In my first 50-mile attempt I had made some mistakes that cost me time, and I was unable to make the cut-off time at aid station 4. My run came to a halt after 33 miles and at a time of 10 hours and 52 minutes. The Zane Grey Highline trail is rugged country along the Mogollon Rim that was once roamed by Geronimo. I learned from my mistakes and from other runners.
Five months later I was ready to put what I had learned to the test. I had signed up to run the Man Against Horse 50-mile trail run in Prescott, Arizona. This is a race where runners run concurrently with horses. The weather conditions are highly unpredictable, with snow and hail are as possible as sunshine and clear skies. With very little information known about the race, and not even an elevation chart on their website, all I could do was visualize the trail in my head and be prepared for anything. (www.managainsthorse.com)
I arrived at Prescott on Friday at around 5:00 pm, to pick up my race number. Most importantly I was looking for a map of the course. Once I found it, I began to study it, and plan my running strategy, our highest point was Mt. Mingus at 7,600 ft. I studied the course until 9:00 pm when I went to sleep.
Its 3:00 am on Saturday morning when my alarm goes off. I'm up getting ready, showering, applying anti-chaffing cream. I start drinking water to begin my hydrating process. For breakfast at 4:00 am, I have a peach and Perpetuum by Hammer Nutrition (Its just calories in liquid form) I'm out the door by 5:00 am. The race begins at 6:30 am; I make about five trips to the porta potty as my body is getting used to the cold weather. Its cloudy but should clear up by noon. (low of 39 degrees and high of 65 degrees).
6:30 am, the race begins, I am off running with two 20oz water bottles, one in each hand. This was part of my strategy, whenever I felt the bottles getting heavy, it meant I had to drink up, thus my fluid intake was more consistent. At every aid station I would fill up, so the cycle would repeat.
I reached the first aid station in mile 5, in about an hour (12 min mile pace) just where I wanted to be. I had to keep this pace to reach mile 25 in 5 hours, which was doable and part of my strategy. In this station I ate half an orange, and off I was.
Our bodies store energy in our muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. Our liver can store 70 grams (or 280 calories) and our muscles normally 120 grams (or 480 calories). Endurance athletes can increase their storage of muscle glycogen from two to four times the normal amount. For this reason I had planned to eat at every station, even if I wasn't hungry, I wanted to keep my energy level high.
Aid station number 2 was at mile 9; I was still running at a 12-minute mile pace, feeling great. As my water bottles were getting filled, a lady at the aid station noticed that I was running with my keys in my hand, she asked why? I'm used to it, I sometimes run with my phone, business cards, just need to run with something in my hands.
Mile 16 or aid station number 3, I was keeping up with my pace. I find out that one runner had gotten lost, ran an additional 3 miles and was now one mile ahead of me, Damn!!! (I was in my zone that I didn't even notice him pass me).
20 miles in 4 hours, still running at a consistent 12-minute mile pace, this is the fourth aid station, and where I have my drop bag. In my drop bag I have cold PINEAPPLE, I eat about 5 thin slices (I cut them thin so I could eat them faster and not spend much time at the aid stations) and off I go.
Aid station number 5, I don't remember it. It was mile 23, my pace was slowing a bit, but I was feeling good. I was running along a guy who must have been in his 60's, his calves were f*ckn huge. We started talking, he tells me he has done this race about 7 times, and then power walks himself until I can no longer see him.
I reach mile 29 (aid station number 6) it is about 12:30 pm, I have been running for 6 hours. I eat; take an energy gel, they asked me about my MOJA 2 Running shirt. I tell them, and we have a good laugh (at the finish line they would remind me and we would have another good laugh). Up next was the most challenging part of the race. In 3 miles we would climb 1,700 ft. It doesn't seem as bad, but when you are at 6,000 ft up and within the 3 miles there are some down hills, it just makes the climb steeper. Mt Mingus is what we climbed, it is the highest peak in the picture below. We climbed from the back, Can you see me?
The 3 mile climb took me 1 hour 20 minutes to climb, I am now at aid station 7 and at the highest point of the race (top of the mountain about 7,600 ft) I spent about 10 minutes at the aid station hydrating and eating, I also caught up with the guy who had ran the additional 3 miles, that is the last I would see of him though. I leave the aid station at 2:00 pm. I have 4.5 hours to finish 18 miles (15 minute mile pace) and the tough part is over.
Mile 38, was the next aid station ( 8) It was also the same as 4, so I get to eat some more PINEAPPLE. I had also planned to take some Ibuprofen at mile 20 & 38 but I forgot. I remembered at mile 39 when I was slowing down a bit, going up hill and my right Achilles was feeling tight.
I reached aid station 9 where they gave me one Advil. There were 10 miles left and it was around 3:50 pm. I knew from studying the course map, that it was all down hill now. 10 miles left and 1,900 ft downhill.
Then it happened, but I don't know what it was, and I don't know where it came from. Is it really possible to get a second wind after running 40 miles? And with my right Achilles tendon feeling really tight?
All this time I had ran at a 12 minute mile pace somewhat consistently, or slower, and these next 3 miles to aid station 10 (mile 43) I run at about a 10 minute mile pace. I kept saying to myself, "things could be worse", "you can do it", and "there is no pain".
5 miles left to the last aid station ( 11) I knew there was still about 4 runners behind me and 2 horses, and I wasn't going to let them beat me, these 5 miles were still down hill, and I was running fast, but comfortably.
At around mile 46 with the sun directly in front of me, running on the somewhat rocky trail, one must be looking down to see where we step, then looking forward to plan the next step, and then up to look for ribbons and to see if we are running the correct trail. Well I ended up almost stepping on a dollar bill. Now me being a tight ass, I stopped and ran back to pick it up. (That was my highlight of my run; I will have to frame it).
I reached mile 48, the final aid station. I looked at my watch and it turns out I had ran those last 5 miles at a 9:30 minute mile pace. I knew that if I kept it up I would beat the last two horses. I was feeling great; part of it might have been because I found that $1 bill??? Up ahead I could see a guy, who I had last seen at mile 38, my goal was to see if I could catch up to him, but when you are able to see the finish line, you just cant stop.
I finished at about 11 hours and a few minutes, first thing I asked for after crossing the finish line was real food, I did beat the two horses, they had 3-4 stops throughout the race to get checked by vets. The guy who finished first finished in less than 8 hours. After the race, I had even forgotten that by finishing the race we get belt buckles.
"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen." - Michael Jordan
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