Moab Red Hot 55K (or so).
I am pleased I survived! It was windy, rainy, sunny, but mostly just windy. I am not going to provide too many details as I am now on vacation, but just a few.
The big news was that Aaron has the hand up in the first of our 3 part race off. But only by just over a minute. It could have been much worse. I am pretty pumped for our impromptu race series we have now begun. Yes its true that the current score is now, Aaron 1, Cody 0. But just watch out for race #2 (Logan Peak). I may have a surprise or 2 for him there. I have a feeling that it will come down to the big showdown at RRR 50 in Sept. Fun stuff.
So, the nitty gritty.
I woke up a few times during the night to howling winds outside our hotel. A bad omen for a 5 hour race. It rained off and on before the start and while waiting at the start line, I was torn on how to dress. I feared another "Pocatello" (freeze fest) and wore my St George Running Center Jacket over 3 shirts and arm warmers. There were times in the first 17 miles that I was glad that I had the extra jacket, but I was happy to shed the jacket at mile 17 in Aaron's drop bag. Turned out that rain was not the issue, it was just the wind. Man, did it howl. Since most of the race is spent on top of a large plateau, there wasn't a lot of shelter from the wind. Alright, whinning is over. At least for now.
The race started off with a nice gradual climb up to the top of the plateau. I was consciously holding back and conserving for later. The lead pack was GONE and I was happily in my own world 20-25 people back. I soon found myself running with Anita Ortiz stride for stride for a good 2 miles or so before she pulled away and won the women's race. That first section of the course was actually pretty quick despite holding back as it was on a packed dirt road (Gemini Bridges Road). I hit the 5 mile point in about 40 mins flat. Up to that point things had felt easy. Well, things got much harder as we turned onto the Metal Masher Loop. Its a 12 mile or so loop that takes you up about a thousand feet over and around slickrock. It wasn't as hard as what was to follow, but it was a kick in the pants compared to the easy road stuff. It was spectacular though as the views from that trail are amazing. All through that loop I fought the wind, my jacket, and my body as it started to complain as well. I even had to watch Aaron (my new arch nemesis) pull away from me as I puttered along at a snails pace.
Miles 5-10 were covered in 45 mins. Not too bad, since it was a net up-hill. The problem was that miles 10-15 were covered in 42 mins and gave all that elevation back. I noticed a disturbing trend at this point. I didn't have a fast downhill gear. I could tell my lack of proper training and lack of consistent vertical had not trained my quads to handle the load.
In my option, the lamest part of the course was the 4 mile stretch from Mile 14 to 18 as it was right into the stiff wind. Sure, it was pretty flat and smooth, but the wind just sapped my strength. Never mind though as the race was half over, Aaron had 2+ min gap (by my last glimpse on a long straight section) and I was tired and ready to get this thing done already. Not a good attitude to carry into the toughest section of the course. Goodbye road and say hello to Gold Bar Trail. It consisted of soft sand and hard slickrock. Nothing in between. Sure, it was pretty, not as windy, but we were climbing again. Miles 15-20 were covered in
45 mins again. Miles 20-25 took an even hour. It was ugly. Relentless climb, descent, turn, climb, descend, turn etc. The good news was that Aaron was taking it so easy through here (or so he claims), that I caught him with a bit of a push to spend some time chatting. It was sure nice to have someone to help out the navigating duties as it takes full concentration to make it to the next marker without getting lost. It sure helped pass the time as well. While running with Aaron, I noticed that he was much quicker on the downhill sections and I had to work hard to keep up with him. In fact, once we hit some mild downhill that finally wasn't what most people call jumping off huge boulders, he was gone. It took him about a quarter mile and then he was out of sight. Crap.
Oh well, at least I was catching a few runners here and there and I felt like I was going to make it the the finish without a helicopter ride. Miles 25-30 were covered in 49 mins. Not great considering that we were now descending, but in my defense it was pretty rocky and technical (slickrock) as were were now on the Golden Spike Trail.
The final push to the finish was sparked by catching the #2 girl. Plus there was this guy (I should look up his name) with a green jacket who had been about a minute ahead of me for half the day and I was going to beat him, even if it killed me. That plus the nice downhill DIRT road (Poison Spider Road) made all the difference as I started to get some of my downhill gear back. My last mile and a half was at 7:37 pace. It sure felt faster than that, but at least it wasn't another 11 min mile. I passed green jacket guy and I even thought I saw Aaron way off in the distance, but I wasn't sure. The finish line happily came and it was all over. I had quietly predicted 5 hours and was really trying to make it under that mark, but just missed it. Oh well, I gave it all I had from about mile 5 to the finish and I have to be pleased that it turned out as well as it did.
I was able to even enjoy the whole weekend as my wife and I had left the kids with my mom and enjoyed some time together. We hiked Delicate Arch and the window arches (about 4 miles of walking) the day after the race in the sunshine. The only complaints I had were a horrible pain in my "other" knee and my two big toe nails that will probably fall off now (I guess slamming my toes into the front of shoes while running down slickrock is hard on them). Time will tell how those injuries turn out. Its all worth it though. Despite being the hardest (literally, since the slickrock is hard) course, it is also the most scenic (this side of El Vaquero Loco). I would recommend this race to anyone crazy enough to consider a silly thing as this.
T-5:01:13 3900' Vert Climbing 4300' Vert Descending 
- Pics
Finishing 
Tired! 
Aaron and I at the finish 
Glad To Be DONE! Pics of Arches - 
Balanced Rock 
Delicate Arch 
Me and my better half 
What a gorgeous day!
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