Ups and Downs of Coldwater Rumble :-)

Having being a competitive athlete for so long now, I 'm normally pretty chilled out when it comes to racing these days - that is unless it's one of my A races - and yet going into this year's Coldwater Rumble 20-mile trail race, I felt a little nervous and maybe even a little under pressure.

Last year I won the race and was pretty close to the ladies' course record, and even though I already knew I wasn't running as fast as this time last year, I still couldn't help feeling that I would end up comparing my times. In addition, having being invited back to the Aravaipa Racing Team for a second year, I felt that I needed to perform well and run a decent time - needless to say when I had a touch of the trots on Friday evening, I didn't think too much of it and just put it down to a little pre-race nerves.

The past week or so in Phoenix has been much cooler compared to normal standards, and whilst "the high country" up north had experienced heavy snowfall over the past couple of days, the lower desert areas and the valley had been faced with a considerable amount of heavy rain. Some areas just to the north of Phoenix had flooding as the normally bone dry washes turned into raging rivers, and there were reports on the news of some folks getting caught in the flood waters as they attempted to drive through those washes .

I remembered the Coldwater Rumble as a rolling course that dipped up and down through washes and I think it's fair to say that the majority of people intending to race were getting prepared for cold, wet, muddy conditions which would make the run even tougher than normal. Despite my nerves, I was actually looking forward to a wet, muddy race for a change - if nothing else, it would at least give me a good excuse for not running as fast as I did in the previous year!

Yet on Saturday morning as we drove down to the Estrella Regional Mountain Park, the stormy skies started to clear leading to a beautiful, dramatic sunrise, and whilst there was certainly a brisk wind blowing which kept the temperatures down, the sun was trying to make a break for it and things were starting to brighten up.

Sunrise heading to Estrella

Although I was looking forward to hitting the trails for a few hours, I wasn't looking forward to running hard. For me personally, racing 20 miles these days is quite tough. Whilst still a good distance, it's much shorter than what I'm used to and I knew that meant attacking the course at a faster pace. My stomach was still playing silly buggers and I had to visit the loo twice in the half hour before the race start - I really couldn't believe that I was THAT nervous, but apart from a dull stomach ache, I wasn't feeling ill although I knew I wasn't 100%. It was then that I saw Aravaipa team mate Kori who had made a last minute decision to do the 20 mile race - I knew that if she was feeling good, she was likely to chase the course record, and I felt relieved that it meant there was now less pressure on me.

Although only a year since I had last ran the course, I couldn't really recall much about it. I did remember a steep uphill start, and then I remembered things flattening out after a couple of miles but with lots of ups and downs through the washes. I also remembered there being a good downhill at around 15 miles, and I definitely remembered there being a good mile or two of running on soft sand. What I DIDN'T remember is just HOW steep the hill was at the start, nor how much uphill there was before things flattened out!

For the first couple of miles as we climbed up and down endless hills of varying grade, I was just ahead of Kori and we were both making pretty good progress. It was actually pretty warm despite the brisk wind, and I found I was drinking far more than I had anticipated. I was getting a little stitch and my stomach was starting to gurgle again but I tried to ignore it and push on. After passing the first aid station at just over 3 miles, we started a gradual climb that took us higher into the Estrella Mountains. It wasn't a steep climb, but it did seem to go on and on and on and I found that I was getting a little fed up of the relentless climb. I started to walk the steeper sections but my power hike wasn't that powerful and it wasn't long before a relaxed and strong looking Kori passed me, and gradually put a good minute or two between us.

Much as I was loving being out on the trails, I was definitely not enjoying the race as much as I was hoping, and I found that mentally, I was losing the game. I just couldn't seem to get the enthusiasm to get my legs going and I was struggling to get myself in to race mode, and I didn't know why.

Whilst I was happily enjoying my surroundings and admiring the desert views, another lady was approaching from behind. I noted that she had a yellow number - great, she was doing the 20 mile race too. How many more ladies were going to pass me whilst I was in this frame of mind? She too passed by with graceful speed, and as the trail twisted and turned ahead, she put a good 400 metres or so between us as she disappeared in to the distance.

I'm not really sure what happened next. My stomach was still giving me grief, I was getting a stitch, I couldn't wait to get to the next aid station so I could get a drink, but all of a sudden my mind and body just woke up. My pace increased from a stop/start 9 minute miling or something to suddenly running just under 8's  and I was starting to make gains on the lady ahead that had only recently passed me. The closer I got, the more motivated I became, and as I relaxed into my stride and pushed the pace a little harder, I caught her. She was still running strong and looking good, but my competitive instinct had kicked in - I was going to fight for second place and I was determined to run hard for the remainder of the race, and if doing so brought me into striking distance for the win over the next 12 miles, then so be it.

We'd hit the sandy sections of the course by now, but I made light work of it as I pushed on through and opened a gap over 3rd place. There were a couple of sections on the course where the course markers weren't too clear ( I later found out that some had been blown away by the wind) and I ended up stopping and hesitating over which direction I needed to go, but I didn't let that deter me, and as soon as I was on the right track, I continued to push hard. My pace by now had greatly improved, I was obviously starting to tire a little and yet I felt strong at the same time. I somehow managed to make good progress up the next hill, overtaking some of the runners that were doing the longer distances, and as I came in to the aid station at around 16 miles, I was informed that Kori was about 2 or 3 minutes ahead of me.

I really didn't think I would catch Kori - she's a good strong runner and was having a good race today, plus I really would need to put a shift on to close the gap over just 4 miles or so - but knowing that she wasn't too far ahead and knowing that I didn't want to slip back down to third place again helped to keep me focused and moving forward. More dodgy signage cost me a few more seconds as I almost headed off in the wrong direction but fortunately I was paying enough attention to realise my mistake before I went too far.

Just like last year, I hated those last 4 miles! You think you can see the parking lot ahead but it's something else, and the trail just keeps going up and down and around the mountainside. The finish just never seems to get any closer, the legs are tired, and rocky, technical ups and downs just keep coming, and all you want to do is finish. Finally, after a steep downhill you finally hit the road, and you know you only have about 600m until the finish line.

After my dodgy start to the race, I was very happy to finish 2nd lady in 2 hours 53 minutes. I was 7 minutes slower than last year, but given the wind and given my lack of focus at the beginning of the race, I'm not about to complain. I finished strong and I finished with a smile - what more could I ask for?

Next weekend I have the Thunderbird 50km Fun Run which will be another good test of my fitness at the moment. Training has been going really well this past couple of months and I am getting some of the speed and fitness back that I had 12 months ago. I am also starting to feel much stronger on the climbs, and so I'm intrigued to see how I get on over a hilly 50k on Saturday. I then have a 12km race the following week, with my first big race of the year - the Black Canyon 100km  - on February 18th. Having done a training run on a 25 mile section of the Black Canyon Trail just a couple of weeks ago, I'm really looking forward to that one. Being a Golden Ticket Race for the Western States, it's going to be a highly competitive race for both the men and women and knowing that I won't be anywhere near to the leaders means that I can just focus on my own race and getting a decent time. I do have a goal time and I do think that if all goes well, I can do it. I just need to make sure that I stay focused and run the best race I can on the day.

But that's not until February, I still have another 4 weeks to prepare, and I have some good quality training sessions to complete. There's no rest for the wicked, so I guess I'd better get back to it :-) Catch you all laters!

Coldwater Rumble 20 Mile Podium