Where to begin... Zion 100 - Friday 6am. The starting weather was nice, didn't even feel I really needed a shirt it was so pleasant out. The week leading up to the race my stomach hadn't been functioning normally. I'm not sure if I had a bug or what, but I wasn't very consistent... Not what you want heading into a long race. Start to first aid 8.5miles - this section went as planned, took it really easy and just tried to enjoy the morning climbing up Smith Mesa. It was pretty cool that Matt had an actual guy in a monkey costume hanging from one of the rocks giving us high fives as we went by. 8.5 - 18 - this section was more open dirt road as we continue to slowly climb Smith. The meadows and backdrops of Zion were just beautiful and really helped take the edge off the road miles. 18 - 27 - Finally some single track relief. Matt ended up getting creative with the course and this section of the course was a ton of fun. Roped descents and bouldering over streams was really just what I needed after all the road miles. It started to really heat up in this section and I was starting to feel it a little bit. My stomach started to feel sour which isn't typical this early in a race. I found a bush and quickly got back on the trail. 27-35 - Now we were going to decent several miles down Kolob Res Rd and then skirt over in the dirt until Sheep Bridge Rd (Mile 35 aid station). I was totally cooked here - I felt like crap and really questioned whether or not I would be able to finish this event. I weighed in, only down a couple pounds from the start. I decided to eat a little and sit down and drink a bit until I could rebound. Gary showed up and gave me some sound advice that I would try and use as my mantra for the rest of the day - Just take it super easy, you can always run harder later in the day when it cools down. Another bathroom drop and I was back on my way. 35-42 - Back on some single track to start and I was on my way... Starting to get a little hot out and really started to slow it down a bit. Had another bathroom bush stop around mile 40, pushed on to 42 aid station. Reapplied a bunch of sunscreen and sucked down a bunch of water and scups before the big climb up Gooseberry Mesa that laid ahead. 42-50 - The ascend up Gooseberry Mesa wasn't as bad as it had been in training for some reason, maybe that's because I passed four people on the way up. I picked up my first pacer at the top of Goose Mile (46ish). After another bathroom bush stop and warning Gary that my stomach was trashed - we were on our way. I felt much more inspired once on top and on the single track. My Vertical K's made me feel like spiderman on all the slick rock. Another couple bathroom breaks later and we were at the Point. 50-62 or 65 as my luck would have it (3 extra bonus miles on Goose)... After another bathroom break - Seriously starting to worry here with all the movements. Legs and engine were still feeling good so Gary and I pressed on. There was a little Mtn Biker vandalism and extra course markings after the point and by the time I realized I was going the wrong way I had dropped 1.5 miles down goose. Frustrated and super confused I decided to do the right thing here and backtrack my miles and get back on course. Not easy since I had already put in the miles and could have easily rejoined the course at this point. Disappointed and a little worried about hydration Gary and I made our way back up to try and rejoin the course. After 1:30 without water I finally rolled into the 62 aid station - in almost 4 hours - what a joke. I was cranky, thirsty and knew that I would have to pass everyone I had already passed again. This wouldn't be the first time since I had been passing back and forth with all my bathroom stops - at least at this point I didn't have much in my stomach to get rid of. After 15 min I started to shiver and Gary got my up and on we went. 62-70 - The sun was starting to set and it was really giving my some pep in my legs. I was finally starting to feel good again. Ran this entire section pretty well and made it into Smithsonian Butte aid station where I would meet family and pickup my second pacer, Stacy. I weighed in, ate some plain pizza had a mini coke, changed my shift, put on my headlamp and off we went. 70-80 - Ran the entire climb up Little Creek Mesa, felt good and it was great to catch up with Stacy. I was happy I had run this section before because the glow sticks were tough to find though here. 80-82.75 - Met my crew at the Golf Course where they had helped the competition in front of us get back on course, it was super hard to tell where to go through this section. I changed my shoes into a new pair of Rouge Racers and off we went - I was really starting to feel good for the first time all day (finally I thought). 82.75-90 - Back on Gould's trail after another bathroom break. Feeling charged and knew if I could keep it up I would have to start picking people off. I left Gooseberry in about 20th place. I was shocked that I was running so well this late in the day after loosing my stomach so many times earlier in the day. Passed a couple people on Gould's and was really feeling good. Pulled into Hurricane Rim and decided it was time to press a little bit, I filled a bottle with Coke and off we went up the Rim. 90-95 - Passed several people on this section, ran all the ups and really pushed the pace. Pulled into the aid station and found out that 5th place was 5 min ahead of me, I knew I had better get a move on if I wanted to close on him. At this point in the race I had picked up all the low hanging fruit there was. 95-100 or 103 that is... I pushed the pace here until I finally caught 5th place with around 3 miles to go, it was a little too quick though as he would recharge and really put up a fight for about a mile until we reached the last climb of the day up sheep bridge rd, I knew if I was going to drop him it would have to be here, so I turned it on and dropped him and Stacy and charged into 5th place. Feeling very satisfied that I hadn't given up after being on the goose and being so frustrated with bonus miles and the stomach problems. I will say the mental side pushed me to finish this one, my legs feel surprisingly good today and I am happy with how the race went down. That's two 5th place finishes this year thus far - can't complain with that start for me. My crew and pacers really helped me out on this one. Gary, Stacy, Nannette, Lisa, Terri, Lynn were all just amazing and I have a huge appreciation for what they have done for me.
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