Update: (Sun, 22 May) I'm sorry to say I did not finish the 50 miler. The altitude was a factor and nausea and headhache got the best of me. I made it to mile 32 which I'm proud of in light of the rough day I had. Read full race report
The weekend I have been waiting for has finally arrived. I am in Los Alamos, NM at 7500 ft elevation acclimating for tomorrow’s
50 mile trail race in the Jemez Mountains. Last night I went with Crew Chief Cara (CCC) to the ski lodge where she will meet me at mile 36. We saw several grey birds on the way and found out later that they were female
Dusky Grouse. We also enjoyed seeing some deer and beautiful yellow flowers called Spreadfruit Goldenbanner. The snow that fell up here last weekend has melted so I am hoping for good trail conditions.
Today we spent the day in Santa Fe shopping and taking in the many art galleries full of Native American treasures. I’m not sure that the spicy green chili stew and posole was the best thing to have for lunch the day before a 50 mile run, but I enjoyed it all the same.
This evening we went to the packet pickup and pasta dinner where we heard a very special speaker. Micah True, a.k.a.
Caballo Blanco, of
Born to Run fame gave a short talk about the
Raramuri, the
Tarahumara Indians who live in and run the Copper Canyon of Mexico. These super endurance athletes were featured in a video about the annual ultramarathon that Micah organizes in the canyon to help these people continue running free.
Watch inspiring video about these super athletes
I’m now nestled in my bed trying my hardest to get some sleep before my 3:00am wakeup. I doubt I will sleep much tonight because I am too anxious and excited to get on the trail. I will post an update on this page after the race and then have a complete report next week. The 50 mile race starts at 5:00am so, with that, I will just say, “see you on the trail”.
Spreadfruit goldenbanner (Thermopsis divaricarpa)
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