That morning I got up, had some of the girls meet at my house and then we headed out to pick up the rest on our way up to the start line. We met the second three girls up in Salt Lake. I think it was off 123000 South. We all got into my car and realized that one of the girls had forgotten her shoes. It was a really good thing that she lived close. We all headed to her house, got her shoes, and drove back towards the freeway. We were almost to the on-ramp when someone in the back seat yelled, "They're towing our cars!!" At first I was thinking, "No, they're not. We're in it." But then my sleepy brain caught up to what she was saying and I made the turn into the parking lot. We got there just in time. Now we needed to find a new place to park the cars. So, we headed to 114000 South to the Wal-Mart there. Good thing Wal-Mart lets people park overnight. Saved our bacon.
Finally, we were off to our race. We made it on time. Got through the safety lesson and check-in. And were feeling good about our day ahead.
The Start:
Our team up early and excited.
And we're off. Headlamps and reflector vests, very important.
My first leg was beautiful. I did need to change my shorts shortly after heading out because they were falling off as I ran (don't wear anything too big while running), but it was remedied quickly and I got to enjoy the run. The sun was just coming up. The world was waking and I was feeling great. I ran quickly and comfortably. It got me psyched for Suncrest.
My second leg was up Suncrest. This stretch is 3.3 miles UP HILL. And basically it's straight up. I thought that I had trained well for it, but by the end of mile 1, I was definitely questioning my training. I ended up power walking most of the way. I hit this leg in the middle of the day in the middle of 90 degree heat. So hot. So hard. Kicked my Ass! But I finished it. I finished in 54 minutes and 58 seconds. I made it before the cut off and I'm glad that I did it.
Each person who runs the Suncrest leg gets a medal at the top.
My last leg I was done. I walked so much of it. I'm not sure if I didn't eat enough, or if I was really dehydrated, or just dead tired, but my body just refused to work the way I wanted it to. Apparently I had trained for one maybe two runs in a day, but not three. The over training in my year of races hit me hard in this leg. I have since learned and will not do that again.
This is our team running to the finish line together.
We did it. Finished a whole day soaking in the sun while doing something we love. Our team came in 43rd. We finished in 11 hours 19 minutes and 38 seconds. So proud of us.
My medals proudly hung in my car for the rest of the evening.
A closer look at the Rivalry Relay medal for this year. I love this race. It beats me down and builds me up at the same time. Everyone needs to know they can do hard things, but still be reminded that there are legs that kill no matter how hard we train. I'm going to continue to do this race every year I can get a team together.
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