McDowell Mt. Frenzy

        Well I ran the 25k and it was totally awesome. I finished in my normal slow time but hey I was out there. The best part was that Becky played hookey from work and brought the kids out to watch their old man getting worked over. Another cool thing was my sister and niece came to cheer me on It was like I had my very own cheering section. All that was missing was more cowbell.  Now back to the race… It was a nice morning around 50 degrees, perfect for running.  The crowd was nice and light less than 50 runners doing the 25k, the 50k animals left an hour before our 8 am start time and everyone thinned out in no time at all.

For all who have not had the chance to enjoy McDowell mt. Park, this race took place on the 3 competitive loops which are pretty much all single-track so passing and getting passed takes some timing due to the numerous chollas lining the track. Then you have to avoid all of the loose cholla balls scattered underfoot.  Now back to the run the first loop takes place on most of the short track for 3 miles or so, the single track is nice and compacted decomposed granite. The track flows and rolls up and down and up and up and down through the desert really loosening the old thighs up. From there the course moves to the long loop which is 7 miles of rocky running. The nice little rollers from the earlier track transition into longer dives into and out of dry arroyo’s making my thighs burn. The course then takes us back to the parking lot and back to the short loop again by now I’m really feeling the little rollers but the tough stuff is yet to come. The short course moves to the technical course where the climbing is longer and rockier culminating in a mile long jaunt strait up a mountain and down the back side into a nasty wash that you basically have to crawl out of. After running for a couple of hours the view of the finish from the top of the mountain really invigorated me to start moving a little faster and ignore the screaming pain of my tightening IT band. At the finish my rooting cheer squad was there to dole out high 5’s and love.  I crossed the finish line dove straight at the snacks for some pretzels and a peanut butter burrito yuuuummmm. Over all it was a great run my IT band kills right now so I’m off to my parent’s ice cold swimming pool for a soak.