Ascent is life: Jemez

Last Saturday was the most fun I have had in a while. I got to run for twelve hours in a beautiful place while the weather gods helped all they could. Whoever designed that course is sick, and I commend them for it. There were a few climbs and descents that were surprisingly steep. My kind of terrain. I was hoping to break twelve hours, but ended up around 12:07. My hat is off to the faster folks, because I don't know how I could have gone much faster on that day. I ran what seemed runnable, and power hiked at a reasonable clip. I had some weird hamstring issues early on, but I don't think it made much of a difference. I was happy that it never got to the "staggering survival" stage, and I actually felt a bit like I was racing, albeit against myself. I can't think of a time that it stopped being fun. Even when I fell down a steep bit on my ass and skinned up the back of my calf. That was around mile 17, and I think it just re-focused my attention for the technical bits. I'm trying to come up with the way to explain my headspace for that day. This was the first time on a long run where it never got that physically painful. Sure, it hurt, and there were a couple short bouts off "why am I doing this?", but for the most part it felt like a meditative state that would go for hours. I was acutely aware of my surroundings, the wind, the sun, the features of the trail. Beyond that my the only conscience thought seemed to be on eating, drinking, and pushing the pace on the uphills. Many times during the day the silent mantra of "don't stop, clock is ticking" would repeat over and over in my head. It was a great way to keep the turnover higher on the long climbs.
Something I frequently get asked is "don't you get bored running that long?" More than a few say they could not run very far without listening to music on headphones. Now, I'm not going to bag on people who run in headphones, but for me it would defeat some of my purpose in being out there to begin with. Karl Meltzer always runs with headphones, and I have the utmost respect for that guys running. I would rather not have the cords bouncing around, the ear buds falling out, the fumbling for the volume button, and other little annoyances. However, the most important thing is for me to be in tune with my body and my surroundings. Part of why I'm out there is to escape from technology. Besides, I have a "shuffle" in my brain! Here is a list of a few songs that floated through my head during the race. "Taste the Pain" -Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Waiting For A Miracle"-Jerry Garcia Band, "Walk"-Pantera, "Tommy The Cat"-Primus, and many others I can't recall. The primary problem with this "playlist" is the weird stuff that pops up that I don't want to hear. Like Journey. Yeah, that's right. What was my mind trying to do to me at that point? See if I'd throw myself off a cliff to stop the suffering?
So anyway, I don't really get bored. Sure, some parts are less than thrilling, but I love diving into my mind and swimming in the deep end. Sometimes it is scary in there, but rarely boring.
Full results are here http://www.highaltitudeathletics.org/results.htm. Congratulations and thanks go out to my friend Leah, who took third woman overall and rocked the final downhill miles to beat me by seven minutes. She has helped me immensely in my running pursuits. Thanks Leah!
The photos: