Mt of the Holy Cross

We convinced some friends to take our kids for the night and give us 24 hours together with no responsibilities.  So Tues evening after work and dinner, we dropped the kids off and left.

I suppose many couples, if given the night away, would go to a fancy hotel and do something romantic.  Sleep in, snuggle, eat fancy food, sleep again, get a massage.... But not us.  Although sleeping did sound appealing, we opted to do the opposite of sleeping, and go for a very challenging hike.

Mt of the Holy Cross

Initially we thought we would hike Longs Peak, the famous 14er not far from us that is pictured on the Colorado quarter.  But Longs still has more snow than I'm ready to take on, and we looked for another 14er to summit.

Mt of the Holy Cross is a bit isolated, is a long hike, and is beautiful.  We weren't very well organized for the hike until 2 nights before, when Jason started reading trip reports and looking at maps.  He suggested making the route into a loop, rather than an out-and-back.  But the loop route, called the Halo Ridge route, was very intimidating to me.  A total of over 15 miles, with a huge chunk of the hike above 12,000ft, with 3 other 13,000ft peaks to traverse up and over en route.  Once up on the ridge, one needs to move along and watch the weather closely.  We have thunderstorms in the mountains most days in July, and this route leaves you exposed for miles - not a good place to be in a lightning storm.  I cautiously said yes to the loop choice, and wondered if I could keep up with Jason's pace and his fitness.

So Tues night we drove to Vail, then south past Minturn, then west toward the Holy Cross Wilderness.  We arrived at the trailhead at about 9:45pm and slept in the car.

We woke at 3:30am.  We took a while getting ready (I had to pump) and left with headlamps at 4:30am.  Unlike my spouse, I don't regularly don a headlamp to exercise on trails in the dark.  But it was quite fun.  We had read about some creek crossings ahead.  Between being chilly and nervous, we ran a little for the first mile or so, and then the sun started to appear.  The creek crossings were no big deal at all, thank goodness.

Notch Mountain

We turned to the right and headed up toward the Notch Mountain shelter.  Switchbacks went by nicely as the birds and wilderness started to wake up.  It was nice to just hike and chat together.  I was pretty nervous because I had a headache and felt foggy from the altitude at only 11,500ft.  We drank tons of water, and entered a beautiful meadow at one point.  Sadly, we realized we had passed our creek crossing and last point for water about 0.5 miles ago.  So Jason ran back down and filled us up (we use a Steripen to purify the water and love that piece of gear!) and then ran back up to me.  There were lots of mosquitos and it was getting warm.

At the top of the switchbacks, we reached the Notch mountain shelter and the view of Mt of the Holy Cross.  The shelter was very solid - a totally reasonable place to hunker down in a storm or spend the night.  The 'cross' of snow was visible from the shelter, which was a huge advantage of going around this loop route.  The 'standard' route up and down the North side of the mountain does not allow you to see the cross of snow that you can see from this South side.  Even this hike up to the Notch mountain shelter and back down would be a totally great hike in itself. The shelter was built in the 1930s, and thousands of religious pilgrims used to make the trek each year.

'13er' one and '13er' two visible ahead of us

At this point we could see around the 'halo' and what was between us and the summit of Holy Cross.  It was intimidating.  The weather looked great, but the upcoming boulder fields and multiple summits and ridge walking looked tough.  My headache was not any worse, but I wouldn't say I felt fantastic.  There was no official trail from this point forward, but we had a great route description.

We pushed on, slowly making our way through the boulders, up to the top of our first 13er (unnamed Pt 13248 - creative!).  I was moving slowly, but wouldn't say my headache was too bad.  The down and up to the top of the next 13er (Pt 13373) was a very steep ascent with some route finding over huge rocks.  The views from each of these summits was amazing - turquoise glacial lakes on either side with mountains galore all around.  One of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  From the second 13er to the third, we had read about a narrow ridge crossing that was only 6 feet wide.  I was imagining major exposure and wind and crying in fear... but it was totally fine.

The 6 foot wide section of the ridge and me making fun of it

We were moving slowly and I was nervous about our timing.  It's always good to get to the summit of a 14er before noon, since afternoon lightning storms are so common.  There's a certain pressure to get up, enjoy the view, and get down safely to tree line again.  Also, we had a 3 hour drive to get back to our kids.  And we had originally hoped to get some other things done or maybe a nap, but it was clear that there would be no napping.

The climb up the 3rd 13er (Pt 13831) was tiring.  My headache was gone and felt strong, relatively speaking, but it was hard to go fast as I needed to stop and catch my breath often.  There were many false summits but eventually we made it to the top.  Then we pushed on to descend and traverse around some snow before making our last climb up to the top.  I was pretty exhausted by all of this already, but also relieved because I knew we would make it to the summit safely.

We got to the summit just before 12 noon, and stayed a while to enjoy the view and eat.

Then we had to descend down the North 'standard' route, which we were very glad we did not climb up.  The view from that side seemed like it would never change and it would feel long and tough.  We tried to run some bits down, but my quads complained quite a bit.

Then we hit treeline and it started feeling very hot.  It felt like we hiked for a very long time before we finally hit a creek and were able to get wet to cool off, and fill water again.  Unfortunately, the mosquitos at the creek were horrible, and we did not linger.

Mount Jackson across the valley

We still had to climb up over Half Moon Pass before descending back down to the car.  That hike was really tough, and we were both very tired.  It seemed to go on forever.  But finally we made it to the top, then had 1.5 miles of descending to do to get back to the car.  The bugs at the car were still bad, and we were hungry.  It was 3pm by the time we reached the car - 10.5 hours and nearly 16 miles since we stared with 5 significant ups and downs over peaks.

We drove to Silverthorne, had a bite to eat, then drove home to get the girls.  Jason napped in the car for the last hour.  We were spent.  The girls had done a great job (mostly) on their sleepover, and we were so thankful to our friends who watched them.

We got home, showered, put the girls to bed, and said goodbye.  Jason left for the airport, and caught a red-eye flight to Virginia to go see family and help his mom with some stuff at her house.

I would really recommend this hike to anyone, because it was so gorgeous.  However, I know we were very lucky with the weather.  It was probably the most challenging hike I've ever done, and we were both spent by the end.  Many people do it as an overnight backpacking trip, but I wouldn't recommend camping near the mosquito creek and I wouldn't want to take a backpack over those 13ers.

This was my 5th and Jason's 15th mountain summit in Colorado over 14,000ft.  I plan to do at least 2 more this year.  But this one was the most lovely and most challenging so far.

Thanks, mountains!

Walmart to go

Jason is out of town for a few nights. One task I dislike very much is grocery shopping with my kids.  

So when I heard that you can shop at 'Walmart to go' for free by ordering food online ahead of time and then driving by to pick up food, I was intrigued.  Not having to get kids out of the car seats and go in the store? Sounds awesome!

So last night I put in my order. I was a little distracted, but found it easy to do.  I was given a pick up time and told I would be called when it was ready.

This morning they called, we drove 0.5 miles to the store,  they loaded my car, and off we went! Magical!

I have three concerns with this amazing concept:

1) we usually don't shop for produce at Walmart, and like supporting sprouts

2) everything came in plastic bags, and normally we don't put things in bags or use reuseable bags

3) I accidentally ordered 6 BAGS of apples, instead of 6 individual apples!  Whoops!!

Steamboat Springs 'Tri The Boat' Half Ironman Sunday June 29, 2014

Race morning I woke at 5:30am, nursed Ava, and left the tent into the 34 F degrees campsite.  I ate some cereal, made myself some hot tea on the camp stove, and jumped in the car with my friend who drove me to the start.

Julie (my friend) and I were both very nervous at transition, and setting up took a few minutes longer than expected.  Swim warm up was 7:15-7:35am and our wave start was at 8:12.  I wasn’t sure if I should warm up or not, since I did not want to get cold in this waiting time.  But I opted to warm up, and get my wetsuit as comfortable as possible.  They didn't end up 'closing' the swim and making us get out for quite a while, which was great.

Julie and I looking very attractive

Focused and nervous!

Starting from a 'treading water' start position

By the time we got to the start line (in the water), I was shivering, but excited to get going.  Rachel, Jason, Ava and my Dad (Pops) came to wish me well at the start. 

In the last 3 years, I’ve become more comfortable with open water swimming and my wetsuit.  The chaos, bubbles, and people panicking around me at the start did not stress me out.  I simply decided to swim around all these folks, and take a longer course out to the side and stay calm.  After a few minutes, I was warm and comfortable, and felt like I was swimming well and swimming straight.  I was trying to intentionally go slow because this swim was 400m longer than any swim I’d ever done before. 

I was pleased when I reached the turn-around point (the yellow buoy), and tried to pick up speed coming home.  I did not see many green swim caps around me (my wave), but instead saw many light blue and red caps from the waves in front of me.  I took this as a good sign, and swam harder back to shore.

I exited the water feeling fairly 'with it' (mentally) and thrilled that I had succeeded in my swim without any problems.  I didn’t know my time, but felt good and saw many bikes left in transition.  It turns out I swam the 1.2 miles at exited to the transition mat in 33:49, 3rd in my age category.

As usual, I had a slow transition to the bike, wanting to make sure I had everything all set.  My longest ride to date was 43 miles, and the race was 56 miles, so I wanted to pace myself and settle into a comfortable (easy) pace so I didn’t blow up.  The race was 14 miles out, 14 miles back, and repeat the same out and back.  Also, we had driven the race the day before and it had more hills, more curves, and more gravel on the road than I liked… so I planned to be safe and stay on my bike. 

Loads of people passed me as we climbed up and away from the lake.  I’m a much slower cyclist than most triathletes, so I expected this and didn’t mind.  My friend Julie passed me at some point, killing it on the long slow climb.  I was excited for her, since this meant she was out of the water and enjoying a beautiful ride.

14 miles into the ride

Not in any rush as I find food

Pops and Rachel play at park near bike turn-around

I saw Jason and Pops at the turn-around while the girls slept in the car, and my Dad seemed very excited for me, which felt great.  I was just under an hour for the first 14 miles, just a little slower than expected.  The way back to the lake took me 45 minutes, and felt fun.  On the way back out, I started to get less comfortable.  I pulled over a few times to adjust things, eat food, drink electrolytes properly, use the restroom, add sunscreen and chamois butter.  I started to feel more isolated as many athletes were now getting further ahead of me.

43 miles in

Rachel, Jason and Pops gave me hugs at the turn-around, and I filled my camel back.  Rachel was not happy that I wasn’t staying to play, and cried after me.  I cycled away, excited to be on my way home.  My whole goal for the bike was really just to get through it without having a flat or a crash.  I still had 13 miles to go, and it was getting hotter and windier. 

I made it back to transition without peril in a biking time of 3:40:39.  By triathlon standards, that’s very slow, but I was fine with it and it wasn’t far off from what I expected.  I was psyched that I had biked that far without any issues, and excited to run.  I also saw Julie in transition, and I consider her to be a really good cyclist, so I felt ok that I had held my own.

Another slow transition, including a bathroom stop and some food, and I was off.

I knew my legs would feel like jelly after the bike.  So I didn’t mind that the first mile felt slow.  I did mind that it felt so hot and I felt so thirsty.  I knew that aid stations were about every 1.5 miles, and I had intentionally not brought water with me because I didn't want to deal with carrying anything.  I had food in my jersey pocket, and thought I'd be ok without fluids. 

Whoops.

I was begging the first aid station to appear, and, while leaving it, I started to realize that the run would be longer, hotter, and harder than I intended.  Of all three elements, I was least worried about the run.  I had run 13 miles three times in the last 7 months, and, although all of those were slow, I knew I could do it.  I said many times during my training ‘I don’t want to drown in the swim.  I don’t want to crash on the bike.  I could always walk on the run if I have to.’

But I didn’t really expect to walk the entire half marathon. 

The course was much hillier than I expected.  I just couldn't seem to will my body to run any uphill.  I could jog flats and downs but each little rise put a stop in my rhythm and hurt me.  Somehow the race profile didn’t seem to make it seem very hilly.  I had actually chosen this course because of the run: an off-road trail around a beautiful lake.  But it was a terrible run course.  The actual loop around the lake was 8 miles, so in order to make it into 13 miles, they added some out-and-back spurs full of climbs.

At 4 miles, my attitude took a turn for the worse and I wasn't able to stay very positive.  I committed to a long, slow, grumpy march.  Julie was less than ½ mile ahead of me, and was all smiles, but I was not smiling.  I was frustrated with the course, the heat, the lack of water, the inability to get running at all.

A super-soaker from a friendly fan creamed my left side and deafened me for a few moments, but the water did help me press on.  The long, slow, hot march continued.  Everywhere I looked, people looked tired and hot.  Barely anybody was running.  The finish seemed very, very far away.

At mile 6 I decided I needed some caffeine, and took down a GU Roctane gel.  I had trained with these near the end of runs, and tolerated them well.

Not this time.  My stomach started rejecting the idea of anything.  I walk/jogged my way to mile 9, and was given a water bottle to take with me.  The aid station people asked me if I was ok, and I knew I couldn’t have looked good. 

My legs were not hurt.  I had no injuries.  Part of me felt like I had lots in me to run.  But I couldn’t seem to get it going.  Every uphill stopped me from running and put me back to walking.  My stomach didn’t like the idea of food, water, or bouncing around.  I carried the water bottle with me but I doubt I drank much of it.

I saw my support crew at mile 11 and felt bad to make them wait in the heat for so long.  I knew my goal of finishing in under 7 hours was not possible, and I wanted it all to be over.  Jason walked beside me for a second and I asked him if there was any way we could drive home to sleep in a bed because I really didn’t want to try and camp again that night.  I wanted to sleep.  Preferably, in my bed.  Without a child on my body.

I appreciated the cheering from Pops, Rachel, Jason and even Ava as I suffered on to the finish.  My friend Julie had come in just under 7 hours and I was very proud of her.  My time was 7:09:55.  Not a time to brag about, but I was still very proud to cross the finish line. 

I was out of it.  Jason hugged me and I cried.  Then I had to sit down because I felt faint.  For a while I couldn’t stand without feeling light-headed.  It felt like I had heat exhaustion and I was decently sunburnt.

Eventually I was able to eat, drink, and squeeze myself into our crowded car and get back home.

In the days following the race, I had very little muscle soreness.  Mentally, I was trashed and relieved to be done with the race and the training.  Time to put more energy back into my husband, girls, household, and general organization.

I checked an item off my bucket list.  I’m very proud of the process that this race put me through.  I’m proud of all the training I did.  I feel confident in myself as a fit person again, and back to my before-kids body (mostly).  I am not particularly proud of the race time, and I’m disappointed in the run.  But I finished.  And for me, that’s really exciting.

Thanks to my amazing husband Jason and my girls for putting up with my schedule for the last few months.  Jason has spent many more hours solo with the girls while I went out to ride, run, or swim.  Thanks to my swimming group, friends that rode with me, and people that gave me advice along the way.  Thanks to friends who watched the girls so I could sneak out for some training, especially during the times this year when Jason has been out of town and I needed to escape and exercise!

People keep asking me what's next and when I’m going to do the full Ironman.  Right now, Olympic distance triathlons seem fun, reasonable, and don’t take over my life.  Plus, I have many other goals to pursue, such as hiking, traveling, and, hopefully, adventure racing and adventuring with my family and friends.

But two races are 'next'.  

In the middle of August, I will do the Pikes Peak Ascent Half Marathon.  I intend to hike it, just to check off this 14er, because it's a long (13.1 mile) hike, and this way there will be people cheering and aid stations along the way.  I will have to do some running, hiking and altitude training prep to be able to complete this challenging route.

And at the end of September, Jason will race his longest race to date: the Bear 100 mile run in Utah.  So for the next 2.5 months, it will essentially be Jason's 'turn' to train and I will support him as best as possible while he trains for this (ridiculous?!) epic, amazing, crazy goal.

MY RACE RESULTS PAGE