“When you are inspired, dormant faculties and talents come alive” – Wayne Dyer
I pulled up to the chase team at mile 135 and called an audible. Yes, I changed the plan on the fly. It had only been 30 minutes since I saw them last, and I was feeling great. It was too cold to take my race jacket off yet, so I told them to meet me at the end of the San Matias wash.
They could see me from the road that snaked above the wash nearly the whole way. This was the wash that claimed Tanner in a pre-run crash last year. By coincidence, Jesse got it on camera from the drone. The San Matias wash is famous for having big rocks embedded in the sand that are the same color as the sand. You have to have the eye of an eagle to pick them out or you’re going over the bars like Tanner did.
I emerged unscathed and stopped at the waiting truck. I undressed for the cold, and prepared for the heat. In ten miles I’d start 55 solid miles of sand whoops. My plan leveraged what I had learned from pre-running the course into three main goals.
The next thing I had to do was head 35 miles down the Puertocitos Highway at the 60 mph speed limit for paved roads. The problem is, the highway was missing.