One of the things I enjoy most are the snow shoe races in Beaver Creek every year! The mountain is always gorgeous, the workout brutal, the people awesome and the food delish thanks to Beau Joes! Sadly this season I managed to fit only one race into my schedule but fortunately it is my favorite! The Jeremy Wright 10K at the top of Beaver Creek holds great memories for me and I always love this race. Not only does it start at 10,000 feet the race director manages to make us climb even higher during the race! BRUTAL! I’m never competitive at these races, except with myself and whoever happens to be in the single track in front me. This year a whole group of us went up for the race and Keith, Steve and I agreed we would race the 10K together. Barry and Andrea did the 5K, Anthony raced the 10K and John and Michele were the best cheer leaders ever!
We got to the resort so early that John, Barry and I crashed on a couple couches at the base of the mountain and watched the “beautiful” people of Beaver Creek prepare for their day of skiing. Great people watching and tons of sun!
The weather was almost too hot for the race so we all stripped down and prepared for a suffer fest. The 10K literally climbs straight up for 2 miles. My goal was to start slowly and try to manage my heart rate so the day would really add value to my training. I was doing well until my Garmin started to behave badly…it had my HR at 77 when we were climbing and I could feel my heart in my throat. I would say for at least 85% of the time I managed my HR really well. Keith has been running like a maniac lately, I am 
under trained for what I am used to for this time of year and we weren’t sure what Steve was ready for so we decided to stay with Steve. Great plan…lousy implementation! We stayed together through the initial climb but then Steve started to feel it and I could hardly hear myself breathe with all of Keith’s complaining! Then the single track downhill started and Keith and I both perked up! If only the women in front of us on the single track would move out of the way…people are so funny. We battled with peeps on and off throughout most of the single track. The snow was rutted and mushy and we were moving pretty good but it is too hard to be on someone’s tail flying downhill. Someone was going to get hurt!
I think it is the best core workout I have had in a long time. It takes so much core and attention to keep from diving left or right into a snow bank. Once “in” it is impossible to get out! Ask Keith! On the very last uphill I decided to see how tired Keith’s legs were so I turned around and pushed him into a tiny lil snow bank. Apparently he had a much harder time getting out of the snow than I had anticipated! He said he felt like a turtle on his back trying to turn over! Andrea’s pictures of it are hysterical! What I had forgotten was Keith’s inability to “take it” without dishing it back out. About 200 yards from the finish line, as I was trotting along waiting for him to catch up to me, he tackled me and completely slammed me into the snow! OMG! I was laughing so hard I was crying. Once I managed to get up I stumbled just far enough to fall right in the middle of the snow cats tracks in front of everyone…again. I was still laughing so hard I couldn’t get a grip. Keith waited for me so we could cross the line together but we were both laughing so hard it was priceless. The women at the finish line were appalled and hysterical all at once.
More than ever I realized today how important my friends are to my training and racing. I miss everyone so much now that we are all moving in different directions. I know it is good for each of us and I am thrilled about the success we will eac
h have…but I still miss our big group of goofballs!
After the race we boogied to Idaho Springs for the required 3 lb pizza and beers. I have to say I was a bit disappointed by Barry’s desire to order the healthy veggie but it was a good choice and it meant I had leftovers! Yippee!
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