Well, I suppose since I made it official on the FKT boards, I'll post here for a little extra motivation to think about when I'm pushing up the switchbacks this weekend.
I'm leaving tomorrow to head out to Big Bend and attempt to set an FKT on the Outer Mountain Loop. The current record is 8 hours 4 minutes, which is fairly soft, IMO. The OML is about 31 miles with 7K feet of climbing, many miles of exposed trail, and some gnarly footing. I've hiked the entire loop several times and last year ran/hiked it in 8:16. I'm not in the kind of shape I'd want to be to really hammer an FKT, but I'm in good enough shape I still think I can knock some time off it. I have other goals I'm working towards this year, and there are only certain months you can really make an attempt at the FKT because its just too damn hot across the desert.
I'll most likely be running Sunday, as the weather predictions are way more favorable. I think the whole thing really hinges on how well I can keep it together on the 6 mile climb up Blue Creek. If that goes well, I can cruise downhill the last three miles. If it gets hot and my legs are trashed, that climb + the last three will be a 9 mile death march.
Plenty of speedy guys could go crush the FKT right now, so figure I might as well go grab it while its attainable.
I'm leaving tomorrow to head out to Big Bend and attempt to set an FKT on the Outer Mountain Loop. The current record is 8 hours 4 minutes, which is fairly soft, IMO. The OML is about 31 miles with 7K feet of climbing, many miles of exposed trail, and some gnarly footing. I've hiked the entire loop several times and last year ran/hiked it in 8:16. I'm not in the kind of shape I'd want to be to really hammer an FKT, but I'm in good enough shape I still think I can knock some time off it. I have other goals I'm working towards this year, and there are only certain months you can really make an attempt at the FKT because its just too damn hot across the desert.
I'll most likely be running Sunday, as the weather predictions are way more favorable. I think the whole thing really hinges on how well I can keep it together on the 6 mile climb up Blue Creek. If that goes well, I can cruise downhill the last three miles. If it gets hot and my legs are trashed, that climb + the last three will be a 9 mile death march.
Plenty of speedy guys could go crush the FKT right now, so figure I might as well go grab it while its attainable.