We (I) decided to do this race again pretty early on in the year. I talked Kevin into it again, which wasn't as hard to do because he is a trail runner now and we broke up with road running last year. (He did tell me that he would if only I could find a card he gave me where he said he agreed to the 50 mile last year---which we dropped to the 50K because of injury. I found the card and he had no choice but to agree.) We ran our last road race with the Tucson Marathon in December 2015. Hated it. Which we love running, but the road doesn't give us the challenge and inspiration the trail does. We don't feel trail drunk, that is for sure. We feel awful and disappointed.
This is last years report:
2015 CV 50/50 Report
There was an event at the Fleet Feet Sports specifically promoting the race, which we already planned on doing, but being around other trail runners is always a good time. They had a raffle for a free race entry and other goodies, so we both entered, hopeful, but doubtful we would win. We never win at these things. Turns out, it was our Lucky night. I won a pair of Arizona Trail Socks and Kevin won an entry into the race. How phenomenal for us!! That was it, the Trapps were in.
One of the great things about the trail running community is we all see each other often and come to know one another like family. The race directors know us well. It is a comforting feeling when they see us and say hello Trapps. It warms the heart. Last year we did this race for our first wedding anniversary. The first time this race was ran it was our wedding date, so we were busy. We feel a connection to it, like a vow. We vow to run these trails and know them in our soul until death do us part. Which could be any day really. This is a photo of us taking a shot of tequila before committing our lives to one another on the top of Mt Lemmon. It was on the first time this race was put on.
So we were in. I registered myself and Kevin was set. It was kind of a mix up with email log ins etc but we were in. We are not very fast at all. We started with the 50 milers last year for that extra 30 min buffer. We know we won't be podium winners, so we are fine with starting with the back of the pack. But, we needed to email the race directors about the decision to start with the 50 milers as they start 30 min earlier then the 50K main group. I emailed Ross at the beginning of the week for the race and complete shock, we were not on the roster? The email mix up from registration didn't show me registered correctly or Kevin. Ross even said, "I've been wondering because I thought you were pretty enthusiastic about coming back". Family. We got things sorted out and we ended up being the last two race numbers assigned, 149 and 150.
We made a training plan for the first one which I modified for this year for us to follow. It wasn't as easy this year to follow. We tried, but we had a lot of things happened that just couldn't make it work like we had hoped. The biggest "thing" was we lost Kevin's father, Jack Trapp very unexpectedly in August. We were falling behind in training and had planned to do a 13 mile run out on the course when he went into the hospital. He went in with stomach pains on Saturday night, had abdominal obstruction surgery on Thursday, came out okay until he suffered a massive stroke that night. We didn't know he had the massive stroke until Friday afternoon. He passed in hospice care on Monday, August 22nd. We were beside him as he took his last breath. It was absolutely devastating to our family. He was healthy and such a huge supporter of all that we do. We feel his loss deeply every day. In regards to training, August and into September we didn't do a whole lot. As a weird and interesting note, we still have the bladders to our packs frozen in the freezer for the long run that we had planned on doing until we found out he was in the hospital. We bought new packs and never used them, they are still there. Here is the write up about that:
Losing Dad
We are no strangers to loss. Kevin lost his son Benjamin when he was 3 1/2 years old to brain cancer. This is the 10th anniversary on February 8th, which we will be doing a 24 hr trail run from when he died at 3:30 pm for 24 hours out at Catalina State Park. His loss fuels us when we are struggling. Particularly Kevin, as I never got to meet Ben, but I witness the grief and pain daily with Kevin. We miss him dearly. It is another connection we have to this race with Ross' loss of his son Gabe. From one father to another celebrating the life of their son through what they loved.
In March we did an ultra marathon with the Bataan Death March, which is a marathon length ruck march, but we took it a step further with going through the finish and getting a bag of goodies for our team that was doing the march with ruck sacks weighing in over 45 lbs. We grabbed the bag with cookies, doughnuts, coffee and swedish fish for our friends. We went back up the course to meet them and ended up with a 31 mile finish.
In April we did the trail run which was on the course, which went not so great. My stomach issues plagued me, but it felt great to be out there. We look forward to doing it again.
June and July we weren't too active as the sun was over-active.
Then we decided to hike Pusch Ridge for Ben's 13th Birthday, which is in August. This will forever be noted as the worst idea we have ever had. It was dreadful. The heat was intense and the humidity was awful. We struggled badly. Kevin was puking. It was bad. But, we had our sticks which by this time we named. Mine were Fred and Ginger because they dance on the trails together and Kevin's are Thing 1 and Thing 2, because they are so useful. The hike was noted on the internet as extremely difficult. It was an understatement. We almost died. We plan to do it again in the winter. It won't be as hot then. Here is the write up about that:
Ben's Birthday
So that brings us up to date to September. We were doing trail runs before work on our trails by our house as often as we could. We went to Utah and did some running and hiking in the Antelope Island State Park with the Salt Lake and the trails there. In October we hit the actual course trails more. It wasn't pretty though. We had a few failed runs, due to fatigue, due to hydration issues, due to poor planning. It was starting to look like the 50/50 would be a DNF. Every run I tried to stay positive and say, it went bad but it was time on our feet. We took a week off of running entirely and went out again the following weekend. We finally had a great run Oct 30th (24.8 miles) where we really had all the elements to come together and we felt we were going to be okay. I had already said prior to October 30th that if we have a DNF, we have done everything we could to make this work and we will do what we can and accept it. I had at this point heard of the race in Oracle called the Oracle Rumble, which I signed us up for the 50K. I was going to sign us up for the 50 miler, but the cut-offs are tight and I don't think we can make them. If we didn't make the race, we have this one to make up for it.
In September we also bought new trail running race packs. The Solomon Skin fit. They cost a penny, but they are awesome. Then we bought new watches, the garmin vivoactive which tracked our pace and a lot of other awesome things. A guy named Troy (Coach) from Summit Hut on Speedway gave us some great advice on using a concentrated mix of Tailwind that he calls the Slurry. We now have the slurry. It is a small gatorade bottle with 350 calories in it of a mix of tailwind, branch chain amino acids and glutamine, another amino acid that breaks down in the intestine. We have that on one side of the front pocket and on the other we have a diluted mix of tailwind. The slurry lasts 10 miles with a sip every mile. On the other side is tailwind, the dilution is 100 calories for 20 oz water which is sipped on to keep the tank topped off. We have 70 oz water in the bladder and on the hour we take salt tabs. We have the nutrition and hydration down to a science and it hasn't failed us yet. We carry emergency apple sauce if we have pushed really hard and need an extra kick or if we know there is a hard climb coming to get a 100 calorie kick. We eat real food for textural and taste change at the aide stations. On the mile Kevin announces "slurry time" and on the hour he announces "salt tab time". He is an efficient alarm clock without having to use battery power on a phone or watch. Oh the benefits of a training partner. We have never cramped on a run or bonked since, knock on wood!!!!!!
So we did the last long run on 30 October. Then we had the next event which was Ragnar, which is a looped course on trails. We decided a long way back to do the ultra event which would total out to 31 miles. It seemed like it would be a breeze with having a rest break in between the 10 mile loops. It sucked. It wasn't as easy as I thought due to poor refueling and recovery/prep for the next loop. But, ever the positive, I focused on time on feet and technique. It was the weekend before the race. I was so worried that it was a terrible idea and would affect us for the race, but, it didn't. I employed a tactic I learned from a fellow ultra runner (Coach Troy--which he is unaware of the fact he is our coach) where he does a 50/50 routine. Run 50 paces and walk 50 paces. It worked to get me and another ultra runner out of a dark place. Hmm. Luck and perseverance.
Speaking of luck. The Cubs won the world series!!! Kevin is a die hard Cubs fan and so was his father. It was a huge moment with them winning also a sad one as Jack wasn't with us. However, if the Cubs can win the World Series after 108 years of not making it, we can do this.
Race week. Nerves. Hydration. Carb loading. Nerves. Planning. Nerves. That summed it up. We went to packet pick up and were greeted with "hello Trapps". Family. With the mix up of the registration the shirt situation was goofed up and we should get Kevin's shirt at a later date. We planned on staying at Kevin's parents house, it is closer to the race then ours. We got everything all organized, packs, clothes, plan, drop bags. We were set. All that was left was the wake and game time. The alarm was set for 4 am. It went off and I was already awake with nerves.
Some areas of concern prior to the race. My stomach. I took immodium to keep diarrhea from happening. It is awful and unpredictable. I can do a 4 mile run and poop 4 times. I can do 20 and poop none. It is such an pain in the ass, literally. So, I took the immodium to keep it from happening. Then I cut my big toenail, maybe too short. It was enough I was worried. I have inserts I had made due to issues with plantar faciaitis. They are made for a normal shoe and not the wide toe box of the altras. I have been battling them for a long time. My feet hurt without and they hurt with. My toes are so messed up. So, I decided I won't run with them and my co-worker who works in physical therapy taped both of my feet up for the support I wouldn't have from my inserts. I was worried. I also left the house without the normal inserts for my shoes. When we went to Fleet Feet for packet pick up one of the folks there cut me some inserts which fit perfect and really felt great--but it was something new for race day. I was worried. The girl that helped me was running her first half marathon on Sunday which we would be volunteering at so it would be cool to see her finish. Kevin's back has been an issue for a long time. It was a concern we were worried about. But, what happens, happens. We knew no matter what we would do our best.
The alarm went off and I made us a biscuit, egg, cheese and bacon sandwich and a cup of coffee. Kevin had some Coke and we were off. Getting to the race start is always a nervous thing, but I felt we were coming home. We have put in so many miles out there, we know every turn. We know all the rocks and bad places. We had to stay focused on the pace to not take off like the Olympics for the first mile which is a steady and awful climb. We were standing around enjoying the ambiance of the crowd, which isn't like any other race. A bunch of laid back folks just chatting about running, what their plan was, adjusting packs, pinning on numbers, doing one more toilet break. Just a laid back feel. We were standing at the start area behind the 50 milers and a friend came up and handed me two ginger chews. It was my friend Marti who we ran the last several miles together with last year. She remembers my tummy troubles and wasn't running but wanted me to be okay. Made me tear up a little. So sweet. Family.
The anthem was sang by the owner of a running store and we were sent off on our way. Kevin would like to note it was 3 minutes late, which he brought up often. Just in case we needed those 3 minutes for cut-off purposes. We did what we planned and held back on our pace to make the mile climb out of the start area. We got behind a girl doing the 50K who was going at a pace we needed to be at which is what we needed to stay in control. I felt bad because I was close on her and she asked if I wanted to pass and I said no. I kept trying to pull back to give her space. I know how frustrating that is. We stayed behind her before it opened up to the downhill. We carried on through the downhills bouncing along from rocky portion to the next and excited how much better the downhill running has improved with technique and stability. Our pace was awesome. Reeled in, but comfortable. We know what is coming and to not let it all out too soon and too aggressive. I mean, as if we would ever be aggressive with our running.
The miles ticked by and we did what we needed to do with the slurry sips, tailwind and tabs. In those miles we heard not only planes overhead but the train up ahead too. Made me think of Planes, Trains and automobiles.
We had a 4.9 mile stretch to Gabe Zimmerman and at Gabe we would top off tailwind and move on. Oh but wait. My tummy was being an ass face. I said I will hold it until I get there. Kevin filled the packs and I will use the toilet. Maximize our time. I looked at the cue sheet and we were well ahead the pace. Making a good cushion. We set back out on the trail and I took another immodium. I will not let my tummy ruin this. Let me say this. The people who package immodium are assholes. It is almost impossible to open, if in a hurry--forget it, you will poop your pants trying. If walking, not a chance. If on the trail and walking, well solving world hunger would be easier. So dumb. It is absurd. Just let me in and stop the poop chain.
The next stretch is a 6.1 to Sahurita Road (SR). Which if you are local it sounds cool. If you are not and pretty Caucasian it sounds like Sour-Rita. I happened to fall in that stretch, nothing too serious thankfully. I always land on the same knee and hand. Kevin said, is there any blood? No. Okay we are good and we continued on. In that stretch we had some interaction with "The girls". I met one of the girls from Ragnar the week before, and her and her friend were planning on doing the 50 miler. We were close to them through out the race. We had our concerns for them meeting the cut-off for the race. For a little while, we were running with them for a bit. We were discussing that they saw me leaning over and asked if I was okay. When I met Laurel at Ragnar my tummy was acting up and she asked if I was okay. I said I was fine, I just fell again. So we talked about falling. Then blam, Kevin fell. He isn't a faller (if you ask him today, he has never fallen!) so when he does fall, he will literally jump up like nothing happened and will always say, I am okay keep going. Every time--meaning he does fall often. One time he fell in training and he got cut up pretty bad and didn't jump up. I panicked. His blood was in the sand and he asked if it was brain matter, always a flair for the dramatic. He was fine and will deny a fall happening. He fell last race too. In fact I tripped on the same stump on the 30 Oct race, I didn't fall, but I kicked the damn thing. That is the thing about trails, falls happen. It isn't something to be feared. It is accepted. My knee looks awful. But, it is a proud knee. Just saying. Oh and the cut on Kevin's knee is "my blood from my fall, not his".
We ended up passing "the girls" and pulled into SR for the first visit. I was having issues with my piriformis muscle which is a muscle in your butt. It is a deep one and it hurts and causes the hips to hurt and your gait pattern to change. I used some tiger balm rub and took Motrin on our 30 Oct run and it worked so I did it again. Kevin said I smelled like the men from the locker room at the Jewish Community Center. Nice. "How is your butt" would have been nice. Along with my butt I was experiencing hot spots on the backs of my heels which isn't a surprise per say as my Altras are getting beat up from the inserts which is making my shoe smaller and causing the rub spot and breaking down the material, or my shoes just suck now. I stuck a band aide on the back of my right heel in hopes that will do it. We filled the packs with water, grabbed our frozen slurry from the drop bag and filled the tailwind from the aide station. I remember hearing someone say, no need to hurry it is okay. No, every second and minute is critical. Such as that mile with the aide station was a pace of 20:22. The mile prior was 14:01. We left out of there and knew the next stretch had some dark times ahead.
In the next stretch to the turn around it is some of the most boring, most fun and most difficult. There is two tunnels, one under I-10 which is long and creepy, but they have fun with it. Then there is the SR tunnel which is short and sweet. We have so many nicknames to areas out on that stretch. Ocotillo ridge, there are a ton of them in one area. In the spring they are gorgeous, this time of year the wind just whistles through them and it is barren. There is the creosote ridge too, we ran in the rain on a training run and it was heavenly to be in this area. They make the air smell like rain so much. No rain on race day. There is the grooved in area on a turn, we have seen it a hundred times. The two mounds. Mound one and its rolly polly hills and mound two with the red dirt. The long grasses that are fun to run your hands over when you go by. The wind was pretty bad for the race and on this stretch it is wide open so the wind is strong. We hoped it would be at our back going back to Gabe Zimmerman. On this stretch mile 6 was when the 50K crowd caught up to us and were passing us on the left and on the right. We pulled over a lot which was frustrating but it is the right thing to do also. Eventually we had folks coming back from the turn around and we stepped off the trail for them too. Every single person we extended a good job, looking great, nice work, keep it up, looking strong, good morning etc and at least 95% returned the comments. It is another one of a million reasons I love trails as everyone is so kind and considerate. A couple people who were walking wanted us to step off and that was annoying. We had a few people say hello Trapps, hello Kristin, woo-hoo Team RWB. We had one guy give Kevin and high five and we had no idea who he was. It is the beauty of the trails.
The tunnel--midway
I experienced a toileting/clothing malfunction. I had to pee, which is a good thing since I am doing well on hydrating. I pulled off to pee and Kevin kept going, I would catch up. I have changed to wearing compression shorts under my capri running pants because I have chaffed so terrible in the past. Plus I am a heavier runner and my thighs rubbing together create a friction so badly it breaks down the material and the stitching comes apart or they rip. Last year this happened and I had to use a safety pin from my race number to hold them together. I chaffed terribly. So recently I have gone to the two pair of protections. It has worked wonders. Except when you have to pee and you are all gross and sweaty and can't get them pulled back up and in the configuration they need to be in. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to fix them while power hiking uphill. I kept sticking my hands down my pants to fix them. I am sure I looked like a perv. Thank god the race photographer wasn't out at that point. So dumb. I should just pee my pants. Kidding of course. It was like that scene from Friends when Ross was trying to pull up those leather pants in the bathroom with Joey giving him "advice" how to do it.
We also experienced the crappiest part of the race, that stupid hill that is only 1/4 mile long but it feels like 10 miles. It is not really steep, it is the timing of it. It is rocky so the footing is sketchy. There were people coming back from the turn around wanting to fly down the hill as we are pushing each step up then losing momentum to step off. It was crappy, but each step forward got us to the end. We planned on this hill for our nutrition. I ate an apple sauce and we drank a few more sips of our slurry and tailwind. We didn't want to hit this low on calories or energy. That is a huge benefit of training on the course. You know what to expect. It happens around mile 18-19. Once you get past it then it will open up and get better. Once you reach the gate it is a nice downhill to the slight uphill to the aide station and turn around point.
This is however how fast we were moving. Like the Galapagos Tortoises.
How we run, Kevin is back legs and I am front
I was worried we were off track with my pee incident and moving like a tortoise up the hill. When we got to the Aide station and according to our chart we were on target, in fact we were an hour and half ahead of last year. Last year it was 1230 and this year it was 1103. I couldn't believe it. We snapped some pics at the aide station and got some snacks for the road. I packed ziplock bags in the pack for snacks. We had dried apricots, m & m, chips, salted boiled potatoes and we both had two cups of coke. They filled our packs with water and topped off the tailwind. We love the aide stations, the crews are so fun and uplifting. They were having a good time out there in the cold wind. Even pouring shots of fireball--tempting, but I didn't. One of the workers asked if I would do a blog again, yes I would. This is for you.
The aide station was a lot of fun with these signs and the crew there. They were going with a cowboy theme which was fun. The HOKA corral (OK corral) was inventive. Made me laugh the signs they made!!
Through out the day we had pics and talks with the photographer, Damian. I got this selfie with him at the Peak View turn around point. Such a nice guy and having a lot of fun. He also got a great pic of us, with us being able to do a quick redo. I love this photo.
We left there feeling like we could conquer the world. The confidence boost was amazing. It could have been the Coke, but I will take it as the confidence. We ran into "the Girls". They were in trouble, they had some cramping issues and tummy troubles. We tried to give them some encouragement and stay strong. We didn't expect to see anyone after we turned around. We were in last place last year. We were shocked to see people. Shocked. Helped boost the confidence more. But, we also had to push through some boring stretches and climbs so we couldn't get ahead of ourselves yet. We ran into a woman who was coming off of the big hill. We talked to her and told her she can do it, the worst is over. We tried to give her encouragement with that it will be better coming back etc. She said, it will be, because I am getting a ride back. We tried. She was hurting though. We also ran into an older lady and Kevin said, who lets their mom out here alone to run this far. She was really bewildered at .9 from the turn around. We were worried about her but it seems she finished.
We did discover some amazing things. Dried apricots are amazing when eaten with potato chips. Yep. Haven't lived until you try it. Also, if you drop an apricot on the trail, the 26 second rule applies. It is okay. You have been breathing in dirt all day. Salted potatoes. Kevin hadn't tried them before so I had him take a bite. He said his heart rate went up to 210 instantly from all the salt. Ha ha. I thought they tasted amazing, but it did take awhile to get the salt taste out of the mouth. I also discovered that I make a fist so tight when I run, I have named it the running contracture. If I run with something in my hands it helps. So these snacks help with taste and texture changes and my fist issue. Kevin said it stresses him out, like I am getting ready to hit someone.
Tactically, run everything you can and allow yourself to walk, but walk with a purpose. No matter how painful or uncomfortable. We watched our pace. The goal was to always, always, keep it under 18:00. Because we made a good cushion it would go very high out of complacency and then we would step it up. We really stayed on top of watching it, which was new to us, but helped a lot. I ran out of water, slurry and tailwind about a mile from the Aide Station. Kevin had water left if I needed it. I was pleased I was out of water only because I knew I was staying on top of it. I owe it to the boiled salt potato that made me drink. I have failed a few times in training. We finally saw that we were coming closer to the SR aide station. I had to pee again, but this time I would use the porta potty. We filled the packs, got the remaining frozen slurry and got ziplock bags of treats. Cookies and chips. No apricots there. We each drank 2 cups of coke. We had 6.1 miles to the Gabe Zimmerman with 3 hours to do it in. I think we can do it!! We talked to the folks at the aide station and one of people there, Michelle said we look great and we are definitely doing better this year then last. She remembered us and has seen us often. Family. The race director for the race in Oracle was there too and Michelle told Steve, this is who I was telling you about. It was really cool to hear people praise us. Their aide station was a Harry Potter theme. So I went to the bathroom and Kevin text Kathy about where we were and how we were doing. They were meeting us at Gabe with ice and our hiking sticks.
During that stretch we talked about how far we have come and worries we had and how we are doing this!! Again the stretch is boring, but we made it fun. Also what made it "fun" was the gun shots. Not like we are in the bad part of town gun shots, but shooting at stuff in the desert shots. They sounded very close. Like too close. Here we are two red targets. It was a little scary. We saw a truck parked and assumed they were shooting into the hill side, but we were atop that hillside too. We went back through the I-10 tunnel and talked with the folks there, they remembered us too. Really nice folks, former ultra runners before injuries took over. We were really excited to be able to text Kathy we were at the tunnel which is about 1 1/2 miles from Gabe. Last year we were pushing every step hoping to make it. This year we knew it.
The tunnel return
We also saw this crime scene. Someone lost their drug store. Pills splayed everywhere. We looked for a body or evidence of a fall, no luck. It was so silly, we were really looking. Salt tabs, immodium, motrin....everywhere.
We came into the area we love as you get closer to Gabe and you can look down into the canyon. It is so picturesque through there. Then we saw it. Cars in the distance at the trailhead. I immediately got this song in my head that took us forever to come up with the name and right words. I said, "I see fields of green, red, white and blue and roses too" Kevin and I eventually came up with the right words, "I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and for you....and I think to myself what a wonderful world" Louis Armstrong. We spent a really long time coming up with who sang it. All was had was old black guy with raspy voice. After the race Kevin pulled up this video on the phone. It makes me cry to hear it now, what a moment.
Here is the clip of the song, this has a special feel with it being from Good Morning Vietnam.
It is a wonderful world
There Cecilia and Kathy were, Cecilia taking photos and Kathy cheering. It was wonderful to see them. I started to tear up of course. We kept going to get into the trailhead to get our things and get out so we don't end up missing the cut off dinking around. We filled the packs with just ice. The heat was bad now. We filled our slurry with ice and poured ice cold red gatorade in our tailwind bottles, the aide station ran out. I had back up powder, but we would be okay with the gatorade with the calories and electrolytes. We grabbed our hiking sticks too. We filled our hats with ice too. I put it on my head and the ice melted down for the next few miles. Kevin put his in his shirt, the ice is too much on his head (he has less hair). We both grabbed a cold coke too. At the aide station I didn't get a ziplock out, we literally just shoved our mouth full of chips. Note. Don't do that. Grease from chips and no saliva is tough to swallow. We beat the cut-off by 43 minutes. Things said after the aide station....burp, oh dear god, it is okay. Burp-oh my. It is okay. Wow this Coke is like an orgasm in my mouth. It was so nice and cold, but, bubbly. Ha ha ha. Best Coke ever.
We headed back out on the course. Fueled on high spirits, coke, chips, ice and love. We gave each other a kiss and said how proud we were of each other. Enter in the new line we say around our house, "Oh good you are in love, how gross for the rest of us" from the movie, "The secret life of pets". We were going to do this!!! Last year we literally had the wheels fall off when we left the aide station to make the 4.9 miles to the finish. It is so easy to do with any endurance race when chasing a cut-off. Your brain is so focused on the goal that the body just follows. Once we made that goal, we fell apart and that 4.9 miles took us 3 hours to do. We didn't want to have that happen again. We made a decision to use the hiking sticks to propel us forward and stay on the goal. The goal of finishing better. Those miles were rough for sure. But we could keep on track and use them to get up the climb to finally get to the decent into the finish.
The water crossing
In the first couple of miles we heard "the Girls". Oh good they made the 50K cut off. But, now I didn't want them to pass us. I was fueled by a new determination. I am sure you have wondered why this is named El Whopperbanger. Well, delirious talk leads to delirious memories. Kevin said this last part may be everyone's El Guapo. I was like what the heck are you talking about? He said, you know from the movie Three Amigos. I couldn't remember and he told me about how everyone has an El Guapo that keeps them from achieving their goals and this last few miles could be it. But, we have our sticks. One particular area we recall that was the motivation for having the sticks and we laughed and said El Guapo, meet my little friends--the sticks. We literally crawled up this last year. We made it over and celebrated victoriously. But, I couldn't remember the words, so I said it was the El Whopperbanger.
Here is a clip from the movie:
El Guapo--Three Amigos
Last year I was so focused on the saddle. When we get to the saddle it goes downhill. Kevin and I used the word saddle a hundred times. He hadn't used it all and then he said it. One more climb to the saddle, I think. We laughed about how it took a long time for that word to come up. But we did it. Came to the saddle and it does start to go downhill. It is about a mile down to the finish area. But, from there you can hear the finish. You can see the finish, the canopies. The crowd. It is a beautiful sight. I don't know how 50 milers turn away and go on to do the other out and back. That is courageous. The draw of that sight is powerful, but, you have to run down the hill to get there on very sore, sore, sore feet and spent quads. I also couldn't breathe. I always struggle so much to breathe in the last parts of a race. Someone fills my lungs with cement. It goes away after a couple days. I sound like I smoke a thousand packs a day. It is weird. We slowly poked our way down. Grant our brother in law said if you can be seen you should run--at times we walked. Our red shirts could be seen from the finish and they could watch us going down. Good thing I didn't have to pee or fall.
We came to the intersection where the 50 milers turn and 50K go to the finish. We coordinated having Kathy meet us with the flag and take our hiking sticks so we could run Old Glory into the finish line going up those stairs to the podium. We almost tripped and fell with the flag hitting the branches. It was so awesome to run the flag in. It has been in so many hands, so many heroes and been there for the best moments of people's lives. It was with us, with ours. It was amazing. My daughter got this video of it.
CV 50/50 2016 Finish
The sweetest moment was when Matt Nelson's little girl gave us a high five and said, "Best couple, best finish". Adorable. What was even more awesome was Ross held out his hand to help me down the podium steps. Matt gave Kevin a hug and gave me a hug and telling us what a great finish. Ross said it was a great finish, and he said, "You aren't the last ones!!" How many races do you experience a finish and moment like that. Amazing. We finished an hour faster then the year before. Matt was the person from last year who met us on the trail to "take our photo" who was really seeing we were alive. He didn't have to do that this year.
This is why we do this. This is why we come back. Family. Love. Luck. Perseverance. See you next year El Whopperbanger!!!!
The view on the way home. Last year it was dark.....
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