"Still round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate."
Opportunity. All around us. All the time.
It's been fun for me to recognize or get a glimpse into the way opportunities manifest themselves into my life after a pure of heart desire, and when an "I think I can" idea ignites within. You see, I love to run. The simple act of placing one foot in front of the other.. the rhythm of the footfalls.. the beating of the heart.. armswing.. breathing.. pushoff.. a symphony of syncronicity. For me a switch turns on somewhere inside, a light, an energy, and for a period of time something very special is happening. I read somewhere that the doors to the spirit swing wide open through physical exertion. I have found this to be true for me.
Add running buddies to the "energy field" is magnified that much more. The group is now a nucleus of moving creative energy. I have the opportunity of running with a awesome nucleus. I learn so much from the Utah county crew. I'm grateful to continue to meet and run with and experience new people all the time as well. The connections and friendships I've made through running are as fantastic as they are diverse. What a cool vehichle that brings people together.
I read a lot of race reports. I love the stories. The adventure. The pursuit of goals. The successes. The learnings associated with a miss. All of the different perspectives. What goes through peoples minds as they move toward a goal or finish line. The life lessons that manifest themselves through these relatively short experiences are powerful.
I've found that I really like to push myself. I've been working toward some goals I set 4 years ago when I started this thing. I'm grateful to have surpassed all of them. I'm now working to achieve the "pie in the sky" goals I set, that I thought were completely unrealistic at the time, but obviously are not. This shift in self belief and awareness is a process. I recognize when old self limiting thoughts come in, and now I know how to clear them out, and I realize I am capable of amazing things. That check in, step to the side, and step foward again is so fun for me. Keep moving forward... I love those three words. New goals will be set. Experience, shift, learn, repeat.
I love to run period but when I step on the trail something else takes place. There is a connection. My candence quickens. My stride changes. My form shifts. I am aware of something "else". I love the time I get to connect with and in nature.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to run the Antelope Island 25k. Truth be told I did want to perform well there but the main purpose of going out on the island that day was to witness the 50k, 50 mile, and 100 mile runners. I read their tales. I follow their stories. I wanted to see what it looked like finishing 50 and 100 miles. The experience did not disappoint. It was then that the little spark that said maybe turned into a small flame that said "I think I can".
Many of the people I talked to were wearing a hoodie from Bryce Canyon 100 from the year before. I asked about the race and was told it was beautiful, magnificent and the like and was intrigued by the possibility of running there. I added it to the mental bucket list and thought "I'll have to hit that one eventually".
Fast forward to early June. I had experienced good training and a fun half marathon the first week of May full of learnings to apply down the road. I had an awesome vacation to Mexico and came back on memorial day recharged and ready to wisely build up for St. George. I was going to run the Art City Days 5k as a fitness gauge and go from there. The week of the race I felt like I should look around at what else was going on. A small race, the Cupcake Charity 5k in Eagle Mountain caught my eye. Maybe it was the word cupcake lol, I don't know. Surely there would be more friends and people at Art City Days, and it's just a few minutes from my house. But I decided not to ignore the pull to go out and run a small race I knew nothing about instead.
That race was fun. I experienced some intense GI issues that prevented me from running to the best of my ability but still ran a good time, won the race, and pocketed some cash. I met a few new people too. The fun part is my friend Arianne was there at the start. It was good to see and catch up with her. She was first female in the race and had a good day too. We got to run a short cool down together where an opportunity presented itself.
She asked me what I had going the following weekend and if I was running Utah Valley. I told her I had nothing going and was thinking about running AF half in a couple weeks. She smiled and said "you should do the 50k at Bryce next weekend". Initially my response was laughter and the flood of thoughts that came in "undertrained", "not ready", "short notice", etc. were very noisy in my mind. I declined at first, but being the good friend that she is she was insistent and reassuring. She told me that she had an extra entry and if I would like it, that it would be mine. Plus she was going to go down and likely crush it being the incredible runner she is. I finally told her that I'd let her know the following day, thinking that I would likely register for AF. Well when I got home AF was full haha. I silenced the unsure thoughts, embraced the opportunity, and messaged Ari that I would be there for Bryce. I really can't thank her enough. She's amazing.
So 6 days later I have a room (which is a story in itself), my family in tow, and we're in Bryce canyon for a fun filled weekend. The race was sandwiched in between hiking, swimming, shopping, exploring, jumping on beds, detours, and an all around great time with my wife and kids.
As far as the race goes I knew I was undertrained so conservative start was key. I came up with 3 bullet points. Enjoy the experience, be gratitude was #1. Be smart with nutrition and hydration was #2. See #1 and #2 was #3. Very last on the list was the word compete.
I nailed #1. In short, it was amazing. I got so far past what I thought I was physically capable of that day. I ran through some of the most beautiful country in Utah. It was hard. The course, coupled with my lack of specific training, was a real beast. I enjoyed all of it. Attitude of gratitude. I got part of #2 right. The hydration part. The nutrition part I learned again to not take anything new before or during the race and to stick with what works. I also learned that just because I have a hydration vest doesn't mean that I need to wear it and pack it with things. A handheld and shorts with pockets would be plenty next time. I referred to #3 several times throughout the experience :). It was a good #3.
About that last word. Compete. When I compete I am in a race with myself first. Has what I've been doing training wise enabled me to compete and surpass the me who lined up at the last race? After assessing that question each time I race there are times when it lines up that there will be an opportunity to finish well amongst the assembled group. I started well back of the line this time. There is a couple mile stretch of dirt road before turning on the single track that would serve to not only warmup, but to see who would be the group getting after it for the day. On to the race.
A beautiful little girl named Olive started the race and within a mile there were a group of 5 guys who had separated themselves out front. They all moved very well but of the 5 there were 2 that stood out. One was an awesome man from Germany who would go on to finish 3rd and the other was a man named Jed who just moved to Salt Lake from Montana. I sat back for the first mile and decided to move up with the leaders and see. Jed and I soon separated from everyone and chatted a little about who, what, backgrounds, and concerns while the first 4 miles ticked away.
At the top of the first little climb there just after mile 4 Jed took off on the downhill. My initial response was to go with him, I'm a fairly strong downhill guy on the trail but something told me not to. And I actually listened. Mile 4 there is so much race left. I'm undertrained. This will get tough. I've never gone beyond 26.2. These are thoughts I had. Also, you are faster on the downs so go. It's only 5 miles longer than a marathon. Don't wuss out. Throwing in the towell already. Haha, oh what fun it is to momentarily listen to the noise. I quickly silenced all of it and decided there that my three words for the day were keep moving forward. I then let Jed go, let it all go, and tuned in to my surroundings and body.
I drank 20 ounces of Tailwind with my breakfast that morning. It wasn't the best idea as I had never had it before and it had made me sick. My uneasy stomach felt strange so I adjusted the nutrition/hydration plan to accomodate for a sour stomach and was confident that it would come back around later in the race. My legs felt fine and I just enjoyed the views and I got into my happy place. It wasn't until mile 7 that I began to catch the 100 milers. It was energizing to give and recieve encouragement at each passing and made the miles click by into the first aide at 10 miles.
I rolled into the rather busy aide station, there were quite a few 100 and 50 milers there, and got two things. Ice for my bladder and ginger ale for my queasy stomach. The gel I took at the 1 hour mark had increased the queasiness. Not sure if it was still the lingering breakfast or that it was a new gel with added protien that I had never used before that did it but I was otherwise fine so I pressed on. I was in and out quick.
The next 6 miles are lightly rolling before climbing and then descending into aide 2. I was excited to run some flat and get into a rhythm but found that idea adjusted. There were these ditches or ravines caused by the runoff that were too wide to jump. Making them obstacles in their own right. Not bad just not ideal. My stomach was full on angry at this point and I felt like I was going to puke but I continued to take my nutrition at the intervals I had set. Strange because I have an iron stomach. I don't throw up. The sensation wasn't letting up so I just continued to move forward at a good pace. A highlight during this stretch was rounding a corner and seeing Ed the Jester :). Ed is well on his way to breaking the world record for most 100 milers in a year. I didn't know he would be at Bryce so I took a moment and talked to him to wish him the best not only for the day, but in his quest as well. It was really cool.
I really can't do the country we ran though justice in words so I will just say that it was incredible and if you haven't been to Bryce then pack up and go see it. Just before mile 16 the climbs begin and although my stomach was preventing me from running as fast as I wanted, I was still moving at a good clip and my legs felt great. In hindsight the stomach was definitely a blessing as I would have likely pushed harder and slammed into the wall. So thank you stomach and whatever made me sick.
The trails through this section were congested on the climbs and it was difficult to pass due to the narrow trail. There were stretches where I had to be patient and hike slow until the trail provided a place to run around the pack in front. Again, a blessing in disguise as I was losing minutes and seconds to save much time at the end :). Keep moving forward.
The dowhill into the second aide at mile 18 was fun and the first place I was able to really open up and turn over for a bit. This aide was VERY busy. I had a drop bag here with a change of shoes and shorts (not needed), additional nutrition (I quickly switched the nasty protien gels for ole' reliable), and spray sunblock that I quickly applied as the sun was now blaring. I was out of water in my bladder and if it wouldn't have been a crucial point before the big climbs I would have gone right through the aide to not have to wait. Instead I was in aide 2 for 8 minutes. Another cup of ginger ale. My stomach was beginning to come out of it.
I finally got out of the aide and pressed on. I saw Jim Skaggs and thanked him for such an awesome experience at Antelope and told him to have a great race. He's a great guy. The climbing was going well and I was running most all of it, with the exception of the stretches being stuck behind people running the longer races. Finally I made it to the 50k turn off. I knew that the rest of the race would be all alone so I pulled out my headphones and settled in to a good mix.
Climbing and climbing and my legs were starting to feel the fatigue. I hadn't put a full study into the course but from the course profile I knew where the downhills were and was prepared to fly. The problem was that many of the stretches were too turny or technical to really let it go so the descents weren't the spectacular bombfest I was expecting. Again, likely saved my legs so thank you technical rocky turny descents :).
I was 23 miles in and started the nasty steep sandy climb to the final aide. It was a beast at that time. I actually began laughing at the sand about half way up. Keep moving forward. Fatigue was now setting in. I finally reached to top and saw the aide. They had a nice spread and my stomach was finally back and wanted food. I had some boiled potato chunks with salt. It was divine. I also had some banana pieces and had them put some more ice in my pack. I was so grateful to have that climb done and shared my enthusiasm with my newfound aide station friends. The man there just smiled at me and said, "I hate to burst your bubble but you're not done climbing yet." I laughed pretty hard and so did they, it was funny. I talked way too much here and again was in for too long at almost 14 minutes. The people were so nice and I thanked them. They told me the guy in first was quite a while ahead which I expected so I told them to be sure to tell the next guy the same thing :).
Heading out my stomach now felt amazing and was back. The problem was my legs were done lol. That big climb at that point in the course coupled with my training had done them in. Keep moving forward. I was now climbing dirt road and watching the miles tick toward marathon distance on my watch. I knew from the course profile that once I hit close to 27 it was all downhill to the valley where Tropic reservoir was and then a short uphill/downhill to the finish. The interesting part was that I could see Jed's foot prints and noticed that his footfalls were shroter than mine. I told myself that there was a chance that I could catch him. I didn't know that he was very far ahead so this fueled some fire for sure. Sure enough I crested right at 27 and there was a sign pointing down a very runnable dirt road that read 50k finish! Hooray!
Even though my legs were shot I knew I had enough to run 4 miles of downhill dirt road hard. So off I went. I just knew I was gaining ground on Jed and focused on that. I was now seeing people on 4-wheelers so I knew I must be getting close but still couldn't see the reservoir, mile 28, 29. I was running under 6:30-7 minute pace and that was about all I had left but I kept at it. A guy in a big black suburban did not see me on the road so I had to jump out of the way and into a tree. I scraped my arm pretty bad and it scared me but I was otherwise fine. I thanked him for the adrenaline boost and pressed on.
Mile 30 and still no reservoir. Strange. I was still moving well but very tired and then saw a big yellow sign up ahead, I was sure that on the other side of the sign was a downhill into the finish area at the reservoir. This was not the case :). Mile 31. On the sign it did say 50k finish and the aarow was pointed hard left through a gate... and right up switchbacks of another steep ridge. Oh please no :). 5k is 3.1 so 50k is 31 and my watch says 31 and there is no finish line and man that sucker is steep, as I round the turn and head up. This was where it got ugly haha.
I had used up most everything left on the downhill push so there was no running up this ridge. Legs done. I could still see Jed's short footfalls too and saw that he was also hiking here. Encouraged. Keep moving forward. It was a long hike up that ridge and at the crest my watch ticked off mile 32. I could now see the beautiful reservoir in the distance. Downhill to the finish. I could muster 8:30 pace and not much more but I was still moving and other than extreme fatigue I felt great. My feet were awesome and I had no trouble spots anywhere in my body. I was still running through some of the most amazing country and I was almost finished. Gratitude filled me once more. I love that place of exhaustion, it's a strange feeling when one can distinguish for certain that there is something else behind the flesh. The pilot. ;).
A woman and her son up on the trail cheering put a big smile on my face. You're almost there they told me. Mile 33 ticks off. Up ahead the trail comes out into a campground and there is a woman smiling. She tells me to take the left, run to the end of the road and the take a right into the pavillion for the finish. I managed a smile and a thank you and hit the left. As the road slightly rounds and the final turn comes into view I see a little boy sitting on a rock. He's not climbing or playing but patiently waiting. The boy turns and the sun hits him and his red hair. He's immediately off the rock with a leap. This boy is running toward me with a smile. This boy is my son Lincoln. He shouts "Dad!" and I get goosebumps all over my body in a wave that almost knocks me over. As we meet together on that road and I'm doing my best not to cry so I can still take in air he gets a pretty funny look on his face as his assesses my condition. Then a more serious "ok Dad, just follow me." I ran the last half mile behind my boy and it was all I could do to keep up as he lead me to the finish. Mason and Nora jumped in too as I got really close. My wife was also standing there at the finish waiting for me. I was very happy to see them.
No microphone, no announcer to yell a name, no big fancy clock or chute. A few people clapping and the ones that matter most cheering you in. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I had finished 2nd about 28 minutes behind Jed and 14 minutes in front of 3rd. The "I think I can" was now something else. I'm so grateful for a strong healthy body and the ability to run. I'm grateful to recognize the places it takes me, both physically and mentally. For the connections it opens up. Most of all though I'm thankful to have recognized an opportunity. One that was placed perfectly as most opportunities are; and to have siezed it and expanded my comfort zone. There's a good lesson in that for me. Opportunites are abundant and it's up to me to recognize them and keep moving forward. Big, small, for others or for myself. I'll be doing more of this. I'll be doing road races too. They are both awesome experiences worth the time and effort. Cheers to opportunity.
After finishing as I was looking at the total on my watch I decided that I could see running 50 miles, it's "only" 17 more :). Even 100k (62 miles). Then the thought came in about some of those people whose stories I would be reading the following week, the ones who were going to run 67 more miles that I did. and climb and descend another 13000 feet. They will run the rest of the day in the heat and into the night alone, and for some into the next day. That's an overwhelming thought, expecially at the time. Not sure about that one. But with the seed planted and the spark in there somewhere, it's likely just a matter of time before opportunity steps in again...
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