Oops, I did it Again

Last year I was totally shattered after La Ruta. Although I was glad that I had finished, I said that I wouldn't do La Ruta again because nobody needed to torture themselves like that more than once. I knew that I had lucked out with good weather and saw it as a small miracle that I'd even finished. I'd never done something so hard or been so close to failure after such a concerted effort. While I appreciated the spiritual journey, I hated that La Ruta had almost conquered me. I'm supposed to do the conquering. I think that's one of the main reasons I had to come back and do it again.

Some (myself included) would say that this year's La Ruta was easier than last, others would say it was harder. Weather, terrain, distance, all play a factor. The only way that I can think of to normalize for these factors is to look at how the veterans did, year over year. Ten time finisher Heart Akerson was about two hours slower this year. Erik and Gerry also added a couple of hours to their time. Even repeat winner Frederico Ramirez was slower (albeit by a mere 12 minutes). I shaved almost four hours off my time from last year. More important than that, there was no crying this year and I woke up the day after the race feeling like I could actually do something. 

I like challenging myself and pushing my limits. Perhaps it's two times lucky, particularly given my mechanical rescues on days 1 and 2, but I think I've sufficiently satisfied myself that finishing La Ruta wasn't a fluke. Now it's time to look ahead to something new. Anyone have some good ideas?