Hi there, everyone!! How was your weekend?? It was a bit crazy over here! Workout hangover this morning!
This was my BIG weekend of the summer. The weekend that somehow crept up out of nowhere. That whole tapering thing kinda throws you off!
On Friday, I spent the morning cleaning up the house before playing with Brooke for most of the afternoon. It was nice to spend some time sitting on the floor.
This one, so zen.
Around 3, we headed to town to pick up Ken. He played with Brooke at the park while I hit up the mountain for just under an hour on the bike. I was trying to wake up my brain!
My parents-in-laws and sister-in-law and her husband met us back at the house and we got the weekend going with a big pasta dinner! Early to bed for an early morning!!
Saturday
Race day number 1! Since all 4 of us were racing, we were all up early to head into town. A quick breakfast and loading of the vehicles and we were on our way. We got to the start area in time to finish getting dressed and do a quick spin before making our way to the start line.
Ken was off first for the pro race, Errin and I were off in the second wave and Colin started in the third wave. Ken had a great race (considering his lack of mtn biking all year) but struggled a bit with some cramping. Errin did amazing despite a really hard crash going into the first long descent. Colin CRUSHED the 53 miles with a huge PR. Amazing races by EVERYONE.
Doing the 53 mile race was a pretty big undertaking for me. The longest mountain bike race that I had ever done was last year’s Stinger race when I did the duo with Errin and that was LONG to me. I hadn’t really done a whole lot of mtn biking this summer, but had tried to get in some good road rides. Mountain biking is a LOT harder than road riding. Whew.
Lap one went pretty well! I tried to keep it tame because I knew I had another lap to do after. I managed to finish in 3:30 (just 10 minutes slower than last year). After stopping to refill my water and grab a sandwich (and Errin washed out my puncture wound from a crash-oops) I was off on lap two! The struggle was REAL! Everything was harder on round 2. My lack of mtn bike training was evident, but despite my desire to quit every 14 seconds, I kept going! I finished my second lap in about 4 hours for a grand total of 7:32 on the bike for 53 miles. That was a LONG time on a bike and I was thrilled to be done!
Fun fact: cleaned up that wound and then we super glued it so it wouldn’t bleed the next day 😉
Post-race, we headed home for a MUCH needed shower. My amazing sister-in-law and mother-in-law had coordinated dinner so that I didn’t have to worry about anything. I literally sat (on an ice pack) for most of the evening before heading to bed….to NOT sleep. Seriously, all I saw when I closed my eyes was single track and I could not fall asleep!
Sunday
Race day number 2!
Sunday started out REALLY early. Since I was awake for most of the night, I was already up when Ken’s alarm went off at 3:20 am. Yep, that’s right. 3 in the MORNING. Ken was headed out early to be the bike race director at a triathlon. That kid can do it all!
Since I was up, I ate half a bagel and hung out before my alarm kicked me out of bed at 5. Got dressed and such and headed down to grab some more breakfast. As I was getting ready, I noticed that Brooke’s door was open. In my half-asleep (sleep deprived, race morning nervous state), I started to freak out because I couldn’t find her ANYWHERE. She wasn’t on a couch or in my bed or with Errin and Colin, so I woke Errin up (as I was shaking and freaking out) and we searched. She popped in to the room that her parents were in and found Brooke between them. Oh my goodness. My heart rate was through the roof (didn’t need much of a pre-race warm up!). Once she was found, I hopped into the car and headed to the race for a 7 am start.
Did a little warming up and saw a friend who was up for the half marathon! My body was NOT super excited at the thought of running, but I just told myself that I would take it one mile at a time.
The first 10 miles were fantastic! I felt pretty good and found a girl who was running the same pace as I was. Got up and over the mountain in about 1:50.
There is a slight up hill section between the descent and climb back up the mountain. This part was rough mentally. I worked really hard to eat and drink in this section. I saw Colin and that was a definite highlight in that area. It gets lonely out there! Started the trek back up the mountain. Not going to lie…it kind of sucked! hahaha. The climb is pretty long and it was hot and my everything was cramping! There was a good amount of walking on the steep sections. My back was out of control cramping and at one point I had to convince myself that I wasn’t having a heart attack. Those mental games, right?!
I FINALLY made it to the top and headed into 7 miles of downhill technical single track (with one area of steep climbing). It was a mind battle the whole way down, but luckily I was passing people the whole time and that gave me a lot of motivation. I was kind of amazed that my body was able to handle those last 6 miles! My mind wanted to stop but my legs just kept pressing on (I thought it would be the opposite!). My feet hurt pretty bad from the dirt and rocks that had become embedded in them, but they made it!
I have never been more happy to cross a finish line (and then sit down 😉 )!!! I finished in 5:19 and while it is far from my marathon PR, I was pretty happy with it!
Gross, sorry. But I kept all my toe nails! hahahaa.
Drove home and sprawled out on the porch for a bit before dragging my body to the shower. Made it all the way to my bed and just hung out for 30 minutes before getting dressed for dinner!
Mexican food has never tasted so good!!
Happy to say that I full on crashed in bed and slept until almost 7! It was amazing!! Surprised that I am moving today. My calves are pretty tight (as are my shoulders!), but overall, I can function!! I may be eating pickles and donuts, but who is judging!!
*Random note: I ate Honey Stinger Waffles (with one Rx bar and one turkey sandwich) during the two days of racing and they were amazing!! Highly recommend them!!
Special thanks to my parents-in-law and Errin and Colin for watching the kid all weekend! I know that is a workout in its own right! She had a blast 🙂
If you need me, I will be playing with play dough or in the hot tub! Or passed out on the floor 😉
Hope you had an epic weekend (no matter what it was filled with!)!!
Fit After Little Bits 
Which Marathon did you run? I am trying to decide which half marathon I am going to run in steamboat next year as I want to use steamboat as my location for crossing Colorado off my list of states to run a half marathon in. p.s. I may have to try to connect with you when I come out to the mountains next time!
Hi Lindsay! This summer I did the Steamboat Marathon in early June and just did the Honey Stinger Trail Marathon this past Sunday. Both were wonderful races and very well organized. If you are into road racing, the Steamboat half is great, but if you love the trails…Stinger Half all the way!! It is a tough course but SO beautiful!
Let me know when you are here! I would love to hang out or go for a run!!
I will definitely let you know. At this rate with my 3 week trip to England planned for November I have a feeling I wont be in Steamboat till beginning of next year … BUT I do want to connect when I come out again. You should do some restaurant/activity location reviews for those of us visiting the area.
Three weeks in England! How fun!! And sounds like a great idea…and an excuse for my husband to take me to dinner 😉