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!)

Antelope Canyon 55K

The Antelope Canyon Ultra's have been on my bucket list for at least 3 years now, so I was super excited to finally commit to it this year! The reason I haven't done it in the past is that I'm typically always road training during the winter, but I decided last summer to sign up anyways. Low and behold, I am once again, in the middle of road training for Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon in April, but I still had to do it! I mean, it was on my bucket list, and #YOLO right?

This was my first race of 2018 and my first race in almost 3 months, so I was more anxious and excited than I would normally be for a race (since I'm usually doing at least one a month, if not more) and started packing and planning my race outfit a week out...of course the weather forecast kept getting colder and colder the closer we got and my skirt/tanktop outfit turned into capri's and long sleeves! Nevertheless, I was still pretty excited...

We dropped the dogs off at the kennel on Friday morning and then hit the road! I knew the forecast wasn't looking great but I was hopeful the "snow" it showed would just be light flurries, and we'd make the 6 hour drive in plenty of time to get to our scheduled Antelope Canyon Tour that afternoon. While called "Antelope Canyon Ultra's", the 55K does not actually go through Antelope Canyon, it only goes through Waterholes Canyon, so I thought it would be fun for Scott and I to go do a Tour of the actual Antelope Canyon on Friday afternoon before the race (you can only see it via guided tour or special event)! Unfortunately, our 6 hour drive turned into a 7.5+ hour drive as we hit snowstorm after snowstorm, after snowstorm (I seriously think we went through 5 snowstorms including white out conditions from Monticello to Blanding, UT). I eventually had to call the Tour Guide and let them know that we wouldn't be arriving in time for our 3pm tour...to which they informed me that they had to close the canyon anyways due to snow... so I guess it just wasn't in the cards for this trip after all!

Driving through a snowy Monument Valley on the way to Page, AZ

Well, with no tour to get to, we had a nice leisurely afternoon, arriving into Page, Arizona a little after 3:00. After stopping by the expo to get my race packet, then checking into our hotel, we opted for an early dinner at a local pizza and pasta place, before making our way to see Horseshoe Bend a little before sunset. I would see Horseshoe Bend during the race the next day, but I was still really looking froward to going on Friday since I would have my DSLR camera and get to enjoy it with Scott. It was freezing cold, and the sunset wasn't all that spectacular, but Horseshoe Bend on the other hand, definitely was incredible and well worth the trip!

Saturday morning I was up a little after 5:00 to get ready for the race! After waiting around for the hotel breakfast to open at 6:00, we made our way to the start line with plenty of time before the 7:00am start. It was about 25 degrees out so I sat in the car as long as I possibly could before we ventured over to the start line, I said good-bye to Scott (and to plan on me finishing in about 8-9 hours) and then was off right at 7:00am!

The first few miles were spent numb to the cold as I attempted to warm up. We were very packed together as we made our way out a couple of miles along a very sandy trail before passing by the Slickrock Aid Station at Mile 2. It was so early in the race, I ran right passed it and continued on 3 more miles to the Horseshoe Aid Station. This station was where my drop bag was (which I would access at Mile 5 and again at 18). I had accidently put all of my fuel in the drop bag (so I had none to pack for the race), so I quickly grabbed that from my bag, had some water (since my hydration tube had frozen), snapped a quick picture with Skirt Sports Ambassador Heather who I had a chance to chat with for a mile or so at the beginning, and then headed out. We had to cross a highway, and then we made our way uphill to the Horseshoe Bend Overlook - the same spot we had hiked to the night before. It was once again beautiful, but I was sure glad we had gone the night before because the sun was so low in the sky that it made for some extremely harsh shadows which preventing me from getting any good pictures of the river!

Right after the mile 2 Slickrock Aid Station

I love meeting Skirt Sports Ambassadors at races!

Horseshoe Bend again - definitely not as dramatic with the harsh morning shadows!

Despite not getting great photos, I still took a bunch anyways, as I continued on for several miles along slickrock overlooking the river in many places. Overall I'd say this course was very runnable, but this was definitely one of the slower portions of the course, as my pace slowed to around 15 minute miles as we made out way up, down and around the slickrock. I ran back and forth with a bunch of the same runners from here until reaching the Mile 13 Aid Station, which was right before we would head down into Waterholes Canyon.

The lighting here isn't great but I love how it shows the dramatic drop-off of the cliffs

Running on slickrock!

Waterholes Canyon was the part of the course I was most looking forward too. Afterall, it was the only slot canyon we ran through and that was why I signed up for this race. We had a very steep, technical descent downhill that I timidly made my way down, before ending up in the canyon. I knew from the course description that we would be in the cnayon for about 1 mile. I was feeling really good and definitely could have ran most of this...but, as previously mentioned, I came here to see this one mile...so instead this was my slowest mile of the entire race (by a lot) because I just kept stopping for pictures and having a blast with it! When I saw I missed 3rd in my age group by less than 5 minutes, I knew this caused it, but I still didn't care... I had a blast. I think about 50 people passed me as I just enjoyed this section! It was so cool and so beautiful... I mean, THIS IS WHY I RUN! I love seeing the amazing places we have in nature!

 

We had to ascend a ladder to officially exit the canyon, which was pretty cool! Once we did that, we still had some awesome wider canyon walls around us, but we were mostly out, as we continued on. After one more steep ascent, we topped out onto a sandy road that stretched for about 3 miles back to the horseshoe aid station. It was very runnable (despite being sandy - I think the moisture from the day before helped with that), so I did my best to make up some of my time and had a few of my faster miles of the day along this section.

The ladder to exit the canyon

The top of the last major climb to get out of the canyon

The dirt road we on for several miles back to the Horsehoe Aid Station

Once back at the Horseshoe Aid Station I had some snacks and coke and then made my way onward - back towards the start/finish area. We would retrace the first 5 miles from the morning, before turning off to do a loop around the Page Rim Trail. These 5 miles weren't overly technical, but they were slightly uphill and in sand, so that made it a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless, I kept at it, until we crossed another major roadway, then made our way up a short, steep ascent to get onto the Page Rim Trail where an aid station was awaiting us.

More sand!

After getting some snacks, I headed out. I had read that this loop around the town was very runnable, so I decided to try and keep my pace up as best as I could. Well - they definitely weren't lying when they said that, especially on the first half because not only was it runnable, but it also seemed to be at a slight descent, so I really picked up my pace through here, passing a few runners. About half-way through this loop, you have to do an out and back to an aid station. I grabbed some more food and then took a look at my watch. They said I only had about 6.9 miles to go and I was only a little over 6 hours in... that meant I would be finishing way quicker than the 8-9 hours I had told Scott. So I gave him a quick call as I headed out from the aid station and told him to expect me under 8 hours, possibly much closer to 7 1/2.

Views from the Page Rim Trail

Overall, I still felt really good too. I was just over 26 miles in and still feeling like I could run a lot. Despite the course not being quite as fast as it had been on the first half, I was still able to run a lot and started passing even more people. I felt good knowing I was passing a lot of the people who had passed me while I was meandering in the slot canyon. In all honesty though, I couldn't figure out how I felt so good - I was running around 10-11 minute miles, which for trails, is pretty quick for me! We had several road crossings, as the trail made it's way through town, including one that went really close to our hotel. Finally, I was back at the Page Rim Aid Station where I just ran straight through, then dropped down from the rim and made my way the last 3/4 of a mile to the finish line, finishing in 7:16:52 - way faster than I had expected!

Finisher mugs!

Race: Antelope Canyon Ultramarathons
Distance: 55K (my garmin clocked it at 33.2 miles)
Weather: COLD (25 degrees at the start, maybe 40 at the end? But I never took off my arm sleeves!)
Bib Number: 774
Gun Time: 7:17:27
Chip Time: 7:16:52
Average Pace: 12:47 per mile
Overall Place: 55 of 254
Gender Place: 17 of 131! (proud of this one!)
Age Group (F25-29): 4 of 9
Splits: 10:54, 10:51, 12:54, 10:03, 15:34, 16:39, 16:32, 16:39, 15:21, 15:56, 14:54, 20:52, 24:18, 16:22, 16:22, 9:22, 9:33, 9:27, 18:30, 13:12, 13:24, 11:29, 13:53, 10:17, 9:35, 11:10, 11:23, 12:20, 9:37, 11:04, 11:32, 10:36, 10:24, 10:36

Course Map

Elevation Profile

Overall, I really did enjoy this race. I had heard to be prepared for a ton of sand that was difficult to run in, but I really didn't feel like it was bad at all. I think the snow and rain that Page had gotten in the days leading up to the race kept the sand nice and packed down. I spent the first half enjoying the views and running nice and slow and then was able to really pick things up in the back half - which I think might be one of my first times to negative split an ultra marathon! I was also surprised at how good I felt over the entire course of the race - which I really think has more to do with my road training I've been doing this spring - I've really been working hard and getting faster so I think my slow and steady mentality at the beginning of the race helped me to be able to really pick it up later on.

As far as the race logistics went - this was my first Ultra I've ran by Vacation Races, but I've done some of their other events (Grand Teton Half Marathon, Grand Circle Trail Fest, and Rocky Mountain Half), and they once again did a great job. The aid stations all seemed to have a lot of great options. The finish line had great food and I got a really yummy freshly made Pizza after finishing. Parking, directions, and course markings were great. I would definitely consider doing one of their Ultra's again sometime!

Overall I'm glad I had the opportunity to check out this unique and beautiful area and definitely hope to come back someday to see the actual Antelope Canyon!