We did the Red Rock Relay this past weekend that goes from Brianhead to Zion in 2 days. Let me just say...it is a tough relay! So, instead of blogging every last detail in journal-like fashion and boring you all to tears, I'm going to cheat and do it in my top 10.
1. I forgot my shoes. Who does that? Who does that on a RACE weekend?! Thankfully Joni is a great friend with the same size feet as me and she let me run in hers. That's right. I ran 10 miles in Joni's shoes and it was awesome.
2. When did I get so old that I can't hold my pee any more? Let's blame it on the fact that I drank way more than I normally do...ok? OK?!
3. Speaking of peeing in the woods - Nicole, Joni, and I became professionals at this...and bonded at the same time. Nothing like a friendly group pee in the fresh mountain air...and then stumbling over dinosaur bones on the way back to the van.
4. Our team of 10 - yes, 2 people dropped out at the last minute - conquered 187 miles in 30 hours. Van 2 were animals and covered all of the extra mileage (minus one leg). They were exhausted, but still faster than me. haha! We had some amazing runners on our team!
5. Joni was a champ and ran into Duck Creek through rain, hail, thunder, lightning, and a cold wind. She deserves a gold medal! It was beautiful and sunny for all of our first legs. She was the last one in our van to run, and her leg started out beautiful and sunny too...though it did not end that way. This meant that Van 2 had to run in the cold rain and thunderstorms, and also...snow. Yes, there was snow on the way down from Duck Creek. Poor Van 2. They just couldn't win!
6. My first leg was at the top of Giant Steps in Brianhead (11,000ft) and I ran 2.95 miles down a hiking trail to the bottom of the mountain. Tons of fun...but had to stop .23 miles in, hike up a bit, and pee...then I stumbled only a few times and rolled my ankles each only a little on the rest of the way down. My second leg went from SUU in Cedar about 4.84 miles away to Enterprise and had a slight incline. Much better than my first leg bc the elevation was down to like 6,000ft, but I was still sucking wind a bit! I think I still made a 10:30 pace on that one, despite the elevation.
7. There was a bit of confusion for my 3rd leg. We thought we were covering the last leg for Van 2, but they blew through it. So once again, I was rushed to get ready and head out on a morning run after about 2 hours of sleep. I threw 2 gummies in my mouth and headed out at 5:00ish in the dark, without my garmin or ipod. it was really great though. I got into the rhythm of my body and the finish line came up way quicker than I expected. It was only about 3 miles, but it was all uphill this time! It was on the same course out of Veyo that the St George Marathon and Iron Man uses. My quads appreciated the break from going downhill, actually, and I finished really strong! It felt great!
8. Chocolate milk is the best recovery drink. Ever. Also...don't ever forget to roll your muscles/stretch after your 3rd leg. You will cramp up and get tight, and possibly not be able to lower yourself down on a toilet for a couple days.
9. We had the big 15 passenger van, so we built a bed in the very back that was uber comfortable! Travis spent about 6 hrs in it, and I took over for a couple hours when he was done. Poor Scott slept on the giant roof rack, which he said was surprisingly comfortable, but had a rude awakening when we moved the van with him still up there. Sorry!
10. Nicole and I earned $10 gift cards to the store at the finish line for some fancy dance moves we were demonstrating after leg 2, so I definitely invested mine in a huge comfy sweatshirt. I <3 it, but I wish I would have gotten a size smaller. It didn't shrink enough, so it's a little large. Oh well!
Soo...pretty much Red Rock was an amazingly fun experience and there were lots of good times. I'm soooo glad I did it, and I can't wait for Ragnar Napa Valley next weekend...except for the 8 mile leg in there that I forgot about and didn't really train for. Shhhh! We'll only be at like 200ft, so I should be fine, right? Right??
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4 comments:
Love the RRR addition of your 10 on Tuesday. Good times were had:) Some of my favs were... whaaaaaaaaat, yeahbies and pretty much everything you said. I'm so glad you had a good time:)
Hahaha! Yes, those were my faves too. I love that my abs always hurt after these things, not from actually running, but from laughing. We are friends, we are laughing.
Best 10 on Tuesday ever! Love you girls.
ahhhhh! i'm so jealous. these things sound like so much fun. someday i won't waddle anymore, someday.
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