Cache-Teton Epic Relay

Nothing desribes last weekend better than my blog description, "Enjoy when you can, Endure when you must" Twelve of us assembled into The Dirty Dozen for the 191 mile relay from Logan to Teton Villiage in Jackson Hole. 30 hours of Pain, Suffering, and a down right heck of a good time! We had an awesome crew and I'm proud of every one of them. This race is brutal and we tackled it.

Kelly and I each ran a 7, 3, and and 8 mile leg. Surprisingly, the 3 mile was the hardest. With very little recovery time you had to bail back out and push through a 25 minute, give it all you've got, run rather than an endurance pace. After finishing mine and enjoying the ability to breath again I bailed out and ran Kelly's last mile with him to help him forget about the suffering.

Our last legs were the dreaded 8 miles. I was fortunate to get to run the 8 miles in 40 degree weather, uphill in the Snake River Canyon, in a headwind on 1 1/2 hours of sleep. I thought for sure I would die. I suprised myself by turning it in at 75 minutes. I can officially say that I am currently in the best shape of my life. But wait untill next year...the work for 7 minute miles consistently starts NOW. (Ok...it starts Wednseday when I'm fully recovered.) I'm doing great today considering.... just a tad sore. But my toes are black from blistering and I may or may not lose a couple of toenails within the next day or two. Sounds Crazy? It is....and entirely worth it.

Kelly is impressive. He's probably gone running 3 times in the last 2 years and average about 3 miles on those runs. How any person can just bust out a relay with zero training effort....I'm pretty jealous. Talk about the potential to be a kick butt athlete! Hopefully we can talk him into it again next year. After leg two he climbed into the truck and said, "Next time I get to pick the family activity." :-) please please please pick the relay!