This past Memorial Day Long Weekend we drove to Los Alamos, New Mexico for a race of Jason's. This race was a 'training race' in preparation for Jason's big event in July: the HardRock 100 miler.
We debated about whether Jason should go by himself or whether we should go as a family. In the end, I wanted to go for the adventure and didn't want to be by myself for 3 days without Jason, so we all went.
Friday morning we managed to leave the house by 8:20am and took the toll road, thinking we could get around Denver traffic. We still got really slowed down between Denver and Colorado Springs, and the 6.5 hour drive took us all day. There was some anxiety since we didn't know exactly where we were going to camp and athlete check in and pre-race dinner started at 4:30pm.
We entered New Mexico with some excitement. Jason had been before but I don't think I had. So I counted this as my 42nd state. Rachel and Ava are also getting up there in their state list.
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| My 42nd state! |
We found a spot to camp next to an aid station location - just a flat area on a back road with no facilities that was quiet and free. We set up our brand new enormous REI Kingdom tent that we bought with our reward dividend this year. It's huge. You can stand up inside, it has 2 doors and 2 rooms! The girls were very excited, but we rushed them away to get to the pre-race dinner.
A church in town hosted a great pasta dinner. Jason picked up his packet and we shoveled in food. We missed the race briefing and didn't win any prizes, and then we left to get back to the campsite. Our tent endured some rain, serious wind, and thunder in the evening as we tried to get both girls to sleep.
We had a travel crib set up inside the tent for Ava, but she cried and refused to sleep in the crib and didn't settle well on a thermarest. She didn't seem to mind her sleeping bag, but loved the idea that she could move around and check on other people instead of sleeping. She kept Rachel and Jason up longer than we intended, but finally everyone went to sleep. For a few hours. Ava woke again at about 12:30pm and wouldn't quit. At 1:20am, Rachel said 'this is the worstest night ever' because she was irritated with Ava and couldn't sleep herself. Ava came to sleep on me, and then Rachel felt left out on her side of the tent. So I spent a couple hours lying in between thermarests, half in/out of my own sleeping bag, trying to keep Ava calm and quiet and hope Jason could sleep. I don't think I succeeded too well.
At 3:20am Ava was wide awake. So was I. At 3:30am, Jason's alarm went off to get up and ready to go. Rachel took a while to rouse and get in her car seat, but eventually we made it all in the car to get Jason to the start in the dark.
The start was well organized and easy. I had time to fire up the campstove and make Jason oatmeal while he readied himself and deposited his drop bags.
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| Parked near start, firing up the campstove for oatmeal |
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| The girls waiting patiently at 4am |
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| Minutes before the start |
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| 5:01am |
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| There goes Daddy! See you in a few hours! |
By the time we got back to our campsite, the sun was rising and we were all pretty awake. We played in the tent for a while and I tried to get us organized for our day of cheering. I realized my car was on the wrong side of the aid station, and I had to move it or we wouldn't be able to get out of our campsite road.
I left Rachel in charge of Ava in the tent and ran around to pack and move the car. This was a huge milestone in our family. I felt safe letting Rachel be in charge of Ava in certain situations for a few minutes, and this allowed me way more freedom than I've known at any other race in the last 2 years.
We had fun reading stories and playing in the tent and then went to the aid station right near our campsite. It was called Camp May Road, and it was close to 9 miles in after some serious climbing.
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| Girls waiting to see their Daddy at Camp May Road |
Jason came through looking good, and the girls did well to give him high 5s and then let him run away without any crying. This was a big improvement on the aid stations in February (Moab), when Ava cried and cried each time Jason ran away.
We drove up to the ski lodge, where we would see Jason at 19 miles and 39 miles. He had drop bags there so didn't actually need us to 'crew' in any official way, so the pressure was off. But it was an easy set up. There were bathrooms and tables and lots of volunteers and space to move around and play. I also had cell service and a Spot Tracker App so I could had some idea on where Jason was and how fast he was moving.
Jason came through doing fine, but admitted he was pretty fatigued overall. He didn't taper for this race, hadn't rested much or slept well all week, didn't have his pre-race nutrition or sleep or travel scenario dialed in at all, so this was expected. But he had no specific issues, and he moved along.
We had a while to wait before he would come through again. We ended up deciding to go back to our tent. The aid station was being taken down so I could get through to our tent without issue. We went in and the most amazing thing happened: Ava, Rachel and I all slept. We napped side by side in the tent for over 2 hours! It was awesome. I felt so much better afterward and was thrilled to wake up and check the time and see that both girls were still asleep.
We returned to the ski lodge to wait, eat, and cheer.
We genuinely had fun playing around the ski lodge and cheering while we waited. I felt ok being able to leave the girls and go to the bathroom if I needed to go, and Rachel hiked around and played well without me while I helped Ava. This was a reflection of how much simpler it is getting to take care of both girls with just one adult - very, very different from what it was 1 year ago.
Jason came through mile 39 doing ok. He was moving slower than expected and was mentally and physically tired, but had no injuries and specific issues. We helped him change, fill water, eat, etc. and encouraged him to keep on going. After he left, it snowed briefly.
The next place we would see Jason would be at the finish line. The actual race distance was closer to 54 miles than the advertised 50 miles, and there were many hills left in the course, so we had time before the finish.
We headed into town and played at a playground and library for a while. The girls played really nicely together at the park. I helped Rachel on the monkey bars but she caught Ava at the bottom of the slide and helped me with diaper changing and snack. Rachel found a friend in the library and played happily without me, so I had lots of time to peacefully watch Jason's Spot footprints appear as he moved along my map. Ava and I read and did puzzles but she also played on her own. Again, I was impressed with how well the girls were doing and how much easier caring for them was becoming compared to times in the past.
We settled in at the finish and cheered on other runners. We played bocci ball (as best as you can with a 2 and 4 year old) and hoped Jason would show up before 13 hours.
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| Cheering as Daddy appears, coming into the finish |
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| Jason, finished, in about 12:45 |
Jason came through at about 5:45pm, tired but still going strong and having passed loads of people in the last hour. He was only a little bit out of it and had only minor stomach issues.
Then we contemplated our next move. Our plan was to go back to the tent and sleep. But we hadn't really thought much about dinner or showering. There was post race food for Jason, who didn't really feel like eating, but not for us girls. Jason had a pass to the aquatic center to use the shower, but it closed at 5pm so we missed that. The creeks nearby weren't really full enough to soak in. Jason really needed to have an ice bath and put his feet up. We needed to get the girls fed and to bed.
So we opted to drive back to the campsite, take the tent down, and get the last hotel in town for the night. It was a good move. Jason didn't feel well by the time we got to the hotel room, and the girls were tired and needed sleep. Jason had a shower and rested. I got our stuff into the hotel room and more organized, and got the girls to sleep. Rachel went down well on the floor, and Ava went down eventually without her crib on a floor bed we made. I guess we're done with our travel crib!
In the morning, we woke at 5:45am and were at the free continental breakfast at 6am eating our hearts out. We packed up our stuff, filled the car, and started our drive home.
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| Ava helps us leave the hotel Sunday morning |
We stopped for a picnic near the Colorado border and Jason was getting pretty stiff in the car ride. We decided to head to Ikea in South Denver on the way home. Rachel got to go to Small-Land for an hour and jump in balls and climb and color, and we did some shopping for the condo. We ate dinner at IKEA and were all very tired and crabby by this point.
Somehow, we managed to stuff our purchases into an already-full car, and make it the last 45 min home and to bed.
Overall, I think Jason was pleased with his race and I was happy with the weekend. It was much easier caring for the girls and 'crewing' than it has been before. The race set-up was easy and well organized. We only tried to see Jason 3 times in between the start and finish, and the girls did awesome. Jason is also getting to be a smarter and more experienced competitor with each race, and I'm more knowledgeable and relaxed about what to expect from the sidelines.
I'm really proud of Jason. He really didn't want to keep going at mile 39 and that's way too early to say something like 'only 15 miles to go!' ... but he kept going and ended up improving as he went. I'm really excited for his next big race, which our whole family has put so much into in the last 6-8 months.
Monday was a holiday, and the sun came out, so we called it a garden day. We weeded, turned over our garden, and planted. We put in corn, pumpkins, squash, potatoes, blueberries, tomatoes and peppers. We were very happy with our productivity! We still have more to do, but it felt good to get something accomplished as a family.
