After carb loading the night before, and drinking about 4 gallons of water during my drive to Telluride, I turned in early and was in bed around 9:30 p.m. I woke to my alarm at 4:30 a.m., got dressed, grabbed the important stuff, my Ipod, and Bryan's Garmin watch, along with a banana and a power bar. My sister and I caught the bus in Telluride and sat in anticipation for the hour and fifteen minute ride into Ouray. 6:30 a.m., I picked up my packet, ate my powerbar, and banana, stood in line for the bathroom and was more than excited to start.
I opted to wear capri running tights, a dry fit tee, an Under Armour headband/beanie, a lightwieght running jacket, and my Salomon trail runners. I sent the gloves and hat back on the bus. The forecast for this year's race was perfect. 50 degrees at the starting line. Forecast for the top was around 50 also, and around 75 by the time I finished. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lets do this!
7:30 AM Start. 7,800 Main Street in Ouray. I started off at a brisk jog, it was so crowded I couldn't move any faster. I jogged though people trying to get an open space for me to find a good pace.
Mile .32 we did a 90 degree turn to get onto the US 550, the dirt road to Camp Bird. The grade is gentle, around 5.5%
Mile .9, I am at the summit of my first hill, around 8,200ft. I am pacing myself around a 9:00 mile. The grade is about 13.5% The next 1/2 mile is nice and flattens out for .24 miles. I push harder.
Mile 4, elevation 9180ft. I am no where near a 9:00 pace. I am averaging 11:00 and quite happy with it due to the relentless uphill trail. I am still feeling great.
Mile 5 elevation 9,695ft. This is a freaking big hill! Wait- this is way beyond hill. Hills have an up and down to them. There is no down anymore. Or even flat breaks in the ground to give my muscles a breath. It is steep. I am barely jogging now. I have an awesome pace of 13:00 and am just happy I am still running. The scenery is amazing. I am in a huge canyon, with an avalanche path in view ahead, and waterfalls cascading down the canyons around me. It is green, the air is crisp and fresh and I am outdoors enjoying it. I love it.
Mile 5.45 I reach lower camp bird, the first aid station. I pass the aid, water, and food with renewed determination to reach the first cut off point at 7.6 miles in 2 hours. (There is a 2.5 hour limit to reach this point) I am still passing people, but more people are passing me at this point!)
I notice a change in the gradient. I have been at a 6.8% overall to this point. Over the next next 4.6 miles it will increase to a 13.86% gradient. This is where the real challenge starts...or so I thought. I kept a steady pace, and jogged slowly until Upper Camp Bird.
Mile 7.6 elevation 11,225 Upper Camp Bird! Oh my! I did it! 2 hours! I was on task to meet my goal. I grabbed a quick drink of water, 2 slices of bananas and 1 pretzel stick. I couldn't even eat the pretzel because it was like glue in my mouth. The bananas gave me something else to think about for the next mile instead of how steep the mountain was getting.
Mile 8- I cross over a creek bed, jumping from stone to stone. I will soon be above the tree line. It gets even steeper here. I didn't think that was possible. I am at a 15.4% grade, and going to be at 21% by mile 9.5. (If you need an idea of % grades, those signs when you drive up Monarch Mountain on hwy 50 is about 6%, and my little car ends up in 3rd gear just to keep the 50 mph up the mountain!)
Mile 8.9, elevation 12,310. I have nothing left. Really. At this point I am hating the fact that I put such happy music on my play list because there is nothing to be happy about. I am 1 mile from the top, my heart beat is pounding in my ears, over the music, and I realize I am shaking from a combination of fatigue, altitude, and mostly low blood sugar. I am STARVING. My pace is really pathetic. I check my watch- 27:00 pace. And I can't do anything but keep telling myself to put one foot in front of the other. I bump up the pace to 26:00 and keep looking around me for someone sitting on the side of the path resting. I kept thinking, if only someone else would just sit down! I will go rest with them for a couple minutes...But no. No body was resting. So of course I couldn't either. The good part was that no body was passing me anymore. I can't imagine anyone running up this last stretch. It was a little tiny 2 foot wide path carved into the side of this treeless, rocky mountain. There was no room to sit down. Or to trip and fall.
I could see the top! I could hear all the people eating cookies...(well, maybe not)...but I had to get up there! All I could think about was food. Seriously.
Mile 10.04 Imogene Mountain Summit. Elevation 13,100 ft. I did it! I paused (for 10 minutes...lol) to take pictures, eat a bowl of chicken soup, a cookie, pretzels, about 3 bananas, a handful of M&Ms and 2 cups of water. Time to the top: 3:10. Dang! I was 10 minutes over my goal. And add the 10 extra minutes I stayed eating...I was 20 minutes behind schedule. But I was feeling GREAT. And I had to make up for lost time. I realized my 4 hour goal wasn't going to happen, but I could do 4:30 if I pushed it.
Mile 10.05 The fun part. Down hill running. I love it. The gradient is 11.4%, this is steeper than I have ever trained on. Did I mention rocky? Like you need a 4x4 car with chains and good brakes and a driver with guts of steel to take his car down it...I am running down switchbacks with amazing views of all the surrounding mountains. The mountain is so steep off the path, I could almost call it a 'cliff'. Oh ya, I still have 2 bananas in my hands from the top...just in case....
Mile 11.78 elevations 11,498 Tomboy Ghost town. The trail is less steep here. (10%?) My abs are numb from flexing them to take the jolting impact of the steep path. I eat part of a banana and pick up the pace. I am amazed how long it takes me to chew a bite of banana. I am multi tasking at this point...running, eating, avoiding rocks and passing people. (Aw ya! I had to redeem myself for the crappy last mile)
Mile 13 elevation: 1095, I am back in the Aspen and greenery. It is awesome. I have a huge smile on my face. I kick up the pace. 8:05 per mile. If I can just keep this up I will be good for my 4:30 finish.
Mile 14.8 The road is along side the cliffs from the canyon. I can see Telluride. Unfortunately it is still super rocky and there are more people I need to pass. I get stuck behind this dude who moves the same places as me when I am trying to pass him. So annoying. And he is slowing me down. I can't pass like on a normal trail, due to the rocks and the huge ruts in the road. I get stuck behind him for almost 2 minutes. Grrrr!
Mile 15 elevation 1020. Almost there! I am loving life, mostly because I am not hungry or running up hill. The finish line so close! I have 15 minutes to go 2 miles if I am going to hit my goal....
Mile 16 elevation 9410. I can see the tops of the houses in Telluride. I am running as hard as I can, I am tensing up a little, one wrong foot placement and I am going to eat dirt. I am running/jumping over rocks and ruts and still trying to pass enough people to meet my goal. I realize I am not going to make it Oh, well, I am feeling great and decide to sprint to the finish anyway.
Mile 17 elevation 8820 Telluride. I turn left off the trail and onto a paved road. I cross the finish line. Official Time: 4:31:06. I did it! My first thought was that I can't wait to do it again next year! It was epic. Great veiws, great weather (I know that doesn't always happen), and such a challenge. I have to say it was the best run I have ever had. (Even though I kind of wanted to die at mile 9)
Next year I AM doing it in 4 hours.
