2011 Sacred Mountain Prayer Run

June 4, 2011 Thorpe Park, Flagstaff

Here is what made this so challenging: 1) The race course started at 7,000 feet elevation, then climbed even more for most of the first two miles; 2) It was all trails and off-road roads.

Now for the good part: This was the most beautiful race that I have run in my life. After all the early heavy breathing (okay … gasping), the middle miles wound around a mesa through pines, wonderful scenery, and clean air. Returning to the original elevation over the final mile was a bit dicey, since the downhill parts begged for high-speed crashes (high-speed being a relative term, you see).

After all that, I was quite proud of my finish. My first goal was to finish the race, which I did. My second goal was to not finish last, which I narrowly met. So far so good. Here are the details:

Elapsed time: 1:21:20
Overall finish: 236 out of 243 (woo-hoo!)
Age-group finish: 11 out of 11 (oops)

This was my first race going ‘barefoot style’ in my new Minimus (New Balance) trail shoes. Once I reached the mesa, the running was easy. I learned (i.e., confirmed) that I was deficient in hill training. Actually, I have never done any hill training. I also learned that my anaerobic/aerobic fitness levels were pretty good, after having done some good interval training the past couple of months. This is why, I think, that running at high elevation was pretty easy for me, once I got past the climbing part.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Eve and I got to spend a couple of nights in a local campground in our travel trailer, accompanied by our little pooch Dixie. We enjoyed the ‘outdoor’ adventure and look forward to doing it again.

Now I have a new PR to improve on (meaning, high-elevation 10K). Gee, all I have to do is beat 1:21 and I’m good. Sounds easy from the comfort of my home office right now.