The Comeback Trail (Pt 1, Lake Lowell & RONR)

So far all of 2014 has been strongly colored by the fall on the ice in January in which I broke my wrist.  In hindsight though, I can see that it is really just a minor bump in the road.  (I am so very thankful to live in this time, in this place, where a bone break like that may be repaired.  In another time, another place, I would be compromised the rest of my life.)  I didn't have to "lose" as much time and fitness as I did, but I lost a lot of "heart." I'm still working out all the Why's, but that fall really shook my confidence. If you had asked me if I thought I was invincible or immune to mishap, I would have said "Of course not!" But my feelings after the fact contradict that. That's the first time I've been truly injured in at least a decade ... and the first since I have joined the ranks of Wife and Mother. I realize there's more at stake now.  It's not just about "me" anymore. I suppose everyone comes to that realization in their own time and at their own pace. I've always been a late bloomer!

I know it's a fluke,
but I'm proud anyway!

So with the healing of my injury and the return of milder weather, I've been busy making up for lost time and setting a different tone for the rest of the year. Signing up for an event is the best way for me to stay consistent with being active. It's a great mind trick: "I'm not a middle-aged mom out for a jog ... I'm an athlete in Training!" (Plus, I'm too cheap not to use something I PAID for!) Thusly, I signed up for a 10k road race in April. I did much better than I thought I would, coming in at just over an hour (1:03). That time is nothing special, but in the vein of "80% of success is showing up" it was good enough to place in my age group!  Talk about a confidence booster!  I felt like a Comeback Kid.

Next, I set my sights to June 21 and the River of No Return Endurance Runs event. This offered courses of 25k, 50k, & 100k (15, 31, & 62 miles). Just 25k for me, thankyouverymuch! However, this event wouldn't just be a long half-marathon, but a true trail run on remote single-track up the side of a mountain and back again for a total elevation gain/loss of about 3500 ft. (About 1070 meters for you metric folks.)  My goal for this event was simply "to finish." I wasn't concerned about time, or coming in DFL.

The whole family packed out to Challis. We wanted to camp, but the desirable areas (i.e. free camping on BLM land) were already full. We didn't want to stay at "Mosquito Flat"! So took a room at a motel just down the road from the event start. The course passed right in front. In classic fashion, I didn't put that two-and-two together until the next morning when I awoke to the sound of my alarm along with the sounds of clapping and hollering. It took me a minute to register that it was the 100k runners heading out! I couldn't get myself put together quite quickly enough to zip out to the road and join in cheering them on. I knew that they would go 4 times farther than I would that day. (And with a 3-hour head start, finish about the same time....) Very humbling.

Feeling spry at the start! Daughter
came out to give me a hug.

Well, I kept a better eye on the time now and didn't miss the 50k runners on their passage! It was a thrill to recognize a good portion of the participants as acquaintances from the ultra "scene" and cheer them on.  Now it was my turn for the pre-flight check and head over to the start. I dressed with a mind to sun protection: Booney hat, sunglasses, long-sleeve quick-dry shirt, shorts, compression socks, trail shoes. The only exposed skin was my knees. In the excitement I forgot sunscreen and they did get burned!

My distance was "only" 15 miles, but in this event even that comparatively short distance was handled ultra-style with just one aid station, at the turn-around. My pack held 2L water, salt-tabs, fig bars, hankie, lip balm, pepper spray and a whistle. I had my mobile, but there would be no phone or data reception on the trail. I brought it for the GPS to track my run.

Goat trail.

The first two miles offered a relatively flat start, perfect to get the juices flowing, burn off the starting jitters, and get into a rhythm. That rhythm was driving to a grinding halt when we hit The Climb.  It would be false to say "the first climb." The whole next six miles was one big climb! Boy that was tough. I experimented with several different "power-hiking" techniques that I had read about for handling climbing. The one that worked best for me was to sort of sit back on my haunches and take short quick steps. It's hard to describe. What did NOT work was big, lunging strides with hands on my thighs. The terrain was high-desert sage. At the top, it leveled off for two blissful miles out and back to the aid station in the pines.

That would be loose shale. Yup.

You'd think the final miles to return to the finish would be a cake walk after all that -- a nice little reward for the effort -- but you thought wrong! It turned into a steep and fairly technical goat trail. (Literally. In addition to dodging rocks, I was dodging goat pellets!) After a long section of golf- to baseball-sized, ankle-turning rocks, we skidded down a scree of loose shale to the road. I was overly-spooked about the shale because of that damn fall on the ice in the winter, so I minced my way down, using the sparse little clumps of grass as footholds.  The few folks I had passed since the aid station reeled me back in and left me behind.

Note the wide-legged stance
so I don't fall over.

Once I got to the road, I was one tired & parched mamacita. I entered this event under-prepared physically, but mentally I had my mind on my goal to cross the finish upright under my own power. I
repeated my mantras ("steady steady" "there's nothing to it but to do it"), and kept putting one foot in front of the other. When I got to the finish, I guess I looked so pathetic the Race Director came over to personally check on me!

Results --  Time 4:15. Place 96 of 113.

P.S. Bonus flashback! Does *anyone* else remember the movie Yellowbeard?!  I came across the finish like THIS.