We rented a house that was close to the bus pick-up on race morning. This was nice, because Duane was able to leave a bit earlier to catch the 1st leg bus, and I left about 15 minutes later. The wait was in the Fruita Community Center, which was so much nicer than waiting outside and in our van forever at the last Rim Rock we ran. The 2nd leg bus seemed to leave much earlier, this time around. I had a 1:30 wait until my leg of the race.
The beginning of the second leg was a bit confusing. The 2nd leg runner was chip timed, but there was no starting mat. I only wanted to find one to make sure that I was starting in the right place, mostly because the relay start changed this year. The 2nd leg started about 200 m sooner and actually ended a lot farther, so it just seemed suspicious and I didn't want to make a major mistake. I also really didn't want to start my run at the bottom of a rather steep hill.
I ran a couple of brief warmups (the morning was VERY cold), used the bathroom a couple of times, sat in a warm bus, and chatted with other relay runners to pass some time. I was super grateful to meet a couple that were waiting for their son (the lead runner) and 1st leg of their relay. The mother was able to drive Duane down to the starting line and we were so grateful for that. Otherwise, the 1st relay runners wait for the very last relay to be bused back to the start.
I caught the dad that started out before me pretty quickly. I didn't hold the lead for very long as a faster marathon runner soon took the lead. After another two miles or so, I was passed by a male team. I held around a 6:15/mi pace until around mile 7. I just started to decide that no one could actually catch me. This was somewhere on a big sweeping stretch of road where you can see about 1.5 mi in front of you. I'm pretty sure the next female saw me and committed to passing me at that moment. When I hit the section of switchbacks that lead out of the monument, I was surprised to see people behind me. I didn't realize it was a female, until she passed. I knew it must've been a coed team. This was about 3 miles from the finish. Within the last mile, I was passed, once more, by a male runner.
I finished knowing that I was the 4th relay runner to pass, and 5th overall. While I know this was good, I was disappointed that I allowed myself to slow down around mile 7. I relaxed into an easier pace, because I didn't want to cramp up and be unable to finish. I probably could have maintained a slightly faster pace, but maybe I just wasn't ready for that super downhill 13.5 mi of road.
After the race, we enjoyed the festivities that are now centered in downtown Fruita. We didn't stay throughout the awards, because the family was antsy. This was unfortunate, because it turned out we were the 3rd team. The 2nd place team consisted of both the 3rd and 4th place runners. The male runner that passed me in the last mile was the 1st leg of the team in front of me. I wish that had been more clear. We don't normally leave before awards, but sometimes it's hard with little guys.
We plan to return and run next year. Overall, I've been racing each week this fall and I'm looking forward to taking a couple of months off. I'll probably take a little bit of time off of running, completely and get back to racing in 2016. This weekend is my last race of the PPRR Fall Series on the Red Leg/CRC Women's team. After that, I'll be vegging out until my age group promotion at the end of December!
