As I was supposed to do my first 50km trail back in May but had to cancel for family reasons at the last second, I really really wanted to be able to run a 50km this year.
With all our races it was hard to find one that fit in our schedule but we managed to find one....and a good one!
James and I left on Friday and got to Salt lake city in the evening where we rented a car. We arrived at Park City at around 11pm and the race was starting at 7am the next day.
If you know where we live and know where Park city is you will probably say WHATTT?
Indeed I don't think that was the smartest decision after all when I think about it. We live at almost sea level and the race started at 7000 feet to top at 10 000 feet. Last year in Costa Rica I had been affected by altitude. My fingers and body in general had swelled up and I was feeling very heavy and breathing was slower. I thought that maybe this time would be different.
We woke up on Saturday morning and got ready to race. It was cold, soooo cold (3 degrees max) and it was pitch dark.
When we got to registration you could still not see anything around. I asked if we were supposed to have headlamp and they reassured me saying we should be fine without it.
I was stressed out. It was my first 50km, at altitude, and for those who know me I tend to put a little too much pressure on myself. That's why I decided that this race was going to be fun. I wouldn't go crazy I would pace myself and FINISH it, in whatever time it would take me.
Just the time to kiss good luck James and we were off.
The first 20 to 25km of the race was pretty much up hill going to the 10 000 feet elevation.
I had a good start and even without pushing too hard I didn't have more than 3 girls in front of me for the whole climb. I remember thinking "oh woah I have been running for 6km and I feel like if I just started" which is an awesome feeling. And then reality check at km 7 "oh yeah ok I'm running".
I stuck with a bunch of guys for the whole climb, it was a good pace for me trying to keep up to them but also it meant I wouldn't be alone in case of a bear encounter :)
Half way through the climb I realized I was loosing my voice (my team mates for Ecuador should be happy about that, it means you won't hear me complain for most of the race). So I just listened to the stories one of the guy was telling as were climbing.
As we were still climbing I saw snow on the ground (thought of harps at that point).
At km 25, 3rd aid station, I asked the medic what I could do to make the swelling go down in my fingers. At that stage I had swelled up and my fingers were like sumo fingers...not pretty!!
They told me it was probably a lack of salt and made me eat potatoes with lots of salt. He told me to not worry, it would come down eventually.
We were at the top of the mountains and they were only two "little" climbs left on the course.
I started running down and as I was trying to take some speed in the single tracks, took a fall and landed flat on the ground. I assessed quickly the damaged, a little pain in the ankle, a little pain in the opposite knee and superficial scratches on my hand..Nothing major so I started running again.
As I caught up with a guy and passed him on his right, I didn't notice that our track was actually going left. We ran a good 600m or more down the hill before realizing we were off course.
That hurt for multiple reasons. First being that we had to climb back up, second being that I saw at least 3 to 4 girls passing me up there on the mountain, and 3rd and not the least, I was running without water, relying on feed station and it was getting hot and I was thirsty.
I let myself be frustrated for a few minutes and then forgot about it to keep racing.
I was in a bad shape when I reached aid station number 4. There was an October theme there with music. The volunteers were super helpful giving me food as I was drinking a liter of electrolyte. they gave me more potatoes and I even licked some salt. From there it was an 8km loop back to the same aid station before heading to the end.
I felt a little better in that loop and I was feeling a lot better when I reached the aid station again. I'm sure it helped a lot that the volunteers were cheering me like crazy :)
I had been doing a jog/walk for the last two station and the start of that leg wasn't any different. It was mostly downhill from there on and I don't know what happened but 3-4km before the end my legs came back and I was able to run again.
I had set for myself three goals: 1st:to finish, 2nd: I would be happy to finish under 7 hours, 3rd: I would be super happy to finish under 6 and half hours.
After a glance at my watch and many calculations I thought "man if I hadn't lost ten minutes with my wrong turn I could have finished under 6,5 hours".
As I was coming down I started realizing I could maybe still make it under 6,5 hours.
Weird thing ever, a volunteer gave me a high five 1.5 miles from the end and as I run with a massive grind on my face, I start crying then it stops and I laugh. I was on a roller coaster of emotions.
I saw the finish line and started sprinting to the finish. I passed the line in 6h28min with the most massive smile in history.
I tried to look for James and saw him 5-10min later. When he saw me he said "what are you doing here???" I guess he was expecting me a little later :D.
The course was beautiful and the trails were the most fun trails I have ever been on in a race. The staff and volunteers were great making it an unforgettable race for me.
I will be back and this time with proper altitude acclimatization. The swelling was all gone half hour after the race.
Pictures can be seen at http://www.racephotonetwork.com/QPPlus/Proofs.aspx
Nat
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