White Mesa Fat Ass 50k Race Report

On Saturday I ran the White Mesa 50k, a grass-roots Fat Ass event that took place in the White Mesa recreational area near San Ysidro, NM. A lot of fun was had by all and it was a truly spectacular day to be out running in the high desert.

My goal with this event was simply to gain experience and enjoy myself. Given the races I want to do next year, I felt that getting an ultra-distance event under my belt sooner rather than later would be tremendously valuable in terms of experience with all the things that go into ultrarunning: pace management, calorie intake, hydration, the mental aspects, etc.

Course map from event web site

The course consists of four laps, two in each direction, of a 7.2 mile circuit, with an additional 3.5 mile out and back, for a total of 32.3 miles. My best guess on climbing looked to be several hundred feet per segment, so something like 4000-5000 ft or so total with a max elevation of around 6000 ft. The course didn't look terribly difficult on paper, but reality was a little different... and in more ways than one. More on that in a bit. The whole area was absolutely spectacular, by the way.

A point of uncertainty going into this was my fitness level following my recovery and rest from the Duke City Marathon. I did a couple test runs earlier in the week on some known courses and all indications were that my form was reasonable. However, I also could tell that my body was tired, presumably from getting back into training mode following a partial lay-off. Based on these observations I decided the best strategy would be to run conservatively for the first couple laps, and then if I felt good pick things up a bit over the final sections to see how my body would respond. I had intended to carry a camera with me on the first lap, but as soon as I pulled into the parking lot I realized I forgot it. So use your imagination.

This course turned out to be one of those that seems like it's uphill the whole friggin' time. There was one flat section that was maybe 2/3 of a mile long, but the rest was constant up or down. Getting a good rhythm was a challenge for me, both physically and mentally. That combined with the complete lack of shade and strong winds made for a deceptively tough day. I ran very gently on the first lap, trying to keep what felt like my easy run pace. The only excitement, if you can call it that, was navigating and becoming familiar with the course. The second lap was a little more interesting from an effort perspective as I picked things up a bit over the last couple miles to test things out and generally felt pretty good. Except...

Towards the end of the second lap I started to feel hungrier than I thought I should... like, you're-gonna-bonk-in-20-minutes-if-you-don't-do-something-now hungry. Starting about 45 minutes into the run I had been eating a gel every 25 minutes, but apparently this wasn't enough (although I think I figured out why). I downed a couple extra gels in quick succession and then took in some extra calories when I got to the car. In retrospect I ate too much too fast because for the next 45 minutes I was fighting off some nausea that basically lingered the rest of the day. But I did get over it enough to put in a good pace on the second half of the third lap. In fact the third lap was my fastest of the day by several minutes. On the climb on the return section I flew past a gaggle of mountain bikers, which gave me a little ego boost.

By the end of the third lap however I was definitely starting to get tired. I had not run more than three hours since DCM four weeks prior, and the last one before that was at the end of September. So I was definitely feeling the accumulated miles as I trudged out of the parking lot to start the last lap. It was the usual suspects that were acting up: my hips and hamstrings mostly, with a little bit in my butt (my quads and calves felt great all day, actually). And just a general sense of fatigue. The increasing winds didn't exactly motivate me either.  The last two or three miles were particularly slow and it seemed like I was taking a walk break up every little hill.

When I got back to the parking lot after the fourth lap I was already pushing up against my family-imposed time limit so I decided to skip the last section to make it home in time. As I later found out from the organizer's report, each loop was actually closer to 8.4 miles (as measured independently by two separate runners via GPS) rather than 7.2, bringing the total for four laps to 33 miles and change or 53-54k (and the total for the whole thing was more like 64k). My finishing time was right around six and a half hours. Given my lack of long runs over the last several weeks plus my stomach issues, I'm happy with that.

Even so, this wasn't about time or pace, it was about gaining experience, and in that regard it was a very successful day. The fact that this was a free "race" took some of the stress away and really just let me focus on running and managing the run. I have a whole host of observations and lessons learned that I'll list here in no particular order:

• Gels do the job, but for me, "real food" has a tremendous psychological benefit that shouldn't be overlooked. How to balance that benefit against the benign gastrointestinal nature of gels will be something for me to explore. 
• I think I underestimated how much sports drink I consumed at the DCM aid stations, with the consequence that my rate of gel consumption was overly optimistic. I think I need to either eat more frequently (like every 20 minutes) or start sooner (like immediately), or both.
• I hemmed and hawed over whether to use a handheld or a waistpack bottle. My concern with the former was that my arms would get tired, and my concern with the latter was that the pressure around my belly would contribute to nausea. In the end I opted with the handheld, and I think it was the right choice. My arms actually didn't get tired at all, most likely due to the pushups I've been doing. An implication of this is that I'll probably go with a Nathan HPL 020 for my hydration pack rather than the Camelback Octane XCT I've been eying, since the Nathan doesn't have a waist strap. And I'll probably pick up a second handheld bottle too.
• I started out wearing a pair of drymax Trail Run socks. Around the middle of the second lap I was starting to get some blisters. I don't know if the thickness of these resulted in excess fabric that rubbed or hot feet that sweat or both, but after the second lap I switched to a pair of drymax Lite Trail Run socks and the situation stabilized and at least didn't get any worse. So I think I'll stick with the Lite model from now on.
• I wore my Wildcats and they were great the whole day. No complaints there. I thought about wearing my Crosslites but ultimately decided to go with the Wildcats because of the increased cushioning.
• I had a couple mental low spots, primarily involving my nausea and the wind. The first half of both the third and fourth laps were tough. But I think I at least recognized them for what they were and was able to get through without any drama.

Another interesting observation I've had that merits a little more discussion is the amount of time that I've needed to recover from long trail runs compared to my recovery from the Duke City Marathon. Today I am stiff but feeling no acute pain in my muscles or joints or connective tissues. Actually what hurts the most are my sun-burnt lips! Same with some of my long training runs back in September and August: I was tired and stiff but running again in a couple days and mostly back to normal in less than a week. Compare that to DCM, which left me with acute pain in my feet and tightness in my groin/hamstrings for over two weeks. Is it the harder surface? Is it legs unaccustomed to the higher speed? Something else? I would guess it's probably a combination of things, but even if I can't pinpoint the exact cause the message is pretty clear: run trails!