racing 10:08:00 [5]
McDowell Mountain Frenzy in Fountain Hills, AZ. Not sure why it was that I thought a warm and super-sunny race locale would be a good one for me to tackle a 50-miler (given the overwhelming evidence that I all but literally melt in such conditions), but a desert race was on the bucket list, so what the hell....
Granted, the experience of running singletrack with the sun rising over the silhouettes of cacti and mountains in the distance was pretty damn cool. I'd say it was until about 10:30 that things were feeling great. Then...not so much. At 46k the course featured a tortuous 1500ft climb to a 4000ft peak - after that it was essentially game over. I staggered/shuffled through to the finish where another 13km loop waited, and seriously considered whether pulling the plug was the smart thing to do as Browner and Dee drenched me in ice water. Pride overcame logic though, and off I stumbled. By the end things were just about at stage 'Nicaragua' - it took me an hour of lying down in the car and on the bathroom floor before my heart rate finally calmed, but I was eventually able to stand (and miraculously even made it out to dinner!) Bucket list checked - no more high-sun/no-shade distance runs for this wilting flower!
Great trip with great company - huge thanks to Bash, Bent and Dee for inviting us along. Thoroughly enjoyed AZ - I'm pretty sure we'll be back!