Sunday October 22, 2006 by Sarah Huhn
Steve and I are back from an exhilarating, if exhausting, trail race at Palo Duro Canyon state park south of Amarillo, Texas. I entered the 20K and Steve signed up for the 50 miler. We had originally planned on camping at the trailhead, but at the last minute so many things popped up, we opted to get a hotel room instead. As it turned out, I think that was for the best.
We left the house Friday morning, dropped Lucy at the vet's and Madison at her mother's, then headed west. By noontime, we had made it to Elk City. I called Ashley at work, and she and Curt met us for lunch. It was nice to get to see both of them. Of course that alone made the entire trip worthwhile for me! Afterwards, we made our way on to Amarillo without incident and checked into our room.
There was to be a pre-race pasta dinner and packet pick-up held in Canyon at the West Texas A&M alumni dining hall, which turned out to be a very nice place indeed. We ate our pasta dinners and visited with a young geology professor from Lubbock named Aaron who sat with us during dinner, then looked over a map of the trails and asked a few questions before heading back to the room in Amarillo.
At least half an hour before the alarm was set to ring, I awoke to the sound of the wind howling outside our hotel window. We took showers and got ready, leaving the hotel by 5:45, and made it to the race start by 6:15. Steve's race was scheduled to begin at 7:00 and mine was to start at 8:00. Of course, at this hour it was still pitch dark, so Steve had to wear the headlamp.
There was a guy there in full Scottish dress (kilt and all) playing bagpipes for half an hour before each group's starting time, which added a nice touch, I thought. I spoke with him after the 50 milers and 50K runners had taken off. He was sitting with some of us next to the campfire, and I told him I enjoyed listening to him play the bagpipes. He told me his wife and kids didn't enjoy it so much, especially when he first started playing a few years ago. They made him practice in the back yard! He said he's improved a great deal since then, though. I enjoyed the camaraderie around the campfire, not to mention the warmth! I especially enjoyed chatting with a girl named Jenny from Dallas. Her husband was running the 50K, and they had camped in a tent overnight.
Finally, at 8:00, the 20K race began. By then, the sun was up, the temp was around 50 degrees, and the wind was blowing about 20 mph. The first part of the trail race was relatively flat and non-technical, which sort of lulled one into thinking this wouldn't be too difficult after all. The first mile or so was a fairly wide, flat, soft trail along the canyon floor, and the first aid station was only a mile and a quarter into the race... Sweet! Jenny and I ran together up to this point, and then I went ahead on my own.
The next three miles were a little more up and down, and rockier but still not terribly technical. There was a section that hugged the side of a rock formation on the right and was flanked by a gentle stream on the left. It's called Sunflower Trail and in fact, that's where the above picture was taken. Parts of the trail were pretty narrow through there. Then we ran through another flat part of the trail that went through some trees and knee high grasses, much like the first part of the trail, but not as wide. The second aid station was about three miles further in.
It seemed as though the further we went along, the rockier and hillier the terrain became. The scenery was breathtaking, and nearly enough to take your mind off the difficulty of the trail, but not quite! After the second aid station, we crossed the road that winds down into the park and got into some pretty challenging stuff. There were plenty of single track trails, and more and more places where we made steep up and down climbs and descents. After about the first four miles, my knees started to bother me, and by mile six they were making me wonder if I was having any fun or not!
After the third aid station, I met a lady named Stephanie and ran with her for a while. She had a 12 year old son who was also doing the 20K, the first trail race for both of them. She said he had left her after about the second mile, and was probably close to finishing by then! She was a triathlete and ex-military who had just moved to Amarillo from Beaumont, TX. For approximately a two mile stretch, the trails widened out and became softer, which was helpful. However, the wind served to blow the dust quite a bit in these areas, so although the terrain was easier to traverse, the conditions were anything but ideal. There were also still some pretty steep descents, and my knees liked the downhills far less than the uphills!
After visiting with Stephanie for a while and mostly walking to give my knees a break, I decided to run while the trails were flat and wide. About this time, the trail took a turn to the right and I found myself on the Lighthouse trail. Lighthouse and Castle peaks are two amazing formations in the canyon, and they are a sight to behold. The lighthouse trail is full of steep downhills, and being more open and out of the wooded areas, the wind was wilder there. Before I made it to the next aid station, the trails had narrowed to single tracks again, and the trees had grown denser. They also became rockier. By this time, my knees were both hurting, and it was all I could do to hobble down the hills. In areas where the trail flattened out, I tried to run as much as possible... I didn't want to be out there all day!
At the last aid station, there was a quick out and back. I did that, then sat down to empty the rocks out of my shoes. The ladies there told me I only had two and a half more miles to go, but I swear it was the longest two and a half miles ever! The rest of the trail was very up and down, mostly hard rock, and narrow ledges along the canyon walls. My knees were screaming, and I could only walk and hobble up and down the numerous short hills, trying not to bend my legs any more than I had to. I still ran slowly on the flats here and there, but by then they were short, few and far between!
This part of the trail really looked like what I think of as a typical desert canyon~ wild, beautiful and untamed aside from the network of trails. About this time, the sun went behind the clouds and the temperatures seemed to take a nose dive. It also became much windier. Truly the longest part of the race.
Finally, I passed a mother and her two daughters in street clothes who told us the finish line was only about a mile away. Was I ever glad to hear it! There was another extremely steep descent at the very end of the race, and then a flat run to the finish line. It was all I could do to carefully pick my way down that hill and then run along the grass to the finish! To my surprise, there was my sweet husband Steve at the finish line, yelling, "Come on Baby, you can do it!" I've never been so glad to see anyone in my entire life! I ran into his arms and hugged him for dear life.
I honestly don't think I could have run another step. The biggest mistake I made was forgetting to pack ibuprofen. Believe me, I won't make that mistake again. If I had taken some at the beginning of the race and then again about half way through, I don't think my knees would have bothered me so much. By the time I finished, every muscle in my legs felt like they were cramping and aching.
Would I do it again? Absolutely! But not until next year. :-)
It turned out Steve had started having IT band issues with one of his knees again, so he pulled out early. He figures he ran about twenty miles, having begun the second lap and doubled back to the start. He hurried back because he knew he wasn't going to be able to finish, but he wanted to watch me come over the finish line... now that's love! Since he is planning on running the Mother Road 100 (a hundred mile road race along old Route 66) in three weeks, he didn't want to take any chances with his knee. I think he did the smart thing.
We went back to Amarillo, stopping along the way to buy some Tylenol (yeah, I know it's not ibuprofen, but it's all they had at the gift shop). Cleaned up, went out to eat at Abuelo's, then went back to the hotel room and crashed! We woke up later and watched the Cardinals beat the Tigers in the first game of the World Series... go Cardinals!
This morning, we left Amarillo at nine o'clock. Ashley was in Alva for the weekend, so we didn't stop in Elk City this time. On the way to OKC, Steve asked me if I wanted to take Route 66 back home so I could see where they were running the Mother Road 100. I've always wanted to see that part of Route 66, so I jumped at the opportunity.
The start of the race will be at the round barn in Arcadia. I took a couple of pictures of the barn, and we went inside and looked at some of the memorabilia. You know, that sort of thing is never the way you have it pictured in your mind. For one thing, I always thought it would be bigger. For another, I had always assumed it was out in the country. It's smack dab in the middle of town! It's still pretty cool, though. And the guy who runs it is a character.
We thought it would be fun to eat at some kitschy little diner along the way, so while we took in the rolling hills along the route he'll be running in November, we kept an eye out for someplace to eat. Town after town disappointed us with their seeming lack of enthusiasm (or maybe creativity) for their position along the original Route 66. We did stop at an antique shop that had originally been a service station, but we encountered far too many mini marts and Sonic drive-ins, and far too few cool, one-of-a-kind 'mom and pop' cafe's. Of course, since it is Sunday, the ones we did see were closed for business. Hard to tell if it was just for the day or for good!
The road that stretches from Arcadia to Sapulpa contains precious few miles of flat straightaways. I'm thinking most of this race is going to consist of running down hills and walking up hills, and not much in between. I can't decide if I admire Steve for his brave heart or ought to check him into Fort Supply! One way or another, one thing's for sure. I want to be there for all of it.
Therefore, as we made our way along the race route, I made an important decision. I'm not going to run the Tulsa Run this year. I've been training for it pretty diligently, but I think this is more important. Supposedly, the Mother Road 100 is a one-time deal, and the Tulsa Run happens every year. This year, of all times, they moved the date of the Tulsa Run. And wouldn't you know, it happens to coincide with the MR100! This means, in order to help run sag for Steve at his race, I would have to run the TR that morning, then go out along his race route and find him to take over for whichever one of the other guys' wives would be helping him as well as her own husband (probably Dana Childress or Joanne Threlkeld).
Then there's the matter of our vehicles. If Steve's car is left behind in Edmond at his motel, then we'll have to go back and get it at some point after the race. He's sure not gonna feel like doing that after running that far, so we'd have to pick it up later. Well, I'm meeting my Red Dirt sisters at the beginning of that week in Greenleaf State Park. And here's what Steve is worried about~ What if he injures himself or has to bail for whatever reason after 20 miles? He's afraid if that happens and I've decided not to run the Tulsa Run in order to help him, then I'll be upset over getting cheated out of my race! Quite the contrary~ if he has to bail and I missed out on the first part of his race, then I'll have ended up missing out on his whole experience! I think he just doesn't get how important he is to me.
No, I've made up my mind. The Tulsa Run can wait until next year. I'll still continue to train for the half marathon in Las Vegas in December, so it's not like I won't have any goals to work towards. I want to be Steve's support crew, and that's that!
In case you were wondering, we did find a way cool place to eat in Stroud. Place called the Rock Cafe'. A more kitschy, quirky, quaint Route 66 roadside attraction diner you could not ask for. And the food was awesome! There were two young girls working there, one cooking and one serving. Steve had the chicken fried pork with mashed potatoes and green beans on the side~ and don't be stingy with the gravy! And I ordered the chili cheeseburger with fried onions, cheddar and jack cheese~ Yum! Of course we sat on the round swivel stools up at the bar. Exactly what we were looking for.
Sometimes things work out just the way you hope they will