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Bishop, Here I Come!

For some reason I had a really difficult time pulling the trigger on this race. I’ve known all along that I want to do a 50 miler this spring/early summer, I knew there were no others anywhere within driving distance that I could do and I’d heard good things about this race. Every day for the past two weeks, I opened up the race website but just I couldn’t do it. Until today that is. Now it’s all set. On Saturday, May 15, I’ll be racing the Bishop High Sierra 50.

Surprise, surprise, the Bishop High Sierra race is near Bishop, CA, in the foothills of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. It’s a pretty hilly course, with 7,800 feet of vertical gain (though the North Face 50 was a couple thousand feet more than that I think). Here’s the elevation profile:

After a five mile warm-up, you get a 16 mile climb! Yowza. But the good news is that it looks like once you get to the mile 22 marker, you’re done with nearly all the climbing. Then from mile 23 to 38, you get some rollers with a couple short but steep climbs. Finally, there’s a 12 mile descent to the finish line that is either going to be a whole lot of fun or a whole lot of pain. There are two other “interesting” things about the course: First, it’s at elevation; half the race is above 7,000 feet. And second, supposedly there’s very little tree coverage, so the sun and heat can definitely be a factor. I’m not going to be able to do much preparation for the slightly thin air, but I’ll do my best to be prepared to battle the heat.

Here’s a map of the course in case you’re interested or familiar with the area and have any pointers for me.

With that race on the calendar, I’m pretty sure my racing schedule leading up to Angeles Crest is all set. (Fingers crossed on AC – they still haven’t announced whether or not that race is actually happening.)

Indoor ride – Apr 12
Time: 30 min

Strength – Apr 12

Run – Apr 13
Distance: 6.9 miles
Time: 54 min
Course: Weho/Bev Hills
Conditions: Sunny, mid 50’s

Run – Apr 14
Distance: 5.8 miles
Time: 43 min
Course: Neighborhood
Conditions: Sunny, mid 60’s

Yoga – Apr 14