Marathon MADNESS!

This past Saturday, Sept 12th, 2009 both Darrell & I ran the Mid Mountain Marathon up in Park City. For Darrell it was just more of the usual, setting a new PR for the course despite a lack of concentrated training for the event. His longest run in the last couple months was the 19 miler he did with me at a snail's pace. Yet, he was able to come in at his best time yet for this race, finishing in 3:28. He has incredible talents in running, he has definitely been blessed with a gift and despite my comments here, he does actually train hard. Most of you know that he ran the Squaw Peak 50 miler this year, so its not as if he hasn't put in time to become as fast as he is. Nevertheless, I am constantly amazed at how fast he can run. So, he was definitely satisfied and felt great at the end, although he did say he contemplated taking the Gondola down at mile 17.

I recently took up trail running in the last few months and have found a great love for it. Those who know me well know that I do not LOVE running (shock & awe, I know). I run to stay in shape through life because it is both time & cost effective and because I have a great hook up to get all my gear (thanks to Wasatch Running Center). So, when I started trail running I found a different kind of enjoyment in running. One where a 6 mile run up the canyon would just fly by due to the beautiful scenery, the winding trail, not knowing where it would take you next, the ups & downs, & the lack of traffic on the trails.

So to get to the point…the race was only about 250 people (I love these small races) and the venue was absolutely beautiful. The race started up at Silver Lake Lodge at Deer Valley. We ran a mile on the road and then hit the single track. Darrell had fore-warned me that the first 5 miles were uphill so I was prepared and that part went REALLY well. He told me that the next 10 or so were rolling, but what he failed to tell me was that from mile 4-10 it was rolling in an uphill trend. So, by the time I hit 10 miles I was emotionally beaten a bit, I really wanted to quit! Luckily, during my moment of weakness, the trail truly went to flat rolling and so I got a break for a few miles and was able to pick up the pace and lift my spirits. I was pretty good until 15 and then mental weakness hit and I once again wanted to quit (I am not a quitter and pretty much knew I wouldn't ACTUALLY quit but I REALLY wanted to and couldn't stop thinking about the pain I was in) For the next 4 miles, I struggled (that is an understatement), walking some and just feeling very vulnerable and weak. I was able to disgracefully pull myself through to mile 19 which is where all the uphill ends and the descent begin.

Once I began running downhill I realized how tight my calves and ankles were from all of the uphill and wanted in my mind to run fast but my body wouldn't comply. The pain made me want to stop but stopping only made it worse, so I tried to keep moving at a slow pace. Once I got to where I only had 2 miles to go, my spirits were lifted and I was able to pick up the pace again to the finish. I was able to finish in the time I wanted and was happy about that, but once you finish you always look back and think "I should have been mentally stronger and I would have come in much faster." It truly was a test of mental strength more than physical strength; it was a chance for me to learn quite a lot about myself. For the next 3 days after the race, I said there was NO WAY I would ever do it again, but at day 4 the thought has started to creep into my mind.

I do have to give credit to Mid Mountain Race Crew, they were absolutely fantastic. They had aid stations everywhere, places where I wasn't sure how they got there (where guys had biked up the water & food), AMAZING! And the party at the end is always great...free pizza & drinks (For most people this meant BEER but for me it meant an ice cold Pepsi which seemed to hit the spot). Despite its difficulty, it is a race well worth running.