Mt. Tamalpais, CA
The crowd of anxious runners surround me, ready to start. I adjust my awkwardly big Garmin Forerunner 305 on my tiny wrist and inhale a forced deep breath. This fancy watch is used for training purposes and has all sorts of gadgets like the ability to tell my distance, pace, heart rate, elevation changes and more. Right now, I feel like it is staring up at me yelling, “um excuse me, could you stop panicking? Your heart rate is through the roof and we haven’t even started the race yet!”
Justin calmly looks over at me (how is he always so stinking calm?!) and tells me we are more than ready for this race. Since the turn of the year, our Garmins have been collecting data on our running adventures and we have clocked in over 360 miles of running for the year, with some challenging climbs added in. We were ready, no doubt about it. But for someone who is about to run in her first race ever, a 26.2 mile trail run through the old growth Redwoods of Muir Woods, it is hard to hear any logic.
Dave, a large man easily spotted in his cowboy hat, announced in a deep voice with a little twang the details about our course so everyone was (sort of) on the same page.
“Seems our friends in D.C. are having a little trouble this week – so we had to change the course at the last minute (since the original course runs through Golden Gate National Scenic area).” Yes, the federal budget not passing even affected a marathon race 3,000 miles away. Le sigh.
“You can do this… stop freaking out or you’ll redline,” I not so calmly told myself.
What felt like an hour later I heard, “On your mark, get set, Run!”
And just like that, hundreds of feet started racing up the steps of the amphitheater around me (who starts a race at the bottom of an amphitheater by the way?!). I darted up to our first and only 2 miles of road running and felt me heart begin to settle into a nice pace as all I heard was the rhythm of my breathe and the patter of the occasional runner around me. The course rolled along a ridge over looking the vast Pacific Ocean. It was a perfect day to run, with a gentle cool breeze and the sun shining brightly overhead.
I chatted with quite a few people during the 3 and half hours of running down down down and then back up up up the side of Mt. Tamalpais (for those who did the full marathon, we did the up/down loop twice). On the way up the hill, I found myself passing quite a few runners walking up the steep slopes. I giggled as I imagined myself an odd superhero character – “Pacific Crest Trail buns o’ steel activate!” I guess hiking 2,700 miles up and down mountains gives you a little edge on trail racing.
As I climbed up the last mile of the trail, I felt like each step I took was slower and shorter than the last. I turned a corner, seeing the ocean for the first time again since mile 5. In the distance I heard “BUCKEYE!!!” Justin was skipping over to me along the trail, shocked to see me so soon coming up the hillside. My 48th energy reserve, which I was unaware I had, shifted into gear and I found myself running as fast as I could, past another young female racer within 1/10 of a mile from the finish line. By doing so, I had done something I had no intention of attempting, nor did I think possible.
I had finished first in my age group, third for women overall. I immediately fell over and started to cry. Endorphins are a beautiful thing. Justin finished 7th overall and second in his age group. Yea… he’s the humblest rockstar I know.
Our dear friend Bo, who wore the best race t-shirt ever, joined in the fun running in the 7 mile course as well as my mother, Deb, who cheered all of us on while simultaneously knitting the most complex, gorgeous scarf known to man. My mother initially was not going to be able to stay until the end of the race. I was not expecting to see her cheering me on at the finish line, which helped fuel the flood of tears at the end as I was so excited to see her (please excuse the “I just finished a marathon and I am so happy to see you/I can’t stop crying face”).
Bo says he never understood Justin’s interest in racing before, but from this experience, he is officially hooked. “There is just something about running with a herd of folks toward a finish line that excites me and keeps me going!!”
Bo is now training for his first triathlon! We love it when people become hooked on playing and training in the outdoors!
For more details about our race and many others with Envirosports – check out their terrific website: http://www.envirosports.com/
Happy Trails!
Buckeye
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