As it turns out, we should have left Dantès at the breeders until the previously appointed pick-up time. The week before my huge Ultra Marathon Race I spent sleepless and exhausted as we trained a new puppy who whined through the night the entire week.
But he's so dang cute, isn't he?
We returned him to the breeders while we set off to Goblin Valley State Park in Southern Utah for our 4 day camping/running trip.
And what a trip it was! We all immediately fell in love with this place!
My mom met us at the campground that evening and we set up camp. The first night and next day were spent letting the kids explore and play in the amazing landscape while I tried not to do too much and let my legs rest. But how is that possible when you have this amazing scenery you want to insert yourself into?
Considering we were camping, I slept pretty well the night before. The morning of the race I woke up extremely early and went to the starting line.
Justin, the girls and my mom made it to the start in time to see me off.
And so it began. I didn't have high expectations of myself as far as time. Having never ran an ultra at high altitude or on trails or with any significant climbs I really only wanted to finish and enjoy the scenery. Just having raced a marathon less than a month earlier I also didn't know what was left in my legs for this race.
I can say that this was probably one of the most beautiful races I have ever participated in!
I tried to start off conservatively, but already my legs and body felt tired and I wondered how much was in the tank and how far it could take me.
I enjoyed the rising sun over the red and white rocks as the hills rolled down and then up for the first 7 miles or so.
It was at mile 7 that the course turned to serious 4-wheel drive terrain and I passed by my cheering family. Justin passed off some water to me and that was the last we saw of each other for a few hours.
For the next 17 miles I was on my own in the most beautiful, awe-inspiring, out-of-this-world scenery ever. I wish there had been photographers to capture the view or that I could have expended the energy to take out my phone and snap a few photos: the red rocks, the views from the mesas, the purple, red and white sand that looked like another planet, the warm tones of the desert. I wish I could show it to you, but I will just have to hang onto the memories for myself for as long as possible.
The course was beautiful but difficult. The most difficult terrain I have ever ran on. It was sandy and/or rocky terrain those middle 17 miles, with steep inclines that were so sandy and rocky that it actually was faster for me to walk up them than run. Walk? WALK? I never walk. EVER. Period. But this race I did. And it is probably because I allowed myself to walk up those hills that I had any amount of anything left to cross over the finish line.
Those middle miles up and down that sandy rocky terraine in the heat were killer. They chewed me up and spit me out. I think they took a major toll on most of us. One guy I had ran a few miles with took off up those rocky hills like no other and left me in his dust. But on the way back down he was spent and I passed him at mile 22 or so and never saw him again. It was brutal I'm telling ya. It was also at that point that the sun was really taking a toll on me. No shade to speak of. Exhausted.
I was so glad to see my family again, who had waited to see me again where I had last left them. But I knew that the last 7 miles were going require a lot from me.
And they did. The last 7 were brutal to survive.
I held on best I could but in the last 5 miles I slowed way down and even stopped at a couple water stations. Yes. STOPPED. I'm pretty sure I was suffering from heat exhaustion at this point, as I felt like I was going to pass out. I kept dumping water on myself at the water stations and the helped a tiny bit.
As much as I wanted to quit I kept running slogging all the way to the end (though they were probably the slowest miles I've ever clocked during a race - ever).
Going into this race I was excited about the finish as we would be running through the Avenue of the Goblins. By the time we got there though I wasn't so thrilled. This cool and picturesque way to end the race added some extra milage to the 50k when I was already WAY past done.
Not to mention it was through sand and uneven terrain and the last 100 yards or so before the finish line was straight up a sand hill!
This is me power walking up the hill. I literally had nothing left to give.
I was completely depleated, nauseous and a bit traumatized, to be honest. I was relieved to be done. And I was proud of myself for finishing. My finishing miles/min is a bit shameful to me but I guess when you consider the conditions of the race it's pretty good. I didn't know how well I could do and I definitely did not expect to place 3rd OVERALL - men AND women. Nor did I expect to place 2nd overall the women.
I got this cool silver medal and even a cash prize! WAHOO! It almost makes the self-torture worth it! ;)
I don't know if I could ever survive this race again. If I'm ever CRAZY enough to sign up for it again please remind me how excruciating it was and then make sure I get my butt out there doing hill repeats nonstop to better train and prepare for this race.
As I tried to recover and force myself to eat, the kids had a fun-run through the .5 mi Avenue of the Goblins Loop. By now it was like 90 degrees but they all did it and they all had fun!
They won goodie bags and t-shirts!
After a short respite at the finish line we spent the rest of the afternoon hiking around the Avenue of the Goblins.
Such a magnificent location!
Then we drove to the nearest town (not near at all) and got my race completion celebratory onion rings, some ice cream and drank tons of pop! It was a memorable and magnificent day!
We spent the next day all hiking up Bell Canyon! It was incredibly beautiful and a fabulous day! Good thing we were hiking with little legs as mine were pretty tired! :)
I think a future trip to Goblin Valley has got to be in the future, but maybe without the torture of a 31+ mile race in the heated desert to accompany it! :)
