Dedication

It has snowed almost every day that I’ve been here, some days more than others. Saturday there was around 2 inches of snow! The forecast, not that I really believe in them, said the highs would be in the upper 40s-50s the whole week I’m here in Lake City. Saturday’s high though was only in the 30s. It didn’t matter, because I didn’t have my long run until Sunday.

Unfortunately it was all of 32 deg as I set out on my run Sunday too. I started at the “far” end of town and headed out towards Lake San Cristobal. It’s really beautiful out there. I had selected this route yesterday because of all the hills. I thought that finally running some hills would be good for me. As I started out of town I had a small uphill climb, but it quickly turned into a nice long downhill; as I enjoyed the descent I was cursing to myself thinking about having to run up it at the end of my 12 miles. But for now I thought things were going to go really well.

At around 1.5 miles or so, I started my first real uphill climb. It lasted for what seemed like forever, but I was in high spirits. It got steeper as I trekked up. It’s like most mountain roads, curvy. I would round a bend only to find the crest of the hill was not yet in site. I trudged along finally reaching the top where I could enjoy a half mile downhill to recover from the 1 mile up.

Finally I reached the lake. The snow was still covering the mountains, and the air was crisp. I made the turn onto the dirt road that traces the lake and trudged along. I had just passed the 3 mile mark. 9 more miles I said to myself and I ran, or at least attempted to.

The first 3 miles weren’t easy, but the next 3 were even worse. The snow came down, sometimes heavy. Fortunately I wore my hat today and put an extra layer on both my top and bottom. I even left my hair down to help keep me warm. As I would ascend a hill, I would heat up and could feel my inner most layer collecting moisture; then as I started the descent, I would be cold. The cycle was endless. As long as there were hills, I was wet, then cold, never warm.

The scenery was amazing as you can see below! But who could enjoy it.

I have never been challenged so much at one time (except maybe when I was sleep deprived in undergrad just trying to survive). I’ve never wanted to quit something so much in my life. I was in pain. I thought I was going to break down, but I ran. I focused on breathing from my stomach and not from my chest. Oddly it seemed to be much easier to run that way. I cheered for my self and tried to count down the miles, but they were passing so slowly. I had to constantly fight myself to keep going because I felt so badly. It wasn’t even the miles that had me feeling this way, it was the cold, the snow and those wicked hills, which I must learn to embrace.

I had 3 miles to go and I pushed forward knowing it was less than a 5k to the end. I chanted in my head and it was amazing. My pace quickened slightly and I knew that all my mental training from my book I faithfully read from each week was really paying off. The 2 climbs I was dreading most in the last 3 miles seem to be “easy”. They weren’t those wicked hills I encountered between miles 3 and 6. They were long, slow, steady climbs and those I could do.

At last the run was over, 2 hours and 40 minutes later my 12 miles were complete. I kept walking, only I couldn’t feel my legs. I knew my feet were there, but my legs were cold and exhausted. I’ve never felt worse after a run, but so proud to have finished.

I caught a ride back to the house and stretched and refueled only to laze around and enjoy the rest of the day.

You may wonder why I continued on when I wanted to stop so badly. There was nothing, no one, making me run, but I never stopped. Running is now life. I run because I can. I run because I want to be strong, mentally and physically. I run for fitness, I run for life. I run to enjoy my surroundings. I run to remember how lucky I am that I can run. I run to celebrate all things great that we can achieve if we just set a goal. I run because I am a marathoner!

A special note of thanks for those who have supported me this far. Especially to Joanne who follows me on my runs here in Lake City to be sure no animal tries to snag me, whether it be a grizzly bear or a grizzly man. She gives up her time to help me train for what will be the greatest race of my life and for her, I am very greatful.

Running High

I'm sure most people think I fell off the Earth in the last week or so. I've been VERY busy with final exams and projects as I just finished the semester officially Thursday around 12:15 am. Then I slept for 4 hours, a typical nights sleep this past week (when I'm lucky) and headed to catch a plane to Lake City, Colorado. Needless to say, I've been exhausted and haven't had any time to post lately, so I'll give some of the highlights.

Last week's runs were really great. Despite being very very tired, I still got up and ran and was very happy I did so. On my runs I started off with the thought of just finish. It doesn't matter about the time, it just matters that I finish my miles for the day. On one day, as I was approaching the halfway point, I passed a runner I had met the previous week or so. I was a bit behind, so I picked up the pace and tried to catch him on my return leg. After about a mile I passed him going up the bridge. He was cheering me on and gave me a nice little push to help me climb the hill. As I neared the top of the bridge, there were 2 ladies who I've since decided they are official cheerleaders. They are always cheering for me when I pass them. They are complete strangers who don't know I'm training, but are there many days cheering me on. These few people along my trek make it a delight to run and I look forward to seeing them and enjoy that quick boost of energy that seems to come with it.

Now for a more literal "running high". I stated that I flew to Lake City, Colorado; if you google it you'll quickly find that it sits at an altitude of 8658 ft. Yes, quite a bit higher than the mile high city. Usually I plan to take it easy the first few days I'm here as I live at a mere 6 ft above sea level. But on this trip, there was no time to sit and wait. I missed my Wednesday run because I had an early final exam and I have been sleeping so little I couldn't give any up that night having gotten under 4 hours . Then I didn't run Thursday morning because I got up at 4am after sleeping less than 4 hours again, and I barely had time to catch my flight.

So after spending all day running necessary errands here, I got to Lake City and continued the fight to stay awake. As the afternoon was winding up and sun was winding down, a couple of us were going to go for a 1 mile walk, but I just couldn't stand to think that I'm going to be walking only 1-mile so instead, I got into my new cool weather running clothes and slipped out for my 4-mile run at 8658 ft. I ran up in the canyon with it's walls towering above me and the swift moving creek running beside me. I took it nice and easy, but was surprised at how easy the run was, even in my exhausted state, when surrounded by the beauty of nature. It was truly a running high, however you want to view it :)