Unbreakable: Western States 100, The Legacy Midnight Half Marathon and Stepping on Frogs

This was most definitely a crazy weekend! Yes, I have been a little bit of a half marathon maniac this Summer and have raced almost every Saturday. This Saturday would be no different, however it would be totally different. I know that probably doesn't make much sense.  Bear with me. 

One of the Facebook pages I currently like is the Salt Lake Running Company.  They were giving away free tickets to see the movie "Unbreakable: The Western States 100".  It was going to be in their community room at the store and there was going to be a Q&A session afterwards with one of the runner's Anton Krupicka.  I remembered learning about this movie when Cory posted about it last year and I had wanted to see it so bad then.  But, that never happened and I didn't make an effort to buy it or see if the library had it.  When I saw this opportunity to go watch it Friday night I jumped at the chance.

I couldn't find any takers for my second ticket so I went by myself.  I got cozy in my chair with some popcorn and water and tried to settle in for the movie.  In the back of my mind though this Midnight Half Marathon was looming over me.   I did enjoy the movie a lot and am so amazed how people get out there and run for such long distances.  It's something I want to do so bad someday.  You could say it's a bucket list item.  We'll see how much drive and determination I have with the training for the little races I'm doing now first.  After the movie I was cutting it too close for comfort with getting to the Legacy Midnight Half Marathon in time, and so I had to leave before I got to listen in on the Q&A session.  I was just grateful to finally get to see the movie.  I did get to see Anton in person but I didn't get the opportunity to visit with him.

My friend Josh had picked up my packet for me and would give it to me at the bus pick up.  Well, I wasn't going to make it to the bus pick up in time because of the movie so I drove to the starting line and found a nice well-lit place to park in front of a dealership and did a little bit of running before the race started.  I found Josh and got my bib on and my timing chip put on my shoe.  I also was happy to see my friend Monnica there.  She probably runs just as many races as I do, but she is definitely faster.  It is always fun to see familiar faces at races and visit for a little while to help with the pre-race jitters.

I decided to wear my headlamp because I had no idea how dark it was going to be out there.  The race directors (my cousin Cherri Coles and her husband Joe) put this race on each year under a full moon.  They do a fantastic job!  There was so much glow-in-the-dark bling on everybody i.e., flashing lights, bracelets, necklaces, etc.  Everybody was so decked out.  It was so cool to be able to see the colors along the trail all over everyone's bodies.  It helped light up the trail but actually the full moon did a good job of that too.

I have never run at night before so this was going to be a whole, new and unique experience for me.  We would start the race at 10:00 p.m. which is about the time I'm usually getting ready for bed, Yikes! I ran almost a mile before the race started because my marathon training called for 16 miles.  Josh was so kind and waited for me to run a little over 2 miles at the end to get my additional mileage and then he gave me a ride back to the starting line to get my car.  I told him he's my fourth son.  I think I'm going to adopt him someday if he needs two mommies.

Other than my body being a little confused about this whole night time running I had a great time.  I actually ran all 16 miles alone and decided to just not listen to any music.  That may have been a little mistake because I was definitely slower than usual, and I know my music helps motivate me.  But, I really just wanted to hear the sounds of other runners chatting as they passed me, or I them.  I also wanted to hear the night time sounds of nature and traffic and enjoy the occasional cool breezes.  I also wanted to just run and listen to what my body was telling me to do and I really wasn't worried about a goal time for this race.  I heard crickets chirping, frogs croaking and even a few birds singing. I thought the birds went to bed at night.  Maybe they were confused what we humans were doing?  As I was running by the croaking frogs I remembered as a little girl my daddy would say "Who stepped on a frog" meaning, "Who tooted?  There was a girl running next to me at that moment and I happily just shouted out, "I hope I don't step on a frog!"  It made me laugh out loud and she probably thought I was off my rocker!

I completed this race according to my watch in 2:38:38 and then enjoyed some oranges, bananas, and a piece of a PB Jelly sandwich.  I then headed back to find Josh only a few minutes behind me and told him I would see him after I finished my mileage.  When I was done I found my cousin and thanked her for a wonderful race and appreciated the opportunity to run in it.  She had cases and cases of  fruit left over and begged us to take oranges and bananas off her hands.  Josh got a case of oranges and I took a case of bananas.  We also got a couple loaves of bread and a nice water bottle each.  What other race can you say gives you all that?

Josh gave me a ride back to my car at the starting line 13 miles down the road and I headed on home. Yes, indeed that's what time it was as I was well down the road on the freeway.   WAAAAAYYYY past my bedtime.

Not sure how I'm managing to look so cheery at 2:30 in the morning.  Maybe because traffic was pretty much non-existent at this hour.  That fun little medal flashes at the push of a button.  Once I got home I headed straight to an ice bath and then a hot shower and then climbed into bed about 4:00 a.m. Ughh!  Fun race but this old body of mine may have to leave these late night races to the young uns!