Thanks Scott for all your thoughts here. I ended up finding a used pair of Gignoux boots. The more time I put into training for this the more I realized I just needed to spend the money. The boot was no doubt the biggest weight savings I could make, dropping about 400 grams. That should help.
I know you are right about slope angle. Hard to get perfection on that front with no uphill turns, but the run I’ve got picked out comes pretty darn close.