Pike's Peak & My Baby

Isn't it amazing how powerful the human mind is??? How we can trick it into not feeling pain, and how we can visualize something to push the body to it's physical limits. I had to dig down deep into my mind this Sunday for the Pike's Peak Marathon, I didn't really train at all (ran 7.5 miles in the last 3 weeks) but along the way I tried to prepare myself mentally as strong as I could. I've ran 2 full marathons before and 2 half marathons, I know what it takes mentally and physically to complete them. I thought that I knew what to expect for Pike's Peak, but boy was I wrong!!!!

Josh and I were at the starting line at 7am on Sunday, we started a very slow jog and walked very fast in some spots, heading up the paved road towards the start of the trail up to the top of Pike's Peak. There was 900 people who registered for the marathon, many of which had run the ascent the previous day. We were on Ruxton Ave for just over a mile, then the path headed uphill towards the trailhead. We were walking at this point and talking to a few people who had run it before to get some kind of idea as to what we got ourselves into. They said to walk fast but not expend all your energy, the first 4 miles and last 3 were the toughest, so we were walking at a good steady pace. At about 2.5 miles Josh was 4 people ahead of me and we were going up switchbacks and after 2 of them he was out of sight, I wouldn't see him again. I was keeping a good pace with some of the people who had run it before, the first almost 5 miles were pretty tough, hiking uphill on the dirt trail but I was able to go through it and at a good pace, things were going great so far.

Around mile 5 I had to stop and get some band aids for my feet, my shoes were creating blisters on the back of my feet, once I got them covered my feet felt instantly better and I kept on going. At this point the people I was on pace with were gone and I found myself alone for the most part. During the next mile and a half my calves started cramping up anytime I'd step up a rock, I pulled over a few times and tried to stretch them out, they were doing ok but then I got to 6.5 miles and my mind was starting to realize that my body might not be able to finish this race.

I called my baby at 6.5 miles to tell her what was going on, the sound of her voice was exactly what I needed!! She was amazing, kept telling me to keep going, said that I can finish, and was singing "Don't stop believing" to me!! After getting off the phone with her I kept going, ignoring the pain in my feet, knees and muscles. I made it to the Barr Camp before the cutoff time, loaded up on some carbs (m&m's, pretzels and carb gel) and headed on. The part after Barr camp was pretty tough still, uphill on the dirt trail with more rocks and switchbacks looming in front of me I pressed on. At about 8 miles or so I called my baby again, told her that I didn't think I was going to make it, and she encouraged me again, said that I can do it so I kept pressing on, my calves were hurting more now than ever!!

I was still hiking by myself, I had seen the leaders passing me on their way back down (from the summit!!!!) and I was encouraging them on the way down. By this point I was walking very slowly, every step up was a killer, my legs were on fire, muscles were hurting so bad, my knees were hurting, the blisters were opening up despite the band aids. I made it to 9.5 miles and couldn't go any further, every step was painful and I knew that I still had to go back down 9.5 miles before I could see my baby and wrap my arms around her and give her a huge kiss. So I made the call to her again, telling her I was turning around and couldn't go on any further, she said that she was so proud of me for going as far as I did, and pushing myself for 3 miles past the point where I originally wanted to quit. I was so disappointed in myself for not training better, and for not finishing, but my baby made that go away by saying how proud of me she was and how much she loved me and how she couldn't wait to see me, after I hung up the phone I had a big smile on my face and even cried a bit because of how amazing my baby is and how lucky I am to have her in my life!!!

I turned around and headed back down, not expecting to pass anyone else still going up I did pass about 20 people or so who were behind me, that made me feel good also, to know that I wasn't dead last. The way down was interesting, people going down the trail have the right of way and I had to pull over to the side a lot to let the runners coming down from the summit pass me. I saw many people who had cuts and blood all over them from falling, I heard someone throwing up on a switchback above me, I encouraged every single runner who passed me and told them to keep going and that they can do it!!! I ran down when I could, it was much easier than walking up but my knees and thighs were taking the brunt of it this time and started hurting. The trail seemed to last forever!!!! I kept on going though, and got to the point where I had a good pace, and before I knew it I was done with the trail and back on the pavement. I called my baby and told her I was going to finish soon and to hurry to the finish line. The pavement hurt more than the trail did, it was hot and unforgiving, I was running as fast as I could, then I'd have to stop and walk, then run again. I was about half a mile from the finish line and started running, telling myself I wouldn't stop until the finish, I was running towards the finish, hearing the crowd screaming and cheeering helped me keep going, I was making the last turn and saw Daria yelling at me and waiving to me, it was GREAT!!! I crossed the finish line at 6:02:45 which isn't bad at all for 19 miles, considering that I didn't train for it!!!

One of the volunteers tried to give me a finisher's medal and I politely refused it stating that I didn't make it to the summit, I got some water and was looking for my baby but couldn't find her. Then a minute later I felt her tap me on the shoulder and I turned around and gave her a hug and kiss, it felt sooooooooooo good to finally be holding her!!!!

I learned so much during this race, about training (or lack thereof) myself and how far I can push myself, things that I will need in case I try Pike's Peak again, and how much I love my baby, she is the best girlfriend in the history of the world. I love her soooooo much, she's so supportive, caring, kind, smart, beautiful and I'm soooo lucky to have her in my life!!!!!!!!

I've considered doing Pike's Peak again next year (with training this time) but I've also considered not doing anymore marathon's for a long time, I will however be 30 next year this time and that would be a huge thing to do for myself so stay tuned to see what happens :-)