Jackson Hole Half Marathon!
There I am! Jackson Hole Half Marathon Finisher! Happy! But that wasn’t the plan. Originally I was to run the full marathon and that was what I had been training for from Spring through Summer. Feeling good too! Running mountain-miles to try to train for a marathon above 6000′ along with farther distances at a strong 7 – 7:30 min/mile pace! Here is a look at one of my runs over the summer; 7 mile run in 53 minutes.
By mountain mile run, I mean running an entire mile up a mountain here in Warwick. An elevation gain of about 800 feet, climbing to 1039ft. Now obviously that elevation isn’t Teton Mountain level, but running it in a short distance, I feel it! In my legs, my quads, my hammies, my breathing! It’s a Well-Fit workout for sure! I wrote about my running days in an earlier blog Spring Stroller Jogs and a Mountain Mile Run
While on one of those mountain mile runs, I felt a pull and then some pain in my calf. It wasn’t too horrendous and I could finish the run, but going forward, it wouldn’t go away. I either pulled it or strained it. I rested, iced it, bought a compression sock, using a tennis ball I rolled it out and did massages. And I googled it… with that I found I could possibly have a blood clot that will no doubt eventually lead to a pulmonary embolism while I’m in flight to a higher elevation, possibly killing me. Gotta love the brutal morbic honesty of Doctor Google. I wasn’t convinced I was on my death-bed, I just knew I had some sort of tear and mostly I had to make a decision; was I to attempt to run the full 26.2 and possibly have the pain become so intense I’d have to drop out and become a DNF? Or drop back my mileage all together, rest and ease my training and then run the half-marathon. It came down to the week prior to the race; I wasn’t able to finish 11 miles on runs without the pain increasing so I changed my race entry to Half rather than the Full. Very glad I did so!
The race began at the Journey’s Teton Science School in Jackson, which is a school that sounds so awesome to attend, and finished at Teton Village. It is a cup-free race, which meant I needed to have some kind of cup or collapsible water-bottle to be able to fill at aid stations. I only need to get a quick drink or squish out my mouth when I run, especially when it isn’t super hot, so I had the collapsible water-bottle I actually bought in Grand Targhee and it worked well. I could fold it up in my sleeve.
Here we go, the start of the race, super beautiful start to the day!
Sun is rising and it was an amazing morning to run! It was in the 40s to begin but warmed up into the 60s by the finish. When I came upon this view, I began to get so choked-up and almost started to cry, tears filling my eyes. I envisioned my dad standing there, giving me a wave and a head nod, perhaps a shout of “lookin good Jamer!” I could almost actually see him there! Maybe he was. Just for a split spiritual second. And if he was there, I’m so happy I got to see him!!!
I love taking photos, even while I’m running, so I snap a few here and there to share the view with you! So we’re having a great run together!! Passing cowboy ranches and meadows under blue sky, breathing in mountain air and seeing the Tetons in the distance gradually get closer!
Running selfie with the Tetons in the far distance! Can you see them?
We eventually took a turn and entered a local bike path.
I love this photo below. I took that while running! Can you see the Tetons?! It’s like a magical land. Terabithia!
We ran across a bridge over the Snake River then made our way toward Teton Village!
Throughout the race by this point I was feeling great! The first miles, I was feeling good and kept my mile pace at 7:30 pretty consecutively. You can see the splits below, mile 1 – 5.
Now I’m on the bike/walking/running trail with a visible sign reminding me we’re in bear country! Be Bear Aware! I also live in bear country in Warwick, NY, but we don’t have grizzlies in our area. Black bears only. Here, both black bear and grizzlies!
The final stretch of the race, running along the scenic drive of Moose-Wilson Rd, straight towards the Tetons!
As I made it toward mile 8, I began to feel my calf pain. I still pushed as strong as I could as it wasn’t too bad yet, but mile 8 and 9 were now in the low 8 min mile pace range. By mile 10, definitely feeling the pain! It was hurting! I decided to slow it down now and my mile pace showed at 8:39, pretty much an entire minute slower than my first seven miles.
I was still enjoying the run though! I only had three miles to finish so I’d settle in a pace that wasn’t terrible on my calf and have fun with the run!
Look at this view!! This is why I run! I love being outside and I love soaking in moments like this! It’s not simply a fantastic Well-Fit workout but it is also great for my mind, my soul, My Whole Well-Being! It is very much a part of one of the many aspects that make me Well-Defined! Even if I did have some pain in my calf it wasn’t enough to stop me! I thought of my dad again at this point and I knew he would’ve loved being here!
By this point in the race my calf muscle was really paining me, so I took a brief stop to massage it, slightly stretch it… and take a pic of the cattle and the mountains!
The horses were stunning against the mountains! And can you see the paraglider!?
Finally getting toward the finish. Feeling the pain in my calf but still happy to be out in the majestic beauty of nature and Jackson Hole! Had to take some selfies!
Finishing as strong as I could!
Made it! And I don’t think my calf would have allowed me to go .1 mile more, so it was definitely a good decision to run the half rather than the full. I would’ve had to drop out.
In all the many photos my husband took, you can see I’m favoring my left calf. Even to simply stand on it was painful.
The Teton Village finish area was a great place for the race to end. Nice area to just relax and have some food, water, beer! It is exactly where we stayed, our resort was right there, so super convenient! You can see the Mangy Moose Saloon to the left, we went there every night!
I finished the last three miles at a 9:30 – 9:45 pace. If you happened to have read my previous blogs about our hikes throughout GTNP and our cross country mountain biking at Grand Targhee just the day prior to my run, perhaps you’re thinking those activities may have contributed to my calf pain during the race. They did not. Even if doing so had, I still would’ve hiked the incredible trails of the Tetons and biked the magnificent place that is the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. There is no way I’m traveling to Jackson Hole/GTNP and not exploring the area and experiencing the adventure it offers! I run because I love it and I have fun with it. And that’s the way I handle it mentally. If I have some sort of pain, yes it is frustrating to put in the work and feel good but then get an injury, but I am mature enough to simply back off wherever it is I need to, whether it be distance or intensity or pace. I do so all the while still pushing as hard as I can without over-doing it. That’s me being very Well-Defined!
Overall I finished at 1:49, a time I typically run most of my half-marathons, which was surprising since I was running at such a higher elevation than what my body is accustomed to and with the calf injury. It was a good indicator that my body and my health is definitely strong, it was just the calf muscle tear or strain that lead me to slowing down in the final miles. So I am absolutely happy with the results! And I came in 2nd in my age-group! They gave me a hand-painted coaster by a local artist telling me it is of the most photographed barn in America.
For the remainder of the morning into the early afternoon I rested outside, sitting at the base of the mountains in Teton Village, at a taco stand called tincan Cantina. The place had exactly what I needed! Gobbled down some super yummy tacos and plenty of Coronas as I enjoyed the view! The girl working was awesome. I was there for a while and eventually she yelled my name “Jamie!” then held up a Corona for me. On the house! Yes!! Thank you!!!! I’m a towny now at the tincan, they know me by name and will even buy me a drink. Cheers!
As I was relaxing with my tacos and beer, Dan rented a mountain bike to do some downhill biking. We had done the cross country mountain biking on day three and this was right here, at the base of Teton Village. I would’ve loved to have tried myself but I was afraid my calf muscle pain wouldn’t allow me to ride correctly and then cause me to take a nice forward downhill spill, landing on my face. (Plus I was borderline drunk. Just kidding. Sort of.) So rather than pay for the rental and then ride down once before I’d need a trip to the ER, I decided to just relax and watch him ride. He was looking so good!!!
Afterwards we took a drive on the dirt road back into GTNP! I wanted to get a photo of the most photographed barn in America along with my coaster painting, so we made a trip over to Mormon Row. And we were having fun on the drive!!!
Made a quick stop at a scenic overlook to snap a pic of the incredible Tetons!
Then made our way to Mormon Row (or Antelope Flats)
When I googled The Most Photographed Barn in America, these are the photo results I found with the resulting barn name of T.A. Moulton Barn.
And so… there it is! Good reason it has been photographed so many times, it almost matches the Tetons!
I wanted to get my coaster painting with the real-life version! Lining it up, excited I’m out in the Tetons again, we’re on Mormon row, it’s beautiful!
As we’re driving home, I realize, the coaster painting is not the T.A. Moulton Barn! Look at it! The roof is not the same! We didn’t walk far enough down Mormon Row to get to the barn that had been painted!!! The barn I took a photo of is Thomas Moulton’s barn! I needed to take a pic with John Moulton’s Barn!!! I can just hear my pappa saying it in an Ohio accent “That’s Tom’s ol barn, you wanna snap a pic of Johnny’s” Must return to the Tetons now!!!
Such a great day!
We finished it off by riding one of the gondola’s to the top of the mountain to have dinner at the restaurant, where Dan would actually end up saving my life!!! Read on…
Incredible view!
Here we are at the top, we ordered small plates/appetizers as that’s all they really have at the outdoor seating area. Inside are larger plate options but we didn’t need a grand dinner at this point. Had myself an IPA and took a bite of a slider.
Took this photo of my super sexy handsome husband, then in about 3…2…1… seconds, he’s about to save my life…
This slider, as I took a bite, I said “you should try this” chewed and then swallowed. But it didn’t go down. It was stuck. Truly stuck. Now, I choked A LOT as a child, so I know what choking feels like. I am the youngest of five and my sisters and brothers are so fucking funny, I would always be laughing. As a kid, I’d laugh while eating and take those giant laughing gasps of air, inhaling my food and the result would be the food getting stuck. Aside of the many back slaps from surrounding people that would help when food would partially get stuck, my dad has had to do the heimlich on me five times that I can remember, my sister Kristen once. My dad knew I choked so often he said to me when I was very young “If you’re choking, you come find me!” And I did. There was a time I was sitting with my sister Libit, cracking up laughing while eating old leftover birthday cake. It got stuck, I quickly got up and started running through the rooms of house looking for him, choking. Libit yelled “SHE’S CHOKING!!!!” And out of nowhere my dad was there, doing the heimlich. Up came the cake! He looked at me, I said nothing but nodded a thank you, yes, I’m ok now. He went back to what he was doing, and so did I… laughing while eating cake. sigh.
So on this day, I knew immediately this piece of slider was stuck. I was choking. Dan didn’t hesitate for a second. He said “Jamie, are you choking?” And I nodded yes. He stood up quickly and started to do the heimlich! Only three thrusts and I was breathing again. So many people ask “What did all the people in the restaurant do?” Well, I couldn’t breathe so I have no idea what they were doing, I was trying to get my breath back. I know what choking feels like and I know I need to stay calm but also let someone know I am in fact choking, so I wasn’t freaking out or causing a scene. Dan jumped to action to save me so he had no idea what others were doing, plus he’s not one to worry about what others are doing anyway. While most people might think what a scene, really, it was only about 20 seconds perhaps even less. Maybe some saw I was choking but many probably not. And those who did were probably relieved Dan was there. A very nice lady, our age or perhaps younger, offered to do the heimlich as she happened to be walking by and saw Dan was getting ready to do it. I’d like to think if I, or you, saw someone choking, we’d jump to help if we saw that no one nearby knew what to do. Dan saved my life! I was breathing, and back to enjoying the view and the food!!!
And that was our trip! A last view of the Tetons the morning after and we were headed back home early! So good for my Well-Fit and Well-Defined part of life. We had some healthy meals in there a few times so the Well-Fed didn’t get ignored! All of it though was everything to complete my Whole Well-Being!
