I started working for Teva’s marketing team less than a month ago.  And considering the Mountain Games—the company’s biggest event—has been looming the whole time, my experience here so far certainly would not be described as relaxed. 
  I had heard so many great things about the Mountain Games, so I was really looking forward to have a chance to go to Vail with the team.  Upon arriving, late Wednesday night, I didn’t feel tired in the least, as I had napped for hours that day on the plane and in car rides.  But I figured I had nothing better to do, so I crawled into my cot.  Thinking back, these extra few hours of were vital to the rest of my time in Colorado, as it was one of the more exhausting times of my life. 
 Thursday morning began my 4-day span of 12-13 hour work days.  During those shifts, I would sit down a grand total of about 30 minutes, for a lunch quick break.  Other than that, I was either setting up our trailer, branding the different areas of competition, helping give out Teva gear, or walking around Vail taking surveys from the attendees of the Games.  It also happened to be my first week of official cross-country training for my college team, so I felt compelled to get in a run every day.   This all culminated to a very tired body after just one day.  But of course, there were 3 more days to work through. 
 In a way, my time at the Mountain Games felt like an eternity, as we were working hard and getting a lot much done.  But at the same time, there weren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that needed to be done.  On Sunday morning, I woke up and the stress and the work of the week hit me all at once.  I could barely open my eyes, I was so tired.  My head was pounding from the altitude.  And there was a deep ache in my muscles and bones.  Running in the 10k Spring Run-off, which I was registered for, was the very last thing I wanted to do that morning.  But I figured it couldn’t hurt to just jog it.  I stupidly drank 3 cups of coffee to wake up.  But as I never drink caffeine, my body was soon shaking like a massage chair.  I could barely manage to tie the laces of my new Teva X-1 Evolutions.  I quickly went down to the Teva trailer to help unload, and then was off to the starting line.
 I had none of the pre-race nerves that I normally get, as I wasn’t trying to seriously compete in the race.   When the gun went off, and the front of the pack took off like a pack of wolves chasing a deer, I tried to find Andrew Maxwell, a Teva triathlete, as he was not planning on running hard either.  Unfortunately, with this course, ‘taking it easy’ is not an option.  There are parts so steep that even the best runners have to walk.  As I have never run a trail race in my life, I tried to charge up the first hill like it was part of an NCAA cross country course.  Not a good idea.  I was soon way more tired than I was hoping to be, and was only done with the first climb.  I hadn’t looked at the course map, so I had no clue that what I had just done was probably only a quarter of the total climbing I would do in the race.  At one point I had to stop, which I have never done in a race, and thought I might throw up some of my breakfast and coffee.  I did manage to hold it down, but proceeded to have a coughing fit on the side of the trail.  I wiped my nose and noticed it had been bleeding, but I don’t remember giving this any mind.  I willed myself to ignore the beating of my head and the thin air that I couldn’t seem to breathe, and instead focused on yet another steep incline that I would have to run up.
 I did manage to finish the race, but it certainly won’t be a PR for me.  In fact, it’s over 20 minutes over my best time for a 10k.  But I wouldn’t say the circumstances or the course were prime for me to run my fastest.  In fact, as I crossed the finish line, I heard the PA announcer say that this was actually the most difficult 10k in the entire country.  So much for a nice little jog!
 I learned a great deal at the Mountain Games, and loved the vibe in Vail.  All of the sponsors and workers at the Games did a great job putting on the event, and the many athletes did a great job.  But it was certainly a rigorous introduction, as a first business trip.