On September 12th at 10:00 P.M. I began the Pocatello Round after having worked well over a 40 hour week and having already been awake for 16 hours. I wanted to use the Pocatello Round as training for my first UTMB race in Sweden the following month. I knew I'd be sleep deprived and jet lagged, so I thought running the round in similar conditions would be good training for me. The UTMB race never happened, due to my father being hospitalized and soon after passing away. The Round, however, stands as a testament of the limits we can push ourselves to.
The Round was perfect. It was a celebration of bad ideas and good friendships. My friends were all there to send me off. My daughter Kajsa gave me the warmest hug before I took off. I began the asphalt portion with my favorite road runner, Christine. We were surprised by Anthony who found us in the dark and joined in the fun. Together they distracted me from the fact that we were running road, all the way to Simplot where Ryan took over. Ryan gave me a history on Simplot (he works there) while we traversed Howard Mountain and Trail Creek. Ryan handed me over to Ed at Kinport Peak where I swear summer turned into fall the instant we left the summit. It was almost surreal how the weather changed. Suddenly it was cold. Ed (my trail dad) pushed me through Rock Knoll, Gibson, and Slate; he kept me moving through the night, a time when I could finally feel that it had been a long week and I had been up for 24 hours already.
At West Fork, my night crew swapped out for the Day crew. Michael Helman was crew chief all night long. He did an amazing job, along with his helpers Tom and Brian who brought food and water to Elk Meadows before we headed up Gibson. Michael attended to me with impeccable organization, anticipating my every need. When I had finally settled on a date for the round, I knew immediately that I wanted Michael to crew me. He did not let me down. Kat relieved Michael and took over as the crew boss. Kat is a power house. She is fierce and wild, beautiful and strong. I love her dearly and I trust her with my heart, and running ;)
I left West Fork with Kelly who got to witness my slowing down a bit. The climb up Scout was, well, it was Scout. Anyone who's ran or hiked Scout knows she's a beast. She was extra difficult this time as I was sleep deprived and 45 miles in. Andy met us part of the way up with water which he had to hike in. Kelly did an excellent job reminding me to keep moving and pushed me along. As I neared the Scout summit I could hear music and smell bacon. Scott had set up a dance party themed aid station with as much bacon as I could handle. I downed as much bacon as I could without vomiting. What a lovely surprise. I can't say I didn't have heartburn as I ran down towards Crestline. LOL! All worth it though.
I finally left the Scout summit and got to the Crestline Saddle and swapped Kelly for Breck. I'd say this is where I struggled the most. The "Endless Ridge" was truly endless. It is one of my favorite parts of the whole course, no doubt, but by far the most difficult. I was low on energy and my breathing was heavy. When we finally reached the flag pole I was delighted to see Ananda who had hiked up to meet us. The three of us began running down the treacherous "Stupid Steep" only to be greeted by TWO rattle snakes on our way. The adrenaline shock gave me quite the jolt. I ran tense and terrified all the way down to the Gap aid station where Kat and friends were waiting for us. Not only did she time everything perfectly, she also took the time to print out pictures of me and my friends running over the years and displayed them at the gap as a surprise. Her love hit me in the feels real good. I got another surprise at the Gap. My friend Kamilla, who I didn't even know knew I was going to do the Round, set up a Swedish aid station for me in the back of her car. She had just been home to Norway/Sweden and brought me all the goods. Chocolate and salty black licorice. I was in heaven and began feasting upon the goodies from the homeland.
I finally left the Gap after Kat reminded me that at some point I had to finish this thing. Ananda was kind enough to take me on the road stretch over to Blackrock. Road running is my kryptonite and I knew I needed a strong road runner with me for this short, yet challenging for me, section. Ananda got to stand by for my 3rd emergency bathroom break. She was such a good sport. At Blackrock, my girl Tatyana, brought me back to life. I was exhausted by the time I picked her up. We took off in our matchy matchy outfits and she bossed me around. I was quite a bit behind schedule, but she pushed me to pick up lost time. I'm not sure exactly how she did it, but her love and encouragement gave me new energy. Suddenly we were at the Panda Peak Summit (Chinese Peak). Michael and Kelly joined us for the final decent to Wiggles. My legs were tired. I was ready to be done.
Coming into Wiggles Trailhead was unreal and my energy levels were back up. My pacers from earlier were there and joined me for the last little stretch back to the Cemetery where it all began. I ran hand in hand with Tatyana for the last little sidewalk bit. Christine had music blaring on a speaker. The vibes were spot on. Magic was everywhere. I am the luckiest girl, surrounded by people who love me. Doing hard things is fun; doing hard things with the people I love - that's the crown jewel of the human experience.