August 5, 2012
Today I completed my 82 marathon or ultra distance race in
Bend, OR running a spectacular trail marathon.
The race went off at 7am from a local school with very little fanfare at
the start. But it was well organized,
plenty of potties, and very helpful volunteers which is always a great way to
begin. We quickly moved from double
track to single track trails which is always a bit nerve racking early in an
event as I have to remind myself to keep my pace, which means making difficult
passes when necessary, but not racing ahead and then getting stuck in a line of
runners going WAY faster than you want to be at the beginning of a run. So it is a bit of balance, but today things
worked out great and I felt like I was hitting my stride from the
beginning.
The morning sunrise in the mountains was just beautiful to
look out and see when there was a clearing or to just watch the changing light
filter through the trees and dance across the trail. Today I kept making sure that I was trying to
take in as much as possible about the beauty that was around me. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment that I was
out there. At a few points we ran along
a beautiful stream and I had to be very careful not to trip and fall because I
was so engrossed in watching and listening to the rush of the crystal clear
water as it went past.
The first 13 miles of this marathon are up hill, from
gradual rollers to the final couple miles of some pretty steep trails. The aid was plentiful so that did help break
it up and I carried my hand bottle and my pack with 2 liters of water so I
never ran out which would have put a serious damper on a hot trail race. Climbing to the mid way point trying to look
out and really soak up the beautiful forests and shades of green and blue all
around me I was slightly distracted by these crazy little gnats. They were just EVERYWHERE on the exposed
climb up and it was slightly hilarious to look up and down the mountain and see
that everyone one of us was trying a different techniques to get these little
buggers away! Once I realized how silly
and futile it was I just continued on the run and hoped that we would run past
this patch of buggers. Which thankfully
right when reaching the top we did!
The second half of the marathon is mostly downhill with a
few gentle rollers and I was feeling great having taken it very easy on the
climbs the first half and kept on top of hydration and food. Did I mention they had Sport Beans??!?! These were delish and almost a reason in and
of itself to go back and do this race again! So I started jamming downhill and rocking out
to some LMFAO mixed with Michael and lots of great hip hop beats and was
continuing to enjoy the glorious day.
Although the glorious day was quickly getting warmer and warmer! Nothing that this AZ native couldn’t handle
but also continued motivation to keep moving and quickly wrap up! Then WHAM I took a quick moment to examine
the ground up close and very personally as well as the local flora which
included a stump in my back. Apparently while
tilting my head back to drink from my hand bottle why jamming downhill I missed
a rock and landed very strangely where I rolled into a tree stump on the side
of the trail. Luckily the trail was very soft and forgiving
and I didn’t land directly on any rocks so I got up and realized I was just
covered with dirt with only some minor scratches- including my back which was
used as the stopping point thanks to said tree stump. So no harm done I continued on my way.
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