Next up: Wyoming!

Wow! Summer is flying by. It is unbelievable that the first week of August is already over. Where do the days go? As much as the running in the first part of July was difficult due to the heat and humidity here in CT, these last couple of weeks have been really nice. Cooler mornings feel wonderful, and for some of my afternoon runs, cloud cover has been plentiful. Both circumstances are a welcome relief from the higher temps earlier in the summer. 

I am gearing up for my next half, the Run with the Horses in Wyoming. I’ve been pretty worried about this one. This trip was planned with the focus on catching the full solar eclipse heading to the U.S. in August. The race was second priority. I don’t know that I would have chosen this race if it weren’t for the timing of the eclipse. I suspect I would’ve gone with a larger race like the one in Jackson Hole or Yellowstone; however the description on the race website has me excited to run in what I suspect will be stunning (if difficult) terrain.

The race site cautions runners to the difficulty of the race, and it seems that only about 150-200 runners compete in the combined collection of races (full, half and 10k). The race takes place at elevation, starting at approximately 6100 feet and rising about 1400 feet or so before the turn around to head back down. Certainly not a course for the faint of heart. I usually try to avoid hilly courses, but this being the race that coincided with the eclipse, I just have to deal with it. 

It will be a slow go for sure for me, especially after the difficulty I experienced in Colorado in the altitude…and that was on a downhill course! I’m just going to take it slow and keep my legs moving. Taking a look at results from last year, the winning female finished in just under 2 hours, so I expect to be a fair chunk beyond that. (Originally I thought the first place female for the half finished in 3 hours which scared me to death, but when I double checked, I saw that it was closer to 2 hours. I can handle that.)

So apparently the run takes us through high plains desert terrain with views of buttes and mountains. Sometimes there might be a glimpse of wild horses. It should be incredibly gorgeous. I plan to try running with a Go-Pro camera for this one to try to catch some of the beauty. I can’t wait to post some footage on the blog of what the camera captures. I figured that since I’m mentally prepared to not be running for a PR this time around, I may as well have some fun filming it, right? Hopefully the results turn out ok. With my luck, I’ll get finished to find that the camera was pointing at the sky the whole time! Oy!

The rest of the trip to Wyoming will feature hiking and visiting the National Parks, along with a visit to Jackson Hole and the eclipse, of course. I look forward to experiencing the beauty of this part of the country. Only a few more easy training runs to go before the big event. What a wonderful way to wrap up the summer.