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July 28, 2007
Paradise Found
I'm pretty sure that I've used this blog title before in reference to the places that I've run. That's okay, though, because I'm also pretty sure that there are infinite paradises to be found on earth. I found another one of them last weekend in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah where I ran the race put on by these cool folks. Here's a photographic journey through my day running a the Snowbird Ski Resport, in the mountains above Salt Lake City. All the photos were taken by my mother and sorry in advance for me being in every single one of them, but I guess that's what moms do!
Before the start, we all stood around at the base of the ski area, looking up at the mountainous abyss above us. We really had no idea what was going to happen once the race began because we had no course map! At 6:30 am, Karl Meltzer started us up the mountain. Aside from the 2 or so rolling miles at the beginning, this race was either up, up, way up, or down, down, way down. Here's one runner's GPS rendition of what happened out there. Snowbird Ski Resort's base is just over 8,000 feet elevation, and the summit is just over 11,000 feet. We spent a vast majority of the run above 9,500 feet elevation.
Here's one of the aid stations (and me getting a water refill at it), which is perched near the top of the ski area, at one end of Snowbird Resort's famous and newly built tunnel. I was later told that this was the halfway point of the race. The elevation here is over 10,500 feet.
My mom rode the ski area's tram to the top to see me way up there. When I finished filling my water bottle at the aid station, I stopped for a moment to drink the Ensure that she brought me. In my short history of trail racing, Ensures have been like special choclately treats for me. Sadly, my stomach totally rejected this Ensure, and I spent the next 45 minutes feeling pretty nauseous until it finally was absorbed (It was bad enough that I'm not sure I'll drink Ensures during races anymore.).
After the midway point aid station, we descended down a dirt road for a good distance, and here I am disappearing downhill. The several descents of the day vwere highly varied. A few of them were lovely, well-graded, switchbacking descents on trails or dirt roads. A few others were randomly designed ATV tracks. One was even an off-trail plunge down a ski run (I didn't note whether it was a blue to black run, though!)!
From the last aid station, it was a rip-roaring descent from, literally, the top of the ski area to the finish line at the base. I happily discovered that I had a lot of energy left at this point, so I headed downhill hard. Unfortunately, I tripped and fell less than a mile from the finish! I probably could have used some stitches, as one of the gashes was wide and it oozed blood freely for about 24 hours. I was being stubborn, though, and didn't want to spend the afternoon and evening driving to a hospital in Salt Lake City. We were staying at the ski resort, and it was beautiful, and peaceful, and I didn't want to leave. So, I scrubbed the wound like hell, closed it shut with butterfly bandaids, and then put another big bandaid on top of it (You can see the covered product in one of the below photos.).
Later in the day, my mom and I rode the tram back up to the top of the ski area so we could get one last look at the crazy terrain of the day. Here is the view looking southeast (I think) from the top of the ski area into Mineral Basin, where we ran for part of the day.
This is the view looking northwest (I think) from the top of the ski area down Little Cottonwood Canyon and the ski area base. We also spent a fair bit of time running on this side of the ski area.
In all, it was a great day. There was no way I could approach this day with a racing mentality. I really just tried to have fun, chat with people along the way, and soak in the scenery. The wildflowers in Mineral Basin were insane. At a few points, we were running through waist high (on me) purple lupine! I'm really hoping that this will serve as a good training run down the road. The next day, I was miraculously not too sore. My chief complaint was that my right knee was quite stiff from falling. I guess that means I should have run harder.
Posted by Meghan at July 28, 2007 8:56 PM
Comments
these pictures are AWESOME and so cool your mom came to your race!! so beautiful there!
Posted by: Audrey at July 28, 2007 11:10 PM
I love the pics Meghan! I can't believe you run up and down those mountains either!!! At least you have lots of pretty stuff to look at while you run! :) And that cut looks nasty! Hope it healed up well...
Posted by: Beth at July 29, 2007 5:35 AM
Wow, Meghan, I'm gonna have to call you "Timex". You take a lickin' and keep on kickin'.
Beautiful out there. Glad the weather cooperated, too.
Great photos. Bring your mom more often!
Posted by: JeffO at July 29, 2007 10:41 AM
Wow - thanks for sharing your run. Sounds heavenly!
Posted by: Amy at July 29, 2007 8:37 PM
Wow - thanks for sharing your run. Sounds heavenly!
Posted by: Amy at July 29, 2007 8:37 PM
Woo Hoo Congrats Meghan!! Great Job on ur race and love the photo's, that tunnel pic is wild( so u ran through that?...pretty cool... and ouchie!!
I will be talking with U more about the Teton race in Sept...To Get some more insights, thanks so much for ur offer...I ran some Trails here in NJ the past few days---ahhhh Tetons is going to be a battle--LOL yes I am freaking out a bit :-( but It will be fun ummm at least that's what I need to be telling myself!
Posted by: Bob Gentile at July 29, 2007 10:24 PM
Meghan,
Just read the previous entry, and then this one. Sounds as though you found your attitude adjustment. I know a lot of runners are competitive, and are in it for the times and the wins, but there are many of us who wouldn't be running if that was all there was to it. I think running should be joyful and fun - and if in that joy and fun you find you are fast and competitive, then that's an added bonus. I know that many people find joy in the competitiveness and that's good too - but the downside of that is what you've discovered - an off season or an off race can suck the fun right out of it. That said, I'll repeat, you sound as though you had a good time this weekend, that you let go of some of it and enjoyed your surroundings and the feel of your body flying. Way to go!
Posted by: backofpack at July 30, 2007 6:57 PM
woohoo...great job on the run, especially after being out of commission for a while. and you did the right thing with the wound. trail damage is to be worn as a red badge of courage, not sewn up and cleaned by medical personnel. that picture of your bloody leg needs to be framed and mounted along with your race bib. hehe
Posted by: jeff at July 31, 2007 9:43 AM
Awesome views, and a great run! I am with Backpack...tough to have an off season, but heck, there is more to it!
Posted by: olga at July 31, 2007 3:01 PM
Hey, Mom did good! It's fun to see you in your blog now. You look great - totally fit. I sympathize with having an off season and bringing it back to basics. You're ahead of the curve in realizing that. We live in an amazing wonderland and we get to see so much of it one day ... it's so good to keep in mind it's not always about the finish times. Races are another way to just get us out there with like-minded crazy nuts like ourselves. Tally ho, Meghan! :)
Posted by: Kendra Borgthoughtful at July 31, 2007 9:01 PM
All the people in your photos appear to be having a great time! Well maybe the knee shot is an exception. I had a doctor tell me that you really don't need to stitch any wound but you better like to talk about your scars!
Regarding the woman who picked up a stick to try to intimidate an aggressive/curious cougar I can only say that I heard if from a runner that had done an out and back from the Aid Station. I don't think she actually hit the cougar but was ready to whack it if it got too close. I think she actually flossed the cougars teeth and trimmed it's nails during the encounter but no one's going to believe that. As far as I know it was an imaginary cougar and she was using a light sabre. I'll try to see if Olga heard anything about this encounter.
Posted by: Eric at July 31, 2007 10:27 PM
good to see you smiling :-)
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at August 1, 2007 3:38 PM