Olga and I made the long drive out to Albuquerque this weekend to run in the debut Cedro Peak Ultramathon. Several months ago, when I signed up for this event, my plan was to really put out a solid effort.. But, as the training progressed slower than expected, I soon realized just finishing should be the primary goal.
Pulling into Santa Rosa, NM for a lunch break on our Friday drive, I realized just how true "just finishing" would be. I was short of breath just walking into a local truckstop Subway at the scant elevation of 4,700 feet. That evening, a piercing headache would develop while hanging out at 7,200 feet and close to the 7,700 feet where the race would start.
The next morning, our friend Bobby, with whom we were staying, along with his wife Diane, stated "it's 23 degrees outside". Thankfully, it would be a few degrees warmer at the start, which was just a few miles from his house.
The race began promptly at 6am in the dark with both the 45 mile and 45 kilometer runners beginning simultaneously. I chose not to wear a headlamp since the darkness would give way to light in about 20 minutes. Thankfully, it worked out great as I tucked in behind a group of runners and used their lights to help me along the rocky trail. It's funny how much racing goes on in the first few miles of an ultra and it was entertaining to watch. I made a point to take it very easy early on since I had no clue who was running which race as the bibs didn't provide much of a clue. The other interesting thing was how labored my breathing was, even on downhill sections. I haven't done much LT work this year and it defnitely showed, although I just think I had troubles this time around at altitude. It was like trying to breath through a straw or even one of those tiny mixing straws, at times.
Early in the race, I made it a point to not pay attention to how many miles I had ran cumulatively and wanted it to stay that way. But, at the point where the 45 milers separated onto a different course than the 45k'ers, a volunteer said "14 miles down!". I really didn't want to hear that. Regardless, it was great to be away from the 45k race as it was becoming tiresome dealing with the cat and mouse "racing" that was going on. I find peace in being out on the trail alone and that's basically where I was for much of the remainder of the race.
The crux of the race is the "powerline" and it lived up to it's billing, especially when we hit it the second time from the north side after the 25 mile (Coyote) aid station. It does a few rollers, at first, before the main climb. Then, it's about an 800 feet ascent in less than a mile on an aggressive line sraight up. But, I enjoyed it as best I could as I put my head down and just focused on griding all the way up. Even managed to pass two guys in this section. There would be six more to pass before the finish as I was pushed by the motivation to "hunt". It's a game I play with myself during a few races to keep myself motivated. I had gone out fairly slow for the first 25 miles since I wanted to have as much energy, as possible, to push up the powerline.
The remainder of the race was uneventful, thanks to staying completely on top of nutrition the entire day (that's 22 GU's folks!). I had zero blisters, which has to be a first for me at this distance and makes recovery much more pleasurable. The course was much tougher and rockier than would be expected in these mountains, compared to the nearby Sandias. The rocks aren't an issue, thankfully, since I train on identical trail footing and it was at altitude and in the mountains, so "tougher" is to be expected from a flatlander.
My finish time (9:26.50) was about as good as I could have expected, given the altitude and my current fitness level. I would have preferred to run up more of the flat climbs, but wasn't confident that my endurance would have held up for the entire race--ergo, lack of fitness. My leg held up and gave me no problems, other than the first few warmup miles. Today, I have to keep reminding myself that the race was just about finishing and being able to have minimal recovery time before getting straight back into training because that is most important. I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around going longer in a race right now. We'll see how it goes..., but it's heading in the right direction and that's what matters most.
2 comments:
There is no "we'll see", honey, I plan to run you down at BH100! You did such a great job at staying your own race there, and I think that's one of your best things. often, it is so much smarter when we have lower expectations and then stay within. It was awesome to see you both passing by, and then waiting for me at the finish.
Awesome run, buddy!
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