Exactly 0% of my weekend went as planned. Well, I guess I did make the drive to Steamboat and my car was momentarily parked in the Dry Lake Trailhead parking lot, so maybe 4% as planned? Everything else…was not at all what I had planned. Some of it was kind of expected, some of it was very unwelcome and none of this insanity is made up, trust me!

Before I even made it to Steamboat I managed to lose my headlamp in the bag I had packed to take with me and forget my wallet + credit cards + ID in the bag I usually bring but chose to leave behind this weekend. Of course I didn’t realize my wallet was chilling back home on my bed until I pulled up to a gas pump 70 miles from home with an empty tank. Oops. Lucky for me this happens more often than I care to admit and I had a backup plan in place – a rarely used credit card I had stashed in the Forester!

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Eventually I made it to Steamboat and met up with Paula. After spending half a paycheck on food for the trail we headed out to the Dry Lake trailhead to start our night off with a 10 mile run along an out/back on the RRR100 course. We set out fully confident in our abilities. Or at least in our goals for the night – I needed to keep my whiney leg in check, Paula needed to keep her night time trail imagination under control. Before we even got one mile from the car we were both failing miserably. My leg was pissed and Paula was busy convincing both of us we’d die on the trail. We turned around…

Yup, we definitely turned in about six “badass ultra runner” cards that night…although we like to think we played it smart! There was no way I was letting Paula run on dark trails alone and my leg wasn’t being receptive to any coaxing I was giving it so we headed back to town with a tentative plan to run from a trailhead that started right in town.

As we drove back to town I talked myself out of even starting the 100 mile race – how was I going to run 100 miles in just 5 weeks when I couldn’t even pull of a full mile on the course tonight? Why start a race you know your body can’t finish? Why not just bail on the race and rock at life as a crew member for someone else!? All of this reasoning meant I had no reason to run…but Paula didn’t have the same excuse so she had to get some miles in.

Once again we improvised, this time we gave up on trails and opted for mindless loops around an outdoor track. Well, Paula ran mindless loops while I kept tally marks from the comfort of a sleeping bag! I also made her do lunges every mile since the track was just too flat. We passed the miles with bits and pieces of conversation about our race weekend plans…by this time I had been talked out of officially DNS’ing until a later date. Instead I would spend two weeks avoiding running, eating lots of recovery ice cream and sleeping as many hours as possible.


Proof I’m the world’s best runner friend – I nap while you run!

I eventually got bored of tally marks and fell asleep as Paula continued her laps. She called it a night at 13 miles after the pavement had done a number on her trail loving joints. Too lazy to actually set up a tent or pack ourselves back into the Forester we both crashed on the track under a full moon. It was actually a very peaceful night…until about 3:50am when I woke up to the sound of a fearless fox sniffing around my head. I thought he was after the beef jerky I had tucked in my sleeping bag but it turns out he was far more interested in my sweet potato chips, which he had already devoured.

He was probably harmless but since he had absolutely no fear of humans and was far more curious than either of us were comfortable with Paula and I gave up on a night of sleeping under the stars and relocated to the back of the Forester! Technically we could have started the drive home since we had already ruined all of our running plans for the weekend but Creekside didn’t open until 6am and we both thought we’d earned some thick, local bacon!

So, rather than a weekend full of mountain trail running I ran a grand total of 1.5 miles, slept on a football field in the middle of a track, got to meet a friendly fox [who had nothing to say, fwiw] and was back home more than 24 hours before I planned. And what did I do with all this extra time back in the city? I slept. I ate ice cream. I slept some more. I did laundry. I ate some more ice cream. I slept again. Oh, and I made some appointments to get my body abused by professionals in hopes that it’ll help get me to the finish line of the Run, Rabbit, Run 100 miler. Yup…I’m not giving up on the race, not quite yet. It won’t be a stellar performance by any means but if I can approach the start line without lingering pain I’m going to give it my best effort!


14 Comments

Laura · August 11, 2021 at 2:44 pm

My favorite part of this post is the fact that the fox had nothing to say 🙂 Glad you guys both survived!

    Heidi Nicole · August 11, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    I think he was too busy eating my chips! 😉

Natalie @ Free Range Human · August 11, 2021 at 3:59 pm

This story is equal parts hilarious and so, so cool! Also, it sounds very much like you 🙂 The sucky part, of course, is that you’re leg is still cranky. Fingers crossed that it gets it’s sh*t together so you can still pull off your bad a$$ race!

    Heidi Nicole · August 11, 2021 at 4:21 pm

    That’s the sad part — it sounds like me! I’m a mess!

    And if my leg can’t make itself better with a daily dose of ice cream I’m screwed!

Marissa @ Barefoot Colorado · August 11, 2021 at 6:39 pm

To be fair those pictures are creepy as shiz and I don’t blame Paula for thinking that your run would turn into a horror story. The end.

    Heidi Nicole · August 11, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    I cannot wait for the two of you to run together in the dark. I might buy you a GoPro just for the occasion, it will be priceless!

Lindsay @ Lindsay's List · August 12, 2021 at 10:18 am

wow.. all i could think while reading this is how awesome you are and how OLD i feel. i don’t think i’ve ever spent the night at a football field.

    Heidi Nicole · August 12, 2021 at 10:54 am

    Ha. Thank you…I’ll take “awesome” over “complete mess” any day! It was an experience to say the least! If you get the chance to sleep in the middle of a football field, do it! But leave the sweet potato chips in the car!

Jena · August 12, 2021 at 9:47 am

I kind of think your weekend sounds fun - I like a good plan, but it’s fun to wing it sometimes.

I also keep a credit card hidden in my car. The amount of times I’ve had to drive home bc I had no money is shameful.

    Heidi Nicole · August 12, 2021 at 10:12 am

    It really was a good, relaxing weekend. I needed it!

    So glad I’m not the only one that tends to walk around without any money!

Lindsay · August 13, 2021 at 12:29 pm

I am actually going to Steamboat for a week. Do you have any recommendations for places to eat and go while you’re there??

    Heidi Nicole · August 13, 2021 at 1:36 pm

    Creekside Cafe for “local bacon” or just plain ol’ brunch is delicious! And the Paddlewheel is a great coffee shop. Otherwise I’ve been to Carl’s Tavern which was tasty (although I was crazy hungry at the time) and a friend highly recommends the Rusty Porch, though I haven’t been yet. Plus, there is always the Rio Grande if you’re looking for a tasty margarita and steak filled burrito!

    Have fun while you’re there — it’s a beautiful mountain town!

lynne · August 15, 2021 at 9:38 am

psh. who needs plans anyway? or credit cards? or legs that let you run?

jk 🙂 glad you’re on the mend and that the little fox was just a curious cutie. #photosoritdidnthappen

    Heidi Nicole · August 15, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    Plans really are overrated — how boring what that “everything went as planned” post have been?! So boring!

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