I am on my way to Pine, AZ (north of Phoenix) to run in the Zane Grey 50 miler on Saturday (it’s actually 51 miles). Any race that bills itself as “the toughest, roughest, and most beautiful 50 mile trail run in the country” is something I knew I just had to try out for myself. Rocky terrain, overgrown trails, large washouts, and searing heat are just some of the things I have to look forward to this weekend. With temperatures expected to be 15 degrees warmer than the “average” year at ZG, I am fully expecting a suffer-fest. To make matters worse, I am under-trained (just haven’t felt like running a lot lately), nursing an ankle injury (suffered from running a muddy 50K in March), and in the midst of a wicked head/chest cold. On all my runs here in San Antonio (about 1,000’ above sea level), I have felt like I was sucking air through a straw. That should make things interesting at 6,000+’, where much of the Zane Grey course lies. But hey, if these things were easy, I wouldn’t be doing them, so what’s a little more suffering J
I typically set 3 goals heading into a race (usually based on an expected finish time), but considering my current mental and physical state, I am setting one simple target – FINISH. I have no idea what to expect from my body, but I refuse to give up or drop out. The only way I won’t finish is if race officials physically remove me from the course, which will only happen if I’m injured or have missed a cutoff. Otherwise, I will slug it out and see what happens. My intention from the start with this race (even when things were looking better) was to enjoy myself and see what all the fuss is about at Zane Grey. So, bring on the pain, suffering, and fun! If nothing else, it’s a great chance to be alone and lose myself (not literally) in nature.
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