Cirque Series, Sun Valley

Overdue to post my race report from the Sun Valley Cirque Series, I decided to just copy and paste the email I sent to my coach, the awesome Matt Laye. So the tone may be more personal that your average blog post, and some details relevant only to a coach, but you'll get the gist of the race. 

I should note that the race, reported to be 9.5 miles and 3900 feet elevation gain was definitely the toughest race I've maybe ever done. Particularly when it turned out to be long (11.8 miles) and boasted a 10am start time. Good times, but I'm have to say, that was a hard race!😁

"Hey Matt, 

Overall, I felt good and strong in the race. The hill climbs were crazy hard for me (glad I practiced even just that one time!) so maybe I am not a great mtn runner- stick to trail races?  But I did fly on the downhills!  Actually, the first shorter downhill I was following a maintenance truck who was kicking up so much dust and spewing exhaust from a truck older than me. It was so gross!!!  I couldn't get ahead but he was going just a little too slow. That was probably the most frustrating thing I encountered (which is so minor), but in the moment I was ready to shake a fist at him 😂

Anyway, the big downhill I was flying. It's technical with rocks and such, but I felt good and really opened up. However, I got tired and wasn't picking up my feet as much, so I fell (nbd. It was actually quite pro. Like textbook Mt Marathon tuck and roll!). My watch read 8.5miles and I knew we were a long way from the end, and I didn't want to fall again, so I reigned it in quite a bit. I was tired, hot, and kind of getting chills (all I could think was heat stroke!). I did keep the pace up reasonably well and passed another 2 guys in the last few miles. I was really happy to finish. 

My body feels pretty good today, all things considered. My quads are tight, my back is tight but not pinchy (!) and I still feel like I can't shake the post race thirst even though I've had so much water and electrolytes. On a side note, I sat in the river for 30 mins after the race and splashed some water on my face.  The water brought all of the dried sweat into my eyes and the salt was stinging for at least 10 mins after that; like I couldn't quite get all of the salt from hours of seriously hot exercise to wash off my face. That's how hot it was. Still not sure why the race started at 10am, but so it goes. The weather was the same for everyone...."

Gear:

Altra King MT shoes (wanted to big lugs vs. my usual fav Brooks Montezuma)

Lululemon, head to toe

UltrAspire handheld bottle

Nutrition:

2scoops Skratch Exercise Mix, orange