Trinidad Race to Clam Beach

We enjoyed a great trip to Trinidad as a family. The race was incredible! Running makes me feel alive! I love to push myself, feel my heart pound, my temperature rise and as strange as it sounds I love the cleansing feeling that comes from sweating...not just glistening, but really sweating! I'm not an expert at it, but that's what is so great about it, you can be a total novice and still enjoy it. As the years go by I love it more and more. I constantly teeter with the decision to give it up, because of the time and energy it takes to do it, but for now I'll keep at it...I figure if it is necessary to give up, the decision will be made itself. For now, I'll just enjoy what I can do, when I can do it.

The morning hike before the race...did I mention there was rain?

The whole trip was great, but perhaps the best part was getting to ride in the car with Joe. He is a busy man these days, so it was fun to put on a movie for the kids and to just talk to him.

We arrived to our little cabin in Trinidad around 11:00 p.m. and tried our best to get to bed. The kids were wound up and squealing, Joe stayed up with them for a little while and I headed to bed. The next morning we awoke to tons of rain. We were hoping that by the start of the race at 12:00 noon it would be dry...but it wasn't. Joe took us to the start of the race and dropped us off.

Waiting in line to start was the worst part of the race because of the cold. The first 30 minutes of the run I felt cold and my legs felt tight and heavy. Woodland, where we live, is very flat so Karen and I didn't train for the rolling hills as much as we should have. They didn't kill me, but they were a challenge. I just kept my head on the legs in front of me and kept running.

The scenery of the course did not disappoint. We ran through the little city of Trinidad past quaint cottage houses, with beautiful green, well-manicured lawns, and old country stores and shops all around. Much of the run was done on a paved rode with towering redwood trees all around......I would have loved having a video camera to tape all of the beautiful scenery. There is something amazing that happens to your spirit when you are doing something hard in nature. After running through redwoods for the first few miles, the view opened up and I caught my first glimpse of the ocean. The rugged terrain of Northern California is stunning. It's very different than Southern California, but equally as beautiful.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was amazing! I was soaked the whole race, but I really didn't mind because it was so beautiful. How can you not feel good when you see the amazing things our Heavenly Father has created for us to enjoy. Just as I was feeling like I was in my groove, the course started to go downhill toward the beach. It was earlier than I had expected. I thought we crossed the river at mile 8, but we weren't quite to mile 7 yet. As I headed down, they said, "Grab a hold of the first rope!" This was it...it was time to cross the river..... the part that I had been so nervous about. As I ran toward the river, I saw Joe waving his arms cheering me on. It was so good to see him. If I was to fall in and be swept away into the sea, atleast I would have his face imprinted in my mind! :) He caught the river crossing on camera.

In the picture on the race website, they make the river look like something you can just jaunt through, calf deep, like nothin'. This river was somethin'! The coast guard was there waiting for us with 2 ropes. One to hold on to, and then one about 20 feet downstream to catch you or to grab if you happened to let go. An article about the race in the local paper quoted the race director, ”Ten minutes before we were set to go, the Coast Guard told us we would have to divert runners [around Little River]. The water was so swift, the rescue swimmers were having trouble just standing up. ”At the last minute, the Coast Guard decided to allow runners through the river, provided we allow only three people on the [crossing] rope at one time, and that busses were available to take runners around the river if they didn't want to cross.”

The water was swift, very swift....and high.

The adrenaline was pumping and I ran down to the river with butterflies going wild in my stomach. As I entered and grabbed onto the rope, I held on with one hand until a member of the Coast Guard told me to hold on tight with both hands ! When I stepped in further, I realized there was NO WAY you could do it without holding onto the rope....for dear life. The water was more than calf or knee deep, it was definitely waist deep for someone my height. When I entered the water and felt it's force I realized that I would need to take it slow. I asked the guy behind me if he wanted to go ahead of me. He said, "No you're fine, go ahead!" I didn't want to have the pressure of feeling like I needed to hurry for his sake, but he instisted so I started across. At first I tried to hurry so that I wouldn't slow him, or the woman behind him, down...I was taking wide steps with my feet and sliding my hands down fast. But each time I took a wide step I felt like my legs were being pulled up from underneath me. I prayed over and over again during those minutes....that I would be able to hold on. I didn't know if I should face the water and the rope, or if I should face the shore.....I was hanging on tight and as I entered the center the pull was greater than before. The two people next to me coached me along the way. I felt so many different emotions....I wanted to cry.... they were so encouraging. I had feared they would be frustrated that I was so slow...I really wasn't going slow....but suddenly everything felt like it was in slow motion because I was nervous and fatigued from the almost 7 miles I had already run. They just kept saying things like, "You're doing it....small steps...keep your feet together...narrow steps....keep your eye on the coast guard at the end of the rope." Because of my size, it looked and felt like I could have easily been pulled down the river. The coast guard stood behind me to catch me in case I let go......I kept my eye on the man at the end of the rope....AND I MADE IT! It felt so good to feel less of a pull from the waters as the depth of the water changed. I thanked them sincerely for their words of encouragement and then I was on my way down the beach to the finishline. Which happened to be 2 1/2 miles longer instead of the 1 mile I had expected, but it's hard to tell distance on a beach. I just kept running toward the big bonfire and wave of people I could see.

Something happened after I crossed the river. I was soaking wet and cold, even colder than before, my feet were heavy with soaking shoes, and it was not easy to run on the wet sand...but I kept going, I knew the end was near, I just kept my feet moving and I pushed a little harder with each step. My emotions were high....the combination of the experience I had just had and some personal thoughts I had been struggling with during the week, consumed my mind. I had been feeling some self-doubt about my capacities (unrelated to running)....wanting....but doubting..... as I stepped out of the water and onto the beach, I felt that I could do anything. I felt stronger in my spirit, even though my body felt tired and weak. I felt and heard myself repeating over and over I CAN DO HARD THINGS! All of the elements present that day really had a great effect upon me.....I loved it all...the rain, the hills, the cold, the river, the difficulty of the sand....I wouldn't have changed any of it. Each element made the experiences all the richer.

It was so nice to cross that finish line! Joe was the best cheerleader ever! His enthusiasm makes everything so much more exciting. You would have thought I was trying to qualify for the olympics with the coverage and cheering I got from him....it was fun.

Here is a link to an article about the Trinidad Race to Clam Beach

Karen, Amy, Bren, Neal

After the race we headed home to shower and then went to Arcata, home of Humboldt University, where Karen and Peter attended for their undergrad. We window shopped around the plaza and then enjoyed some yummy and unique thin crust pizza at a shop in town. Afterwards we grabbed some hot cocoa at "The Muddy Waters Coffee Company."

Our little cookie monster.

On Sunday we went to church in McKinleyville, a cute little coastal city. I LOVE going to church in new places. It's fun to see Latter Day Saints in action anywhere in the world. Though the gospel is the same, the people have their own flair. I love the variety. It's refreshing.

We then headed to Patrick's Point State Park for a little hike. We hiked up to a place called "Wedding Rock" which overlooked the Ocean. It was amazing and beautiful!