I’m an avid runner who loves big races because I enjoy leaving people in my dust! Yah I get passed up sometimes, but they don’t count because they have better genes than me, or their shoes are lighter, or my dog ate my homework, or whatever excuse I have that day. Anyways, road races are my niche but something about trail running had me curious so I signed up for the Stonewall Peak Half Marathon for only $ 45(hooyah military discount). After taking a glance at the course map I noticed that it only had one aid station around mile 6 and that we’d be climbing two peaks during the half. The race director went further to ensure everyone brought at least 50 oz of water with us because of the heat that Cuyumaca had been experiencing. All that info was great but I was pretty naïve on trail running and I rarely trained in dirt thinking that I’d finish in a time close to my normal road runs. Boy was that dumb and I paid for it dearly. I drove to the race with blind confidence thinking I was going to smash this thang! NOPE, this thing kicked my ass! I was immediately humbled when I started my ascent up Stonewall Peak trying to maintain my pace and keep up with a few ultra runners. After ten minutes or so I saw some of them walking and that’s when I knew that this race would take a lot longer than I expected and that I had better watch my water and electrolyte intake. Going up the first peak at a jog for a minute and walk for two worked out well but for Middle peak that didn’t last. At that time of the day I had already taken my sweat soaked hat and the sun was puffing out it’s chest with all it’s might. My quads were gone and it actually took effort and mind control to keep crawling up the mountain but when I hit the fire road and saw that it was the start of the descent, that’s when I pushed through the wall and found that little bit of reserved strength to finish the race strong. After wards, I downed two cokes and damn near passed out and vomited. I barely had the awareness to drive the hour long ride home but after I took my ten hour nap I knew that I had left everything in Cuyumaca and I had found my new beast to tame. This run was nothing like I’ve ever experienced before and with only 80 people running 13 plus miles I only saw a handful of runners, so this race was truly mind vs body. The sights were awe inspiring and the pictures are memorable but my favorite souvenir from the race was my sore and exhausted body.
