Author: Brent Moody
Cuba, New Mexico “Deadman Peaks 30k Trail Run”
Had been almost 6 months since I raced anything over a ½
marathon, so the 30k was going to be a challenge. Cuba, NM at 7000+ feet
elevation to start, sandy single track trails, slick rock and some elevation
gain. All the ingredients of a recipe for disaster… LOL! Just kidding, I’m just
as much a lover of pain and suffering as my fellow Cyclopaths. This was a race I was
looking forward to, as a pre requisite for the following weeks race in Moab,
UT. My initial plan for entering this race was to not run to hard and see how I
stood for a 30k! The following week's race in Moab was a 30k, but not quite the
elevation. My wife and I are traveling full time again, so our motorhome was
stationed in Santa Fe, so I had almost a 2 hour drive to get there. Race time
was at 8 am, so I needed to leave at 4:45am to get there an hour early at
least, check in, and time for warm up. This place was out in the middle of nowhere… When I arrived, it was 6 degrees….brrr. Race time start was only set to
only be 11 degrees, so was already thinking this was a training run since I
would be dressed as an Eskimo! I did strip down a touch, running shorts, shirt,
long sleeve shirt, jacket, gloves, back packet and baseball hat.
Race time was here, I warmed up…not at all.. My plan was to
dress warm, but not too much so at the ½ way point I could strip down. It was
set to be 48 degrees by 10am, so shortly after my planned finish time. I was
ready to go! Anything on the trail, races over 30k to 100 miles, requires a
great running back pack. A few major necessities in there, but not too much as
weight is the killer.. I was ready to start and looking around at my
competitors, about 100 in this race, I was bewildered!! Must be all these local
New Mexicans and Colorado Natives that are used to this. Most were in shorts
and short sleeve shirts and one guy was in shorty shorts and nothing else but a
water bottle and shoes!! LOL!! That kept me laughing and adrenaline flowing for
at least 4 miles of the race!
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| Starting Line... |
Off goes the gun, and on our way! I’m a negative split runner, so I don’t go out to fast… Just enough to stay in the top 25% if I can, then reel them in the last ½ of the race. This race consisted of almost all single track and lots of deep sand. This was the first 2 miles, then started the 5 mile climb, thru more sand and slick rock. Reeled in a few people the first 2 miles, and what I could tell, was setting in about 6th place, right where I wanted to be. Competitive spirits kicked in...The guy I stuck behind was running a 9 min mile pace up this bluff. It was a beautiful course, single track sand, slick rock jumping, mesquite and pine trees, and some major bluffs!!! I would have loved to take some pictures, but while originally planning on a training run, this quickly turned to a race. Sitting in 6th place, and I could do well…I’m too competitive to let this go. WE finally made it up to mile 7. There was a table and water out in the middle of nowhere - up on a bluff. I was just thinking, “How did they get this all the way out here?” We were approaching the top of the bluff and the end of the bluff, so I knew we were either eventually going back down the other side of the bluff or jumping off the edge and straight down we would go. The trail was always well marked and well, the latter is the way we went. Felt like Evil Knievel at the time…. It was about 1000’ straight down the bluff, 10’ switchbacks at a time. I could see the crazy no clothes guy, so I knew we were catching him. I'm a terrible downhiller, always have been; so I knew I would lose some ground on the way down. Once we made it to the bottom of the bluff, it was a mile more gradual of downhill, again single track and deep sand.. The #1 guy I met at a ½ mile to turn around, so he was ahead of me 1 mile already, wow! I cruised into the ½ way spot at mile 9, had to give them a perforated part of my race tag, to guarantee I made it to the check in. Perfect time to shed my coat and long sleeve shirt. Thought it would be fast, but ended up not.. I was fumbling around and couldn’t get my long sleeves packed in my back pack. I could see places 3-5 getting farther away, I estimated 400 yards. But.. I didn’t panic as I knew we had that 1000’ climb straight up and I could gain back the ground. Off I went, feeling good, listening to tunes.
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| Brent on the slick rock... |
As I ran that ½ mile at a steady pace, not even feeling the deep sand, I reeled in Mr. No Clothes, so in 5th place now… I hammered up the 1000’ climb, meeting a lot of runners coming the other direction on their way out. By the time I reached the top, I had caught the original pacer I had been running with and passed him up... now in 4th! My calves were brutal, rolling cramps were hitting both legs! I needed some carbs and sugar! All I had left were some cheap sugar gummy bears, so I kept eating as many as I could and washing them down while running that next mile… That did the trick! Instant sugar rush for at least the next few miles I would think… The next 7 miles were a downhill, so now was the time to make my move. Negative split time and catch the runners that always go out too fast. I caught the 3rd place guy within the next mile. I looked down at my watch and I had been running a 6:45 mile for the last 2 miles, whoa… slow down, ways to go I thought. I looked at my watch again and my heart rate was up around 160-170… Starting to red line, but I can push through this, just have to relax, deep breaths and listen to the tunes! I have to be honest, those next 2 miles were slick rock and in and out of nearly passing out, starting to see blurry vision… I ate some more gummy bears and drank a bunch more water. The next 1-2 miles were those short and steep bunny hop type of trails, which are super hard on the legs.. but I was still running good and right at a 7min mile pace. Finally out of the woods and out on the single track I could see the finish line, even though almost 2 miles away… I, honestly, had to walk here and there to stop from passing out; but it worked. I could see 2nd place, but couldn’t quite real him in. Ran that last 1 mile pretty fast, and looked back and 4th place I could see, but no way was he catching me. Finally finished, never felt so good.... 2:36 for 18 miles... 1st place was only ahead of me about 7 min, so still about a mile….. but, at the ½ way point, this guy was in 2nd by about a ¼ mile. . I think I made up a ½ mile on 1st place. 2nd place finisher was only about 3 min ahead of me, he was the guy that was ahead of me 1 mile at the ½ way point. Not bad for a 50 year old and rest of top 10 were 20s, 30s and a couple 40s.
This was a great race, but I paid for it the next week of
recovery. I ended up running Moab as a training race and pacing my buddy to a
new PR. I did run a few 1 mile sprints in between, but kept running back for
him to pace him. That last mile felt so good we ran a 5:35 mile pace. All is
coming into perfect timing, no injuries, having fun, enjoying life.. This years
goal is not the long ULTRA runs, but the track. I do have a few ULTRA fun runs
coming up, which the main one is running Wonderland Trail this summer in
August, 3 days, 93 miles. Epic bucket list run… Anyways, Track season is here
and shooting for some goals to compete in the National Senior games as well as
the National Masters Track and Field Championships in the 1500, 3000 and the
5k. I’m still riding as cross training, so a good add to training.
To all my competitive Cyclopath buddies, miss you guys.. The
riding I have done with you guys is part of the journey… CHEERS TO A GREAT
2020!
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Comment from Mike Hassur: for more info on this run click on the link below:
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