For whatever reason, on Monday when I woke up, I had decided to take the day off. I wasn’t going to run. But the minute I stepped outside and saw how nice it was, that idea completely left me. It wasn’t long before I laced up and headed to my secret spot. I had to alter my route just slightly due to some snow on the road, but ended up with 6 miles and saw a grand total of one other person on my route.
There is something really special about a Monday run. I typically don’t worry too much about speed or distance, I just run while I process the events of the weekend.
This was a really special weekend. The four of us who had a cancelled marathon the previous weekend, we’re also signed up for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Race. This is only a 7.8 mile race, but is dubbed the hardest race in the Midwest. And for good reason. The elevation on this course is intense. But the challenge doesn’t always lie just in the course alone.
On Friday, the crew of us that had all registered together for this event began a group message to line up our car pool assignments and determine meeting spots. It was decided that Shalini and Tony would go to Wes’s house to ride with him. I would meet Chad and Nick at Starbucks in the valley. And Sparky was planning to drive out on his own. However, sometimes plans are made to be broken. Friday night as the snow began to fall, our intentions started to get shaky. Chad texted me to say he wasn’t sure about driving all the way over to Grafton, IL in nasty weather. Shortly after that, Nick confessed that he was having a better time than expected at his company Christmas party and he was iffy. I had a feeling I was about to be left on my own, so I texted Wes to create a back up plan.
Sure enough, when Saturday morning rolled around, I was fending for myself. I left early enough to drop the kids off at their dad’s house before making my way to a spot just off 270 where Wes and co. could intercept me. The roads weren’t great since it had been snowing all night and people in Missouri aren’t known for having “snow driving” listed as one of their strengths. But as Wes said, part of the adventure, is getting to the race. And considering that we’d had one race cancelled already in December, we sure weren’t going to let a little snow stand in our way of tackling that already intimidating trail.
Warning: Gross Runner Girl Alert! I will spare you the details, but as we drove, my stomach started to get a little questionable. When we arrived at the Pere Marquette lodge, I jumped out and high tailed it up the hill. I was having runner issues and girl issues simultaneously and I needed a bathroom. Quickly.
After tending to my issues and getting my bib, I gathered with my crew in the hallway of the lodge. Shalini and Wes had both crossed paths with Shane, but we weren’t quite sure where he had made off to. We predicted that he had decided to go ahead and start, we were correct. We had all missed our assigned start waves, so we all started together with the “last chance” wave after Wes dropped our extra gear at the car. With a trail race like this, it would be impossible to have 700 runners start at the same time, so they break it down into about 30 smaller groups that start every 30 seconds in an effort to spread everyone out a little better. However, on Saturday only about 450 runners showed at the start line. We had at least completed the part of the battle that is Showing Up.
On our way to the start, we asked a nice gentleman to take our picture. I asked if we should smile or make a badass type face. I was pretty sure I was scowling. To which the nice gentleman said, “Scowl before you growl!” That’s right, he knew what we were out there to do and we were ready to get it done.
Before long, they sent us on our way. And we ran. Only about a third of a mile into the race the ascent begins. So we climbed. Wes and I were together for the majority of the race. He would run the down hills with reckless abandon, but I would catch him on the uphills. And so the race went as such.
It was absolutely beautiful. Everything was snow covered and magical. There were downed trees blocking the course at points, so we had to climb over, under and literally through the obstacles in our path. Near mile 4, we could look down onto a snow covered clearing. I passed a couple girls going up the hill and they yelled some kind of encouragement. I called over my shoulder, “Don’t forget to take it all in!” I was staring off at the scenery and a few steps later I was running in almost knee deep snow because in not paying attention to where I was going I had gotten off the path of packed down snow. That happened multiple times during the race. And running downhill got a little tricky at times. I had to avoid the slick spots by running up on the snow bank. I managed to stay vertical the entire race, but it sure got interesting. And I had a couple close calls.
As we headed down the last descent into the finish, I could no longer see Wes in front of me. That guy has no fear on the downhills. Sometimes I wish I had a little more of his reckless abandon, but we all have our own strengths. He was waiting for me at the finish. We went and grabbed the bags from the car and went into the lodge to change and get warm. That was where we found Shane. Slowly our little group began to grow. Shalini and Tony showed up. Then Brian and a few others. We got our complimentary beers, checked our official results and listened to the awards ceremony. After a while we were all starving so we decided to head over to Fast Eddies. I grabbed my bag and rode over with Shane. We met up with the others at the restaurant.
We ordered our burgers and fries and beers. Fast Eddie’s was crawling with other Pere Marquette runners. We had received a jacket with our registration and as I looked across the enclosed patio area, I tried to figure out the design on the back. It looked like 4 Christmas trees side by side. Then it occurred to me. That was the elevation map of the race we had just completed. Outstanding.
We recapped the race, mingled with other runners, commenced in downing our food. We reminisced about the obstacles and scenic views on the course. We also discussed where the slick spots were and whether we had all managed to stay upright. We all had a few near misses, but as it turned out Tony was the only one who really bit it on Saturday. He managed a somewhat glorious face plant in the snow. To sum up our experience, Wes said, “It’s a balance of taking it all in, and trying not to fall on your ass.” Right on, Vega. Right on…
Eventually, we all had to go on our merry way. Shane drove me back to my car. From there, I picked up my kids and we went to 4:30 church, then Target, then home to have Hot Chocolate and watch Elf. Sunday started with the custody swap. Then I headed off to work for a few hours. After work I went off to my kiddos’ Christmas program at school. It’s still tough to go to those events alone, but as a mom sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what you have to do for your kids. Especially when you have to face a whole table of people who you used to spend holidays with, but no longer do. But totally worth it to have my baby present the gift to his teacher that he picked out just for her. A sock monkey, named Sock, because she loves sock monkeys. After the program, I went to Katrina’s for a girls night full of Christmas Vacation, loaded hot chocolate and other treats.
As I ran on Monday, I tried to avoid slipping on some icy spots while I took in the snow covered trees. Vega’s words rang in my head, “It’s a balance of taking it all in, and trying not to fall on your ass.”
I was taking it all in. The good, the bad and the ugly. I took in the excitement and anticipation of lining up for a race with my friends. I took in the adventure of a snow covered trail. I took in the thrill of going from 9th in my age group last year, to 7th this year. I took in the joy of laughing with my friends at Fast Eddies. The disappointment of realizing I had left my favorite gloves at the lodge. I took in the beauty of listening to my kids sing about the birth of Jesus. The pain of knowing I won’t spend Christmas Even with my babies this year. I felt my heart warm at my baby presenting “Sock” to his teacher. I took in the comfort of spending a cold night having fun with my girlfriends. And through it all, I was still trying really hard not to fall on my ass.
I know I’m not guaranteed not to fall down once in a while. But I’m willing to risk the occasional wipe out to ensure that I never miss a thing. If taking it all in means I end up doing a face plant once in a while, it’s still totally worth it.