Squaw Peak 50 Mile Trail Run Wrap-up

Well, John got the results up for the Squaw Peak 50 miler, and as a relatively mediocre ultra-runner I was reasonably pleased with my result. First off, I FINISHED… Always a good concept with an ultra-marathon. In talking with several more accomplished runners, the Squaw Peak is a fairly tough run due to the elevation changes, so I’ll take “finished” as a key accomplishment. My time was 13:26:51, which put me 105th out of 220 Overall, 89th out of 173 Male, 46th out of 103 Masters Category, and 33rd out of 59 for Age Group 40-49. Long live Mediocrity! ;)

In reality, I had a great time. This was one of the most enjoyable runs I’ve had since starting ultra-marathons. The terrain was amazing, both in visual beauty and how it ran as a course. John did a great job linking up some great trails for the course, and the volunteers at the Aid Stations were awesome! Arriving at Aid 7 and seeing Karl Meltzer there handing out S-tabs and slices of salted potatoes was an extra bonus. Many thanks to all those volunteers who spent their Saturday manning the aid stations and supporting those of us nutty enough to participate in this event.

I also succeeded in keeping the blisters to almost NONE! I changed out socks at Aid 8 (mile 33), and re-applied Aquaphor between my toes, and despite some hideous terrain over the 50 miles, I ended up with only one small blister on my left big toe. I’ll call that a major success! My La Sportiva Wildcats performed perfectly as well. One side note here… I used a Brand New pair for the race. This is a testament to finding a pair of shoes that fit perfectly, and sticking with them. The Wildcat in a 42.5 fits perfectly, and I simply slipped in my orthotics and ran. It’s a great feeling to know I’ve finally found “the shoe” for me.

Recovery has been interesting. During the final few miles of descent down to the finish, I kicked up some rocks and tagged one with the top of my right foot. Initially, I was concerned I might have chipped a bone in my foot, but it’s finally healing and I can “flex” my foot again. Otherwise, I was just sore, and took it pretty easy for two weeks, only doing light runs and weights. Now that I’m back on my normal training program, definitely feeling good and am excited to see how the Speedgoat goes!