Red Mountain Ultra

I have to be honest and tell the story behind the second place plaque. I have no idea what my time was either. It almost doesn't matter, because I don't even know for sure how many miles I ran. What happened was a land owner that lives in the mountains that we were running through apparently doesn't like this little race going through his backyard.  So, he got up early this morning and erased the chalk arrows on the ground at one of the forks and redrew them pointing to another path.  It wasn't too horrible because that path, although a few miles longer, eventually lead back to the main path so most of the people that went that way, including me, were okay.  The sad part is that once we got off on that wrong path, there were several other forks that could lead people off into the bush and far far off the main route with no way to end back up eventually on the right trail.  There was at least one other woman that was ahead of me at one point and ended up about a half and hour behind because of that disaster.  There was a professional ultra marathon woman that noticed that people were going in two different directions at one point, so she ran back a few miles and told someone that some of the runners were getting lost, then she got back on the path and started running.  She is the one that won the thing, even though she ran probably an extra 5-6 miles.  She caught up to me and passed me at about mile  24.  Her name is Krissy Moehl.  People had been telling me at the aid stations that I was the first woman they had seen pass, which made me so excited, but I was confused because I knew that I saw other women in front of me.  It still was pretty fun to have them say "Second Place Female!" when I crossed the finish line, even though I know I didn't really earn it.

I did have a great run though, and I attribute it to a couple of things.

*Advil!  2 at the starting line, 2 at miles 15,  21, 24, and 27.  I still cramped a little and had the usual fatigue, but no aches like last time.  No hip or knee issues.  Overall it made the run just completely different than last year.  Hallelujah and thank you, Ibuprofen.

* No headphones.  I know, I can't believe it either.  But it made it so much more enjoyable to be totally on the ride with the other runners and not just locked in my own head.  I was able to chat with other people and joke around.  It kept me going, I'm sure, when if I had had music it would have been much harder.

Starting line is really as miserable as it looks.  Cold and windy.  I loved the jacket I took with me, having learned from last year.  Dry-wicking wool.  I also wore Pearl Isumi sleeves, which I loved having on once the jacket got too warm for my core, but the wind was still blowing and would have been cold on my skin.  I shed them at maybe mile 14 and hung them on my belt.  No weight at all.  A great purchase.

There are several peaks on the trail that have great lookouts.  I promised myself I would take enough time to take some pictures.  These views are the highlight of this run.

Before you hit the pavement you run over three washes.  Last year there was not a whole lot of water in them.  I just jumped over without getting wet feet.  This year two of them were deep and wide enough that we had no choice but to stomp through them, getting wet up to our mid-calves.  One other woman and I spent about 20 seconds at the first big one trying to figure a way across without getting wet.  Finally I just jumped in.  It was three miles later at mile 12 that we would get to change shoes anyway. 

One other thing I did different was bring a new pair of shoes that had only been run in once, to put on at mile 12 (which for me was actually more like mile 13 since we got lost, remember.)  I think that helped.  I noticed a big difference when I put them on.  More cushion and support.

                      
                            Gunlock

                      Gunlock Reservoir

I wasn't sure if I was going to see my family at the finish because it is a really busy day with basketball games and family Easter Egg hunts.  Ron was sweet enough to swing it with all the kids.  Thanks, honey.  You rock my world.

Oh, and I saw a friend that happened to be on a bike ride on the course!  She took these photos and texted them to me.

I ran with this nice guy, Ari for the last maybe... 8-9 miles.  I know it helped to chat with someone at the end.  He's done the Wasatch 100 and actually finished.  Very cool.

I got home and immediately started to feel sick.  I was worried the whole time about the Ibuprofen making my stomach hurt.  I don't know if at least part of what I'm feeling now is so much Meds.  Blehhhh