Freakin out....just a little

One of my New Year's aspirations was to run in two challenging trail races this year, the first of which is this Saturday morning.  It's a 17 miler with 9,000 feet of elevation change over the course of the race.  That's enough to freak out about right there.  But no, there's more.  It starts at 6 o'clock...bright and ugly.  Now there's a good reason to freak.  Add to the list, I ran only one long run this year so far and that was a whole month ago and without much elevation, the rest have been in the 4-7 mile range, nothing close to 17 miles. This is going to be great.  Continuing the list, there is snow at Black Mountain, the crags, and Smuggler's gap.  Am I supposed to wear crampons on my shoes, shorts and a tee shirt, pants, jacket, ski hat, mittens?  I have no idea.  And, the race description advertises a part of the race called "the crags" where volunteers catch the unfortunate runners who happen to fall off the edge of the ridge.  Wonderful.  And snakes.  Not your friendly garden snakes, but rattlesnakes.  Love it.
I just received an email from Butch, the race director.  My stomach clenched with anxiety just seeing the email in my inbox.  With an ounce of courage, I opened it and saw that the course has been changed due to all the snow up at the top.  I think I'm glad.  I realize that just because the course is changed does not make it easier.  Some masochistic part of me was looking forward to finishing the original daunting course which would automatically be a first place win in my book.  Finishing also magically turns all this freaking out into "fun".  But until I cross that line, I'll be here...freaking out.

Hickman Bridge

Cairns leading us along the way

One of my "cross-training" activities was a camping/hiking trip with my guy.  We went down to Capital Reef National Park, Escalante National Monument, and Dixie National Forest.  It was beautiful, of course.  We did the traditional Hickman Bridge and Cohob Canyon trails.  Then headed to the southern part of the park and did the 13.5 mile Upper Muley Twist and saw about 15 arches.  After stuffing our faces with s'mores, we ventured onto the popular 6 mile Calf Creek trail to the breathtaking waterfalls.  Not for one second were we bored with the majesty of God's handiwork.  In fact, when I'm in beautiful places, I like to imagine Jesus walking the earth and enjoying his creation before man populated it, but I was a bit baffled at how Jesus would have seen the rock formations and canyons.  Were they sand dunes blowing in the wind or ice burgs and massive rivers?  I'll have to ask Wade.