So here it is, it’s a month post race and I’ve finally caught up on sleep and work and hiked into the Grand Canyon for three days and then settled down enough to sit down and put some words together about the whole experience.
Firstly, I want to say how incredible Yosemite National Park is and that if you haven’t had a chance to see it for yourself you absolutely should take a trip, whether to run a half marathon or just to see it in all its glory. It’s my second time visiting the park but it was covered in snow last time I went so definitely a different experience going in the spring/summer! The views in that park are second to none and it truly is the most awe inspiring place to sit and grab a bite to eat, and to truly feel like a kid again!
The race itself was just outside of the park in the Bass Lake area and it was just as scenic and beautiful, with the race course running through the woods in the overlooking Sierra National Forest, winding all the way down to the lakefront town and finishing up on the shores of the lake itself.
We had been looking at the forecast every day leading up to the race as heavy rains had been forecasted and we were a bit worried about how cold it would be at the start, but as it happened, we had beautiful sunshine all 4 days of our trip and the temperature couldn’t have been more perfect, starting around 50 at the start and getting up to around 72 by the time we reached the finish line at the lower elevation. Speaking of which, I found the elevation had no noticeable effect on my breathing or ability to breathe which was a relief as we had hiked at Glacier Point the day before and I could definitely feel the elevation which kind of worried me.
Pre-race we stayed in an Air BnB on the outskirts of Bass Lake and this gave us optimal opportunity to rest compared to sleeping in the van, and it provided a hot shower for after the race was done! (Huge bonus). It was pretty hard to sleep because of pre-race nerves but after talking myself out of them by reminding myself I had trained for it and that the goal was to have fun no matter what, I eventually got some sleep!
The morning of the race, we woke up early but still rushed to the shuttle location thinking we might miss the last shuttle to the race ( I was in full panic mode) only to find that they were 10 shuttles short and we proceeded to wait for 2 hours before finally making our way to the start line. Now in all fairness, I don’t think it was the fault of the race organisers as I think someone else let them down, but waiting 2 hours at the start was a serious buzzkill and although it did quiet my nerves, it was freezing cold and a little bit more information would have been ideal if possible. Either way, when we eventually got it to the start I was raring to get this thing done, and just like that, we were off!
Secondly, I could not believe how beautiful the course was, and thirdly, how quickly it was all over! I really tried to take in every moment of it and believe me, I had a grin on my face so wide for the first 4 miles someone might’ve thought I’d lost it completely. Kellie and Shannon were betting on me crying at the finish line, but I was bawling happy tears by mile 2 and I couldn’t contain the excitement that I was finally doing this thing! The last three miles were incredibly tough as the downhill flattened out (even the flat ‘dips’ felt like mountains after the downhill) and I think I got ahead of myself and ate one too many Gatorade gummies which made me feel a bit nauseous and dizzy. With 2 miles to go I definitely did a bit of walking, but I was so amazed that it was almost over that I kept going, despite my legs wanting to give in.
Knowing my parents were waiting for me at the finish line was another thing that definitely kept spurring me on, and I was determined to finish the race running, with a smile on my face! When I crossed that line, it’s hard to describe the emotions that I felt, but it was a huge sense of joy, achievement, relief, pride and excitement, and when they put the medal around my neck, I felt on top of the world! Even more so to see Kellie come in just after me, and Shannon just after that.
Needless to say, it was an amazing experience in a beautiful place, and you probably won’t be surprised to hear that I already booked another one – the Lake Powell Half Marathon, also run by vacation races! Overall I was really impressed by the event and although there were some snafoo’s, it really didn’t take away from the experience for me! I also even got tempted by the Antelope Canyon 55k Ultramarathon in March of next year, but I’ll keep you posted on that….
The moral of the story is that anyone can run a half marathon, you just have to want it bad enough and train enough to minimise the pain during and afterwards! I was able to walk fine about two days after the race and I took 5 days off from running before doing a couple of short runs to ease back into it! Also happy to report no pain in my shins during or after the race, in fact I haven’t had much shin pain since the race either which is great news! If you’re looking into acupuncture, give it a try! It worked a treat for me!
I hope you learnt something from this and I hope it inspires you to lace up your shoes and get out on the trails! Happy running beauties!
H
x
The BackRoad Brit 