Race Recap for Mesquite Canyon

Well, I finished my 1^st Ultramarathon in nearly 2 years. Delays have been attributed to knee surgery, stress fracture and starting a new business. So by end of 2011 everything was healed and business was out of the cradle stage. Time to see if I could still run an Ultra and if new training ideas would work in the real world.

So I picked the Mesquite Canyon 50K just outside Phoenix, AZ. It would kill many birds with one shot.

1.       Get to visit family.

2.       Get to visit group that I for my continuing education courses and trade ideas.

3.       Do my 1^st run in desert

4.       Do my 1^st run in mountains taller and rougher than east coast races.

Luckily, my friend at Desert Southwest Fitness in Tucson had my back.  I got to hike in Ventana Canyon, outside of Tucson, a few days before the race. What an eye opener that was. The trails on East Coast do not have the amazing collection of rocks, scree and dangerous cacti on their trails. I soon revised my estimate of how fast I was going to run the race by at least an hour (slower).

The race was amazing for scenic views, very challenging trails (I could say dangerous), changes in geology and experiencing the wonders of dehydration that is so silent in the desert. Some lessons learned:

1.       Familiarity with race conditions is a very good thing.

2.       7hrs of running will produce chafing that you never experience in 2hr training runs. Ouch#1

3.       Training in Florida is near worthless for running in desert mountains.

4.       Dehydration is not fun.

5.       Sunscreen for long day in desert. Ouch #2

6.       Sunglasses for glare and blowing dust. Ouch #3

Would I do it again?  You betcha.

AND kudos to ARAVAIPA RUNNING.COM or nick and jamil coury who put on the DRT race series and their mom, who did tons of cooking on race day.  Nice guys, great aid station and great volunteers who sat in desert sun for hours.  I highly recommend these guys to all Ultra runners.