Red Mountain Dirty Hurty 30K

Well the day finally came for the Red Mountain Dirty Hurty 30K.  This is the trail run I had been training for all winter.  While I did not have a lot of trail running practice, I did work on building my miles up for this.  Emily and Colby had music testing with AIM this weekend so Russell stayed home with them while I took Logan down with me.  Charlotte was going to go with me but she woke up sick on the morning I was leaving.  So she got to stay home with the dad and the other kids.  

On Friday morning, Logan and I headed to St. George.  We stopped in Ogden on the way and picked up my friend, Heidi, and she rode down with us.  She was also running the race with me.  It was fun driving down with her and getting caught up on the things happening in her life.  We were also running the race with our other friend, Trista.  We were all friends with each other as kids and through high school but after high school we all just went our separate ways.  We've gotten together a few times since then and it is nice to know that we are still friends despite the years without seeing each other.  

  Doing races with these two has become a fun tradition.  First, Trista and I did the St. George Marathon.  Then, we all ran the Snow Canyon Half Marathon.  Now Trista said it was her turn to choose a race and she chose this 30K trail run.  Both Heidi and I were a little nervous about this race because it was something we had never done before.  We took the plunge though and signed up for the race with Trista.

On the morning of the race, Trista picked us both up and we headed to the finish line of the race.  From there, we rode the bus to the starting line in Santa Clara.  

It was a little chilly in the morning but we knew it would warm up quickly.  I am used to running in less than 30 degree weather so I was worried that I would not be ready for the heat of St. George.  It turned out to be okay though.  

Finally it was time to start the race.  As we took off, Trista warned us not to start too fast because we had a long way to go and a lot of hills to go up.  She was right so we paced ourselves.  The best part of the race was watching the sunrise as we were running through the trails.  It was so beautiful!

The whole race took place on the mountain bike trails in the Red Mountain reserve between Santa Clara and Ivins.  The trails were really tight and narrow with a ton of rocks.  Everyone had to run single file along the trails.  It was pretty cool to look out over the course and see runners snaking their way up the switchbacks of the hills.

Unfortunately after the first mile or so, Trista and I got ahead of Heidi and didn't see her again until the finish line.  Trista and I were able to stick together for the whole race so it was fun chatting with her and running with her.

We had to stop for a few quick pictures of the awesome sunrise and scenery along the trail.  The run was actually quite fun and much more laid back than the other races I have done.  Trail runners are much more friendly than road racers.  We talked to quite a few people along the trail.  Since we had to run single file, we all paced each other and encouraged each other.

While we were running, the race photographers took these awesome pictures of us.

We wanted to be cool and do a jumping picture but it didn't really turn out as awesome as we expected.  Well, Trista looked fine but I just look like I an going to fall down.  As it turned out, I did fall down right after this picture.  I totally tripped on a rock and just went down right on my knee.  I was so embarrassed... My knee stung a bit so I had to walk it off.  After walking a few steps, it felt better so we took off running again.  

There were rock everywhere that were tripping us up but I was doing so good so far.  I had hurdled sage brush bushes, outrun a trip, and twisted my ankle a bunch of times but I had not fallen yet.  I thought I was doing so good but nope I went down.  After this fall, I tried to be even more careful.  As we started the final loop, however, I hit another rock and went down even harder this time.  I was okay, nothing was hurt except a bunch of road rash on my hands and a bruised knee.  Trista and I pushed on though and kept running.  

The last 4 miles or so of the race were the hardest and we walked a lot.  These miles were all up hill along slick rocks and sandstone.  The rocks felt like stairs or stadiums.   Our legs were pretty dead by this point.  I was afraid I would trip again because I couldn't lift my legs high enough to get over the rocks.  We were not the only ones walking though so we didn't feel too bad.  Finally, the last 2 miles the trail turned downward leading to Ivins.  We finally were able to run without fear of tripping so we took off.  Trista must have had a left over energy reserve because she took off and I couldn't catch her this time.  As we approached the Unity Park in Ivins, I could finally see the finish line.  Then I saw Logan and my parents.    

I told Logan to run to the finish with me because I was tired and needed his help.  We ran to the finish line together.  It was really fun for both of us.

I had made it!  I had finished my first Ultra Trail Run!

I was glad to be done and excited that I all my hard work during the winter had paid off.  The crazy thing about this race was that the mileage was off by a lot.  Rather than being a 30K (or 18 miles), the race ended up being 20.5 miles!  I was able to finish in 3:43 which is about an 10:52 min/mile.  Our goal was a 10:30 minute mile so we were pretty close.  

No trail run would be complete with out an injury.  Here is mine.  I had minor road rash on my shoulder, arm, and hands. The worst was my knee.  It was pretty banged up, bruised, and swollen. My pants were also ripped at the knee...

We were all glad to be finished and were so happy with our efforts.  We were worried about Heidi because we didn't see her come in for a while.  But when she came in, she was happy.  She said she loved running the trails and seeing the scenery as well.  

The best part of this race was the post race food!  They had everything we could ever want.  We ate bean and cheese quesadillas, protein shakes, M&Ms, pickles, chips, Hi-Chews, and much more.  It was awesome!!  We basically ate lunch there!

Here we are looking awesome and showing off our medals!! Way to go, Ladies!

After the race, we decided to hang out for a while.  Trista drove us around showing us some fun hiking trails. Then we stopped at Frost Top for some ice cream and Piccadilly chips.  We had a great time together.  

The next day my legs were pretty sore!  When I picked up Heidi to head home, she was walking pretty stiff as well.  We were both sore but glad we pushed ourselves to do something hard.