The Rim Rock Marathon Adventure

Okay, I know, I know, I've been absolutely awful about keeping this blog updated.  It's been hard to find the time and at the end of the day, it's hard for me to get on the computer and write an update.  So anyways, here I am!  Yesterday I ran the Rim Rock Marathon-- it was definitely a challenge but an incredible race.  I'll start by saying the drive up there was stunning.  We drove west through the mountains, passing ski resorts like Vail, Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin, and then Glenwood Springs, etc.  I tried to take some pictures but they don't quite capture the beauty.

It was about a 4 hour drive on Friday, and once we arrived (we being my roommate Katie and I) I went to pick up my race packet.  After that we just chilled out in the hotel room, as I tried to mentally prepare myself for the next day.

Now before going into the race day details, I must say, I felt as though everything was telling me not to run the race.  2 weeks ago, after coming home from New York City, I developed a sore throat.  I went for a run and felt like I couldn't catch any air.  After healing from that, I started to have lower back pain.  I frantically went to see a chiropractor 2 days prior to the race (thanks, Jordan!), iced it, and managed to heal right before race day.  Then, at work, one of my colleagues (who is an ultrarunner and not to mention the designer of our running shoes), was like, "where are you running the race?"  I tell him it's up in Grand Junction through the Colorado National Monument, and he's like, "Oh boy, that's going to be challenging.  That's real hilly, that's even hard to drive up!"  Encouraging words of wisdom. Ha.  So then race day comes, I wake up, and guess what?  It is pouring down snow.  That was almost my last straw.  I was like, you know what, screw it, let's just see what we can do today.

So, I started the race.  My friend Anna was there, so the first few miles I ran with her and caught up on things.  The first four miles were pretty much straight up hill.  She is a fast runner so after a couple miles, I realized I needed to back it off and pace myself-- after all, still had 24 miles to go.  But I was feeling good, motivated, and strong.  So I continued to pace myself up the hills-- it was definitely tough, but I tried to keep my mind off of the challenge and on the scenery.  It was absolutely beautiful-- it reminded me a lot of the Grand Canyon, and I think the scenery is ultimately what got me through the race.

After climbing up for the first 4 miles, the next 4 were not as bad.  Still a steady incline, but a little more forgiving than the steep hills at the beginning.  I had heard prior to the race that the first 8 miles were the worst, so after I passed mile 8 I smiled to myself, thinking the worst was over.  No, it still kept going upwards.  After a 2000 feet total elevation gain and seeing the peak elevation sign at 6,040 feet (around mile 12), I was like "okay, it's all down from here".  Wrong again.  Although it did start to descend, it was more like a go down for a half mile then go up a little then down a little more- type thing.  This I could handle, but at this point my legs were starting to feel a little harder to pick up.  Every incline I started to feel a little bit more, but I was still feeling pretty good.  Just had to keep looking at the scenery... my favorite part was looking down and being like "whoa, I just climbed up that!"  So in that aspect, it was pretty rewarding:

Okay, mile 20. It actually came faster than I had expected.  6 miles to go.  I can do this.  And this is where it started to get fun: the next 4 miles were all downhill, as we descended from the Colorado Monument down to Fruita.  However, I had to be careful, because at this point, my legs felt like jelly.  I needed to be careful not to overstride and to control my pace as I went down hill.  

And here it comes: the final 2 miles.  The last 2 I would say were probably the toughest part of the race for me.  At mile 24, we took a left out of the monument and onto the highway to head back into the town of Fruita.  It was a little downhill, but mostly just a plain, flat, highway.  Nothing pretty to look at, just 2 miles to count down in your head.  My legs felt like rocks, as I tried to pick them up for each step.  I kept telling myself, "you're almost there, don't stop now."  I wanted to walk so badly at that point, but just told myself to get through it.  Mile 26.  I have 0.2 miles left-- which to me, felt like an eternity!  At this point I was into the town, and there were quite a few people here-- something I hadn't seen most of the race.  Lots of people cheering, and as I came in, I laughed as I passed a family with 2 kids-- they were cheering and they had one little boy who was probably about 2; I don't think he understood what was going on, so he was just screaming "AHHHHHH".  Then I came in, seeing the finish line, I saw Katie, and they said my name "Congratulations, Erin (pause pause pause....) Gleeeeeson".  I laughed again and pulled into the finish.  Someone then put a metal around my neck and gave me one of those aluminum blankets to cover up with.  

Here I come....  

Finishing Time: 4:26.  Not too shabby.  After I finished, I heard them say over the microphone, "Take a look at the scenery behind you, you just ran that, one of the most difficult marathons in the United States."  All I can say is, I'm glad I didn't hear that BEFORE the race :)