Double Loop of Falcon Trail

Falcon Trail

July 4, 2010

25.56 miles

5:22:08 hours

12:36 min/mile

This is my last long run before the Devil's Mountain 50K in two weeks and my last run before I head up to Casper, Wyoming and a new position. I also need to get this long run in despite the fact it's 4th of July. But you know, this is really what I love doing on holidays, birthdays, any celebration day -- I like to celebrate by running or hiking with my family.

Today, I begin a little after 8 am and park at the stadium parking lot. I like parking here so much better than the "official trailhead." It's psychological, I know, but that's a lot of running ultras is -- getting your head in the game in whatever manner works best.

I take the trail clockwise going my favorite way as well. It's a hot morning already and I'm out for a long time so I quickly decide to go into ultra mode and powerhike hills and run the rest. This strategy works great and I am almost all the way through the first loop before I even realize it.

However, I must make a statement here, a note to self; never, never, do another long run on a mountain bike trail the second day of the Tour de France!!! I have never encountered so many bikes on this trail as I did today! Nothing against them, I'm a huge Lance fan from way back; but gee whiz, they sure came out of the woodwork today! I would say two dozen bikers to only three runners today.

But I digress, and now, back to the run. I am taking my electrolyte capsules every 30 minutes, alternating my gel blasts with candy orange slices and pretzels and my fingers are still swelling. This is something I deal with on every long run. It doesn't worry me too much since it does happen all the time; I just have to make sure it doesn't get really bad. When I think about it, I will raise my hands up and shake and wiggle my fingers just to improve circulation. I also have my camelback and a handheld water bottle for hydration and I use both frequently.

After one loop, I am a little tired. I refill my camelback, grab some more food and decide instead of going clockwise, this time I'll reverse my loop just to make it interesting. Therefore, I head down the gravel road alongside the golf course and start that way, getting a sunny portion out of the way now.

Once I'm in the pine trees and almost to the road leading to the golf course which I must traverse, I run into a group of boy scouts on the trail. Calls of "Runner!" echo through the woods until a mountain biker appears coming from the opposite direction then it is a cacophony of "Runner! Biker! Biker! Runner!" These little boy scouts have taken their scout master's direction to heart and make sure all have cleared the trail for us. I nod to them as I pass and once again think to myself, I am so glad others are taking advantage of the great summer weather and the great outdoors.

As the afternoon progresses, the heat increases and so does my exhaustion level. However, all is well with my body and I continue with my ultra plan; and if I do not fully enjoy the entire run, I do not dislike it either. How can one not like this trail?

As I pass the Academy proper, I believe I can hear faint yells and calls from the Terrazzo. This can only mean that the new class of cadets has arrived and training has begun in earnest. When I round around the commissary, the gas station where I get water and use the restroom is ahead of me and I take advantage of the later hour (wasn't open first time around) and use the facilities, if for nothing else, to take a wet paper towel to my face and neck.

Finally, after what seems a very long time, I crest the hill behind the stadium and know I have less than a mile to go before I am finished and it is all downhill from there. What a day! Whew! I am bushed, hot, tired, and my feet are sore.

As I lean into the car to calm my breathing and take some weight off my feet, I wonder to myself, what in the world was I thinking signing up for Leadville! The bottoms of my feet ache. After I stretch a bit, sip some more water, a new thought comes to mind; my feet hurt when I walk in the mall but that doesn't mean I stop shopping! Sometimes you just have to put things into perspective.

Holiday Weekend & Running with the Guys

New Regional Santa Fe
July 3, 2010
11.55 miles
1:45:03
9:06 min/mile

Another Saturday and a holiday weekend to boot - you bet I'm running! The guys want to do the usual six to eight miles and I decide to do the same thing I did before and head out a little early to get more miles in before they show up.

This works great and I'm out of the house and on the trail by 6:20 am, enough time to run about 3.5 miles before we meet at the trailhead by the North Gate to USAFA. Yes, a little more ribbing about my "secret training" and a new face, Scooter's neighbor, Rick.

We have a large group today: Chris, F, Scooter, Rick, Mike, Jeff, Bob, Felix and I. As we begin down towards Ice Lake and/or Woodmen or Tucker's Tie-In, we do the usual; work out the kinks, find out how everyone is running and who's racing what and when. Bob and Felix have been training on the peak in preparation for their upcoming Pikes Peak Marathon. Scooter is working on distance and speed gearing up for his first marathon. Jeff and Mike feed off each other and Jeff will run whatever Mike says is good to run. Chris and F have obviously been doing "secret training" during the week and Rick is just starting with us.

After two miles all the lead runners stop for Bob, Felix and I to catch up. We three are going slow but that's what we want and need right now. As we pull alongside them, Bob says he's going on; well Felix joins him and I continue on past as well. This ensures cat calls later and much ribbing. However, the jack rabbits: Mike, Jeff, Rick and Scooter, all catch us easily with Chris and F not so far behind in that endeavor.

Under the South Gate bridge, we all stop. After a short rest, I once again take off before the others and get more grief for it. As they pull past me on the way down, I remark that they just use and abuse me -- I'm their rabbit and once they catch me, that's it. This ties into Mike's nickname for me, Energizer Bunny.

At Ice Lake, Chris and F leave us - they got their six in and besides, they need to secure our table at the bagel place. This leaves the rest of us to run the last two miles. Rick pulls alongside and I chat with him a bit before I tell him he can go ahead and catch Scooter and Jeff. He looks at me as if to make sure it's okay; yup, go on, and he takes off.

With the end in sight, I decide not to stop at the base of the trail but go ahead and run up the hill to the parking lot. This, I tell Scooter is like the finish at Leadville - up Sixth St. after running 99 miles. Rick has family obligations and cannot join the rest of us so six of us pile into a car and we meet the rest of the guys for Bagels.

July third, our nation's independence weekend and once again, a great run with the guys!

Fox Run in July

Fox Run Park

July 2, 2010

5.25 miles

1:04:55

12:22 min/mile

I'm trying to get a really good week in this week and also trying to change my running schedule to 3 days of running then one off. I've done quite a few back to back runs and every now and then had three in a row; however, now I'm trying to run tired as well as long.

In addition, this is my last week home before I begin the commuting to and from Casper. With that in mind and knowing I am running with the guys tomorrow and have a 25+ mile run on Sunday; I decided to hang out in my favorite park up the street, Fox Run Park.

I took off a quarter after nine with my blackberry in my hand to take pictures of this park. I've talked about it so much in my blogs since I've run here so much; however, since I can run from my house, I usually forget to take my phone. Not today!

Enjoy the pictures of this great park! There are two lakes in this park, one above the other, and here is my favorite spot - the fantastic view of Pikes Peak after the worst climb in the park.

Over half way through the run, something clicked in my head and I realized I had a telephone appointment scheduled after 10 am. Almost as soon as I remembered it, my blackberry rang and I stopped to take the call ... ignore the heavy breathing and wind noise, I'm out running!

I may not have connected my thoughts very clearly during the phone conversation; but I'll plead insanity later. Once the call was finished, I high-tailed down the trail, crossed Baptist and headed home like a barn sour filly! At the top of the last hill I can see the roof of my house at the end of the trail and it is always a welcomed, lovely sight!

Rampart Reservoir

Rampart Reservoir

June 30, 2010

14.05 miles

2:43:40

11:39 min/mile

Tracey and I finally got together to run. We haven't run together in awhile; well, that's not exactly true, we did run the Mt. Evans Ascent road race together less than two weeks ago. But then again, we didn't really run together then; since she was way ahead of me the whole time!

However, today, it was a slow day for both of us and we were able to run together. We chose the lovely loop around Rampart Reservoir up behind Pikes Peak for our jaunt. Rampart Reservoir has a great mountain bike trail all around it that is rated moderate in difficulty with an average finish time for mountain bikers of 2 hours 42 minutes. Take a look at what Tracey and I ran it in and you'll see how great a trail runner Tracey is!

This trail has some Pikes Peak granite, some running through Aspen, and a lot of soft trails through the pines. It is almost all single track at an elevation of 9000+. All in all, an excellent trail for a run!

We started at the trailhead off the dirt road leading up to Eagle Lake Camp and ran to the reservoir. Once there, we began the loop running clockwise. By running the reservoir clockwise, you get most of the long fingers of the reservoir out of the way first before crossing the dam. Plus, the sun hits that side more strongly than the other side of the reservoir in the moring.

Tracey also brought her dog, Georgie, who is an excellent running dog this morning. Georgie likes to take the lead and then double back to make sure Tracey is following along. Therefore, Georgie led us with Tracey next with me bringing up the rear.

This morning's run was fantastic. I filled Tracey in on my new job in Casper, Wyoming, she talked about her training with the Incline Club and we both shared our hopes and dreams for the third week of August. Tracey is doing the Pikes Peak marathon on the same weekend I'm running Leadville. The weather was nice, little wind and sunny skies with the views of Pikes Peak from the reservoir absolutely gorgeous.

At the ten mile point, Tracey said it was time for me to start getting fast. Ha! I told her I don't speed up, I just continue running! Tracey has the speed and a phenomenal ability to run uphill. I kept up with when I could; when I could not, I power hiked the inclines. I need to power hike anyway for Leadville.

Once we reached the trail back to the car and had completely circumnavigated the reservoir, I took the lead and power hiked up the dirt road. This was excellent training for me and I told Tracey this was just like the road going into Winfield and the half-way point of Leadville.

Once back at the car, we stretched, and finished any water we had left in our camelbacks. What a great run with a good friend.

Finishing My Twenty

Santa Fe Trail

June 29, 201o

7.51 miles

1:12:10

9:37 min/mile pace

Rick gave me the idea to run the rest of my 20 miles today that I didn't get in yesterday and I decided to do it. I have a long run planned tomorrow with Tracey (Rampart Reservoir - 15 miles) so I didn't want to over-extend myself after Elk Park yesterday and elected to run the Santa Fe Trail from Monument up to Palmer Lake and back.

I got started 10:30 am and the temperature was already 76 degrees. I ran with just my shorts and running bra since I knew the temperatures would just climb higher as the hour passed. A nice tailwind for the uphill first leg and I came into Palmer Lake with a 9:30 pace before I hit the bathroom and stretched for my 3.5+ miles back down.

That nice tailwind turned into a strong headwind on the way back. Here, where I live in Colorado, there is virtually no wind early in the morning. Then it gradually picks up midmorning to a rather brisk wind (20-25knots) in the afternoon before evening when it finally subsides; that is, unless you have stormy weather then all bets are off. One of the reasons I like Fox Run Park so much is that the trees protect you from the majority of the wind. If I see the trees swaying a bit at my house, I know the wind is pretty brisk a thousand feet below where the Santa Fe Trail is. There aren't many trees on the Santa Fe. But I digress and now back to my mid-morning run.

At the end of my run, I hit the garmin and am not surprised that although I ran downhill on the way back, my pace was slower due to the wind. The wind is my friend, the wind is my friend ...

Elk Park

Elk Park to Barr Camp+
June 28, 2010

12.7 miles

3:22:50

15:58 min/mile pace

Chris chided me on Saturday and said I needed to get on the mountain. Dude! I did a fourteener road race last weekend! I guess in his book that doesn't count. So, with Bob's directions fresh in my head, I decide to head up the Pikes Peak road and hit the trail at the Elk Park overlook. My plan is to get in 20+ miles today since I didn't do my long run on Sunday - instead, I watched four games of softball between Saturday night and Sunday -- all with Jessica pitching. Her team came in third in the tourney (5 wins, 1 loss - yup, single elimination sucks).

I got up at a decent hour; however, I just couldn't get out of the house until 9:30 am. This proved to be way too late for a run on Pikes Peak above treeline as I will explain.

By the time I got to the trailhead almost 14 miles up Pikes Peak road, it was already after 11am. The Elk Park trailhead is .9 miles past the Glen Cove brake check station and barely visible from the road. An old gate was my only marker and before I spotted it, I thought I had driven way past the trailhead. Elevation up here is at 11,850' (Matt Carpenter's website gave me this figure and I'm sticking to local legend to know!) - perfect elevation to begin a run. Bob warned me last week that you run down to Barr Camp (elevation 10,200') and then have the long slog back up to Elk Park on your way out. Yikes. After a quick look around the parking lot area, the only trail I see is one down a bit. This trailhead does not say "Elk Park;" however, it is the only one I see and therefore, I decide to take it. Bob told me it was about 5.5 miles to Barr Camp and I know he's spot on when it comes to distances. With that in mind, I start down the trail and hope for the best!

At about 1.4 miles down the trail there is this sign that gave me proof I was on the right trail! Whew! I was glad I didn't make a rookie mistake here. The trail begins above tree line but after about a mile, hits the trees for good. This section is very nice as well as continuously downhill.

I am enjoying the views and the trail. It is beautiful; however, I am already dreading the return trip up this trail later in the day. Thankfully there is cloud cover and the temperature is not too warm at this elevation. I started with a long sleeve shirt on but quickly shed it and tied it around my waist. I have my camelback and my 24oz water bottle with me plus some money for a bottle of gatorade at Barr Camp if I'm out all day.

This trail is absolutely gorgeous. You run along the side of the mountain, exposed to start this trail; but then, you drop into the trees and have wonderful, soft, pine needle coated trail along with some meadows to run through. One creek crossing and I find an old log half eaten by termites to traverse and I'm across.

After 5.6+ miles, I roll into Barr Camp and turn up the Barr Trail toward the top of Pikes Peak. I don't plan on summiting today; just want to get in 3 miles up the trail to A-Frame and back. However, when I look up, I see storm clouds forming over the peak and I begin to get concerned. Lightning on Pikes Peak is a scary thing, especially above tree line. I started this run above tree line. If I do 20 miles today, I'll be ending my run after 4pm in the prime time for afternoon storms ... above tree line. Double Yikes.

After about a little less than a mile up the trail, I elect discretion over valor and turn around. I've gone over 6 miles, all above 10,200', and now it's time to be smart and get my butt off this mountain as quick as I can before the thunderstorm rolls in. Did I mention we had thunderstorms the two previous afternoons?

I quickly do the math in my head and questimate if I'm lucky, I will get to the top of the trailhead before 3:30pm. That's cutting it close; especially above treeline but I don't have many options unless I want to leave the Jeep on Pikes Peak and run the six miles down the Barr Trail to Manitou Springs. I decide to head for the jeep and not pay another 12 bucks for the road fee to rescue the Jeep.

Ouch. This trail back up sucks! I am powerhiking, running, walking, doing whatever I can to keep moving up this mountain before I have the misfortune to get hit by lightning! I pause just long enough to take a couple of photos. The first one here is what I am anxious about -- the dark clouds coming over the tops of the mountains.

The second one, below, is the trail ahead of me with about 1+ miles left. Up on the grassy knoll is my Jeep. I can see it with the naked eye; but it doesn't look like it came out to well in the photo. This is a very welcomed sight for me and I hope the weather will hold long enough for me to make it without getting electrocuted!

Those white puffy clouds do not accurately protray what is rolling in over my shoulder!

A little after 3 pm I make it to the trailhead! Yes! As I look around, I notice more dark clouds but thankfully, I do not hear anything except the wind which has picked up significantly. I hit the portapottie there and shed my sweat-drenched clothes for the long-sleeve and fleece in the Jeep. I was sweating so much I didn't realize how cold my fingers were on the return. Summer in the Rockies above 11,000' can still be pretty cold!

Once in the Jeep and safe and sound, I head back down Pikes Peak and back to normalcy. What a run! Even though it was much shorter than I planned, still a good run.

Saturday Run with the Guys

Monument Valley Park

Cache Le Poudre Trailhead

June 26, 2010

7.81 miles (2.5 & 5.31)

70:28 minutes

9:31min/mile & 8:49 min/mile

The emails went back and forth from Thursday evening and it was decided we would run six miles at 7am starting at Cache or Monument Valley Park. I need more than just six miles and if we had run a straight shot down the Santa Fe Trail, I was going to run with the guys and then turn around and run back up the trail. However, since we are going to run and out and back, I elect to get to the trailhead early and get a couple of miles in before the rest show up. And this is what I did.

I cannot drag my sorry bag of bones out of bed at a decent hour unless it's for a race it seems. I finally wake up, drink my coffee, and head out the door a little past 6am. This puts me at the trailhead at 6:30 and I begin my pre-run run and loop Monument Creek twice before I see Bob and the others at the trailhead.

I am busted! When I come up to the guys, I tell them I just ran to the bathroom. Yeah, right. Why is there so much sweat on you then? "Secret Training," they crow and I admit I got a couple of miles in early. After so much back and forth bantering, Bob ropes us in and says we've wasted too much of his time and now he can only run 5 miles today. Guess we'd better hit the trail.

We run up the downtown section of the Santa Fe Trail. As we go, we run next to one person and then another and catch up with each other in this manner. I've been busy running races and have not run with Mike, Jeff, Chris or F in awhile. I ran with Bob last weekend doing the Mt. Evans Ascent.

At the turn around point, we stop, stretch, and perform other vital bodily functions as needed and then head back down the trail. F and Jeff are in the lead and appear to be loping along pretty easily; I decide to stretch my legs a bit on this slightly downhill section and try to catch up to them. This proves impossible for me. It is only with less than a mile to go that I get close to Jeff; however, this was due to dogs in his way and I try to take advantage of it. However, he hears me behind him and pulls away again. At the end of the run, I give it all I have and still cannot catch Jeff. What an improved runner! I keep telling him he needs to run ultras! He needs a bigger challenge than six miles if you ask me.

Bob heads off to home and house guests while the rest of us get bagels and coffee. Jeff and I get out our garmins and compare our times. To my surprise, my last two miles were faster than his; but I still couldn't catch him. The guys tease me and tell me if I had 12 more miles, I would have caught him! Nah, make it 10; I think I could of caught him in 10!

Evening Falcon Trail

Falcon Trail

June 24, 2010

12.83 miles

2:27:21

11:29 min/mile pace

Ah, the joys of having an athletic daughter. Mondays are spent walking the golf course watching her play 18 holes in a local tourney; Tuesdays and Thursdays, and sometimes Wednesdays is softball practice in the evening. A misjudgment of time on Rick's part leaves me to take Jess to her practice this evening; even though I wanted to get out and run. Therefore, I am later than I wanted to be when I hit the Falcon Trail this evening. My goal was to endure the last heat of the day at 5:30pm and then do one full circuit around the Falcon Trail before darkness descended.

I actually get out at 6:35pm, an hour later than planned. We'll see if I have enough daylight to do what I want or not.

I park by the stadium since this gives me a "downhill" finish and I hop on the trail going clockwise. This is my favorite starting point, around the five mile marker and 3 miles before the gas station and restrooms and water. I am dressed very lightly since it has been a scorcher and I am wearing my camelback for the first time since the Dirty Thirty and the resulting sores on my back. All has healed and I now have a better relationship with my camelback -- I cover my back better and it provides me with needed hydration.

The beginning of this run is pretty hot and I am kind of glad for the delay in the start to my run. After stopping at the gas station to refill my handheld bottle and top off my camelback; I get back on the trail.

After the fire station, I hit my favorite section of the trail that runs along the bottom of a canyon or ridge. A stream passes through and you cross a couple of bridges and have some larger rocks thrown in for good measure. This is a very peaceful, quiet section covered by the trees and always makes me feel good when I run down here - except for the rock overhang on one section that seems to me would be a great place for a mountain lion to lie in wait for a runner to pass below. I run that section faster than the rest each time I'm on this trail!

At the top of the official trail beginning, I see a couple of cadets who have just raced each other up the switchbacks I am about to descend. They are young, and panting, and full of energy I wish I had when I was their age. Besides these two young men, I only see two other runners on the trail this evening - both are younger women enjoying their solo runs. I applaud them silently in my mind as I pass them and wish them good running for years to come.

On my way down the final hill/mountain, past the cadet area before the golf course, two mountain bikers overtake me from behind and inform me there is one more in their party. I wait for a moment but do not see him, therefore, I continue to run down the trail, looking behind me every-so-often and picking up speed. Nothing like the threat of being mowed down by a bike to give wings to your tired feet.

As I cross the road to the golf course, I notice the two mountain bikers have pulled off the trail and one is on his cell phone. Evidently their friend is either in trouble or the increasing gloom of night is making visibility not to his liking. I run past them and now really feel the speed pick up for me.

It is getting darker and darker on the trail and this section is through the pines. I can still see the trail and not to worried about that; however, now I have three mountain bikers behind me and I run this section pretty well waiting for them to overtake me at any moment. This never happens and I don't know why - maybe they parked at the B-52 and took the spur back or maybe they double-backed and helped the other mountain biker. In either case, I run scared of them all the way back to my car.

As I hit the gravel road next to the backside of the golf course, I debate whether to pull out my headlamp or not for the last half mile in the trees coming up. I decide against it; the trail is still visible and I pick up my feet a bit more to forestall me tripping over a root in the darkness.

Finally, after 9pm, I stop the garmin; I have completed the entire loop and I am ready to stop. Visibility is nil and I'm getting hungry!

Round and Round Fox Run

Fox Run Park
June 22, 2010
8 miles
1:36:51
12:07 min/mile pace

I took Sunday and Monday off. Although Mt. Evans was only 14.5 miles, it was all above 10,000' elevation and was the 4th weekend in a row I raced. I thought I deserved two days off there; and boy was I tired anyway.

This morning, I wanted hills, not flats, and I wanted longer than my usual 5 miles in Fox Run (outer loop); therefore, I decided to take every trail I could in the park to make this run long without having to loop the park twice. My strategy worked perfectly!

Late morning and I only had to contend with a few hikers in the park; most people were picnicking by the playgrounds or strolling alongside the ponds. Coming off of one of the trails and hitting the dirt road in front of the playground is not fair when you smell hotdogs and burgers on the grill!

A fine run and a nice hour+ spent in my favorite local park!

Mt Evans Ascent

Mt Evans

Idaho Springs, CO

June 19, 2010

14.5 miles

3:09:44

13:06 min/mile

15th in age group (45-49)

Another day of getting up predawn to run a race. What am I thinking?! Thank goodness Rick volunteered (or did I volunteer him?) to drive Holly and I to the start and then meet us at the finish on the summit of Mt Evans. Holly agress to meet us at 4:30am then drive the 2 hours to the Mt Evans park entrance and packet-pick up.

The drive is uneventful and we arrive in plenty of time to pick up our packets. Weird though, I don't have a race shirt or goodie bag waiting for me; instead, the volunteer tells me to come back after the race and I can pick up one of the no-show bags. Interesting. I signed up before Bob and Holly and I don't have a goodie bag. I'll remember that in the future!

I decide to run with my arm warmers, a light jacket tied around the waist, my new "glove" hand warmers with skulls on them, and my Whitworth Pirates tech shirt. My armwarmers get comments and questions all day long - "cool armwarmers; where'd ya get them?" The jacket is not optional, race rules state you must have a long-sleeve shirt or jacket with you at all times due to changing weather and climate zones we will be traversing today. Yes, that is a snowbank I am running alongside in the top photo~

Once the gun goes off for the start, Holly looks back at me and I tell her, "I told you, I was going to be slow, go ahead!" and she's off along with Bob. I don't mind being where I am; I know it's another training run for me - this time all at altitude. Mount Evans Ascent begins at the park entrace at Echo Lake and at an elevation of 10,600'. From there, you wind up 14.5 miles of road, almost to the summit of Mt. Evans at 14,264'. This is the hightest road race in America and another great opportunity for me to get elevation and training while running supported!

In addition, this one is close enough for the family to come and cheer me on which Whitney and Jessica do. This surprises me; the girls woke up at 4:15am to drive up and cheer their mother on! Wow, do I have great kids or what? Because of an error in directions given by me to Rick (he actually drove up the wrong road waiting for me), I see and hear Whitney and Jessica on the route before I see Rick. Yeah! Finally, Rick pulls along side me and I apologize profusely for leading him up the wrong road; no worries. He's happy the girls are here and they begin to leap-frog me one after the other along the race route up the mountain.

I run the first 3+ miles then get into the pattern of running and power hiking. I run to a point on the road and then walk to another and repeat, over and over and over again. This strategy has helped me numerous times in my ultra training and does wonders today.

As I pass my girls in Whit's car, I hear cowbell! Yes! They are ringing it for me. Runners around me remark that we need more cowbell and I pass this information on to the girls and Rick and from there, the cowbell ringing becomes more clear and more loud.

Each time Rick and the girls leap-frog me in their vehicles, cowbell rings out and I have a huge smile on my face. I love this day - It is filled with great weather, great views, and great family support! Mount Evans is gorgeous today and the sky is so clear you can see for miles in the distance. Once above tree line, the vistas open up as a flower to the dawn and it is almost breath taking. I think to myself, is there anywhere else I want to be right now? Is there anything better I could be doing at this moment than being on this mountain in this beautiful day?

Back to the race. Yes, there is a race going on despite me. We have 2.5 hours to run the first 9 miles; however, I am operating under the misconception that we only have 2 hours. I pull around the bend to see Summit Lake (9 mile point and 12,850' elevation) in 1:53 hours and minutes and I am thankful I made the "cutoff." It is not until I round the bend past the lake, that another runner asks me the time and I tell him we're under 2 hours - we just made the cut-off. What? The cut-off is 2.5 hours. Whew! I feel much better even as I stare up the next section of road winding around the mountain.

I have 5.5 miles left to go and less than 2000 more feet of elevation to climb. From this point, I begin power hiking in earnest and get into a very good groove. This is where the lessons learned from Chris begin to pay off for me. Chris has stated numerous times that often you can power hike faster than someone running uphill. I put his theory to the test here and boy, is it ever on the mark. I check my garmin frequently during this section just to make sure I am keeping on pace. My goal is to finish in a 15 min/mile pace or less. How fast can I powerhike is the question I ask myself. How fast can I powerhike for 5 miles, uphill, at an ever-increasing elevation?

In the last sections, there are numerous switchbacks and you can see the runners ahead of you on the road above you. In one of these sections, I finally spie Bob and yell up to him. He hears me and waves to me as he trudges up his section. This gives me new life and I am happy again. My power hiking is not only overtaking those around me; but I am also ever-so-slowly gaining on some.

Finally, I round the last bend and I see the finish line! From here, I force my legs into a run and cross the finish line in 3 hours, 9 minutes, 44 seconds (Rick was late snapping the photo - that's me already past the finish line waiting for them to take my timer off my ankle).

I see Bob and Holly and apologize for making Holly wait so long for her clothes in Rick's car - she tells me she wasn't waiting that long and I am surprised I was was within 5 minutes of her finish time (3:04:12). Bob finished in between both of us at 3:06:10. Training will tell, we all run together and finished within 5 minutes of each other! Speaking of excellent training, my friend Tracey smoked all of us (2:54:28); she has continued training with the Incline Club and has made such great progress this year! I hated moving into her age group this year!

Once we have warm clothes on, Bob states he wants to officially log this and that means a hike up to the actual peak. My family quickly agrees so off all six of go to "summit" this fourteener! What a great day and back at the start, we stop and I go up to the race tent and they hand me a "no-show" goodie bag and I get my race shirt along with lunch!