Good morning everyone and thanks for the words of support!! "Extreme" doesn't even come close to what this race was. It was the most challenging thing I've ever done. My sister agreed to go with me on the quest and she stuck with me most of the way. Mind you, she hasn't walked more than about 4 miles in any one workout but she and her husband did walk 8 miles in Aspen a few weekends ago. So this was a big undertaking for her. God bless her, she really stuck with it. We walked this; we did not attempt to run it. I had only been in CO for 3 days and coming from sea-level, this was going to be tough for me.
The race was held in Leadville CO (elevation ~10,000 feet) and went up to the top of Mosquito Pass (13,185 feet). That's a 3,185 foot ascent in elevation. The race started promptly at 8:00 am. It was crystal clear and a bit cool. The mayor of Leadville was the MC and started the race with a true shotgun. He seemed to get quite a kick out of doing that. I did meet up with Monica, aka Monte. She and her friend Monica were also walking it.
The first 1.25 miles (that's a guess; there were no mile markers) both the marathon and half marathon participants stayed together. We then broke apart. The terrain was a well-maintained dirt road, but it was still uphill. The first 3 miles was about a 1000 foot rise in elevation. That's not easy. I was under the mis-guided impression that the first 4 miles would be relatively flat. I don't know where I got that impression. But it was wrong. Up, up, up we went. It took us an hour to reach the first aid station. They were checking numbers and had drinks and snacks.
Mile 3-4 was mostly downhill but it was not the well-maintained road the first 3 miles were. But it wasn't too bad and since I wasn't climbing I could enjoy the scenery. There were lots of abandoned mines and the wildflowers were gorgeous! At mile 4 we got to another aid station and that's where the two groups came back together. We then started our ascent up to Mosquito Pass. So far it had taken us about 1 1/2 hours to get to this point (did I mention we were walking?). At this point the terrain got steep and rugged.
I will say the fields of wildflowers around us were wonderful. My sister is an entymologist (sp?) and works for the CO extension service. She is a Master Gardener and writes gardening columns for several newspapers including the Rocky Mountain News. So I was constantly asking her what this flower was and what that flower was to keep her mind off the walking. I could tell she was fading when she stopped telling me the names of the flowers. She merely grunted. We did have to stop frequently and about 1/2 way up the peak, she gave out. She just couldn't go any further.
I, however, continued up the mountain. I wanted to see if I could do it. I had come 2,000 miles and had been looking forward to it. The road got steeper and more rugged but I took baby steps and took it slowly. I did stop a couple times. The altitude was getting to me as I had quite a headache by the time I got to the top. But I DID get to the top. There was a photographer taking pictures and they were checking off numbers and I actually posed for a picture. I also had a very nice gentleman take my picture next to the sign for the top of the pass. Again they had an aid station with drinks and snacks. By this point I wasn't hungry and, in fact, my stomach was a bit nauseous--more altitude sickness. Total time from the start to the top of the pass, 3 hours 42 minutes.
Now I had to come down the pass. You think up was hard? Try down. Yes, it was faster, however with the rocks, there were a couple places where I slipped but didn't fall. 1 1/4 hours after reaching the top, I met my sister at the aid station at the base of the pass. I was NEVER so happy to see her in all my life. Now we only had 4 miles to go. The first of those 4 miles was uphill. When we got to the bottom of that "little" hill, all I could think was "you have GOT to be kidding me." I did have to take it quite slowly, but we made it to the next aid station in about 1/2 an hour. Part way there, one of the volunteers was walking toward us. He and a mountain biker were checking to see how many people were still coming up. He walked us back to the aid station where I sat for a few minutes. He was very solicitous and had nothing but very encouraging words for us.
We then headed downhill to the finish. Those last 3 miles we covered in less than an hour. I never looked back. I couldn't believe we had walked up all that way. My sister, however, did look back and commented on the steep incline. I wasn't going to do that. Always look forward, never look back. We crossed the finish line 3 hours after I left the top of the mountain.
We DID it!! The 13ish miles my sister did was a PR for her. The 15.5 miles I did was a PR distance for me (hence the name Heavy Half--it's more than half a marathon). I don't care that it took 6 hours 42 minutes. I DID it. I have a medal to prove it. I haven't downloaded the pictures yet and I'm hoping to see the picture the race photographer took soon. I might just get that. We took lots of ibuprofen and my legs hurt so bad during the night that I couldn't sleep. This morning my calves hurt but the rest of my legs are OK. I haven't talked to my sister so I don't know how she feels.
I think I've found my limit--at least for now. Please tell me the Disney Marathon isn't this bad. Please?
I am glad I did it but I will never do it again. I proved something to myself although I'm not sure what that was. I can't wait to share the photos with you all. Thanks again for your words of support. I really needed them yesterday!
GO! WISH TEAM GO!
My own fault, I know!
Amazing! I can't wait to see the pics! Congrats to you and your sis! Can't wait to read monte's race report!
