Race Across New Mexico, Stage 14

March 1, 2015

The month of March began with Stage 14 of the Race Across New Mexico. Due to inclement weather the day before, I decided not to venture out onto New Mexico Highway 380 for Stage 13. The road was closed, and I did not want to risk going out in the car, or having a vehicle slam into me on the highway. When the race director had not made a decision by 11:30 AM, and because the road was still closed, I made the decision to not risk anything.

Due to the fact that Stage 12 was cut down to 19 miles because of the road closure, the race director decided to tack on the remaining miles onto the last two stages of the Race Across New Mexico. Therefore, Stages 14 and 15 would both be 30 miles in length. 

I actually felt really good during Stage 14. I listened to some Indian music for the first half, and the sound of the nagaswaram kept me going. The entire 30 miles were on the desolate stretch of road between Roswell and Tatum, and because it was foggy, I couldn't tell what the landscape looked like. Overall, it was a great day, and my average pace for the 30 miles (9:43 min/mile) was the quickest pace I had maintained during any stage! My legs felt like they were actually running, rather than slogging along in a shuffle.

 Excited to run!

 Getting ready to start. Lots of fog.

 And, we're off for the first of two 30 mile runs...

 A sweet action shot.

 Running so fast everything is a blur?

Stage 14

Distance - 30.29
Time - 4:54:13
Pace - 9:43
Calories - 2167
Elevation Gain - 568
Elevation Loss - 197
Elevation Change - 765
HR Avg - 147
HR Max - 185
Minimum Elevation - 3848
Maximum Elevation - 4403

Totals (11 stages)
Distance - 289.01
Time - 53:52:00
Pace - 11:11
Calories - 21728
Elevation Gain - 10281
Elevation Loss - 11996
Elevation Change - 22277
HR Avg - 139
HR Max - 181
Minimum Elevation - 5422
Maximum Elevation - 6283