I'm Now A Pikes Peak Ascent Veteran!

Today was the day! I ran and finished the Pikes Peak Ascent for the 1st time! Whew!

This is a long post because this is what I've been working for and want to remember as much of the experience as I can.
I started the day waking up at 5:35am, got my race clothes on and made myself an egg sandwhich for breakfast. Julie took a picture of me right before I left for the race and as you can see, I'm don't exactly look like I'm beaming with energy...look at how tired my eyes are! Oh well. I grabbed my stuff, said goodbye to Julie and headed out the door at 5:55am to go pick up my friend Tom who also ran the race with me today. I get out to my car and turn the key and.........nothing! I try again it makes a funny sound like ot wants to start and.........nothing! Now I'm thinking, "Crap!" Literally, that was going through my head. I started to get worried and tried a few more times and finally the car started. Our starter is going bad, so once it is started it's okay but it did scare me.

I picked up Tom at 6:05am and off we went towards Manitou Springs and PIKES PEAK! We were both discussing how nervous we were. I slept well until about 5:10am this morning where I woke up and my heart was racing with enthusiasm as I lay trying to get a little more sleep. Tom didn't sleep much at all the whole night for the same reason. I had a nightmare that I was running the race and for some weird reason there was a house with pancakes and a movie playing on Barr Trail (where we run the Ascent) so I stopped for the food and show. I then took a nap and woke up with only minutes to spare before they would cut me off from finishing the race because of not making the time cut-off! May not sound bad to you but it was  HORRIBLE nightmare for me!

We pulled into Manitou about 6:25am and easily found a good parking spot. As we got ready we both had a discussion about taking a long sleeve shirt with us in case of bad weather. Tom didn't want to carry his, but I did. I do not want to be in trouble at the top of the mountain again! I also realized that I had forgotten my watch to see my pace. I called Julie hoping that she hadn't left yet but was only able to leave a message. We then checked in out Sweat Check bag, a bag of our own clothing they take to the top for us in case of really bad weather at the summit., and got in the looooooooong bathroom line. Man, this was the fastest and most efficient portable bathroom line I have ever been in! There was a volunteer at the front directing bathroom traffic and man was she good. I've seen traffic cops, but never traffic poop cops! Someone get her a job! We then watched the first wave of runners take off and it was amazing to see how fast the front guys really are.

As my start time approached my nerves had calmed down a lot and I was just focused and ready. I knew that a lot was ahead of me. Literally 4 mintues to go time I got a phone call from Julie saying that she had barely made it. I searched around and Tom pointed her and Lily out. I made it through the crowd and happily grabbed my watch from Julie and gave both her and Lily hugs and a kiss. Lily was really happy to see me ready to go. I got back in my place next to Tom in the crowd of 1000 people and re-focused on Pikes Peak in front of us...just 13.32 miles by foot away.
Before I knew it the guy at the starting line was saying, "Ready, set, go!" (For some reason we didn't get the gun start like the first wave). I took my first step and then re-tracted it because no one in front of me was moving. It took a few seconds but we finally got moving. Tom took off a little faster than me and after a couple of minutes I no longer saw him. I kept it really slow going up Manitou Avenue knowing that the steepness of the race was going to hit soon, a lot of people were doing the same thing. We turned up Ruxton Avenue and I said good bye to the flat ground for the next four hours. I kept up the same slow and steady pace and already began to see people start walking. Half way up Ruxton I saw my friend Carl (who ran the marathon on Sunday and not the Ascent) and yelled his name and waved. He seemed pretty excited to see me and cheered me on. Lots of people were lining the streets and cheering us on. One of the last homes on Ruxton before we got into the forest there was an old hippy man sitting on the sidewalk with Guns 'N Roses blaring from his house cheering us on. It made me smile as I passed.

At 15 minutes into the race I hit Hydro Street and the steepest section of the whole run. Not wanting to waste energy trying to run up it this early on I started to walk as did the majority of the people around me, but not all. I couldn't believe how many people were still trying to run up something this steep because I was going just as fast and even faster than them and I was walking...wasted energy. We continued up into the "W's".

The "W's" are a couple miles of narrow switch backs at the base of Barr Trail. It instantly became a traffic jam of all the slow people who ran too fast at the beginning and were now clogging up the trail for everyone else. ended up walking a lot and passing a lot of believe it or not people that were running. I passed a couple dozen people, walking, before we got to the top of the "W's" and the trail opened up a little bit. Here the switch backs are done, but the trail still climbs. I picked up the pace from here passing a couple more dozen people and hung out behind a guy and girl that were going about my pace for about 10 minutes and then pushed on past them. I maintained this pretty steady pace making up a lot of time from the slow part of the first few miles of the race.

I was feeling really good at this point being grateful that I didn't waste much energy at the start. As I got to one of the aid stations in this section I was shocked as the volunteers cheered, "Great Job Jeff! Keep it up Jeff! Way to go Jeff!" It was awesome to get a personalized cheer but I had questions. Do I know these people? How do they know my name? Then I got a chuckle realizing that my name was printed in big bold capitol letters on the front of my bib. I am glad that they print your name on the bib, it was a good extra push to have that personalization versus people cheering, "Go runner in BYU-I shorts!" I filled up with gatorade there and was disappointed because it was the most watered down Gatorade I have ever tasted, mostly water. I carry 40oz of fluids on me and made sure both my bottles were full whether it was watered down or not, it is still fluid, fuel.

This is the only section of the course where there are actually a few downhill spurts. I took advantage of them and it felt good as my legs got a break from the uphill grind. Shortly into this section I caught up to a guy celebrating his 50th birthday by running the Ascent. He was talkative and I am pretty social myself and we spent the next 30 minutes running together and talking it up. That was the fastest 30 minutes of the race. I finally pulled away from him and kept going feeling very strong. Not long after this I noticed my friend Tom right in front of me. I cheerfully said, "Hey Tom!" as I passed and continued on. He smiled and nodded as I passed.

I reached Barr Camp, roughly 7.6 miles into the race, at 1 hour 55 minutes which paces out to an estimated finish time of about 3 hours 45 minutes. I briefly stopped to grab a large handful of grapes and continue on. Wow! I can't tell you how good cool grapes taste when you are running. They were very refreshing and gave me a good burst. I was excited that I was not worn out and had energy left for the battle up the last 5 miles over 10,000' elevation. I knew that I was going to get a sub 4 hour time!

Only about 1/2 mile past Barr Camp I felt a small muscle spasm starting in my right inside quad by the knee. I immediately started downing my Gatorade, albeit the VERY watered down stuff, trying to get more electrolytes in my body. About 30 seconds later the right inner quad went into a full blown cramp. I winced in pain and hobbled along trying to work it out but it was not going away. I never get cramps and started to get really worried knowing that I was still 5 miles from the summit and finish line. I could handle one cramp in my quad, but going for 5 more miles I knew that it was only going to get worse. I slowed down a little trying to prevent further cramping for as long as I could.

Every proceeding minute the cramping in my right quad spread further up my inner thigh and kept getting tighter. Tom actually caught up to and passed me urging me to keep drinking. I stopped after that and tried stretching my quad and it did nothing. I kept going and felt my left inner quad start to cramp the same way. I really started to get worried at that point and still had approximately 4.5 miles to go. At this point with both quads cramping I tried to stop and give my legs a break and they completely tightened up on me turning both quads into solid rock. I shrieked out in agony nearly collapsing to the ground. A couple runners expressed concern. I told them to keep going and that I was just cramping really bad. I started moving again and my quads loosened a little but were still in spasm. I tried one more time to stop with the same excruciating experience.

It was at this point that I hit an extreme low mentally. I knew that my sub 4 hour time was no longer going to happen and I was very upset. All the time I had put into training for the race, all the sweat and pain, all the late night runs, everything felt as if it had been for nothing. Now I could possibly get stuck on the mountain and not even finish. The worst part was I couldn't even rest without horrific pain. I plodded along for a few minutes wanting to cry from both the pain and the disappointment. It is hard to describe the inner battle I had with myself at this point. I don't think many can understand unless they have gone through it themselves.

After working through a lot of these feelings I came to the point where I accepted that I was not going to get a sub 4 hour time and was okay with it. I did this race for myself! I wanted to accomplish something for myself! I was not doing it to impress anyone. I was not doing it to win the prize money! I was doing it as a personal goal and accomplishment. My ultimate goal was to finish the race and be victorious as a finisher! I regrouped in my head and became very satisfied with the thought of just finishing. I no longer cared about the sub 4 hour time. The next obstacle to overcome though was the agonizing pain in my legs.

I came to grips with the pain realizing that when I tried to stop or slow down I was in pain, but when I went fast I was in the same pain, so why go slower!?! Even though the pace was slower than before I cramped I decided to just push it and still go as fast as I could. Why prolong the pain? So my goal was to suck it up, deal with the pain, and get done as soon as I could so I could end the pain. Of course, in the back of my head I was also fearing the end because I knew my legs would seize up on me at the top.

I continued on with both quads completely cramped up and hard to the touch. But now that I was comitted to continue on, my calves also decided to join in the fun and both calves cramped up on me also. If is hasn't crossed your mind yet, this is an uphill mountain race and you use both your quads and calves a lot, especially going up some of the large rocks on the trail. So now I look like a complete gimp, hobbling along trying not to use my calves much going uphill but also not able to use my quads. Each step intense sharp and burning pain searing throughout my quads and quivering calves threatening a retaliation to still be used.

I reached the aid station at A-frame, 3 miles summit, and saw more grapes. I was elated! I stopped, there was my problem, to grab some of the grapes and again yelped in pain as now both my quads and calves completely seized up on me causing me to collapse into the kind lady just trying to hand me grapes. She looked panicked as she asked me if I was alright. Obviously I was not, but I replied, "I'll be fine, I'm cramping, just give me those grapes." The look on her face as I said, "I'll be fine" was priceless. She was telling me with her eyes, "No, you're not going to be fine. You are stupid." I can't necessarily argue with that, but I was going to go on no matter what. I was able to get myself straightened back up and waddled for a minute or two trying to get some of the movement back that I had before the collapse.

As I pushed on past A-frame I was re-energized knowing that just under 3 miles and 2,000' elevation climb were left between me and the summit. The pain in my legs would not relent. It had now spread to the outside of my quads and was traveling back and forth from the inside to the outside and then both sides staying cramped the whole time. I was not going to stop until the end. Surprisingly, I was actually still [passing people in this physical state. Realizing that the pain levels did not change with my pacing (other than feeling like someone was cutting out my quads with an axe one square inch at a time when I completely stopped) really helped me keep a decent pace even though it was slower than if I hadn't been spasmed.

At 2 miles to summit I looked at my watch and saw that I had been going for 3 hours and 20 minutes. A shot of adrenaline pumped through my veins when I realized that I could still get under the 4 hr 15 min time cut-off to get into the first wave next year. I pushed on with renewed vigor which was good, but also not. A few mintues later I was driving forward with that renewed vigor and jumped forward off a rock as I was passing someone, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!" I screamed as my right calf seized up on me and I struggled to not fall to the ground. My right calf was visibly squirming with spasm. The guy I had just passed worriedly asked, "Are you okay?" I replied, "Yes, I just have very nasty spasms going on right now." He then asked me if I wanted some Shot Blocks.

You may ask, "What is a Shot Block?" Before this experience I would've not had an answer for you. And at this moment when he offered me one I did not know either, nor did I care. All I knew was that he was offering me something that I did not have and he thought it would help. I was game. I had no idea what he was about to pull out of his bag but I was in so much pain that if it would've been a syringe, which did cross my mind, I would have used it. He pulled out this small packed and handed it to me saying, "Here you go. I hope it helps" and he pulled ahead of me. I went, still in pain, examining the package wondering what the heck it was and how to use it. I finally saw "From the Makers of Cliff Bar" on the package and realized it was food. I spent another minute trying to see how much to take. I finally read the directions and took some. They are 1 inch square gummy cubes with lots of sugar and sodium in them. They actually took the edge off of my quad and calf pain for about 10 minutes. The spasms promptly came back in full force after that 10 minutes though. I am still grateful for that man.

I came up to the final aid station which I believe was a few tenths of a mile before the 1 mile to summit point and I was happy to get one more fill in my bottles of fluid. By the way, I downed a ton of fluid trying to fight the muscle spasms. I drank around 80 ounces between Barr Camp and 1 mile to summit. This was on the side of the mountains boulder field. They had run a garden hose down from the summit and were filling a large trash can up with water for the runners. As I got up to it the can looked like Gatorade was in it because of its color and I asked if it was Gatorade. The lady replied that it was water and then I watched as she completely dunked some other runners nasty, dirty, sweaty, bacteria covered bottle in the water and grabbed for mine. At this point I didn't care and let her do the same thing to my bottle. At a time like this, you really don't care about the dirt in the water, you just need fluids to get to the top.

I was amazed as I reached the 1 mile to go sign and saw that I had done the lat mile in 20 minutes! That is what I do when I'm fresh. That meant that my watch read 3 hours 40 minutes. The thought then crossed my mind of, "Maybe you can reach the summit in under 4 hours?" Ha! That didn't last long. I started pushing really hard for it and that didn't last long. "Okay Jeff, just stick with the under 4 hrs 15 min. goal" Nice try, but not realistic at this point.

The last two miles there were a lot more search and rescue guys along the trail. I'm sure this is where people probably have the most issues. It was comforting to know that if I died on the trail someone was there. I could hear the loudspeaker fron the finish line up above me and people cheering each runner as they crossed. It was exhilerating and motivating to me. My legs still killed me and the pain was not receeding, but I was going to finish the race. The last two miles I passed dozens and dozens of people sitting on the rocks on the side of the trail trying to catch their breath. NO REST FOR ME! I kept moving and passing people still.

We hit the 16 golden stairs and I knew that it was almost over. These natural boulder 'stairs' are a great reminder that you're racing up a mountain. If the last 12.92 miles are a stair stepper from hell, the 16 golden stairs are a stair stepper with Satan himself at the helm. I was with a group of about 8 guys going a little slower than I wanted, but didn't have the energy to pass them, so I stuck with them. Finally, about 0.2 miles from the summit one of the 8 guys said, "Let's do it! Push! We're almost at the top. Let's finish strong!" And he took off. I watched him for a few seconds and decided to go for it also thinking I was close enough to the finish to do my kick. I passed the other 7 guys and pushed for about 30 seconds and then laughed at myself as my body said, "NO!" About 0.1 miles from the top I was surprised to see someone handing out beer to the runners....yes, beer! Some were taking him up on it, but most did not.

I ruonded the last major switch back and saw the finish line there beckoning and I knew I could make it with a kick then. I pushed and it was a tremendous feeling hearing the announcer say, "And here comes Jeff Turner from Colorado Springs!" and then have the spectators erupt into cheers for me and cheering me on by name. As I crossed the finish line I stopped my watch, 4 hours 6 minutes 48 seconds, I made it under the 4:15:00 mark! Yeah! They placed my medal over my neck and tore my bib thingy at the bottom off. And I felt great inside, but my body was dead. I was happy to feel that my legs were not seizing up on me as I thought they would, maybe it was from the Shot Blocks? I don't know, but was grateful.

The finish line does not finish quite at the summit. So I still had to climb another 30 feet or so of elevation to get to the top and to the recovery drinks and snacks. 30 feet doesn't sound like much after climbing 7815', but it took me awhile. When I got to the snack I saw Tom there, looking as bad as I felt. I was surpised to hear him say that he finished in 3 hours 39 minutes, which I later found out is not what he said, it was 3 hours and 58 minutes. But I am happy for him. Great run Tom! I asked him if he wanted to do it again next year and he wasn't sure, neither was I!

We finished our snacks and meandered over to the 15 passenger vans waiting to take us down to Manitou Springs. As I got in I spilled all my snack that I had horded for the ride down and spent 2 minutes in a weird position trying to clean them up. We rode the van down to Glen's Cove where we then loaded up onto a school bus (whoever designed these busses did not intend for adults to ride them, there is no leg room!) and rode that all the wasy back to Manitou. During the ride back I realized that I did want to do it again next year.


As I got off the bus I was welcomed by what I love most, the smiling faces of the most precious two women in my life, my wife Julie and my daughter Lily. Lily ran up to me and gave me a huge hug. She was really excited for the medal around my neck. Julie also gave me a hug and kiss. We took some pictures, grabbed my finisher shirt, some free pizza and chips, and then headed home. What a day!

Last Run Before the Ascent

So I have had the unfortunate event of burning out two weeks ago and trying to get my legs back. I thought I'd hit 300 miles trained, but alas am a little short of that, but healthy. Tonight was the last run I will do before my race this Saturday. I went 4 miles at a steady 8min 50sec per mile pace. My goal for tonight was to just get something in, get my legs moving again, and to not get sore. This was a very safe run to do; I got moving and didn't push very hard. That's it, I can't do any more, the next run is my race.

I have had very mixed thoughts and feelings that last two weeks. I have gone from thinking that I have completely blown my opportunity to run the race to thinking that I'm going to smoke it, back to wondering if I will have any legs on race day, and then to now thinking that my legs feel good and fresh. Can I make the distance? OF COURSE! Can I do it smart enough to not burn out early on in the race during the steepest section? I can, but do I have enough whereabouts to recognize when to turn it on and when to hold it back? That is to be determined. I know that I have the lung capacity to push it at high altitude, but can my legs hold out? If I run the race smart. My projected time from my half marathon is 4 hrs 30 min, but that was a few hundred miles and over 8 months ago. I could definitely run a half marathon faster now. So knowing that I am in better shape AND I have been training on the mountain I personally have set the goal of wanting to get under 4 hours, with 4 hrs 15 min being the longest time I'd like.

Overall, I am just really happy to be able to participate in such a grueling and unique race. I am pumped up, but a little anxious. I am excited to go out and do it!

Start Line          Finish Line
This is all I'm thinking about now...

All is Not Lost Yet, But Not Recovered Either

12 days out from my race and I finally felt like I should try and run again tonight. My legs have been an utter nightmare since two Saturdays ago on the mountain. I  went for a nice light jog on the treadmill here. I didn't want to get stuck somewhere away from home with tightened up legs. So I kept the pace light at 9 min 33 sec miles and did not push at all. My goal was to get 4 miles in tonight but to stop immediately if my legs started to tighten up again. I am happy to announce that my legs did not tighten up! Unfortunately, they felt really sluggish and tired still. Crazy what happens when you literally burn your muscles out! So my plan is to only do light paced jogs this week and try and get my legs more recovered while also trying to not lose any more of the training I have worked so hard for. I believe I can be ready for the race, but man do I need to be really careful the next 12 days. Total for the night: 4 miles in 38 minutes 12 seconds, a 9 min 33 sec pace.

I'm Still Sore...What the Heck!?!

It's been a crazy week and today I finally got a small run in since Saturday. I was not able to walk normal until about Tuesday evening after my run on Saturday. The hard run then combined with severe dehydration completely wiped my recovery out and messed up my muscles quite a bit. I was going to do a small 4-5 miles run on the treadmill tonight. About 1/2 mile into the run my calves were already burning, not from running, but from being really tight and sore. I pushed it to three miles and then just stopped because my calves were so sore. Crappy residual damage from Saturday! Grrrrrrrr! And now, they are way tight and unforgiving. I really hope I can get them recovered soon to keep what I have for the race and be ready to give the race all I have.
Total tonight: 3 miles in 27 minutes.

On Top of Pikes Peak Again

Today was another grueling training run on top of Pikes Peak. It was my original plan to run another 3-2-1 at the summit. On the way down though my friend Carl suggested that instead of turning around at 3 miles out I should continue on to Barr Camp, another 2.75 miles. He said this because it is the only part of Barr Trail that I have not been on. So about 3 miles down I decided that I should go for it. As everyone else turned around to go back up I continued on another 2.75 miles to Barr Camp. It took 1 hour 4 minutes to get there and I felt great. I took a quick restroom break and took off back up Barr Trail, 5.75 miles back to the top. I ran for about 5-6 minutes and then started my power stride toward the top.

About 1 miles into my ascent I realized that I was short on water and was going to run out well before I finished at the top. Before I changed my mind to go to Barr Camp I had planned on refilling my homemade Gatorade at my car on the summit after every round on the mountain, thus my predicament now of not having enough fluids. The ascent up was pretty tough, I'm glad Carl mentioned running this extra section. It is very rocky and steep and gave me a great idea of what to expect for the race. I ran out of fluids about 3.5 miles from the summit....NOT GOOD! I pressed on because there is no easy out on the mountain other than by your own efforts. About a half mile later I was completely dry in my mouth and my skin had already started to get really dry. At this same time I "bonked"; I ran out of energy and didn't have much left to keep going, but I did.

I slowed way down and felt horrible, really wanting fluid. I didn't have the desire to eat any of the food I had for energy which I know is a mistake, but it is still what happened. So I had nothing replenishing me. Just past 2 miles to summit I ran in to Carl and Tom who were coming down. We talked a few minutes and kept going. A few minutes later I ran in to Lindsey who was also with us and when she found out that I had "bonked" she offered food and water but I denied it. It was a couple minutes later from this that I realized that I was no longer thinking straight or very fast. I wasn't feeding myself and I denied help from people I know who had offered. I also had slowed down even more and was not unaware of my surroundings, but I definitely was not in tune very well with my surroundings. I just kept going knowing that there was a lot more help for me if I needed it at the summit and not on the side of the mountain.

I finally slinked to the top of the summit really out of it and hardly able to even move my legs forward. I got to my car and immediately started replacing my fluids and eating. There was an instant change in my body and I could feel it acepting my appologies with fluid and food. I sat down at the top of the trail looking for Carl or Tom or Lindsey and continued to fuel my body. I slowly noticed that I was more and more aware of things and started to feel much better. I also got a donut from the shop on top...couldn't help it! It is amazing how intense dehydration and high altitude was really grasping on to me and dragging me down. I'm glad I got out of it before anything serious happened. It was a major oversight on route planning not having the fluids I needed. Another lesson learned.

Stats for the day: 11.5 miles above 10,000' elevation in 3 hours 32 seconds. So it took 1 hour 55 minutes to climb the 5.75 miles and 4,000' feet to the top.

I Wish I Could Get Some Other Run In...

Life is busy, so treadmill again. I didn't want to push it tonight because I'm running on top of Pikes Peak on Saturday and want to be somewhat fresh. I just wanted to get a few miles in. So ran 4 miles in 36 minutes, 9 min per mile pace. No problems with my body, just a little bored because nothing good was on TV tonight at the gym. So from running tonight I am overall smiles.

Treadmill, treadmill, DREADMILL!



This is a photo of some other persons ankle,
but the raw red area on the bottom of the photo
is what my ankle looks like!

So I say "Dreadmill", but I'm both getting used to the treadmill and very grateful for the treadmill. Without it, I'm not sure how much running I'd get it...I'm bad off enough as it is right now. Getting ready for my run tonight I put my regular running shoes on (versus my trail shoes) and OUCH!!!!! the outside of my ankle that got all torn up on Saturday night was screaming because the same part of my shoe that ate into the ankle was now prodding into it again. I tried an extra sock and then extra padding, but that ankle was not going to let me run in those shoes tonight. So after a minute of thinking, I resigned to using my trail shoes on the treadmill tonight; this was a much better idea and I was able to run.

I was going to make it an easy run but I got slightly competitive with myself and pushed just a little. I went the 5 miles in 39 minutes and 25 seconds which is an average of 7min 53 sec miles. It was tiring but felt good to be running at a faster pace than I normally run at. There is no way I can run at that pace on the mountain, but training like this can only help my average mountain pace...right?!?