Drove to Bryce Canyon on Friday afternoon. Got a camping spot at the Red Canyon Campground then went and picked up my packet at Ruby's Inn. I then went fly fishing below Tropic Reservior on the small creek. The cold water felt good on my legs. My left knee has been somewhat bothersome the last two weeks although it has not affected my much during my runs so I was hoping for the best. Slept in the back of my vehicle and woke up at 3:30 am to make it to Ruby's for the 4:30 shuttle departure for the start.
The race started and I planned to take it easy and feel things out the the first few miles as it is a long race. Got in a good groove along the single track weaving through the forest. Had to remind myself to look up at the amazing scenes and views along the course. Truly one of the most beautiful areas in the world. I feel blessed as I did not feel my knee the whole race and it was a non-factor.
Tried to keep hydrated at the aid stations and eat some food/although I probably did not eat enough or drink enough during the race. Had some gel packets/salt pills/ and usually a handful of candy at the aid stations.
I was feeling okay throughout the first 30 miles, so I put in my music as it was starting to get hot and just tried to remind myself to keep moving forward. There was over 9,000 feet of climbing involved so you had to pick the climbs and decide if it was worth running or not. The race was also ran at a high elevation and I could tell when we were about nine thousand feet my body was working harder than usual, but it didn't affect me as much as others. Lot of power hiking up the hills, I was getting passed on the hills at the beginnng and by the end I was passing most people and did not get passed after 30 miles or so. The last nine miles or so from the last aid station were probably the toughest section on the course (although beautiful). It was the hottest part of the day and pretty exposed with lots of climbing. I knew most people could not run up the climbs so concentrated on running and making up time where I could when the trail would flatten a bit. Like most people I was running low on fluids and started to get some slight cramping in my left quad if I pushed the pace, took a salt pill, but my GPS was out of battery and I had to guess the distance to the finish and tried to ration my fluids the best I could. I was able to run strong the the finish and was proud of myself to be able to push and run where I could along the course. I am not sure of my exact time, but she said it was 11:15:15 ish. I will have to update when I find out my place, somewhere around the top 20 males to finish. It was definetly one amazing adventure and one I would recommend to anyone...
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