I’m feeling less foggy about TransRockies Run and the whole experience now. My desire to do something other than sit on my butt and eat bad food is returning and thoughts of the next great adventure are starting to dance in my mind.
Shane may have said it
best when telling someone about my experience… In short, because the last 2
stages were a bit of a struggle for me, and the final night in Beaver Creek I
didn’t really sleep, I came back a bit grumpy and unsure about my experience,
but as the days have passed and I’ve been able to look at the experience
without a clouded or tired mind, I can truly and honestly say, I had an
absolutely amazing time.
I find myself pouring
through the photos and video slideshows
from the event. Reading articles and race reports
and smiling my way through each and every one of them.
TransRockies
challenged me in a huge way, but it also left me super stoked on trail running,
and I must say, I’m pretty proud of what Kirsten and I accomplished. Kirsten definitely
pushed me beyond my limits a few times, but that is how you grow right?
Anyway, rambling
mushiness aside, let’s see if I can remember the particulars about each stage
now that they’ve passed.
Stage 1 seems so long
ago now. The nerves in my stomach as we made our way into the start corral were
pretty huge. About two minutes from go-time, AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” came on
over the loud speaker and all the runners got pumped up to head out on this
amazing journey. This would be the first of many times we’d hear this, as each
day we were sent off to this song. Toward the end, it almost became soothing.
Anyway, Kirsten and I took it out pretty easy on this stage and just tried to relax and have fun. We snapped lots of photos and chatted with other runners and just cruised along (we did this a lot the whole week actually). I definitely felt the altitude a bit on this stage, mainly in that I felt like I had trouble regaining my breath after any sort of effort. I remember one time in particular where Kirsten and I got a bit separated on some single track. When I was finally able to pass the people I got stuck behind, I put in a little extra effort to catch back up to Kirsten, but by the time I got to her, I was panting so hard that I needed a walk break on the next little hill. Mostly, it was pretty manageable though.
The aid stations were
like a little oasis and never failed to give a nice mental boost.
The final stretch was
pretty grueling. I think it was about 4 miles on a false flat uphill dirt road.
It seemed never ending. I was cramping when I ran, and Kirsten was cramping
when she walked, so we were definitely a bit of an ugly pair, but somehow we managed
to get each other to the finish line, and just like that, stage 1 was in the
books.
Stage 2 was a little
tougher. It was Hope Pass day, so the one with the highest elevation. We got to
ride the “special bus” to the start line, and then spent our time waiting for
the start in the porta-potty line up. Just before we checked-in for the day’s
stage we met Martin Parnell for the first time and took a few photos.
In no time, “Highway
to Hell” was pumping, and we were off.
The climb up Hope Pass
was tough, but went pretty well for the most part. Kirsten and I tucked in
behind a couple from Texas, which was awesome, as the pace was just perfect for
me and kept Kirsten reigned in a bit.
The top of Hope Pass
was quite the reward. It was breathtaking. Literally. (I was definitely still feeling
the altitude – more so than on Stage 1 – but that was to be expected I guess).
Coming down from Hope
Pass, Kirsten let loose and was flying. To put it honestly, she totally left me
in her dust, and well, I got a bit frustrated. I think I tried pushing a bit
too hard to catch up with her and about 2 miles from the end, I had an asthma
attack.
Obviously that was a
bit of an unwelcomed surprise. I used to suffer from stress/exertion triggered
attacks as a teenager, but it has probably been 10+ years since my last attack,
so I don't carry an inhaler or anything anymore. Luckily, I could feel it
coming on, so was able to stop and get things somewhat under control after a
few minutes, but it made for a very scary (and wheezy) end to the stage.
Admittedly, it also left me a little less-than-excited for the prospect of day
3.
On the morning of Stage3 I found the director of the medical team and had a little chat with him – both
about my asthma attack, as well as some other wonkiness that was going on with
my oddly high INR level (aka. my anti-coagulated blood). With a somewhat
worried look on his face he made a comment along the lines of “I’m not going to
pull you from the race” but told me to take it really easy. (I think I scared him
~ oh, just a little, haha).
So, we headed out at a
pretty mellow pace and just took our time getting nicely warmed up (more
photos, more chatting, etc. etc.). Thankfully, as we got going and got warmed
up, I felt really good. Probably the best I had yet in the week actually (I
think I was finally starting to adjust to the elevation a bit).
We were rolling down a
nice hill toward check point one, when I came upon a stopped Kirsten. She had
been stung 3 times (along with a number of other people). This was a bit of a
worry, as Kirsten has (had?) an allergy to bees/wasps that she had been treated
for with allergy shots. This was one of the first times she’d been stung since
her treatment, so we definitely pushed hard to the check point, just in case
she had a reaction. It was a bit of a scary mile or two, but we made it to aid
without further incident and she was able to put some cream on the stings and onward
we rolled.
Through the second half I had some highs and lows and we each spent some time on our own, cruising along at our own paces. There was A LOT of downhill that left my legs feeling pretty sore and beat up, but in the end, I feel like we finished feeling strong and happy, and the surroundings of Camp Hale were pretty beautiful.
It was a LONG day, and the final few miles
were a bit of a grind, but on the grand scheme of things, it was one of the
days I was most happy with.
Stage 4 was a shorter
day, with a tough, tough, tough opening climb. It was steep and I was slooooow.
But, we chugged along and made it to the top and were once again rewarded with
some absolutely stunning views (a common theme throughout the week).
I was a bit scared for
how the downhill was going to feel after the previous day, but we had to do it.
So, we crested the top and started our descent and well, it was freaking awesome!!!
We both just kind of let go on the downhill and even pushed it a bit. It felt
so great to really let the legs open up. It was just the two of us for a pretty
good portion of this stage, and we chatted and goofed around like any old
training day, and I just loved how the day felt and the miles flew by.
One other fun part of
this stage was a “mandatory shoe wash” where we spent some time running down
the middle of a creek. The cold water felt so good on tired feet, and while it
made the ol’ tootsies a little numb as we left the creek, having swam in some
pretty chilly lakes throughout my triathlon career, it was a somewhat familiar
feeling. Running on stumps, haha.
I felt like we crossed
the finish line with confidence this day and from a FUN perspective, I’d say
this was my favourite of the week... and it was good boost going into the final
two days.
Stage 5, sadly, was
not my favourite (oh how quickly the tides turn eh?). I think it gathered this
reaction from a lot of people, but there were some who absolutely loved it. It
was one of those stages with no middle ground ~ it was certainly a “love it” or
“hate it” day.
For me, it probably
had the most mental ups and downs in one stage and left me the most emotional
at the end.
“Highway to Hell” sent us off from Red Cliff
and we began by climbing the same hill we had come down the day before. The start
was a grind, as the uphill was steep enough that it was hard to run, but at the
same time, it felt like it should be easily runnable (unfortunately, for me, on
that day, it was not).
Thankfully, it was one
of those stages that I felt like I got stronger as we got farther into it, and
about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through, I felt great. There was a large portion in
the middle where I felt on top of the world and like Kirsten and I were
absolutely crushing it.
The start of the
downhill into the finish was feeling awesome, but eventually it just started to
seem like never-ending switchbacks. The trail was sort of a 'V' shaped mountain
bike trail that was really hard to get any decent footing on and I could feel
my wonky ankle lock up with about 5km to go. With each step, I could feel my
ankle bones jamming into each other and the pain started to consume my
thoughts.
Confession time: I
cried.
[Side Note: I now know
that the Highway to Hell is not paved. In fact, I’m pretty sure it is a single
track mountain bike trail on Vail mountain named “Fred’s Lunch”].
At one point Kirsten
glanced back and said “Are you crying?” to which I replied with a sob and a
simple “Yes”.
“Do you want to stop?”
she asked. Sob “No” I said, like a petulant two year old.
I really didn't want
to stop because I just wanted this fricken stage to be over! So, we kept
pounding along. When we crossed the finish line I was totally spent and my foot
was in a fair amount of pain. Not my finest moment, but I think I swore, sat
down on the soggy wet grass and immediately burst into full on crying.
Mentally I was a bit
cooked, and physically I was feeling the aches and pains a lot.
Thankfully though, my
ankle had held up this long, and I was sure happy it locked out on the second
to last stage and not the second stage. Also, a nice little reward (and
surprise) for the effort was making the podium that night, as we came 3rd on
the stage. Go figure.
The start of Stage 6
was bittersweet. I could tell I had maybe left a bit too much out there on
Stage 5, but figured the lure of the finish line would pull me through. It did
to an extent, but my body was arguing hard with my heart. My knee which had
been swollen for a couple days now screamed on every uphill and my ankle was a
lot more messed up than I thought causing a lot of trouble pushing on the
downhills (which was where we made up a lot of our time on previous days), so
that was a bit frustrating.
Other than that, I'm
not really sure what to say about this day, other than it is kind of a blur. I
allowed myself to ignore my nutrition for the first time all week and was
definitely in a bit of a fog the whole time. By the end, I was in the beginning
stages of a bonk and was kind of cranky. Still, Kirsten and I crossed the
finish line, hand-in-hand and I was truly happy, even if it was hard to tell
from the outside looking in.
Mostly though, I was
sure happy to sit down and be done with running for a few days, haha.
Overall, TransRockies was an incredible experience. To have the Colorado Rockies be your playground
for a week and to get to meet so many awesome people who share the same
passions, is beyond doubt *magical*. The staff and volunteers worked so hard
for all of us runners, and I can’t thank them enough for everything they did.
It truly was an all-inclusive, running summer camp for adults and an experience
I will never forget.
“If you never never
go, you'll never never know!” – Kevin “Houda” McDonald
A huge thank you to my
amazing sister (and running partner) Kirsten for roping me into this awesome
adventure. You’re the best!
