Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (30th Birthday Run!)

When I realized my 30th Birthday landed on a Saturday, I knew I had to do something big for it. I toyed around with the idea of a few races (back to back marathons, or some sort of epic ultra marathon), but nothing was really sounding perfect. I would have loved to do some epic mountain run, but May is really too early to get up high into the mountains... which is when the idea of running the Grand Canyon first struck me. Spring and Fall are the ideal times to run the Grand Canyon, and running Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim is a bucket list item for many ultra runners... it sounded like the perfect idea! Now I just needed to find some crazy people to join me... I posted in my usual facebook groups and was excited to find two friends, Karla and Laura, who were ready to take on this epic challenge! My friend Taryn wanted to come along as well, but not to run, just to see the park and do some shorter hiking, and, as an added bonus, she agreed to drive us around (I did offer to help...).

We made the 7 1/2 hour drive to Tusayan on Friday, leaving around 9am and getting to the park in the early afternoon. After stopping off at a couple of overlooks, we stopped by the Visitor's Center to talk with the Park Ranger's and make sure water was on in all areas (which it was, except for Roaring Springs - which was a detour off trail anyways). The Park Ranger had to give us their warning that attempting to do this in one day is dangerous, not recommended, and could lead to death (the best thing to hear, right?!). After that, we headed to our hotel to check in and then went and got dinner before heading back to the hotel and making sure we had everything packed before attempting to get some sleep prior to our 2:30am wake-up call.

Road Trip!

We made it!

All packed and ready for the next day!

We're running down to the bottom and then up to the other side of that...and then coming BACK?!?

After what was seriously, the worst, night of sleep in my entire life, we were up and ready to go. Taryn drove us into the park and dropped us off at the South Kaibab Trail Head around 3:20am. After a quick bathroom and selfie stop, we started our 16 hour day...

PART 1 - South Kaibab Trail Descent
The South Rim (7200') down to the Phantom Ranch (2500') - 7.2 Miles

Since we started just before 3:30am, it was obviously still pitch black out, and therefore our first several miles were pretty slow going despite being downhill. In the long run (no pun intended), this was actually probably for the best - we were going to be out for a long day, and it was probably better to start off slow and easy anyways! Around 1.5 miles, we got to "Cedar Ridge" an wide overlook area with restrooms. As we were trying to find where the trail went from here, we ran into another runner named Jorge who had started just before us. He decided to run with us for the next couple of miles down (and who we would run on and off with the rest of the day!). Around mile 4 or so, as the sun was just coming up over the horizon, we decided to pick the pace up a little and mix a little running into our power hiking that we had been doing. Finally around 5 or 6 miles in, it was finally light enough to take our headlamps off and run the majority of the way down to the river. This part was truly phenomenal and probably my favorite section of the entire day - we were still on fresh legs, and running was easy and smooth, and the views as the sun came up were just incredible. I think I took about 100 pictures during these last couple miles down to the river!

About to start our day!

Ooh, Aah... I can only imagine the views from here during the daylight!

Light on the horizon!

Laura took this picture of me!

Around mile 7 we made it to the river and crossed our first bridge of the day over the magnificent Colorado River! It's crazy to think that the river I run next to all year in Grand Junction is the exact same river that carved this canyon! After crossing the river, it was just a short trek to Phantom Ranch - the main "camp" within the Grand Canyon (there are other campgrounds, but this is the biggest and the only one with a canteen!). We stopped for a bathroom break and filled up our packs at Phantom Ranch before starting the next section - the first ascent of the day up to the North Rim.

PART 2 - North Kaibab Trail Ascent
Phantom Ranch (2500') up to the North Rim (8241') - 13.7 Miles
  We were in and out of Phantom Ranch pretty quickly as we started to head north on the North Kaibab Trail. The map makes this section look fairly straight, but it was actually pretty curvy as we weaved through canyons and over bridges following the Bight Angel Creek upwards. The next 5-7 miles were mostly runnable, with a gradual elevation gain on the way out. It was still very early in the morning at this point, and we were able to make some pretty good time up the trail since it was still fairly cool. It was interesting to watch the sun make it's way down the canyon walls though as it rose higher and higher throughout the morning. After 5.7 miles we passed the turn off for Ribbon Falls - a detour that would add a little under a mile to our journey - I had kind of wanted to go but I also knew it was going to be a long day, so we decided to wait until the way back to decide if we would add the extra mileage. Another mile and a half after that we passed through Cottonwood Campgound. I could tell we were starting to climb a little more than before so I decided to get out my trekking poles here. One more mile + later and we were at Manzanita, our last major stop before the North Rim. It was starting to get hot by this point so we made sure to really fill our packs, put on sunscreen and eat before we hit the trail for what would be the longest and hardest climb of the day (in my opinion).

Giant Yucca!

Showing how giant the Yucca is compared to Laura!

The sun was getting closer and closer...

More giant Yucca!

And then came the sun!

Right after Manzanita, the climbing really began! I was glad I had my trekking poles as we started ascending a lot. The first few miles were fine, but after that, it got really hot, really fast, and I went from feeling great to wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into. This was going to be a LONG day. We had been running back and forth with Jorge, and as we got further into the climb, Laura and Jorge took off while Karla and I lagged behind a bit going at a much slower pace then them. I wanted to try and keep up at first, but I knew it wasn't smart - we had a long way to go still and pushing too hard on this uphill was not a great idea. Nevertheless, we kept at it, going our own pace, and still making decent time. By this point we were passing a ton of people who were coming down from the North Rim while we were going up it.

These next few miles up were pretty but uneventful as we just kept making our way up and up and up. The sun was seriously beating down on us by this point which was making me more and more tired and thus more and more nervous as to how we were going to turn around and come back! That being said, I'd like to say I have a decent amount of experience now to know that a lot of times you can feel this way, and most of the time you still end up getting it done! So I just kept hoping that once we made it to the top, I'd be able to recover a bit and get a second wind on the downhill... that still didn't make it less challenging though as I continued feeling exhausted going up. Karla and I saw a snake cross the trail at one point, but I was very happy to see it was NOT a rattler (I read some race reports of people seeing Rattlers which left me terrified of that happening!). About 2 miles to the top we came to the Supai Tunnel water stop where we topped off our water before continuing up.

Us with Jorge on the climb!

I got us all Carpe Diem tattoos!

Another mile later we came to the Coconino Overlook where a lot of North Rim day hikers were leisurely enjoying the views. We continued on and on. Karla had the elevation gain showing on her watch and I think I asked her every 5 minutes what our elevation was to know how much further we had to go. As we got higher and higher, we did start to have more tree coverage which was nice. FINALLY, after was felt like forever, we saw the road, and cars, and we were THERE! We had made it to the North Rim - 8,241' (climbing up from 2500' at Phantom Ranch)!

We made it!

PART 3 - North Kaibab Trail Descent
North Rim (8241') back down to Phantom Ranch (2500') - 13.7 Miles

We stayed at the North Rim for about 10 minutes, recovering and enjoying the most delicious cold water ever! Our arrival time to the North Rim was just over 7 hours - getting there at 10:40am. Our only goal from here on out was to get back to Phantom Ranch before the canteen closed at 4:00 for some Lemonade (everyone talks about how you have to get lemonade from Phantom Ranch!). Since it was mostly downhill, I felt pretty confident we could make it in time, however, it was still getting hotter and hotter, and we would only be getting more tired as the day went on, so I knew we still had to keep our pace up! As we started the descent down, Laura took off again, but Karla and I stayed together running as much as we could on the downhills. As I had expected, the rest break at the top combined with now downhill running made a huge difference and I felt a lot better for the first couple miles down North Kaibab. That being said, the heat was also really starting to get to me, and even though we were headed downhill, the miles still felt like they were taking forever. 

This gal had a vintage Skirt Sports skirt on, so I had to get a picture!

Finally, after what felt like forever, we made it back to Manzanita again. It was nice and shady, so we stopped here for a few minutes to use the restroom, fill up our packs, and I tried to eat a little. I was actually having trouble eating due to the heat. I usually like salty foods, but all of the salty food I brought was so hard to chew because my mouth was so dry. The only thing working for me were Clif Shot Blocks, my Tailwind (although I was SO sick of it by this point), and my candy bars (despite being very melted!). I tried to eat as best as I could and we continued on.

Any water I saw, even if it was just a tiny bit like this, I was stopping to soak my hat - it was SO hot!

In another mile and a half we were back to the Cottonwood Campground. This would be our last water stop until Phantom Ranch, which was about 7 miles away. That might not sound like much, but when it's 100 degrees out and you're about 30 miles in, 7 miles can take a LONG time. Meanwhile, the thermometer at the campground showed OVER 100 degrees in the shade... yikes (I so wish I had gotten a picture of it, but I didn't think about it until after!). We topped our water off again, I soaked my hat, and we continued on.  

From Cottonwood to Phantom Ranch was really, really hard. It was runnable, and honestly, we ran more than I thought we would given the heat...but this was such a long, HOT section. I was seriously dying in this heat. I have done short runs in 90 degree heat, but nothing like this. It was a struggle. Not to mention the fact that this is the main section of the course where GPS gets really messed up because you're on the bottom of the canyon floor, so we had no idea how much longer it would be until we got to Phantom. It was definitely one of those "just put your head down and keep moving" sections. I was hot, miserable, and wondering why in the world I decided this was a good way to spend my birthday....

We did run back by the turnoff for Ribbon Falls during this trek. Karla and I were too tried and worried about making it back to Phantom Ranch by 4pm, so we decided not too go, but told Laura she should go check it out if she wanted. She did and I saw the pictures and it does look pretty awesome... maybe next time (and by "next time" I mean maybe if I'm not doing R2R2R, but just R2R, or just down from the North Rim etc.).

Meanwhile, we continued on... about a half mile out we saw a sign... we were ALMOST there (to Phantom Ranch)! We picked it up and FINALLY made it. Getting to the Phantom Ranch Canteen was quite possibly the BEST feeling all day - it was nice and cool, and we all got Arnold Palmer's (Lemonade/Iced Tea mix - this was actually PERFECT because a Lemonade alone actually sounded way too sweet to me at this point). The best part about it was the ICE! I prepaid for a refill just so I could have a second cup of ice! I also bought a little "Phantom Ranch" pin because I needed something to commemorate this crazy adventure!

Quite possibly the best thing ever!

Saw this little guy as we were leaving Phantom Ranch!

PART 4 - Bright Angel Trail Ascent
Phantom Ranch (2500') back up to the South Rim (6840') - 9.5 Miles

After 15-20 minutes at Phantom Ranch we figured we better head out and start the ascent up Bright Angel Trail. I was honestly really worried about this. We had about 4500' of climbing to do to get out of the canyon over the course of 9 miles - however, I knew from looking at the profile that the majority of the climbing would take place in the last 4 miles. The first few miles started with going over the Silver Bridge (this bridge was actually pretty scary - it was  really long with just metal slats along the base that you could see through, and it felt like it moved the entire time you were on it!), then following the Colorado River for about a mile before turning south. I had read in some other blog posts that this mile along the river would be sandy, so I was actually pleasantly surprised that it wasn't nearly as sandy as I expected. There were definitely sandy sections, but the entire thing wasn't sandy. After that mile, we turned off and meandered into a canyon before starting the climb up towards Indian Garden campground.

So we came down South Kaibab, but would go up Bright Angel - Bright Angel is longer, but has water stops, so most people do this one on the way "out".

Saying goodbye to the Canyon floor!

Bright Angel Trail is the most popular trail that people hike down in the park, so as we made our way further and further up the trail, the more and more people we saw and the more and more people we passed. Laura had once again continued ahead of us (can you tell she's way faster than us!), so it was just Karla and I trucking along slow and steady. As we made our way into Indian Garden campground we stopped for a few minutes to rest and try to eat for a bit. From this point we had 4.5 miles to go. We had thankfully gotten some cloud cover in these later miles which was seriously a godsend. It had been SO incredibly hot on the floor of the canyon, I wasn't sure how we were going to do this climb out, but the cloud cover made a WORLD of difference and I was surprised to not feel completely miserable. Yes, I was tired, still hot, and ready to be done, but I wasn't miserable like I had felt going up North Kaibab!

Bright Angel Trail consists of SO many switchbacks - it's actually kind of cool to see what you come up so easily!

From Indian Garden on up, there were water stops about every 1.5 miles, which was actually very helpful. Unlike the last few miles into Phantom Ranch where we had no idea "how much longer", this gave us a nice way to break up the final climb into short sections. From Indian Garden, we headed up to the 3 Mile Resthouse where we filled up our packs and headed out again. After that point, our next and last major stop was the 1.5 Mile Resthouse. At this point, I was finally able to get some cell service so I texted Laura and Taryn from here letting them know where we were. We had 1.5 miles and about 1000' of elevation gain to go. We could totally do this. Meanwhile, we kept passing more and more people as we made our way up. It seemed funny because we felt like we were moving SO SLOW...but compared to all of the tourists who were just easy dayhiking, we were apparently going fast. We actually only ended up getting passed by 1 person the entire ascent up Bright Angel, by a guy who had come one-way from  the North Rim.

Over 90 degrees - this was 1000' UP from Phantom Ranch!

I had to get one "contemplating the meaning of life" picture!

After what felt like forever, we passed a guy who told us we had about 10 minutes to the top...this was amazing. We were going to finish BEFORE 8pm. When she dropped us off at 3:30am, I had told Taryn to tentatively expect us around 8pm, but as the day had gone on, I wasn't sure it would be possible to make it by then...but we did! We could finally see the top, and more and more people, and finally, we were at the last switchback! Thanks to Karla, we decided to run up the last tenth of mile (I totally would've walked it if it had been just me!) which was awesome and meant we had MADE IT! 16 hours and about 15 minutes after we started, with 11,000' of elevation gain and 11,000' of loss, over the course about 45 miles we had made it back to the South Rim!!! The sun was just starting to go down too - perfect timing! Karla and I had a fireball shot to celebrate finishing and then we headed back to the hotel.

Post-Adventure Thoughts:

Overall, this was an AMAZING experience, and definitely a bucket list item for anyone (whether you do an out-and-back like us, or even just a one-way). It was so beautiful and such a different experience than just seeing the Canyon from the top. Even though it was incredibly hard, looking back on it now, it wasn't "as" hard as I was expecting. I honestly had a LOT of anxiety in the weeks leading up to this. Reading other peoples race reports, and the National Park Service "warning" against going to the river and back in one way left me really nervous and scared for it, and because of that I actually had trouble sleeping in the few days leading up to the trip... That being said, it is a seriously hard endeavor that you need to be prepared for. The heat was BY FAR the hardest factor for me. I've done long ultra's, I've done races with a lot of climbing...but what I had not done before is run in this kind of heat for this amount of time. It was hard...and as I briefly mentioned, I struggled eating which was new for me. So if you're thinking about doing this, definitely be prepared and understand that it is hard, but if you're an ultra runner who has done 50 milers with a lot of climbing, you will be fine - just know it's going to be a long, hot, and tiring day!

Taryn took this picture from another overlook - showing a bunch of the Bright Angel Trail switchbacks!

WHAT WORKED

• Trekking Poles: I had debated in the weeks before whether to bring Trekking Poles, but I am so glad I did. They help me significantly on the uphills (they keep me from "hunching" over as I hike uphill), and in the later miles going up Bright Angel they really helped on some of the sections with "steps" to push off from. I would most definitely recommend poles when doing this!
• My Salomon Advanced Skin 12L Pack: Scott got me this new pack as an early birthday present and it was great for this trek. It holds so much stuff. I honestly know that I packed too much, but I'm the kind of person that would rather have more than enough than not enough so I was glad I had this pack that will hold a crap ton of stuff (I had a light rain jacket, bolero, gloves, buff, extra socks, tons of food (that I didn't eat nearly enough of), and some basic emergency supplies (space blanket, poncho, matches, extra contacts, whistle, bandaids), along with a full 1.5 Liter reservoir and a 20oz collapsible water bottle.
• Our hotel: we stayed at the Red Feather Lodge in Tusayan - just minutes from the entrance to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It wasn't anything fancy but they had 24/7 coffee in the lobby AND a Mexican restaurant in the parking lot that was open until 10:00pm - perfect for my post-run birthday meal and margarita!

WHAT DIDN'T WORK

• Fueling: I really struggled eating on this run. It wasn't the "keeping it down" that was an issue (which I've had one bad experience on), it was more actually wanting and feeling okay to eat. I think this had to have been the heat. My mouth felt so dry and gross the entire run, which I think was a combination of the heat and how incredibly dusty it was. What I did end up eating was 3 packages of Clif Shot Blocks (I would say these worked the best because they were so soft in the heat, they were really easy to eat), 3 packages of Tailwind, and some small candy bars. I also had quite a few electrolyte tablets which I think also helped a lot since I wasn't eating a ton.
• Cooling Bandana's: okay, these didn't not work... I just forgot them! I was so mad at myself, I swore I had packed them, but I apparently didn't. Since I didn't have these, I ended up just using my buff and hat and wetting both of those everytime we had access to water.
• My watches: no surprise here since they are both getting pretty old, but both of my Gamin Forerunner 220's did not last the entire trek. Thankfully Karla's watch did last, so she let me steal all of her Strava data!

STATS & DATA

• Mileage: I've read different reports on what the actual mileage is. According to the National Park maps, it should be about 43.9 miles. Karla's garmin clocked it at over 48 so if you do this be mentally prepared to think you're a lot further than you actually are! If you go up South Kaibab instead of Bright Angel, it will be shorter, but with no water, that would be extremely hard to do this time of year!
• Elevation Gain: I've also ready varying things on this, but I believe it's in the high 10,000's (so lets just round up to 11,000').
• Weather: The temperature was in the high 30's when we started at 3:30am, and got up to over 100 on the canyon floor in the heat of the day. Be prepared to be HOT on this run unless you do it in the late fall or early spring (but then you have other things to deal with - such as less water stops and less daylight!).
• Pace: We finished in 16 hours and 18 minutes, which at a 43.9 miles is about a 22 minute pace. Not fast by any means, but given the amount of elevation gain and stops, I'm pretty happy with this!

The route!

Elevation Profile

Overall, this was an incredible experience and definitely a unique way to spend my 30th Birthday! I'm really glad I did it and it left me extremely thankful for friends who want to do crazy things, my husband who is supportive and doesn't mind me running off to do crazy adventures, and for a healthy, working body that can endure some pretty hardcore stuff to see some pretty amazing things in this beautiful world! I know a lot of people make a big deal out of turning 30... I mean I'm a "real" adult now...but I'm honestly pretty grateful to be where I am and ready to bring on the next 30 years!

Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon (my first BQ!)

View from the race start.

In late 2014 I set a goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I was still a fairly newbie marathoner at the time - less than a year out from my first marathon... but the marathon bug had spiraled quickly for me, running 8 more marathons that year and having fun along the way. The Boston Qualifying time for Women ages 18-35 is 3 hours and 35 minutes. My first marathon had been 4:26:45, but I had progressed up to a 4:03:10 within just a few months, so I felt that with consistent training I could get there.

Long story short, it ended up being a lot harder to get there than I thought. Right after I set the goal, I trained extremely hard for my first couple of attempts in 2015. I ran an amazing first race of the year in 3:41:35 and figured that meant I could get my time down to sub-3:35 in no time... boy was I mistaken. In my target race later that year, I ended up on the side of the road puking at Mile 21 and finishing in 3:59:10... In 2016 I trained okay (not as strong as the year before, but I had put in the miles) and thought surely I could at least PR... another bad race. 2017 was a pretty good training cycle but I still ended up missing a PR by 40 seconds...

Nevertheless it remained a goal I would continue to work towards, while also pursuing other running goals and races along the way (like my first 100 miler). Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon is put on by the same company that does Revel Rockies, a race I had now ran twice and mostly enjoyed. They specialize in scenic, downhill races, which can be fast and fun and which I actually do pretty well at. Mt. Charleston, just outside of Las Vegas, is considered one of their faster courses and at only a 7 hour drive from home I thought it would be fun to try, and a make for a nice mini vacation. It had sold out in past years so I registered early, last June, and put it on the back burner until late December when my training plan would start.

While I knew this was a fast course, I also knew that I still needed to put in the work. A downhill course might help you out, but it's definitely not going to get you all the way there unless you put in the training to be able to sustain the effort. Therefore, I decided to use Hal Higdon's Advanced training plan, modifying it just slightly to meet my needs. I wrote out my plan, focusing on my hardest workouts being Friday (marathon paced runs getting up to 12 miles) and Saturday (long runs getting up to 22 miles). I knew my biggest advantages would be to get comfortable running 8:00 minute miles again and to train my quads to be able to endure the downhill, so my plan was to do my Marathon Paced runs on flat ground (in a hope that when I ran them on the downhill on race day they would feel much easier), and then to do my easy paced long runs on a downhill route to get my quads ready. Aside from one week off that I took to go to Paris in January, I did a pretty good job consistently following my plan and could definitely tell I was making serious progress.

Nevertheless my past marathon failings still left me pretty nervous throughout my taper and going into race weekend. I did my best to stay off social media as much as I could (it just makes me more nervous when people tell me "oh you'll for sure do it!" - because there are no guarantees in a race!), and ended up instead spending my time reading. In the three taper weeks leading up to the race, I read several books including "Boston Bound" by Elizbeth Clor (the story of someone who spent 7 years trying to qualify) and "Let Your Mind Run" by legendary Deena Kastor. She touches on how much your attitude can effect your running and I couldn't put it down. I also turned to my bible, really drawing to a specific verse as my mantra for this race - "Have I not commanded You? Be Strong and Courageous" (Joshua 1:9). Even though I've heard this verse many times, something about it struck a cord with me this time around and I definitely pulled from it in the later miles of this marathon.

We headed to the race on Friday morning, leaving around 8:30am and rolling into Las Vegas around 3:30pm - just in time to sit in about an hour of traffic! Nevertheless, we eventually made it to the race expo where I picked up my race packet, pre-paid for Medal Engraving (hoping that would keep me motivated to keep my pace up when the going got tough), and then headed to an early dinner for some carb loading at Olive Garden. After that, we headed to our hotel (New York New York on the Strip) to attempt to get some sleep before my 2:00am alarm went off (yep, you read that right...2 AM!).

Driving through the San Rafael Swell in Utah along the way.

My #FlatRunner all ready for race morning!

I got an extremely restless night of sleep before getting up a few minutes after 2:00, quickly got ready, and left the hotel around 2:45, stopping at the Starbucks in the Casino for my $4.50 tall black coffee. We had around a 30 minute drive to the race start and got there right at 3:30am when the buses started loading (they loaded from 3:30 to 4:30 but since I wasn't familiar with the area I wanted to give us plenty of time to get there). After sitting in the car for a few minutes, I hopped on the second or third bus and started nervously eating my bagel and drinking my coffee as we made the 45 minute bus ride to the race start at the Mt. Charleston Lodge. One of the best things about this race was that the lodge actually allowed us to wait inside and out of the cold before the start which was extremely nice of them. They also had coffee, hot chocolate and banana's for sale which was amazing! I actually had wanted to buy a banana for my pre-race snack but forgot, so I of course bought one and made sure to tip generously since they were putting up with all of us runners at 4:30 in the morning! After nervously chatting with some people and cycling through the bathroom multiple times, it was finally time to head outside and make my way towards the start line

I love these tattoos by "Conscious Ink"

Beautiful sunrise as we waited for the start!

Making our way to the start line.

The start line was fairly narrow and the pacers were lined up a little odd - with the 3:35 pacer next to the 3:15 pacer. I figured, I might as well play it safe and push myself pretty far up so I could hopefully run freely from the get-go. I was planning on Mile 1 being one of my slowest due to a short uphill section, but I still didn't want to also have to expend extra energy weaving around people as well. A few minutes after 6:00, the gun went off and I crossed the mat a few seconds later.

As expected, Mile 1 was slow as I warmed up and made sure to take the first hill extremely easy. I knew there was absolutely no reason to push any uphills in the early miles. This was a fast course and I had plenty of downhill to make up for the uphills. My pace band had said to run Mile 1 in 8:23. I ran it in 8:26.

After the uphill of Mile 1, I settled into what felt like a good, sustainable pace - not too easy, but nothing to where I felt like I was working hard... this left me surprised to see Mile 2 come in at 7:36. That seemed very fast...but I wasn't working hard - it was obviously the effect of having gravity on my side (combined with race day adrenaline I'm sure!). I've heard a lot of differing opinions on how to pace this course and whether or not it was smart to "bank time". Most races you don't want to rely on this method, however, this course got significantly harder towards the end with the heat and a flat / uphill finish (mostly flat, with 1 uphill at Mile 24). Therefore, I decided to focus not on the mile times, but instead on how I was feeling. I would only "bank time" if it felt easy and would mostly focus on making sure I wasn't pushing too hard. This led to some variety in my splits as the course ebbed and flowed in how steep the downhills were as well as mixed in a few short uphills. Miles 3-6 came in at 7:38, 7:37, 7:55, 7:48, and I crossed the 1st Quarter Timing Mat in 51:42, with an average pace of 7:53. I had a feeling anyone tracking me would think I was going too fast, but I knew I physically felt very relaxed and in control so I just maintained it running 7-10 in 7:39, 7:37, 7:42, 8:04.

The aid stations were located approximately every 2 miles, and I knew I needed to make sure to drink Poweraid and not just water since it was going to be a hot day. I decided my strategy would be to alternate between drinking water and Poweraid at every other station. I usually like to mix the two together (to help water down the Poweraid), but that adds a bit of time, especially with how congested the aid stations seemed to be, so this new solution of every other seemed to work out okay. I had my first gel at Mile 5, followed by a banana at 9, and another gel at 11. Overall I still felt very good as I ran the next few miles in 7:55, 7:57, 7:57, crossing the half way mat in 1:43:31.

I was now half-way through the race and definitely on pace to BQ... that being said, I knew I still had a long ways to go and anything can happen (my big BQ attempt in 2015 went amazing until mile 18.5!). I tried to mentally tell myself that this was a brand new Half Marathon that I was just starting. All I had to do was 13.1 at 8:00 pace. My lungs felt like they could handle this but I'm not sure my legs were convinced after 13.1 miles of downhill pounding. Nevertheless, I kept at it, running miles 14 through 17 in 7:38, 7:49, 7:54, 7:49. Meanwhile, the temperatures had really started to increase, especially as we got lower in elevation. I started the race in a T-Shirt, Gloves, and Arm Warmers, although I really didn't even need the gloves or arm warmers as I shed them only a mile in. By now I could definitely feel the heat creeping up. There was also quite a bit of wind, but thanks to the downhill gravity, I didn't feel like it was hindering me too much, and more that it was actually helping me from getting too hot.

Around Mile 18 I still felt really good with the exception of my quads which were starting to burn from all of the downhill. I've done a lot of downhill races though and had been expecting this, so I just focused on holding my pace, running 18-21 in 7:43, 7:43, 7:46, 7:43 (and crossing the third quarter timing mat in 2:34:12). At mile 21, we turned off of Kyle Canyon Road, the main road we had been running, and started our last 5 miles into town.

I knew from reading the race description and past runners' reports that these last 5 were going to be hard. The course really flattens out and then you have an uphill section at Mile 24. However, as I turned off at Mile 21, I still felt really good. My effort was getting a little harder, but we only had 5 miles to go so I picked it up running Mile 22 as one of my fastest splits of the day at 7:38. Unfortunately, the adrenaline of making it to the turn only lasted so long. Right after 22, things got really hard, really fast. All of a sudden it was STIFLING hot. I went from being okay to just sweating buckets. I've always been really self conscious about my stomach but I decided I didn't care - I took off my shirt and ran the last few miles in my sports bra. I figured, while, yes I would probably still cringe at the race photos down the road, I also wanted to be proud of this body that was getting me to the finish line of my first BQ.

As I figured, I had slowed slightly in Mile 23, running an 8:06, but the next mile is where it really started taking a turn for the worse. Mile 24 was the last uphill and as I started up it I officially wanted to die... Okay, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic... The uphill was gradual but felt so, so long and never ending. I had grabbed Poweraid at the last aid station and it had left my mouth so incredibly dry. That combined with the torturous, stifling heat, and the uphill left me wanting to stop and walk so, so bad... that being said, I really suck at math and figuring out how my pace is going to effect my finish time when I'm this far into a race... I was actually fairly confident I could BQ at this point even if I did slow a little...but I wasn't sure by how much. I mostly just knew that if I lost out on a BQ because I walked this hill, I would never, ever forgive myself. Not to mention the fact that you don't automatically get into Boston just because you reach the qualifying time. Nope - they actually only accept the top qualifiers. For example, last year you had to be faster than your qualifying time by 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Therefore I kept telling myself to just keep pushing as hard as you could so you didn't waste anymore time...

As much as I wanted to keep my pace up, my legs felt like they weren't moving. I ran Mile 24 in 9:00 even, my slowest mile of the race. 2.2 miles to go I told myself. Just. Keep. Moving. One foot in front of the other. Mile 25 was 8:46...At the "one mile to go" timing mat I finally took a good hard look at my watch (because the pace for 1 mile was the only thing my brain could calculate at that point). 3 hours, 20 minutes and change.... Wow, I was going to do it. I was ACTUALLY going to qualify... that all being said, my brain still couldn't really focus on that yet. It was like I was in survival mode to get to the finish line...  A couple miles earlier when I was still feeling good around Mile 21 I had these grand plans that I was going to run the last mile hard but energized, motivating everyone else and telling any ladies around me that we were all going to be Boston Qualifiers (because I'm in the youngest age group - so any women running under 3:35 would have qualified). I played it all out in my head.... So what actually happened this last mile? Well aside from it being the absolute LONGEST mile of my life (seriously), I don't even remember. All I could focus on was getting to that finish line. I was so mentally dead. My dream self was going to put my arms up as I crossed the finish line...but no, I crossed the finish line and the only thing I remember was the announcer saying something about how "here comes someone in their underwear" (because I was just wearing a sports bra)... my thoughts were, "Seriously?" People run in sports bras all the time... But aside from that small annoyance (that of course I'll never forget), I was too worn out to really care all that much. I crossed the line in 3:28:33 and immediately just pulled off to the side of the finishers chute to catch my breath.

I knew I had done it...but the reality of it still didn't sink in. I grabbed my medal, an ice soaked towel (seriously the BEST thing ever after a hot race), and a water bottle and made my way over to a curb in the shade where I sat down. It wasn't until I sat down that I was truly able to think straight and let it sink in that I had done it... I had Qualified for the Boston Marathon! And not just qualified... I had finished with OVER 6 minutes to spare!!! Leading up to this race it was always a possibility. I had trained really hard this season and only missed a couple of workouts over the span of 20 weeks. I put in the long marathon paced runs, I put in 3 x 20+ milers, and speedwork almost every week. I had lost 12 pounds. I had gotten a really good taper in and was running on fresh legs. I knew it was a possibility... but I've also had so many races where I trained hard and walked away without the outcome I had wanted. I didn't want that to happen again so I started this race extremely cautious. But finally for the first time in 3 1/2 years I got the outcome I had been after. People say that the harder something is to achieve, the sweeter the reward. I'd say a PR by 13 minutes and BQ by 6 minutes and 27 seconds was a pretty sweet reward!

Race Stats:
Race: Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon
Date: 04/28/2018
Distance: 26.2 Miles (my Garmin clocked it at 26.32)
Weather: Warm - high 40's at the start, high 70's by the end
Gun Time: 3:28:50
Chip Time: 3:28:33
Overall Place: 244 of 1467
Gender Place: 53 of 757
Age Group (F25-29) Place: 6 of 29

Race Splits / Placement: I am honestly so proud of my placement progress, even though I slowed in the last 4 miles. I continued to make progress in terms of my placement throughout the entire race, which means other people were clearly fading too! I went from 475th placed in the first quarter to 244 at the finish!

Elevation Profile

Course Map

What I liked and What Worked:

• Course: This was a beautiful course. I had no idea before signing up for this race that there were 11,000' peaks outside of Las Vegas. The starting line was beautiful. The race course progressed from gorgeous alpine scenery to a gorgeous desert scene with cacti and palm trees. I really did love it. The downhill was great as well - a very nice descent, not overly steep, and there weren't even a lot of curves/switchbacks like Revel Rockies has in Colorado (that being said - be prepared for your quads to start burning from the repeated pounding).
• Fueling: I started using "Huma" gels and I LOVE them. I feel like I finally found a gel I can stomach during races! (I'll still probably stick to "real" food in ultra's, but finding a good gel for fast road races makes me very happy!).
• Training: I think it's safe to say my training plan worked. I used Hal Higdon's Advanced 1 (I also added in speedwork every week instead of alternating as it suggests). Not only did I have a fast race, but in general I know I've gotten faster. My easy pace has increased by about a minute per mile.
• Revel Races: This was my third race I've ran put on by Revel and I once again was impressed. They really do a great job - lots of communication up front about logistics, beautiful courses, great swag (this year we got a shirt, hat, free race pictures), and a great finish line area with real food and beer. My only complaint was that I wish they had more shady areas for runners to recover since it was SO hot when we got done.

Dislikes / What Didn't Work:

• Weather: it was HOT this year. They started the race an hour earlier than previous years and thank goodness! It was 75 degrees when I got done without a single cloud in the sky. Also, the entire race is ran directly into the direct sun, so be prepared for that! 
• Lodging: If I were to do this race again, I don't know that I'd stay on the Las Vegas Strip. It was just such a hassle driving from there and I had to drive to the Expo and the race start. I'm also not a huge "Vegas" person in general, so I could see if I did it again staying somewhere further out and making it more of a relaxing trip, separate from the traditional Las Vegas atmosphere.

How cool are the "Boston Bound" luggage tags that they gave out to anyone who qualified!

Post-race Shaved Ice with the hubs - this was AMAZING after the race!

The only medal I've had engraved :) 

Canyonlands Half Marathon 2018

Canyonlands Half Marathon has pretty much become my March tradition, so I was of course, in for another year - especially since I knew I'd be in the heart of marathon training and it makes a great tune-up race. Even better was the fact that Mad Moose Events took over as the Race Directors for all Moab Half Marathon road events, which made this even more perfect since I'm an ambassador for them and know they do a great job!

With Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon coming up in late April, I figured this would also be a perfect opportunity to go for a Course PR. My fastest time running this race was in 2015 when I ran a 1:45:43, and I knew with my training for Revel I would have a good shot at beating that if the weather was decent!

My friend Rochelle also decided to race this one with me, so we headed down on Friday to enjoy some Moab time before staying with a friend (thank you for letting us stay!) in Moab that night. We spent the day hiking to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, hitting the race expo, having an early dinner at Pasta Jay's, and then another evening hike to check out Courthouse Panel (some really neat Petroglyphs not too far out of town) before calling it a night.

I love getting a picture under the arch - it gives a much better idea of scale!

Packet Pick-up!

We were up the next morning dark and early and I immediately noticed how windy it seemed outsite... This was going to make my PR attempt a little more of a challenge! Nevertheless, I got ready for the race and we hit the road at about 6:45, stopping for coffee (of course!) before making our way to the bus pickup.

One nice thing about the new race directors, is that in the past, they've always bused you up the canyon extremely early and you have to wait for HOURS (literally) before the 10am race start. Well, the new race directors decided to eliminate that long wait and start the race at 8:45am instead! So, after getting bused to the start line, we had just a little less than 45 minutes until the start - perfect for meeting up with a few other friends for pictures, cycling through the bathroom line and getting in a warm-up before the race start!

With Rochelle and friend/Skirt Ambassador Jayme before the race!

With Ridgway friend Jan and Rochelle (again :) !)

The weather was cool, especially with the wind blowing through the canyon, but after much deliberation I decided to just wear my tank top but add gloves before throwing my drop bag into the truck and lining up at the start line. Barely after getting myself situated at the starting line, the race started! My only slight disappointment this time around was that there was no starting mat, which meant times were going to be gun times and not chip times - so no letting up in the final miles as my time would be several seconds off since I started back a little bit. Hopefully I could still manage my course PR!

The first couple miles of this race are some of the fastest as you get some nice gentle downhill - but right from the start I knew we were going to be battling a headwind (which didn't let up the entire race). Nevertheless I took advantage of the slight downhill and ran my first three miles in 7:43, 7:45, 7:58. Mile 4 slipped to 8:05 but I did my best to keep my head in the game and not start worrying (that's my downfall - one bad mile and then I start to derail mentally). Thankfully I picked it up for 7:52, 7:46 for 5 and 6.

I took a gel around Mile 6 and kept at it, running 8:00 even. The wind was still persistent but we would occasionally get a small break from it as we curved around certain bends in the canyon. I tried to take advantage of those occasions and I had a few faster miles for 8 & 9 - 7:55, 7:47.

I didn't take any pictures on the course this year, but here's one from last year!

By mile 10, 8:03, I could tell my pace was slipping and I was worried for the first time about getting my PR. At Mile 11 you exit the canyon and get onto what I like to call "the horrible stretch." It's really not that horrible, but I always call it this - 1 mile along the main road leading into Moab with traffic right next to you (there are cones for the race) at the same time that you're getting tired and ready to be done. I had really hoped since we'd had the headwind in the canyon that once I turned onto the horrible section the wind would die down.... but unfortunately it was even worse (should I have expected anything less since it is "the horrible section?"). Nevertheless I did the best I could to keep up my pace running 11 & 12 in 8:07 and 8:12.

Finally - one mile to go - I ran as fast as I could (which wasn't that fast), finishing Mile 13 right at 8:00, before finally hitting the last tenth of a mile, into the finisher's shoot, and finishing WITH A PR of 1:44:30 per my watch (1:44:41 official gun time)!


RACE STATS:

Race: Canyonlands Half Marathon

Date: 3/17/2018 (St. Patricks Day this year!)
Weather: WINDY and overcast - high's in the 50's

Distance: 13.1 Miles

Official Time: 1:44:41

Overall Place: 126 of 1172

Gender Place: 35 of 687

Age Division Place F(25-29): 6 of 95
Garmin Splits: 7:43, 7:45, 7:58, 8:05, 7:52, 7:46, 8:00, 7:55, 7:47, 8:03, 8:07, 8:12, 8:00, 7:13 (last .1)

Overall, I'm happy with how this race went. The wind was mentally tough for me but I'm glad I was able to push through it and still get my course PR. It also makes me think I could've ran faster in better conditions which leaves me feeling more confident for Revel next month! I think Mad Moose Events did a great job for their first year taking over this race. It was already a top notch event and I think they did a good job preserving the good things about the event while also changing some of the not-so-good things such as the earlier start time, and giving out socks instead of drop bags (I actually used to like the drop bags, but now that I have a million - changing it up with socks was a welcome change!).

After the race, I enjoyed some time in the beer garden celebrating some awesome wins by friends - Skirt Ambassador Jayme for getting 2nd Masters Female (and 1st Age Group) and Rochelle for getting 1st in her age group!

Post race Beer and Medal shot! (Also, my calf sleeves had shamrocks on the back side for St. Patty's Day - of course I forgot to get a picture showing those!)