Moab Red Hot 55k So I entered this race on an impulse, after a friend's recommendation. I brought my wife, boys, and my parents with me and we made a vacation out of it. Saturday morning I awoke at 5 am and drove up the skreet to McDonalds in search of a sausage/egg muffin, hash browns and orange juice. The restaurant was not open at 5 am. Not to be deterred, I went back at 5:45 and got my food. It may seem counter-intuitive (because it is McDonalds) but for me a high calorie breakfast 2-3 hours before a big run does me good. And it did. I never got hungry and had excess energy all the way through the 33 mile run. The race began promptly at 8 am. It was cold but almost everyone wore shorts. Many ladies wore skirts and a few had tights. I went out wearing a red knit hat, red long-sleeve shirt, and short sleeve shirt under. I carried two water bottles and had 3 flasks of gel sitting in my shorts pockets. That is just about all I needed all day; even less than that because one of my full gel flasks bounced out somewhere about mile 8 and I never saw it again. Never even got a taste. I started up front just to get in front of the mass. I hate crowds. Also, I like to watch the fast guys break away. I like to study how they do it. It was interesting. Nobody shot off from the start. We were all just jogging up the road getting warmed up. Then about .5 mile up the line began to spread out. I watched the fast dudes slip away. Meltzer passed me at .9 miles. He stayed in my sight for the next couple miles the ndisappeared into the folds of the terrain. Strategy. A quick but consistent pace gets results. That's what I wanted to do as well, but at mile ten it was obvious I had burned my quads from the strong start. Just past the first aid station - I did not stop - I was running with earphones and saw the shadow of another runner just off my right shoulder about to overtake me. Just looking at the shadow I knew who it was. The funny running gait, the bouncing hair - it was speedy Bob Mueller. Yep. He looked over as he pulled up. "Hey Bob", I said. We ran for the next 3 miles up and up, and jumped down over some technical stuff. He held a strong, fast pace. Good thing he came along when he did because I was fading and his pace was a pick-me-up. We chatted that 3 miles and flew up toward the rim, to the top of Metal Masher. The guy is talented. When I could not keep up the pace any longer I told him I had to let him go. He finished about 40 minutes ahead of me. From the top of Metal Masher I could get quick glances down, thousands of feet down, to the highway where we had started the run. But I did not stop, and I flew down the next few miles. It felt good to go fast down gnarly 4WD terrain. But my quads were screaming at me. They were busted. I knew I would still get through it, and never did I entertain thoughts of DNF. But my time goals began to slip away. I had a very fast 10 miles - 1h23m of solid uphill running - and I knew that with better trained and stronger legs I could have done much better; so I noted that and just kept moving forward and upward best I could. At the second aid I topped off my bottles. I was never stopped at an aid for more than 30 seconds. I never ate the solid food. Of the 5 aid stations, the first and last I did not stop for at all. I am happy to know I have fueling figured out for this type of run. I had tons of energy and never was hungry. Never got dehydrated. The shoes performed well. No blisters. Not even any side projects (poo stops), which for me is significant. Everything went very well except the quads. What can I do to prepare my legs for fast, aggressive uphill racing? If I could have had strong quads I am sure I would have gone under 5 hours, easy. Everything else was in place but that. The course. After a long, cold winter I was delighted to run on dirt and rock again. The course is very scenic. You get your money's worth. It goes from dirt road, to Jeep trail, to extreme Jeep trail, to slick rock, to sandy washes, to rounded sandstone hills... The most challenging segment of the race is the Golden Spike. It is like no other run I have done. The earth is no longer flat. It tilts this way and that. Random turns every 75 yards. Up, then down. Then across. Repeat. Follow the pink ribbons and you will stay on course. I ran with a total stranger for 45 minutes and we helped each other find the route through this meandering course section. At mile 24 a familiar face showed up behind me. Harrison from Farmington. We said hello, then he continued his steady pace through the maze. That's when I shook off the funk I was in and picked up my pace. From there it was solid running to the finish, even if it was slow running. That is when I began to pass many of the 33K participants, and with more people on the path it was easy to see the route and not get lost; therefore it was easy to go faster without the route-finding problem. As mentioned above, as I approached the last aid, I felt the weight of my bottles and decided I did not need to stop. The station was situated mid-point on a climb and I ran right past and up. The desire to finish was strong. A few miles later I passed a runner who had passed me several miles earlier on Jeep road. He didn't like that and passed me back a few miles from the finish. But I made up for it by passing another fella and kept him 30 seconds behind me all the way to the line. Up on the switchback above the finish area I smelled the flavor of delicious food coming on a warm wind from down below. I was close. There were spectators now, perched on boulders, cheering the runners. One last turn and I saw the colorful flags, crowds and vehicles concentrated on the road below. Quads still screaming, I ran quickly over the rocky ground. My mother saw me and shouted. Finished. Felt great. Everything passed with flying colors. Never got sick, never got hot, never bonked, never got asthma. Everything, that is, except those quads. Time for some hill repeats. I mentioned above that we made a vacation of my race in Moab. My legs have not been as sore in quite some time, so getting up and walking around has been painful. But Sunday my wife and boys, and I, and my parents, took a drive into Arches N.P. and we hiked in the Windows area, then drove up the road to Devil's Garden and hiked a few miles in and out. The next day, Monday, we went back into the park and hiked up to Delicate Arch. I even did some up- and downhill running. Legs still sore but I felt that I needed to get the muscles moving. Anyway, a hike to Delicate Arch is dessert after Saturday's 33 mile run.
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