When I was planning out this part of the year Hills Creek Challenge was supposed to be an important race for my running season. This was to be the testing ground for my for my fitness going into th final weeks before my big goal race for the season taking on an event I had never done before with challenges I had never faced before. An event that I didn’t know if I could complete. Hills Creek Challenge was supposed to be a huge stepping tone on that journey.

That big race, Cayuga Trails 50 mile, has now been pushed until next year. I have officially withdrawn from the 2025 event.

I was really hoping to still run at least some at Hills Creek Challenge. My goal of getting to 50 miles in 12 hours was dashed. I just wanted to go there and have a good time. I wanted to rack up as many miles as I could. Maybe get in a 50k in 12 hours.

A few weeks ago my wife decided she wanted in on the fun at Hills Creek Challenge. She registered for the 6 hour version of the event. And I am so glad she did.

My wife was planning to hike for as long as she could. She didn’t know what that would mean for her. She had never done anything like this before.

I too was hoping to hike for the entire time of my 12 hour event and get as many miles as I could. But I really did not know what that would mean for me. I had not really tested my IT band situation on uneven terrain like real hiking trails. And recently I had tried to run 3 miles and pushed myself through the entire run enduring the pain. And that created a setback where my IT band was in pain for a week when previously it had been pain free as long as I wasn’t running.

So, we were both in for an event where we had no idea how it was going to going to go.

My wife and I planned to start off together on our adventure and as the miles and time accumulated we would see where that took us. Would we stay together or would one of use pull ahead of the other. Maybe after some time we would only reconvene at the start/finish. Then after 6 hours I would keep going alone to complete my 12 hour event. At least that was the plan.

Enter Mother Nature. After several days of rain the trails at the park were saturated. The trails were the muddiest I have ever seen there during this event. Each loop the conditions got worse.

It rained for the first 3 hours of the event. Then eventually the rain mostly stopped and it warmed up a little. It felt so good to put on a dry shirt and hat.

I really did not know how my injury would hold up under the slip sliding conditions of the muddy trail. Luckily the answer turned out to be that it would be ok. I couldn’t run but I could hike fine.

With the rain and muddy sloppy conditions and trying to be a smart runner I decided that I would stop at the 6 hour mark when my wife stopped. I figured it was better to be safe than sorry and not risk another setback. I really just want to get healthy.

But what this event was really about for me was remembering why we do this. My wife was out here in the rain with me. We were sharing miles together for 6 hours. Talking, laughing, and having fun. Outside in nature. Seeing the beauty and soaking it in. Soaking in more water than we might have liked but we tried to take it in stride.

My wife was amazing. I am so proud of her. Not just that she completed the most miles she ever has or spent more time on trails than she ever has, but that she did it all with a positive attitude.

She had fun. She truly enjoyed her time out on the trails. Even when we were getting soaked in the rain and slogging through the mud. She was out there singing having me take videos of her splashing through the puddles and enjoying herself.

It was hard for me to feel sorry for myself with her infectious energy. Even when she was struggling she pushed through the low times and kept on moving. There were a few moments when she thought of stopping and calling it a day. But then she spent a few moments to gather herself.

She kept going, because why not keep going. There was no real reason to stop.

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to share this experience with my wife. If I had been healthy I would have been out there mostly on my own and she would have been on her own. We would have each been doing our own thing out there together but separately. Instead we got to share an experience with each other. An experience that we have never had.

Maybe this is a message to slow down and enjoy the moments. Don’t fret too much about what you can’t do. Make sure you enjoy what you can do.

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