Copper Basin 50K - 6:46:32

Up early and hit the road by 5am in order to make it to Prescott for the Copper Basin 50K.  The course was GREAT.  Here are some pictures from the day.  The course had a few climbs and the altitude (5100-6500 ft) got my attention, but overall it was well marked and the footing allowed for running most of the way.  My time of 6:46:32 felt pretty good even though that comes out to be an average pace of 12:57 per mile.  The leaders went 5:59 and 6:02; I placed about 7th overall I think.  The results will be posted pretty soon.  It was a great end of the training week and 71 miles!  Cannot wait to go right back up to Prescott in three more weeks for the Whiskey Row Marathon.  Here are a few pictures from the day. 

During the race we passed a section that had snow on it, and I was able to see a horny toad on the course.  It was nice to see pine trees instead of all the cactus we see all the time down here in Phoenix.  Also you will see in the pictures here that there were a few stream crossings that kept your feet wet for at least half the day.  The last 18 miles was dry, so there is not much to complain about, plus I'm getting used to running with wet feet; not such a big deal, and now that I have two toe nails that are currently black and about to fall off I have nothing to worry about.   

After the race I came straight home and tried to rest, because early Sunday morning (0545) I had my APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test), but I did pretty well despite having very heavy thighs.  My pushups were 56 in two minutes, situps 80 in two minutes and the two mile run I was able to knock out a 12:32.  I like being with Reserve Units because they are usually full of a bunch of REMF and even though 12:32 is not that fast I was able to beat the next closest person by more than 50 seconds (yes even the youngsters....I'm 38 and twice the age of some of our young Soldiers).  Anyway, being number one will not last forever, there is always someone faster and as I do more and more ultra's I am becoming more comfortable with the middle or even back of the pack status.  I can't believe that sometimes I'm just happy to finish, but on the longer races I do just want to finish before the cut off times!

Great story here about Scott Jurek.  Not sure I would have told my story quite like this, but it was very interesting and telling.  Balance in life is the key.  Even from a back of the pack runner, this story makes one think about the why.  I sure want to get 100 miles under my belt, then I may back off.  It seems like 50/100K races are doable and only take up one day, but 100s are such an investment in a whole weekend, not to mention the huge price tag involved.  I want a couple of buckles, and after that I hope I can calm down and settle with one or two races a year, but I do think my road marathon days are limited.  If I'm going to race I do want to put in a full days work! 

Maybe tonight I'll go see Alice in Wonderland.  I have a free ticket that is registered to my name.  Usually I would use these as a gift, but they are getting weird and making you log into a site and they issue a secret number tied to your name and all so you can not transfer it.  Strange?