Running the RED ROCK

Red Rock Relay

It was my 2^nd annual Red Rock Relay with the Herriman Hotties.  I have to admit that it is a love/hate relationship with this kind of race. Going into it I was hesitant about elevation runs and hard, hot runs all while I’m supposed to stay injury free for my marathon. 

Thursday- We meet at our Captain’s house to pack up the car where I meet four new members of our team. You get a bunch of girls with a common interest together and it doesn’t take long to make friends.  We check in at Southern Utah University, SUU, and get our “swag.”  Swag consisted of a-little-smaller-than-planned-but-very-cool-looking-t-shirt. We carb-loaded at Pizza Factory then headed up the canyon to Brian Head.  One of the teammates has a cabin up there. It’s a little piece of heaven up there. It was so nice to have a bed to sleep in before the adventure we were about to embark on. 

Friday: We head up to Brian Head Ski Resort at 5AM.  It’s early but surprisingly I was a little chipper.  I know! Blame the mountain air. 

Here’s a picture of our team. 

The Herriman Hotties were also the know as Buns on Fire. Our "buns" made it easy to spot our runners.  They were quite a hit.

 This year I’m in van 2, the "Sun" van, so as soon as our first runner starts, we get to go back to the cabin for more sleep. I only get about an hour or so of zzzz’s.

  You are my sunshine!

I just finished leg #1.

Leg #1 Lava Lovin’ -I’m the 2^nd runner in my van. I decide I like this because it gives me time to get ready but not enough time to fret over my upcoming run.  Asthma girl was really nervous about running 4.5 hard miles at 9,000 feet.  As I’m waiting for runner #1 to come in and hand off the slap bracelet to me, it starts to sprinkle.  It’s a little cold too, so I’m doing the whole “Should I wear a jacket or not?” thing.  My loyal girls grab my jacket out of the cargo trunk, I put it on for one minute, and decide not to wear it.  Thanks girls!  I do decide to take my inhaler with me.  I’m very glad I did. I took the medicine about 15 minutes before I started and then took it about 10 minutes into my run.  Besides the feeling of not being able to get a full breath, it was a beautiful run.  I really do enjoy these first legs. They are completely in the canyon.  It just gorgeous all around with green trees, lava rocks, a lake, meadows, and a mountain stillness.  Of course, there was also thunder and

lightning with a constant drizzle on me too.  The thunder and lightning were not right over me. It was reported that a tree, hit by lightning, tumbled to the ground on my leg course, but I didn’t see it. The rain kept me nice and cool. It was not too much to be a burden.  Overall, I loved this run. 

Distance: 4.66 miles; Time: 52:48; Avg Pace: 11:20; Elevation Gain 536 ft.

Stretching after my first leg.

Van Exchange #1. Van 1 has finished and we are just starting. This is before I ran my first leg.

Now I get into warm clothes!  Here’s a great picture of me in my compression tights foam rolling my legs out.  I kind of felt stupid bringing my roller with me but I also didn’t want to be stiff and sore.  I felt a lot better when I’d see other people breaking out there foam rollers too. I will admit there was a time near the end I thought about trying it out on the corner to see if I could earn a few dollars. 

After Van 2 had run their first legs, Van 1 is running their second legs. It’s late so we head to New Castle, Utah to try to sleep.  This is where it starts to feel like a relay. It’s such an awesome feeling being with other runners who are crazy enough to run all night, hoping to get an hour of sleep, in the middle of nowhere Utah.  I just love it. 

Leg #2 Cap’n Kirk- This run starts just after midnight. This leg is the one I’m most excited about. It’s a flat short run with the cooler temps of nighttime.  I’m dressed with my reflective vest and headlamp so I can see in the darkness. Let me tell you, it was dark!  It was nice to have other runners around this year but I really should not have read a book about a girl being kidnapped and taken to the middle of nowhere because I found the middle of nowhere on that run.  I was okay. I think it just helped me run a little faster.  I was very excited when I thought I still had half a mile to go and saw the runner exchange. I was done with leg #2.

Distance: 2.81 miles; Time 26:19; Avg Pace: 9:23; Elevation Gain: 67 ft.

Saturday: Here’s what I look like around 2AM. Not bad for no sleep and 7 miles under my belt. 

Here’s a picture of the drunk driver that almost hit 4 runners. We were waiting for one of our girls to come in and this guy skidded right next to the other people. A little scary. There happened to be a St. George cop on hand. Very fortunate for all of us. 

This is right before I got to see the starting line of the St. George Marathon. I was very excited about this. I was not as excited to see that the first few miles are not completely downhill. There are definitely some uphills. That gave me a good reality check. I would have been sorely disappointed to see those rollers. It also helped remind me to start slow. 

By this time, I can say I was very sleep deprived and not really with it. We drove to Washington City to sleep at the rec. center.  Oh joy that fills my heart when I walked into the dark and quiet gym full of other very tired runners. I was out very fast which is saying a lot since I have hard time sleeping if there’s things going on around me.  I got a good 3 hours of sleep before we began our last leg. I woke up a little disoriented. I saw that my teammates were already up and dressed. I freaked out a little. That was my fear, that I wouldn’t be ready for my run or something.  They calmed me down and I hastily got ready.  This is about the time that I’m telling myself I’m never doing one of these things again. Why do we do such stupid things, all in the name of running? 

Leg #3 Run Tiger Run- I had to run 2 miles downhill then 4 miles uphill. This year it was only 80 degrees instead of 105 like last year. There was a breeze making it cooler but also giving me a headwind up the hills.

Look at the beautiful scenery.

Running my last hill.

This was another gorgeous run. Southern Utah is full of color and it’s just visually inspiring.  Ironically, I was now saying that I love this relay stuff. That’s where the love/hate relationship comes in.  The hate lasts about an hour. The love lasts the other 32 hours. It was an overall great run.  There is a peace I find when I’m running and I found it out there.  I also realized that I’m ready for this marathon. Bring it on!  I know so much of it is mental. This relay business takes a lot of mental strength and I think I pulled through.  I didn’t push myself too hard but hard enough to feel good.  There were 2 killer hills. I ran the first yelling at it a few times. The second one I was doing okay until I saw a guy walking. As soon as I saw that “fit runner” walk, I was done, I walked it. Then I realized I’m better and stronger than this hill so I ran it.  Slow but still a run.  I was so happy to see my support van and girls signaling I was done because there was one more hill up ahead.

I'm done!

Distance: 6.7 miles; Time: 1:13:33; Avg Pace: 10:60; Elevation Gain: 476 ft.

YAY ME!!! I was done.  Now it’s time to relax and enjoy cheering on the other girls.  We all meet up in Zion’s to run our team through the finish line.

Our team at the finish line.

It really was a fun weekend. It’s so fun to spend 2 days in a car with 5 other people. You get to know some really amazing women. I have so much respect for these ladies, their strength, and their running ability. They are all an inspiration to me.  I don’t know which I enjoy more, the actual run or the crazy fun you have in between.

The ultimate best part, besides the really big fountain drink after my last leg, was spending one last night at the cabin. After we finished, about half of us, drove back up the canyon to relax one last night before driving home. I was looking forward to this all weekend and am so glad we were able to do it.  Thank you to great friends and their hospitality.  It was so nice to wake up the next morning, sit out on the porch smelling the pine trees, and enjoy one another’s company. And of course, eat junk food!

Buying treats at Lin's before heading up to the cabin. I would not let go of those cookies.

It was an amazingly long and fun weekend. Can’t wait to do it again next year!