The Summit Academy Mountaintop Breakfast

The 8th Annual Mountaintop Breakfast is Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 8:00 AM.  It's a free, one hour fundraising event at The Olmstead.  This is a wonderful low key event to learn more about Summit Academy.  My family and I will have a couple of tables this year for guests.  If you would like to come and learn more about Summit Academy, I would love to have you as my guest.  If you would like more information or would like to RSVP, please contact me at t.metcalf@insightbb.com.

This is the event that I spoke at last year and shared my daughter's story.  You can view a video of my speech at this link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-vsj5LbhzE

Short Video of my PPA finish

I don't think I posted this on my blog, so I wanted to share it with everyone.  This is a 35 second video of my finish at the Pikes Peak Ascent.  I am the second person in the dark blue shirt, looking dazed and confused!

Race Day

Beth and I walked to the start line and I was nervous and giddy.  It had been a long time since I felt that way before a race, and it was an awesome feeling!

On the way to the start line I was doing my final facebooking and tweeting and almost stepped in a pot hole.  That would have been embarrassing to get injured on my way to the start.  I handed my phone over to Beth.

I was standing at the start line looking at the Pikes Peak Ascent start race banner.  Above the race banner I could see the sun shining on Pikes Peak.  It looked like it was 100 miles away.

The tradition for the start of the race is to sing America the Beautiful, which was originally a poem written about Pikes Peak.  A woman started to sing America the Beautiful and all the emotion hit me at once.  Tears started to stream down my face.  I knew why I was here and what I was running for, and the emotion overwhelmed me. 

The gun went off I began my up hill run.  I waved at Beth, knowing I wouldn't see her again until I reached the Summit.

The course was straight up.  It wasn't long before runners became fast walkers.  The first part of the trail contained a lot of switchbacks and was very narrow, so we fell into a single file line weaving our way through the trail.  There were lots of rocks to step and jump over.

Around mile 4 a woman in front of me tripped over a rock and went down face first.  A couple of us helped her up and she seemed OK.  During the race there was a lot of tripping over rocks, by others and me. 

The following picture of Pikes Peak is from the trail between mile 4 and 5 zoomed in with the camera.  If you look closely, you can see the Cog Railway train on the summit.

I was hoping to finish the race in less than 4 hours.  I reached mile 8 at 2 hours and 4 minutes.  I was right on target.  Then the wheels fell off.  It took me 2 hours and 36 minutes to cover the next 5 miles. 

Right after mile 8 I started feeling nauseated.  I'm not sure if it was altitude sickness or not, but I was sure I was going to loose my breakfast and all the water and Gatorade I drank up to that point.  I didn't notice having trouble breathing, maybe because I was more focused on my nausea.

I reached the tree line around 2 hours and 54 minutes and I soon learned why the last three miles are called the death march.  It felt like I was climbing stadium stairs.  I was shuffling my feet like an old man.  I couldn't seem to lift my feet over the rocks and I would trip, then I would curse.

The guy in front of me looked like he was running drunk, swaying back and forth.  He would fall back towards me and I would put my arm out and push him back up. I was sure he was going to pass out or fall on me, creating a domino affect down the mountain. 

I had originally tried to convince Beth to run this race with me.  Around mile 11 I was glad she didn't, because I know she would have divorced me.

Around mile 11 I was passing the search and rescue team and I heard a call come over their radio that a runner was down.  They jumped up and took off down the mountain.  I was thankful I was still standing at that point.

I was dizzy and I thought I was going to pass out.  I remember thinking, if I pass out and they give me medical help, I will be disqualified from the race.  I'm too close to the finish and I can't let everyone down.  I took a moment and sat on a rock, taking in the view from 13,000 foot.

The following picture is Beth's view at the top waiting for me. 

One word kept going through my mind, brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal............

At mile 11 the finish line still looked 100 miles away.

Around the 12 mile mark, someone was passing out beer to the runners and I almost hurled, but I didn't have enough energy so it would have to wait.

When your watching at the top, the runners just appear out of nowhere!  If you look really hard you can see me in the following picture.  I'm wearing a dark blue shirt and grey shorts with a yellow stripe.

I finally crossed the finish line, 4 hours and 36 minutes after the gun went off.  My last mile took me over 38 minutes.  Compare that to the 7:35 average mile I ran for 13 miles to get into wave 1 of this race.

When I crossed the finish line someone put a Pikes Peak Ascent medal around my neck.  I was officially a finisher and in an elite club of runners.

Dazed and confused, I moved forward looking for Beth, and there she was waiting for me.  My first words were "never again!"  Shortly there after, I told her I needed the medical tent.

Still dazed and confused!

I sat in the medical tent getting oxygen and having my vitals checked.  Fifteen minutes after the race, my heart rate was still racing at over 140 bmp.  The doctor said the best thing was getting off the mountain and sent us on our way.  Lucky for me, there are no pictures of me in the medical tent.  I've come to realize Beth was more worried about me than she let on.

I have to admit I was disappointed that I had to leave the summit so quickly.  I had planned on putting on my "Run with Todd" shirt from Summit Academy and taking pictures of me on the summit of Pikes Peak.

And now the rest of the story..........

Beth and I rode the shuttle 3 miles down the mountain to our car and then started to drive back down Pikes Peak highway.  The nausea feeling I had for the last three hours finally overwhelmed me and I told Beth to pull over.  She looked at me with an "are you serious, where am I going to pull over" look.  Finally, she pulled over and I hurled.  I got back in the car and I instantly felt better.  I started texting and facebooking to let everyone know I finished (we had very little cell coverage on the mountain and I think the only post that got out was, "I had to go to the medical tent", which of course sent my Mom in a panic). We went the post race party and I ate pizza, chips, and cookies and even drank a beer.  Obviously I was feeling better.  I'm not sure if it was altitude sickness or not.  I contend I drank some bad water during the race, which makes
Beth laugh.

The Pikes Peak Ascent was the hardest race I have ever run.  It was also an incredibly rewarding experience.  I am proud of this accomplishment!  I am thankful to all who donated money.  We raised over $4,200 for Summit Academy.  I am also thankful to everyone for your kind, supportive and motivating words.  I truly appreciate everything! 

It's funny how quickly you forget about the pain and misery of the race.  It's been almost 4 weeks now and I'm ready for my next challenge.  I'm not sure what it will be, maybe a return trip up the mountain.  Any idea's?

Pikes Peak Mile Splits

Below is a chart of my Pikes Peak Ascent mile splits taken from my Nike Plus GPS watch.  I was surprised at my first mile.  You can tell I was excited to run because a nine minute mile going uphill was a little too fast.  I felt pretty good until about my 8, which was at around 10,500' elevation.  At mile 10, which is around 12,000' elevation, I reached the tree line and the death march began.



Mile                                                  Time                                               Ave. Pace

1	9:05	9'05"/mi
2	23:04	13'59"/mi
3	41:42	18'38"/mi
4	58:59	17'17"/mi
5	1:16:50	17'51"/mi
6	1:30:29	13'39"/mi
7	1:44:38	14'09"/mi
8	2:04:06	19'28"/mi
9	2:26:50	22'44"/mi
10	2:54:17	27'27"/mi
11	3:22:29	28'12"/mi
12	3:54:43	32'14"/mi
13	4:32:52	38'09"/mi

The race was a little over 13 miles long.  My final time was 4:36.