So there I was, standing at the starting line of not a race but a walk. Not even a competitive walk, it was a walk to raise money for the breast cancer patients that are going through treatment at this time. I had gotten there at 5 after 5 on a brisk Saturday morning. I had my long socks on, I had my oranges in my bag and I was ready, or so I thought for an adventure that I had never done until this weekend. 50 kilometers from the start to the finish of the walk. 30 miles of road walking from one town, through another and into a third one, and then back again.
I have driven this road many times, since I was a teen. I know it easily by the way it feels in the car that I drive. I can time my speed and I hate trying to cross traffic in the summer time due to the influx of summer visitors. It has many lakes, streams, places to fish and is in general a wonderful mountain to visit. I love that live here, most of the time. It does have it’s limitations and setbacks. It also has a lot of hills. It was these hills that had me somewhat concerned over the magnititude of what it was I was about attempt.
It all began like a normal day at work. We wen’t overly busy, and since I had finished with my computer training, it was time to take a break. I had been looking for new shoes for a new position I took at work. One that I get to wear pretty shoes for. I can’t tell you how excited that makes me to know that I get to wear pretty heels on a daily basis. I love shoes! I don’t like to spend too much on them, unless they are running shoes and in that case, they are the most expensive shoes I will buy. I was telling my friend about the new shoes I was eyeballing for work and she said something about she was getting new shoes too, but they were for an event, called Sue’s Crew Walk. This is an event that is in it’s 8th year on my mountain and it raises money for the women on the mountain who are going through breast cancer treatments. The money stays on the mountain for these women. When Erin asked if I was interested, I was very eager to jump at the chance to join. Little did I know that it would be as hard as it was.
In the weeks leading up to this event, I have been training for a half marathon relay with my sister that is to be done, next weekend actually. I thought I would be able to do this and still have enough time to recover well enough to do the race. However, in the 5 weeks before hand, I had slacked off of training. Nearly doing a total of 15 miles for two weeks worth of running. This is not a good thing. I had been back to serious training for only a good week before this, but, knowing how I am, I didn’t let this bother me.
The walk began at 0537 in the morning. I know because that’s what time I started my watch for this deal. I was enjoying the morning and how cool it was. I have been told that there were going to be a lot of people who are going to not even make it to the half way point. This is terrible I think.
We had an easy pace, at least easy for me. Our group consisted of four of us, two in front and two in the rear. The ones with the long legs were in the front, and Lisa and I, short legged girls, were in the back. It was easy conversation and I loved the whole time that I got to talk and have fun and make jokes with my group. By the time we got to mile 6, I had to stop for the bathroom. I chose this pitstop because there was no line and when you’re walking in a group, I hated to have to make them wait for me. At this time, we were on the highway and it was only 8 in the morning. The sun wasn’t very hot or high and the day was clear and bright. We were lucky to have such shade and there were plenty of areas on the path that were single file only due to the nature of the road and where we were walking.
Our next actual pit stop was going to be the big one, they had hot dogs and lots of food at this one, at mile 10. Only a few to go and we were there. The road at this point is now a side road and we are coming up to Show Low lake. One of my favorite spots that I used to go on a very regular basis. This morning, the lake was full and the sun shone brightly on the water. It made it almost too bright to see. We were nearly to our pitstop and I was really ready to for a break. We trudge along, making good time.
We get to the church, our 10 mile pitstop and grab some food, hot dogs and gatorade, fruit and sandwiches and lot of friendly faces all willing to help. I loved stopping here. It was a nice chance to sit down, though, at this point, I knew that if I was to sit down, it was likely going to be very difficult to get back up. Our group stays here for about 10 minutes and more walkers come and go and we take off on our journey. At this time, there is a mile loop that we do and I notice that there are all these pennies laying on the ground. I have to pick them up. And then I realize I can’t seem to bend down too well, since my hips are starting to smart in pain. So I leave the pennies alone. We come out of this area and head back to the highway and there is another pit stop that I have to take.
At this time, two of the group people take off and it leave Erin and I to go it alone. She is starting to have a lot of pain in her knee and I am just sore and tired and feeling like I want to just run. But I can’t. Erin and I are moving slowly along and I notice how quiet she has become. When asked if she’s ok, she says that her knee feels like it’s going to explode. This is not good. I look at my watch, we are at 11.57 miles, which means there should be an aid station in a half mile. If we can make over this hill, we should be good. But that makes this hill a half mile to the crest of it. UGH!!!
We make it finally. Our other part of our group is long gone by now and I get Erin to a bench and make sure she settled, waiting for her ride. She did amazing. 12 miles for someone who doesn’t regularly do this kind of activity is nothing to be ashamed of. She was my rock and the reason I was there. I get my pack readjusted and she looks at me and says you ready? I nod yes and I give her a hug and tell her to keep me posted. Let me know when her ride gets her so I know she’s not there forever. I put my headphones in and I head down this hill to find our group. I have a good pace going and I am enjoying the music. For me to not have anything playing for the first 12 miles is something that I was pretty proud of. I talked and chatted and laughed and had a good time. But now, it was time for some serious business. I was power walking, for lack of a better word. And soon, I’m in Pinetop, walking down the road that I have run many times before. I start to wonder if they have already turned around and are on the way back. I see our turnaround point and still sign of my group. I didn’t see them coming my way so where in the world are they? And it’s just my luck that I don’t have any one else’s phone number. Oh well. I have a banana and some water and I keep going. The volunteers are trying to get me to sit for a while and relax, but, to be honest, this was the longest I have traveled on foot before, 15 miles. I wanted to get done now.
I left the half way point with a good pace. As far as I could tell there were about 20 or so people ahead of me. And as a competitive person, I wanted to make that number smaller. About a mile from the turn around, I see our group on the other side of the road coming towards me.. I have no clue where they stopped, but somewhere along the road, I must have passed them. Ok. Time to move now. The sun is hot and it’s only getting hotter. I can feel it burning my skin and I think about calling my husband and asking him to bring me a hat, but, I don’t. I keep going. My legs are tired and stiff, my hips are hurting a lot more now, but, nothing is going to stop me. Well, mostly nothing. I get to about 18 miles and the pit stop has red vines and pizza. I grab a small slice thinking it will be nice to have something to eat. How wrong I was about that. After eating my one piece of licorice, and 4 bites of pizza, my stomach tells me what a bad idea this is. I’m feeling like I’m getting sick and I want to throw up. I slowly sip my water and try to maintain composure. I am coming back to the church pretty soon and I will be able to sit and take a proper break. I cannot wait to get there. And for whatever reason, to me, it seems like the miles got longer on the way back.
When I finally reach the pit stop, I sit down and take my shoes off, check for rocks, make sure my feet are ok. I can feel a blister forming on my feet, but, without clean socks or different shoes, I’m not really going to be able to do much at this point. I get them back on, use the bathroom, grab some oranges from my bag and go. Only 10 miles to go. I can do this I think. My feet are starting to hurt though and they are really slowing me down. I know they have blisters at this point, I know it’s going to hurt trying to walk this week, and wow, can I feel the sun like its burning into my skin. Maybe I should have called my husband after all. At 5 miles to go, there is another pit stop and the lady is kind enough to tell us that it’s only 5 miles left. I think to myself, 5 miles is so easy, I can do this. I can make it in an hour and a half. I’m nearly done. I talk with a man who asked if this was the first time I have done this and I say yes. He just nods, dressed in all black, no hat or bag, just a bottle of water and some snacks and we all take off. I am leading a few, but, soon I realize that I need a bathroom. Thankfully, there is one coming up that I can see so I stop. This is where I realize how much I hurt and I am wondering if I can make it at all. It’s not like me to give up anymore. I put myself through a lot for the sake of not quitting. I want to finish this. I trudge along, this time, slowly, and my pace seems to be getting slower and slower.
When I get to the last mile, I am beat. I think to myself, why is the last mile, the longest one of the day? I am exhausted and can barely walk without pain. My stomach has still not recovered from the pizza and so I haven’t had as many little snacks as I would have liked. I had four more people pass me and I am thinking I won’t be in the top 20 at all. And as I am thinking of how this is going to be a hard drive home, the finish comes into view. Not like a huge finish line but, the place we all started and there is music from the radio station. I can hear it. And as I come stumbling into the finishers area, I smile and ask where is a restroom. I sat down afterwards and am amazed at the feat I just finished. I can barely move. Driving home is going to be lots of fun, and I look at my watch, it’s 3.30 exactly when I get there. I did this in under 9 hours.
What did I take out of this? I think for me it was a matter of am I able to do it. I wanted to know that when the time comes, I know my body is able to try to run a full marathon, and maybe one day an ultra. Both of these have yet to come to pass, but, February is going to be here sooner than I know if I don’t plan this out properly. I want to do well when I set myself out to do something. I don’t just want to finish it. I did it also because I wanted to. Why wouldn’t I want to try myself? This kind of distance is a test of physical limits for me. I didn’t have the problems with the mental part of it that I had wondered if I would have to deal with. I felt sick and didn’t want to move, so it was much more of a problem for my body than my head. Also, sunscreen!! And a hat. And more sunscreen. It was an adventure for sure. One that I am so glad that I did, and one that I will likely do again in the future. I would like to think that I would be able to stay with the group next time, but, you never really know what the future holds. For now, I will stick to my normal stuff and I will love every minute of it. I will remember how grateful I am that I am able to move and run and walk as much as I do. I will smile and be as helpful as possible to others when I can.
The Morning High Runner 