Let's Get Dirty

We came to get dirty.

There's no way around it. Walk into town and compare the SOAR staff to the other camps around here. We're just a bit dirtier than they are.


This is how we do it.


I came to get dirty. I came to play and explore and discover my limits.


Limitations. I have no limitations. No really, I'm like some super human freak of nature. Don't believe me? Want to race? On your mark, get set... okay, so I lied. I'm not that awesome. But I am testing my limits. And what better place to push them than in Dubois, Wyoming? I mean, when I want to do sprints, I just find a bear to chase me. Long slow run day? I'll just drive to the badlands and hide my car behind a hill so I can't find it for hours on end. Oh, Dubois. Du-boyz ee boyz. Where the feet are always dirty and the calves are always burning. I love my life!

Not too shabby a view for a long run

Running. Yeah, I've been doing a little of that lately. "Oh, you've got to meet Kit," people in town kept telling me. "He runs endurance races! He does at least five miles a day." Kit... got it.


Bring Bring!

I'm sitting at a Chinese restaurant in Jackson when my phone rings. "Hi Ashlee, this is Kit. Lynn gave me your number. Would you like to go running sometime next week?"


"Yeah, sure! That sounds great! Wait, who is this?"


Brock gave me crap for that. "You're going running with someone you don't know? Yeah, good luck with that kidnapping."


"I'm not a kid!"


Jackson has all sorts of running trails. It was supposed to be a swim day, but I couldn't go inside on a gorgeous day so I did a two hour trail run instead at Cache Creek. So beautiful! I love love love exploring new trails because it makes me want to run for hours. Hours, ya hear? I pulled up to the trail and looked at the map. Oooooo so many trails! Cache Creek was the longest, so I decided to start with that one. Jogalogloglog. Oooo! Look at that trail! Hmmm that one looks fun, too! So maybe working with ADHD kids is catching up to my ability to handle one task (or trail) at a time. Focus goggles, Ashlee. One trail at a time. So I finished the trail I was on and soon I had traveled 6 miles. I'm feeling good. Time for another trail? Yeah!!!! I began running up another trail and got a mile into it when I came across a snake.


Hey, Snake, hey!


I decided to turn around instead of waiting for mister snake to move. I tried a second trail. Noises. Lots of big animal noises in the trees. Uhmmm. Hello? Anybody out there? Don't do this to me now! I was just on a role.... I turned around just to play it safe.

So many trails, so little time

Another trail? Don't mind if I do. Running, running, running. Love, love, love. Nature, nature, nature. Trails, trails, trails. Oooo! Flowers! Ooo! Water! Speaking of water... I'm out. It's hot out, too. Maybe I should stop and head home? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But I have to do a food buy. Nooooooooooo! Blah. 

So that was a great run. Not great, phenomenal. Not phenomenal, serendipitous. Mmmmm scrumptious running.


I met up with Kit two days later. I'll admit, I was scared. This guy is an endurance runner. I mean, great people, but freaking hard(to the)core. So we met at the park in town and instantly bonded over our wonderful Subarus. I warned him it was going to be an easy day and he had no problem with that, so we ran six miles in the badlands then headed back to the car. I definitely am still adjusting to the altitude. Huff. Puff. "I'm sorry, Kit. I feel like a fat woman who can't run."


"What is your obsession with fat people," asks Sophie.


Jackson and I drive late one night in Sweet Baby Sam. We stop at Albertson's and I run in to use the restroom. A morbidly obese woman in the stall next to me is breathing harder than I do while running up a 2000 foot elevation. All she is doing is washing her hands and she's out of breath. I waltz back to the car.


"Jackson?"

"Yes?"

"I have a confession: I'm scared of fat people. Not because I don't like them, but because I'm scared I'm going to be one some day."

Back to the run. So Kit and I chitchat the entire six miles. It's awesome. He's awesome. I have a blast. We are going to be good friends.

"Which race are you doing on Saturday," I ask.

"Probably the 15K," he responds.

"Great," I say. "I'll do the 10K so that I have a shot at winning!"

Yeah, he fooled me and totally did the 10K. That's okay. He only got second because some guy in white spandex had the race in the freaking bag. You know those European guys that wear tight clothes and the latest trends? That was this guy. As we lined up at the start, I nudged Kit and whispered in his ear: "That guy has been warming up for the past hour. Don't let him beat you."

"I refuse to be beat by someone in white spandex," he answered. "Plus, he's cheating. He's got his iPod."

And we all know how that race turned out.

Rewind!

Yesterday, I decided to do an easy run to get the blood pumping. I'll just do the 5K course with the gnarly hill. No big deal. No big deal? Uhmmm yeah... My calves were tight, my lungs were shot... I could not run to save my life. Then Sophia sends me this:

Yeah, not gonna happen today. Terrified about the race tomorrow. It's just a workout, Ashlee. It's not a workout, Ashlee. It's a race. You know yourself. You know you'll push. Okay, Joshua... You can get out of my head now. 

 "Yeah, I'm just doing it as a workout," I tell Kit.

"No, you're not," Kit tells me. "You're a runner. It's not a workout."

Dang you, runners. Telling me what I know but don't want to hear. 

"Hey Josh. Should I do a 10K with a 250 foot climb tomorrow or a 15K with a 2000 foot climb?"

"Race or workout?"

..."Race."

"How's your knee? Are they trails or roads?"

"Trails. Knee acted up on my 4-mile climb today, but not too bad."

I can imagine him shaking his head at me. "I'd say do the 10K, but the 15K sounds like fun."

Saving the 15K for a workout next week...

Thank you, Caroline!

 Nicole and I woke up bright and early and made breakfast for the crew. Egg-in-a-hole, fruit, bacon and cinnamon toast. We climbed in her car and down we drove. She signed up for the 5K and we got our swag bags.

"Alright, Coach. Tell me what I should do." 

 
We warmed up. We said hello to Becki, Critter and Jeremy, who had so wonderfully come to support us. I introduced Nicole to my friend Kyle then was surprised to see Kit there. Kit and I walked over to the 10K start. Off we ran.


Seven minutes into it, I realized I should have paced myself better. I could still see Kit and I knew that meant I was running too quickly. Huff. Huff. Puff. Puff. Hello, Magic Dragon.... Oooooo magic dragon! That's who has been following me on every run! I have a new running partner! I slowed down slightly, but kept pushing. My throat was parched. I was third in this race until I hit the water station. As I guzzled cool liquid, a man passed me.


Oh no you didn't.

I threw my cup in the trash and took off after him. I was on his heels when I heard people yelling and a car horn honk.


Are they telling us we went the wrong way? I can't tell. I can barely see them. The horn keeps honking.


"We must be going the wrong way," the man says and turns back.


Goodnight nurse.

Two minutes back up the road, we turn onto the correct path, or so it seems. Eighteen minutes have passed since we started. I hear the voices of two females behind me... the ones that had been yelling at us to come back. Athletic looking women, one with a veil on her head. Can't stop. Must be first female.

Twenty-seven minutes in and my left foot goes completely numb. It was worse than in Wildflower when my Yankz were too tight. I bend down to tie my shoe, but that doesn't seem to help. I have an okay lead on the woman, so I choose to walk a bit, then I start to run again, but there is absolutely no feeling in my left foot. I can't even move my toes. Jackson once told me to go slow, but go. I think of the little engine that could. Onward I press, but my foot is so bad that I can sense an injury waiting to happen. Inside, I'm wondering if someone could call Jeremy for me and have him pick me up. Must finish. Go slow, but go. I walk. The women pass me. A little while later, I decide to run again. I catch up to them at the golf course. I run with them until we hit the road, then the woman in the veil takes off with super human speed.

Chase her. No, don't. You shouldn't. Your foot is still gone. Hold out until the last ten minutes then push. She's right there though! You can totally get her. No, you can't. Today is not your day. Let it be her day. 

And it was. I watched as she ran across the finish line; my head hung low.

"Get 'em, Ashlee," I head Jeremy call. He's standing with his camera taking photos. Oh great. Proof of how depleted I am.


"Race you to the finish," I tease him.


We sprint past Becki and Nicole and cross together. Kit comes up to congratulate me. It's a great day.


I came to get dirty. Today, I left town feeling pretty darn filthy. Thanks, Dubois!