Adventure Alaska: Mount Marathon 2016 Seward, Alaska

Mount Marathon Seward, Alaska...what an experience! If you are unfamiliar with the race please feel free to watch the above video to see what I'm talking about. July 4, 2016

The Race
Mount marathon is probably one of the most challenging things I've ever done. Both physically and mentally it's relentless. It's up, up, up the whole time. Usually if you've ever been on a mountain you go up, then find a switchback, or a level place even if for a few minutes. Nope, not on this mountain. It's constantly up all the way to the top. You're leaning forward the whole time, legs and lungs shouting out for relief only to find none. Once to the top it's time to go down! This is my favorite part except for the large area of snow that was at the beginning of the downhill this year. It really scared me pretty good my first time down it in training and caused a nice ice burn on one of my arms. Needless to say I wasn't looking forward to it in the race. It's when you just say suck it up buttercup and go! It's race day after all! I had some bike arm sleeves so slipped them on before the snow patch and wore them on the way down. I went down the snow pretty slow, but felt more under control at least. I emerged from the snow unscathed and it was time to haul ass down the scree field. This is the part I love. I mean don't get me wrong your quads are burning all the way down, but it burns so good and you're flying down as compared to the slow slog up. This sounds great, but you still can't let your concentration lapse for one second. Every step counts and a wrong step can end in a sprain, broken bone or worse case a nasty tumble down the mountain. After the scree field you get to a creek bed. The creek bed is somewhat less steep, but it's wet and slippery of course....yes, the mountain is not ready to release you yet! After navigating the creek bed you pick your poison on the way down. I chose to come up and go down the cliffs. It's a solid rock wall with rocks that can come loose, so you have to be careful every step and watch for falling rocks that others may send down on your head. When coming down at the end you're legs are so spent you have to watch every step. One misstep and boom....let's just say EMS is sitting right at the bottom of this cliff with a stretcher. After clearing the cliffs you strike your favorite pose on Glory Rock and head down to the street for the 1/2 mile jaunt to the finish. It's on pavement which I normally don't like, but it's a welcomed piece of flat land. The finish run is nice. Everyone is wanting to slap your hand and yelling for you. It pushes you through to the finish for sure. At the finish there was a nice young man waiting to spray me down with a hose. It helped to cool me off and clean me up a bit. The mountain is a little dirty!

The race crew

Hanging with the girls before the race

Me and Cindy before the race start

Best race husbands ever!

The crew the night before the race. Great people

Pre-Race

As soon as I found out about winning an entry into this race my focus changed and I became obsessed with the mountain. I went to Seward several times to learn the right way to climb this mountain as there are many different routes and things to watch for. I think I went there three times with my friend Cindy (a 10+ year veteran of the race) and once with my friend Mary (a 2015 Mount Marathon finisher). It was so nice to have their experience to guide me. They were invaluable!
In my training I also kept up with lifting weights, riding my mountain bike, running and I did as much climbing around Anchorage as I could. We are in no shortage of mountains in Anchorage.

Thank You
Now it's time for the most important part....the thanks!
First of all I have to thank Advanced Physical Therapy Alaska. They sponsored my entry to this great event. I also have to thank my Sports Physical Therapist Zuzana Rogers. It's because of her than I was able to do this an all the other events I've done the last year. She's amazing and keeps me healthy! Next I have to thank Chad Guthrie, CRNA. He's my amazing coworker who offered to cover my shift on a holiday weekend. Those of you who don't always have to work holidays like we in healthcare do don't understand how hard it is to find someone to cover a shift like that. Thanks Chad you are the man! I can't say enough how thankful I am for my amazing husband. He is so supportive of all the crazy things that I want to do and he not only encourages me, but his example pushes me to want to be better every day. He's sacrificed in so many ways, especially in doing extra stuff around the house when his wife is driving to Seward on her days of to climb a mountain. I love you Todd with all my heart! Thanks for being the most amazing man I've ever met and for choosing to spend your life with me. To my friend Ansley who at the last minute did 1/2 a night shift for me so I could get a little sleep a couple days before the race! She rocks! She always tells me I'm crazy for doing all this stuff I do, but she's always there to cheer me on and support the craziness. Mary Holman is a rock star! She drove me to Seward in her RV and spent the night with me to climb the mountain. What a great friend. It was nice to climb with her and have her insights into to race since she completed mount marathon herself in 2015. Jessica and Ben Jule were also great supporters and friends. They gave me their RPod RV for a night and I pulled it to Seward on yet another day when I was going to climb the mountain. It was so nice of them to trust me with their RV. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to drive down, get a good nights sleep then climb the mountain. It's tough to drive, climb and then drive back in one day. It's a little exhausting since it's a 2-3 hour drive one way. My race director and my sister Amy! She totally rocks. She found us an perfect house right in Seward. It was quiet and in a great location. Who else would have thought of the April heads on a stick she got? EPIC AMY! She is the best race supporter ever. She is an amazing organizer and takes care of all the details. No, you can't have her...she's mine! What race shall we do next Amy? My neighbor and all around awesome chick Sarah Spindler helped out more than she knows. On many days when I was gone overnight to Seward Sarah stepped in and fed and loved my puppies. I hope she knows how grateful I am for all she does. I'll miss her when she moves. Another great friend Kim Hoback watched the puppies for the 4th of July on race weekend so they weren't scared of the fireworks. Kim has been such a great friend on so many levels. Love ya girl! To my partner in crime at work Lois Miller! She's climbed stairs with me and encouraged me along the way. She took it easy on me the weekend before and let me rest my legs. Thanks Lois...you rock! I have to give the highest thanks to my friend and mentor Cindy Kupczynski. She's my mount marathon hero. She spent so much time with me going through the mountain step by step, giving advice and telling me things to notice and watch out for. I literally could not have done this without her. Cindy I truly appreciate you so much. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. To all my other friends who supported me and encouraged me along the way. Some are amazing athletes like Jess Walsh who I want to be like when I grow up. My other friends who came out to support me on race day and made me laugh with the Aprils on a stick. Cindy Sparks, Holly Chelmo, Ben & Jess, Ansley, Mary, D'Ana, Wendy, Lisa and so many more. I can't tell you how many messages of support I got from so many people. Thank you all! I'm truly blessed to have this group of awesome people in my life.

A little post race care from the Advanced Physical Therapy team

What's next?
Well, it's Hammerman time! Xterra Hammerman is on July 16. I may not be in top form, but I've got a couple weeks to get ready. I've stayed on the bike, but definitely haven't swam enough. When I found out about mount marathon I totally skewed my training toward climbing. I believe it will help me, but till then I'll get more specific.
After Hammerman, there's the Moose Nugget Tri in August here in Anchorage. Very excited about this new race. Looking forward to racing and supporting it. My last race of the season is the Cajunman in Lafaytte, Louisiana. Going back to my hometown to race. It will be nice because it's a flat course. Something that I'm not used to anymore. It's one of the races I did very early in my triathlon life and I look forward to getting to race it again. It was always one of my favorites.

After all this I'm taking some time off from racing. I'm not sure for how long. I'd like to focus on nutrition and strength training again. Try to improve my fitness and deal with some issues I need to conquer! It's time.

A few more pictures from the race itself. It was an amazing experience. If you ever have the chance to watch or participate do it!