On mornings when I am able to get out of bed on time and take off like I need to, I have a set playlist of music that I am always listening to. However, some mornings, like today, I put on Pandora and I let her dictate what comes up. I like that it gives me music I don’t have in my collection and I get to hear all sorts of cool stuff.

To be fair, I really didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. Shocking, I know. But the dreams were too bizarre to keep going. I could hear the dog outside wanting to come in, and once I let her in and got up, there was no telling her that we weren’t going to go. She sat down on the bathroom floor and glared at me. I could take the hint today. So I compromised with her and we did a little mile and a half walk. My body has been hurting which is why it’s been so hard for me to get up. I think I broke the bed again… dammit.

So, made it out the door. Decided that whatever I was listening to on Pandora the day before would be fine for the walk, so 90’s Pop it was. So much of what I remember growing up is in this time frame. I remember a lot before that, but, this was my teens and the years that I should be able to remember the most of. The music is what always sticks out with me. I like to think of that time in life when I let the music shuffle.

Take today’s song that really stuck out with me. It wasn’t a song that I remember hearing before, but, I knew the artist and album when it came on. The sound was so familiar. Sure enough, when I took my phone out of my belt, it was The New Radicals. The song was Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough. If you haven’t had the chance to hear it, take a listen. It’s brilliant! In the notes I always seem to think of Trisha. I have such lovely memories of us together. I love her still, after these 20 plus years. I still call her mom, Diane, Mom. Diane and I are 20 years apart.

I first met Diane when I was 16, just shy of my 17th birthday. The summer I got the job, I had fallen for this guy and he worked at the grocery store. I thought he was the bees knees… totally fell in love with him. The summer hadn’t been the best. I had gone to the valley with our church youth group and had a blast and we went to Sunsplash after a conference of sorts. Instead of going home with the group at the end of the night, I was going to stay for a few weeks with my grandma. My older sister came to pick me up and I was going to spend the night with her and in the morning, go to my grandparents house. I stayed the weekend because Crystal had asked my grandma if that was ok. She said yes… at least that’s what I remember. After getting to her house on Monday or Sunday night, I had a phone call from my dad. He was livid. Unbeknownst to me, there was a reason why he didn’t want me to spend the weekend there, and we got into a fight, and I said, “I’m 16, I have rights!”. That wasn’t the right thing to say. I was on my way home the next morning or the morning following. I had my keys taken away and I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere or do anything. I was stuck. No phone, no TV, the worst kind of grounded. I was able to go to my grandma’s birthday party with my parents, and then home. For my mom’s birthday party about a week later, Aaron was there. Wow… After that night, I just adored him. In realizing that he worked at the grocery store, I came to the conclusion that if I could get a job there, I would be allowed out of the my house, and I could make money and then, the best part, I would get to see him. And talk to him.

I remember just starting and I hadn’t been out of the floor for more than a day and I saw him. And he said hello and smiled at me and I was fucking floating I was so happy. Yada yada yada, I met Diane within that first week of being there. She had a daughter who was a year older than me, in school and damn near exactly a year in age. Eventually, we became friends, Trisha and I that is. We were together all the time. She was the best friend that I had ever had. We would drive around town, in her Dodge something car. Little, purple. I broke the door.. Rather, I didn’t break the door, it broke after I had gotten into it. And, though it seems easy to do the Dukes of Hazard style of getting in and out of the vehicle, it wasn’t as easy as it was made out to be. And I was ever so slightly less elegant than John Schneider. One of my favorite photos was of me the day that the door broke with my fingers on the window looking out, you can only see my eyes, but you can see the smile.. I was in so much trouble 🙂

After I graduated, we lived together for a short while. I was new to adulting and didn’t do a good job of it. I learned much and it took it’s toll of her and I. She had the CD Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too by The New Radicals. I loved signing in the car with her to that disc. We had a blast being friends.

She and I see each other from time to time, our kids are close in age, though her son is a grade ahead of my daughter. I love and I tell her that each time I see her.

I enjoying getting to mix up the music that I listen to when I am awake and doing anything and what kind of wonderful things I will remember. A lot of the music in the 90’s was sad and depressing and it made me just not enjoy life. Honestly, I didn’t like myself growing up and that made it really hard to be able to enjoy the childhood that I had. I am so grateful for my family, my friends at the time, my experiences, they helped to make me the person I am today. I wouldn’t trade it. Yeah, it wasn’t always fun, but, you get through the bad parts and focus your energy on the present. Only a fool trips on what’s behind him.

With luck, tomorrow I will feel good enough to run again. I have to, marathon training begins soon and I would like to be able to push myself for this. I want to do it right. I want to finish, but it would be amazing to do it with some speed too. The music will likely be the normal Running playlist as well, but, that is always on shuffle. Everyday is a winding road. Hopefully the music will speak to my soul and move my feet down the road a little faster than the day before.

I had planned on getting out early that day. I had planned on getting to the trail head by 9am. I had such good intentions. But, you know the saying right, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I made it in a not so timely manner. Getting to the trail head and parked and moving and on our way, yeah… It was 12.30 when we started. Not knowing how long or really how far the trail was, there was no map on the trail head sign, we finally, midday time, started on our journey towards the summit of Mt. Baldy. A mountain that is in the northeast side of Arizona. Next to the ski runs that so many flock to in the winter for downhill skiing and snowboarding. Not to mention the lift rides they do in the fall as a way to be able to enjoy the colours of the trees as winter slowly stirring on, his icey sinew creeping up ever so slowly. In fact, the best time to see the colours is generally, and this is why I love my birthday, the week of or after my birthday. It is the most awe inspiring vision of the colours. We don’t usually have the trees that are purple and red, but, to have a tree drop her golden leaves on you as a light breeze kisses your face, in the warmth of the rays of sun coming through the clouds, makes my heart feel so light. As if I’m walking in heaven and having drops of gold falling all around me…. I digress…

So the day started out slowly enough, but we managed to get us and the dog out there in one piece and ready to go fully loaded and able to take on the wilderness. This is the fourth time I have gone of in search of the summit of this giant. The elevation is higher than normal for me, at 9550 ft. or about 2910.8 meters above sea level. I usually run around 3000 feet lower than that. But I didn’t notice the difference. All I noticed was that it was a hell of a steep hill. And I really am not a huge fan of hills.

For the first two miles or so, the trail followed a stream that earlier this spring had flooded this area and we hadn’t been able to get more than a mile. The grass has grown up a lot and this made for some amazingly stunning photos. You would think I live in Shangri La. The trees had baby blooms on them and the vibrant colours as a result of a wonderfully wet winter looked unreal. As though someone had come along and had done frosted tips on the spruce trees. The trail was winding and I soon noticed that we seemed to be on a trail that I don’t ever remember being on before. I have tried this mountain 4 times, seems this was the side of it I had never started at. Not only did I realize I had no idea where I was at, the trail itself seemed to be barely hang on to the side of the mountain. One wrong step and it could end very poorly for anyone. We passed so many people too. I would say a large church group, father daughter camp day with around 50 people, about a dozen other groups of hikers, all going the other way.

Once the stream was out of sight and we made it to the forested area and began the climb into the trees, we stopped for a break. It was here that I realized I left the trail mix in the car in the hurry to get going. and hour and half earlier. Poopsticks! We had fruit, so there was that to eat, but, the mix would have given more energy with the peanuts and the m & m ‘s. We gave the dog some her treats and let her have more water, she drank a lot from the stream earlier in the hike. It was nice to sit for a few minutes. I noticed there were some trees broken at the base and that seemed strange to me.

Our break didn’t last as long as I would have liked, but miles don’t run themselves and so we continued on our journey upward towards the summit!! I’m much slower at the point than I was when we first set out. We have until 3;30 before we head back and it’s almost half that time and we aren’t as far as I would have liked to have been. I hadn’t noticed the altitude taking it’s tole on me until about that time. I didn’t factor that in and now I was feeling a bit grumpy about that. As we hiked further into the forest, there were many trees it seemed that were down, snapped almost at the base right off. It was strange to see this for sure. The trail was more and more rocky and we seemed to be using some fancy footwork to navigate this region of the mountain. we could start to hear the sound of water every so often and then we would come across a runoff stream that empties into the larger stream at the base of this place. it was easy enough to walk through with no problem for the first two or three. Then we started to get into some more heavily treed area, but many more downed trees as well. Having the dog with us was a stark reminder that we needed to use caution when crossing these logs, I didn’t want to impale my dog as she jumped over these things.

And then we got the part of the stream where the walkway had been washed over and there was only logs across the stream to get to the other side of the trail. I could see hikers coming towards us and as my love took the dog and headed down the slope to cross, I watched as these other hikers came across and tried to see if they were going to have an easier time of it. Not that I have a fear of falling into rushing freezing cold water from the top of a mountain and being beat up by the logs in said stream, I just didn’t want to fall into it. I was able to reach the log they had used, it was much bigger around and seemed to have more area to walk on than the other one did. I walked across the log and we went up just as a group of hikers was coming down. This was a bit treacherous for all parties involved. Luckily my love reached out his hand and took me up the hill before there was any falling.

Up a hill or two we go and by now we are in the snowy area of the mountain and the large group we just passed still seems to be trickling downwards to the bottom. I watch as my love stops for a moment and the last man of this group takes off his sunglasses and a playful English Cockier trots by and reaches out to sniff me. These men shake hands and they being talking. Clearly they know each other and I am introduced. I said hello and they walk away from each other, the gentleman shakes my hand and I say nice to meet you and smile. I had no idea who he was, I couldn’t hear when my lover said his name. He did tell us that it was about a half mile worth of slushy trail, they had walked through it already and had made a walkway passable for others. One person had said that it was another 3 miles to the top of the mountain. It is 3. We have only 30 minutes and there is no way we can make it another 3 miles in that time. We would be lucky if we made it another mile in that time. Onward we trekked.

After what feels like almost thirty minutes, we start to come out of an area that looked like something, an alien maybe, had somehow managed to snap these trees like this yet leaving other trees unscathed. It boggled my mind for sure and I just couldn’t come up with a good theory that could explain it. I would have to make a mental note to ask my dad about it later. Maybe he knows. We come to halt and take another break.

It was here that I looked at our elevation. I had only gone up 1000 feet? it seemed like I had gone up so much further than that. I thought for sure I was near the clouds by now. The clearing we had stopped at had an amazing view. We could see forever it seemed, even looking far enough to see the power plant near Springerville. It was breathtaking for sure. We didn’t stay in this spot for long. I looked down at my phone for the time, don’t know why I didn’t use the watch on wrist, and it was 4;30. WHAT??? How in the fuck did this happen? There is no way we were here for that long, this had to be a mistake. We make a mental note and photograph where we were and start to head down the mountain.

My love had the dog the whole way up this mountain and I had agreed that after we got out of the slippery snow area, I would take the dog. I was leading down the mountain and we were making good time. I would let them know when the trail was a bit wonky and we made haste. See how late it was made me very nervous. I am not prepared to try to traverse this area at night. When it’s cold. He handed the dog off to me and she and nearly ran down the mountain together. I would have to say it was a bit touchy for me in spots with her as she likes to stop in the middle of everything and sniff a pine needle that she hadn’t examined on the way up. This can be bad while running, but, since we were still not actually running, it was okay, but it was highly annoying. The dog and I crossed the stream successfully over a log and that was fun. Sort of.

Once we were out of the tree line and into the more plains area of the hike, we made really really good time. Going down this trail with dog was so easy. She and I do a lot of running together so it was a natural thing the way we had the set up going. I enjoyed the trek down. We passed three different camp sites of hikers we had passed and they smiled and waved as they set up their campsites and we continued downwards. A breeze was beginning to come up and I could tell that if it got dark before I made it to the car, I was going to have to try to make out the trail as best as I can in the dark. It was 7 pm by now and we had traveled 11 miles round trip. I kept thinking that it couldn’t have taken that long to go only 6 miles up today. And yet, here we were, coming to the end of our hike and the parking lot still nowhere to be found. I can tell my feet hurt and I wonder if I am going to have any more sisters like I did from the walk a few weeks prior. It didn’t feel like it, but, these things can be very tricksie. The last hill we came to I was dragging big time. I didn’t think I want to stop for my inhaler but I was getting to the point where I would need to pull it out. I was good about drinking a lot of water and making sure to go easy on my food stores. We had eaten the last piece of fruit an hour and some change ago. I was getting hungry. And then, from the horizon I see asphalt. And the white of a few other cars and then I see Little Green and my heart feels light and happy! Hooray, we finally made it. I stopped my Garmin and it was 11.45 miles. I was spent and dirty and I wanted a shower and to stop walking.

Once on the road home, all I could say it felt so good to not be walking right then. I had missed the top of the mountain by what I later found out was a mile. And once we had gotten back to the car, I discovered that somehow my phone time traveled an hour ahead of the actual time and it wasn’t really 7:30 it was only 6:30. I could have reached the top of the mountain if my phone had been cool and not time traveled an hour extra. Maybe there was a bear and it was going to go kill something and I would have been it’s next meal so fate intervened and kept us safe. Not only that, it really wasn’t aliens that killed the trees like that, it was the Wallow Fire that had done this a few years prior from the extreme heat and down winds that it created. Who knew Mother Nature could be that way. At least, this is what my dad said about it. He would know. He worked the fire.

Overall, I would love to finish this trail one day. It’s going to be a hard hike that requires maybe an overnight pack to get it done. I am willing and I would love to finish this trail one day. I had a lot of fun, but, it’s not an easy trail and I wouldn’t take a young kid with me. Maybe 12 or 13 and they could do it with some training. I need to train more for it as well (as I sit her drinking beer thinking of having left over pizza for dinner). Good times. I slept really well that night too. 🙂

For the past two weekends, I have had some lovely adventures that involved lots of mile. The one from last weekend shall be the focus of today’s thoughts. I was able to travel out of state for my first traveling mini break run vacation.

It all began many months ago, I would say at least 6 or so months ago. I was browsing through Facebook and I saw a friend of mine had posted photos from a half marathon relay. I loved this idea and I asked her about it. Now, being friends with people I served with, runs the chance of them being friends with my little sister and her husband, due to the nature of the military. It was the case with this friend, and within an hour, I got a message from my little sister asking if would be interested in doing a half relay with her in San Diego on June 2nd? Not really believing my eyes, and thinking it was too good to be true, I answered emphatically yes!! We worked it out and decieded that we would do this. So, after many days of training for this race, and many days that sister was still on deployment, we made it to the weekend of fun times.

Now, bear in mind my little sister has a small child, who, until the end of this year, is living with my mom, about a mile from my house. With two parents in the military, sometimes you have to do things that totally suck, and having to leave my niece with my parents, was not an easy choice for them, but, it’s how it’s working now. So, when it came time to go, my mom, sister and niece and I flew to San Diego on the last day of May. The baby and I get along swimmingly. We have so much fun playing together and making messes and getting into trouble. That’s what Aunts are for.

We got to the San Diego Convention Center around 11 am. Our goal for today, Friday, was to pick up the race stuff for my 5k the following morning, as well as our stuff for the relay on Sunday. We found our bib numbers rather quickly and then it was off to look for neat stuff from the vendors. The first time I got to do packet pickup, I felt hurried and unsure of what to do, but, as I run more and more of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Series races, the more I get to see what kind of fun things they sell there. We managed to pick up some sweet socks, headbands and belts to use for running on Sunday. It was around this time that my sweet neice was starting to fade. It was nearly lunch time, and being up so early in the morning was hard on all of us. Nap time would have to come around very soon.

Once we got to my sisters house, we brought our stuff in and put it in the correct rooms, and ate our lunch. Nap time, as I had predicted was next, but, I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I got up slowly, as to not wake up my mom, who was already awake. She suggested we go to the beach, it was a short walk away. I am all for this. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the ocean, think I should.

As it turns out, the ocean is less than a mile from sister’s house. Hooray!!! We walk along the beach, looking at the different shells, they looked like butterfly wings in the sand, so many different colors and sizes. It was nothing short of spiritual to be at the ocean, standing on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, watching the waves crash onto the sand. I stood mezmorizied for a long while.

Needless to say, I finally came back to reality and we went back to the house. It was time to think about food preparations for the upcoming races.

Fast forward to the next day. The race starts at 7, I have to be there about 30 minutes prior so I can go poop and try to not be so nervous. My sister gets up and drives me to the race area. It was good to spend so much time with her. I have missed her more than I let on. I have missed her being my best friend. We get up to the starting line, sort of, and I see one of my former shipmates. I give her a hug and she knows my sister as well. Oddly both are known to me as Lexi. We spent almost 30 minutes talking before the race and I am in a good mood now. It was a most unexpected wonderful surprise. I just wanted to finish this race and get a feel for how the next day should go.

We start the race, I’m in corral 3. I get going and I feel like I’m doing a good pace, but, wow, I had forgotten my inhaler, so there was that and i have to be honest, the hills were not a pleasant surprise. I wanted to have a good show on this day. I wanted to run the whole time. I nearly did too. Around the last mile, Lexi caught up to me and as I was walking, she linked her arm with mine and off we went. Even passed Barefoot Elvis. He was pretty rad in his get up and bare feet. Bare feet on pavement. I don’t go barefoot out of my house, there are too many things that could hurt my delicate feet. In the last half mile of the course, I couldn’t breathe. I slowed to a walk and watched as my friend disappeared into the crowd ahead of me. I kept pushing and wanted to finish strong. It’s not an easy task with they put the finish line at the top of a long slow hill. I think they hated us runners and wanted us to suffer for being crazy people out running for the fun of it. Once I crossed the finish line, sister was already there waiting for me. I got my medal and went to the beer garden for the victory beer. It was gross and I could only drink about half of it. But, none of the kids who passed me get to drink it, so, I do because I love knowing that.

On the way back to sisters house, we laugh and talked. It was so nice to get to spend some time with her. I have missed her a great deal. We had plans for some good food for lunch, and I was starting to get hungry. By the time we got back to her place, it was late morning. I showered, changed and made my way downstairs. after evaluating food, we decided to go to the beach for a walk. I get my shoes back on and away we go. I love the ocean. I love being near the ocean, I wish I could live close enough to hear the sound of the waves crashing down every night. It’s the most amazing sleep ever. I sat and stared out at the waves. It was a wonderful time and I played with the baby. She’s pretty funny. I kept wanting to take off my shoes, but, I hated the idea of getting sand in my running shoes, so, they stayed on my feet.

For the race on Sunday, we had to be at the starting line to begin the race at 6. That was super early for me, but, it’s all good. I was a bit chilled, but, again, knowing that I was about to run a 10k, I knew I would warm up soon enough. What was strange was I was in a very foward corral. Number six corral to be exact. I was stunned. Upon getting to the starting line, we again see Lexi. I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see her again. Especially if you consider how many people are running from that spot that day. There were close to 20,000 people participating, so to find a friend in those people, made me super excited. We again talked for nearly 20 minutes and then sister had to catch her shuttle to our relay point and I had to get to my corral. It was interesting starting so close to the front. I was out within the first 10 minutes of the race! Usually, I’m in the back, so this was super exciting for me. Most of the time in a race, I feel like I do well for the first mile or three or so and then from there my splits are slower getting further and further apart. Today, I had feared was going to be no different.

I can’t say that I remember a lot of that first part of the race for me. The support and love shown by the communities of Hillcrest, North Park, and Normal Heights was some of the best showing I have ever seen. So many wonderful people dressed up and sang and cheered for people they didn’t know doing something none of them have likely done, though, it’s possible they are just not running this particular morning in this race. I do remember when we started through the neighborhood though. There were houses where no one was outside watching, there were lots of folks sitting in their front yards waving and cheering. And then there were the spectators who did things for the runners. I must have passed so many people giving out shots and drinks, fruit and waters. It was so cool to see so many people who loved the show. I of course, had to stop at the bar that was serving mini shot servings of mimosas. I grabbed an orange slice from somewhere else. And then around mile 4.5 I came to the spot I had been somewhat dreading since I heard about it.

When I first joined the Facebook group, You vs. The Year sponsored by UA and MapMyRun, I had seen a video of a spot on the San Diego RNR marathon called the mile to remember. The person who shared the video has slipped my mind for now, but, I thought to myself as I was coming into this mile, I won’t stop, I won’t walk, I will run for these men and women who are lining the streets. This mile is dedicated to the men and women who have lost their lives serving this country. Some killed in action, some didn’t say, but the vast majority of them were young kids. Many of them not even old enough to have a drink in a bar in our country, and here is their photograph with a dates and their age when they died. I was hard pressed to not cry but I knew I was on the cusp of tears as I passed. And then once you come out of that section of the mile, the streets were heavily lined with people holding flags. Some were kids, some were parents, all were kind strangers cheering for us all. But in my heart, I cheered them and their effort to keep the memories of those men and women alive. They deserved more from us, and they died protecting the rights of the citizens of my country. I made sure to high five as many as of them as I could, of the ones that offered it at least. It was a powerful spot and I loved it!

From there it was a short distance to the relay exchange. In fact, the exchange came up quicker than I had imagined. I was asked my team name and pretty soon, within a few feet, I could see sister standing there, still wearing her jacket. For a brief moment, we were able to run together and giggle about things for no reason. She matched my slow lopping pace and then she was off and I was done with my part of the running.

Once I stopped and got my medal, and some gatorade, I made my way to the shuttles where I would be taken to the finish line so I could see my partner finish the race and we could celebrate together. This is where I started to have some issues. Our tracking never showed Lexi as starting her part of the race. It never showed me as stopping. I wasn’t able to see where she was so I had to guess and hope to find a spot by the rails so I could cheer for her as she came closer to the finish line. The crowd was massive downtown! It was nearly impossible to get through at certain spots. I was impressed by how many people came out to cheer for the runners. I was near a woman who had a sign that said Black Girls Run and I loved that, and that she cheered so loudly for her sisters. I couldn’t help but smile at some of the other people who were out supporting so many strangers.

Once my sister crossed the finish line, I had to somehow go find her now. This wasn’t an easy task but we managed to catch up with each other by the medical tent on the way out of the runners chute. We walked and talked down to the area where they did all of the other fun things like the merchandise sellers and beer garden. We found a spot on the grass and talked and stretched and relaxed for a few.

Overall, I loved doing this run with my sister. My parents have both expressed interest in doing this relay with us next year if possible. I am hopeful to see that happen. I loved seeing the ocean on this trip and I loved how much fun I had with my mom and sister and my niece. As for me and sister, well, she is sore and can’t understand why I would run for the fun of it. My friend Lexi however, has signed up for the race again next year. For me, I would love to do so, but, I don’t make plans that far in advance. There are far too many variables that I have to take into account. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

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.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton