Pikes Peak Ascent - RunHalf Marathon

Im gonna start from the very begginning and just try to remember every single thing that happenned.

The gun goes off and immediatly everyone is running... and not at a slow pace either. The race started in downtown manitou, heads through mainstreet, and over to the trail head for Barr Trail by the Rail Cog station. Its a good steady climb all the way through town. I felt comfortable but was probably pushing a 6:30/m pace. It was fairly crowded but I was continously passing people. The incline got worse on the road as we neared the trail head. It was funny watching other people running up these inclines. It wasnt much of a run. maybe more of a shuffle run. You could tell everyone knew what was about to happen. No one was going really hard like you'd normally expect in a race. People were already pacing as was I. The rain was good and steady by this point and the temps were hanging around 52F. The trail went off to the left and we met the trail head. It was trail from here up. I shared a few words w/ some people but the trail started to get a lot more narrow until it was pretty much single file. I was still running so that was good. The first few miles werent too exciting. Just up, up, and more up. Packs would start to form and occasionally you'd have to pass someone real quick if you got a chance. Passing on this trail became an art by the time I was done :) (or getting passed in some cases!) Switchbacks were constant. You'd run for a minute or so then switchback. REPEAT**. During those first few miles there would be small wooden steps which started to get more difficult the farther we got. I wasnt feeling any effects of the altitude so i was optimistic. The mile markers were counting down so the first one I saw said 12miles to go, the second 11 miles to go.. so on and so on. We were in the clouds the entire time so I wasnt really ever able to see much other than the trees and boulders around us. Ocassionaly I'd get a small peek up above and the views were just jaw dropping. I felt so small among such a massive mountains. I just kept focusing on not walking and kept moving. I wasnt sore at all and didnt feel the need to walk at all. The pace was slow, but it was steady. I probably got passed less than 5-10 times in those first 10 miles. Around mile 3-4 it really started to thin out a bit and the course actually felt "flat". The trail became less undulating and I was able to actually run versus shuffling uphill. Some guy asked me about my MDOT tat so we chatted for awhile and he realllly helped the time pass. Those few miles flew by. The aid stations were awesome. Thinking about what went into getting that stuff up on this mountain in the middle of nowhere is amazing. Great course support by park rangers, etc. Around mile 5 I was still feeling good but was definitly soaking wet. The rain was still steady and it was getting a bit cooler. Probably in the upper 40s by this point. I was still running w/ the friend I'd made and we were just chatting it up about Ironmans and ultras in general. The course really wasnt too bad so we were still actually running. So far the first 3-4 miles seemed the toughest. Once up to mile 8 the trail started getting rougher again. We were still 2miles+ from A-FRAME (aka treeline where the trees stop growing). The trail had these man made rock designs to help keep the flow of water from destroying the trail, so we'd have to actually jump over them, which got tougher and tougher the higher we got. At some points we'd have to actually step up onto boulders to continue. It wasnt till I started taking these big steps onto rocks that I started feeling the altitude which came in the form of "pressure" on my chest. Around mile 8 is when my walk/run started. We passed through the aid station at mile 8 and i was with a group of 4-8 people. Some guy went straight at a switchback and we ended up climbing over a fallen tree and whatnot, only to find out we'd gotten off COURSE!! haha. We had to turn around and only lost maybe 1-3 minutes. This is when things actually started getting challenging. The course continually got more difficult and I could see more and more people walking. Our shuffle was now a walk. Id occasionally run when I'd hae a good straigh w/o too many big step ups. I was definitly getting colder but had no idea what was in store for me. I was talking w/the guys around me and we kept asking each other how much longer to A FRAME?!? Well finally we made it to A FRAME meaning we only had a 5K to go. The 5K that I had heard SO much about. This aid station was mainly manned by park rangers and what appeared to be proffesional personel. A lot of these guys actually camped up on the mtn to make sure we had aid stations! Before I pulled out of the aid station there was a park ranger at the end that was telling people that it was getting MUCH colder from here up including the next aid station called "Le Cirque".. he warned us and let us know that if we werent feeling well to turn around. I passed him and he asked me if id "heard him??!?!" ... I said yes. Like ID TURN AROUND NOW? HA! If he'd told me what I was about to go through I may have turned back.

From here up the trees slowly stared fading into the distance until everything was rock. Gravel trails w/ boulders. The wind was realllly picking up now that there werent any trees to hold it back anymore. The winds were easily 30+ mph. The temps were definitly down into the 30s now and it was sleeting on and off. I was really starting to get cold now. My pearl izumi cotten gloves were soaking wet which was NOT a good thing. I probably should have taken them off but was too afraid. My ears were getting really cold as well. Odd thing is my feet felt fine. I ran maybe one more time somewhere around mile 10.5 for maybe a quarter mile and that was it. From there on it was a walk/crawl. The winds kept picking up the higher I got and the sleet was horrible. One way you'd have a headwind w/ sleet pelting your face at 35mph then the other way you'd have a tailwind! My fingers were getting more and more numb until by mile 11 I couldnt feel them at all. Id poke myself and there was nothing. Most everyone was walking by this point. The trail was now half covered in sleet/snow and the step ups were getting worse. All I was trying to do was keep moving and find ways to warm my fingers up. Id stick them under my armpits but my arm pits were cold too. I'd look up the mtn only to see bigger and bigger boulders and clouds. All clouds. Some of the rocks were magnificent. It was such an out of body experience. Here I was climbing a world famous mtn in August while its Sleeting and freezing cold. My walk would come and go. I'd sometimes pick up the pace and really get going then others I'd barely be moving. My steps seemed like baby steps. Finally at one point there was this guy right in front of me and we were both bitching about the weather. I mentioned how I couldnt feel my fingers and he offered me his extra shirt. At first I said no but then I realized this was no time to play the bad ass and said yes. Because I really did need it. He gave it to me and continued on. It had a freakin zipper and my fingers were so numb I couldnt get the zipper down. OMG. I was speechless. Not to mention my teeth hurt because they were so cold. I pulled the long sleeve shirt over my head and couldnt get my arms through the arms and my head wouldnt fit through the head hole because it was zipped up. I just PUSHED and PUSHED until I finally ripped it just a bit and got my head through the top. My arms still werent in yet. After maybe 2-3 mins I got my arms through and had another layer. It FELT so good. I pulled it all the way over my hands so that I could hopefully warm them up just a bit. Little did I know that things were only going to get worse. The trail started to get even rougher. The sleet was coming down hard enough that the trail was almost totally covered. The step ups were getting much bigger and I was having to use my hands at some points to pull myself up and steady my legs so that I didnt fall. My walk was definitly more of a march. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other.....I was LIVING for mile markers. A few times all I wanted to do was sit down and cry. Just curl up in a ball underneath a boulder and fall asleep. Then I saw it... 1 mile left. I looked down at my watch and saw that the last two miles had taken me 40minutes! HAHA! wow. Thats when I realized this is what I live for. Adventure. The unknown. This wasnt an Ironman. This wasnt a triathlon. This wasnt even a running race. This was the unkown for me. Another first. I was getting pelted in the face and freezing ass cold and I loved every minute of it. I passed the last "aid station" which wasnt much more than tents and park rangers. One ranger was handing out trash bags and he was asking who wanted one. The guy behind me said yes and the ranger mistaked that yes from him for a yes from me so he threw a trashbag over me and ripped a hole for my head. So here I was walking up a mountain in a trashbag w/ just a whole punched for my head. I'd ocassionaly have to pull up the bag to grab onto a boulder and pull myself up. My fingers were so numb it wasnt even funny. I couldnt feel them. At all. It was more of a burning sensation :) It was right after mile 11 that I started hearing the speaker system for the finish line at the top. wow. Its tangible! The finish line really does exist! I just kept telling myself keep going.. keep going... its going to feel so good to shower... beer.. beer... pizza... beer.... warm shower... The last mile went so much faster than the others. All the sudden the race photographers started showing up! When I passed the first one it was right before the "golden stairs" which I believe is a series of 16 switchbacks. Once I made it through those I passed another race photographer and looked up. There was the finish. I could see it. The sleet was coming down so hard. The winds were blowing and it was easily in the upper 20s. I actually started RUNNING when I saw the finish line. I took the last turn and ran all the way through the finish shoot all while trying to hold up my trashbag poncho so the race photographers could see my number. I had just finished the most difficult thing I'd ever done... mentally that is. I crossed the line and started looking for Courtney... and dry clothes.

Wear WATER PROOF gloves.

the end.

WARM DOWN?? TRY WARM UP.

I saw Courtney and Robyn about 10 seconds after finishing. Robyn ran towards me as Courtney ran over and got my dry clothes. I just grabbed on to Robyn and hugged her. haha. I was so relieved to be at the top. Courtney came over and showed me over to the "changing" area which had been medical. They had opened up the medical area so people could change due to the extreme weather. I was shaking SO bad. After a few seconds I found an open chair and sat down. My legs would not stop shaking. Courtney tried to help me put on my pants over my running shorts but my legs were shaking so bad it made it difficult. Medical had socks for people to put on their hands so I snatched a pair of socks and wore them till we got back to the car :) As soon as I was changed we headed back to Courtneys car that was down at Devils Playground around 11,000 ft. (VIA shuttle of course!) I grabbed my finishers jacket and got in the shuttle. I was still shaking.. my teeth were chattering and i still couldnt feel my fingers...

but it was worth every minute.


Lack of proper clothing. I never felt effected all that much by the altitude so I feel that with proper clothing I may have been able to run longer.

My lack of altitude training i'm sure was a factor as well. I wasnt too sure how my body would react at 12,000+ ft so I played the conservative card.

:)


No race has ever broken me down like that one.

It was amazing. I'm now addicted. Addicted to crazy challenges and getting out of that comfort zone.

If you wanna leave your comfort zone. Run Pikes Peak.

No finish line has ever felt like that one. The huge production that is IM can't touch the top of Pikes Peak.

I'll be back for the Marathon in 2009.