I did it! I did it!

I hiked to the top of Pikes Peak today with my new friend Layne.  It took us 6:28:19 to get up there at a comfortable pace. 

The bad news is that my sciatica bothered me. The good news is that it didn’t kick in until the last two miles. 

Last night I prepared by doing all my stretches for half an hour in the evening before going to bed. I also took some Ibuprofen.

I filled two of my hydration belt bottles with Gatorade and the other two with water. I froze them. I packed a protein bar cut in thirds.

In the morning, I dressed, grabbed all my stuff, and took more Ibuprofen.

May hiked with Layne and I up to Barr Camp before she turned around. She hiked to the top two days ago.

Layne was the perfect companion. Good pace. I wasn’t interested in running at all. I just wanted to get a feel for the full course, and what I would be able to consume to get to the top. We got to know each other on the trail. Danced down the slight downhills after treeline. Stopped and stretched when we needed to. It was really a great experience.

I packed well, but I could have used a bit more fuel closer to the top. Thankfully, Layne had her “feedbag” and shared her goldfish crackers with me.

At Barr Camp I bought another Gatorade and refilled two of my bottles.

I ate my first part of the protein bar around French Creek. Another around the 7.8 to Peak sign. The last I ate before the A-Frame. The last few miles, I was motivated by the thought of a cheeseburger at the top.

Throughout the last 3-4 miles, we were trying to stay motivated

“Trudge, trudge, trudge” (with each step)
“Just keep moving, just keep moving” (think Dory from Finding Nemo)
“Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger”

Layne sang great little songs that made us laugh. And told me motivational and horror stories from marathons past.

Right at the 2 to go mark, my sciatica finally kicked in. With a vengence. I mistakenly did not bring another dose of Ibprofen with me because I THOUGHT I would finish before 6 hours, which is when the dose wore off. I had to stop frequently to sit and stretch. It was more annoying to me than anything else. Especially since that mile marker starts the most boring leg of the journey.

After we hit the 1 to go mark, I was feeling good that it was only one mile to go, but that mile seemed to take FOREVER. After we were halfway up the 16 Golden Stairs and finally saw the top, I was so relieved!

At the summit, we each had a cheeseburger, soda and shared some kettle chips. After admitting we were both still hungry, we split another cheeseburger and order of kettle chips. That hit the spot!

Now we needed to find a ride home.

We queried all conductors The Cog railway was full. Time to hitch a ride. Nearly every car was full on the way down. At one point, I thought I had hit the jackpot as I saw an older couple get into a sedan. Just as I started to walk up to them, three teenage boys ran towards the car and into the back seat. Great.

I saw this Camaro, then I saw a guy taking photos of the scenery. So, I asked him if he wanted to be IN his picture. After I took photos of him, I asked if he could do US a huge favor and give us a ride down.

He said he had to re-arrange stuff to help us fit in. He had the t-tops off, so it was a topless ride LOL! We stopped a few times on the way down to take pictures. He even took a picture of us poking our heads out of the t-top. He was a sweetie. He had his girlfriend’s picture on the dashboard. She was a cutie, too.

We smelled his brakes heating up on the way down. I had just been bragging about how well I do at brake check point (the two times I’ve driven down). Sure enough, Jesse’s brakes were at 483 degrees! The cut off was 300 degrees. They made us park and wait. After browsing the gift shop and eating a chocolate eclair ice cream bar, we headed the rest of the way down. Jesse drove us all the way into Manitou and to the Cog Railway. Such a gentlemen.

We paid for his highway fee. Then we got some tourists to take a picture of the three of us. Layne and I gave him our email addresses, so we hope to get some of the photos when he’s back in Missouri.

Jesse just graduated from college and is a graphic design artist/screen printer. He would LOVE to live in Colorado. We told him that we’d help him do that!

But enough about Jesse, let’s talk about me. I did it! I did it! Yay for me! I rock!

yay!  Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 6:25 AM, so the party’s over, but it’s been SO much fun!

We did call the boys about every 12 hours.  They seem to be doing fine.

Friday was fun.  Just got on the con floor, caught the presentations for Eureka and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.  Had a great dinner with some clients!  After dinner, Doug asked if I wanted to go somewhere for a drink.  “Nope.  I want to go back to the hotel now.”    

We totally slept in this morning – until 10 AM!

I had a lot of ups and downs as far as the convention today (Saturday).  Waited an hour to try and get in to the Heroes presentation, but couldn’t get in, same for Battlestar Galactica.   BUT, I did get into the Supernatural presentation.  Jensen Ackles is so much hotter in person!  But I wasn’t able to get an autograph or photo with him. BUT I did get some great photos of him  .  Then, I was wandering around and saw the actor who plays Chief Tyrol (Kali’s husband) on BSG.  I took a photo of him, and then he gave me a huge smile, and then I got someone to take a photo of me with him.   

I’m a big geeky fan girl and I’m not afraid to show it.

I picked up some goodies for the boys from Cartoon Network and some Buffy cards for my friends (you know who you are).  I even got a Vote Petrelli pin, even though I didn’t get a chance to see Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) in person

Tonight we had dinner with two other comic book store owners, who we are friends with at a yummy seafood restaurant.

All in all a great trip!  Yay for us!

Envy me!  I’m in the airport with my hubby and no kids.

The good byes with the boys went well at Grandma & Grandpa’s this morning.  Whew!

We didn’t have to check any luggage.  We used express check in.  Security was a breeze.  Free wireless for me, and more Harry Potter reading time for Doug.

La la la la la la!     That’s my happy dance

This is me on my way down:

This is my on my up:

Any questions?

Today was literally a walk in the park. With my friends. And our kids.

Life is good.

So, I drove to the top of Pikes Peak for the first time in my life. It’s a pretty drive. But long. And yesterday was the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, so there were remnants of that left. The starting line, for one. That was a little surreal.

There’s a well known 3-2-1 workout where runners go down 3 miles and come back up, then down 2 miles and back up and finish up with 1 mile down, and 1 mile up.

I wanted to make the most of my workout, knowing that I probably would only do one leg, and wanting to see more of the trail, so I decided to do 4 miles down and then come back up.

Ouch. Going down, even at that altitude, felt good to me. Coming back up, not so much. After my 1st mile on the way up, my sciatica kicked in. By the 2nd mile, the pain was excruciating. I had to stop every 15-20 minutes to rub out the tightness in my calf and hamstring. It was brutal. Keep in mind that I took 800 mg of Ibuprofen before I started. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without it.

So now, I have some serious misgivings about running the race. I’m REALLY worried. I need to see Jessica (my physical therapist) this week and see what she thinks.

I finished it today. Wow. It was great.

Note to self… when reading The Most Recent Posts, read the title of the thread before reading the thread.

I missed the very big Spoiler Alert subject line that was so graciously put there as a warning and totally spoiled myself by reading Joy’s post when I was halfway through the book. 

No matter!  I really enjoyed it.     Yay!

SPOILERS BELOW

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