Ummm… that was SO HARD! I have been toying with the idea of running the Park City Trail Half all week and when I won a Facebook drawing for a free entry a few days ago I guess I was in. I had a blast running the Park City Trail 15K a month ago and felt that a half marathon was doable for me at this point.
The first mile was rough, the mud was deep, the shoes were heavy, and the stokemeter wasn’t even registering. I didn’t know how I could possibly continue through this for 13 plus miles. Thankfully the trail was slightly drier after the first few miles, but ughhh my legs never felt like they didn’t have 10 pounds of something weighing them down. This was the closest I have ever felt to leg cramping-ness, my legs just didn’t want to move, they just really, really wanted to be sitting in a hot tub. Perhaps there was a little residual fatigue in the legs after last weekend’s Wasatch/Peruvian ridiculousness.
Anyway… I finished just short of my goal of under 2 hours, but the course was a half mile long (course was re-routed due to life sucking mud holes) so I say GOAL ACCOMPLISHED! I took 7th overall and 3rd in may age group and won some pretty nifty Pearl Izumi arm warmers, which would have been perfect for today!
Oh and I haven’t talked about this in a while because I don’t think about it much anymore, but the hip is as good as new! Seven months out from the second surgery this week and couldn’t be happier with it 🙂 I should be super happy with my first half marathon in over 2 years.
All in all I have been thrilled with the Park City Trail Series. The race staff was super nice, the courses were fun and not overly steep, the aid stations were plentiful and fully stocked, and I loved the pint glasses that came with an entry. You can already register for next year’s races and save a whole bunch of cash. I am tempted to sign up for the entire series.