Race Recap: “I’m tired, I don’t think I can keep going at this pace.”
Though quite small, the hill in front of me felt mountainous. I was dripping sweat, had started chafing from ice melting down my pack, had felt one blister pop and a few others form while doubtful thoughts started to fill my head. “I’m tired, I don’t think I can keep going at this pace.” But each time, I tried to come back and combat those negative thoughts with positive ones. “Syd, I honestly think you may be in first place, keep pushing, it’s only two more miles.” I kept pushing (in hindsight I feel like I could have pushed harder), finally reaching the last hill with red rocks protruding from every direction, continuing to run as hard as I could when I hit the hot, steamy pavement until I crossed the finish line. I would find out, later, that I crossed the line 1st female and 3rd overall.
I rolled into Sedona on Monday, April 15th. Lucky enough, I spent the whole week in Sedona prior to the race. I spent a few miles on the trails of the course, took a lot of time soaking in the beauty of Sedona and took the time to remind myself how fortunate I was to be there. The race took place in Sedona, Arizona. It was marked out to be 21 miles with about 1,700 feet of elevation gain. The trails were a bit techy at times with red and black rocks always jumping out at you, but also a bit flowy at times too where you could try to pick up your speed, but neither lasted for very long. There were no big climbs during the race, meaning you had to keep your speed consistent if you were trying to reach any sort of time goal. No parts to really slow you down and also not many sections of the course to allow you to make up a lot of time either. The biggest culprit of the day: the heat.
Overall, I felt positive in my training leading up to the race. Most of the winter was a work in progress of building back fitness from losing most of it after a pretty gnarly ankle sprain in September. It took a lot of time to feel remotely back to normal. Eventually, I started too. Long runs, easy runs, speedwork, and strength training took up my time throughout the training process. I enjoyed the process, most of the time, which I attribute to being a big piece in a successful race.
Under 3 hours and 30 minutes would be ideal, I told Scott prior to the race. We hadn’t talked a whole lot about goals for this race as much as other goals I have throughout the summer, but lord knows I’m not coming into a race without some sort of goal. Based on the race specs, I thought this was pretty reasonable. A push, but reasonable. I planned to head out with my running vest on, filled with Spring Energy gels, and two bottles filled with Scratch High Carb drink mix. The nutrition goal was to eat gels every 20-30 minutes (more if I felt I needed it), drink my bottles of Scratch between aid stations and refill once I arrived. Alongside that, dip my hat in any creek crossings, pour water on my head at each aid station, and utilize ice if they had any. Heat is my worst enemy and chilling myself to the bone is the easiest thing for me to do to ensure I don’t absolutely wreck myself.
I quickly rolled over and turned off my alarm as it startled me awake around 4:30 am. The sun came up extremely early in Sedona, but as I lie on my back in bed, you can still see the stars in the darkness outside. I slowly got myself out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen. First, I started the coffee (this coffee pot took 30 minutes to brew a pot, I swear!). Then, I prepared my breakfast for the day ahead which consisted of: 4 frozen waffles with butter and some Scratch drink mix. I’ll admit - I could have better prepared for this one. After breakfast, I headed back to my bedroom, completed my business (thankfully!), got dressed, filled the pack (I have been using the Black Diamond Distance 4 Hydration Vest) with all its necessities and walked out the door! As I pack most of my race vest and lay out my clothes the night before, there is nothing too special about the morning of my race day. All I care about is eating enough for breakfast and drinking some coffee to aid in normal processes (IYKYK ;))!
The sun was shining down on the start line. The energy was as high as it was positive. I didn’t know most of the others on the start line by name, but I knew them in other, deeper ways. We all shared a common feeling and goal. 3, 2, 1… have a great day out there runners!
Off we went, shoes tapping the pavement before shifting onto the single track. The first mile is always a little quick, but running this mile fast is the first thing I feel I did right on race day. We took on the rolling hills of Sedona’s technical trails for the first 6 miles. The sun was shining on the trees that scarcely lined the trails providing small amounts of solace from the heat. The first 6 miles were executed as perfectly as they could have. Averaging under 10 minutes a mile, eating a couple hundred calories an hour, and feeling fresh mentally and physically. I breezed through the first aid station and continued on. I had a lot of positive energy floating through that first aid station so I continued on with a little bit of a push. Side stepping the rocks in my way and trying to remember to look up at the view every now and again. Through this section, I happened upon another girl who I assumed was part of my race. I made some jokes about wishing for river crossings, but she wasn’t interested in my jokes (not that many people ever are). I stuck behind her for a mile or so until we pulled into aid station #2. I felt lucky to see the familiar faces of John, Nancy, and Scott again rolling into the aid station. Poured some water on my head, filled a bottle, and got out of there quickly.
All of a sudden I could hear Sally Mcrae’s voice from her podcast in my head, “Pass, Gap, Bury!” But I couldn’t remember the “gap”. So, I just kept thinking “Pass, blank, bury”. My brain told me to kick it into high gear so that’s what I did. At this point, I was still eating and drinking well, so I felt. Once I got close to the aid station #3, we entered a pretty exposed section and I had a brief couple of minutes where my goals felt out of reach. The heat radiated right off the rocks into my brain. Luckily, the aid station soon came into view. It was time to chill myself to the bone. Water bottles filled, ice shoved into my hat, ice shoved into my pack, ice shoved into my sports bra. Off on a mission. I briefly went off course, but hopped back on and kept moving. This was the last section of the course. I knew I had to push, but it was getting harder. The blisters were hurting, my underwear was chafing from the ice melting down my back, and I think I lost a little bit of diligence with eating and drinking. I was so thirsty, but chugging the Scratch hydration mix was bothering my stomach. It would have been wise to have one bottle of just water. The trail began to feel familiar from my runs earlier in the week. I recognized the way the trees lined the trails and where they leaned over the trail to provide just enough shade to feel a brief respite from the heat, how far away the dry creek bed was away from the final hill leading up to the pavement, the way the red rocks stood like castles in the distance, and remembering where the hot air balloons were in the sky earlier that morning.
There it is - the pavement. I started sprinting around the corner, and listened for the familiar voices to cheer my name. I heard the cheers. I crossed the finish line. Oh, the irony of hitting a goal I didn’t even think about achieving; 1st female overall and 3rd runner overall, but also coming up short of the time goal I had set for myself. I can’t be mad about that I suppose! It is time to be proud and focus on the amazing journey I had throughout the day and the positive things I did including: eating well, cooling myself down, pushing enough but not too hard at the start, and continuing to encourage myself when I started to have doubtful thoughts. Alongside the positives, I continued to learn the lesson that most of our limits are self imposed. So, I will continue to ask myself, what can I continue to do to reach past those limits I impose on myself?
Learn more about Coach Syd Here!
