We hope you understand that we write these posts based on how we feel, on how connected we are trying to be with you! I just recently returned (and I mean recently... I just walked in the door like 10 minutes ago from my run in Southern Utah), and on the way home, I was thinking about what I wanted to share with you! Nothing specific came to mind, but thoughts of my race this weekend just flooded my mind, and all the emotions that come with that experience, I felt that maybe that was the direction I needed to go, and what YOU might need at this time! I had an amazing experience running the Top of Zion relay this weekend and Coach Q ran the Utah Valley Marathon this Saturday, and maybe he will share his experience with us, sometime! And we share our experiences, not so that you will compliment us or praise us, and we sure hope you definitely know that we don't do it to talk ourselves up...WE do it to simply share our passion with you and hopefully help YOU to see your passion or reasons for doing it!
Like I said, I ran a relay this last weekend with some great running friends from the valley! Some I just barely got to know and it was just simply amazing! The company and scenery alone was just a great experience! Besides all the amazing running, all I could think about was wanting to share this with my FAMILY and YOU GUYS (somehow, I wished you all could be there with me!). This relay was not like Ragnar where there are umpteen million teams (just about 50 or so), and it was just such beautiful country...in fact, I ran a section where I had pure cliffs on both sides of me on the road...it was just breath taking (literally!). Besides the pure enjoyment of it all, the thoughts I wanted to share with you come from my final leg in the race. Of course, I really didn't have anything to prove (and still don't! haha!), and even though I ran all my sections with a good effort, I really didn't have plans to try to destroy myself on my last run. On the last section of the race...we were watching the time of when the lead teams were coming into the exchange, as we waited for our awesome team members to pass "the torch" (not a literal torch of course!). We kind of realized that we were in the top 10 teams or so, and we decided that we were going to really give our best for this last stretch! When we took off, we were about a little over an hour behind some of the lead teams. We weren't stressed out about PR's or anything like that, we just wanted to see how much ground we could make up! It was AWESOME! Everyone just ran amazing and even though it was our last leg and we were tired, it was just so cool to see all the effort! Now to share a little of what went through your crazy Coach's head as I ran my last leg, and why I titled the post "What's it Worth?" Out of the 6 people left, I was in the middle of the group. We had passed a few people in the previous 2 legs, but the teams were so spread out, and we were hardly seeing anyone (which was really nice in its own way...I just love running alone sometimes!!!). I had a 7 mile stretch that was mostly down a dirt road (like running the Canyon trail section), then a mile and a half of climbing a hill like Wapiti! In my mind, I just wanted to help my team make up as much time as possible...hope that I might catch someone, but at least close the gap for our last 3 legs of the race. there was no one in sight forever! Remember, the top teams (about 3 teams were about 1 hour ahead when we finally started our last 6 legs). Now, I knew I wanted to push myself... I knew I wanted to give my best, but what was my real motivation...what did I have to prove? I know I work hard, I know that I am a good runner, I know that running is a passion that I have...what was going to drive me to go as fast as I could? So as I took off, and my team was situating the person who handed off to me, I thought, "I will see how far I can get before they catch me!" I pass mile 1 and I'm still feeling pretty good...focusing on my form, staying relaxed, trying to stay in the shade of as many trees as I can (it was around 11ish at this time, so it was pretty hot...remember, we are in Zion's!). I get to mile 2, and I'm slightly thinking about where they are, but then I tell myself, how cool that would be to get to mile 3 before they do, so I try to pick up the pace, just a little...hydrating with my little water-waist pack. I get to mile 3 and still nobody. I'm on my way to mile 4 and think to myself, "I've done pretty good to this point...my team will probably be amazed at how far I got before they caught me, so I can just slow down a bit"...I am getting pretty tired and my quads were pretty beat up (I did a 6.5 miler up a mountain during the night before, so I was starting to feel it!). But deep inside, I knew that wasn't good enough for me...Oh, I would have been just fine when I was done, but I wanted to know that I gave my best! So, I kept pushing the pace and I was determined to get as close to mile 5 before they caught me! At this point in the run, it is starting to go back up the mountain and turning into the Wapiti hill! I'm pouring water on my face and head, at this point, just hoping that they will show up soon, so I can finally back off my pace a little! ;) I get to mile 5 and still nobody, and I am climbing now! My energy tank is feeling pretty depleted at this point and was ready to just back it off. Why not? There was nobody around...I hadn't seen a single soul since I started...I was running in the mountains above Zion's National Park...I didn't need to keep pushing through this...so said the "human" side of me! The real me knew that I wouldn't be happy with myself if I had come this far, only to back off now...not when I had just a mile and a half to go! I was determined to get as close to mile 6 before they caught me! I really focused on driving my arms and breathing deep and standing straight up (since I was climbing up a steep hill). Before I knew it, I was at mile 6 and I knew I only had a mile to go! I was not about to stop pushing it now! I probably wasn't going very fast at this point, just trying to get one foot in front of the other, up that mountain, but around 6.5, the van finally caught me! Come to find out, some huge ranching truck with a trailer full of cattle had come by them at the exchange and was in front of them, and was going super slow, and they couldn't get by until there was a spot for it to pull over! But what mattered, is that it motivated me to keep going...I found a way to work through the tough moments, so that I could feel like it was ALL WORTH IT, when I was done! And because of that, with about a quarter mile to go, I spotted someone running, and it gave me another little oomph to give another gear, that I didn't think I had. As I passed him, of course I told him he was doing great! All he could say in return was, "You!" (it was a pretty steep hill...but we run hills like that every week!). I have done stuff like this enough times, to know, that in the end, I am the one that has to feel, remember, and deal with myself...that I could have given just a little more! I have also realized that in that tough moment...when I feel like there is just no way I can do more and give more, or even want to keep trying, that I never died (whew...thank goodness!), or keeled over...I have always felt that IT WAS WORTH IT! Work through those tough days ahead...picture yourself in the future and where you want to be when we start racing this next season...because no matter how you may think you feel, we can tell you that if you work on giving now...you will know THAT IT WAS WORTH IT!
p.s. Just so you know...we passed those teams that started 1 hour ahead of us...in fact, we past one team with just minutes to spare! Pretty crazy, if you think about it, when we are talking about a 30 hour race...to just time it with minutes to the finish line! What a feeling!!!! :)
