adventures in plodding...

Took part in the 6 hour 'fun run' as part of the '24 hours of Utah' race series.

I was browsing races a few weeks ago in search of a 5k/10k that I could do in late March as a fitness test. After some perusing, I came upon this "6 hour nighttime fun run" taking place on the trails of Moab and quickly decided that was the next best thing. This event also includes just about every ultra distance you could think of (50k, 100k, 100 mile, 24 hour, along with some relay team options). It all takes place on a 5.4 mile trail loop on the Monitor & Merrimac trails just north of Moab.

I hadn't really done much in the way of long runs before this race, but figured what better way to get the miles in than with a supported long run with friends? As an added bonus, the 6 hour run was slated from 6pm to midnight, with all other events beginning at 7am, so I figured there'd be quite a few folks out there at any given time who looked worse than I did regardless. Also, trails, nighttime, sunset, MOAB!

Lest anyone be disappointed, I should state up front that I had no intention of actually running for 6 hours. Mostly I just wanted to get in a good long run effort, enjoy myself, and use it as a means of exploring the ultrarunning scene a bit to decide if I could be my 'thing' at some point. Given recent training, I decided I'd be happy with about 3 loops (16+ miles) and possibly 4 if things were going great. I possibly could be capable of more, but didn't want to risk too big a shock to the system. Also being my first experience with such an event and not having any familiarity with the trail, I knew it would be very touch-and-go and just hoped I wouldn't be ready for bed halfway through the first loop.

Loop 1 - "Come on the risin' wind, we're goin' up around the bend."

There were only 5-6 fun runners to toe the line, but with all the other events from the morning still going on, there was still a fair amount of hardy competitors out there. As far as the course goes, it was basically laid out like a balloon (a big fat balloon). From the start/finish hub, you headed down a dirt road for about a quarter mile before branching off into the loop. They had runners alternate directions, with those on odd number loops going clockwise and those on even numbered loops going counter-clockwise (at before everybody lost count and started winging it), so you were frequently encountering people going the other way, which was nice. The loop seemed to be just the right size where there was never too much traffic, but you seldom went more than a few minutes without seeing somebody.

The course can be divided into 3 basic parts: dirt road - singletrack - slickrock. After heading down the dirt road, you eventually come to the singletrack, which has some gentle ups and downs, but is pretty flat for the most part. There are a couple brief stretches that are quite sandy - like 'beach' sandy - which can be a bit of an energy sapper and fill your shoes with some 'souvenirs' to take home. The back side of the single track (if you're running clockwise) on the latter part of the loop also parallels a stream and has some small creek crossings that you keep dancing over. The singletrack then opens onto the slickrock, where you essentially do a loop around a giant rock structure that's pretty neat looking. The first part is uphill, the second part is downhill, and then back to the singletrack on the other side. Just over '600 feet of climbing on the entire loop, so not super gnarly, but still enough to slow down a weak climber like me.

I made Andrea remind me not to race people at the start and seemed to hold to that pretty well. I was in 3rd at the beginning, behind a younger guy who shot off pretty quickly and an older guy. I passed the older guy after a few minutes and held that position for the duration of the loop. We took off into a bit of a headwind, which made some intermittent appearances, but wasn't too bad for most of the way. Very pretty scenery on the entire loop, especially up on the slickrock. I managed to run most of the climbs on the first loop, but also mixed in some powerhiking to conserve some energy. Breathing and heart rate were pretty elevated at this point, but recovered quickly after hitting the top. Kept a pretty good clip going down the slickrock and back onto the singletrack, keeping things controlled and managed to not take any nasty spills for a change. About a mile out, I came across a guy flying a remote controlled airplane that looked a bit like a demonic dinosaur from my vantage point. I briefly wondered if I was getting any early start on the hallucinations and was pumped that they included demonic dinosaurs, but alas, I saw him carrying the thing out when I was starting my second loop, so I suspect it was real, bizarrely enough.

Came into the checkpoint feeling pretty solid, took my handheld water bottle & Gu from Andrea and quickly made it back out in about 2 minutes. Total time for the loop was just over 50 minutes (I didn't wear the Garmin so I wouldn't be obsessing over meaningless mile splits and messing up my head) - pretty solid with the powerhiking involved. I was shooting for somewhere in the 50-55 minute range, not really knowing what the terrain would be like, so I was happy to be at the faster end of the range and feeling good.

Loop 2 - "I'm coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine"

Did not feel great early on in this loop. The legs were still good, but my stomach wasn't too happy. I didn't really feel nauseous, just kind of bloated, which isn't so much conducive to running. Andrea later scolded me for not drinking enough water with my Gu, so perhaps that was the culprit. Fortunately the blah-ness was starting just as we got to the slickrock climbs, so it was a good time to slow down anyway and just work on hiking up as a good clip. I also got passed by another fun runner on this loop. She opened a short gap, then I stubbornly caught back up, then she left me in the dust for good as she powered up the slickrock. Pretty impressive stuff! (I later heard that she's doing this as a tune-up for the Umstead 100 in a couple weeks, so this must have been mere child's play!) Thankfully I felt better as we got near the top and was able to get back into a good running rhythm again. However, I started to feel those old familiar twinges of pain in my right calf and took a couple unscheduled stops to try and stretch it out. That seemed to keep it at bay for the time being. This was a great time to be out on the course with the sun setting and casting a pretty glow over the rocks. The disappearance of the sun is always a nice time in general when you're running a long race! I tried to enjoy it as much as I could.

I finished the loop in just over 56 minutes, which still wasn't bad with the early stomach issues and angry calf. Had some Gatorade & fruit and downed a couple e-caps. Fortunately we had brought along the almighty 'stick', and I used that on my calf for a minute or two, before taking off again. I was probably there for about 5-6 minutes, so still not too bad. All things considered, I actually felt REALLY good. I was in a good place mentally and the rest of my body seemed to be holding up ok. I was glad that I seemed to be responding to the distance/time ok and excited about hitting my target distance, barring any disasters.

Loop 3 - "Moon rise, thoughtful eyes
Staring back at me from the window beside
No fright or hindsight
Leaving behind that empty feeling inside"

It was fairly dark as I headed out and I knew I would be entering that mental 'gray area', so I allowed myself the indulgence of music on this loop. Even with my headlamp, I wasn't a very experienced trail night-runner, so I was a little worried about footing on the single-track, but managed to do ok. This part of the course was also well-marked with reflective yellow flags that were pretty easy to spot, which helped to ease my other anxiety of getting lost in the middle of flippin' nowhere at night.

I took my time getting up the slickrock, mostly to be mindful of my footing as opposed to any physical duress. Things were also a bit more sketchy from a directional standpoint up here. The reflective flags were gone in favor of white blazes on the ground to mark the course, which were pretty hard to see until you were almost on top of them. Since the slickrock area was so wide open, I was a bit more worried about getting off-track, but made sure I was still meandering in a general direction around the rock formation and trying to pick out the headlamps ahead of me. My ipod was nice enough to oblige me with some Rush as I got toward the top of the climb, which re-energized me. I powered over that sucker and opened up on the downhill as best I could while not launching into a somersault against my will or flying off a cliff. I didn't expect to be grumbling about not being able to run as fast as I wanted at this point, but was happy that I still had some running legs left.

I still had a nice rhythm going as we hit the single-track, buoyed by some other awesome tunes. This part was a bit more difficult in terms of navigating the uneven terrain and negotiating the stream crossings. I managed to splash right through and submerge my foot at one point, but in retrospect was probably lucky that it only happened once. Thus far, my calf seemed to be doing better, but that all changed when I (probably stupidly) tried to jump a bigger gap than I should've, which send it into full-out spasm mode. If you've ever had calf spasms, they're not fun. I hit the ground and let out something between a growl and a yell (basically the kind of sound you don't want to hear when you're alone on isolated trails at night), probably scaring the beejebus out of some people I had passed a few minutes before. Fortunately, I was able to save some face and get back on my feet and out of there before they caught back up. I could manage nothing more than a hobble for quite aways after that, but eventually the pain subsided to the point that a light jog was possible. However my hamstring was also starting to hurt now, possibly from the awkward landing & subsequent curling into the fetal position, so it was very slow going.

I hobbled my sorry self in at 1:07 for the loop, which actually wasn't too terrible with the night running and physical mini-crisis. I briefly thought about going back out there since I still otherwise felt great and had enough time to walk a loop and beat the midnight cutoff, but decided that I had nothing else to prove and didn't want to risk further mangling myself with a funny step in the dark and messing up the rest of my spring running. Admittedly my decision was bolstered after the third place man arrived about 10 minutes after me and also elected to stop, solidifying my spot as 2nd male in this highly meaningful competition.

Overall I was very pleased with the effort, I hit my distance target and felt better doing it than I thought I would. I thought I did a great job on the fueling aspect and managing my pace well. Obviously I thought the trail was awesome and quite runnable. This is somewhat smaller scale as far as ultras go, but I found it to be pretty well-organized for my purposes with a very supportive staff and well-stocked aid station. It was also a great way of getting some exposure to the ultra scene in a way that wasn't too overtaxing. I got to talk to some great people and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Because of all this, I would definitely like to return next year.....and because MOAB! Hopefully I can go in with a stronger base and knock off 5-6 loops for the legit ultra.

adventures in plodding...

March 2014