The 12 Hours of Moab run is in the books. This is a great little weekend of trail running put on by Gemini Adventures every March. There are multiple races going on at once, with 100 mile, 50K, 24 hour and 12 hour events all happening simultaneously. The 24 hour and 12 hour events include solo runner and relay teams vying for as many 5.3 mile laps as possible in the given time. It's a beautiful course, and with runners switching directions each loop, it mixes things up nicely.
I ended up running 48.33 miles in 11 hours and 15 minutes. There's no way I could have squeezed in another lap in 45 minutes. My plan to go slow went pretty well, but I could have reigned it in a little more. It's easy to be swayed by the little competitive ego when there are friends around. I know I went out a bit too fast for me, because at last year's relay, I was only able to run a few of my 6 laps under 1 hour even with the 2 or so hour break between each. This year I did the first 3 laps in 2 hours 57 minutes. A speed improvement for this guy, but not a tactical one. Oddly enough the 4th lap was by far the most unpleasant.
Mentally it was a great day. Running for long distances through beautiful landscapes can at times allow you think, feel and experience without the filters and tension of everyday life. I would even go so far to compare it to a psychedelic experience. You run and you run, and you breath deeply, and your footsteps are crunching rhythmically underneath, and maybe you're listening to music, and after a while it's impossible to keep your guard up anymore...and then the magic happens. It's been always happening, but you didn't notice until now. It may not last the whole run, but when it hits, it's magical. I had 3 or 4 laps of pure bliss on this run. Clear thinking. Clear feeling. Clear experiencing. Coincidentally, these magic moments were the times when I stopped worrying about others being faster than me, and I stopped caring about the result.
Physically it was a pretty good day. No pain anywhere, but on the last lap my right knee got really tight, and my back was not supple to say the least. I'm trying to figure out the system here, because I know it's all related. Tight back, tight painful right hip, tight painful right knee, stiff right ankle. Other than that, it was acceptable.
We went down to the race with a whole crew and everyone had a great day. Tara did awesome, and got 5 laps and earned a really nice blister under the toenail of her big toe. Days later we would drive a red hot paperclip through the nail to relieve the pressure. Not for the faint of heart. Our friends Julie, Jody, Dan, Stacy (who signed up on a whim at the last second, and killed it.) and Ramona all had great races.
I ended up running 48.33 miles in 11 hours and 15 minutes. There's no way I could have squeezed in another lap in 45 minutes. My plan to go slow went pretty well, but I could have reigned it in a little more. It's easy to be swayed by the little competitive ego when there are friends around. I know I went out a bit too fast for me, because at last year's relay, I was only able to run a few of my 6 laps under 1 hour even with the 2 or so hour break between each. This year I did the first 3 laps in 2 hours 57 minutes. A speed improvement for this guy, but not a tactical one. Oddly enough the 4th lap was by far the most unpleasant.
Mentally it was a great day. Running for long distances through beautiful landscapes can at times allow you think, feel and experience without the filters and tension of everyday life. I would even go so far to compare it to a psychedelic experience. You run and you run, and you breath deeply, and your footsteps are crunching rhythmically underneath, and maybe you're listening to music, and after a while it's impossible to keep your guard up anymore...and then the magic happens. It's been always happening, but you didn't notice until now. It may not last the whole run, but when it hits, it's magical. I had 3 or 4 laps of pure bliss on this run. Clear thinking. Clear feeling. Clear experiencing. Coincidentally, these magic moments were the times when I stopped worrying about others being faster than me, and I stopped caring about the result.
Physically it was a pretty good day. No pain anywhere, but on the last lap my right knee got really tight, and my back was not supple to say the least. I'm trying to figure out the system here, because I know it's all related. Tight back, tight painful right hip, tight painful right knee, stiff right ankle. Other than that, it was acceptable.
We went down to the race with a whole crew and everyone had a great day. Tara did awesome, and got 5 laps and earned a really nice blister under the toenail of her big toe. Days later we would drive a red hot paperclip through the nail to relieve the pressure. Not for the faint of heart. Our friends Julie, Jody, Dan, Stacy (who signed up on a whim at the last second, and killed it.) and Ramona all had great races.
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