A Tale of Two Races The intention of this race was to serve as both training for the body as well as the mind. For the body the rough goal was to overachieve as measured by Ultrasignup’s ratings system. For that I would need to score in the mid 60% range. Alas the first half of the race succeeded by this measurement or would have had I dropped down to the 55k distance by quitting before the 2nd out-and-back of the race. For context, Colossal is first race of the Arizona Triple 50 which features two out-and-backs from the start finish line. The race first head south on the AZT, then back north to the start/finish. Looking North from Start: Strava View I set out south at a good pace South from the start despite not totally dialing in my shoe choice for the day. I am still recovering from two ankle injuries on each foot from rolling each several times in high stack unstable racing shoes. So I practiced “opposite action” and bought two large, wide heavy clauds known as the Altra 275 Olymp...
The FKT project, here known as "The Tukson 50" has been a life-time in the making. My earliest memories include drawing maps of our local ski mountain pixel by pixel. I grew up hiking in Montana's US Forest Service and Wilderness lands, which required a deep knowledge and skill in reading topography maps in order to find my dad's favorite fishing spots. My interest and love of maps has always been there, my skill in reading and imagining them, my super-power. I dream in "topo". Cat Mountain Fast forward to today, and Strava has put that love of maps and topography on crack. That heat map, is the best thing ever created! I have got dozens of variations of the Tucson 50, remembered in a half dozen published maps on Strava. These days I'm using maps to motivate and explore. As some elite racers will recite, in reference to their Why, "I race to train." In other words, for many it's about the running, the views, and less about finishing comp...