BLACK DIAMOND PINETOP 10K

Ok so even though the race was technically called "Cool Runnings Pinetop 10k" I believe someone referred to it as the Black Diamond (a ski hill term) of 10k's because the course was so hard. Beautiful course, loved running next to the pine trees and the smell of the pine trees, loved the smells permeating from the road kill, loved the "hills" at the beginning, didn't even mind inhaling all the car fumes along the road either but man oh man once you rounded that corner just after mile 4 everything changed. I believe as we rounded the corner at the same time Stephanie said, "Oh Carol!" I said, "Oh $H!*!" (sorry Mom and Dad).Ok so to start at the beginning...13 of us headed out Friday afternoon about 4pmish. We caravanned up to Pinetop to stay at our Bishop's house up there. We stopped and Chevron and took a few pictures and had a good little stretch and learned that the other car made fun of our car for our luggage rack on top - I think they were jealous though that we weren't all squished! (Maggie, Stefney, Me, Amber, Natalie, Lisa, Lauren, Kati, Tiffany, Stephanie, Tisha and not pictured Kalie and Lindsey)After that few minute stop we headed up to Showlow to eat dinner. It was a Mexican Restaurant which made a few of us nervous because you know about eating things that make you go #2 before a big race!After dinner we finally made it all the way to Tiffany's house. How cute is our Bishop that he had a huge bowl of candy there for us and a fridge full of waters and G2's! We all stayed up for a while chit chatting and then finally decided it was time to go to sleep. In the morning we got up and headed out for the big race. It wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be. I heard last year it was 20 degrees so this year the 48 degree weather was a welcomed surprised.How do you describe the "hill"?! Any words would do an injustice to this Mount Everest we had to run. Thank you Coach Davis for teaching us to take little steps up a hill when running it, I did that and well, eventually I made it to the top - it may have been a walking speed but I "ran" it none-the-less. My goal was to finish the race having ran the whole thing. After the first 3 miles and how fast we were going I wanted to finish it under an hour (knowing that on flat ground in Chandler at that speed we could have finished it in less than 50 minutes easy!!). I finally finished it at 1 hour and 11 seconds...blast that 11 seconds! I am going to put the blame on the 7200 foot elevation we were running in and the freaking hills :)After the race we went to Eddie Basha's Country Store and had a fabulous breakfast; french toast, egg and bacon and gaining back all the weight we had just lost.It was a great weekend and I can't wait to beat my time next year. Thank you Tiffany for planning this and letting us all come and crash your place! You're the best!

And to you my dear shoes...Thank you for taking me on many miles of running. We were a great team together. You helped me train for my first half, for my first official 10k and you have been with me every time I needed you since I got you Christmas day 2006 (oops, a long time I know!)Please understand I left you behind in Pinetop with a grateful heart!