For those new to the Monster – it’s a 100 miler on the Mogollon Rim in Northern Arizona. This hundred is normally 106 miles but this year it’s 107, as one of the trails was re-routed. This is my 3rd year running it. I finished in 35.5 hours in 2013. In 2014, I only made 44 miles since the race was called due to severe weather. No chance of that this year since the weather will be sunny and warm (a little too warm).
I’ve followed the same routine every year. Last night I flew into Phoenix, spent the night in Flagstaff, climbed Mt Humphreys this morning, and are now in Payson, AZ – 11 miles from the start. There was beautiful weather for the climb this morning. I added a few pictures below. It was my first outing in 2 weeks after twisting my ankle during a training run. I’ve been very cautious to not exert it since it was very swollen and discolored. I was cautious thins morning making sure that I didn’t strain it. I tried out my new poles. The result was an uneventful climb and decent, but I was 20 minutes slower than the past years. I’ve determined that poles slow me down so I’m only taking one of them on the race for the later legs when I’ll need the extra stability.
After showering, my ankle showed a lot of pretty colors. It doesn’t hurt and it’s not swollen so I think it may be the old blood draining. As a precaution, I iced it for 30 minutes. I added a picture of that for the viewing pleasure of Mike V since he squealed like a 16 year old girl just sticking a toe in ice after he completed the Leadville 100.
