Fourth of July Weekend: The Race

On the morning of the fourth I was lucky enough to get to race one of the best races that I have ever done! Heres just a little preview of the start line:

And here is a brief description of the course:

"The 43rd Annual Gothic to Crested Butte Run, Walk, or Crawl 1/3rd Marathon. Enjoy a Crested Butte Independence Day tradition! This fun run benefits the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and begins at 8 a.m. in Gothic, winds through the aspen woods and meadows to Mt. Crested Butte, and ends in downtown Crested Butte. Shuttle buses from Crested Butte will transport all participants to the starting line in Gothic."

The course looks like it is downhill, but it actually starts at 8900 feet, climbs to 9600 feet and then ends in the town of crested butte at about 8600 feet. SO this was a HIGH ELEVATION race!
The race was approximately 8.6 miles (but my garmin told me 9) :) The first 4 miles were completely UP HILL. And by up "hill" I mean up mountains. I have never seen so many people stop to walk by the first mile. But I was determined to conquer those hills, just I speed right up them. OK OK maybe not speed, maybe more of a "crawl", but I made  it up those hills!
The second half was almost completely downhill. Which in my opionion is just as bad because you use so much energy trying not to just face plant down the mountain that you tire out quickly. You also use different muscles going downhill, which makes for that "ALL OVER SORE" feeling in the morning... gotta love it!
Along the way is some of the most breathtakingly beautiful scenery I have ever seen.

Picture from the Daily Mile

Yes, there was snow on top of the mountain!

The whole time I was running I couldn't believe how beautiful it was up there. By far the best running trail that I have ever seen!
Of course my sports photographer (the BF) was waiting at the finish line to get those awesome finish line photos that everyone always looks so stunning in:

This is the town of Crested Butte, where the finish line was. Everyone is just setting up waiting on the finishers.

As I'm coming up to the finish line the guy right behind SNEAKS UP on me and passes me!! A couple of times I have been embarrassed and backed down when this has happened. I don't like thinking that all the attention at the finish line is on me and my "fight to beat someone to the finish". Plus I would be embarrassed if I tried and then didn't pass that person. However, confidence in my races is something that I know is a weakness and that I have been working on. So this time, when this fella tried to sneak attack me and pass me at the finish, I kicked it into over drive and SMOKED HIM!

See? There he is BEHIND me at the finish. I had to give a little fist pump to the boyfriend, because I knew he would be proud!
At the end of the race the guy came up and shook my hand and said "good job! I knew you were gonna pass me, but I just thought I would give it one last shot"
Talk about a great finish! I am so glad that I didn't let my insecurities get the best of me. I didn't back down, I gave it my all, and I felt so good about my accomplishment at the end of the race. Too often I beat myself up for things that I should of done. But this time I was proud of my effort.
The boyfriend's sister and her husband also ran the race. She's pretty badass...she has ran several marathons and other hardcore races, hasn't ran regularly in a while and just picks up and runs 9 miles up a mountain...did I mention she also takes care of four children?!

Here they are crossing the finish line!

They gave the fist pump coming across the finish line too!

Jodi and I after the race.

After the race the town had a pancake breakfast, specially made by all of the firefighters. I was pretty hungry:

YUM!

The rest of the day was spent with family and friends. Shopping around, watcing the parade, and eating more!
What a great weekend!
What is an accomplishment that you are most proud of?
What is something that you consider a weakness for yourself? How do you work on improving it?