For the last two years, my main running goal has been to do a self-supported 50 mile run.
I regrouped and decided to make it my goal for this year instead. I put in the long mileage and training over the summer. But I knew the hardest part would be the mental challenge.
I had several different routes in mind for my 50, but I ultimately decided that for this year, I'd attempt to leave from my house, ascend Pikes Peak, and run home. I would add a little loop through the Garden of the Gods to make the mileage 25 each way.
I finalized my plans and route on Thursday evening before the Labor Day weekend. I decided I'd take Fri, Sat, and Sun to rest and spend time with my family. Then, I'd set out early Monday morning for the run.
We really enjoyed our family activities over the long weekend!
We saw the balloon lift off at Memorial Park on Saturday morning.
Then, we returned in the evening for the balloon glow.
On Sunday, my daughter and I went to the park together and had a picnic and did some stretches on the grass. In the evening, we had a family sunset walk.
I went to bed early to try to sleep as much as possible before I set out in the morning!
A little before 4am, I set out, waving to my husband on the porch as he wished me off on my adventure.
I enjoyed the quiet streets, the city still dozing off the holiday.
I tried to make this a reflective run, combining all the different memories I had of these same trails.
I hit the Rock Island Trail and headed towards Monument Valley Park, crossing to the west side of the creek and joining the Mesa Valley Trail.
I noticed a pretty big temperature drop as soon as I crossed under I-25, where I donned the long sleeve shirt I had reluctantly brought.
I thought about all the times I'd run this way when commuting to work at Garden of the Gods, the summer I worked there. What a fun job, and a neat way to my share knowledge (and learn more, too!) about the Pikes Peak region.
I came out of the valley open space and turned right onto the Palmer-Mesa Trail, which runs alongside Mesa Road. Soon after crossing the light at Fontanero, I encountered my first challenge.
I was listening to music with my earbuds when one of them came out. They don't always stay in very well with the bouncing of exercise. When I tried to catch it, it bounced off my hand and flew into the tall grass on the side of the trail. I stopped, but I couldn't immediately locate it. So I had to put my other earbud in the case and turn the volume up. It seemed that each time I got close to locating the earbud, a car passed by and drowned out the sound.
I finally was able to find it, but I was a little perturbed that I was only a tenth of the way into my run, and I was already encountering an unexpected challenge, completely unrelated to running.
I shook it off and thought that this early task was a good metaphor for challenges that we sometimes must face in the dawn of life.
And soon, dawn was slowly showing itself to the east.
I relaxed into a comfortable pace, taking the Mesa-Palmer Trail all the way north to the Blair Bridge connection, where I crossed under the road and joined the Foothills Trail, turning back to the south.
This part of the trail was so smooth and I was lost in thought, so I jogged past the Dakota Trail entrance to the Garden that I had planned to take. When I realized this, I decided just to keep going to the next junction with the Gateway Trail rather than turning around. This likely added a bit of mileage to the course, but I was able to jog through into the Central Garden.
Here I joined the road, as the sky was still slowly warming up through the palette of pastels that is a late-summer sunrise in Colorado.
I ran south through the Garden in the pedestrian lane until Balanced Rock. Here, I stopped for the first real "aid station" break, somewhere between miles 11 and 12.
I didn't time it this way intentionally, but nature lined up exactly with my stop, as I got to catch the moment the sun crested the horizon at Balanced Rock.
People come here to catch this Instagram-worthy view every morning, and I was lucky enough just to be here on time during my run.
I took the opportunity to eat a trail snack, and salt, and water. Then I set out into Manitou.
I stopped at the Seven Minute Springs by Memorial Park at my first intended water stop. I drank and filled my water to the brim. I love this natural spring in the center of Manitou and it was a treat to have this water as a planned refill stop. Tourists, health advocates, and hippies alike have been coming to Manitou Springs for decades for this water. It would help me up the mountain!
From here on, I did the standard Ascent route up the mountain.
I tried to keep up to par with salt and water, as the day was heating up. Eventually, I had to take off the long sleeve shirt, as I was too hot once I was on the Ws.
A few breezy clouds drifted by as I kept ascending Barr Trail. I stopped at Barr Camp, and noted that my GPS said I was now over 20 miles into my adventure. In order to make the summit and go back on the same route, I would now have a 52-mile day.
After some hearty trail pancakes 🥞 (thank you caretakers!), I went back out to that relentless Barr Trail uphill. I tried to be as steady as possible, but it was tough going.
I noticed as I got closer to A-frame that occasional gusts of wind were blowing through, and they had a cold, harsh edge for how warm the day seemed.
I sat in the A-frame and assessed my condition. I was almost at 23 miles. I was tired. I was a little lightheaded. Salt, snacks, and water were only doing so much.
I did not have the energy to go all the way to the summit and back down, and I was scared that if I did get to the summit, I'd bail on the whole thing and get a ride down.
It was either the mileage or the summit. And today, I wanted the mileage.
Although I didn't know it at the time, it likely saved my day to change course here.
On my way down from A-frame, I caught a chipmunk nibbling on a freshly-fallen still-green pinecone. He was very comfortable with me, and didn't even skitter away as I passed by.
Soon after, I spotted the first sign of autumn on this Labor Day.
A single aspen was already getting yellow!
Somewhere as I was meandering down Barr Trail in the trees, my phone caught some reception.
Dionne had known that I was doing this adventure today and she texted me to see how I was doing!
I was struggling and whiney, and I told her as much. I was 30 miles in, my feet hurt, and I was ready for someone to tell me to quit! 😆 I was seeking external permission to be done with the pain.
But instead, Dionne offered to meet up with me and give me a mobile aid station.
Now I had to get moving down this trail.
The promise of someone to meet up with, and a resupply, boosted my morale and I jogged with the best effort I could (while still trying not to trip 😜).
I finally made it back to Memorial Park around mile 34, refilled with the magical spring water, and met up with Dionne!
Dionne literally saved my run. She brought me ginger ale, tangerines, Oreos, mini Snickers, and Enduro Bites - a feast for an ultra runner!!
And, importantly, fresh socks.
She also brought me a fresh shirt to change into. Wow, I felt alive again!!
And now that I'd met up with Dionne, I couldn't get out of the rest of my run so easily!
I was still achy. But the dull throbbing fatigue was just going to be a part of the adventure from now until the end.
I set out again with a far better mental attitude. I was going to make it, no matter how long it took.
I jogged back to the north past Balanced Rock and through Garden of the Gods. I acutely felt the way the land trends uphill as you travel north through the Garden!
It was really a lovely afternoon, and I was able to enjoy the puffy clouds as the sun gradually made its way to the west.
I jogged back north to the Blair Bridge, the same way I'd come into the Garden, and returned to the Mesa Valley Trail. The sun retreated behind the mountains as I did my best to keep shuffling.
Although I had less than 10 miles to go now, my confidence hit another low. I had stopped somewhere around 41 miles last year. It still felt like such a long way to go.
Last year, my husband and our children had walked two miles at the track with me after my long run, giving me an actual total of around 43 miles. I brainstormed and thought maybe they could meet me at the same track again this year, except near mile 48, and finish the 50 with me!
This new idea gave me a small boost, and I shuffled as much as I could between walking breaks.
As the sunlight departed again, I'd faced the entire day out on the roads and trails. It had been a while since I'd run from sunrise to sunset.
I arrived at the track before my family, with the silhouette of Pikes Peak still clearly visible in the distance. What a day!
I still had a little more work to do. I jogged a few laps before my family arrived. When they got there, I was at 47.3 miles - just 2.7 miles from my goal!
There was no way I was stopping short of 50 now!
I enjoyed the stars as they came out, and the Big Dipper became clear in the sky. I chatted with my family, and power-walked with them around the track for these last few miles.
My husband wanted to ensure he got a full 5k, and I wanted to go the extra two laps with him. This gave me an extra half-mile on the day, bringing my total to 50.5 miles!
I was so happy and thankful that this had come full circle, with my family helping me finish the last few miles. And I would have been ready to give up midway if it weren't for Dionne meeting with me.
What an amazing goal run for the year... and what a relief that I actually was able to do it 😁!
***
It has now been a week since my big run. The recovery week has gone well. For the first couple days, I felt a few odd twinges in my legs. I (unscientifically) think this has to do with the nervous system recovering from a distance that it isn't accustomed to.
I did sets of bodyweight squats and lunges on my third day of recovery, which felt really good. On the fifth day, I had a 5.5-mile recovery run with Pippin.
The recovery run felt like I was back to normal, and I had good energy levels. I did full sets of pull-ups and dips the following day, rounding out my recovery week.
With snow capping Pikes Peak today, I'm so thankful that I was able to complete my goal before summer's vibrant energy waned.
As I sit with this experience, I realize that this run really broke me out of my comfort zone. I hope I can adapt to some of the pain, as I think it's partly because my nervous system isn't used to running that far! But the other part is definitely a mental challenge; to overcome the pain cave.
