A couple more races completed in the last two weekends. Haven't had a solo race since May in Prescott, Arizona, so I knew it would be a challenge to get back in the competitve mode.
Xterra puts on a regional trail series that I'd heard about through Ryan who ran in one of their events on the east coast earlier this year. This would be my first trail race and was a tough way to start!
This race was up on Estrella Mountain just outside of Phoenix and had two options, an 8k or a 20k. I chose the latter and got everything I could handle. It was steep, sandy, hot, rocky... and awesome! There was somewhere around 80 runners in the 20k and many of them were pretty darn good trail runners. As bascially a novice, I held my own and finished ahead of my goal time. I found out real quick just how many other muscles get used when sticking to the trails... I had to run on some sore legs for the next two days to get ready for the race the following Sunday. I had gone considerably farther when running with Ryan for the CC100 but since we did a fair amount of hiking I thought my legs my be less damaged. Wrong.
Nonetheless, Xterra put on a very nice event with great support and a killer breakfast after the race. Will definitely be looking forward to their next event in the series.
Seven days later I found it necessary to drive out into the middle of nowhere and abuse my body even further. Arizona Road Racers put on a free event (donations welcome) which was an 18 mile trail run in Sunflower, Arizona. It's about 50 miles NE of Phoenix so you get up into some eleveation and some green!
I grossly underestimated how long it would take me to get to the race start and also was unaware that I'd be driving my little sports car on Jeep roads to get there.... The race start was at 8am and I pulled in at 7:56 - plenty of time to stretch, warm-up, get loose.... Especially after and hour and a half car ride..... Perfect.
I walked up to the fold out table where a nice older woman was sitting and asked if this was where I check in. She said it was, I gave her my name, and she wrote it on the back of a piece of paper. Pretty official. Keep in mind I'm no snob about the way this whole race took place. It was actually very refreshing and the relaxed atmosphere was really cool. Just the polar opposite to a Rock n Roll event which can be a bit over the top. The lady, race director, was telling someone else about the 100 miler she completed earlier that year at Umstead State Park in Raleigh, North Carolina! No kidding, the same trails I run with Ryan when I visit and the same event where he volunteered earlier this year!
Anyway, I threw my shoes on, fired up my GPS, strapped up my water pack, touched my toes a couple times and in 3 and a half minutes was checked in, stretched and ready to blast 18 miles into the wilderness. So the check in lady walks up to the Jeep road where the other 20 runners are standing (yes, 20 runners) and says, "ok guys, stick to the 201 road until you get to the single track. It's really overgrown so be careful and follow the pink ribbons...." And along with a barely audible beep of her wrist watch she calmly said, "Go."
The only thing I knew about this race was that it was on mostly jeep roads with some single track and that it started at 3900 feet and its high point was just over 6000 feet. What I didn't know was that we would go from the start, straight up to over 6000 feet. It wasn't rolling or gradual up and downs, it was straight freaking up! So I go from flat ground and treadmill training runs to the Xterra race to a 6 and half mile 2100 foot hill climb. Righteous. However, the weather was perfect in the mid 60's for race start and the scenery was really nice. Aside from a light breeze (and my wheezing) it was as quiet and peaceful as can be.
From mile 7 to 10 it was more up and down as it sort of leveled off in the mile high territory. This race had only one aid station and it was somewhere around mile 10 where a nice volunteer had her truck loaded up with all kinds of good stuff: fruit, water, GU, chips, M&M's. I refilled my water pack, chatted with the volunteer for just a bit, grabbed some salty chips and hit the trail section.
Overgrown was an understatement. This 4 mile trail section was at times barely visible. And the overgrowth was not grass and soft bushes but thorny sticks and branches that would catch your clothes, tearing them and any skin it got into contact with as well. Even so, the trail section was very fun and a different challenge altogether. At times it passed through a dry riverbed and at others it turned and peaked up into the baking sun which was now up into the upper 70's. Many times I just had to cross my arms in front of my face and blast through sections of shrubs. Thankfully this was only a 4 mile stretch and not the whole course.
I cleared the bush around mile 14 to more jeep roads to the finish. By this time my hip flexors were getting a little crabby from all the hill work but running still felt pretty effortless and I was happy with my overall stamina. I was shredded up pretty good from the thorns but nothing causing an overwhelming loss of blood. My shorts and shirt however now resemble a cats scratching post.
The final 4 miles were really nice and mostly a gradual downhill. I cruised into the finish line, which was a pink ribbon drug across the road, to 6 or 7 people clapping and whistling. The race director, I think her name was Deb, looked at her watch and wrote my time on a piece of scratch paper with the other finisher names and times on it. She congratulated me and led me to a table with chips, cookies and water. I hung around for a half hour or so to watch a few others finish so I could repay the cheers and whistles!
All in all this race was a ton of fun. No one cared who won, or what time we finished in. It was just about 20 people getting up into the great outdoors and getting after it. It was incredibly challenging for numerous reasons and I'm glad I got the opportunity to be involved (even though I almost missed the huge race start festivities!)
Big thanks to Deb and the aide station lady for setting this up and giving me an unforgettable running experience!
What's next?
Luke
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