March 23rd, 2013
I was excited for the last race of the Aravaipa series.
Excited because it would be kind of like the grand finale to the season. And
because it had warning notes on the website. This trail race is not for
beginners. Very challenging. The map to the trail said that in sections it was
closed to mountain bikers and equestrians. And for hikers to use caution.
So I was curious! How bad could it be? I like the idea of a
gnarly challenging trail!
I signed up for the 30K course, but as it got closer I
really had a hope in my head to upgrade to the 50K. I typically have a spring
marathon on my calendar. Usually in April or May. This year I had not committed
to a spring marathon. But I left the decision to the very end. I thought that
if I got a long training run in then I would do it. At Elephant Mountain
It was tempting to stay with the 35K so I could ride to the White Tank
Mountains
So I set out on my own Saturday morning, leaving early
so that I’d have time to upgrade my entry. Trail races are so accommodating and
they let me pay the $15 dollar difference right there. I asked them to switch
my bib color too. From yellow to red. It’s a good thing I did. I’m prone to
getting lost and I need all the help I can get. At one point after an aid
station I started off going one way and the aid workers yelled at me “hey you,
the red bibs go that way” pointing a different direction…oh ya…
The whole race felt very technical. Very rocky. Jumping and
using my whole body. And climbing up hill while maneuvering the tricky surface.
I could feel very quickly that I would be plenty sore from this race! I started
to worry because I knew that the very brutal technical section came toward the
end of the race! If I didn’t know that, I’d have thought that I was already on
the brutal technical section!
I was leap frogging with a girl for awhile. I’d pass her on
the up hill, and she would pass me on the down hill. I felt some confidence
that if there was enough up hill in the race that I would fare well. Up hill is
hard for me, but is my strength more than down hill I think. But then we came
to a long super technical down hill stretch. Everyone started passing me. On
the scary down hill I feel like my knees are gonna buckle. I have to slow more
than others. I felt like everyone I had been around got way ahead of me. I
talked myself into just enjoying a day of beautiful outdoors and just found my
all day pace.
By the time I hit half way, 15 miles, my legs felt shot and
I didn’t see a fast finish in store for me. Several miles before the 2nd
to last aid station, I started fantasizing about Coke and Ice. I wanted ice in
my water bottle and I wanted to put down some coke for the calories. Food
didn’t sound any good. Just cola. I knew
there’d be a station at 22/23 miles. I just had to make it there. There is
always cola. I made it there. No cola. No soda at all. No ice. I ate a slice of
orange and a fig. The kind volunteers filled my bottle with water. And I was
off. But I was kind of broken. I felt distracted and not ready for the next 5
mile stretch. I was running by Amy. I talked with her and we lamented on the
coke. She had wanted it to. I caught up with Michelle who was out there for the
50 miler. We talked and then I started to get ahead of her but I was still
distracted and low on calories. I missed a ribbon and got off course. I came to
a dead end by a murky frog pond. I
turned around and back tracked but got back on course going the wrong
direction. Back toward the aid station I had recently left. Lucky for me I ran
into Amy and she turned me around. I gradually started getting ahead of her and
then I came up on Michelle again. This is when I wondered if I had been off
track longer than I thought!
I was glad to be with Michelle and Amy and another guy as we
headed into the boulder stretch. These were big boulders and we had to climb
over some, using our hands and looking for footing. While I was climbing a big
boulder I got a major charly horse cramp in my leg that made me scream. Michelle
came up behind me and put her hand on me for support, worrying that I would
fall. I assured the others that I was okay and just had to work through this
cramp. I convinced them to go on. But Amy left me with a salt pill. I used my
last tiny bit of water in my bottle to swallow the salt tab. I was hoping to
stay with them for company. This section had no visible trail. The Coury’s
marked it well with orange ribbons to follow, but it made me nervous to be
alone without a clear trail to follow. As soon as I could work out the cramp I
tried to catch up. It was really hard to make any mileage on my watch because
it was so slow climbing over these rocks.
After the charly horse incident I still had several miles to
go and continued to experience painful leg cramping. Not in just one spot
either.
At the next aid station I had to go up a hill to get there.
I was dry heaving and feeling really awful. But they had coke! I sat in a chair
and drank many cups full of coke. It was so wonderful. They assured me that I only
had 2 miles to go. I finally left at a walk, hoping that the coke would give me
some energy to run it home. I alternated walking and running those last couple
of miles. Michelle caught back up to me and said she was feeling really awful
and would probably drop after 50k. She didn’t feel like going out for another
30K. I didn’t blame her. I sure didn’t feel like it either!
I was so happy to see the finish line.
So what do I say about the race? I did love it. Yes, it
hurt. Yes, I felt pretty bad for maybe the last 9 or 10 miles. But it was
really beautiful scenery. And I felt good about tackling the challenge. And on
these trail races I don’t feel like success is measured by finishing time. I
don’t feel like success is because you “ran” the whole way. For me, I’m out
there looking for an adventure. A day in the outdoors. If I’m able to continue
moving toward the finish line, and enjoying the ride…that is success. And I did
enjoy being out there. Sure, it’s always nice when I have speed and strength in
my legs. But some days that isn’t gonna happen. And then I have to look for
what else I can enjoy. There is plenty.
The rest of the night my body kept going into cramps. I’ve
been working on my potassium! What do I need? I do like trying to figure these
things out.
Food didn’t taste right at the end. I put a salty chip in my
mouth and it just tasted like cardboard. I didn’t feel like eating much more
than coke until about 8:00 that night. And then I enjoyed a burger and fries,
maybe more than I ever have. Oh man….every fry and every bite of burger was
heaven. I’m telling you, I enjoyed plenty about the race, but I would do it all
again just to make my burger taste THAT good. There is something about running
a whole bunch that makes food so good. And I already love food anyway. But man.
I was pretty sad about the no coke thing at that station,
but I heard Nick saying that they had to carry stuff on their backs out to some
of the remote aid stations. So I am greatful that we had support out there…I
had water out there, and friendly volunteers and helpful co-racers. They (the
Coury’s) give us the opportunity to get out there in remote areas and see
things that I wouldn’t venture out to on my own. I always look forward to the
adventure that they have in store for us. I am glad for all the work they go to
so that we can have these experiences.
Yesterday is already a magical day in my memory.
***So I journaled this the day after my race, but forgot to post it. Just this week I got a package in the mail. I won third place in the Ultra Series!!! I will include a picture of my trophy vase! There are 7 races in the winter series, and you need to have a score for 3 of them to get a chance at placing. Your score is out of a 1000 points for every race, and it is the percentage of what you got as compared to the first finisher. They add up the points of your 3 best races in the series to get your final score.
