I came, I saw, I conquered.
Really, it
goes I went, I saw – not everything because it was very foggy-, and I
conquered, throwing out a few choice words along the way to much of the
amusement of fellow runners around me. The Merrell Challenge 10 in Pachacamac,
Peru marks my first official race in over two years and man oh man am I damn
proud of it. The 11.6 K race was not only my inaugural race back in to running
but my first trail race ever. I can’t say I have all the stats of the race- I don’t even know my
time, but what I can say is that this race - hosted by Merrell Peru and
Peru8mil - has been an experience that I will never forget and reminded me why
I began to run in the first place- the love of exploration because really,
adventure is out there!
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| Myself after race with my awesome Cousin- Dr. Flor Basili |
Why this one?
Good question!
This wasn’t some thought out plan to make my way back to running. I needed a
run for June and since I was in the neighborhood I said WHY NOT? This trip to
Peru had been planned long ago to visit friends and family. Family who are
involved with the organization Peru8Mil. A few weeks prior to traveling I thought to myself “Wouldn’t it be awesome to do a run in
Peru?!” So I asked around and checked the Peru8Mil facebook site and lo and
behold there was a race!! A trail race at that!
Did you feel prepared for it?
Yes and No.
After perusing the website and looking at a few of the previous runs from years
past on youtube.com, I knew it
wasn’t going to be easy. I tried to study the run however, I wasn’t able to
find any elevation maps. I just knew 2 things. 1) it’s 11.6K roughly 7.1 miles
2) It’s hilly. The latter was an
understatement.
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| The Race outline |
*Big thanks to my class for tolerating all the squats in
sculpt and hills climbs in Spinning class for the past few weeks. I really feel
that the cross training help me complete the run as well as feel pretty pain
free (besides the left foot and knee) the next day.
Lastly, foam
rolling or in my case, wooden rolling pin rolling. It’s painful but it really
helps massage out those tough calf knots and break down the fascia in the foot.
How was it?
Amazing!
First, I got a small glimpse of what it takes to put on such an event. It’s a
lot of work days before, hours during, and hours after. I woke up at 5am that
morning to head out of Lima to Pachacamac by 6am. We met at my cousin’s home,
who was the Medic for the event, and her husband who is with Peru8mil were making those
final orders while several of their
friends were helping make the registration packets/bags, getting last logistics
ready and really all the other prep that I probably don’t even know exists. We
reached our destination about 6:45 in the morning and several people where
already there for the Expo as well as runners.
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| Cousin Francisco of Peru8mil and Tio (uncle) Cesar |
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| Sister, Nephew-Matteo, Cousin- Paulo heading out to their destination to direct runners |
8am: Many of the runners were in their orange shirts ready
to run. Several were running around the area just warming up and trying to keep
loose. The weather was favorable- cool and foggy which helped cover the mother
of mountain that we would run, the hill next to it was visible and mentally, I
was preparing for that sucker and only that sucker. Others were taking pictures
graciously hosted by Merrell and checking out the Subaru that was doing some
tough testing riving on a rugged course. The atmosphere was lively and ready
and raring to go.
9am: Group Yoga and Warmup began. Many people participated
in this group exercise while other including myself went to mentally prepare. I
kept reminding myself- this wasn’t about time, this was about completing the
race. Enjoy the run, be thankful to have the opportunity and the ability to do
so, and listen to my body.
9:25am: We were asked to line up and get ready to go. They
asked us to count down to 10 and we were off.
The Course:
Beautiful.
I’m so
grateful to have been reminded of the reason I began to run in the very first
place to enjoy the view. Sometimes I am so focused on the pavement I forget to
take in the scenery around me. I have done Surf City (Huntington Beach) twice
and I can’t tell you even what half that course looked like. Disney is a little
different because it really strives to give you a show while you run, this
however, was different. There was no
bands, no fireworks nor hundreds of people cheering you on, it was just the
sweet scenery of a lovely countryside. I really wish I had brought my camera,
but in a way, it’s kind of special, almost sacred. I enjoyed running, waving
hello to the countrymen, women and children curious to why the hell anyone
would want to run this. We ran alongside a brook, under a lovely natural canopy
and up the first hill.
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| Not my own picture |
Challenging.
My cousin had warned me, be careful the hills
they are steep and the way down is just as bad. She wasn’t kidding, with the
gravel, the mud, and the narrow paths you had to be vigilant at all times.
Around the half point I saw the smiling faces of my sister, my cousin and my
nephew as I continued to trot along. At that point, I shed an article of
clothing and gave it to my sister who blurted something out to me. However, due
to the headphones, I couldn’t hear a word she said. It wasn’t until later, after
the race she told me, “ I was warning you, this isn’t the hill, it’s hasn’t
come up yet, conserve your energy”. So I
continued along and I could see the orange flags that outlined the course to my
right. “I’m almost there I thought!” I began to hoot and holler, clap and cheer
while other runners probably thought I was nuts. It was then we made the curve
and I saw other little orange flags outline the other half of the course (a
switchback) and little orange ants trotting up the hill/ mountain.
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| Not my own picture- Courtesy of Merrell Peru Facebook |
A steady stream of expletives.
And that’s
where it happened, where I remembered every bad word in Spanish I had ever
heard came spewing out of my mouth like vomit. Now my fellow runners were
amused, they probably thought “oh, she didn’t know!?! Jejejeje”. I just
reminded myself, slow and steady, I am here to complete. I hadn’t taken my
phone or my watch (the phone I wish I had just to use the runners app to know
the elevation) so not to worry about time but judging by my playlist I think
this 2nd half took me about an 45 minutes or so. I had done well on
my first half - this was grueling. I finally reached the turning point where it became predominately downhill, but I had to carefully maneuver coming down the
loose gravel and steep grade. We past back down to the hydration center where I
made an absolute complete stop to get three cups of water and Gatorade-
something I have never done before. I continued on, a part of my wanted to fly
down and worry about the havoc it would take on my knees later, but I slowed
down out of fear of injury. We finally made the turn back into the main field
and like I have down in every other course, I sprinted to the finish line and
claimed my medal.
So what was your time?
Funny, I
honestly, don’t know- I do know it was under 1:30 but that’s about all I know. I
made a conscious effort not to look at the clock while I sprinted in but I have
gone in to check my official time, and I can’t find myself on the roster. I’ll
send an email to inquire but I feel it’s a way of the universe to keep me
grounded to completing and not competing towards an injury.
*Disclaimer: I am no where near competing state.
Final thoughts:
Run
somewhere different. This run is/was close to my heart for several reasons:
First race back, first trail run, it’s was my Grandma’s birthday who I know was
laughing her head off in Heaven while I cursed up a storm, I got to do it in my
lovely country of Peru, I got to have my family cheer me on, most scenic run
ever- just great! And I felt like a beast after accomplishing it. I truly got
myself out of my comfort zone and that’s what challenges are all about. I may
not be there for number 11 but I will definitely be back.
