This weekend we travelled up to Ridgecrest in the high desert. 2,500 ft and 30 - 40 degree temperatures promised a cramp free weekend.
Travelling up through Red Rocks Canyon was amazing and the desert gave us a sense of being on another planet, like the Moon!
Anyway, a 7am start was a treat for me, Nell and Jim (my amazing travelling aid-station). I was not sure what to expect but this race is effectively a fast trail marathon. Last weeks race was 50k and 11,400 feet of climbing (and descent of course). That took 7h 30 mins. Todays race was the same distance in just 4 hours and a lot of fun - great to way to end the year. In retrospect, I would probably treat it as a marathon and wear marathon / road shoes next year as it is fast enough for that. Compare all of this to a 2h 59 min New York Marathon a few weeks ago and you get the sense of how much the terrain affects our performances.
I managed to score a 12th place overall finish and a 5th place in my age group. I lost a bunch of time due to an injury which slowed me on the downhills to a mere trot!!
The Ridgecrest race was very weel organized with great, friendly people at all aid stations. having said that, I didn't actually stop at any aid station given the super-preparedness of my team. At every check point, they have my Hammer Sustained Energy ready, a bottle of flat Coke, a plethora of Hammer gels in various flavors and of course a big happy smile which helps me through the tougher moments. You can't understimate how much your team helps in this sport, it makes such a difference when they are there with me.
It's good to see that they are getting the bug too, as my mate Jim is doing the Catalina Buffalo Run in Feb, and my girlfriend Nell (who is a superb Ironman athlete anyway and going to Kona next year for the World Championships) is gearing up for her first 50, maybe Avalon or Leona Divide next year.
Anyway, it looks like I got enough points to win the SoCal Ultra Series (Masters Division), so I am happy with that.
So that's it with racing for 2005. What a year!
Now it's time to chill a little and get ready for 2006.
