Wild West Relay

As I sit here thinking about the last 48 hours I can't help but feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment for having completed the Wild West Relay. For those of you who are not familiar with the wild west relay it is a 195 mile relay that goes from Fort Collins to Steamboat. The relay goes from an elevation of 4800 feet to 10000 feet, from flat grassy meadows to forested mountain passes.

Over the course of 22 miles I can not tell you how many times I said to myself "Just do it." Having just read my wife's post on the ever so popular Nike slogan. The power of positive thinking can definitely help us to overcome what some may deem impossible.

Friday morning we left the Budweiser plant to begin our 29 hour 195 mile journey. At left is the starting line of the Wild West relay. I was the first runner in the second van which meant that I had to be up at five o'clock in the morning to register with the rest of the team, but would not run until 1:20 in the afternoon. Good thing I am an early riser :)

The course meandered through tons of beautiful scenery including: Roosevelt National Forest, Red Feather Lakes and Wind River range to name a few. This picture was taken at the top of the summit in Roosevelt National Forest midday on Friday. I would not run my second leg for several hours following this picture. Anticipated start time 11:45pm! Remember I said I was an early riser!?!



With several hours to spare between our last legs and the up coming ones we headed for our hotel room in Walden. Some Veterans of the Wild West Relay said that a hotel room was a little piece of Heaven one that we took their sound advice on. It was nice to relax, eat and shower outside of our already stale smelling van (6 sweating men, shoes, socks and all!).



11:00pm- Found us packing the van to head out to our checkpoint where we would pick up to run our team through the night. Our anticipated connecting point was slightly off. We arrived at the checkpoint only to find out that our teammates came through at 11:22pm! Our team captain made the call deciding that I should take off on my leg and that we would take the time penalty for missing our transition. I willingly agreed feeling bummed that we missed them and started out on my second leg 8.8 miles with a 2000 feet vertical ascent. Six miles into it, my van pulled up beside me to inform me that one of the other runners from van 1 had already ran my leg, and that I should take it easy and get back in the van. No biggie we all make mistakes so I got in knowing that I had just ran six miles that I did not need to run.





I took the opportunity to rest in the back of the van knowing that I would have to pick up one additional leg. My second leg would leave from Walden High School around 5:30am 6.5 miles to just outside Walden on HWY 125. This being my easiest leg of the course with an overall elevation change of 67 feet. The third leg would take us from the bottom of Rabbit ears pass to the top over 800+ vertical feet having already ran 16 miles. Trying? Yes, in fact very much so. Impossible? NO WAY! Here's the picture to prove it. 5.6 miles 800+ vertical feet in 49 mins! Pretty proud of that one :)


All in all it was a great race! I will certainly participate again next year. Maybe a 6 man team, who knows! I finished feeling satisfied that I gave it my all, fueled my body well and trained adequately. Several of the things that I have mentioned on this blog played into the success of this race. Including setting goals, nutrition, believing in yourself and looking to conquer the impossible. Take heart you can accomplish anything you set your mind to! The most important part however is setting the mind to it!


Happy trails for now,
Josh

Just Do It?

Hi all, this is Kristin, Josh's wife. As some of you know, and I think Josh has mentioned in previous posts, I am training for a half marathon. Friday morning I was on my long run for the week - 10 miles. It was my first double digit run week and I was excited to get it over with. While I was running I was thinking about this Nike slogan - Just Do It. I decided that whomever thought of that slogan was more than just a marketing GENIUS, he or she must have also been an avid athlete.

Are you trying to get in shape? Have you heard all of the cliche sayings that are suppose to motivate you: the first step is the hardest, if you just get started you will be so glad, and yes, just do it. The thing of it is, these are all the TRUTH! When I was out there running 10 miles I wanted to stop and walk quite a bit, in fact, I didn't necessarily want to get started but I convinced myself to take the first step, to get started and along the way several times I said to myself, "you can do this, half way done" or "one more mile, I've already run 9 what is one more!"

I think Just Do It seems too simple for most folks, in fact, I even argue to myself it isn't that simple. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I have a headache, I could run an errand instead, my son needs me at home, I need to get dinner ready, my knee hurts, etc. There are a million excuses but the truth of the matter is when it comes down to it every person on a fitness endeavor must JUST DO IT and while its not that simple, it is as simple as that.

No one can do it for you. The only person that can get me from that start line, across 13 miles to the finish line, is me. The only way to accomplish that is to do it one step, one workout, one spinning class, one run at a time. There are no magic pills. A strong and able body is attained by cultivating a disciplined and patient mind. A disciplined mind will lead to good habits and even when you have formed some good habits many workouts simply come down to, you guessed it - just doing it. You CAN do it, so what are you letting stop you?

Thanks for letting me take up a bit of your time today. All my best, Kristin