It's finally here! First, before I get into anything else, if you have an interest in following my progress through the Moab 240, it start tomorrow (Friday, 10/7, at 6AM) and the final cutoff is Tuesday, 10/11 at 11PM. You can follow my "every step" by going to the Moab 240 website and clicking on the "Live Tracking" button. If you click on that link it will also list Moab 240's social media sites (Instagram and Facebook) where they will post some updates during the race. My sister Rachel is out here with me, crewing and pacing, and if she is able to post a few updates on this site she will but that will be dependent on her available time and access to wifi.
My natural tendency is toward instant gratification. For majority of my life I sought "quick fixes" to how I was feeling. The last few days I've been talking with a few friends and family about how this race, the Moab 240, signals at least some growth in that area. I have trained for a year specifically for this race. I have gotten up at 4am (or earlier sometimes) day after day to train before work, running, lifting, climbing, swimming and heat training. All towards a goal of a race that lasts around FOUR days! This is the complete opposite of instant gratification! And I love it! Its hard, but that's why I run Ultra Marathons, it teaches me how to live life better.
Arrived in Moab last night after picking up my amazing sister, and crew chief for the race, Rachel, from the airport and making the 6 hour drive to Moab. We had a great time catching up and I am so grateful to have company to help me stay out of my head before the race.
I have a ridiculous amount of stuff for this week long adventure in Moab and the race itself, as evidenced from the below picture before I played a game of Tetris to get everything comfortably in the back of my jeep! One of the hard things about running a new race distance for the first time and knowing what is important and not important to bring or have with you, so yes, I "slightly" over planned and overpacked! But when it comes down to it my ability to finish will not be predicated on items I did or did not bring, it will be about my ability to battle my own mind which I know will be telling me to quite and curl into a nice bed after a hot shower :)
Race check in was today at 3 and went pretty smoothly, got my mandatory gear check, physical, phone check to make sure I could properly navigate the course, got my "swag" and race big and got my "before" picture :)
I'm equally excited and nervous to just get started at this point. I generally do have trouble sleeping the night before a big race but hoping to get as much rest as I can and either way I'm running 240 miles starting tomorrow at 6AM!
I want to say a huge thanks for the people that truly helped just get me to the starting line. My amazing partner Sarah who has sacrificed a lot of time to enable me to complete the training necessary for a race of this magnitude. My sister Rachel, crew chief, who flew out from Michigan to join me on this crazy adventure. My sister Heidi who will be pacing me through a very difficult section of the course (think LOTS of climbing, mile 164 to 200, coldest section of the course, highest elevation, and in the middle of the night....). There are MANY, MANY others who have also supported me just to get to the starting line.
And, a final thanks to my amazing niece Abigail (Rachel's daughter), who created the lovely binder cover for Rachel's VERY organized "race binder". Just got to look at that picture and it makes me what to do whatever I can to finish this race and reminds me that this race is an adventure and is meant to be "fun"! Thanks Abigail!
