The Grand Mesa 100 has been on my list ever since I ran my
first 100 in 2010. When I was a kid I spent a lot of my summer on the Mesa, so
the mountain holds a special place in my heart.
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| Start of the Grand Mesa 100...although we didn't see this first time through as it was dark. Thanks Heather for the beautiful photo! |
I knew going into this race that it was a tough one. There
are about 85 miles of single track, rocky terrain, creek crossings, and cross
country running. Not to mention the steep climbs which present themselves at
challenging parts along the course (mile 50ish & mile 70ish).
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| Crags Crest. About 6 miles into the 100 mile race. What an amazing feeling to be the highest point for miles around. |
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| Before the start of the 100 mile and 60K |
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| The Lodge which hosts the race |
The morning of the race I felt great. I hadn't really had a
good run since coming back to Colorado in May, so this was a welcomed surprise.
In my first couple of miles I saw a baby bear in a tree!! I was so stoked. It
is amazing to be so close to an animal in the wild. It was completely unfazed
by the ridiculous humans running below him or her.
The first 25 miles were going great. I was hitting my marks
right on time. I went out for a 15 mile loop and that is when my inexperience
with nutrition started to catch up to me. I felt tired. I had just started my period (to keep things
interesting!), so I’m sure that contributed as well. I met a young guy from
Pensacola. Where else do you meet a guy from Florida who knows some of the same
people as you do?!? We chatted for a
while after he ran out of water. I gave him my extra handheld until we made it
to what I thought would be an Oasis in the desert. Instead we had some pretty
uninterested volunteers (okay I might have been a little cranky due to lack of
sugar). They were busy calling their dogs and sitting in their chairs. I was
pretty annoyed that they weren't helping me with my camel back, after all I’d
just ran 30ish miles and my dexterity wasn't the best! Yep, I am super spoiled.
I need to stop running those Aravaipa events ;)!
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| Dan, chilling waiting on me to make it back to camp. |
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| The awesome tent from Vietnam |
Finally, I made it back to Flowing Park Aid Station 45 min
later than I wanted to arrive. I ate some more food and headed towards Carson
Lake. I like this part of the trail because there are some steep rocky parts,
but as I was concentrating on my footing I somehow missed a turn (super easy to
do). I looked up and didn’t see any pink ribbons. I didn't recognize my
surrounding. Everything just looked like big boulders and fallen tree branches.
I remembered from training that there was a trail that eventually went through
this little meadow. I found the trail below and climbed down the rocks to get
to it. I finally made it to Carson Lake where I picked up my pacer.
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| My Crew the night before. Kate is in the top left hand corner! |
I just met my pacer the night before. She was a fairly new runner, but I couldn't
be picky, I was just happy to have someone with me. As per usual in these kinds
of events, you ask a ton of people, who all seem stoked to pace until a few weeks
before the event when everything in their lives falls apart and they have to
back out!
Heading down to Kannah Creek, I felt pretty crappy. My
stomach hurt. When we finally made the Aid Station I had asked for something to
help my stomach…truthfully, I just wanted to vomit! As we were in the Aid
Station, Trudy, the race director’s wife tells, us that we just made the cut off
for Kannah Creek. To be honest, I wasn't
that worried about cut offs, after all, I’m not normally that close to them! I knew this next section was my Kryptonite. It
was a 5000 foot climb back to the top of the Mesa. All this fun occurs in about
5.5 miles. Anyone who has ever run with me knows I am TERRIBLE at climbing... I
quickly learned my weakness one day when I was “running” up the Barr Trail in
Colorado Springs and some hikers passed by me with their little hiking sticks! Needless
to say, I hate climbing!
As we (me, my pacer-Kate, and
Pensacola—aka Paul) left the Aid Station I really wanted to throw up. So I did. I had warned Kate in an
email before the race that vomiting is totally normal in an Ultra and not to
freak out…she was perfectly calm! I felt better for about 10 minutes, and then
my stomach started hurting again. I was pretty weak as I didn't have any
nutrition in my body. Little did I know
that my upset stomach would be the least of our problems.
About 1 mile in the hail started. It was beginning to get
dark so I could see the little round pieces of ice with my headlamp. I put on
my rain coat and Kate did the same. As the mountain got steeper and the hail
turned to rain, the terrain got more and more sloppy. Pretty soon we were climbing up one big slip
and slide. We would take one step forward and 3 steps back. I was so weak that
the extra effort was killing me. The rain was relentless. It poured (like
Florida poured) on us nonstop for hours! We finally started climbing through
the bushes so that we had something to grip onto. Later I realized both my gaiters broke and my la Sportiva's (Mountain shoes) had tears in the sides from climbing through the brush!
Pensacola didn't have a rain coat or anything on except a
singlet. I knew we weren't moving fast enough to keep our heart rates up and that if he didn't start moving faster he may get hypothermia. With
about 2 miles to go I told him to go to the top and have Dan (my night time
pacer—HA! It was already 1 am at this point) come down and help us get up the hill.
Finally while we are about 200 feet from the top we heard people talking and see
Dan & the race director Phil coming down to get us. I was thrilled to see
them, but would have liked to have seen them about 2 hours earlier!
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| My shoes that are torn on both side from climbing through the rough bush. |
The minute I got to the car Heather had prepared Kate and I
warm dry clothes and blankets. At this point
we were shivering. After all it was in the mid 40s and we were soaking wet.
The EMT finally arrived. They checked us out. My blood pressure
was in the 40s (systolic) over the 30s (Diastolic). Although I normally have
low blood pressure, this was a new record!
I truthfully was hoping that they would give me some intravenous fluids,
since I hadn't held anything down for hours, but they didn't have any and said
I would have to go to Grand Junction (only like 70 miles away )! Uhm, okay…no
Thanks.
Finally around 5 am we rolled back up to the house. I cut up
some watermelon and managed to keep that down, took a hot bath, and went to
bed. A heartbreaking finish for me and my crew!
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| Dan and Heather at Flowing Park Aid Station |
I have to say that this experience is what I love about 100
mile races. You never know what to expect. I don’t believe in DNFing (in fact I’ve
never done it before). Hundies (especially in the mountains) give me a great perspective
on life. Nothing is guaranteed. Sure I could have prepared better, had more
experienced pacers, and may have made it to a successful finish, but who knows?
What I do know is that I feel like a bad ass. I survived that nasty climb in
the rain, hail, mud, dark, and cold, not to mention my compromised physical state.
I learned about the 2 amazing people that were suffering in that experience
with me, both incredibly strong, resilient and positive. I can’t wait to see
where their futures take them.
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| Gorgeous Aspens |
Additionally, I met some incredible people while I was
training. These people broadened my perspective on life and made me a better
person. Thank you Gary & Teri!! On Friday night Teri gave me this beautiful
charm that she had made for me. It says “the journey is the reward”, a lesson
that I am doing my best to practice in life.
This experience has made me a
stronger person and I’m so ready and passionate to do it again.
During my run I was proclaiming all the things to which I am grateful. I can now add one more item. I am thankful that the Universe has taught me it's not always about finishing, but what occurs while you are making you way to the finish line. The Journey was truly the reward at the Grand Mesa 100!
Pictures courtesy of Heather Alvarado
XOXO,
Moderngypsygirl.
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