My husband and I don't have a lot in common (we actually love that about each other) but we do love to hike together. It's becoming a serious passion of ours. Last year I had witnessed hikers at a local park with bib numbers and exhaustion on their faces so I looked up the race- they were doing an ultra hike and I was dying to sign up. Why not challenge yourself to the point of absolute exhaustion and burning muscles and pain... yeah, that's the way I work. Problem was it was the end of summer and when I googled races to see what I could sign up for, they were all too far away and we would have to drive a few hours for them. So... we decided to sign up the following year. When I went to sign up I was disappointed as you have to earn something they like to call Karma which they use towards a lottery and pull your name to see if you get into the race - then you pay to sign up - so therefore, you're not even guaranteed to hike with the person you want to hike with because their name may not be pulled. I was bummed but if you know me, you know that did not stop me from finding a race. In January of this year we signed up for the Glacier Ridge Endurance Hike 30k. So that's about 18.7 miles. They also had a 50k but we wanted to make sure we could do the 30k first.
We started training at home on our stationary bike and eventually to our treadmill and when there was the first bit of spring we were in the woods hiking as much as possible to get prepared. I had a countdown going for work and I really couldn't wait for race day. I was so excited!
Then... we did a practice hike on the race trail a week before the race (luckily Moraine State Park is only about 40 mins north of us so we could drive up and see what we were in for.
We hiked 10 miles and it felt great...
I woke up on Sunday sick. Thought maybe it was allergies- HOPED it was allergies ... then I accepted it. I had a major head cold with snot and coughing and phlegm ... was I not going to be able to race? After all this time??!!!
I tried EVERYTHING. I did sinus rinses, tried nasal sprays, blew my nose until it hurt, I used Vicks Vapor Rub, ate healthy and drank so much water! But - I realized it had to run it course and I didn't know how it was going to go. On top of all of this... I had my monthly visitor show up the day before the race. Great. Now I have to deal with that too (that's a whole other story by the way- I used a Diva Cup for the first time and it was totally worth it. If you are running a long race/marathon, look into this!).
The morning of the race we woke up at 5:45am and had to be out the door by 6:30am. We packed everything the night before and drove up to Moraine for our first Endurance 30k hike. Check in for the race was quick and went smooth, parking was easy and everyone was so kind! They really put on a beautiful race and it was so well organized! We got over our nerves and warmed our muscles for a little and enjoyed the chilly morning in front of the lake before we lined up at the starting line.
The countdown to start commenced and before we knew it, we where on our way.. 18.7 miles and a long day laid ahead of us. I have a way of turning that off in my brain though and listening to my body and working in the moment so I know I was enjoying it already!
A thing I didn't mention earlier was that we have a time limit for the race. 7 hours. We have 7 hours to complete it - so that means we have to do over 2 ... close to 3 miles every hour to finish on time and the course was muddy (it had rained every day that week, I swear it) and the hills/elevation change was no joke.
The course was muddy. The hills were hard and we hit the mile 10 turn around to head back. They had a nice station set up at mile 10 with all sorts of food and refreshments to keep us motivated. I personally wanted to stay and continue to eat but we had to make our way back. It was rough. One of the hardest things we have ever pushed our bodies to do. At this point we were getting moody and purely exhausted but my body just kept pushing me forward. My good to me body that I sometimes have to remember to be better to.
About 5 miles left
The photo below was the best part of the day... and it pushed me to quicken my step- at this pace I would finish in a little over 6 hours. Everything in my body was cheering me on and my heart was pounding... were we doing this!? Where we really hiking 18.7 miles!? To make up on time for some of the uphill struggles we actually ran every downhill or flat levels that we could... it was so difficult but I seriously was LOVING it!
Crossing that finish line was one rewarding feeling complete with utter exhaustion. You cross the finish line and your body almost knows it and just starts to shut you down. Thankfully, there was pizza and the 30k finisher medal to keep our spirits up ... along with all the candy you could dream of!
Finishing in 6hrs and 15mins!
I am still riding on cloud 9 and it's the Thursday after the race. I am just so so happy and CAN NOT WAIT TO DO ANOTHER RACE!
The biggest advice is (besides training properly) WATER! You literally can't have enough of it!
Thanks for reading my post guys and letting me tell you about my latest adventure. Life can be incredible!
Here is a little video showing the anxiety surrounding the race and me being sick- they were on my instagram stories so I thought I'd post them here too!
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