The Prescott Circle - Whiskey Basin 88km

The Whiskey Basin 88km trail race was one of my goal races for this year and I really wanted to run well. OK, I’d had a niggling ITB issue since the Black Canyon back in February and had eased back on the miles as well as the intensity, but even if I wasn’t 100% physically ready for the race, mentally I was raring to go.

I had registered for the race back in December and since then, I had kept an eye on the entry list to see who my competition would be. There were some familiar names in there and I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but I honestly felt that if everything gelled on the day, I could quite possibly win.

Two weeks prior to the race, another name appeared on the entry – Kristina Pham – a good friend and a fellow Aravaipa Racing Team member. I was delighted to see that Kristina was entered, but it also meant that even before I toed the line, I had talked myself into no better than 2^nd place on the day. You see, Kristina is no sloth, and even though openly admitting that she was just using Whiskey Basin as a training run for her forthcoming 100 miler, she is far faster and a much better climber than I could ever hope to be – even her easy training pace would put her miles ahead of me. 

Of course, nobody knew how the Whiskey Basin would pan out and I figured the best approach was to just go out there and enjoy, and so long as I knew that I had given everything I possibly could, there was nothing else I could do about the end result.

We travelled up to Prescott on the Friday having booked ourselves in to an AirBnB property about a mile from the old downtown Prescott and just 10 minutes from the start line at Watson Lake. The property was ideal for us and the furries – a whole house all to ourselves with tons of land for the dogs to wander around, and we happily chilled out whilst Andy played guitar before watching a few episodes of “The Royale Family” on Netflix before bedtime.

Stone Cottage in Prescott - highly recommended :-)

I usually don’t sleep too well the night before a race but I managed to get a good solid 6 hours this time before waking up around 3.30am and feeling extremely nervous about having to run 55 miles. I’ve been pretty good in recent years in teaching myself not to think about the distance too much but rather think of things in terms of hours on feet – that way, I don’t feel quite so overwhelmed about what lies ahead – and yet for some reason, I couldn’t get this 55 miles out of my head.

Despite the nerves, I still managed a good breakfast even though it was only 4am and by 5am when the race started at Watson Lake, I was feeling far more relaxed and ready to go.

Although Andy had come to Prescott with me, I didn’t have him crewing me this time. He’s been working away a lot and desperately needed some rest and sleep so I knew I was on my own today. It was a little daunting as I didn’t even take my phone, and I started to ponder about what I’d do if something happened and I needed to drop – how would I let him know?! But there were so many familiar faces out there both racing and volunteering that there really was no need for concern and every single volunteer that I encountered at the aid stations was simply amazing!

A 5am start meant that it was still dark and for the first hour we followed the Prescott Circle trail by the beam of our head torches. The first few miles were pretty flat and I was consciously trying to hold back on the pace so that I didn’t burn myself out for later. Within the first mile, Kristina had pulled ahead into the distance along with a few of the men, and so I settled in to 2^nd place and just hoped that I could hold onto it for the remainder of the day.

As night turned to day, the sky became a beautiful red as the sun started to rise and by the time we reached the first aid station at 6 miles, I’d got rid of my head torch. My nutrition is somewhat hit and miss in ultras these days – sometimes I feel great, other times I’m throwing my guts up, and I find that I am in desperate need of fuel towards the end because I really don’t feel like eating even though I know I’m hungry. Today I was trying to graze on food as I ran along, a mix of energy gels, cookies and dried mango washed down with plain water – it seemed to be working and my tummy wasn’t complaining at all.

I took some Gatorade at the first aid station – it was already much warmer than I thought it would be – and after a cheery thanks I headed up the trail for a couple of hundred yards before I encountered a junction. There were 3 possible turns – left had lots of pink tape blowing around in the brisk wind, straight ahead was marked with a 10km race marker, and the other direction had absolutely nothing. I had been looking for the orange Whiskey Basin signs but couldn’t see one, the 10k route didn’t seem right, and I seemed to remember reading something in the race instructions advising us to familiarise ourselves with the Prescott Circle Trail logo as this is the trail we would be following for the 88km. Thankfully I knew what it looked like and after wasting an indecisive minute or two, I made the right turn only to see another lady was right on my tail and literally just a minute if that behind me.

We were only 6 miles into the race, but I really didn’t want to get passed by somebody so early on in the race, and from then onwards it really did become a race for me. Every time I found myself walking, I would force myself to start running, knowing full well that too much walking would result in me being caught from behind and it would be far harder for me to keep up, especially on the climbs.

The stretch to the next aid station was mentally the most difficult for me. My mind still didn’t seem to be in the right place and I was having lots of negative thoughts. I kept looking behind me to see if the other lady was anywhere close, but I seemed to have somehow pulled away from her and was running pretty much on my own. Then out of nowhere, a few of the chaps reappeared. I initially thought that they were the 57k runners but they were doing the 88k and I later found out they had somehow taken a wrong turn. I didn’t give it any further thought until about a mile from Aid Station 3 I became aware of somebody else running behind me – it was Kristina, chasing me up the hill to the aid station and yet I don’t recall actually passing her. I figured she must have had to jump in a bush to answer nature's call or something for her to end up behind me.

I didn’t spend too much time at the aid station – I’m trying to become more efficient in races so I don’t waste too much time there – and after restocking my supplies and necking down some coconut water, I headed off down the forest trail into the pine forest.

We were now around 16 miles into the race with another 40 or so miles still to go. I had moved into first place and whilst I didn’t expect to stay there for too much longer, I was ready to work hard for it and to stay there as long as possible.

The run through the forests was beautiful. There were lots of ups but none of them were particularly steep or technical, and there were a few stream crossings. But it was lovely and cool in there and it provided some shelter from the sun as well as the brisk wind that had started to pick up. Occasionally on the switchbacks, I would see Kristina still powering up the hills not too far behind and I knew it wouldn’t be long before we hit a much larger climb where she would come flying past me and I wouldn’t have a chance of catching her again.

By now we were probably at around 20 to 25 miles. I had still been refuelling pretty well and feeling strong, but now my tummy really was starting to grumble a little. I tried to nibble on some dried mango but up it came, along with a few other remnants of food I had been trying to digest for the past couple of hours. I felt so much better after that and started running again, but got stopped in my tracks when my stomach once again tried to reject everything in it. After 5 minutes at the edge of the trail throwing up, I finally felt empty and set off again with a spring in my step, feeling amazing!

The next aid station wasn’t too much further on and unlike my usual throwing up sessions during a race, I was actually ready and able to eat more food and downed some banana and other bits and bobs, along with a couple of tums to help settle the gurgly tummy.

As I was leaving the aid station, Kristina was just running in and that was the last I saw of her until the finish line. For the next 20 miles, I just kept pushing forward knowing that if I could just keep it going, my dream of actually winning the race could come true. But I couldn’t relax until I passed that finish line, and once again, I was forcing myself to run every time my legs protested and slowed to a walk.

Yet strangely enough, I was feeling strong. Strangely enough, I was now feeling far more positive. Strangely enough, I was ready to fight for this win and to give it absolutely everything I had – a far cry from how I had been thinking just a few hours earlier!

A long, rocky downhill stretch meant I could really open up the legs and I was having so much fun heading down. I tried to recall the course profile and seemed to remember some long downhill stretches, but they were inevitable followed by even more uphill, so I tried not to get too carried away for fear of trashing the legs when there was still lots of climbing to do.

The next aid station seemed to come around quickly and Jamil was there videoing the racers, myself included. I really was feeling the urge to slow down and walk, but being on film meant I had to keep running, and I was mumbling and complaining to myself about being such a wuss and had to force myself to look relaxed and focused – I dread to see the footage if and when it’s released!

Refuelling on coke, ginger ale, oranges, watermelon and banana, I left the aid station still in the lead of the ladies race but with no idea how much of a cushion I actually had. More climbing, more twists and turns through the forests, a very steep and rocky downhill which badly bruised my big toe (note to self: buy bigger shoes next time!) and then more short, steep climbs ensued where I power hiked if needed although it was fast becoming more like a shuffle.

We’d left the pine forests by now and in the distance I could see Watson Lake which was both the start and finish of the race. I was trying to do the maths in my head and figured there was only around 10 miles remaining - not too much further to go (it’s all relative in an ultra – you’ve already done 40+ miles – 10 is nowt) but when I saw Marissa at the next aid station, I got all excited! As great as it was to see Marissa and her happy, welcoming smile, I had it in my mind that she was at the 49.9 mile aid station and therefore I had miscalculated and only had 5 miles to go. But nooooooo!!!  It was 44.9 and there WAS another 10 miles!

Oranges, bananas, coke, ginger ale and anything else that contained fluids were swiftly necked down, my stomach was full of gas because I desperately needed to eat but I really didn’t fancy anything, I knew I was running low on calories, and therefore energy, but I kept telling myself it would be ok with just 10 miles to go!

More climbing up the mountain side for at least another couple of miles followed, but I managed to keep going by telling myself only 4 miles to the next aid and then we’re on the home stretch. I passed some of the 57k runners and they offered lots of encouragement, and then we started to make a long decent which took us even closer to Watson Lake.

By now, I had started looking behind me more frequently. I was still holding on to the lead but these last few miles were where I could lose it. I somehow started to pick up the pace thinking that if anybody wanted to pass me, they were going to have to work for it. If I was running a decent pace and they still passed me this late on, they deserved the win and I could handle that – what I couldn’t handle is if they passed me and I was walking – it wasn’t an option and I was being extremely disciplined with myself.

The final aid station couldn’t come soon enough, but even then, we had another climb that took us up and over, before finally… finally!...we hit the old railway track that would take us to the finish. We had walked this stretch with the dogs on numerous occasions so I knew that it was only another 10 or 15 minutes of running. I was still checking behind me every few minutes just in case a lady was closing in on me but even though I couldn’t see anybody, I still didn’t allow myself to relax.

Up ahead I could see the Aravaipa banner and the finish line. I knew there was one final little climb to the finish – my legs were so tired and my toe so bruised and sore, but I tried the best I could to run that final stretch. I got a little emotional as I approached the finish line – I really didn’t think I could win the race, but I had – I had finished 1^st lady in a new course record of 10 hours 19 minutes, and 7^th overall. 

Andy was there at the finish line with the dogs and I was so happy to see them and Brandy gave me a good wash down as she got rid of all the salt. Meanwhile, it was fabulous to see coach Adam there who had had an outstanding run himself to finish in 9.50 and 5^th overall and I was so, so happy for him.

The Whiskey Basin 88km is a race that I would certainly do again. I love forests and mountains and I loved the smell of the pines as we were running through. As expected, the organisation was outstanding and the volunteers were second to none. The weather was pretty much perfect – I did get sunburn, but the brisk wind kept things feeling cooler than they were and I don’t feel like I struggled with the conditions at all.

As ever, I have to say thank you to Andy and pups for being there for me and allowing me to do these races and all the training that goes with it. I moan and groan, I have happy days when I’m feeling confident and not so good days where I doubt my ability, and yet they always perk me up and make me realise that the main thing is to have fun and do my best – nothing else matters and they won’t judge me.

Of course, I must also thank Mr Adam Livingston who has been coaching me in recent months. After Black Canyon, I did have a niggle and I was worried that it would be detrimental to my race in Prescott. Thanks to Adam, my training plan was tailored perfectly to get me to Whiskey Basin in racing shape, but without overdoing things to aggravate the niggle even further. I stick to the plan pretty much religiously and trust in what Adam asks me to do – I feel that the win at the weekend is as much a victory for him as it is for me simply because he knows his athletes and wants to see them succeed – if you don’t have a coach yet, then I can certainly recommend him 😊

So what’s next? Well it’s only April and my next goal race isn’t until mid-September and there are a lot of weeks in between. My next race will likely be the Dam Good Run on April 23^rd – one of the things I need to work on is getting some speed back in my legs, so I will likely be doing one of the shorter races there. After that there is a huge possibility that I will be doing a road marathon – gasp in horror! Yes, I am seriously looking at the San Diego Marathon in early June as a way of getting back some of the road speed I used to have which will hopefully transfer back to the trails during the summer. I vowed never to do another road marathon but I think I need a little bit of a change right now to get me running faster and as ever, I’m up for the challenge. Marathon number 40 or something, here I come!

 

Prizes from the race with shoes courtesy of HIke Shack in Prescott