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SP Crater Trail Half Marathon and Then Some


photo by Ian Torrence

So. It's been a while. Definitely too long. But I have a pretty good excuse: The husband has been out of town for a loooooong time! In case you don't remember: He is a PhD student here at NAU and decided he needed to camp out in the field for six weeks to catch some desert kangaroo rats and get a sample of their genes. Or something like that. If you want details, go ask him. Or the kids. I am basically the only non-scientist in this house. Which reminds me of our dinner conversation tonight: 

Max (5) to Noah (8): Are scorpions arachnids? 
Noah: Yes. D'uh! 
Me: How do you know? 
Boys (in unison): Because they have eight legs! 
Me: Scorpions have eight legs? Arachnids have eight legs? Are you sure? 
Boys roll their eyes... 

Ha! What do you know. I am a linguist have a degree in linguistics. Science has never been my strong point. Glad they are smarter than me already! 

While Karl is gone, there is no time for anything extra. I try to simplify. And by the time I have taken care of the kids and the basics, I have used up all of my energy and time for the day. So to bed I go. Which means I have lots and lots of stories and experiences in my head that I would love to share with you and three drafts for posts that I never finished. Let's hope that doesn't happen to this one! In hopes that I will finish said drafts, I am just going to jump ahead to this weekend. 

Karl came home (for a short two days) from the field at 3:50 and I went out the door at 3:51 (this is not recommended but sometimes necessary) to meet Bret Sarnquist, a friend and soon-to-be registered dietitian who was in town for the race and offered to work with me on training and racing nutrition. I am stoked about this and will tell you more soon! 

Friday night was family night. Good times. 

FSC United U8 - Noah is behind the kid in sunglasses

Saturday morning at 6am Karl dropped me off at the pool and brought Noah to friends who took him with them to (the third) soccer tournament (in a row) in Phoenix. The kid can't get enough! 

The swim was a great warm up for a fun day of training. Karen and the girls pulled up in front of the pool at 7:45 sharp and I hopped into her VW van. When I grow up, I want one of those! Perfect training and racing base. 

not sure what happened to this picture... 

The race was basically in the middle of nowhere. 30 minutes north of Flagstaff. Here is a taste of the Wild West. Just like what I used to see on the German movie screen in Marlboro commercials when I was a kid. Can't believe that I get to live here now!  

(the following five pictures are courtesy of Ian Torrence) 


Unlike most Flagstaffians, I do not think that this is the ultimate and most beautiful place on earth to live. But it is pretty dang awesome!!!


To the race. It was chilly and windy and nobody wanted to get out of the car. Whose idea was this anyway? 

I was looking forward to a great training run. Local running races are always fun! With this being the inaugural event and four distances to choose from, there were only about 50 people competing in the Half Marathon. We live in a running mecca, so you never know if an Olympian or National Champion is going to show up to race or volunteer! Whether I was going to be able to run with people or not didn't really matter. As long as it is called a race, I will try to go as fast as I can. 

It was all fun and games until the press lady shows up to ask me some questions because, apparently, I am the girl to beat. Huh? Really? Oh boy. While this is flattering of course, suddenly I felt pressure to win the thing. Here goes nothing! 


Course goes something like this: 

6 miles gradual uphill
half a mile ridiculously steep uphill
half a mile ridiculously steep downhill 
6 miles gradual downhill

Actual race goes like this: 

Chat with Katie for the first 5 miles
Finally drop Katie
Gain some ground on the steep uphill
Creep down the steep hill slower than I went up
Katie comes storming by toward the end of the hill
Drop Katie again at the next aid station
Check behind me 3 miles later
Katie is still pretty close
Try to push a little harder
Race with a couple of cows 


I was certain the cows would cross the road right in front of me eventually. Which they did. I was also certain that they would stop in the middle of the dirt path and just stand there and stare at me. Which they didn't. Phew. Not a fan of cows in my way. 

I am also not a fan of terrible washboard on our dirt road. Or aid stations at exactly mile 13.1 which from far away look like the finish line and should be the finish line. But, hey, nothing like pushing hard to what you think is the end of the race and then having to find it in you to keep up the pace for another 1.4 miles. It really was the perfect hard training run!

What I am a fan of is local, affordable, fun, and beautiful races where we all come together to celebrate running! This was certainly one of those. And having ultra running legend Ian Torrence and  the newly minted 50k national road champion Emily Harrison volunteer their time and energy at this race was certainly a special treat! 

As was getting to hang out with some of my favorite people in Flagstaff! 


But we didn't hang out for long. Not only was it super windy and not warm but we had places to go and miles to ride! So we headed over to Wupatki. None of us were too thrilled to be in the wind for another 4 hours but a plan is a plan and we weren't going to back out. So off we went and had a good time chatting and climbing until we reached the highway. What is normally a super fun descent turned into holding on for dear life and pretending that we were still having fun. 

So grateful for awesome training partners! KH and I spend many hours a week training together and it's always a good time when PLB comes along and shares his stories!

me, KH, PLB

We rode 48 miles. My plan, however, said I needed to ride 60 miles. So when we got back to the car and I had stuffed my mouth and pockets full of any remaining food, I turned around and rode back up the highway and into Flagstaff. The wind was now in my back and it wasn't as bad as expected. I was actually having fun the whole time! Well, until that last climb up to my house. That one about did me in. But I'd rather ride an extra 20 miles than fall 12 miles short any day. 

As PLB sat down in the trunk of his car, glad this day of training was over, he says with a smile on his face: 

"I wish I had never met Sarah Jarvis." 

I take this as a compliment! It's not every day that this tough guy will let you wear him out. 

How awesome is PLB's little car with bike on top? 



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