Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Saturday I step to the line of the fourth race in the Transcendence series. This is also a return to my first 50 mile race, a day that nearly broke me. I remember climbing up Round Hill, wondering why I was moving so slowly until I turned around to see the trail falling away behind me. I remember reading the pre-race emails, with John’s warning about the 8.5 miles between Pasture and Horseshoe being a long, slow slog and laughing. Surely he couldn’t be serious about how slow that section was! And then when I was struggling on that seemingly unending climb, watching my goal time slip away I couldn’t believe how long it was taking to just hike two miles. I wasn't ready for that day, mentally.  Looking up at Sheep Moutanin I return to Sheep Mountain, to where this whole thing really started. I will once again climb into the wind atop Sheep Mountain, surrounded by the views of the Mosquito Range and South Park. I will take on that long, slow slog between Pasture and Horseshoe - h

Some people make a big deal about all birthdays - celebrating the entire month. Not me. I’ve always been a quiet person when it comes to my birthday. Never seemed like something important as I got older - except for certain birthdays. Even 21 wasn’t as important as other birthdays - the ones where I entered new age groups. Only runners would consider 25 more important then 21... 2019 is a big year in regards to the new age groups. Not only do I enter a new age group - but a new class! Yup - into the Masters Class. It’s been a strange build and anticipation of the new age group. I still have my eyes on the overall, but I know there’s more now - a whole different playing field. And this one you can’t tell just by counting the women ahead of you! After all, I might be 40 now, but I don’t feel it. So how do you tell where are in the new class? You don’t. You just run - just like I did on July 18th. Run as hard as I can, with my eyes on the total number of women in front of me. As I g

Nothing like a whirlwind trip to celebrate a new decade! This past weekend was a quick trip to Grand Junction and back for some exploring, new trails and a little business. I learned plenty during the business part of the trip and will see if more information comes of it. But the rest of the trip was worth it! Saturday, after a cool night atopt Monarch Pass, we headed for Hartman Rocks. Sure, We’ve ridden there plenty of time between 24 Hours in the Sage, Growler and all the pre-rides for those events. Those days we headed out specifically to check out sections of the courses. This ride we had no agenda. Just ride bikes. Okay, one agenda - Nick wanted to ride Rattlesnake. He always wants to ride Rattlesnake! We did a little meandering to get there, hitting up some trails that Nick never gets to ride. When the Growler goes counter clockwise, he misses the fun descent off Ridge Trail, so that was also on the trail menu. Despite it being a Saturday, the trails were empty. I’m sure eve

Halfway through the year and halfway through the Transcendence Series . Back in February when I was getting organized for Stories, this point seemed so far away. Far enough away that I couldn't really look head towards July. I had plenty to get through before even reaching the second race -  Tommyknocker. So the focus was kept narrow - in that month and that week, without psyching myself out about what was to come. There would be plenty of time for getting psyched out later. I knew that the first half of the series was really the hardest. The scheduled races were two of the longer events and just one 50k. A Fairplay sunset the Friday before Last Call There was a brief moment of panic when Tommyknocker got cancelled due to weather. I had a backup race available to ensure I would get the third 50k, but really didn't want to use it. It would mean leaving things really to the last minute with no wiggle room at all. But luckily, the rescheduled date for Tommyknocker worked per

As with any event, I always like taking a step back and looking at what I learned. It's important to do, especially with the longer events, so you don't make the same mistakes twice. There's a lot to take in during a race that lasts 10+ hours and there's always that "aha" moment that you want to remember for the next times. Last Call was no different - the unusual start time just changed the focus of the race from managing heat to dealing with dark and cold. Don't second guess. There were a few times after I'd left the Poor Man's Gulch aid station and headed out into the hills that I debated changing socks. I mentioned in my race report that the soles of my feet were really painful when I finished, but I didn't mentioning walking more then I wanted in the last three miles because of the pain. Had I put dry socks on after the river crossing, the maceration that was starting to develop might have been avoided. I was carrying around the socks -

Before any race, there is that atmosphere around the starting line - what have I gotten myself into? Am I ready for this? Will I survive? It's part apprehension, part nerves and all excitement that the journey will finally be underway. It was no different Saturday night as we runners gathered under the archway, preparing to the Last Call 50 Mile. There was also something new - part am I nuts and this is going to be the greatest adventure ever. Maybe the pre-race shot of whiskey helped with the second part, but the assembled runners were buzzing with excitement, the field glowing with anticipation. Never mind - that was just our headlamps. But there was still more joy mixed with the fear then I've felt at the start of any ultra I've done. Yes, it was 11:55 at night and there we were, ready to head out into the mountains north east of Fairplay. What would be discovered when the sun rose and we climbed out of the darkness? The field took some cajoling to actually assemble un

Closing time... Time for you to go out into the world. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. Sunrise - the only true beginning we see Last Call. This was always on my plan for 2019 - a real return to ultras after what I thought might be the end of my running. A new beginning for ultras and the step towards my first 100. Ah, how things have changed... Time for you to go back to the places you will be from. Lost in the mountains - the place I always want to be Last Call. A midnight start, running into the sunrise. The challenge of covering 50 miles on foot. I’ve done it before at Sheep Mountain . But I didn’t feel satisfied with Sheep Mountain. I felt like I still had a lot to learn - both for training and for racing that kind of distance. Those were things I couldn’t really learn while still focusing on the ultra distance mountain biking. Any long race would have to be weighed against the mountain bike events like Growler and Vapor Trail 125. And t