Lindsey Grewe's Posts - Pikes Peak Sports2024-03-29T00:30:54ZLindsey Grewehttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/LindseyGrewe880https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3623428905?profile=RESIZE_48X48http://pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blog/feed?user=3lfkdzcjvjea7&xn_auth=noRunning for Pepaw!tag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-08-18:5021591:BlogPost:7249742016-08-18T13:09:31.000ZLindsey Grewehttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/LindseyGrewe880
<p>Am I really climbing Pikes Peak in 48 hours???</p>
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<p>My emotions have been swinging wildly this week: "I've got this!" "I could have trained so much betttttter!" "This will be fun!" "What was I thinking???" The usual things that go through your head when you're crazy enough to sign up to run up a mountain. </p>
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<p>The unhappy news that there may be some snow/bad weather this year on the last three miles has put a little bit of a damper on things because I'm an awful…</p>
<p>Am I really climbing Pikes Peak in 48 hours???</p>
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<p>My emotions have been swinging wildly this week: "I've got this!" "I could have trained so much betttttter!" "This will be fun!" "What was I thinking???" The usual things that go through your head when you're crazy enough to sign up to run up a mountain. </p>
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<p>The unhappy news that there may be some snow/bad weather this year on the last three miles has put a little bit of a damper on things because I'm an awful runner on slippery surfaces, mostly for psychological reasons because I've become terrified of falling ever since my knee surgery a few years ago. The weather may really determine whether placing is possible this year, or if I just need to be satisfied with the bragging rights of running up a mountain through snow, lol. </p>
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<p>Rain, snow or shine, what's special about doing the Ascent for the very first time this year is that it coincides with what would have been the year my grandpa turned 100. He is the reason I ever got the Pikes Peak bug to begin with, and in a way, I may not have ever even thought of racing Pikes Peak if it wasn't for him.</p>
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<p>My grandpa passed away less than two years ago at the age of 98. Except for the last four months of his life, he aged the way you can only dream of aging: in the years past 60 he traveled all over the country (hit every state) and many places around the world. He walked several miles a day up through his 97th year, and when he had his own knee surgery at 95, he started doing 5Ks around San Antonio with his walker. He always placed in his age group (who cares if the competition was a little light? ;-) ).</p>
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<p>And another thing he did after 60: climbed Pikes Peak up AND down 10 times.</p>
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<p>My mom was the much youngest in her family, so Pepaw's other grandchildren are a lot older than me and my sister. We missed all the Pikes Peak hikes because Pepaw had moved away from Colorado by the time we came around. So as a little kid, the tales of these Pikes Peak climbs just enthralled me. My dad would tell me about A-Frame, which sounded kind of magical in these stories for some reason. About the difficult trek above timberline. And my favorite part: that when they got to the top, there were doughnuts and lemonade waiting! Little kid me pictured the summit in my head ending at a point with a little shack balancing precariously at the top, a cooler with lemonade and a box of doughnuts inside this tiny, tiny structure. Hahaha, imagine my surprise when I finally climbed Pikes Peak for the first time in 2010! If I think about it, despite having been to the summit many times now I can still see those images.</p>
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<p>I grew up dreaming of climbing the mountain. My dad teased me and a same-age cousin from another branch of the family by taking us on a two-mile hike up Barr Trail when we were 11, with promises that we'd climb the following year, but it didn't happen. My turn finally came six years ago, and it was so set in my mind that you HAD to walk up and down the mountain thanks to Pepaw that I was devastated when my group opted to drive down with a friend instead. It didn't feel like a real climb if you only went to the top! I finally convinced my dad to go down with me.</p>
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<p>I moved to Colorado a couple months after that climb, and until he died, every time I saw my grandpa he would ask me about Colorado and the Peak. He called me "Colorado Girl." When he passed away, I inherited the 10 patches he earned climbing Pikes Peak.</p>
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<p>I'm going to San Antonio for a week after the Ascent, and I'm sad I can't go visit him and tell him all about running up the mountain. But I know Pepaw would love the fact that I'm running it on his centennial. In fact -- he'd say that we were all running the Ascent this year in honor of him :-) </p>
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<p>*Photos taken from a family photo album and are already circa 1980ish, so the quality is awful!*</p>Summer Roundup rehashtag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-07-26:5021591:BlogPost:7233332016-07-26T22:00:00.000ZLindsey Grewehttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/LindseyGrewe880
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"></img></a> So much for a race report after Summer Roundup. My weekend (I'm off weird days) got cut short because of the Hayden Pass Fire, and it's been a hectic couple of weeks since of long days at work, working extra days, the usual this time of year. Such is the life of a journalist!</p>
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<p>But I'm back!</p>
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<p>The Ascent is looming, and with each passing day I'm getting more nervous. I'm really starting to have a nagging…</p>
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img width="200" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200" class="align-right"/></a>So much for a race report after Summer Roundup. My weekend (I'm off weird days) got cut short because of the Hayden Pass Fire, and it's been a hectic couple of weeks since of long days at work, working extra days, the usual this time of year. Such is the life of a journalist!</p>
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<p>But I'm back!</p>
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<p>The Ascent is looming, and with each passing day I'm getting more nervous. I'm really starting to have a nagging feeling that I'm training for next year's race...meaning I'm setting an awesome foundation that will yield desired results, but wrong year! :-P I'm loving the training, so no matter what happens in (less than four weeks *gulp* I think I've got the mountain running bug! I'm also excited about finally learning to love the treadmill (see last post) because I feel like my winter training is going to go really well. Being a native South Texan with a knee surgery under my belt, I haven't quite gotten the winter running thing down. I love snowshoe running and running in spikes, but our snow total here doesn't quite cooperate on the regular, and ever since my surgery I have a paranoia of slipping on ice and having to have surgery again. So finding workouts on the treadmill I actually LIKE will be super helpful for getting into/staying in race shape.</p>
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<p>But enough about winter, lol! Summer Roundup.</p>
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<p>I liked the race WAY more than I expected! When I found out it was a multi-loop race, my enthusiasm plummeted because I normally don't like running a loop over and over. My preference is either one long loop or an out and back. Like Garden of the Gods, it was yet another PW (personal worst)...each one was right around 17 minutes off my best! I think my number one goal for next year's Triple Crown series: actually train for the first two legs of the Crown so I can actually try to race. Fun running was a nice change of pace, but I think I'm over it! I'm too competitive and too much of a perfectionist to not try to race.</p>
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<p>But it was a good thing I wasn't planning to race that particular day, because some stupid decisions that morning led me to lining up way in the back as the gun was going off. I live super close too Bear Creek Park, so I thought I could warm up and stretch at home, give myself sample access to the restroom, etc. But I underestimated how long it would take to get there, park, etc, so I got there with just a few minutes too spare. Then I had to get a blister doctored because for some reason I don't seem to have any bandaids at home. I just chilled out in the back of the pack because there was no room to move up for the first quarter to half mile. Once I had some room to breathe, I started gradually passing people each loop. </p>
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<p>Thought process per loop:</p>
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<p>Loop 1: Really, I have to run this exact same route THREE times? This run is going to feel like an eternity. Oh no, a set of hills? I have to do it three times? My legs are so dead! </p>
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<p>Loop 2: Hey, that lap actually flew by! I think I kind of like repeating this course. It went by so fast, those hills weren't that bad, nice downhill for the last half-mile or so. My legs feel pretty good now! (It took unusually long to warm up that day, so I will definitely be showing up at the Ascent super early in case I have that same issue!)</p>
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<p>Loop 3: Crap, I have to do those hills one more time? Why did I think it was all downhill for the last half-mile! There is definitely a baby incline in there somewhere!</p>
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<p>But all in all, I really liked the course! I had never actually run on that side of Bear Creek Park before, and I will go back. It might make for a good hill repeat session. The multiple loops were far less painful than I thought, and I just loved the cross country environment. I always preferred cross country to track in high school and college, and it was fun running that type of course and having that kind of vibe! </p>
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<p>But now the chilling out is over. It was fun "not trying" for a change, but Summer Roundup was the grand finale. I'm racing the Ascent for real, ready or not! </p>Rehabilitating the dreadmilltag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-07-09:5021591:BlogPost:7200842016-07-09T17:30:00.000ZLindsey Grewehttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/LindseyGrewe880
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"></img></a> The prodigal blogger returns! My June got away from me with work stuff, family visiting and a stomach bug after Garden of the Gods! But I'm back...and no whiny freakouts about the Ascent this time, haha! </p>
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<p>Summer Roundup is tomorrow! My "race" plan (if you can even call it that, hence the scare quotes) is similar to Garden of the Gods...I'm just going to treat it as a fun run since I don't think I'm in traditional…</p>
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img width="250" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-right"/></a>The prodigal blogger returns! My June got away from me with work stuff, family visiting and a stomach bug after Garden of the Gods! But I'm back...and no whiny freakouts about the Ascent this time, haha! </p>
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<p>Summer Roundup is tomorrow! My "race" plan (if you can even call it that, hence the scare quotes) is similar to Garden of the Gods...I'm just going to treat it as a fun run since I don't think I'm in traditional race shape due to focusing solely on the Ascent. But if I start the first mile and feel like racing after all, I'll go for it! I'll post a report tomorrow, either way. I'm sure my five blog readers are awaiting with bated breath. ;-)</p>
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<p>The strangest thing about my Ascent training is how reliant on the treadmill I've become. My whole running life, I've loathed the dreadmill, though I've had the odd few-week spurt here and there over the years where I'll do a ton of treadmill runs for some reason. I love trails, and I actually love roads too as long as they're in a low-traffic area (I grew up in San Antonio on the outskirts of the Texas Hill Country, so I enjoy running in hilly neighborhoods...why they have to be hilly, no idea, but I've never enjoyed running in flat subdivisions for whatever weirdo reason. It's funny how mental running is, how we all have those little tricks and routines that make or break a run!).</p>
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<p>But since March, I've eschewed frolics in grassy meadows and excursions through forests for trudging on a hamster wheel in my dreary, messy basement. I started out doing runs on there so I could control the incline and control how fast I was going...I've been trying to do tempo runs at Ascent race pace or faster, using the notorious Skyrunner.com pace calculator and the Ascent grade map to figure out what that pace should be depending on the course section. </p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806526902?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806526902?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-1">Running indoors doesn't inspire photos the way the outdoors does, so this was the best I could find to go with this post!</span></p>
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<p>But somewhere along the way, nearly every single run has become an incline run down in my basement. It's the weirdest thing! There have been some days where I legitimately have to run downstairs, due to weather since I have to run in the afternoon and evenings or maybe because of time constraints (my work day is unpredictable because it's based on what happens in the news, so my day can become a 12-hour one pretty fast). But there have been so many other days where I actually CHOOSE it over the trails. I cannot stress enough how UNLIKE ME THIS IS. I am very routine-oriented and I get very obsessed with things for short periods of time (not weird obsessed, just the "want to read nothing but Tudor history for five or six weeks" type of obsessed), so I think part of it is I've picked up the habit and will just want to keep running this way for awhile until I eventually get tired of it and want to go back to my usual outdoors. </p>
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<p>But I'm also really enjoying the pleasures of running to music. I do NOT run with headphones outside, for a number of reasons ranging from safety to just preferring being outdoors without them to the headphones annoying me when I move freely. So this is a new thing for me, and because I love music and moving to music so much, I'll even have days where I've downloaded new songs to my iPod and start just itching to run on the treadmill so I can listen!</p>
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<p>I'm also having fun running to Netflix. I never let myself watch Netflix during my work week, so it's become this new little treat to myself after work, putting on a show or movie and just pounding out some miles to it!</p>
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<p>In other words, I think the dreadmill...the runner's torture chamber...has actually become my secret weapon. Ascent training is hard. I love running hills, but running hills at a fast-for-that-grade pace for an extended period of time is difficult -- and I'd argue more so on the treadmill because I never get a downhill reprieve or even just a gentler grade for a minute or two. But the treadmill -- with my music and my movies and even the company of my clingy beagle lounging next to the machine -- is actually making Ascent training fun. I'm working really hard, but half the time don't even notice I am because I'm enjoying what I'm listening to and what I'm watching. As I said, some days I even get EXCITED to do a really tough hill interval workout because, oh! I have a great new song I can't wait to listen to. If anything, sometimes I find myself doubting the quality of my training just because I don't notice half the time how hard my body is really working while my brain is occupied elsewhere.</p>
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<p>But of course I'm a long-time OUTDOOR runner, and there's that part of me that feels like it's not real running if you're inside! And a recent run at Catamount while my family was here reminded me how much I love running in beautiful places, which we are blessed with an abundance of here in Colorado. Sooner or later, the call of the wild will be too great and my treadmill will start collecting dust again.</p>
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<p>But for now, I'm going to enjoy the company of this strange new companion, the ProForm.</p>
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<p><span class="font-size-1">My training buddy</span></p>Eight weeks and a wake up!tag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-06-24:5021591:BlogPost:7185262016-06-24T15:00:00.000ZLindsey Grewehttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/LindseyGrewe880
<p>Are there really only eight weeks until the Pikes Peak Ascent?<br></br> <br></br> Somewhere along the way, I added a week in my mind, so I had a minor freakout earlier this week when I realized I'd been counting wrong!<br></br> <br></br> <a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"></img></a> I'd been feeling pretty confident about my training, but after learning I'd lost a week, I began panicking that I wasn't doing enough. Thoughts turned to: I didn't start Ascent training early enough (an injury…</p>
<p>Are there really only eight weeks until the Pikes Peak Ascent?<br/> <br/> Somewhere along the way, I added a week in my mind, so I had a minor freakout earlier this week when I realized I'd been counting wrong!<br/> <br/> <a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img width="250" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-right"/></a>I'd been feeling pretty confident about my training, but after learning I'd lost a week, I began panicking that I wasn't doing enough. Thoughts turned to: I didn't start Ascent training early enough (an injury late last summer followed by a minor medical procedure put me on an anti-gravity treadmill until winter...a slight addiction to said anti-gravity treadmill because it's the most amazing thing ever then continued to keep me off the roads/trails until nearly spring)! I haven't gotten true high altitude training yet! I'm concentrating too much on hill tempo runs and not doing enough long runs! Worry after worry after worry.<br/> <br/> So consider this my companion piece to my fellow <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/i-am-not-ready-for-the-pikes-peak-ascent-omg" target="_blank">my fellow Mighty Marmot's last blog post</a></p>
<p>"I am NOT ready for the Pikes Peak Ascent -- OMG, the Sequel!"</p>
<p><br/> My goal is top 10 in the Ascent. I really feel like I have it in me with the proper training (hopefully this is not an inflated belief in myself!). But now I'm in second-guess mode, looking back at the last few months and worrying that I'm doing it all wrong! I think the main thing I'm concerned about is just that I didn't start my Ascent training early enough. I had all these plans last year after tendonitis sidelined me from the Ascent to start my training for it over the winter. But as I wrote above, next thing you know, I wasn't peeling myself away from my beloved Alter G until March. My husband, an Army reservist, is deployed right now, and that's been a blow to my getting high altitude runs. He's a mountain biker, and we usually spend late spring, summer and fall traveling together to mountain towns to run and ride. Without him here, it's been harder getting away because those long trips aren't as fun driving by yourself. Worry after worry after worry.</p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806518834?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806518834?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><span class="font-size-1">Vail isn't as much fun alone.</span><br/> <br/> I think part of my problem is I'm a perfectionist with my running. I always want to be at my best when I compete, and I sometimes put way too much stress on myself to be so. That was why I think the Garden of the Gods 10 miler was a great thing for me. I made the decision in March to focus solely on the Ascent due to the time squeeze, knowing it would be at the detriment of the Garden and Summer Roundup races. In years past, I may have avoided those races completely because I wasn't ready. Instead, I took the Garden as a fun run. I decided I'd see how I felt on the first mile, and if the speed wasn't there that day, I'd just chill and enjoy a 10-mile run instead of a 10-mile race. I didn't worry about where I lined up that day, instead wrapping up my restroom run with three minutes to go. I even ran holding my keys (pure training run mode). I didn't realize it at the time, but I was running with a stomach bug, so by the end of the first mile I felt HOT. I thought I was badly acclimated to the heat at the time, but I think I was feverish since I would end up being sick a few hours later. Combined with a minor flareup in the knee I had surgery on a few years ago, and I decided it was definitely a fun run day. And it was. It was a slow time for me, but it was a blast. I wouldn't want to run every race like that because I do enjoy trying to run fast, but on that day, it was a nice change to just enjoy the camaraderie with my fellow runners and not care what the numbers on my watch said!<br/> <br/> My point: I need to teach my brain to not stress so much about how I'm going to do in the Ascent! It's not like I'm going to have to turn in my Mighty Marmot jersey if I don't achieve my goal, haha! It's a tough race. It's my first time. If I don't do as well as I'd like to, it'll still be exciting to finally check this one off my bucket list! I got a thrill just from reporting on it a few years ago...now I'll actually be a part of it! And if I don't do as well as I'd like, I'll learn what to do better for next year! <br/> <br/> And of course, if I do achieve my goal...few things are better than the feeling you get after a race well run! </p>When thunder roars...why oh why was I still outdoors?tag:pikespeaksports.us,2016-06-04:5021591:BlogPost:7157152016-06-04T16:30:00.000ZLindsey Grewehttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/LindseyGrewe880
<p>Ah summer...longer days, warmer temps and storms.</p>
<p>Because it's Colorado, and there's always a catch to every season!</p>
<p>It's the biggest tease: the weather is great, I have more light in the day to run, but those pesky storms like to rudely intrude on my training plans!</p>
<p>Running in the morning is out most days -- I start work around 4:30 a.m., so I'd be looking at a 1-2 a.m. start time if I were to run before work! Plus, who am I kidding, I hate running in the morning! …</p>
<p>Ah summer...longer days, warmer temps and storms.</p>
<p>Because it's Colorado, and there's always a catch to every season!</p>
<p>It's the biggest tease: the weather is great, I have more light in the day to run, but those pesky storms like to rudely intrude on my training plans!</p>
<p>Running in the morning is out most days -- I start work around 4:30 a.m., so I'd be looking at a 1-2 a.m. start time if I were to run before work! Plus, who am I kidding, I hate running in the morning! Outside of high school and college cross country practices, I have always run as late as possible. So it's not like it ever happens on my days off.</p>
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img width="220" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2653383898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="220" class="align-left"/></a>Which leaves me, every year, during those peak days of training, picking fights with the storm season.</p>
<p>I'm training for my first Pikes Peak Ascent this summer...you know, the very place you want to be when those dark clouds roll in! The challenge this season will be getting plenty of time on the mountain and/or at high elevation while staying storm-safe!</p>
<p>Two of the three scariest runs I've ever had involved lightning. One, last summer, I checked the radar before heading to Barr Trail and it showed everything completely clear over the next few hours. I checked the forecast and it didn't mention storms. Our meteorologist at work (I work in news) told me later the storm caught everyone off guard. But the other, which happened during my first summer in the Springs (2011), was me doing absolutely everything wrong.</p>
<p>Being a late-day runner, I thought I was being smart when I got to the Elk Park trailhead off the Pikes Peak Highway around 9 a.m. <strong>(Not so smart if you're intending on doing a long run...once noon rolls around, the odds of a storm at higher elevation ticks up!) </strong> My husband and I set out for a ride and run respectively to Barr Camp, about 5.5 miles away and nearly 2,000 feet down. It was our very first time doing the route! <strong>(Yup, that's right, we're starting a route we've never done before -- that begins around treeline -- relatively late in the morning and we're starting out going the easy way...all downhill! Saving the considerably more difficult 2,000-foot climb back to our car for the second half, closer to when storms could roll in.) </strong></p>
<p>The first half of the run went pretty much how you'd expect an entirely downhill run in the mountains to go. Beautiful views, fairy tale forests and a runner's high because of course life is grand when you're gliding on a decline! I love exploring new trails, so I was having a blast.</p>
<p>Stephen, being on two wheels, had the advantage on the downhill, and beat me to Barr Camp by a fair margin. It was sunny and warm when I finally reached the cabin, and we decided to hang out for a little while, chat with hikers, and fuel up before climbing back. <strong>(Tick tock, tick tock)</strong></p>
<p>Heading back, I took the lead because I'm faster on hills than Stephen. I still wasn't totally acclimated to mountain running back then, so my runner's high faded pretty fast: that glide turned into a sludge up a steeper-than-I-realized trail, getting harder by the minute because I was gaining elevation the entire time. I wasn't more than a mile or two from Barr Camp when I noticed that the sky was growing dimmer.</p>
<p>I don't remember how soon after that I heard the first rumble of thunder, but I was far enough from my endpoint that I knew I was in trouble. I still had a lot of distance to cover, and I wasn't exactly blazing through it because it was so steep! I started praying for the storm to hold off, but the thunder instead boomed closer and closer together. It wasn't long before lightning followed.</p>
<p>I didn't know what to do. I hadn't researched what to do if trapped outside when lightning hits <strong>(research what you are supposed to do when lightning hits!)</strong>. I knew there was something about what trees you are not supposed to stand by, but I couldn't remember the specifics. <strong>(According to the NOAA, stay away from tall, isolated trees, and if in a forest stay near shorter trees.) </strong> I kept running, petrified, stopping and crouching momentarily every time I heard thunder. There was no safe location in sight, I was totally out of my depth and I was running inside my own cautionary "Don't try this behavior!" tale.</p>
<p>With maybe 3/4ths of a mile to go, I reached the point in the trail where it emerged out of the forest and became a barren ridge for the final climb. Now I had to make a decision: run the final few minutes to safety on an exposed trail at timberline, where lightning is the most dangerous? Or stay where I was in a slightly safer location, but keeping myself in harm's way longer?</p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806514463?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806514463?profile=original" width="446"/></a>The worse of two bad options!</p>
<p>I stayed in the forest, reasoning that my chances of being struck by lightning were greater on the exposed trail. The next however many minutes (felt like an eternity; it was at least 30) lightning and thunder continued around me, I was soaked by rain, and beginning to get scared something happened to Stephen because he still hadn't caught up. The entire time, I kept wondering if I was about to become a terrible news story that my coworkers would somberly cover at the top of the 10 p.m. show.</p>
<p>I was a crying, cowering mess when Stephen came upon me sometime later. He was so exhausted from climbing that he barely noticed the life-threatening predicament we had been in. The storm by this point was also finally passing. He was physically <em>done</em>, so I took his bike and walked it up that final exposed 1,200 meters that had previously stood between me and refuge.</p>
<p>A brutal but effective lesson in why lightning must always be respected!</p>
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