Woke up from not a very restful sleep and drove the car over to the start. I don't know if I caught a little cold on Wednesday or hae allergies but body wasn't feeling great. I love this race so I really didn't have any expectations other than to grind it out. That was the mantra for the day.
Got to the start and talked with some of the TEAM and was excited for them. Many of them haven't ran a half before so I hoped they would enjoy this one. Race started and just relaxed behind some dudes that were much younger than me. Going up the first big hill and Hayden came up alongside me. He said he was maybe going to do the 50k bandit. That guy is an animal. We just kind of relaxed as we ran along Rim Rock and Rim Rambler. The sunrise was absolutely beautiful. The two dudes dropped me on the downhill and I knew they were trying to break me. Found out that only one of them was doing the full 50k and the other was doing the 30k. I caught up to them right before the aid station at the Cove Wash Trailhead.
I started working around Barrel Roll and had James just behind me. He ran really strong today. I just started to get into a rythm and enjoy the day. It was slightly overcast which made for a great time. I kept seeing the dude and Hayden in front of me but I knew I wasn't close. Made it back to the aid station before heading out on Blackbrush and Hayden and the dude had a 2 minute lead on me. Not as bad as I thought.
I enjoyed the first part of Blackbrush and knew the climb up to the top would not be fast. My legs started to feel a little flat and I could feel my chest getting tighter. I kept telling myself, "Grind it out." Made it back to the aid station to head out on the toughest section of the course (most fun though), Suicidal Tendencies. James was right behind me and kept going but just wasn't feeling super great. The pickles and orange slices were very helpful at the aid station. James and I were running together when I saw a bunch of gallon water jugs so I decided to stop and drench the hat. This was close to 20 miles. James took off down the trail and I was super flat. I kept moving and James dropped me on the climb all the way to the top of Suicidal Tendencies before we headed back down the mountain. He looked great. I told myself "Grind it out" and that the downhill would help a lot. It did but I still wasn't feeling super great. James was a freaking mule today.
I kind of mentally shut down but as I was coming back towards the aid station lots of mountain bikers and 50k runners heading out kept me moving. My body responded all right and I made it back to the aid station. James' dad asked me if I wanted a ride in his truck to the park. Apparently I wasn't looking great. I refueled and had some Swedish Fish and took off back down towards the main road. I ended up catching a glimpse of James as he was by the main road when I was still at the top. He was at least 2 miles up on me. I knew I only had about 4 miles left so I didn't think I would catch him. I knew that Hayden and the dude were long gone already so I wasn't going to bother catching them. I made it back to the main road and suprisingly felt much better. I kept grinding and and made it over to the Graveyard sections when I looked ahead and saw two runners. James was one of them. I couldn't believe that he was that close to me. He dropped me like a bad habit earlier in the race. I got a little bit of energy and said I am going to go get him.
I caught the first guy who was doing the 30k and pushed to catch James. I came alongside him and talked for a little bit. I planned on finishing with him to help him in but he said to go ahead. We had less than a mile to go in the race. I felt for James because I have been in his spot a few times in the past. Super impressed with how he raced today.
I pushed it in to the finish just over 4:31. It was about the same time as last year. On paper I took 2nd overall. Hayden ran bandit and finished in under 4 hours! Awesome. The one dude who they gave 1st place to finished in 4:15ish. I was happy knowing that I made up a lot of ground over the last 6-7 miles with him. I was happy with the result knowing that I wasn't feeling 100%. Best part of the race was having Norah and Oliver run the last little bit with me and cross the finish line together. Loved it.
Sat around after the race talking with Hayden, the dude, and a few others when I saw Cody Draper cross the finish line. It was fun talking with him and his family. I didn't know he was down.
The race was great for me to do. I learned a valuable lesson with running and life. I kept telling myself, "Grind it out." I stayed fairly positive with good vibes and it ended up helping me the last part of the race. I didn't always feel great but I kept moving forward. That is life. I actually had moments where I thought how lucky I am to have the life I have been given. I kept thinking of Katey and the kids out on the trails. It helped me a ton. Love them lots. It is not how you start but how you finish. Solid day of running out on the trails. I need to do more of this.
Oliver dragged me around the park for a little bit after the race to jog. He didn't have any sympathy for me and how sore my legs were at the time.
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