It’s time for another lap. Hardrock starts tomorrow at six.

It’ll be my 4th time participating, and my 3rd trip in the counter-clockwise direction. That is, the race heads towards Lake City, then over Handies Peak, to Ouray, then Telluride, Ophir, and back to Silverton. Familiar as it has become, like a lot of Colorado, the San Juans are still buried in snow up high, so it makes it tough to predict how things will go. Snowy passes can be slow post-holing in the daytime heat, yet those same passes might be firm, slippery, and dangerous in the middle of the night. Of course it can also makes things faster.

Also on the “news” front, a reroute out of Telluride is reportedly adding a few miles to the course, and apparently they aren’t compensating for it by shortening the course elsewhere. I guess the thinking is that after 100 miles, what’s another three?

Added miles, snow, high water, the seemingly extra competitive field this year — there’s a laundry list of potential stresses, much as there is every year. The pre-race meeting/scene made it sound pretty challenging out there. But for me, I’ve always done best by just looking at it as though I’m just taking on the course and clock, and nothing else.

That said, I’m anxious to get going. With help from Christy, Tim, Sean and Chase Edgerton, however it goes, I’m sure it’ll be a memorable one.

You can follow the day at the Hardrock Live page here

And new this year, for those who simply can’t get enough, there’s webcam video footage throughout the race on the race homepage here.