mountain goat gallop half marathon race review











i never study up on the runs that i do...instead i tell myself that they will be 13.1 miles of fun-that's all you need to know, right? the website did mention hills and few-if any-spectators. for some reason i stress over how my socks feel-they have to be just right- but hills and no one watching didn't worry me. not like i said YAY, can't wait...but sometimes you have to roll with the punches. 
the one thing that i was afraid of was feeling like i did after the heart breaker half in february. that was awful-- putting it lightly.


the night before i stayed at my friend's place in wilsonville since it was closer to the start. where is mollala, oregon anyway?! ha ha


sadly, during my drive, i was informed my brother's dog, moto, had passed away. this sent me into functional hysteria. somehow i managed to get to my final destination although it's all very blurry. maybe they should do a "don't get emotional and drive" campaign to go along with "don't drink and drive". 


that night i managed to get a few hours of sorta shut eye. why sorta? well, because my eyes were so swollen from crying i'm fairly certain they never officially shut. i didn't want to run the next morning. thankfully my body ignored my brain and got in the car. first i listened to music and then didn't. nothing felt 'right'. when i arrived it looked like there might be 50 people running....oh great, i thought. what did i get myself into??? once inside, i was able to get my bib and t-shirt which was orange, with a mountain goat on it. pretty cool. it was then obvious that there would be more runners. phew!
tears fell as they pleased. as i was lacing my shoes this guy nearby started talking to his buddy. i hear him ask "you know what i love about running events?" "what's that?" his buddy replied. "all the cute girls" i didn't look up because clearly he could not be talking about me and my beach ball sized swollen eyes and blotchy face. he tapped me on my shoulder and i looked up-realizing he was in fact directing the comment at me. i said, oh this?-hardly. he responded..."you are gorgeous...hang in there."
he didn't know what was going on but clearly saw my outward cry to the world that all was not well...and instead of avoiding and/or interrogating me...he simply reached out and gave what i have started to coin as the "stranger hug" we don't just hug random people but through our kind gestures and words...it feels like we can essentially "hug" a stranger. (maybe i will do a post about this) he wasn't trying to flirt---if anything it felt more like he knew it might feel good to hear something nice. it was kind of him. 


anyway, we were given a paper grocery bag with instructions to write our bib # on the bag. we would take it with us to the starting line location to use as a bag check. the volunteers would then load up the empty bus with our bags and bring them back to the finish. it was a really great idea. i don't know that i've ever done an event with so few participants but it was fun to walk to the starting line-not sure i was going in the right direction. it had a completely home grown feeling. like we were pioneers....  my eugene crossfit shirt that says "we train so we don't suck at life" on the back was the "chosen" tee for the run. i like this shirt a lot. as we walked to the starting line a guy noticed my shirt and said to his friends, ah, she's one of those crazy crossfitters. hmmm, i suppose that is true...
there was no chip or clock at the start. the guy just said-GO-- that was the start. earlier that morning i decided to run in honor of mr. moto...since i remembered my marathon in alaska...running in honor of my aunt. it makes the miles go by faster when you have something else to focus on. the rain kept coming. it was a curtain of drizzle. my awesome 100% cotton t-shirt was soaked by mile 3 and i felt like i was stuck in a never ending shower...with cold water. luckily i warmed up and enjoyed the run for the most part. there were hills. YES THERE WERE. that was a true statement although i went at them with all i had and managed to do ok. on the climb up...the rain would hit at an angle that made me feel like i couldn't breathe. that was weird. my earphones were lame  so when i would pass someone...or maybe just that one person...or i was passed (more likely) people would say...great song. well thank you...if you want to stick around we could maybe turn this into a mountain goat dance party. ha ha!
moto was on my mind a lot and i found myself crying often. the rain washed over my tears like a wave covering the sand to return to the ocean. i use my garmin for distance measurement mainly. in the initial miles i use it to remind me to gauge my pace since adrenaline is usually the culprit for runners going out too fast. otherwise i try to make sense of it all but doing math while i run or playing with my watch is annoying so i just look at the miles and hope they quickly melt away. 
it was fun to see a part of oregon i've never seen before. not like it's drastically different but i love running along cow filled pastures and seeing horses run along the fence. it felt peaceful. the lack of spectators didn't really bother me--and i think it fit the nature of the task at hand. definitely a run that makes you dig deep...mostly on your own. plus,given my emotional state...the course gave me the space i felt like i needed...
i finished just under 3 minutes over my PR...which i felt great about given the difficulty of the course. i'm definitely going to run it next year and am still focused on obtaining my goal of running a 1:45 half before the year ends. 




speaking of...i'm thinking of finishing my 12th half in vegas since i've never been. who has been to vegas and what did you think? is it one of those things you need to do at least once in your life? let me know!

Comments

  1. "Mountain got dance party!" haha I love it!
    What a cool story. That's so awesome that that guy let you know you're gorgeous... you really are such a hottie! Props to him for saying it to your face : )

    Congrats on coming so close to your PR, even with a crazy course and a tumultuous night behind you.

    p.s. I've never been to Vegas, but I want to. I hope you end up racing there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks April! I think I'm going to Vegas! You and Jason are more than welcome to come...get those limbs healthy and maybe you both could run it too!...and then we could wander aimlessly taking pictures of more random than we could imagine!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment