2016 Pikes Peak Marathon

August 22, 2016

This is a hard race to get into. I had to give a qualifying time and sign up right away to get in. This was my big race of the year, besides New York City Marathon. I trained on Pikes Peak a lot in the spring with Lola. It is my favorite place to go and run.

Once summer started, I couldn't get up there to train. Things were too busy and I didn't have anyone to watch the kids. I did run the whole peak (up and down) on July 31^st, 3 weeks before the marathon. I still didn't feel ready because I hadn't been running a lot of miles.

Lloyd and I stayed up there for the weekend and had a blast. We went shopping and mountain biking.

I researched what time I would need to get an award and it was sub 6 hours. The last time I ran the marathon was 2 years ago and I ran it in 6:41. I would have to shave off about 50 minutes to win. I told Lloyd that we had to eat sushi the night before. I have never had a bad race when I eat sushi, the night before. We had some of the best sushi in Colorado Springs. I went to bed early and woke up really excited.

When the gun went off, I ran fast to be one of the first people onto the trail. I wanted to get up that mountain super quick. I couldn't keep up with the fast ladies. I also made a bit of a wrong turn but it only cost me a minute or so. By the time I got up past tree line, I started passing people. People get really sick up there from the altitude. I got a bit dizzy, so I didn't go super fast, but faster than a lot of other people.

When I got to the top in 3 hours 42 minutes, they told me I was top 20 for women. That made me run faster! I was hoping I could get back down in 2 hours. I started jamming down the mountain. One guy said, "Look at that little rock star!" That made me laugh!

People were telling me that I was flying and I passed about 10 people on the way down. Many people knew my name and that I was from Castle Rock. I had ran almost every trail run in Colorado Springs so they must have seen me before.

I was feeling really good and then I rolled my ankle. It was excruciating pain and I thought I sprained or broke it. I couldn't put weight on it at first but then the pain eased up and I started running again. It was sore but bearable. I saw another hiker and greeted him. Right after I said, "Hello", I fell hard. The guy asked if I was okay and I told him that falling just happens. I didn't even look down to see the damage on my leg. I just kept running.

Volunteers were asking if I was okay and I told them that I was fine. I was determined to get down in less than 6 hours. I saw another girl stopped and drinking water on the way down. When I passed her, she started running fast behind me. That put a fire under me. She made me nervous that she would pass me, but I eventually lost her behind me.

In the last 2 miles, I ran under 7 minute miles. I saw Lloyd cheering for me. I was so happy! I finished in 5:50:13. They pulled me into the medical tent and told me I needed stitches. I told them that it was just a scrape, but they said the cut was too deep. They stitched me up and I went on my way. That was the first time I ever needed stitches!

I checked results and saw that I got 2^nd age group. I was so excited! I definitely won this race on the downhill. I was 12^th place at the top and moved down to 2^nd by the time I got to the bottom. I met my goal of getting a sub 6-hour time, improved my downhill running, and also won the Triple Crown of Running Series.