On June 28th, I flew into a teeny tiny airport in Ogden, UT. I tried to sleep on the plane, but being in the middle seat SUCKS! Does ANYONE like the middle seat? Maybe if you are flying with two other people who don't mind drool on their shoulder because they are close friends or family or if you're a polygamist with a wife on either side, but otherwise I can't think of any reason to like the middle seat!
Anywho, after a small car rental issue (because no matter how small Ogden seems to me, it is large enough to have TWO Ogden Enterprise locations...oops) and some super awesome pizza at Tony's, I managed to squeeze in a two hour nap at the hotel in Park City. Notice I'm naming all of the towns? That is because I was all over...and feel that is necessary to stress this for the dramatic effect of the story.
I got changed into my race gear and headed for Provo where I would be doing the Provo Glow Stick Run at 10:00 pm. Yes, PM, as in with my ankle issues I was expecting to finish around 1 AM. And then..run a Spartan Beast (12+ miles and 25+ obstacles...and an unimaginable amount of hills) in the morning. Packet pick up was easy, mainly because it was a very small venue. We got a local to tell us where a good coffee shop was since we had some time to kill between packet pickup and the race. I had a really fantastic (but bad pre-race) honeydew frappe. YUM. It just so happened to be next to a running shop too...how convenient.
Eventually, we are back at the race start snapping glow sticks and getting ready to run. I wished it would have started at 9:30 or 9:00 instead of 10:00 mainly because I knew I was going to finish late, but because as you got deeper into the course, it was INSANELY dark. So dark, my headlamp wasn't providing much in the way of light. I could see maybe 10 feet in front of me and was semi-blinded by the amount of stuff floating in the air. It was like running through a haze. Needless to say, I've bought a new, bad ass headlight (with a red light on the back) since this. I figure it will come in handy for the ET 10k. It was a bit painful. My posterior tibial tendon insufficiency (or pain in the ass ankle issue as I call it) kicked in around mile 5 and my ischial bursitis kicked in right with it. By mile 10 I had the start of a blister (so much for blister proof socks). I gimped my way to the finish in 2:52 minutes. The cool thing was I came in 12th in my age group. It just sounds awesome. Really awesome, until I say there were only about 115 runners. Oh well.
Then there was the hour drive back to the hotel in Park City. Bleh. The other person who was meeting us there for the Spartan was already asleep. LUCKY. I was out cold by 2:30 am or so and back up at 6:00 even though alarms started at 5. More bleh.
Off to Spartan. I was sore. My ankle and butt hurt. I was exhausted. I needed more sleep and it was about to get hot. I did more burpees than I care to admit, but I just didn't have the mental focus to pull it off. Plus, after having the plague, I was still coughing...STILL! I was drained. I just wanted to finish and get my Trifecta. I did...in about 5:19.
The following day, we hit the Olympic Park in Park City. I opted for a cheaper pass since I was still exhausted. I could have ziplined all day and been happy. I also passed on the bobsled track again. First it is expensive. Second I felt I really only needed to do that once in my life. The other people I was with did more rides and courses. I did the lower "hard course" (I can't keep all the names straight), but quickly decided I didn't want to work that hard after a Spartan. The zipline was relaxing, until you walk off a platform for a 65' fall. Bit creepy and I mildly panicked for about 1.5 seconds until the spindle at the top grabs to slow you down.
All in all I would say it was a good trip even if it was painful. On the way back our flight was delayed about 3 hours so I was even able to knock out some homework. It also got me thinking about other races a few days later.... Hmmm Death Race anyone? Maybe after I know more about my ankle. At the moment, I'm totally envious of my friend who just signed up. I know I'd whine and cry the whole time, but at the same time, I'd also be thrilled to give it a shot. Now, if I could just get another job to pay for it all....
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