“This was dumb!”

Remember when I said there might be a weekend post? 😉

The first race of 2014 is done. Karyn and I ran the Morrow Mountain 15K. Well, sort of. 3 mountain peaks: Sugarloaf, Hattaway, and Morrow Mountains. Many stops were made up the first mountain, and I rolled my ankle on the way down. 2 miles in, and I considered stopping. By halfway, I was sure I had broken a toe. But we powerwalked it out until I couldn’t do much more than just keep moving. Karyn wouldn’t leave me (even at the end when I told her to – lol), and so she heard me drop the f-bomb and repeatedly complain about needing to poop. #everybodypoops

Did I mention it was cold? Karyn wore 4 layers, and I just wore 3. I should have worn another layer, and I sure should have worn thicker gloves. I had the temp blocked, but Karyn said it was 14F when we started.

Did I mention this was a trail race? At the top of the first peak, I stopped for a minute, looked at Karyn and said “This was dumb!” She said that sounded exactly like Jamie. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. lol

Even had a downed tree across the 2nd loop.

I just kind of rolled over it. But the scenery was beautiful even if we did lose our sunshine, and I was afraid of tumbling down the mountains to my death. Or at least intense pain.

At the top of the last peak, Karyn told the guys at the aid station that I had rolled my ankle. They asked if I needed a ride down. During the last mile, I regretted turning down that ride. Anyway, we were still well ahead of the sweeper, and had just under 3 miles left of which they said was 90% downhill. That last mile was the longest ever. Karyn said it was at least 12 miles long. And it was about that time that another racer came up out of nowhere catching up with us. Kept trying to telepathically tell Karyn not to stop for me and not to let that woman beat us. When we finally got within sight of the finish line, I told Karyn out loud not to stop or slow down for me and to go finish. But she didn’t, and so we were the last 2 because I didn’t have anything left to push across the finish line before that other chick. And Karyn refused to leave me even that close. That’s a true friend because I know how competitive she is. 🙂

Yeah, I was dead last, but we were both 3rd in our age groups. Of course I would have been 2nd if it hadn’t been for that chick that beat us at the end. 😉

And what we never did last year, we did for this one. An after photo.

It took almost 3 and half hours. 3:27 and some change. When we got back to the car (and I am pretty sure they moved the parking lot about a mile away from where it was when we got there) and took our gloves off, our hands were all swollen and blue. I almost freaked out over that. Thank goodness I was too tired to freak out. lol. My right shin and calf started cramping in Troy, and I almost pulled over and had Karyn drive us back.

We both agree that was the hardest race ever! But, oh, man, it was fun! And I am so glad we got to run together again! I missed my running partner!

4 Responses to '“This was dumb!”'

  1. OMG that sounds crazy! Nice job finishing it out but be careful with that kinda stuff!

    • DragonLady says:

      There was a pretty exhaustive waiver for this one including possibility of wildlife interaction. Specifically bears. We only saw a couple of deer and no bears. There was one stretch coming down that last mountain that I had to look only at the narrow trail to keep from panic attacking over the height and losing my balance due to disorientation because of the height.

  2. Wow. You are certainly no quitter! I hope your ankle is okay! And your running partner was a great sport and very supportive. I’m happy to know that you had a good person with you. You both look great in the after photo! 🙂