So I must say, 4 days in a classroom from 8-5 is mentally and physically and emotionally draining! Seriously, it was a good conference, just four days in a row was too much! Four days of talking about eating disorders, I got done Thursday night and didn't want to hear the word eating disorder again. I am over it now :) But I was tired! I had been having to get up and leave for Salt Lake at 5am every morning, I had gotten home everynight and was having to push to get our website up enough to look like a real business. And really, I was tired! Plus I have been having some major anxiety issues lately to keep in check.
So Friday morning, I got up to go to the Kidarelay. I had taken my old mountain bike to be tuned up, and Jeff picked it up on Monday, but I really have been so busy, that I couldn't throw in biking this week! So I just went down to Lincoln Beach and decided to go for it. I felt silly being the only person with a mountain bike on a road race, and I was definitely slower! But I just went with it, and all was well, until I got about 10 miles out on the first loop, and my chain broke! There I stood holding a broken bike chain in my hand, trying to decide what to do. My first thought, I am a better runner anyway, so maybe I should just run the 25 mile loop! But then an aid van came around, and Mahagony Thurston sent her road bike over for me to use. It was way easier to ride and make speed then on my mountain bike.
I did the first loop after being delayed for 30 minutes, took about a 30 minute break and then headed out on the second loop. This time I was feeling the lack of being on a bike. I don't think I have ridden a bike for about a year! No time to fit it in with running and boxing and grad school! But I made it around in a little less than 2 hours. I decided to take a break though, and went and took a nap for about an hour. It was obvious to me that I was drained from this week. I woke up feeling great, and headed out on a third loop and actually my butt didn't hurt as much the third loop. But then I got a text from someone thinking they were in labor, and the wind had really picked up the 3rd loop.
I had planned on going out a fourth loop to get over 100 miles in biking, but decided if I was going to possibly have to leave to a birth, I needed to rest a bit. So I slept for a couple of hours, and started the 12 hour running part.
The wind had really picked up by the time the run started at 8pm. It was a 3 mile out and back course that I would be running all night. But after the first 6-mile lap, I had to leave to get ready to go to a birth. First time I have had to leave in the middle of a race because of a birth possibility. As it turned out, things ended up dying down, and there was no birth. However, it was late enough that I decided I wouldn't get enough laps in for it to be worth the drive back to Lincoln Beach. Ended up being a good decision because the race was canceled in the middle of the night anyway due to the wind!
I decided that I would sleep a few hours, get up, and go run the Timp Trail marathon. I had signed up for it about 6-months ago, but thought I would miss it after I decided to do the Kidarelay. So I got up, and went out the door to a downpour! I decided to hit the startline anyway! I actually felt fine, I was just slow due to the biking I think. I could not run at my normal speed, but my legs did not hurt. However, it was a downpour at the startline, and then we hit snow about 2 miles up! I was still fine, but very wet. Then we hit the pipeline road up around Grizzly pass. It was a mudslide! I did OK, until the descent and then my gloves were no longer good enough, and my hands were freezing and getting frost bitten. I got to the aid at mile 6.55. I called Jeff and asked him to bring me some dry gloves. But then, I just decided, I felt like I had enough for the week! A long conference, a lot of setting up business stress, the event the day before, little sleep. Physically I was fine, but I just didn't want to handle the cold today. If Squaw Peak is this bad, I will finish and not quit unless the race director pulls me off the course, but this was a training race, and I felt like I had enough training for the weekend! Squaw Peak is in two weeks, and I want to be fresh and recovered, and hit under 15 hours this year. That is going to take a lot mental prep to hit under 15 I think! I really want to hit under 14, but there is a lot more snow this year, and I have a feeling Windy Pass will be a slower section then it was last year. I think I will carry poles from Little Valley to Big Springs!
So I guess you could call it a DNF, but It is because I just decided I had had enough, I needed to relax, I need to clean my house, I am going to the Art Ball with my brother Stephen tonight! I needed a little recovery space, and so I just didn't have the drive to torture myself in a downpour of snow and cold rain, and the slippery mud!
But my friend Brian Beckstead won the race, in 4:12! Amazing time considering the horrible trail conditions! I don't know how many people finished, but I know it was very cold and wet at the lower elevation, and it only climbed from there! I am imagining there was a high dropout rate!
I am getting excited for Squaw Peak in two weeks. That is one of my target races to do well at this year, and I don't have a big week before that, so I think I will be ready! I already am, I just had to pick my priorities this weekend. I didn't want to risk getting sick this weekend because I was so exhausted, but this is a great course, and it is in it's first year, so if they hold the race next year, I will be there, and hopefully the weather will be better! Wow! What a rotten weather weekend for races!
No comments:
Post a Comment