IT'S ALL A BIG BLURR...
Somewhere between mile 20 and 30, we are up in the fog in the middle of an open field. It feels as though we are on top of a mountain. The wind is blowing and we have been running uphill for a while now. How long? I have no idea, maybe it was for the last 15 minutes or maybe it was for the last hour and a half or maybe it was this whole last 25 miles, a marathon of running uphill in the mud trails. All i know is that i feel actually very good and very happy that there are people serving us hot soup at this aid station (there were 8 or 9 stations alomg the course). I think it's raining but i'm not sure. I'm just wet, though i don't feel wet. I learn that this aid station is supposed to be on the border of New-Hampshire and Vermont with outstanding endless views of the mountains on either side. That's great...except all i see is Vermont fog on one side and NH fog on the other side - endless fog ' n rain...just like what it feels like in my brain...;)
The hot soup was too hot...so i water it down with what i think is water, but it's not. It's the colourless type of "gatorade" called HEED. Not the best tasting combo -chicken noodle soup "à la gatorade", but they say - heed is very important for recovery, replacing lost salt and energy and I want to  believe them so i gulp it down and it helps...:) I just hope my stomach will hold it. There is nothing much worse on a long run than a queezy stomach that forces you to stop in the woods looking for wet leaves!!! 
Soon enough though, the soup warms my brain and the fog slowly lifts and my new friends on the trail call out: "hey Gillesss, time to go!" So off we go ----back into the tunnel vision of the endless single track trail. You figure --running 12 hours in the montains of Vermont--wow --nice views and all....NOT...!!!!! There is not much sightseeing to do when you are trying to run as fast as you can on a muddy, rocky, rooty, full of trees trail. All you do is stare 4 feet in front, keep your legs wide, your feet and ankles nimble and try to keep your arms from flailing by keeping them close and tight to your body. It's really amazing to think how the body and the mind need to be in synch when you are runnng in the woods. The mind keeps saying: "lookout, rock on the left, tree on the right, careful, slant left, root,rock, whooooaaaaa raise arm -branches coming right at you....!!!!" And it goes on and on and on and on like that ---endlessly...You really have to be carefull because  you do not want to stumble ---injuries are lurking and there is a loooooong way to go.
Ans so we keep going. Trail -dirt road - ATV trail -single track - dirt road -single track and on and on...
I don't focus on time, i don't focus on speed. I just AM. At times,  on the dirt roads where we do have time to  think --- i just think ---family at mile 31....then my pacer at mile 41...then the finish line at mile 50...3 clips of 10 miles...not that bad....i<m almost there ;)
And the rain keeps falling, though i'm not really sure. I'm just wet and it is only the sound of the rain falling in the forest (and the deepening mud holes) that convinces me that it is raining. Hard.


It's 6 something in the AM as we enter the woods for the first time. I say to my running partner : : "can anybody turn the lights on here ?" I can hardly see the trail...
Next thing i know, it's still 6 something but it's my buddy and pacer Phil who says : " Man, darkness is coming, this trail could be dangerous, it's about time we get there !!" We are less than a mile from the finish line as I answer back to Phil : "you're right bud, it's about time....;)  "

cheers

gp