Red Hot 50K

I am way behind in blogging and since my "season" has come to a blazing stop I thought I really should get caught up. The challenge it that I am trying not to be too "poopy" while I am on IR so I will attempt to reflect how much fun my adventures have been even if right now I am in frozen mode.
In February a large group of us culminated a winter of trail running and stair climbing by running the Red Hot 50K in Moab, UT. The group included...the entire Walton clan including in-laws, outlaws and Mr. Walton, Keith & Nancy, Jewels, Randi, Andreas, Steve, Sean, Jane, Abby, Heidi, our smoking hot campboss, Laurie, and John...and we had a freaking BLAST!!!
Once finished this would be the longest run for many and the most challenging as well. Although my hammie had been acting up it seemed to handle the long slow miles well so I started the run relaxed and ready to roll. Tyler toed the line in the tank, John was mellow and Keith under trained. We were the 50K crew that had trained and planned to race together. Andrea and crew were all really well trained and although we didn't train or start together we were all excited to be out there together and celebrate at the end.
The real highlights for me were two fold...it has been 10 years since I ran the Colorado Trail with Laurie and Maria and when Laurie showed up on the trail (slowing way down to meet us) to run with us I wanted to cry with joy. I was sooooo happy to see her and run with her! All that training and playing so many years ago connected us in a way even our husbands couldn't destroy...only delay!
The weather was pretty crummy and I hate that. The wind, rain and cold made the course muddy and yucky but after 15 miles or so I don't even remember noticing it. About mile 17 or so Laurie and I were both feeling great, Tyler was quiet and keeping to himself, John was lost in his good and Keith had already warned me he was ready to be left alone...so Laurie and I copped a squat and then decided to pick up the pace. It was awesome...we just started singing Barry Manilow songs and running faster. Don't let me mislead you...we weren't blazing but we were cruising along pretty good and counting the people we passed as we cruised. We can both be pretty competitive even in our own weird ways so we started to count the bodies and get caught up on the last 7 years of our lives. It is one of those moments in time that I will cherish forever.
Jewels, Annie and Nancy were very well trained and ready for their 30K run. We left them at the start looking happy and nervous. I was hopeful that they would support and push each other to great success! And they did! Simply awesome! Each found their own "space" on the trail and they seemed to have a great day. The pictures would indicate that they never had a single challenge and I'm pretty sure they can drop 45 minutes off their time next year! Ha!
The other highlight of the day was training and then toeing the start line with John. Because we are motivated so differently out training is very often "off" so when we trained all winter together it was really fun. It is much easier when both of us have to drag our butts out of bed on a freezing morning for a run! We had training days where our water froze, eye lashes froze and I think my pee froze mid-stream! The trails were muddy, slippery and icy and I loved it all! We even manged to get in a few really fun snow shoe runs at Deer Creek OS! Great park for a snow shoe run!
Do you remember that Tour De France Day a few years ago when Lance did his traditional "glance back throw down" and then he just shifted into another gear that no one should have after that many days of racing in the mountains? You know that look he had? I love that look by the way! Laurie and I are cruising along at about mile 25 on some really hilly slick rock and I hear a familiar breathing behind me and in seconds Tyler, who when we last saw him was so in the tank with sickness and exhaustion I didn't expect him to finish, came blowing by us. Not jogging but dropping a sub 8 pace, headphones blasting! He sort of waved and I caught up and asked him what the hell he was doing. He said he felt great and decided to take advantage of it. I suggested we still had a long way to go and he knew it but decided to increase his speed! Awesome! Laurie and I attempted to keep up but we both knew that was a pace we would never be able to hold and finish running. So we let him go and he vanished in the Moab red dust. We could see him climbing each hill in front of us and the disappearing down the back side and he kept getting farther away. It was really incredible. And then all of a sudden he started to get closer...and closer...and then we were next to him as he hammered up a super steep slick rock section. He was toasted and happy to have had the energy to boost him along so far! I always tell people if you are hurting then RUN because you will get it over with sooner! Well Tyler completely embraced that philosophy! The last few miles across the top of Poison Spider were sandy and tough because our legs were not used to flat or sand. The entire course is challenging terrain and it takes a while for legs to adjust every time it changes. Laurie and I are always like horses to the barn and the closer we got the faster we ran. It is so cool to have more in the tank after 30 miles! All the way down the last 2 miles we really pushed each other. It was so much fun! We were flying down the lose rock and ruts and it was really stupid and so much fun! We finished together and laughed the whole way! It made me so happy...and then we waited for John...and waited, waited, waited....so Heidi and I walked up the trail to look for him and it started to get cold again...and we waited and waited and more people finished. I was starting to get worried. I was worried he was stuck, hurt or just done. He was better trained than any of us so I had no clue...after 9 hours we see John way up at the top of the switch backs walking and chatting with people. By the time he hits the last turn he is walking along with a couple women chatting and looking like he's been mall walking with the girls!! Really? It turns out his knee started to hurt when he ran so wisely, he stopped running and then it was fine. The poor guy ended up walking 15 plus miles. He is so much more patient than I could ever be! I would have run and hurt myself just to be done!
After the race we had a big ole pasta party at our condo! And THANK YOU Heidi for doing all the prep and cooking for us! She is the best camp boss ever!
The 30 Kers completely kicked ass! They were smiling more when they were done than when they started! Congrats ladies!
The next day we went for a mountain bike cruise around town and had lunch at Milts! Cheeseburgers, fries and other artery clogging stuff that tasted heavenly!
The perfect weekend with friends that I adore!