In July, Brianne was super gung-ho about doing a half marathon later in the summer. Eventually she decided on doing the Skyline Half Marathon in Eden, UT, only about an hours drive from Logan. I supported her 100% and was honestly, excited to be a cheerleader for the day. When Brianne registered she said that the race was lacking participants and that if I entered and mentioned Brianne's name she would get $10 off her race entry fee. Well, I wasn't ready... yet... but I had six weeks to get ready. So I registered.
Shortly thereafter, I moved to Logan and began to feel the pull and affects of triathlon training again. Brianne and I both joined a gym and I started swimming and getting the groove on with "Sammy" (my new road bike). But 10 days out from the race, horror struck! Brianne got hit by a car and fractured her cheek and orbital bone. Thank goodness she was all right, for the most part, except she was a little scratched up. Brianne is one tough little lady. It definitely could have been a lot worse. She will make a full recovery luckily, and be as good as new in a few weeks but unfortunately, the Skyline Half Marathon would be a no-go. Now Brianne would be my cheerleader. Not exactly the way we hoped it would work out but it would work out.
On race morning, we arose at 4:30am and drove to Eden, Utah where the shuttle picked us up and drove us to the start line deep in the Wasatch Mountains. Being the first race where I actually felt I had some training under my belt I started getting a little nervous. I wasn't nervous about the other people but about how I would preform because it has been close to a year since I had actually trained for a race. Plus, I would be lying if I said I didn't want to win because they were giving away some free trail running shoes to the winner. (Okay, maybe I was worried about the other runners then.) Since I don't have a job and my money is winding down, I could use some free new shoes.
At 7:30 we lined up at the start. "Remember, this is a long race, it will just be like a long Sunday run with a bunch of friends" I thought. The count down started and soon we were off in pursuit of the finish... 14.1 miles to go...
Immediately, the race rocketed up the mountain. I tucked myself into second position and settled into what I felt was a good rhythm. The race quickly spread out and soon there were just three of us huffing up the switchbacks single file. I felt the pace was strong but not overwhelming. Again, it was a long race and I was determined not to blow it in the first few miles. After about ten minutes of running, I began to notice the efforts of our ascent by my tightening calves and heavy breathing as we chugged into thinner and thinner air. Realizing that I could walk at the pace we were running I gave my running muscles a break and did some walking in our little group. Eventually I moved ahead to help set the pace but instead, I began to open up some ground on the other two. I continued my little bouts of walking when I felt the terrain tilted up too much for me or I felt I was working to hard. Towards the summit, I was mostly walking (but don't worry, I was still sucking wind like an out of control vacuum cleaner). At the very top I glanced over my shoulder to see second place, Kevin, only 30 seconds or so behind.
At last, the hill was behind me and I let gravity start to run its course. I thought for sure Kevin would immediately catch me since I don't really classify myself as a pure trail runner. However, the thought of new shoes must have been some sort of catalyst because before I knew it I was absolutely bombing the descent. I was grabbing shrubs and branches with both hands trying to keep myself upright as I leapt over whole technical sections of the trail in an effort to keep my forward momentum rolling high. I ripped around the first switchback in a cloud of dust and was pretty much plowing through the shrubbery like a bulldozer when suddenly my foot struck something... I did my best imitation of superman here but failed miserably due to one simple fact, I can't fly. I landed square on my chest in a cloud of dust with both arms still raised completely above my head in the superman pose. I got up and thought for sure I broke my ribs and torn my chin open again, but as I surveyed the damage I was mostly just scratched up.
After the fall I slowed down to get my balance and confidence back and to see if Kevin would catch up so I would have someone to run with. But after a few minutes I regained my confidence and started bombing down the decent once more but this time remembering to pick my feet up. Down and down we went, switchback after switchback, mile after mile. I glanced at my watch after about an hour of racing expecting to be close to the bottom by then. "We should be there already" I thought. "How much more abuse can my legs take?" I could feel my legs approaching their limit of downhill running as I seemed to take a little longer going around the switchbacks. But as I rounded a corner the lake we were racing to came into view and HOLY MOLY!!! it was still a long ways down there. Eventually I reached the lake side but not before my legs and body were completely ravaged from racing 7 miles downhill loosing at least 3,200 vertical feet.
I only had 4.5 miles left but they were some of the hardest miles I can remember running. I had zero leg strength left but luckily there were no hills left either. I ran up on a guy who started the race early just to run it but not race it. His name was John and we chatted for a bit (which was me mostly whining to him about how much farther we had left). It was nice to have some feet to follow for a half mile or so. Eventually I ran on ahead and around the rest of the lake holding things together oh-so-delicately for the finish.
Brianne was there at the lakeside finish waiting and cheering for me. After finishing I had to sit there for about 10 minutes before I could get up. My legs were way beyond dead tired. I watched Kevin finish up in second and I thought I was the unlucky one for falling. Apparently falling is just part of trail running. Third place was bloodied and dirty too! It was definitely a battle out there! It's funny but I think I like trail running now. Maybe I should do another one... After my legs will function again of course.
Happy I'm still alive after eating some dirt for breakfast and more downhill running than I care to remember.
