Training Log Archive: Bash

McDowell Mountain Frenzy - 50K
Phoenix (Fountain Hills), Arizona

The plan had been to run The Bad Thing 50K in October, build up to a 50 miler in early December, then start skiing and snowshoeing.

None of that worked out. Between volunteer projects and a persistent upper respiratory infection, it's been a lousy autumn for exercise. I did The Bad Thing 50K on very little training and when I was still fighting bronchitis in mid-November, I switched to the 50K for McDowell Mountain but I wasn't able to train properly for that either. Since there is no snow for skiing or snowshoeing, that part of the plan will have to wait too.

Regardless, a weekend in Arizona with good friends still sounded like an excellent way to kick off the holiday season.

I hadn't expected that the Race HQ would be just inside the park boundary and that we would be able to park less than 1 minute from the starting line, check in for the race in 30 seconds and take drop bags to collection points only 10 meters away. So Browner, Dee, 'Bent and I had lots of time to hang out, cheer for Storm when the 50 milers started and admire the desert scenery at sunrise.







'Bent was thrilled to discover free pre-race coffee. [Edit: I think I see a tea bag in that cup. Horrors!]



Browner and Dee did some pre-race physio. They were both doing the 25K. Dee had been planning on the 50 miler too but she's recovering from an injury. They both did really well so I guess the physio worked.









Although 'Bent and I were both doing the 50K, we wouldn't see each other on the race course so we got a photo together beforehand.



One of the buttons on my Ambit wasn't working so for the first 17 minutes of the race, I tried different things until I finally got it started. I wasn't running with earphones so my only constant companion was going to be my GPS watch and I would have really missed that feedback. (I've used 'Bent's Garmin total distance and elevation gain for this log entry.)

The desert scenery was beautiful and fascinating for someone from Ontario. As the temperature rose to 22C, I missed the shade of our forests.







There weren't many big climbs and I discovered that running on flat trails can be tiring in a different way.





There was some coyote scat but not as much as we see regularly on our trails in Palgrave. I did see a coyote, however, which rarely happens here.

Some of the trails were smooth and sandy while others had small rocks, some fixed and some loose. I lifted my feet higher but about 12K from the finish, I caught my toe on a rock that was hiding in the shadows and did a hard face plant. It knocked my breath out and I landed in gravel with scrapes to my right knee and elbow and the palms of both hands. I walked for a few minutes and used antibacterial wipes to clean the dirt out of my cuts. So glamorous.

I passed a few runners who were having a lot of trouble with the heat. I drank a lot by my standards and felt fine although I certainly noticed the heat. It was an uneventful day - just enjoying the scenery and saying hello to passing mountain bikers. I didn't approach it as a race, given my poor preparation.

This was the sixth 50K I've run and each of them has been a Personal Worst (the first was also a PB) until this one. It was easier than The Bad Thing so this was only my 2nd slowest 50K. Yay, I guess! This is definitely not my distance but it was the right distance for today. I was about 3/4 of the way back in the field.



There was a charity beer garden at the finish line - a great way to keep people around to cheer for the rest of us.



'Bent had been bothered by the heat and a sore knee but he still had a great 10th place finish in the 50K.







There was a portable wood-fired pizza oven. Every 50K and 50 mile racer got a pizza, and they were available for purchase by other racers. Yummy!



It was fortunate that I switched from the 50 miler since it meant that we could go back to the hotel for showers and dinner at a reasonable hour. Storm suffered in the unaccustomed heat but persevered to pull out a 6th place finish. Great job!





This was a well-organized event in a cool landscape - well worth doing, even though I don't see many desert races in my future. We went for margaritas and Mexican food afterward. I definitely see more of *that* in my future!

Here is 'Bent's GPS track since mine is missing the first bit.
http://ar.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?sessioni...

To Phoenix for a nice dinner with Browner, Storm, Dee and 'Bent. We're going for a desert run bright and early tomorrow.

Chatty night run west of Hilton Falls with Funderstorm and Bugsinteeth. We parked at Currie Tract and carried some maps but they only seemed to correspond with reality once in awhile. Fortunately, I'd brought a compass that proved very useful in guessing which direction to turn at each junction. We did two loops, which allowed Funderstorm to get a fresh battery for her fading light.

Then we pigged out at the Mohawk Chophouse - yum! Great to catch up and hang out. Simpy, we missed ya.

And people think adventure racing is a weird pastime!
Canadian found with turtles in pants pleads guilty to smuggling

"He was caught last year at a border crossing with 51 snappers taped to his body."

A rare study has been published on extreme ultrarunning - a 4,487 km race from southern Italy to northern Norway over a 2-month period with no rest days.

The good news: Although joint cartilage degraded at first, it began to regenerate after awhile. There was surprisingly little damage to the body. The scientists concluded that the human foot is meant for running.

The bad news: Brain volume decreased! Runners lost an average of 6.1% of their grey matter by the end of the race. It was back to normal after 8 months. (Not very helpful since most of us foolishly register for our next race long before our brains start working again!)
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20151130/Research...