Sacagawea.  Even the name sounds intimidating.  Rising from the plateau twenty miles west of Bozeman, the peak of Sacajawea is the first major hurdle on the Bridger.   After getting up around 5am and hitching rides to the starting line, runners shiver in clumps in the pre-dawn chill at Fairy Lake (6,000 feet) waiting to start in one of five pre-assigned waves.

The first two and a quarter miles of climbing/running is guaranteed to sap the pre-race energy out of even the most grizzled Bridger veteran.  Countless switchbacks navigate the unforgiving 1,800 foot climb.  The peak of Sacagawea looms ahead like a mirage, never closer, only further, further uphill.  Once conquered — if conquered — runners still face 17.5  miles of roller coaster running, including 5,000 feet of additional climbs, and almost double that in downhill.   But, I tell myself, summit Sacagawea — without exhausting spirit and limbs — and it’s Game On.

So how to prep for Sacagawea?  And how to train for it at sea level?  Mt. Tamalpais, at 2400 feet and visible from my bedroom window, beckons me.  With trail maps at hand, I’m plotting the shortest, most unforgiving route up Tam.   Out my front door and following the narrowing street as it rises beside the creek bed.  Up the aptly named “Zig Zag” trail to Matt Davis Trail and then up Hoo Koo E’Koo.  Ultimately reaching the West Point Inn, more than 1600 feet up Mt. Tam in just over three miles of running/climbing/stumbling.  I’m not ready for that yet, but over time I will need to build up to making that trek to West Point, and then turn around and do it again.  The ultimate hill repeat!  Seriously?  Me?  I try not to think about it now.  Baby steps.  Building up core strength and teaching the body to drain fat reserves at zone 2, which will serve me well on that fateful first climb on August 13….