Moab Red Hot 55k

Red Hot ended up being one of those races that you really learn a lot.  Previously I had only done Antelope Island 50k which went fantastic for me.  If felt strong when I finished like I could have done more.  Moab, not so much, but I will get to that later. The week before Moab I was able to get out with my friends Chris and Tim.  It had snowed during the week but the weather was looking nice so we headed up for NOBST and north toward Battle Creek.  I had just purchased the AK race vest and wanted to see how it would preform on a run.  We had a good run and saw tons of deer, but I was sick of the snow and ready for some warmer weather.

Chris in his running man pose

The week coming up to the race I had a minor freak out over (ok I obsessed about it) what shoe's I should wear.  I had been training in NB MT10's for the most part and was worried that my Altra Superior's might not cut it on the slick rock.  After retro fitting my soes with the insoles form my Instincts I felt a little better (I had lost my rock plates and insoles).  Come race day I would find out that I was in good company as I saw and found lots of Altra tracks in the sand.

The reality of the race really started to hit the night before once we got down to Moab.  Steph and I were able to get out a bit early so that we could head out to Arch's NP.  After settling in for the night at our hotel and packing my vest I tried to get some rest.  Steph laughed at me when I suggested that we sleep in separate bed's because I would be probably tossing and turning.  In fact she was looking forward to having one all to herself.  I poke fun but I have to give it to my loving wife for supporting me through my running.

Steph and I at the start

Myself and Dennis

 My friend and fellow running addict Dennis signed up for the race as well.  I am always stoked to have him along.  The man is an animal, last year at Antelope Island he literally ran laps at times waiting for me. This time he didn't run laps but he did wait for me a number of times, hopefully I am getting faster or he is getting slower. I will take either.

Race morning I felt calm and collected except for what to wear.  With the temperatures hovering in the mid 20's I couldn't decide on shorts vs tights or long sleeves vs arm warmers.  I decided on shorts and then with 1 min to go I pulled a Houdini and switched to my arm warmers.  I would be very glad that I did later on.  After that I had everything ready to go and it was as simple and hearing the RD say go and we were off. This time no sprinting like at Antelope, just a nice easy pace as we headed up the road to the canyon above.  After getting to the road in the canyon I heard Dennis ask if this was a good pace (00:09:00).  I knew that I was in for it then.  I thought to myself I would be very lucky if I could maintain that for 34 miles.

Gemini Bridges Road just north of the fork.

 I was feeling very good up through the first aide station.  I did have some rubbing on my neck with my pack but after a few adjustments I worked it out.  The thought had crossed my mind that if it was going to be this easy that I would be good to go, but I knew better.  We shortly dropped down and started our accent up to the Metal Masher and would soon get to taste the slick rock.  The Metal part kept playing tricks on my mind.  I kept switching Metal for Mental.  I guess for me it was all the same as I would figure out on the second half of the course.  The slick rock was deceiving.  At times you could see the elevation and the course changes and at others you were buried in it with no sense of what was coming next.  I saw some people walking after reaching the down hill and roads before the second half but most people were still running, which had me worried that I had not trained hard enough or done enough to prepare.  I learned that, that is the wrong frame of mind for an Ultra and it can and will come back to haunt you if you start thinking that way.

Metal Masher

On the road towards the second half of the course (and 33k route) we met up with this lady who had be chugging along with us off and on.  Dennis and her started up a conversation which gave me great respect for her.  She was 68, I don't remember her name but what I do remember was when I asked her how many races she had ran she said she didn't know.  Casually I asked her if it was in the 60 to 80 range and she quietly said that might be the number for the amount of 100 milers that she had done.  I was in awe.  Not that I really want to run that many 100 milers but I hope I can have that same conversation with someone at that age.

Top of the first climb on Gold Bar

On the second climb is where I must have decided to really test my mental state.  I started second guessing myself, my planning and in general what I had signed up for.  Not really a great place to be 19+ miles into a 34 mile race.  I really started to struggle mentally.  It was at this point that Dennis really started to gain some ground on me. I fought hard to keep my head in the game. At Antelope I never ran into this problem. The only other time I had come close to this feeling was when I did the Utah Half Ironman two years ago, and even then it was nothing like this.  

By the time I got to the top of the first climb my mind and my body were tired.  I was excited at the thought of running along the rim for a while. Perhaps some time on the flats would allow me to recuperate a litte. Wow could I have ever been more wrong.  The next section of the course turned into a drop and climb scenario where you would earn every little climb you came to and the slick rock would make you earn it on the way down as well.  It was at this point that my mind was going numb and I needed a little pick me up.  

I had dug out my headphones at the last aide station and with Dennis ahead of me now I decided now was the time to use them.  For the most part they didn't give the boost that I had expected.  I didn't notice at the time but I had put my iPod on shuffle. Among the rock and mayhem the song "I know my Savor loves me" started to play.  I reached down to switch to the next song, but I stopped and decided to let it play.  It provided me with the spiritual and mental boost that I needed so much, and set my mind right.  Funny how the things you need the most don't always come in the form that you expect.

Finally I had reached the second of the course heading down to the cliff below.  My body felt relieved but I knew better from the blogs that I had read.  This section was described as "Rollers" till you reached the edge of the cliff's and headed down to the finish line. "Rollers" would be a bit of a misnomer as most were like straight up steep slick rock.  I changed my mind to focus on making it up and over each roller and moving to the next.  By the time I saw the last aide station I almost jumped for joy.  I believe my words were "Oh heck ya!"  Dennis being the awesome man he is was waiting for me there. 

The last 3-4 miles were harder than I expected. The flats before heading down seemed to suck the energy out of my legs.  I bombed the down hills where I could, hoping that I wouldn't end up in a pile of rubble at the bottom.  I did find some joy in sliding down a particularly steep section that had ice on it.  My smile must have been a mile wide. When I finally started seeing little kids on the trail I knew I was close and just gave what I had left to get to the finish line.  Nothing climatic, I crossed the line, stood there for a minute.  Stood there for a minute gave Steph a hug and promptly headed over for some oranges.  

Dennis finishing @ 06:35

Its a good thing this isn't a close up

We headed back to the hotel, cleaned up and got some great mexican food.  After that just lounged and took the rest of the night easy.  Steph being the greatest girl in the world even messaged my feet for me.   It took a while but just like everything else it started to sink in.  The whole journey was simply amazing for me.  The ups and especially the downs.  I learned a lot about what I need to change for nutrition and what I need to do mentally.  I hope I get a chance to repeat the experience next year.  Now I am looking forward to Antelope Island here in March.  I am going to approach it with a whole new game plan and a little wiser.