Gaspin' in the Aspen 15k Recap
Packet Pick Up
We were staying nearby Flagstaff with a group of friends and had plans to go to dinner Friday night in town, so it worked out pretty perfectly that we could swing into the coffee shop that packet pick up was at. Bonus: I had THE best coffee ever there. It was called the Elite and it was 2 shots of espresso cubano style with steamed half and half. OMG. It was perfect. Packet pick up was nice and easy. Got my bib and coffee and headed out.
Night Before The Race
So, we went out for pizza (my suggestion, obvs) and we found a place that had really great reviews on the Vegan pizza and really terrible reviews on their non-Vegan pizza. We had some Vegan friends with us, so I decided to give this place a try… Well their pizza was mediocre at best. Sauce was bland but spicy, dough was literally not seasoned at all. But the Vegans said their pizza was amazing! So Yelp reviews were not wrong. I had a PBR with dinner because it was literally the best option. This place had “serve yourself beer taps” and after watching our friends struggle at pouring their own beers we decided that their lines were dirty and wanted nothing to do with that. PBR tall boy for $2.50 it is. After that we did some bar hopping. I had an amazing mead at one place that was my nightcap since I didn’t want to necessarily run with a hangover the next day and it was so delicious. We ended up getting back to our cabin around 11pm maybe? And then stayed up a little later playing Catch Phrase with everyone. I went to bed around 12:30pm but couldn’t really sleep because drunk people downstairs playing Catch Phrase. Haha. I probably got a good 4 hours of sleep that night.
Morning Of The Race
I had my alarm set for 5:45am but woke up at 5:20am and decided to just start getting ready. I had everything out and ready for me to make my morning go smoothly. I was borrowing my friend’s car to drive to the race start that was about 45 minutes away. He said I might have to put gas in his car, which was fine because it gave me a reason to stop and get coffee. I got to the race start around 7am, an hour before the start time, which gave me time to pee (twice!) and just like, enjoy the beautiful weather. Now that I think about it, I don’t even remember looking at the temperature, but in the shade I got goosebumps. It was perfect. I lined up at the start and chatted with some women, one was from my town and dropping her daughter off at her first year of college! The other was a Flagstaff local who was super sweet and we joked about dropping down to the 5k.
The Sunrise
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Start Line
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The Race
At 8am the gun goes off and there we go! I was expecting my lungs to hurt the first few miles but my breathing was pretty normal, so I went with it. The race started off in a downhill and on a double track. I was getting passed by so many people and just kept telling myself “You are not racing, you are training.” I get competitive so I needed to talk myself off that ledge and I did really well staying slow. Main goal: do not injure yourself. CHECK. The first uphill started around mile 1 right after the first aid station. It got pretty steep around mile 2 so I took a walking break. I actually had more problems tripping while walking than running, oddly enough. I ran for another 2 miles until we got to the next aid station / the half-way point! This aid station had SNACKS, y’all!! They had chips and pretzels and M&Ms and I just wanted to stay there forever. (One point, trail races.) I did some run/walk intervals for a bit and then ran for another 2 miles to the next aid station, which again had snacks. I walked a little bit more up the final hill and ran the last mile and a half downhill to the finish!
Double Track
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Single Track - solo
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Pretty Trees
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Aspens <3
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SNACKS!!!
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Highlights/Thoughts
The course was mostly shaded until the very end as we were running through the Ponderosa forest. At the beginning of the race we were told that we may see some cows along the course and that they like to steal the flags that mark the course so watch out for that. I did not see any cows but saw all of the cow poop and it was like they found this one single race track and pooped right on it. THANKS COWS. There was one long stretch for probably a mile or more where I was allllll alone. I couldn’t see anyone in front of me or behind me. It was a little scary but also a little cool at the same time. I got a ton of compliments on my shirt. I got to run through some gorgeous Aspens which are my second favorite trees (#1 being Redwoods and #3 because Christmas). It was such an amazing experience. I definitely smiled that whole part. We got free race pictures and the first one I found was like “Of course when the race pictures are free I look like this” but then I found a good second one and felt better. Trail races are fun and scary and a whole different beast of a race. I was mentally and physically exhausted from having to focus so much on the trail and where I was stepping. I actually noticed that it was incredibly hard to enjoy the scenery because I was watching the trail the whole time. I tried my hardest to look around and take it all in during my walking parts though. I did not fall or get hurt, huge win in my book. And I am so excited to run a flat road race in 20 days after doing this one!
Terrible, but free, race photo. I think I was running up towards the finish line.
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Better, and still free, race photo. Me looking down definitely describes this whole race.
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Finishing Info
Time: 1:55:30
Average Pace: 12:24
Distance 15k/9.3 mi
Overall: 134/159
Gender: 58/79
AG: 17/21
Medal
So the medal is actually just a wood slice with the race logo burned on it. Pretty unique and fitting for this race. I think I am going to add a lanyard to it so I can hang it (on my non-existent medal rack that I don’t own).
Medal & Free Beer
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That course looks absolutely freaking beautiful though. I'd love to try a trail race someday.
