The Team
11 girls. One guy. Two vans. 30 hours 21 minutes. No sleep. Lots of running. Lots of laughing. A little puking. Put it all together. And you've got Canned Heat, baby!
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The Course
192 miles from Logan to Park City, UT. I had about 16 miles to run split into three stretches. My first leg was 3.4 miles. Leg number 2 was 7 miles. Leg number 3 was 6 miles. I knew I had my work cut out for me. For sure.
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| All smiles just before my first leg. That butt girl (background) was in front of me the whole way. Lovely. |
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| The hand-off |
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| Of course, I had to get my nails all ready for the big event. It says "canned heat" on my fingers. My sister painted on some flames. |
1st Leg
My first leg was great. It was 3.4 miles which I knew I could do easily. I took a little longer than I hoped to finish, but I felt pretty good afterward. It was hot and my mouth was dry but It was a nice little run
2nd Leg
My second leg had me worried from the start. After I signed up for the team, it was changed from 6 miles to 7 miles. It started around midnight and was longer than I'd ever run before. But it was at night and was mostly downhill so I surprised myself by finishing the whole thing and feeling great! I remember at about 5 miles thinking I felt like I had barely run a mile. It was an amazing feeling and I cried a little bit because I finished it and ran the whole thing! I knew it was a stretch for me, but I did it! I blasted my music and watched the silhouette of the mountains in the moonlight and the miles just flew by. So cool!
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| During my 3rd leg. Obviously, there is very little pep in my step. :) Almost done! |
3rd Leg
My last leg was hard. Jarom pulled up to our van just before I started. He was there to cheer me on! I knew going in that this would be the biggest test of all. After going all night with maybe an hour of interrupted sleep and feeling like my stomach was in knots, I was exhausted and emotional. I've run 6 miles one time before about 2 weeks before the race but it was a flat run. This 6 miles was grueling. It was a steady incline and started as the sun started blaring. My legs felt like lead and my gait slowed with each mile. I hit about 2 miles in and the thought of having to run 4 more miles got to me. I had a little bit of a panic attack when one of my team members, Mandi, asked if I was okay. I told her I wasn't sure if I could finish. She stayed with me a while and calmed me down. I was embarrassed to have to walk in front of Jarom and my kids but I walk/ran for the next 2 miles and then she switched off with our driver, Kim. She walked/ran with me for a bit and we saw the sign that said a mile to go and I started running again albeit slowly, but I ran that last mile. We got to the quarter mile point and there was this mother of a hill at the very end that I would have been happy to walk up but my stubbornness got the best of me and I charged up it (again, as much of a charge as I had left in me). I made it up that hill! I hit the honey buckets and puked then felt a huge sense of relief wash over me. I had done it! All the hard work and training had paid off and I was done!
Looking Back
There are not words to describe what I learned and how I felt as I spent time with these amazing team members. They're all seasoned runners yet were completely supportive and accepting of a first-timer like me. I met cool people. I saw funny things. I laughed my head off. I learned a lot about myself. Mostly that I can do hard things. I am anxiously looking forward to next year (although during that last leg I swore I'd never run again!). It's addicting. It's a challenge. I want to do it and do it better. I want to do more. I can't stop thinking about it and talking about it. So, I signed up for a half marathon in September. I know I can do this. It will definitely be hard - at least I'll get to sleep the night before! I can't wait!
Another huge THANK YOU to my awesome team! I had a blast and you were all so great! The company could not be beat. Go Canned Heat!
8 comments:
Impressive! Thank you for sharing - I've always had an itch to want to do something like this. The puking part doesn't sound fun... but having more of an idea of what it's really about makes me want to try. Congrats to you!
You are my hero! You did something so awesome that I'm not sure I could ever do---good for you!!!
Where are the maps to prove how hard it was?? It wasn't just 3.5, 7, 6- there were hills, elevation, lots of good stuff.
You conquered it, baby!
I am SO.PROUD.OF.YOU!
And glad that you will keep running with us. I worried maybe I crossed the line somewhere on the road in Midway ;)
Canned Heat needed your happy hands, funny stories, and reminder of how great it is to GO BIG!
Love
Kim
Ashley! You are such an inspiration! I love that you didn't hide that it was emotional and difficult at times. No sugar coating. Even with that, it is still inspiring! You did fabulous! Congratulations and good luck as you train for the half marathon. Maybe I'll start getting out there with you... what time do you run?
I'm so proud of you Ash! You are so amazing! Keep working hard!
you are awesome!! i was signed up for this last year in phoenix and was totally training for it--but then i was pregnant and put on restricted activities so i had to drop out, i was so sad! it sounds like fun!!
Ashley - You are amazing! 'Nuf said!
Ashley,I'm so proud of you! Way to go! I'm so glad you decided to keep running. It's an amazing feeling to have accomplished something like that. What half marathon did you sign up for? Maybe I'll do it with you.
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