Fast forward to August, 2013. I was in Leadville, Colorado, hanging out with awesome runners prior to what would be an epic DNF at the Leadville Trail 100. One of those runners was David Clark. He is an accomplished ultra runner and, what I came to realize, also a race director. One race in particular caught my attention. David had just directed the inaugural running of the Divide 135 that past May. The race was 135 miles through the mountains of Colorado (from Walden to Leadville). 135 miles. In the mountains. For less than $300. Add to that there wasn't a female entrant the first year. To say I was hooked on the idea would be a gross understatement.
Throughout the next couple of months I plotted and planned. I checked the calendar and the race website. I prayed Brady's schedule would allow him to be off that weekend.
Early registration opened on Black Friday. After discussing it with Brady for the 1,001st time, I registered. I have to admit I felt dizzy after I got the confirmation. I was in. 135 miles. In the mountains. What the hell was I thinking?
I had big plans for training. As is typical with the best made plans, they fell apart and I didn't do nearly the miles I had intended. Ready or not, May came and race week was upon me.
I had put together an amazing team. My inlaws were nice enough to come and help with Amelia. My mother in law helped chop veggies and other snacks. Father in law helped Brady load the van and other tasks. Sandy, my awesome new friend from BLU flew in from Las Vegas. Nathan is my friend from Fullerton. I met him at my first (and his) 100. We have spent many miles on the same courses since. Brady and Colby were obviously also crew and pacers.
The first hiccup in the event was that snow precluded us from running the published course. This meant throwing out my hotel reservations, the pace plan that was based on the course I thought I was running, and knowledge of the course. Oh well. We rolled with it. We loaded up the van and my car, and headed to Walden. There was a crew/runner meeting with David. We got our questions answered and heard the details of the new course. Instead of being a point to point, it was now an out and back from north of Walden to Kremmling.
I had worked so hard the week before the race to be ahead of my classes (I teach university courses, for those of you that don't know) that sleep came easily the night before the race. I woke up at 4 am on race day to check emails and check in one last time with my students. I wasn't nervous. I was excited. As the start time approached, I didn't worry about finishing. The impending pain and suffering was in the back of my mind, but overall, I was just excited to get going.
We made our way to the start. I was trying to force down a blueberry muffin and Boost. After we had unloaded and were standing around for a few minutes I realized I had forgotten my bib and had no idea where it was. Thankfully it was a small race!
Five brave souls and their crews gathered around a banner on the side of the road. We had a moment of silence in honor of our troops and then David said it was go time. I settled into last place as the others seemed to take off and get out of sight rather quickly. Dale, one of the other runners, said something to me about the two of us being DFL. I was ok with that. I wasn't out to beat anyone but my own doubt and fears.
Four and a half miles later, I came into Walden. I decided to stop at the little cafe in town and use their bathroom. Turns out it was the last toilet until I was back in that same cafe about 38 hours later.
The air was crisp and I was happy. My crew was ready to join me on the road. I came to the first turn on the course and David was there to make sure we all made it correctly. About that time Nathan jumped on the course with me. It was earlier than I had planned, but it was nice to have his company. From there on out one of my pacers was with me the entire time. The first 15 miles or so was rather uneventful. At some point I started having stomach cramps. Then the fun began...
Backstory: I have always had issues with having to pee quite a bit in the night hours of a 100. For that reason we bought a bucket and a potty seat. I didn't want to squat on the side of the road for 135 miles. I have to say the $12 Brady spent on the bucket was the best investment ever.
The fun I referred to before came in the form of horrible stomach upset and the need for my bucket every few miles for about the first 40 of the race. It was awful for me but had to be much worse for my crew, as they had to deal with it every time. At first I was modest about where we put the bucket and had Brady stand in front of me. After about 3 times I no longer cared. It was an emergency. Every damn time.
Sandy brought meds for this issue and after taking the max allowed amount for the day, I finally had some relief. For now, anyway.
About 30 miles into the race the wind picked up. It was right in our faces and cold. I remember Nate trying to run just close enough in front of me to block some of it. It helped, but it was still rather miserable.
We made our way down the course, one mile at a time. My crew took turns of about 4 miles each with me.
This is how they usually went:
Sandy: fun exchanges of stories. Breaks when I needed them (always moving, but slower). Nurturing support and encouragement. I loved getting to know her and sharing the time on the course. Sandy and I usually had the tough climbs and saw lots of dead creatures on the road or in the ditch.
Colby: He was always trying to push me. He even said (more than once) "if I don't make you run, Dad will yell at me". Once I said to him, "honey, I am tired. I need to move a little slower." He said, "Don't think you are going to HONEY me into letting you walk!" I loved how much he supported me and the pride in his eyes during the entire event.
Nathan: Very supportive and fun. He pushed me, but in ways that didn't feel stressful (at least most of the time). He told me fun stories about his kids. He would never let me be negative and even told me to stop it when I was dry heaving. "we don't need any of that!" His positive attitude always made me feel better.
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| early in the race with Nate and Dale |
Brady: I love him. I love running with him. I wanted to slug him more than once during this race! He was toughest on me. He pushed me very hard. Sometimes I thought I would cry. Sometimes I thought I was going to pass out. He made me puke. I always got a little scared when I saw him get out of the van to run. It is because of his pushing I did so well, but at the time it was hard. I needed him and he knew it. He took great care of me and I am forever grateful for all he was and all he did for me in this race.
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| Does that dude ever lose the jammies? |
My entire focus for the first 67.5 miles was to get to that turn around in Kremmling. There was a hard cut off at 18 hours. I knew if I made it there were 30 hours to get back to the finish. We did so well on the first half I made it 2 hours before the cut off. I got there without issue. I didn't have feet problems, my stomach had calmed down, and I wasn't in significant pain. I was tired and had been breathing hard for the past 30 miles or so, but was doing well overall. I knew I would finish. I told myself that all I had to do was - do it!
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| all smiles to know I was half finished! |
Those 12 miles were pretty amazing. It rained on us. It was windy. Although I know we weren't moving better than about 16 minute miles, the time seemed to move quickly. The rain was never bad enough to bother me or make me that cold. I have a The North Face rain jacket and it was sufficient to keep me dry. Mentally, I was so excited to be beyond half way finished.
Brady and Sandy eventually came back on the course when it was their turns. It got foggy as the night wore on. I was somewhat worried about the climb to Muddy Pass. It would come at about mile 96. Nathan was with me when it finally came. At this point my breathing issues had increased and I was almost panting. I tried to control it, but it was difficult. I couldn't breathe deeply. The hills made it worse. Nathan was very patient with me. He cheered me on as I struggled up the pass. When we made it to the top David was there waiting to check in and say hi. I was so mentally relieved to see him and know that the climb was behind me.
Sandy was with me when I was approaching the 100 mile milestone. The guys told us that I had half a mile to go and 12 minutes to get there to have a PR for that distance. Sandy watched her Garmin and got me there in enough time. We stopped, rested, and had a mini celebration. But then the guys came back in the van... with news that I still had quarter of a mile to go. They had miscalculated the distance. I missed the 100 PR by about 3 minutes, reaching it in 25:42(ish). I was still very proud of that time. Considering I had horrible stomach issues, couldn't breathe, and was moving at altitudes above 8,500 feet. But there was still a lot of work to do.
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| Looking rather beat at 100 miles |
The fog lifted and it got warm. My breathing got more difficult. I got more tired and cranky. Poor Colby was with me for what were probably the worst miles of the race. I felt like I was having a panic attack. The sun came out, was in my face, and my sunglasses were in the car. He was pushing me to run and I snapped at him to stop it. Then... on the side of the road... with my 13 year old son... the worst thing happened. My stomach churned and cramped. I needed my bucket and it was miles away. I had to go. NOW. I was horrified, but couldn't help it.
We finally (after what seemed like hours, but was probably 30 minutes), got to the van. I sat in the back seat and told Brady, "leave me alone. don't talk to me. 5 minutes." I closed my eyes and tried to get a grip on myself. I was just so uncomfortable breathing. It hurt. He tried to cheat me out of time, but I didn't let him. I took the entire 5 minutes to rest. It was the only time I sat without eating or doing something else the entire race.
I got back out of the van and made my way down the road. Slowly. Painfully slow. I know my crew was tired and wanted me to move faster. Nathan told me that I was on pace to finish before dark. I really liked the idea of that. One step, one breath, one mile at a time, we got closer.
Unfortunately my stomach wasn't finished with me. Both my gloves were casualties of road side relief. We finally got to about mile 125. I saw this huge, curvy hill in front of us. I was so scared of having to climb it. I wasn't sure I could. As had happened so many times in the race, Sandy was with me when it was time to take it on. Thankfully she was very patient and knew I was struggling. We stopped at every post and sign for a 30 second break. I had to do that to catch my breath enough to take another step. With that one behind me, my crew promised that was THE final big climb. Walden was in the distance.
We finally got close enough to see the town. When we were in town Colby, Sandy, and Nate were all walking with me. I was so happy to be so close, but struggling with every step. I know I was whiny and awful to deal with. They were good sports, as always, and kept cheering me on. We kept going over these small hills that kept you from seeing down the road. Every time I thought it was the last one and I would see the finish line when we got over the top. When we repeated that several times, I mentally broke down. I was so frustrated. Where the hell was the finish? My Garmin was long dead, so I had no idea how far out we were, but it seemed like we had gone the 4.5 miles from town. Brady drove by in the van and yelled out, 2.3 miles to go.
I am pretty sure, "are you f'ing kidding me?" was my response. 2.3 to go? Too many miles. Too far. Ugh. I cried.
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| so close... |
Another hill (I probably would not have even noticed them on any other run, but they were very hard at the time).
And another.
Damn it.
How much farther?
Nate had ridden up to the finish with Brady and ran back to us. He told me, "One more little roller and the finish is 200 yards after."
I didn't think I could make it. I am not joking! This was the worst part of the race in so many ways and I was close enough to almost see it.
We made it to the top of that 'one last roller' and I finally saw it. The Colorado sign that marked the finish. David, Brady, and my in-laws were there. As we ran into the finish (Nate insisted I run), Dale and his crew came in behind us honking and cheering.
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| hugs from my princess |
I did it. 135 miles.
In the mountains.
First female ever.
What was I thinking?
I was thinking that beautiful buckle was in my hand!
37 hours, 51 minutes.
Third place overall.
Dead Last Finisher.
It also wouldn't have been possible without a crazy dude having the crazy idea. Thanks, David!
I'm proud to call you your son my friends. Great Job Shawna!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Patrick! The feeling is mutual :) Hope to see you again soon.
DeleteShawna, congrats! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Rosemary!
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