“There is no better explanation than actual experience”. I cannot remember who originally said this but I find it appropriate. This is not going to be too much of a missive. If ya want to be challenged, beat-up, subjected to lows and digging deep to find that high that we KNOW that we are all capable of, consider running (errr…I use this term quite loosely) the Zane Grey 50 miler in Payson Arizona. Yet the scenery was breathtaking in spots (the burnt out sections were anything but) but be careful, taking in too much of the good can lead to an immediate taste of the bad as if you lost focus for more than a couple of seconds you would be face planting into rocks or rolling down a cliff.

I signed up for this race quite awhile back, I think even before I was accepted into Western States, with the idea of using the race as a great training experience for my summer races and to challenge myself for something a little harder. Couple of excerpts from the race’s website: “Welcome to one of the most beautiful, challenging and unique trail runs you’ll ever do. The race starts early (5:00) because most runners take a long time to finish...it is NOT a fast course. But if you’re a serious trail runner, don’t let this scare you. The route is in and out of canyons, along a "high line" on the Mogollon Rim where the climb to the top of the Rim becomes vertical. Hence the name of the trail.The trail is very rocky in long stretches. There are several water crossings, and A LOT of downed trees to climb over. However, the rewards are magnificent views, cool canyons and fulfillment of your masochistic needs. Part of the run (from about mile 20 to 30) is over 10 miles of an area that burned in 1990, and a portion that burned again in 2001. The burn area is coming back, but expect no shade on that section and some downed trees. There is intermittent shade along the other parts of the trail. You should plan on three or four water bottles in the burn area.”

I had originally planned to drive out to Arizona but after talking w/ a couple of friends who have done the trek before, I decided to play it smart and bought a plane ticket. I imagine that the drive out to Payson would have been fine but the drive back would have been awful. So I flew out of College Station at 6:30 Friday morning, transferring in DFW for Phoenix. First thing that hit me in Phoenix was the heat. I thought, ‘crap if it is going to be like this tomorrow, we are all in for a VERY tough day’. But the temps in Payson were a good 15 degrees cooler. The drive from Phoenix to Payson was very nice, not much traffic. The route on 87 south to Phoenix was disrupted due to a brush fire but our lanes going 87 north were not affected. I quickly located the Motel 6, checked in and went for a little drive around to find the points of interest. While checking in I met Bob from Durango Colorado and we chatted for a bit about the race, both were virgins at it so we couldn’t offer too much to each other but just than common feeling of stepping into the same vast unknown void of ultramarathoning. We talked a bit about the weather as we were keeping a close eye on the forecast. It was supposed to be around 40 degrees at the start and increase to about 77 during the day with overcast. Possibly a rain shower in the evening. This forecast was not too far off from the actual but did vary in a couple critical aspects. Later on that.

So I got in my little rental and was in search of the hotel where the bus was supposed to pick us up in the morning. Side note: This was a VERY well organized race. Everything was top-notch (in my opinion) from the logistics down to the volunteers. Very well done. So the hotel turned out to be right across the street so that was perfect. The bus was to leave at 3:45 for the race start so at that early hour, the easier the logistics, all the better. Plus we had to bring all our drop-bags w/ us on the bus to the start so I didn’t really want to haul my stuff too far. I only had three drop bags, two along the course and a bag for the finish which also had my morning warm-up gear in and it was also good to have warm clothes at the finish line because you could possible wind up waiting quite awhile for the bus. Okay so I also had to find a grocery store and the location of the check-in/dinner at 18:00 tonight. I picked up some water, tortillas, ginger-ale, ginger root, pretzels and a Sobe for the morning. I had brought w/ me from home some granola, soy milk and my home-made hummus. I put this (hummus) on a tortilla and put in my drop bags for during the race. I also put a slice of ginger root in my water bottle as I find this helps combating stomach issues. I also put a slice in each of my drop bags. I was organizing two drop bags, for miles 17 and 33. I also had in my drop bags, one Clif bar, one GenSoy bar, two Crank gels (my fav), one Ensure, one hummus/tortilla, change of shirt/socks, ginger root, TP and gum. My 33mile bag also contained a headlamp, as it was mandatory to carry a light if you wanted to continue on after a certain time-of-day. I hope that I wasn’t going to need it but had it just in case something went seriously wrong during the race. Something DID happen but I was able to recover in time. I also had my tube of Desitin in my 33mile bag.

Off to the check-in and dinner. I don’t know why I was so nervous going to the dinner, crap, I was more nervous than the frelling start. Why? I think that it was mostly intimidation. This race is in the Montrail Ultra Cup Series and quite a few of the Montrail Ultrarunning Team was going to be there (Meltzer, Torrence, McDowell, Eppelman, Terry, Ostrom, Barker, Baer, couple of others). Team Moogy looked kinda pathetic. ;) This nondescript runner in Carharts, Birks and a T. Who the hell was I? One of the first people I ran into was Catra Corbett. I had never met her before, just in pictures. She had this Pippy Longstocking (kinda fuscia/blond) look going on and more tats and piercings than Tommy Lee. Loved the look! Lots of schwag in the bag which is always a bonus. Dinner was AWESOME. Salad, pastas, pizzas, veggies, brownies, strawberries…standard carb fest but it was SO tasty. The budda was happy. Short pre-race instructions were given by Bob Redwanc the RD. Outta there by 19:40 which was awesome. Back to finalize drop bags, organize clothes to start in and TRY to sleep. Not going to be easy. Set the alarm on my watch and two on my cellphone, all for about 2:55. That 3:45 bus was NOT to be missed.

Up, ate some granola/soymilk, half of a bagel, some ginger ale. Actually slept pretty good. Went outside to check the temp and it was NICE. So arm warmers wouldn’t be needed. I started w/ a long-sleeved Patagonia shirt, my Patagonia Long-Haul shorts instead of my Ultras as I thought that the shorter inseam might suit me better if the temps got up there. I lathered my feet w/ Desitin and put my Injinji sox over. I was going to run in my Vitesses but later kinda wished that I had worn my Hardrocks. I think that they would have been better on this course. I was also going to wear my Longhorns visor and also later wished that I had worn a full cap as my head became kinda sunburned. I had my FuelBelt waist pack w/ me as well. Stuffed w/ two bars, two gels, gum, lipbalm, extra bottle, in addition to my two hand bottles, one for water and one for electrolyte. One clear and one coloured. Weird how I saw a couple of runners w/ the same colour scheme. Clear for water and coloured for the electrolyte. But I was ass-u-ming here. I was also going to run w/ my new iPod Shuffle which is a whole new experience, as I have never before raced while listening to music. But this thing is so damn small; it weighs about the same as an eraser and similar size as well. I wasn’t wearing the standard headphones but a pair of Nike headphones. I had brought the iPod because I read that the burnt out section of the course can be very boring and I wanted to keep my mind from wandering into despair. Boy am I glad that I had the music. It was awesome. I don’t know if I will always wear them but I might during my night stretches of the 100 milers.

Off to the bus. There was a gorgeous full moon. Incredible morning for a race. About 50 degrees. Was kinda thinking that if it was this warm at 3:45 what would it be at 13:00? And I thought that it was going to be overcast? Oh well. We all piled in and were off to the start. It was much colder at the start line, probably about 40 degrees. Put my drop bags in their places, took a couple swigs of Accelerade, ate a banana. Chatted for a while w/ Bob (guy from hotel), Bill from Mammoth and Catra. I think that we were more looking for closeness to keep the body heat amongst us. We had no idea where the start line was nor which way we were going. Kinda funny we thought. It was still dark and would be for about 30 minutes. I had a little three LED handheld w/ me. Which I lost later when I took a nasty spill going downhill about mile seven. I really only needed the light for about 20 minutes as the full-moon kept things clear. Heard the five minute warning, found the start line (chalk line on the road), stretched a bit. Was feeling good. Said a couple of whispers to a certain person and took a deep breath. The horn went off.

Sorry that I am not going to write too much about the course. I like race reports to find out what people do to prepare, challenges they faced, tidbits like that. Maybe I’ll write a second report about the course itself.

My goals: which is more important? How can you want more than to survive and hopefully have some fun along the way? Honestly. I knew that I wasn’t going to come close to a PR but I sort of wanted to come in between 11:15 and 11:45. Quite slower than my slowest 50 to date but I knew that this was going to be a long, challenging day. So I just sucked it in and would refocus and shuffle my goals along the way. I had to do a major goal focus at mile 21/22 as I twisted my ankle pretty good and wondered if I could go on at all. The aid station was still 3 miles away and I was in a bad low. Back to the start. The course was a point-to-point, not at a high elevation; probably averaging about 6300’ but the elevation gained was to be about 11000’. LOTS of ups and downs. The course was marked very well, yellow for good trail (w/ diamond markers on the trees to signify the Highline Trail, like at Bastrop) and blue for bad. I only got lost once, about mile 38. There was a sharp upturn in the trail that I missed and only went about 1/4 mile down trail (not marked w/ blue). The turn was not marked but just my mistake as well. I heard later that a couple of people got lost as well but my bad was only 1/4 mile. Frustrating but not defeating.

So we had to climb a pretty good hill to start (from about 5300 to 6300) and it was mostly single-track. Couple of us pinnacled and ran into two trails both marked blue (I was third in the ‘train’ and was the only one to notice the blue markings). We eventually found the yellow. That is one of the reasons I don’t like to ‘train’ during a race. It is VERY easy to get into that mindset of following the person in front of you and not paying attention to the trail. Also on the rocky sections it is easy to fall and the person behind you can fall onto your legs or kick rocks at you. The latter occurred a couple of times on the first stretch and it hurt like hell. Once I settled into a rhythm on that first stretch (to mile 8) I found myself in a train w/ four others. I took one nasty downhill spill but it was a soft landing and I was able to dust myself off quickly. We got into a really nice pace (VERY difficult for the course), nothing too exciting happened over the first 8 miles except gorgeous views. We arrived at mile 8 about 6:31. Cut-off 7:30. Doing good.

About the course. Check out for a profile. The hills were not bad, the heat didn’t get too bad, the burnt-out sections were VERY long and w/out shade but still somewhat runable, but there were a couple of things that made this course very hard for me. Number one was the rocks. I ran into this problem at Massanutten. I have a hell of a time running technical downhills on rocks. I felt good during the race but was just NOT able to run. That ate up time. I WANTED to run but just didn’t have the confidence to go full-bull down the slopes. The rocks were relentless. Big, small, loose. They were ALL there. I really need to train more on technical downhills. The uphills were fine, no problem, luckily I can walk at a pretty good uphill clip. Number two was the grassy parts w/ a pretty unrecognizable trail. There was in many stretches over ankle high grass and you couldn’t see the rocks and branches on the trail. It was very hard to run in these parts because the trail was hidden and you KNEW that there were obstacles down there. Just very hard to get a good pace going. I found this a lot. VERY difficult to get a good stride in. Constant ups and downs. Also the brambles and bushes took a toll on the legs. My lower legs are all cut up from the bushes. Not deep wounds but almost every part of my lower legs are cut up.

So after the first aid station, after a couple of banana and orange slices and maybe a handful of chippies, I was on my way to number two (mile 17) and my drop bag. Our little train had diminished to almost nothing. There were about 4 or 5 guys I saw/ran with during the stretch between 8 and 44. The only name I got was Bill (wearing a Montrail Ultra Team shirt). We would constantly pass/be passed each other. It was good to occasionally talk to someone, as the stretches were monotonous. More rocks, brambles and ups-and-downs. Again, sorry for the lack of info about the trail and what went on. Maybe subconsciously I don’t want to remember details, maybe I am just all about the big picture. Anyhoo… made it to mile 17 at about 8:51. (about 14 minutes ahead for a sub-12hr finish). Cut-off 10:00. I felt good, one bad spill but nothing lingering. Stomach was good. Was drinking plenty, not peeing but once (and only did about three times during the whole race). Stomach was good, ate two bars, one gel over the 17 miles. Not sweating too much. Found my drop-bag. Changed into my short-sleeved shirt, drank my Ensure, and stuffed my waist pack w/ two bars, one more gel (to make two) and grabbed half of my tortilla. Went to the table and grabbed a couple of banana/orange slices, a fig Newton and some more chippies. Also had a coke and was on my way. Remembered later that I had forgotten my fresh slice of ginger. Oh well, no biggy because my stomach was good the entire race.

Back to a climb. One thing that you notice about this race is most of the aid stations you ‘drop’ into and then have to immediately climb the hell out. Was okay as it gave a bit of time to eat and digest your food. Eight miles to next aid station. Also into parts of the burnt out area and total lack of shade. Bring it on!!! Then, WHAP!!! About mile 21 I stepped on a loose rock, went flying sideways into the bushes and knew that something was wrong w/ my ankle. It hurt like hell. Okay, time to take inventory in case I had to walk to the aid station, about four miles away - had lots of fluids and food, no cuts from the fall. Lets just get up and check out that ankle. It sure was sore but I could still walk. Lets just get moving. Walking is good for awhile. I have time in the bank. But mentally I was in a low. I hate those periods during a race when those demons come. Will I finish? Do I stop at the next station? Is it pure stupidity to run on a twisted ankle? Just forward momentum right now. I must have walked for about 1 mile (sat down for a couple of minutes to collect my wits as I thought that this was better than a DNF) then I decided to try to run. Everything seemed to go okay, sure it hurt but what the hell doesn’t? A bit of swelling. So I just went on. That little competitive side took over for a bit and wanted to catch those people who passed me during my walking stretch. I was able to pick up the pace about mile 23 and quickly found myself at mile 25 (Hell’s Gate Canyon). But that had to be the LONGEST 8 miles I have EVER done. It felt at least 12 miles!! A couple of the runners didn’t look so good there. Grabbed a couple of food items, a soda, sat down for bit to check the ankle, all was good. Number 64 was outta there. About mile 28 or so I caught up w/ Carlos from Houston. It was good to see him. We chatted for a bit but I felt good and I just motored on. Maybe I should have hanged w/ him for a bit longer (he seemed in a bit of a low spot) but sometimes on the trail (like myself) I need to get out of it alone. I never did see him again. The next aid station was 33 miles. There was one really good climb in this section. The climbs were not bad. The shadeless burnt out sections were worse. Lots of twisting and turning around trees (they had cut A LOT of the trees over the trail to help us along), the unrecognizable trail through the grass and the relentless rocks. On and on. Ate both my bars and one gel. I felt good. By my time was slowing a bit and I had to refocus my goal again. Looks like the low centered around my ankle problem put my sub-12hr finish in jeopardy. Okay, no big deal. Lets just finish and see what happens along the way. There was no way that I was going to DNF. Mile 33 (Fish Hatchery) here I come!!! It was getting warm, the sun was pounding, but my physical inventory was good. Made it in. Decided to sit for a minute in the shade of a tent. Was offered a nice comfy chair to sit in but quickly declined. Look TOO nice. Took a plastic foldup. One on the volunteers grabbed me a soda, turkey roll-up and some more chippies. I also got my dropbag and downed the Ensure and filled my waist pack w/ supplies (bars, gels, gums). I removed my right shoe and took inventory of the situation. Ankle looked okay, one good blister on my big toe but that easily fixed. I took out my tube of Desitin and the guy beside me was very interested. I don’t know his name but he was one of the Montrail Ultra Team members. The poor guy had also done a number on his ankle (he said mile 3) but he was done for the day. Anyhoo… smeared my foot and told him about the fabulous powers of Desitin. The volunteer got a kick out of it as well because she has two small children. Finished my food, grabbed another half of tortilla (w/ hummus), more soda and water from the table and checked out. I don’t remember my exact time into the station but I wasn’t too far off my 12hr goal but I sort of mentally threw that out of the window and just wanted to finish. The next station was 11 miles away, it was warm (not too hot though) and there were sections that were burnt out. It was going to be LONG so I took a deep breath and went on. I felt okay in this section. I think I passed maybe two people, was passed once (caught up w/ him and passed him about mile 46). We were all hurting out there in the sun but I made sure that I ate and drank enough fluids. I completely drained my three bottles but the third one I more forced myself to drink instead of actually ‘needing’ it. My fluid levels were good. On and on. Then out of nowhere the aid station appeared (cut-off 18:30). It was SO good to see them. I gave a good, “It is SO GOOD to see all y’all” and they liked that. Gotta represent Texas. ;) I checked my watch (about 16:00) and I had about sixty minutes to cover the six miles. Normally no problem but there was a good climb out of the station and my balance was getting a bit wobbly. I also was getting a pretty nasty headache…probably from the sun. Headaches during a race kinda scare me as they could be symptoms of something else. Grabbed a couple of gummi bears, a soda, more chippies (I normally don’t eat a lot of these but something about them on Saturday made them so delish!) and took of for the finish. Six miles to go. One good creek crossing right out of the station. I decided to just walk through it. It felt good on the feet and yes my shoes were wet but they dried in about a mile. One of the previous creek crossings (mile 35?) I took a nasty spill into the water (cold water on the butt felt good!!!), slipping on a rock (previous ankle problem probably the culprit) trying to get across gingerly. Decided next time to just walk through the darn water. I was running pretty good since mile 41. I decided to just go for it and try to make a respectable finish out of it. I think that I passed three people between mile 46-49 and was not passed once. I wanted to be done. The storm clouds were coming in and there was NO way that I wanted to be out here during the storm. So I just climbed, descended and went pretty good on the flats. It was coming. One more climb before the finish. Then I could hear the music and saw a guy on a chair taking numbers. It was there, the finish. I ran the last little climb and entered nirvana.

Phew! I didn’t finish sub-12hr but I feel that I came in at a respectable 12:31. I sat in a chair for a bit and Eileen brought me a soda and a T and buckle. Wahoo, more schwag. I just sat there vegging for about 3 minutes before I got up to grab a bite to eat. I grabbed my finish line bag, changed my shirt and socks. The bus was to come in about 20 minutes to take people back to the hotel. Not many people came in between when I finished and when the bus left. There must have still been about at least 60 people still out there. That began to worry me as just when the bus left the heavens opened up. Lightning and rain. Those poor people still on the course. I hope that they all finished safely.

Before I got onto the bus I checked the latest results. Scott Creel won in 8:17 and Nikki Kimball was the first female in at something like 9:36. My placement actually wasn’t too bad. I finished in 28th place. There were 141 registered and I think there were about 8 who DNS. I don’t have the actual numbers. I’ll check the website over the next couple of days.

Physical inventory was good. Legs were shot but the stomach and feet were pretty good. My legs were pretty badly cut up and I currently have the ‘ultra-walk’ going on but I should be back running on Wednesday. Will most likely bike tomorrow to stretch out.

Things to work on: technical downhill running (suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated) or downhill running in general. This has been a problem of mine for awhile. To increase my weekly mileage but I think that is on most people’s wish list. ;) Bring on the SLAM!!!

I know that there was not too much about the course in this, mile to mile…maybe over a beer.

Seya y’all out there…8)

Moogy