On Friday night when I logged on to raceadventuresunlimited.com to register for the Race Against Racism 10k on Monday, I was distracted by the link for the El Paso Puzzler Trail Marathon that would take place the next morning. How did I not know about a local Marathon?! Naturally I debated it and made the logical argument that I have not been Marathon training and that this would be in the trails of the Franklin Mountains. I told Brandon about it, who is the biggest enabler I know, and of course he suggested I do it. Cobb was running it and reminded me that I had already done most of the trails between his race last year and the Jackrabbit Trail race that Amber and I did. So I skipped over to packet pick up and did on-site registration. Since it would be the next morning Brandon and I did the only logical thing and ordered pizza and drank some beer and went to bed at 2230 to be ready.
Saturday morning we headed out to Bowen Ranch. There were a total of 30 people running the marathon, I decided then that I did not want to repeat the Ft Bliss Marathon and come in number 30. We took off at the start line, a nice rocky , windy trail thru the shiggy at the base of the mountain. I was taking it slow and comfortable remembering what Brandon had warned me of, this is trail not track, the point was simply to finish. so there i was just hopping along in the middle of the pack. At about a 5k, we began to ascend the mountain, I was able to cover more distance more quickly by opening my stride and walking, it seemed to be what most of the others were doing too. I chatted with a few of the older marathoners I passed. Salvador's hundredth Marathon was my first and his partner Jim told me they ran together everyday, it made the miles not feel so long. I told them that this was my fifth Marathon, but my first trail race. They were encouraging but reminded me not to expect road race Marathon times, to pace myself and get to the finish line, which was my plan from the get go. I trotted along merrily. It was a gorgeous day, when we took off it was pretty brisk but it quickly warmed up. At the top of the mountain I took a minute to turn around and enjoy the view (see pics below). There was snow all around me at the top, but the sun was warm.
I continued on my way and began the decent on the backside of the mountain. At this point I started to run into all the weekend traffic of hikers and bikers and couples on love strolls, they all moved out of the way and cheered us on. I made it to the base of the mountain at the Franklin Mountain Park about 8 miles into trail, where Brandon was waiting with goodies and Gatorade. I enjoyed my snack, took a bathroom break, stole a kiss and continued on my way.
The second leg of the course was the Jackrabbit trail. It was much more tame than the last leg, relatively flat, with low grade inclines and jagged, windy trails. More vegetation and less loose rocks. Most of the pack had gone ahead while I was still at the checkpoint so for the entire second leg it was just me, Cobb, and some other lady. We had quite a bit of distance between us, there were a few times I looked around and didn't see anyone or anything. They always say how marathons are a mind game and alone in the desert on a trail with no water, support, or mile markers I kept thinking that if someone had never run a marathon before or simply had a tiny heart, I could see how they could give up easily on this race. I turned my music off and enjoyed the rare silence. I was alone in my little world with my thoughts. I was feeling good and happy just daydreaming to the soundtrack of my feet on the trail. I started to get low on water and had no idea how far we were or how far we had left to go, but we were almost 3 hours into the second leg, I was getting nervous. All of a sudden, I could see a black jeep parked on the top of the next hill and two bright orange coolers next to it, I knew it was our next water stop! The jagged trails were a trick and what would have been a quarter mile A to B turned out to be another 20 minutes of jogging.
I stopped at the water check, refilled my water, ate a few orange slices, and had some electrolyte. They informed us that we were at 18.2 miles, this would be the last and easiest leg, 2 miles up the smallest mountain and 6 miles down to the ranch. This pumped me up, I was excited to get this done. I was at 5 hours into the race, which is a normal finishing time for a Marathon, I was easily going to make it to the finish in time for dinner. Here's where the other girl took off for the trail and Cobb decided to call it quits. I had to use the bathroom and found a bush to duck behind. When I was done and ready to go, they said "you are continuing?" I was mildly offended and replied "absolutely, why wouldn't I be?" They informed me that the "sweeper" would be following me for the last leg. I was comforted knowing that I wouldn't be alone out there but very nervous knowing that he'd be there with me, he'd be able to see me fail and stumble and he'd know when I walked. He said he'd give me a head start and he'd catch up. I took off feeling good. I made it up the hill with very little walking, my goal was to not let him catch me! At the top of the hill I looked back and saw the jeep taking off, I also saw the sweeper about a half mile from the base of the hill, even in as good shape as he was, I knew I had a solid 20 minute lead. I was happily trotting down the other side of the hill when I stumbled and twisted my knee. The brace did nothing to help, I heard the pop and felt it slip out of place. It didn't completely dislocate, so I was able to kick it back in place and hobble along. After about 10 minutes of limping along the pain had subsided enough to pick up a slow trot again. The good part about my knee hurting so much was that I hardly felt the pain in my feet or hips anymore! About a half hour later, the sweeper, Miguel, almost caught up to me. I tripped again and slowed to a fast walk on the down hill. Miguel caught up and informed me that we had 4.7 miles to go. I told him about my knee and he explained that that was the tricky thing about trail races. He chatted with me as we hiked along. Time and distance didn't seem to match, a half hour later he said "3.5 to go" how on Earth did a mile take a half hour?!!
By this time, my jog was more like a shuffle, but I kept on keeping on. It seemed like forever, but I finally spotted the ranch, Miguel announced that there was bout a half a mile to go. No sooner that he said that, I tripped again and twisted my knee so badly that I thought I was going to throw up from the pain. I tried hard not to, but I burst into tears. I was determined to finish but jogging was impossible, so I tried to walk as quickly as I could. Miguel announced that we had hit 26.2 miles when we hit the finisher's straight away, we picked up to a slow jog and finished the Puzzler in seconds under eight hours! Brandon was there to take photos and welcome me in with a cold beer, while I was busy trying to get myself together at the water cooler so that not everyone would know I was crying. I was handed my medal and a few people told me good job and we limped off to the car.
I am glad I crossed the finish, but I have decided that I am quite okay with being a road race runner. The trail was beautiful and running out there in the silence all alone was probably one of the most peaceful feelings I've experienced in a long time, but the scenery and serenity isn't worth the twisted joints and blistered toes. I'll save that for day hikes when I can step back and enjoy the scenery!
But its another marathon on the racks and another weekend of sleeping like a rock!
Until next time.....
