Desert Rats 50k

 

Ok before I get into actual race day, a bit of background info:

1. This school year is....hmmm, what's the best word suitable for the internet?  Challenging.  Since going back to in-person school in January, I have not run during the week.  My training consisted of my weekend long runs and my Monday strength class. 😳

2.  After my last big event, I bought new shoes.  I run in Hokas, Stintson for trail and Arahi for road.  I saw how much cushion there was in the Bondi so I switched back to them for the road. (I had run in Bondis about 2 years back.) During February and March my Achilles started bothering me more and more.  I typically battle Achilles tendinitis off and on and they usually are angry the day after 15+ miles.  However by late March, my Achilles were bothering me DURING runs.  I finally made the connection to the shoes. Maaaybe it was the shoes.  So I didn't wear them for two weeks while resting the Achilles. Then I thought maybe instead of returning them, they could be my super cushiony school shoes.  Well I wore them to school on Friday and was limping before I even got into the building! Unfortunately I was subbing so I could not zip home to change.  It was awful.  I returned the shoes the very next day (one week before Desert Rats).  Road Runners was great about it.  The guy was like, makes sense as the Bondis are neutral while the Arahi shoes are stability shoes.  The next day I volunteered (decided to volunteer vs run the half to give the Achilles time to recover) as a course marshal.  I was standing and walking around for over 4 hours and they didn't hurt at all! So fast forward four days and I am packing for the trip.  I had to make the decision:  do I wear my trail shoes that do not have stability or my new road shoes that do have stability????? I opted to support my Achilles and wear the road shoes.  While I stand by this decision (my Achilles did not hurt at all the entire race day) it did cause lots of blisters as I size up my trail shoes but not in my road shoes.  😬

Start line jitters with Betty!

Now, on to race day:

The host town was Fruita, CO but the actual event was two exits west at the Kokopelli trail head and surrounding trails.  New this year was the bus system. There was no parking or camping allowed at the start.  All runners had to take the shuttles from Fruita's high school. The system was excellent.  They did not skimp on buses/drivers so they were continually running every 15 minutes or so.  The most we waited to leave was five minutes. 

Due to COVID, the event started with age group waves.  At 7 the elites for both the 50k and marathon started.  Followed by the marathon waves.  The 50k waves started at 8. My group started at 8:20.  

As I lined up with my age group, I noticed that 20-30% of the runners had poles.  I panicked a little as I debated bringing my poles but decided not to carry them.  They were sitting in my bag at the VRBO.  At that point there was nothing I could do about it but yep, they would have been nice to have for sure.  I longingly thought about them a fair few times during the day.

It was 5.9 miles to the first Aide Station (Moore Fun). We started out on a gently rolling dirt road. About a half mile in we started a gradual uphill and then eased down to our first hard right turn.  I knew it was coming but that first climb was a doozy.  

I was wondering how far I would get before some bad ass 50+ runners zipped by me (it was about mile two or three).  It was a hard climb to the top but not terrible as it had lots of switch backs to assist. One of the people who passed me was a woman. We chit chatted a little. She asked if I had run this event in the past. When I said no, she warned me about the climb right after the last aide station.  I remembered the big climb on the elevation profile near the end.  I figured it would be similar to this first climb. 

The backside of the first climb is described on the website course description as "a rugged decent."  This was my first experience with the loose rocks on the the run. While I was able to go a lot faster, I had to be super cognizant of foot placement so as to not trip or turn an ankle.  Little did I know this would be my only bomber section as the rest of the downhill sections were even more technical.  

Once the trail leveled out, I had some fun on the rolling single track to the first aide station.  Volunteers took my number (great system in place, excellent volunteers) and I zipped by to tackle the extra loop for the 50k runners. 

At any running event, I always start without music or books.  I enjoy taking in the early morning sounds and really stay focused on the experience.  The best advise I ever got before my first ultra was: Do not think of it as the full distance; just run to the next aide station.  There were 5 aide stations so 6 sections.  After the first aide station I turned on a book for the next loop. This rolling loop offered the first views of the Colorado River. It was beautiful.  This section also had a fair number of mountain bikers.  It wasn't so bad though because they were sure to announce themselves coming up from behind and most of them even cheered me on! YAY!  Plus, the trail was a bit wider and made for easy passing.

Coming back into the More Fun aide station I only had eyes for the...Port-o-Potty. That's right, I admit it.  Added bonus, it had toilet paper AND hand sanitizer! Wahoo! Back to the aide station I filled up on Tailwind. I appreciated them telling me it was a bit diluted as they ran out of powder.  I made a mental note to be sure to eat more food in the next section to make up for the tailwind calories.  I turned off the audio book since it required too much focus which I could not give it.  (Normally I do my school librarian homework and listen to kids books.  This time I was listening to the first book in an adult saga series, Red Rising.) 

We ran along the full U.

 It was 4.1 miles to Pizza Overlook Aide Station. I headed out listening to music which was great because the first section was another climb.  The course felt like it was climbing or descending but very few flat sections.  Thank goodness it was beautiful.  More mountain bikers which got a bit annoying but I was rockin' out to some pretty great tunes so it was all good. 

I arrived at the Pizza Aide station and they cheered me in and asked me if I would like to do the limbo for a prize.  Ummmm hello!!!!! It's not an ultra event unless there is something ridiculous thrown in! So of course I did the limbo and earned myself a Pink Pineapple Slap Bracelet.  It was totally worth it.  I am so proud.   CRUSHED IT.

After the limbo they congratulated me and then told me to move along quickly as I only had until 1:30 to get to next aide station.  I was a bit confused by this but was like ok I can totally go 3.4 miles to next aide station (Crossroads) in an hour! So off I went eating some pringles all confident.  The first mile or so was soooooo beautiful.  We ran along the edge of the mesa overlooking the Colorado River.  Stunning and relatively flat! My confidence was sky high to make that cutoff but then... it was all climbing, again.  Felt like waaaaay further than 3.4 miles. I spent the last 45 minutes mathing and trying to come to terms with my first DNF.  Here are some thoughts from that time:

Running along the edge was fun!

"My first DNF. It had to happen at some point might as well be after not doing any weekday runs for the last ten weeks.
This is ridiculous; I will just push a bit harder.
Yeah but I'm like really really tired. If I DNF, I can just go drink beer.
This is weird, I thought the website said 2:30 cutoff. I must have misread that.
Being done wouldn't be so bad. At least it wouldn't be because I quit for no good reason. 
Buuuut I really do want that finish line. 
Watch says .8 miles to go.  Can I do that in ten minutes?  all uphill? Damn, ok beer it is and that's that."

I arrived at the aide station 3 minutes after the cut off.  As I was approaching I heard them say they should radio over to the Pizza aide station because it was a 2:30 cutoff, not 1:30.  I started laughing and rearranged my thinking into, "let's do this!"  A volunteer refilled my pack with Tailwind. I asked her to fill it all the way up because I was taking in the water like a fish.  I pulled out a zip lock baggie from my pack and filled it with pickles saying, "don't judge me" to the aide station crew.  I headed out.  I downed all the pickles because I needed a lift now that I wasn't DNFing and going for beer. 

Squeeee! I tiny bit of flat trail!

I actually really liked this section.  With 6.5 miles to next aide station (Troybuilt), it had incredible views of the Colorado River and the cliffs.  I continued to listen to music to power me through the ups and downs of the trail. This is the section that I came to terms with my blisters.  I was in denial earlier but there was no way to pretend anymore.   

I finally made it into the Troybuilt Aide Station.  The volunteers here were so encouraging.  I really liked their vibe. They offered me all sorts of foods.  I sipped a little pickle juice.  After lollygagging for a bit, I heaved a sigh and thought no time like the present.  I had 6.8 miles to the finish line.

The woman who warned me about the climb after the last aide station was not joking.  Looking only at the elevation chart it would be reasonable to assume it is similar to the first big climb.  However, this climb was not single track up switch backs.  This was jeep road up! The kind that you look at and just laugh at the absurdity then power through.  (For reference, it is similar to the Coalton climb but that climb is about 265 ft while this climb was about 750 ft.) At the top there were campsites and amazing views overlooking to the west.  It would be a fantastic place to camp when it's not too hot.  At this point my sister, Lisa, texted to check on me.  So I sent her a melodramatic voice text saying I thought I had died along side the trail on the climb up and this was my ghost running to the finish line.  I passed a few people in this section. Yeah, I was going at a nice clip at this point because the top leveled out to a very gentle climb and was not technical at all. 

The trail brought us to the edge of a cliff. Down below I could see the finish line.  Any other race and the last three miles down to the finish would have been fun.  However, my knees were mad from all the downhill breaking avoiding rocks. Plus something gnarly was going on with my left big toe so anytime it touched the shoe it hurt. I actually stubbed it twice on the way down causing a spasm of pain.  The first time I was surprised by it; so, I let loose a series of words only suitable to pirates. I actually looked around to see if I frightened anyone.  Pretty sure there are some traumatized squirrels on that ridge. 

Coming in and out of the trees seeing the finish line, the trail sent us away from the finish to switchback down.  It was a mental battle but I got there.  I was so happy to finish.  I could see my friends Rey and Betty at the finish line.  Cowbells and cheers fueled the last meters.  I crossed the finish and got my finisher medal.  I love a well-earned finish with friends.  

Take Aways:

• This was my first experience running a Gemini Adventures event.  I would run with them again. 
• Training matters. Yes of course I knew this already but now I really really know it.  
• Shoes matter. I had no idea shoes had so much power.  I will need to look into a trail shoe with stability.  I like the cushion of the Hoka Stintons so I will start from there. 
• This race confirmed that my body responds very well to Tailwind.  That and the Crumbl sugar cookie.  600 calories and they practically melt in your mouth. I split it into two halves so they fit easily in a zip lock in my front pack pocket.  Plus it was easy math to space out the calories. 
• Fun discovery: Indian food for dinner after the race was awesome! We ordered from Karma Kitchen on main street. Not the best naan but everything else was delicious.