I actually hadn’t planned on running the Sky race this until about 2 weeks prior. I was on the trails up in Flag and had such a good time I decided I didn’t want to miss out. My original plan was to run Man Against Horse 50m in Prescott which was on the same day, October 3rd. Running Man Against Horse would have been more wise as I think it plays into my skill set better and isn’t at such a high elevation. Alas I don’t make the wisest decisions and I was more interested in challenge than comfort.
Overall I felt much better at the start than last year. It was really a black & white difference which had me hopeful. I was in the lead group and feeling pretty good. Breathing was under control well enough but the couple of runners chatting had me concerned about my lungs that live at 2100 feet. At Sunset Aid I took some GU and refilled on water as the entire lead pack took off and I brought up my seat at the rear of the pack. It’s pretty normal for me to be at the back of the elite pack or in the abyss between the elite and sub-elite for this kind of race. Once we got the Elden climb I was pretty certain that was the end of me keeping up. I just cannot push the pace like the others.
After that I mostly enjoyed the time out there. I really felt like I was performing much better than my last year’s time of 6:42. I recall having a much more difficult time and suffering a lot more. This year I really felt more calm and consistent through sections I have a hard time keeping my breathing under control. I applied a steady “stair master” shorter cadence method to these sections instead of power-hiking. This wasn’t enough to keep up with a couple other runs and getting passed up. While I dislike getting passed (who doesn’t) I was on my redline.
When I got to the powerline section of the course, where steepest sections begin, I checked to see if I might be able to shave some time off from last year… it didn’t look good. I tried to stay in the moment and carry on. I was also informed that there was a slight course change this year. Instead of reaching the top of powerline climb and taking a dirt road down to the final climb, we were rerouted down the road to a right-hand turn. This turn brought us back on the trail, up and over nasty carved out sections on the ski slope. The carved out sections were too far to apart to walk over, so you either had to half-jump and hope you made it, otherwise your jumping in a hole and walking out. No really great choices. A couple times my half jump didn’t work and I ended up just short, which is pretty frustrating because it’s a pain in the ass trying to get out. Once topped out, there is a very steep descent down to mile 30 that I almost made without falling on my ass.
The final section takes you up to the Agassiz lift. This year the course also changed from instead of going under chair lifts to a less occupied section. This new section is overall better than last year but it was kind of nice listening to people commenting how terrible you look or how crazy you are. One thing I did differently was use poles for both steep climbs. I think this was super choice and very happy I did.
The ending result was a time of 6:51. I truly felt like I was running a better race but my time was slower. I personally think that the extra time was the new section while there is no doubt it’s harder than a dirt road. My goal was top 5 and I ended up 8th overall. Still, not terrible considering this really event isn’t my skill set. I thought I could go into it this year, without specific training like altitude or lots of hill training and pull off a better time. I realize how foolish that is. In the race I began to accept my short-comings, keep a positive attitude and power on. I think that worked.
So with that… onto bigger and better things for me with Javelina Jundred on Halloween.
Congrats to all the finishers and thanks to Aravaipa Running and CarboPro for your support! Special thanks to my wife Lori for being out there to support me.
Mike Carson Runs 