Starting altitude: 6,776 ft
Elevation Gain: 5,157 ft
What a day!!! Kodiak 50k was a smashing success, I finished with a 12 minute PR, a massive smile on my face and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of pushing hard that it took to get there. The altitude was absolutely a factor, my lungs were burning and felt weak but I made sure I had a voice in my head that was louder than the burning. The last thing my husband told me before I took off was "don't be afraid to go fast" so I carried his belief in me the whole way.
Training for this race took place mostly during a stretch of time where our family was moving across the country, taking a looong camping road trip and were living in a van or hotel for 2.5 months. No childcare, no personal space and no normal routines. Not exactly ideal. So I came to the start line with a lot of doubts. But in the final few days I had also started to listen to a different voice. There was a voice telling me that I am strong, and I started to let that drown out the doubts and open up another voice. The voice that I have been giving the microphone to for the last year… the voice that said “what if….”
This race held lots of physical discomfort with the high altitude burning my lungs, making me extra thirsty, making me want to slow down. There was a long 10+ mile stretch on fire roads instead of my favorite single track. This was a mental challenge, it should have been the fastest stretch but it took a lot of effort to stay mentally engaged and keep moving. I saved podcasts for this part and had to remind myself that it was not physically hard, the mountains were waiting for me later on.
It was a family affair with my best crew not only seeing me off at the start but surprising me at the mile 19 aid station. I didn't think they would be able to get there so I was able to shed some of what I was carrying and switch to a lighter vest for the final stretch. And I got the best emotional boost from seeing them, and getting there faster than they expected! I felt great and got to this point way before they expected me to so I told myself “don’t hold back, keep flying”. And I did.
Early on, before even an hour, my trusty electrolytes started to turn my stomach sour. I know I need them but I also knew that I would start to lose the ability to eat my fuel if I kept drinking them. So I stuck to plain water and tried to make sure I was getting salt from potato chips and asking for pickle juice at every aid station… there was none! Somewhere after the 25 mile mark I felt the flutterings of cramps thinking about setting in in my quads but things stayed ok. Then as I was flying through the trails happy as can be with 3 miles to go I tripped on a rock. I didn’t fall, I caught myself with a big step, but the step was more like a stomp so strong my entire left leg seized into a cramp. I had to full stop and stretch against a tree stump until I could move again. When I could it took off easy and carefully to make sure I wasn’t going to bring the cramp back. I was lucky, it stayed away and I breezed to the finish.
In the final stretch I battled with my mind. I wanted to slow down. But I had a PR in my fist and I didn’t want to let that go, I wanted it bad and I kept fighting. Even when I couldn’t breathe because it felt like there was no oxygen at that altitude. I told myself that I would have to completely stop, lay down and do nothing but breathe to get enough oxygen to stop the burning and I wasn’t about to do that now. No point walking, my lungs would still burn, might as well run, might as well run fast. I can breathe comfortably later. So that is what I did. All the way to the finish line, with a massive smile on my face because I had accomplished my goal: I raced hard and got to the finish line with nothing left to give.