Racing

Yesterday was a really fun day. My good friend Sari decided very last minute to compete in the Spring Desert Ultra, a 25 mile trail race in Fruita. It is a fantastic course, almost entirely on single track, and Mike and I have run it the past 3 years. I have been talking it up to everyone I know, thinking that maybe if a friend ran it I could enjoy the race a little vicariously. Sari pulled a typical Sari, coming in an impressive 6th place in women in her first ever marathon after being sick and not training at all for the past month. She had fun, ran for herself, and actually tried not to be competitive (and the stinker broke my course PR by 25 minutes). I decided I had to cheer her on--Mike was enjoying 10 inches of freshies at Aspen and Selah and I had cabin fever. So I set my alarm for 3:00 to get us out of the house, meet Sari, and arrive at the starting line by 5:45am. Selah of course woke up before 2:00 and never went back to sleep...life with a newborn. Sari and I served each other for the day. I was able to relish in the excitement of the race without running it, and she was able to calm her prerace jitters by conversing with me on the 1 1/2 hour drive to the start (if you don't know, when we get together, we do NOT stop talking). I tried to get to each aid station, but only made it to two of the four after dealing with a hungry baby that poops a lot. The weather was a perfect 65 and sunny, Selah and I got in a beautiful hike, and it was just fun (until I almost fell asleep at the wheel on the drive home). And now I cannot wait to run it next year!! My next race might be the Sage Burner 25K May 28th...we'll see if I can get in shape by then. If not, then the Breck Crest marathon in September. I have high hopes because I was able to do 6 miles without stopping two days ago!

Sari and Todd Kennedy at the finish line.