This is a long post. Here are the top 6 essential cliff notes for those of you too lazy to read the whole thing (you know who you are): Always run long when training for a 50K: 10 miles is not long Always go into a run with the mindset that you’re going to enjoy yourself Push through feeling crappy: we all feel crappy at some point in time, it’s not a reason to quit Watch for Desert Tortoises, they’re awesome Always drink Coke in conjunction with running, it’s amazing Always pre-grease your butt crack: butt crack chafing is unpleasant The Beginning of the Story: My morning began at 3:40am. I slept in my race clothes, …

Le sigh. My life is a whirlwind of my own making. I keep telling myself the frantic pace will calm down eventually. I am about 95% sure this is true. Of course in addition to my already frenetic life, I must run far. It’s fun. Pass Mountain 50K. Honestly I was in no better condition for it than for the Cave Creek 50K, but I went out to finish it. Why not? My longest training run this time consisted of pacing my dear friend Kathi to her 3rd place finish at the Javelina Jundred K– this was about 15.5 miles. While that’s better than my 10 mile long runs for Cave Creek, it’s not much better. …

**Flagstaff Extreme Big Pine 54K Race Report from Aravaipa Ambassador, Amber Fifield** I am sitting on my couch, still sporting the slightly-stiff-muscles hobble indicative of a good tough running effort; in this instance that effort was Aravaipa’s Inaugural Flagstaff Big Pine 54K. The events of the race, and indeed, of the weekend, are still so fresh in my mind that I feel the need to put them to computer immediately. Even though I have other adventures still begging to be written, I feel this one must take precedence. In the month after my Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim crossing, I took it very easy with my running, just doing a couple of easy …