt I remember thinking “not a chance”. not because I don’t think you have it in you, but because I believe a person only has one really serious shot per season in their body, and because it was getting borderline late in the season.  so lets call this one a good solid training run in preparation for your 2016 effort.

good to see you are realizing the importance of pacing, starting slow will almost always yield a faster finish time.

best of luck in 2016.

Art, my two earlier attempts were in 2013 and 2014, they were more trial runs than serious attempts, but they helped lay the foundation for my efforts in 2015. Pacing (and sleep) does make a huge difference, but I think two tries in one year is totally feasible for someone who is well trained. I felt stronger on my second attempt this year in spite of carrying a heavier pack – not running on day 1, getting a few hours more sleep and having a better idea of what to expect all made a huge difference. I recovered from this attempt well enough to run my first 50 mile race on Dec 5 and did pretty well (North Face 50 Mile in Marin, finished in just under 9 hours with about 10k feet of gain).