The 35th running of the Western States 100 is not to be. I have always had the upmost respect for mother nature, critters, lightening, avalanches, etc. They say that there are over 800 fires burning in No. California and the smoke is thick. It is a probably a good thing that there was an official cancellation of the race because knowing me, I would have gone out because “I....must....finish........the ......race”.
We made it as far as Elko, NV Wed. night, planned to stay there overnight and make it to Squaw valley the following day. As there was now no use to continue on, we are headed home. Our pets will be happy to see us early. The smoke is apparent even on our return home from Elko.
I am feeling sorry for myself, but I can imagine there are folks worse off than me. The race directors had to make the tough call and they will be under even more fire about the entry for the 2009 race. Apparently they will make a decision on next years entry/lottery in 10 days. Runners come from afar, lots of time and cost for travel, I feel fortunate that we live so close and only wasted a few hours driving plus we were planning on staying at a friends condo. My poor friend Colleen is in Squaw Valley, surrounded by other mourning runners, and she can’t even go for a run. She said the smoke is bad. She will pick up my goodie bag, and head home Friday. The preparation, physically, mentally, and emotionally I know it will get better but I feel like I cheated my family, my friends, and myself.
Let’s look at the brighter side:
1. I have a legitimate reason why I didn’t run Western States..... and a much better reason than a DNF (missed cutoffs or injury).
2. Shorter drive, we only made it to Elko, less than half way to Squaw Valley.
3. I am essentially packed for Vermont
4. I am looking forward to painting our living room, since our new couch has arrived and the reupholstered chairs will be ready in a week or so.
5. The pressure of the grand slam is off, at least for now. I feel like I can do the other runs without pressure. There are 34 other Grand Slammers in my same boat....there has to be some consolation prize.
6. There is a trail run in Logan, UT on Saturday! 28 miles and heads up to Logan Peak @ 9,700 ft. Could be snow but Peter is game to go, he could ride his mountain bike. I put a call into the race director, hopefully they will let me in. Will keep ya posted on that one.
Looking back, there were a couple of signs that things just weren’t working out:
1. Last Halloween, I was at a party and there was a fortune teller. We went around the room asking her questions. I asked “if I was going to be able to run a race that was difficult to get into” she answered “Yes”, then I asked her “there are 5 races that I really want to finish this year, will I finish all five”, she said “No, but you will complete 4”. Quite eerie....I got into Western States, but I thought that I would forego the Speedgoat or I thought I wouldn’t make it through a Leadville cutoff. Hmmmm, we will see if I finish the other races, was my destiny told that Hallows-eve?
2. Sophie had a dream last week, she said that I didn’t make it through an aid station.
4. My massage therapist had foot surgery and was supposed to be back for my pre-race massage, but he wasn’t.
5. I forgot my sleeping pill when packing for WS. I have a terrible time sleeping before a race and I have a secret stash of Ambien that I only use the night before a race. I remembered ~1hour out of Salt Lake and there was no chance Peter would turn around. I quickly perseverated over lying in bed Friday night, sweating, looking at my watch, and thinking I could never run the race if I didn’t sleep. Over the counter meds don’t work for me, the Benedryl makes me groggy for 3 days.
So what now? I will run Vermont and Leadville and Wasatch, plus the speedgoat in July and maybe Logan this weekend. I am also considering the Bear 100, which is 3 weeks after Wasatch. The Bear is located near Preston, Idaho (Napoleon Dynamite country). I paced Colleen last year, beautiful course not well marked we got lost twice it rained and snowed but she finished and we had fun.... well at least I did but I was the pacer. This year there is a new course and it ends at Bear Lake.
As we are driving, we see firefighting vehicles headed to California, we are now in Wendover and there is still smoky haze in the air.........
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