A Scramble, Redemption, and What Lies Ahead

I'll start by first explaining that, my last couple of races did not quite turn out the way that I had hoped. I've already rambled about my Across the Years experience. I started a post about my Black Canyon 100K race, but never managed to finish it- partly due to being busy and preoccupied with life and other things, but also because it was frustrating and disappointing, and I was having a difficult time writing much about it that didn't feel lame. Briefly, I will say this much about the Black Canyon 100K: this is an incredible race. Much of it was run on trails I had helped to cut from scratch while working with SCC and the BLM, and that was really satisfying. I mentioned in my Across the Years post the breathing difficulties I was having, and those have seemed to hang on. At one point I finally went to Urgent Care and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, which I'm still trying to shake. It reared its ugly and frustrating head too ferociously on the day of the Black Canyon race, as well as a sour stomach and some puking, and I ended up having to drop at the Gloriana Mine aid station around mile 23. To say that I was disappointed might very well be an understatement, but truth be told, I also had an incredible time just running and enjoying the trails, remembering rock bridges we'd built&recognizing them. It was like a game of hide and seek for work I'd done and specific bits and pieces of trail I'd remembered. So, although the race was my first official DNF, which was a pretty big bummer, I still had a great time.
This weekend I ran the Crown King Scramble 50K, and I found redemption in those hills. I am excited to run it again, to run it with more tenacity and better trained legs, to annihilate my time from this year, and to have a blast once again with a bunch of crazy runners in a tiny mining town. But I'm getting ahead of myself, already talking about what I'm planning to do about next year. Let me back up and break it down.
The race had two start times- the standard start at 6am and the early start at 5am. The early start was created for those folks who were concerned they might miss some of the time cut-offs. I'll be honest, I never considered this to be an option. Regardless of my pre-race training (or lack thereof, to be more accurate) I was determined to run it hard enough to make all the cut-offs within the standard time frame. I found myself at the Castle Creek boat ramp of Lake Pleasant, milling about with other runners around 5:30. Registered and ready to go, I tried to take in the scenery. I snapped a few pictures before the race started, as the sun started to make its way up into the sky.

Runners starting to line up at the edge of the lake.

RD James Bonnet kicking it in Safety Yellow. 

At 6am, with a countdown and a megaphone, we were off and on our way. The first couple miles rolled out on pavement until we hit the dirt roads. It was a nice way to get into a rhythm, keeping my pace reasonable, and not worrying about dust and dirt aggravating my lungs right away. The first enforced cut off was at the second aid station around mile 15, and I had three and a half hours to get there. The course is largely uphill, with a total of 6,750 feet of climbing over the 50K, so I didn't want to head out too fast and blow up, the trick was being conservative enough to make the first cut-off, but not so conservative that I was perpetually chasing the clock. To put the elevation in perspective, here's the race profile:


I managed to find a good rhythm right away, and just coasted along the first few miles. It was exciting to me when I realized I was approaching the first aid station, Cow Creek, at mile 8.5 and realized I hadn't even looked at my garmin. For me, this was awesome. I was running comfortably, I was in good shape for the cut-off at the second aid station, and I wasn't stressing out about my pace or how far I'd gone, or how much further there was to go...it was the first time in what felt like a long time that I was at such ease, and it bolstered my confidence that things would turn out well. I joked with myself that it wasn't to be a bad year of races for me because, technically, this was the first race I had entered since the Chinese new year...so it was my first race of the year! Leave the past behind me! The miles kept clicking away.
This entire course was really beautiful. I managed to stop a few times to snap some random photos. All I have for such things right now is my phone, so the quality is poor, but you can at least get a sense of things.

Looking back towards where we had started, the sunrise complete and Lake Pleasant in the background.

Following the white arrows to stay on course, tried to capture the road sign with arrows to Crown King...its a bit small

First aid station at mile 8.5, moving right along. 

I made it to the second aid station at French Creek under three hours, the cut-off being 3.5 hours from the start. I was feeling great- not fast, but not sluggish, just slow and steady, which I was more than happy to take.
The dirt road we ran on is a shared, multi-use road. I saw my fair share of atvs, dirt bikes, and even one mountain biker. It was funny to watch the groups of atv riders, out for their weekend jaunt, pass random runners and wonder at why in the world we would be doing this. For the most part, all of them were very courteous, slowing down as they passed, etc. One rider, seemingly frustrated by the foot traffic we created, came dangerously close to hitting a group of ladies running in front of me, going up a hill somewhere around mile 18 or so. Fortunately for all of us, it was nothing more than a close call, and everyone was fine. I must say though, my orange bandana bandit mask that I used every time a vehicle went by was a life saver.
So, my feet kept moving, which was really all that I needed them to do. The folks at the mile 19.1 Silver Mountain aid station were great, and mentioned that the next three or so miles to the next aid station were really tough. Having not memorized the course, and not feeling like taking a look at my elevation profile I had in my pack, I just filled up my water bottles, reapplied my sunscreen with the help of a volunteer, filled my second water bottle with the most fantastic frozen slush of coconut water I have ever tasted, and headed out. I kept waiting for the challenging part of those three miles...but it was smooth sailing. My feet still kept moving, and at a pretty decent pace. This whole section was completely runnable. Considering that the first two aid stations had 8.5 and 7+ miles between each other, this was cake Add to the greatness of the mile 22.3 Fort Misery aid station that all the volunteers were dressed as SUPER HEROES! I was focused on just moving in and out of there, so I didn't think to take any pictures of their greatness. However, I did manage to snap a pic of one of their more ominous warning signs as I was leaving the aid station:

Holy Hills was right...now the climbing was truly going to begin. 

So, I'll come back to my earlier proclamation. For me, I feel safe in saying that a good 95% of this race is runnable, given the right focus and training. I think I managed to run/slog about 65% of the race, the rest of it fast hiking. The hills were certainly there, and a bit of a challenge, but nothing out of control. And all the little mini dips and flat-ish looking pieces of the elevation profile that you can find, yeah, I was definitely running those. Then, I started to get closer to the Oro Belle aid station...which was at the top of a hill. A short hill. But a steep hill. The folks at this aid station definitely had a sense of humor, providing a self serve adult diaper station midway up the hill, for people who wanted to be babies about it, along with other spectacularly sarcastic signs of encouragement.

This was an attempt to get a picture this old water tank I though was cool. If you look closely, you can see the lighter brown line that is the road climbing towards Oro Belle. 

They were not kidding. 

"What did you expect? It's an uphill race DUH!" It kind of just speaks for itself.

Happy to be at Oro Belle aid station, just 2 more miles of climbing left before the decent into Crown King!

Keeping the same strategy that I had started with, and just rolling with it...I simply kept moving my feet forward. I was stoked when I saw the Amateur Radio guy hanging out by his truck, knowing he was probably marking the summit and the final ascent into Crown King. Sure enough, that's exactly what he was doing. 'Welcome to the summit, its all downhill from here!' I had this in the bag. It wasn't a fast race, it wasn't embarrassingly slow. It was just a return to where I needed to be. It was going to be a finish. And it was going to feel great.
I ran those last two miles in, and at a pretty decent pace, considering all the climbing I had behind me. I'll admit that the smile on my face became exponentially larger as I realized I was almost there, and knew that my sweetheart was going to be volunteering at the finish line. As I made my way closer into the finish, I could hear the music, I could smell the food...and then, I was there! Cut-offs be damned, I made it. No DNF this time, and a finish line reward of more than just a sweet mason jar, but a smooch and a hug from the one I love...it was pretty excellent.
When I had decided to run this race, I had booked a room at the Bradshaw Mountain Bed and Breakfast. We stayed in the Eagle's Nest room, and it was perfect. The stairs I had to walk up and down kept my legs from getting stiff, the shower was glorious, the random cable tv was wonderful in providing us with Sister Act, and Sister Act 2. (Thanks Whoopi Goldberg aka Sister Mary Clarence) I relaxed, had dinner cooked for me, and then we headed down to the Saloon for a couple drinks and more canoodling with fellow ultra runners. The band that had been playing at the finish line was there in the Saloon for a repeat performance, there was dancing, it was the perfect end to a really wonderful day.

Getting their groove on at the Crown King Saloon.

Briefest of brief recaps: this race is something I would highly suggest, and I certainly plan to do again. Logistically, I couldn't have done this without the fantastic help, love and support of my parents and my girl.
Random stuff I didn't mention in the main body of this post: my nutrition seemed to be spot on for this race, and it was extremely simple. In total I had maybe one package of ProBar Bolt energy chews, one chia bar, a couple gluten free ginger snaps, the equivalent of one red potato, dipped in some salt, a dixie cup of ginger ale, a dixie cup of cola, the glorious partially frozen coconut water slush, and plenty of water...pretty sure that's it. I've realized, the lighter I eat, the better off I am, so long as I keep tabs on it enough to avoid bonking. So far, so good.

Also, I should say this much as well- there's not a single Aravaipa race out there I wouldn't suggest. These guys know what's up. They are well organized, have great courses, fantastic volunteers...pretty much anything you could want in an ultra. If you're ever in Arizona, sign up for one of their races. If you live here, what are you waiting for? Support this amazing local business.