I'm finally blogging about the Red Rock Relay. It's only been a month and I will probably forget all the important/grueling details. This is a VERY long post but it's more for me to remember the details.
In the beginning, I didn't understand the concept of this relay thing. I just thought I'd be running my 5 miles in a few hours with a "meet me at the end girls" mentality. But, we would stop every 1/2 mile or mile to hand out water to our ladies and cheer them on. As it went on, I started to see the advantage of all the support.
We were lucky enough to stay up at a cabin near Brianhead the night before. In the morning, we all headed up to Brianhead to send our first runner off. The energy throughout was fun and addictive.
Leg 1 was at 11 a.m., somewhere around 8,600 ft elevation. (Salt Lake is about 4,500) I would have liked to have sucked my asthma medicine or oxygen the whole time but that was not an option. It started uphill. I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. I unfortunately, had not trained enough for this. Stupid foot injury and not enough hill work. When the van would stop to cheer me on, I'd run, smile, and wave. Once they left, I walked it for a minute or two. I had to catch my breath a couple times. But I kept on moving. Then I went downhill. Yippie! I finally got to enjoy the scenery. Mountains, trees, quietness, dead animals. Leg 1 done. I survived.
Now what? Sleep? Nope! Eat? Doesn't sound good. Cheer on the others while still hyped on adrenaline? YES! I got to enjoy the beautiful scenery a little more now. KLUG was some great scenery.
We were fortunate enough after the 6 of us did our first leg,to go back to Timette's cabin, eat, shower, and rest. The next 6 women were running now, down the canyon into Cedar City, where we would meet them to start our night running.
Leg 2, 5 miles, started around 1:30 a.m. It was beautiful outside. The stars were absolutely breath-taking. We were on a dirt road at this time, in the middle of nowhere. On a side note, we were now the only ones on the road. With the 3 previous runners, we saw 1 or 2 others, but they all passed us. So by the time I ran, it was just me, the stars, the sound of gravel under my shoes, my iPod, and some strange noises in the night. I didn't think I'd like my night run but it ended up being my favorite. It was the perfect temperature. I kept the music on so I would not hear any of the nighttime animals. I got in a sync with my running and just enjoyed the night. Thanks to my team for the bandannas and clear glasses to keep out the dust from my crazy driving team. Thanks to our "running coach" who jumped out of the car to run with me and give me some encouragement.
We ended in New Castle, Utah, a very small town, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Here we did our 2nd van exchange. Then we headed to Veyo while van 2 did their running. This is where we found the party. We were so far behind at this point, that by the time we got here, people were already leaving. We still had to wait for our other 6 runners to complete their leg. We TRIED to get some sleep. Looking back it's funny to see us all trying to sleep in the SUV, but at the time, it was not. I ended up taking my sleeping bag and sleeping on the grass of the church. I think I got 45 minutes of good sleep, maybe an hour and a half at the most. That in and by itself was an experience. The church parking lot was full of vans, runners, and people just trying to get some sleep. There are some crazy people addicted to the sport of running and I think I'm one of them.
When the sun came up, we were ready for our third and last leg. We were heading into St. George, by way of many hills. My 5 mile run started somewhere above St. George. It was actually a gorgeous leg with red hills, that brought me overlooking the Temple and the city. It was hot though. This is where I realized how much I loved my team being there for me, cheering me on, giving me water. I was spent, emotionally, physically, and mentally. Going on the second day of running, 1 1/2 hrs of sleep, and a modge podge of food, it was a hard run. Plus, my iPod stopped about 10 minutes in. By this point, I knew we were doing this for fun, for the experience. I did not have to beat any personal records and there were no time limits.
BUT I finally had someone in my view. This was pretty much the first time I was running in the same vicinity of another runner. If I stopped to drink or fix my music, I would lose her and my motivation. I was going to keep up with her and if lucky, pass her, getting my one and only kill. (A kill is when you pass someone.) I slowly gained on her, kept her pace and then was able to pass her. Running with someone else out there helped me keep going. But passing someone was very much a highlight of the whole experience. I'm not a competitive person, but knowing that I can run as fast or faster than someone who is a "runner", is an amazing feeling for me personally. I finished my last leg at the Chevron, where I happily gulped down a Diet Dr. Pepper. Water was so overrated at this point. I WAS DONE! I was very happy.
We ended our legs at a community center where we were able to swim and take showers. Again, very lucky. I heard not every relay gets this opportunity. After getting all cleaned up and cute (I didn't know I was supposed to bring curling irons and make-up like the others), we went for some food. Chili's treated us to a Chocolate Molten Cake for our achievement. YUM! Who's eating healthy after burning 1700 calories?
Afterward, we headed to the mouth of Zions to meet up with our team as they finished their final leg. We were able to see Adriane, our captain, run her last leg. At this point, it was somewhere in the mid 90's. HOT! It was another amazing experience to see her running, to cheer our captain on. At the end, we all ran with her, across the finish line.
I don't know if other teams were like ours. My team was awesome, my van was amazing. There was such a sense of teamwork, support, and love for everyone. I know I was spoiled being able to run with such great people. Everyone got along. That is saying something since we spent 31 hours with each other, crammed in one car.
When we started the relay, I kept wondering why I was doing this. Like every other race I do, I did it for the experience and...
IT was an AMAZING experience. I ran with some inspiring women who made the whole thing well worth it. I didn't quite understand the concept of having a team and supporting each other. I loved having people cheering me on every 1/2 mile or so. I loved jumping out of the car, cheering them on, and handing out water. I LOVED it. I would say that running a relay is harder than a half marathon. It takes a lot mentally to get back out there and run. The recovery was killer! Would I do it again? Heck yeah.
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