What an incredible day! Leslie Mitchell from Iowa flew out Friday to enjoy a weekend of running and exploring Utah. It was her first time here and so I suggested we plan on Canyonlands and she planned her trip around it. Marci Wood was pacing Canyonlands and so she hitched a ride with us and split hotel and we had an incredible girls weekend! SO much food...oh, the food intake was incredible, I think all we did was run/hike and eat. Nothing else. Leslie kept telling us that she never knew that food consumption was why we could run so fast. I kept trying to tell her we were on vacation and enjoying it, but I don't think she bought it.
Our hotel was walking distance from the start/finish so we got up, had breakfast and easily made the buses at 8AM. A 10AM start is good for sleeping in, but I don't think I've ever started a race that late. Crazy! It was chilly and breezy, but nothing horrible at the start. It was incredibly beautiful more than anything. We all sat and chatted, Marci ran warm-up miles, but Leslie and I were good to chat with Team Edward (a chuck sweatshirt she'd bought to stay warm in). The start seemed to take FOREVER! Plenty of time for multiple pop stops before lining up. When we were off, we were off and it felt great! Leslie was taking a good low 9mm pace which put us right on track to finish around 2:00 - her goal, but due to extreme cold this winter she wasn't sure she'd hit it due to lack of training.
The course was beautiful and the race well organized. Not a single complaint! The few hills weren't horrible, but the wind...oh, the wind! There was a point it actually blew SO hard into me I had to stop running or blow away. No joke. I've never been in wind that bad let alone run in it! The only saving grace was running at the bottom of a butte and then the wind was at our back the last couple miles in town along the highway to the finish.
Marci and I would get water/gatorade/gu for Leslie as needed and catch up to her so she didn't have to stop at aid stations and we took good care of her! Marci was loving the race so much (she got out of pacer duty thanks to Walter forgetting she'd signed up, so she just ran with us) she even stopped at one point and had half a brat! We were laughing non-stop at her antics and she was our paparazzi taking lots of pics as well.
Leslie finished SO strong. I was proud of her last mile+ push. Probably the fastest mile-ish she ran the whole race. I know she has a sub 2:00 in her, but the wind and elevation made this race a non-qualifier after around mile 4. I would keep pointing out people for her to push and pass. Giving her motivation to keep running and pushing and not stop and she responded so well! Once she even said "I feel like I'm going to puke!" I responded "good! That means you left it all out there, now push through to the finish and barf!" Later she told me there were moments she hated me :) But, she loved it in the end...that is what a pacer is good for! Make you hate them just enough to push you to the end! I did my duty well.
We visited with some other runners afterward and then walked back to the hotel while Marci ran some cool-down miles. We all showered, had chocolate milk and then took off for an afternoon/evening of hiking!
First up was Coronoa/bowtie Arch. A 2.5 mile hike, relatively easy. We just walked and chatted and enjoyed the scenery and company. There were people swinging off the Arch when we got there...so scary to watch them. We didn't want to witness a death!
Went to early dinner...Mexican Food, of course. Ate ourselves sick, then went into Arches to do the quintiscential sunset Delicate Arch hike. We timed it perfect and despite the wind still had an incredible time and the views and pics were unparallelled! Leslie said she'd never seen anything so beautiful and even got choked up a bit as she sat alone contemplating...yup. Totally worth the WHOLE trip!
Went back to the hotel, did some shopping then wanted to find some dessert. We'd seen a little Greek place by the hotel on the walk back from the race, but we kept trying to find something else. We finally decided we were just going to do the Greek place...cross our fingers it was still open. It was their GRAND opening day! SO many delicious stuff on the menu we didn't know what to choose...and we didn't do just dessert either :) We had dips/hummus with breads and a poached pear with Turkish cotton candy (holy WOAH! SO incredible!) a chocolate mouse and rice pudding. It was all SO incredible. Seriously. I said I'd give up sex for the rest of my life if I could eat there once a week. It was that good. Like I said, hiking/running eating. That was all we did.
After a good nights rest we got up, had an incredible warm breakfast at the hotel then after checking out went to Negro Bill Canyon. My favorite hike in Moab! It was a beautiful morning and we just loved every minute of the hike. I didn't want to leave so soon, but Leslie had a plane to catch and Marci and I had families waiting. So, we started home. We stopped for treats and snacks and well, we outdid ourselves again, but it was all good and fun. An incredible girls trip for sure! I'd love to run Canyonlands again. No complaints at all about the race, except it is over spring break weekend and the hotel prices are worse than St George marathon weekend!! by like $200!! Ugh. Anyway, totally worth it.
Leslie left early Monday morning. Wish I could've had another 3-4 days with her. I guess now I need to find a marathon near Quad Cities and have her show ME around!
| 
