race report: august

haulin' aspen was AMAZING! justin ran it with me, and i am happy to report that i did not trip him or sabotage his race in any way! he stuck by my side the entire race, even when that meant going waaaay slower than he would have normally ran. he encouraged me the whole way, at one point even complementing my race day attire...seriously! what a guy!

the course:

we started at miller elementary school on skyliners road. it was a cool, cloudless morning and even though the event was sold out, it still felt like a small intimate group. there was no one there to check us in and get our bib numbers, so we helped ourselves.

haulin aspen included a marathon, half marathon, and 7-miler, we had staggered waves at the start. even with the small group of 7 milers left, there still was a bottleneck as we all tried to funnel onto the narrow dirt path at the beginning of the race. we ran in single file for the first half mile or so, which made it a little slow as justin and i had started in the back of the pack. the path was lined with tall pines and was a combination of dirt trails, mountain bike trails, and forest service roads.

the first three miles were pretty flat (minus the mountain bike moguls), with only three monster hills to climb. i only tripped once (i saved myself before i ate it). there was lots of roots, rocks, and uneven ground to navigate around. however, i kinda liked that part. i had to concentrate on what my feet were doing, and that was a nice distraction.

the last four miles were flat or a steady decline which was lovely, and much needed to keep me going. the sun came out and i was HOT! because most of the run was through the forest they only had one water station to cut down on trash on the course. i was thirsty and knew i needed water badly. at mile six justin and i failed to notice the turn (the flags had been trampled down) and added on an additional .2 miles. after realizing our mistake and giving several other runners the heads up as they started to take the same course we had, we were back on track. we skirted a hill above shevlin park, the sun was beating down hard, i was thirsty, and ready to be done! i sped up and heard justin's voice, "nice job, love" making me instantly teary eyed. we trampled across the bridge, justin right on my heels, and loped across the finish line with big smiles!

loved this race! it was a beautiful course, challenging and fun! if i wanted to work on my time for this race i could have raced a little smarter (brought a water belt, started more towards the middle rather than the back, and been more aggressive in passing when in single file)...but overall i felt strong!

the race however, was only a small part of this weekend! i seriously have enough updates to fill this entire week! stay tuned!