Always a day late and a dollar short, but it’s here. And as far as Nighthawk 50K goes. I’m glad it's gone and done. Honestly, I ate a bit of shit on this one. Signed up on kind of a whim as “something to do” that weekend and an extra chance to score another Ultra. And while I feel that I was well enough in shape, my body was not prepared for the humidity (nor will it ever be). It wasn’t wildly hot that night, just humid. And it sucked all the water right out of me. They offered a 10, 20, and a 50K version of the race, meaning either 1,2, or 3 laps out on the trails. First lap went OK. Second lap was where things started to take a dive. Legs started trudging. Stomach started flipping. Food and hydration weren’t going down well. Nearing the end of lap two I wanted nothing more than to be done. Even though it was only 20, I was zapped. And for a race that I signed up for on a whim I had to question how much it meant to me. And sadly enough my frugality is what kept me moving. I asked myself, “would you have paid for a twenty-mile race? Nope.” And there it was. Enough to atleast finish the fucker out. So just kept the legs moving. Took in calories as soon as my stomach gave me the chance before immediately flipping back over and turning to nausea. Thankfully for nearly the entire last lap I ended up behind the race director who inadvertently gave me something to pace myself off of to keep it reeled in, and for the second half, someone to chit-chat with and keep my mind off how terrible I felt. And honestly thanks to her got that shit done. I promptly ate my breakfast burrito and got the hell out of there to catch some much needed rest. On a sidenote: major props to the TrailHawks for putting on this race. The aid stations were well stocked and even offered some options to “imbibe” if you felt so inclined. Cheers to you all!
Following that were some much, much more fun events. And really some that I was just happy to have the pleasure of being invited to join along. Jess had been wanting to hike and summit Pikes Peak for a couple of years now, and when we first started talking, it was something that just sounded awesome, and luckily enough for me, she invited me along for the journey! So we drove out to Cascade/ Manitou Springs area to our AirBnB to settle in and start getting our bodies acclimated. We had planned on giving our bodies and lungs ample time to acclimate, but after looking at the weather a bit more we realized, more likely than not, that some heavy rain was going to be coming in on the day we had planned to summit. So. Plans changed. On our second day in town we decided we would do the Manitou Incline. Over 2,000 feet of elevation gain in about a mile. Over 2,700 steps to climb. And views for days. Unfortunately I locked the keys in the car (with the hydration packs and what not still in there). So we sat. and sat some more. Eventually the locksmith showed up and we were about to move our reservation up in time and head on up. But because this was “monsoon season” for the area we really didn’t have a lot of time to mess around. We had to move. Trudging our way to the top. Joking with everyone else suffering along the way, making friends with all the local critters, and wishing these stairs would just stop. And eventually they did. And we were greeted with about two dozen friendly squirrels all ready for some leftover trail mix and snacks that people didn’t consume on their way up. So we happily obliged. Share the wealth right? Because of the time, and honestly because it seemed like much less of a pain in the ass, we decided to take the Barr trail back down even though its about three times the distance, it’s a much more manageable descent down to the parking lot. And Jess got some of her first tastes of trail running! Nothing like a descending trail to get someone hooked.
So Day three in Colorado, sitting about 7,000 ft we decided today was the day. Pikes Peak summit. We tried to get to the trailhead as early as we could to get a start on the day, give us as much leeway in time as could and to make sure we had time to explore a bit before our 4 P.M. shuttle back down the mountain. We were 45 minutes late. Of course. We started the trail off with the section we had run down the previous day from doing the Incline. And after passing the sign showing where path splits to either head back up to the Incline to continue on to the summit a big sigh of relief was felt by me. To me its all new from there, and in a few miles its “home stretch” for me. With us being slightly lower on time, unfortunately, I had to crack the whip a few times to make sure we were making good time and wouldn’t be left behind by the shuttle. But Jess did fantastic. She cranked it out every step of the way. Honestly it was pretty rare I had to say anything about speeding up, more that I couldn’t allow her to enjoy sitting too long (as Ultra runners we’re all far too aware of how that time adds up). The hard part was not having enough time to really just sit, enjoy, and take in the views that we were blessed with on our way up the mountain. At our first real view of the summit it still looked so far away. And even someone who is used to going wild distances it still kind of astounded me that we would be hiking to there. Once we broke past the tree line where it was pretty much just small vegetation and rock we were met by marmots in all directions. Having never seen one before and not knowing what the hell they were I was honestly close to booting one off the mountain when it kept coming towards us. Turns out it just wanted a snack. So again. We obliged. Never hurts to make friends along the way. Furry or not. And hiking the last bit were more views. And I mean views upon views. It was just gorgeous. I’ve never been to the mountains. Being from Michigan we have “mountains” but honestly, they’re just glorified hills. There’s nothing like what we got to see along that hike. We got see some beautiful mulies, made friends with marmots, and kept our distance from the supposedly “friendly” mountain goats. And with lots of grit, made our way to the summit. Unfortunately we basically made it there just in time to go to the bathroom and be met by the shuttle to head back down. We did make time before we left town to drive up to mile 16 and hike the final few miles up getting views of the mountain from another angle. And of course had to try the “world famous Pikes Peak donuts”. They did not disappoint.
And of course. Being in Colorado I couldn’t miss the opportunity to run. And thankfully there was a 50K just around the corner from where we were. The Pikes Peak Ultra 50K. For which we actually summited Mt. Rosa. with views of Pikes Peak. Which. Hindsight, I didn’t mind. I got to summit two peaks while there, even if the second one was only about 12,000 feet instead of 14,000. It was generally about a 7,000 foot climb to the summit and then right back down. There was a “false” summit about ten miles in on the way up and got to enjoy another on the way down. But considering the hikes earlier in the week I honestly felt pretty good on my way up. Even passing a lot of locals (big point of pride for me). Once nearing the top there were a few of us that were a bit confused on the direction, but eventually found the path and made a hasty run to the top so I could start my descent back down the mountain and get it finished up. While I felt like I was cruising on the way down, I was absolutely put to shame by some of the locals that just bombed the downs harder and faster than I ever would have hoped. Not breaking an ankle today. No thank you. All-in-all it was a really fun day with very minor hiccups along the way. I had great views. Felt relatively great the majority of the time and was able to score a 26th place out of 111 people. With most of the people ahead of me being locals. So, not too shabby for someone who’s been living in or below 1,000 foot above sea level their whole life.
Colorado was a great time and even joked with Jess that she’d have to tie me up in the trunk to get me back to Kansas. It will definitely be a place where I visit again and somewhere that will always hold a special place in my heart. Until next time.
x
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