The Wasatch Back: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

I'm back in Florida (after a missed flight connection in Atlanta...ugh) and guess what? I'm still sick. Lesson learned: Never run while severely sick. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have run. I would've let my body rest for a few days before attempting even a short 3-miler. But, dammit! I trained for 12 weeks for this relay, and the whole reason I flew to Utah was to run the Wasatch Back. I was going to run it if it killed me. And it nearly did.

My team, We Need More Cowbell, started bright and early Friday morning at 7:50 a.m. Just to give a little background to this race it's 188 miles in length, and a team of 12 people cover that distance in approximately 24 hours (less than that if you are the BYU Cross Country team and finish in 17 hours, or more than that if you are super slow and finish in 36 hours).

Some of the team at the starting line

Our van was PACKED

Natalie, me, Derek, just before my first leg

Ahhh, beautiful Avon Pass. It really makes it worth it when you get to run through this...

I was Runner #6, so my first leg didn't start until 11:45 a.m., about 30 miles into the race. This is what my first leg looked like:
See that first mile-and-a-half? It was hard.

Me standing at the Exchange where Runner #5 would hand off to me

But I can now officially say that I summitted a mountain...and then proceeded to rock the downhill. The first mile was torture. It was hot, it was steep, and I was sick. My body felt exhausted about 5 minutes into the run. I don't think it was from the elevation, I think it was mostly just from being sick. You know the feeling you get when you're uber sick, and climbing a flight of stairs wears you out? That's exactly how I felt, except I still had over 6 miles to go.

When I came upon the summit of Avon Pass, and could see that my downhill was about to begin, it gave me a surge of energy. I was cruising down the mountain (averaging an 8:30 minute mile pace). I felt better, and I know I could've pushed it harder, but I knew that my last 2.5 miles of the run was fairly flat. And I knew that that portion of my leg was going to be a challenge. And it was. Ten times worse than I expected. I don't know what got me through those last couple of miles. My lungs hurt, I couldn't breathe correctly (because if I did take a deep breath, my coughing spasms would start...damn flu), and again, it was HOT. Thankfully, one of my teammates ran the last quarter of a mile with me. I don't think I could've made it without him. My mind was screaming for me to give up. But I finished, and managed to finish those 6.9 miles in 1:07:something. When I looked down at my watch and saw that I still managed a 10:00 pace, I was elated. Best. Feeling. Ever.

Almost done with my first leg. Yes, I look like a retard

After I finished, my van (six members of each team in two vehicles...I was the sixth runner, so the second van started their portion of the relay) headed off to Snow Basin ski resort to wait for the last six members of our team to finish their first legs. It was relaxing. I didn't get any sleep, but I did manage to fuel up on fruit and bagels, and I did lay down for an hour or so. Before we knew it, the second van was almost done with their first legs and it was our turn to run again.

Getting some rest at Snow Basin ski resort

Me and Amanda (my very favorite running friend) at Snow Basin just after she finished her first leg

My second leg began at around 8:30 p.m. I was most nervous for this leg because it was mostly uphill. Just take a look, I'm not lieing:

I was glad that the weather had started to cool down a bit. Because I would be running most of this leg in the dark, I had to wear my safety gear: reflective vest, head lamp, and butt light (race regulations). I know, I know. I look super attractive in a safety vest, admit it.

Standing at my second exchange point, just before my second leg

I still felt pretty sick, but my mind was better prepared for this leg. The first four miles felt pretty good. I was averaging a 10:30 pace, and I felt good about it. The incline wasn't huge, but it was still uphill. After the fourth mile the wind started to pick up (head wind, I might add) and it was getting colder. After all, I was running into a canyon. I caught up to my van and had to get my long sleeve jacket out. I was cold, my hands were freezing, so that put a 2 minute delay on my time. Oh well.

Me, running at night, about to get passed by runners faster than myself

Again, those last couple of miles were a struggle. By this time, the cold air was starting to hurt my lungs (damn flu), the head wind was awful, and the incline was increasing. I'll admit it, I walked for about a mile. But this is why: at some points, the incline was so steep, that I was walking faster than I was running. Does this make sense? My little bitty baby running steps were slower than my walking stride. So I walked. Fast walk, mind you. But I did walk. And I don't feel bad about it.

I finished strong, with a last minute kick to the finish point. My goal was to finish the 8.1 mile leg in 1:30:00. I reached my goal, finishing in 1:30:something. Sure, it was slower than my usual pace, but considering the circumstances, I feel pretty darn awesome about finishing in 90 minutes.

Me (in the back) with a few of my teammates just after my second leg

After that my van went ahead to the next major exchange point to get some zzz's. This time I fueled up on spaghetti and bread and some Twizzlers. Yum-o. I also managed to squeak in about an hour of sleep. My van was finally on our last leg of the race. At this point I was still sick, and my nose wouldn't stop running. But my last leg was only 3.1 miles. Just a 5K. I kept thinking to myself, "You just ran 15 miles while feeling miserable. What's another 3? It's just a 5K. It's just a 5K...."

Just before I started my last leg

My last leg started at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning. I was exhausted. I was hoping just to finish my last leg in 30 minutes. That was my only goal. So I started running. And it felt great. Physically, my body was worn down. Mentally, I was ready to kick this leg in the ass. I was wearing my teammates Garmin (I need one of those!), and it was telling me that I was averaging a 9:30 mile pace. What?!?! That was awesome, so I kicked it up another notch. I finished the leg in 27:53. I averaged 9:00 miles!!! Holy crap!!! It was a great ending to a long race.

Sprinting to the finish

My team finished the race at about 12:45 p.m. on Saturday. Out final time was 28:54:53.5. We finished 121 out of 438 overall, and 83 out of 331 in our division. Pretty much awesome, if you ask me. 188 miles, not really sure what the average pace is on that. Somebody else figure it out, then let me know. I'm too lazy. It's now Thursday, and my body is still recovering. I'm not usually sick for this long, but I'm guessing since I put it through 18.1 miles of running, it needs a few extra days to heal. When can I do this again?!?!