This race was epic. I can't say how much I enjoyed myself, even though I would say that this is definitely the most challenging run I've ever done in my life. Anyway, here's the blow by blow report. Got to Mt. Logan Park at about 5, picked up my packet and waited around with my parents (they came all the way from Hurricane to watch me--they're great) until Jon and Cody showed up. Cody graciously let me borrow his bottle with the cool little hand loop. Jogged around and warmed up with them for a bit, and earned my second star for the race (the first star was at home). Soon they had us on the line starting and Cody, Jon, and I were quickly in the lead pack with a couple of other guys (one was named Scott I believe, and the other name I forget). Dry Canyon was a relaxed but still very tough climb to the first aid station, during which one of our pack dropped off and another guy named Chris joined us. We then crossed a bit of snow, and a few downed trees and began the South Syncline loop. Soon the trail became very downhill and we started cruising pretty fast. Scott started to pull ahead and Cody and I were flying along trying to keep contact, with Jon and Chris not far behind when Cody took a bad spill in front of me. I was a little worried as he looked a little rattled and didn't seem to take well to jumping up and running again. He made it though. After that things settled down a bit until we got to the second aid station. At this point I was starting to feel a little fatigue in the legs, but not too bad. Chris then began pushing the pace to the top, although Jon, Cody, Scott and I hung back. Instinctively I wanted to chase him to maintain position, but I followed Jon and Cody's example and held off, and I was grateful I did. I am definitely not used to the strategic approach used in a race like this, so I pretty much followed Jon's and Cody's every move for basically the whole race (thanks, guys). Anyway, back to the narrative. We reached the top (Scott dropped off somewhere in the ascent) and unfortunately had no time to admire the fantastic views, as we needed to chase down Chris. I will have to get up there again sometime to fully appreciate it. We caught Chris coming down to the aid station again, and he dropped off quickly. After a quick stop grabbing some Gu and electrolyte caplets I took off and soon was able to catch up to Cody. Jon was a few meters ahead but we maintained contact and caught up on the single track. The climb up North Syncline was absolutely brutal, but I made it fine with energy at the top to cruise down to the final aid station. Here Cody just blew through, and I made the momentary decision that anything I would get there would not have time to help me before the race was over, so I followed and this seemed to be where the race really began to heat up. Jon fell off, although I didn't know it at this point. I was focused on keeping close contact with Cody, as he had really turned on the afterburners. Made it through the switchbacks with no mishap, but coming into the shady section I began to have a hard time breathing and felt as if I could not open my lungs to get air in. Really weird feeling. I attribute it to the quick descent. Anyway, this caused me to lose contact with Cody while trying to resolve the issue, all the while expecting to hear Jon come pounding down behind me. All of this not paying attention soon resulted in me taking a nose dive and sliding down the trail. Oh did it hurt! I banged up my knees and shoulder, and I even have somewhat of a shiner on my cheekbone. But I believe that this turned out to be a good thing, as it completely relaxed me and I had no more breathing problems after this point. My goal now was just to make it down the canyon with an untied shoe without tripping and to get this thing over with. Back on the Deer Fence section I was surprised with my ability to deal with the rolling hills even though my legs were gone. I think I was just so used to them being dead tired that it didn't matter anymore. Finally made it to the road and back to the park. Finished with a little slow sprint for show and came in a little under a minute behind Cody. I was so surprised that I finished second. I did not expect to do anywhere near this well or to even come close to touching the CR. It was great though! I feel wonderful about this race, and I am definitely putting it on the calendar for next year. Many thanks to Cody and Jon for letting me stick right with them and helping me along. Thanks also to my Mom and Dad and my friends who showed up to support me. Congratulations to both Jon and Cody on some great races. Cody was an animal and Jon is just a beast for running the kind of mileage he has been and only taking a little taper and still having a great race. FRB with a clean sweep as well, so that's fun. Great race, great company, and just a great time overall!
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