stage 6

vail to beaver creek - 21.2 miles - total climbing 4780 feet - and we're done!

had to laugh right off the start line when leslie commented on a woman strutting through vail in a pair of stilettos at 8 in the morning. ah, lifestyles of the rich and famous . . .

anyways, another sweet day for running. and the last day to play in the mountains (big sad face). here's a shot from the first climb up through the trembling aspens - i love this section.

got to the first aid station and was greeted by the lovely cindy - massage therapist extreme! i had met her in 2008, and she sure hasn't lost her touch! made the girls sing for the last two legs. what a sweetie !

and won't soon forget this moment - a hug from the incredible dean karnazes . what a nice guy! said if he'd known he'd get this many hugs from the middle of the packers, he run with them more often ! hehe

as we approached the top of the climb, i was dreading the downhill. flashbacks from 2008 kept appearing in my head. visions of me and christine running full tilt down that dreaded singletrack, with me pretty much convinced i was going to die, wouldn't leave my head. so when leslie and i took it at a more sane pace, i was actually able to see what we'd run down two years ago. and again, i can see now why 'it almost killed me'.

and i'd also been thinking about that last ski hill i'd had to drag christine up - thinking i might have to get leslie to tow me this time!! fortunately they'd changed it a bit, and we were able to avoid most of it, and run some nice single track instead! and then before we knew it, we were heading back down and could hear the announcer! over the bridge we went and across the line in 5:11. it was so great to have keith calling us in . . .


a few shots from the finish . . .

and a few shots from the banquet - tamara and michael

the lovely/super fast michelle barton and her adorable daughter sierra

and of course, the TRR just wouldn't have been complete without a couple of 'old goats' !!

so, to summarize, we ran approx 116 miles and climbed over 21,000 feet over 6 days. our total running time was 28 hours and 13 minutes. AND, we managed to come in 6th out of 18 in the women's 80+ category. not bad considering my last LONG run was in june, and my longest training run since then was only 2 hours. all i can say is, crossfit works! my legs felt strong and not once were my quads trashed on the downhills. yeehaw! big thanks to alex and the boys for pushing my sorry old arse.

and one more thing - i want to really thank keith and leslie for bringing me back to colorado, despite the short notice and the lack of training. as mentioned, leslie was a great partner and it was soooo good to get to know her better. she's an amazing runner and truly lives up to the label of 'mountain girl'. incredible! and oh ya, i think i saw even more of her ass then i have of my good buddy homey's lately! hehehe! tons of luck in italy girl - go rock it !!!