76 to 76

well i don't need to see crusty ice and snow again for
A WHILE.

just got in from the 76 to 76.
drove up to amicalola falls saturday,
packed my pack, and headed north at 2015 saturday evening

although there was annoying ice and snow over significant portions of the first 40 miles, i was rockin and rollin when i hit neels gap at 0945 sunday morning, 13.5 hours in.
grabbed handfuls of food from their stuffs, to supplement what i was carrying.

the trail through the night was frozen solid and crusty, affording decent footing since most of the trail is on south facing slopes, with the snow melted thin.

holy cow, the last 36 miles had plenty of runnable dirt, but had i known ahead of time what i was committing to, there is no way i'd have gone after this beast. from tray mountain north, i was ice skating my way along the sidehilled trails. had i not been exhausted, i would have been majorly discouraged....as it was, i just needed to get to hwy 76, where my dad was going to deliver me from my sins.

25:30 after the start, a couple hours after dark sunday evening, i had gone from amicalola to hwy 76......76 miles, around 21k +/- elevation.
without the snow and ice i think i'd have eclipsed my 22:50 similar route of two years ago by a fair margin.

comments on a nike slogan applied to hard runs:
after rockin and rollin all night, i had begun to have serious doubts around mile 45. these doubts were shouting in my face by mile 50, with the option of having dad pick me up at mile 60 rather than 76.
the order of the day was to just do it, discomfort can be its own bedfellow!