I will weigh in with the opposite point of view from going all out in the PPA. I doubled for the first time last year after doing 3 PPAs and 1 PPM during the preceding 10 years. My goal was to have a good PPM and keep my Wave 1 qualification by going sub-4:15 on at least one of the ascents. I got to Barr Camp in just about 2 hours during the PPA feeling really good and told myself to slow down, finishing the ascent in 4:08. My priorities at the Summit were rehydration and nutrition, and getting down and off my feet as soon as possible. I was feeling good all afternoon and was really looking forward to Sunday. As a previous poster said, I felt slightly stale Sunday but things worked themselves out by the Ws. I was still somewhat conservative going up in order to save my legs for the pounding to come, but beat my previous day's ascent time by over 8 minutes, reaching the top in just under 4:00. I used another more experienced trail runner as a pacer and had a great downhill, lopping off almost half an hour from my previous PPM descent time to set a PR of 6:17. The weekend could not have possibly gone any better! For me, not racing the PPA and saving myself for the downhill of the PPM was definitely the right strategy. You just have to prioritize your goals! Congratulations in advance and enjoy your achievement! I'm doubling this year too -- as a summit sherpa/course marshal!
