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Team VPA Athlete @_b.gail took on the Lead Challenge

Team VPA Athlete @_b.gail took on the Lead Challenge

Team VPA Athlete @_b.gail took on the Lead Challenge this year and this is what she had to say about it:
"Lead Challenge complete! 6 events in 2 months: Trail Marathon, 50 mile trail run, 50 mile mountain bike, 100 mile mountain bike, 10k run and 100 mile trail run. Started off the season a bit behind schedule with some stubbornly tight muscles... 50 bike time was slower than I wanted. It had been 5 yrs since I trained for a bike race...and started wondering if I would make the cutoffs for the 100. I spent the next 4 weeks focused on bike climbing... I went into the 100 MTB feeling great... The entire day went smoothly and I felt strong on the climbs. Finished within a few minutes of my 2019 time. Only thing I had to do after that was recover as quickly as possible and run 100 miles the following weekend...I generally feel confident for the 100 run, but knew I wouldn’t be fully recovered 6 days after the 100 bike...Living and training in Leadville, I have the altitude advantage, but no heat training. My garmin heat acclimation was literally at 0%. These factors had me feeling not my best for the first half, physically and mentally, wondering if the wheels might fall off. This is where some race experience was key because I know I’ve gotten through difficult things before and I would just keep moving forward. Also having so many friends out there racing, pacing, volunteering, spectating for me or for others really makes a difference... I was able to hold on for the 2nd half. Felt shockingly good up the steep back side of Hope at mile 54 w/ some caffeine. Got in and out of Twin feeling great... Finish at 29:34:36 to complete the series 🏔️ 🪓"
Great job Abby!

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