My first ultra race (yep. here comes another race report)

Monument Valley. Never been there; always wanted to visit.

When I found out that Ultra Adventures was putting on a trail race there, I immediately began planning/training/trying not to get injured.

. . . because getting injured seems to be a sad pattern when I sign up for a “big race.” So I really really really tried to under-train and not over-do my mileage leading up to March 19, 2016.

But it’s just so much fun to blast (at my 56-year-old-granny-snail speed) down hills here on my local trails; yep, I stressed my very sensitive (so sensitive I can’t let it watch the nightly news) left knee on a bugs-in-my-teeth-cause-I’m-smiling-so big run in February.

A visit to my personal magician . . . I mean physical therapy doctor . . .  confirmed my suspicion. “It’s a little inflamed,” was Dr. Derrick’s calm diagnosis. “Go ahead and run and have fun.”

Now that’s a positive attitude . . . and so for the first 18 miles I aimed for fun, taking it easy in the miles of soft sand, enjoying the company of such fabulous rock formations, mostly walking, jogging level spots, letting it go a bit more on the lovely sandy downhills . . . until that familiar stabbing pain in the middle of my knee-cap returned. Less intense than in the past, but still enough to keep mostly MOSTLY mostly walking the remaining 15 miles (total of 33.75 miles . . . or 55 kilometers).

But I made it up to the top of Mitchell Mesa (where the above photo was taken) and got to soak in the huge views before plunging back down the insanely rocky trail (which my bare feet much preferred to the too-sticky stickers) and the final miles to the finish line . . . in about 10 hours and 42 minutes. My exact time? Unknown, since I lost the timing chip I was supposed to tie onto my shoelaces, only I didn’t have any shoelaces, so that was that.

Monument Valley.

I’ve been there! I can’t wait to return! (The Navajo people who make their homes there were gracious in allowing the race to venture places where the general public is not usually allowed; many tribal members also assisted in race logistics, patrolling the course on horseback, providing food–traditional fry bread and mutton soup–at the aid station, etc. This made the event even more special, as did the fact that the Vice President of the Navajo Nation, Jonathan M. Nez, gave an interesting and inspiring speech at the race meeting the night before the race . . . and then ran the 50-mile event on Saturday.)

A few more images:

We didn’t trespass, but the race trails took us to otherwise-off-limits parts of this culturally important place.

I’ve got a pair of sandals strapped to my back and Sockwa sock-shoes tucked in my waistband; neither were as comfortable as just. Plain. Barefoot.

. . . Until I encountered the dreaded stickers. Over and over. So I kept slipping the Sockwas on and off through stickery areas.

The Mitchell Mesa “trail” winds its way up about 1,000 feet from the valley floor. Who doesn’t love ROCKS!

The finish line: a demonstration hogan (traditional Navajo home) offered a vivid contrast to the special technology used to record racer times via the blue mats which were supposed to sense the computer chips we were supposed to have tied to our supposed shoelaces. But what about those of us sans shoelaces?!

 

UPDATE: (April 7, 2016) The good folks at Ultra Adventures did add me to the results, even without a shoe chip. They are such an organized and friendly bunch . . . I highly recommend their races! AND . . . I just found out I won “judges choice” in their race photo* contest on Facebook . . . swag is headed my way . . . can’t wait! * The winning photo is the first one on this blog post . . . the view toward “The Mittens” over my toes from the top of Mitchell Mesa . . .