Quick side note before we get into the thick of things. I feel like I haven’t given enough love to our other Marmot Sponsor, Mountain Equipment Recyclers. I just went in there the other day because I needed a sleeping mat, and they had the perfect one for me! I love the staff, and I appreciate how they handle my overly-curious 6-year-old who asks a LOT of questions. Check them out if you haven’t! Tell them Shana the Marmot sent you.  Okay now on to this tale……

Well (said with a big of HMPF! Kind of feel), I am supposed to be writing you this blog entry from a quaint little coffee shop in Breckenridge. I am supposed to be telling you tales of my adventures running all over the trails, camping, and my exquisite camp coffee. I was supposed to have a picture or two of the gorgeous wildflowers that adorned my travels. Sadly, the rain wrecked my plans, and I am not, in fact, sitting at a quaint little coffee shop whilst writing this blog post. The best laid plans…. I should scoff in their general direction. This has been the theme of my life, albeit this year more than most. So many pieces of my life have fallen apart, have had to be modified, resorted to plans B, C, D, etc., and this year it seems more so than most.  So, here I am not sitting in Breckenridge, and I am reflecting on why I do the things I do. This was a suggestion from my coach, Tracy.  I had a bit of a breakdown a couple of weeks ago and I just needed some direction. Tracy suggested that I sit down and really reflect on why I do what I do. Why do I run, why do I pursue mountain biking? Why do I race and train and pay money for these activities? So, I have really been looking at those questions specifically, and then I decided to expand on this (because I am such an over achiever) and look at why I do anything that I do. I need to figure out why I am doing the things I am doing in my life, and thus make decisions on my future.  I just want to be purposeful and have a plan, because I am a crazed, Type- A, analytical human being who makes pros and cons lists for nearly everything. Anyway, let’s stick to the running. Why do I run?  Well, when I first answered the question when I first became a Marmot, the first thing that came to mind was, I run because it’s the one thing that no one can take from me. That, to me is the most important reason. I can go put on some shoes, and pound my feet on pavement or trail and that time is mine. I don’t have a consistent running group that I run with, and so most of my runs are solo runs (blog on that forthcoming), so when I run, especially when I am out on my own, I feel like I am the only person in the world and I can just go on and run forever. When I am out running I can ruminate on the issues that have been plaguing me and I can work them out in the most logical way I can think of. I also can’t get enough of the scenery. I love the beauty of the mountains and the forest. I love the giant beds of rocks. I love being in a canyon and feeling so small, but part of something so big.

Sunday I set out on an adventure, courtesy of Tracy.  She must have known through my terse text messages that I needed some serious scenery, and a good butt-kicking. She suggested that I try a specific route, about 15ish miles, and I got to go to the top of Mt. Rosa. No, this route wasn’t the GLORIOUS route I had in mind for Breckenridge, but my goodness, this route was GLORIOUS!! I started taking 7 Bridges and then connected to Pipeline Trail, took 672 up to Mt. Rosa, then down 672 down St. Mary’s Falls and back into Cheyenne Canon.  Did I ever mention that Cheyenne Canyon is my very most favorite place in Colorado Springs to run? I may have said that Red Rock Open Space is. Well, I hereby change my mind officially. I LOVE Red Rocks, but my goodness there is something so amazing about that Canyon.  This particular route was somewhat familiar to me, as I have ridden my mountain bike through lots of those trails. However, for me there is a whole new intimate experience when I feel my feet hit the ground of the trails. The scenery was gorgeous and I took many pictures. I was alone for nearly the entire journey after I passed 7 Bridges. This was just what I needed.  When I got to the top of Mt. Rosa, and I got to take a moment to just take a deep breath and behold the beauty that was before me, I may have gotten a little emotional, but just a bit. On my descent, I did get caught in a rainstorm, and the thunder overhead freaked me out a little bit. I remember one of those moments coming down a switchback, I was a little cold, my right knee was really mad that we were going downhill, and I was on a part of the trail that I was unfamiliar with so I was feeling nervous, I asked myself, “Why the hell do you do this?”  And I answered myself, “Because this is conquering. This is how you overcome obstacles. You go over them and through them, and you don’t quit. When something unexpected is thrown at you on your journey, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you will get through.” So, there you go.    

There are roughly 20 days until the Ascent.  This coming weekend I will be running in one race, which also happens to be the one-year anniversary of me starting this trail running journey, on 5 August. I also plan to get up on top of Pikes Peak at least one more time before then. My best laid plans for the Ascent included a specific time goal when I began this journey. After the injury early in the season, and all of the other stuff I have been trying to deal with, I have changed my plans a little bit, and I have made peace with those choices. I’m going to enjoy the rest of these 20 days and just love this process.  The scenery and trails make that easy. It’s so gorgeous and I am grateful. More than anything else, I really like that idea of conquering!!!  One foot in front of the other………