Why do I sign-up for these stupid things? This thought circled through my mind on repeat as I slowly trudged up the fully sun exposed douche grade dirt road on Guaje ridge. I had felt so wonderful only a few miles before, running smoothly, taking in the scenery and just enjoying the morning, but as all too often happens in ultra running things can change dramatically in just a few miles. The question is, how do you deal with adversity, it doesn’t always get worse…..does it?

While I don’t race much I’ll admit sometimes its nice to have a big goal on the calendar to motivate one to get out and run, especially in the early season before the mountains open up. So when the opportunity arose to make a trip back to New Mexico to run the Jemez 50miler I thought it would be a great chance to visit a new place, explore some new trails, and to force myself to train a bit more. So while training went pretty well; 44miles in the Grand Canyon and 32miles in Moab plus others, I definitely didn’t do much race planning, which left me scrambling for a ride down and place to stay. After working out those last minute logistics, I hopped in a car with Dave and Mike on Friday afternoon before the race and we booked it straight to check-in in Los Alamos. After grabbing our race bibs and a short stroll around town we were off to bed for our 4am wake-up call.

The gear is all laid out for race day.

The race start was one of the most casual I’ve been at, I was still strapping on my watch when Bill (RD) yelled go, oh shit, better start running. The pace set off a bit quicker than I’d have liked, but with the amount of dust getting kicked up I didn’t want to hang too far back for fear of setting off my asthma. So on ahead I charged into the darkness, just cruising along. As we began the climb up Guaje Ridge the morning light allowed us all to ditch our headlamps and simply enjoy the slow uphill grind in the cool morning air, though we all knew the heat was coming. I felt great in the cool morning air, making very quick work of the first 15miles to the ski lodge.

First glimpse of the sun over the Jemez Mountains, time to run and hide.

Climbing up Guaje Ridge.

While most people seemed to be dreading the steep climb through the Pajarito ski resort, I was excited for something I knew I wouldn’t be running. I put my hands on my knees and do what I do best, power hiked the shit out of it. I reached the summit in no time, switched back into downhill mode and found a happy pace on the long downhill to Camp May AS (mm22). At Camp May the temps were just beginning to warmup, but I pushed on, attempting to bank some miles before it got really hot. Quemazon (mm27) began my slow unraveling. I was doing a poor job of taking care of myself in the heat, and it was catching up to me. I began to feel lethargic, a little light headed, dry mouth and just out of sorts. While I was continually drinking and trying to cool off, it obviously wasn’t enough.

Up up and away through the Pajarito Ski area.

I held it together through Rendija (mm30), but had a complete meltdown as I trudged up into the heat of Guaje Ridge for the second time. The constant sun exposure, warming temps and stagnant air just crushed my energy and slowed me to a trudge. I mustered up a slow shuffle every once and a while, but it was mostly an 8mi death march up to the Pipeline turnoff. By then the shade of a few pine trees, coupled with my increased hydration and a slight breeze began to normalize my core temp, and I was able to jog my way down to the LA Canyon AS (mm40) where I promptly sat down, determined to fix my shit before leaving.

Gettin hot in herr, climbing back up Guaje Ridge on the second loop, oh so hot and sunny.

Feel like I’m about to meltdown in the sun.

I’ve never been great in the heat, but have found that I can tolerate it if I carefully manage my core temp. After downing a bottle of ice water and a few pieces of salted watermelon Blake Wood offered to douse me with a pitcher of water and fill my hat with ice, that did the trick. I was finally cooled off and I could feel the pop flowing back into my legs. I ran all the way back down to the Quemazon AS with a renewed determination to finish strong. I quickly filled my bottles, drenched myself and took off on the hot dusty trail toward the finish. At the final AS (Rendija mm47) I had them throw a pitcher of water on me and pushed hard for the finish. I hadn’t been eating much for the past 3hours and knew I was running on borrowed time. As I approached the final rolling mile my energy level began to suffer from lack of calories, but now it was just mental….keep on pushing, almost done. As I crested the final steep climb the finish chute came into view and I jogged on across, 9:49, not what I’d hoped for, but a time I’m satisfied with considering how up and down my race was. All I wanted now was something cold to drink (ended up drinking 3 bottles in 30min) and to stop moving. 2hours after finishing, we crammed back into our car and drove off for Colorado, cramping, sore muscles and all (last thing I wanted to do).

Recovery after a hot race should always include a slush puppie/slurpie.

The Jemez 50mile (alternate course), lived up to its billing as a interesting but tough route. With a good mix of runnable terrain and some steeps thrown in for good measure, it kept one guessing. And while my day didn’t go very smoothly, the race was superbly run and all the aid station volunteers were wonderful. It was unfortunate that this year we weren’t able to run the normal course through the Caldera, but with the extreme fire restrictions it was nice that we were able to run at all. Highly recommend the race and the area to anyone looking for an early season mountain adventure, especially if you’re the kind of person who likes a little heat. Thanks to Vfuel for keeping me fueled up all race long, all the volunteers and organizers at the race and to my fellow runners whom I slogged along with all day. Run fast, run healthy, but most importantly run happy.