The hardest part about vacation races? Not being able to set foot on the course and so not really knowing what to prepare for and how to train. I’v been so busy with scouting Tabeguache and working on that FKT (attempt three coming later…) that I’ve forgotten how important it is to really study course maps and profiles. And to also use the resources at hand such as facebook to get more intel on the terrain and course. Going in blind with just a glance at the course profile served me well at the Colossal Cave 55k, so why would the Oracle Rumble 50 mile be any different? Well, a few miles to the north and on a much more remote passage of the AZT meant both harder terrain and a not as well used trail. One of those I could have prepared for - the other not so much.
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Looking north on the AZT from Tiger Mine Rd
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Preparing better would have meant doing more then just plugging the course GPX into both Garmin and Gaia and then only looking at Garmin’s elevation gain. According to Garmin, it was 49.9 miles with just 4,575 feet of climbing. Sounds pretty “easy” for a 50 miler right? So I trained according to what Garmin was saying, without looking at the other resources available to me. I didn’t double check the elevation profile on the race website nor did I look at what Gaia was saying for elevation gain. I trained for flatter and faster running, spending much of my time at Koko, running Mary’s, Steves and some of the other easier trails in that area. Did a few of my runs at the loops for the climbing, but that wasn’t the focus at all. After Bangs, I’d started entertaining the thought of maybe being able to break 9 hours because the course would be so much flatter than Bangs. Hah. I was in for a surprise….
The drive was as expected looking at the weather. Rain, rain and more rain. We didn’t get to do anything on the way down because everything was wet and muddy. Getting down to Oracle late Thursday meant just finding a place to camp and going to sleep. We decided on parking at the huge lot where the Tiger Mine aid station would be. It was dark, quiet and perfect for sleeping. It also meant I would be able to go for a short recon run in the morning if I wanted. We were already planning on riding part of the trails in the state part in the morning, so the run would be a bonus. When I woke up, I decided that I did want to run a little. Four miles, out and back on the trail from the aid station location. This was the first inkling that I was in for more than I’d anticipated. The run out was easy because it was mostly downhill to a large wash. Then a steep climb up the other side of the wash. Which meant one thing - that I would have a nearly 2 mile climb of almost 500 feet to reach that aid station at mile 28. And judging by the terrain laid out in front of me, like folded layers of fabric, there were plenty more climbs just like that coming before it. Yikes.
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| Sunrise over the bank of clouds we'd driven under the entire day before |
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| Course marking and trail marking in the bottom of one of the many washes |
Then came the bike ride. We decided that we check out the walk Nick would have to get to the Kannaly wash aid station, then get on the course and ride a some of the trails in the park. The wash trail to get to the aid station was pretty easy, then we turned onto the AZT southbound. There would be a short section on the AZT before we turned off onto park trails for a bit. And it was another two miles of steady climbing from the aid station to the ranch house, then two miles of rolling down, twisting and turning around cacti. Like every other trail in the area, the climbs and descents were punctuated by steep plunges into washes followed by an equally steep climb out. And the winding trail made finding flow on the bikes hard - which meant the running would be equally hard. We didn’t do the out and back to the turn around - that would have made the ride much longer then it needed to be. Instead we turned left onto the AZT to return to Kannally wash. It wasn’t the course, but I’d already learned a lot. We scooped the area around the windmill out a bit, then headed back onto the AZT to finish out the last few miles of the race. Right away, another nearly mile long climb out of the aid station. Then rolling down towards the tunnel under the highway, which you could see and hear well before you actually reached it. This section was part of the out and back, so that mile and half of rolling down had to be climbed on the way outbound. At the tunnel, the course turned left into the wash. A mile of sandy wash running on a gradual uphill that was one of those sucky grades that make you curse. Steep enough that you want to walk, but so gradual that you feel guilty for walking. And the sand… The turn off from the wash lead to yet another climb. We could see the ranch house from the top of the climb, but weren’t sure the next few trails were bike legal. I would have to discover the last mile on race day.
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| Mural under US77 as the trail entered Oracle State Park |
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| Nick checking out the windmill near his aid station location |
After our ride, I told Nick that my chart was completely off. I’d had two goal times - one very aggressive and one more reasonable. I would be happy to be close to the reasonable time after what I’d learned on both the ride and the run. I also went and looked at the course profile a little closer on the web site and on Gaia. According to both sources, the climbing was closer to 7000 - not the easy 4500 from Garmin. I was in for it - hopefully the training I’d done would be enough to survive the day!
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