Dates: 11/14/22 – 11/20/22
Race Week!
Miles: 33 miles

Commentary: The feeling like I’m getting sick continued to stick around. Monday morning I had zero motivation to run. Thankfully, my husband told me to just get on the treadmill, even if I just started off walking, and maybe I’d find it in me to run. That’s just what I did, and I managed to get a short run in!

When my alarm went off Tuesday morning I contemplated resetting it for a later time, but I managed to get up. I was sooooo tired. I did not want to do anything but go back to sleep until I felt better. I was supposed to run in the morning and do a strength workout in the afternoon. The thought of two workouts in a day made me want to cry. I did my strength workout in the morning and called it a day. Something is better than nothing, right?

Wednesday I purposely didn’t run because I was doing my run assessment that day at PT. I assumed I’d be running more than I did. Oops. The good news is there isn’t too much wrong with my running form. Because my right side is jankier than the left, it doesn’t do a good job of holding strong when it’s the stance leg. So, my leg hip drops a bit, which causes my left knee to collapse in a bit. Doc gave me a list of exercises to do that should help, and I’ll see him in six weeks.

My body continued to fight the good fight against whatever bug is trying to make me sick. Still, my lungs didn’t feel the greatest and the exhaustion was really getting to me. It made me wonder if I’d still be screwed doing anything outside this winter. It felt like I had nothing going for me with this 50k. Nearly four weeks with barely any runs and not enough spinning. Feeling sick. Feeling tired. Cold weather in Moab, at least much colder than I anticipated. But I kept reminding myself that I had ten hours to run 31 miles, and that’s super doable save for a mechanical failure. Knock on wood.

Thursday I did a strength workout instead of running. Again, I could not imagine doing two workouts in one day. I also managed to get my poop in a group for our trip to Utah. We were going to leave Thursday night, but with feeling under the weather it seemed wiser to sleep comfortably at home for one more night and knock out the eight-hour drive on Friday.

The drive on Friday was uneventful, thankfully. I hit packet pick up just as it started. I was pleasantly surprised that the race shirt was cotton instead of a technical material. I never wear the tech shirts because as soon as I sweat in them the armpits reek. I also got a trucker hat, which is pretty sweet, except I have a super small melon. It looks like I stole my daddy’s hat. After packet pick up we went back to a camping spot we stayed at during our previous Moab visit.

Saturday morning I got up with plenty of time to get ready. Between leaving our campsite and getting to the race a series of events (don’t want to get into it) caused me to have my first ever panic/anxiety attack. I almost hyperventilated. I couldn’t stop shaking. I was in the verge of tears. I finished getting ready as best I could and made my way to the start line.

Dead Horse has three waves to start, and runners pick their own wave. I chose to start in the last wave because I’m not that fast. As soon as I started running all the stress and anxiety melted away. I focused on my breath. I felt the dirt road under my feet. The cold air chilled my face and legs. All was right in the world.

In the first couple of miles I was in the very back of the pack with maybe half a dozen folks behind me. At the first downhill I passed a few folks. I finished with just over 100 folks behind me.

Around mile 18 my left IT band started bothering me, but I pushed through it. A few miles after that I was sick of slickrock, well, my feet were. I longed to return to the dirt road. Right around where we were supposed to hit the road, I got lost. Somehow I missed the flags. Like a smart trail runner, I downloaded the course GPX, and got back on track.

Most of the elevation change was nice and mellow, except for the hill by the start/finish. At the top of the hill I got ready to fly to finish line. Then I tripped hard and fell. I got my wits about me, brushed myself and made it to the finish line. Thirty miles in just under seven hours! I kept walking to get to a full 31 miles because I’m weird.

Back at the van I took a gander at my right big toe I slammed when I tripped. It was already black and tender as hell. Definitely going to lose that bad boy. Considering I barely ran for four weeks and have been feeling under the weather, I’m felt pretty good overall. I was also quite proud of my finish time and race pace.

On Sunday we started moseying towards St George by way of Capitol Reef National Park. The scenic drive that shoots off the highway was amazing, especially the last mile or so where the paved road gave way to dirt and went through part of Capitol Gorge. The end of road was a trailhead to go further down the gorge, and the trail made for a great recovery hike.

A store in Capitol Reef touted homemade pie, yet when we arrived there wasn’t a pie in sight. So, we stopped in Escalante at Ranch Dog Kitchen for dinner and cast iron skillet apple pie. It instantly became my new favorite restaurant. We found a wonderful spot just outside side of town to call home for night and settled in with full bellies. A perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.

Adventures Training Journal capitol reef national park dead horse ultra exercise fitness garmin journal mad moose events running strength trail running training volt athletics