Rocky Mt. EPIC Relay: Nothin But Dust!

This summer was the time that I had completed the most intense, endurance-requiring, athletic event of my life. I thought training and running a marathon was going to be my biggest feat I'd ever set out to do, and that running a relay broken down into 3-8 mile legs would be a piece of cake…but boy was I wrong!

July 20 at 4:00am our team, “Nothin But Dust” set out on the road for our truly epic experience!  We had 191 miles to the finish line, and an amazing ultra-team of 6 people: Our team captain, Eric Sova, Jane Peacock-Pizem, her brother Matt Peacock, and two new friends from CO Springs, Phil Wortmann and Joseph Rodriguez.

Phil set off the pace with his 8mile leg up and over the hills from Canon City. Back trails and dirt roads in the brutal heat of the day, lead us deeper and deeper into uncharted territories. I was the 4th runner on the team. My first 6 mile leg went well, and our team was setting up for a great pace! As the day continued on and we fought through the uphills and increasing heat, it felt like the finish line was nowhere in sight! My next 2 legs were extremely difficult, as I gained 886 and 587 feet of vertical ascent respectively, over the short distances of less than 3 miles. It seemed easy enough, and I was truckin along, until all of a sudden it seemed like I could not pick up my feet to make it up and over those hills! But thankfully, somehow I managed. I was ready for a break!

The lovely road ahead

Joseph passing off to Matt



"How ya doin, buddy?"

The girls :)



Stopping for ICE!!!!



Our team Captain, Eric, comin in HOT!



Phil passing the torch to Joseph

The fourth leg I had was a much welcomed break with a short distance over a flat, paved course, just as the sun was setting. At this point, we were on the familiar highway between Salida and Buena Vista.  Jane finished the highway leg and led our team into town. Joseph and Matt strongly led us up and over Cottonwood Pass, and it was up to me to get us down.

Right before my last leg of Day1

Pausing for a quick midnight pic at the summit of Cottonwood Pass!

It was so very cold and so very early the next morning as I began my 8 mile leg down the western side of Cottonwood Pass. It was about 2:30 am, and my body was exhausted. At this point, we had been up for about 22 hours, and the full effect and fatigue from the previous day was starting to set in. [It seemed like it would be pretty easy to run 3-8 mile distances with a few hours of breaks in between, but we never really had time to fully recover before it was time to run again.] My dim headlamp was barely enough light to see ahead on the dark, dirt road. I began to slow down dramatically, and my knee was really giving me grief. I began to lose confidence as more runners began to pass me. I had about 3 miles of this leg left to go, and I had a little melt down. I found myself alone, in the dark at 3am, utterly exhausted and in pain. What are you doing? This is nuts? Why are you doing this? Because I can!!!! I pulled myself together and managed to make it down to the end of my leg and found comfort in my teammates and a warm van. I was able to get a couple hours of sleep, and before I knew it, the sun was up and HOT and it was my last leg.



Six. More. Miles. It was a familiar road, one that I’d driven countless times when I lived in Crested Butte. I set out, and managed about 2miles down the road, and then the walking set in. I had made it to the main highway, and I could see the beautiful, welcoming sight of my favorite place in the world. The place that I once called home, and the place that I hope to call home once more in the future. I could see the glorious peaks of the mountains of Crested Butte. My legs were tired, my knee was hurting, and it was almost all I could to do even walk at this point. But I willed myself to finish. Honestly, if it had only been up to me I would have quit a long time ago! But my team was doing so incredibly well, and I refused to give up when 5 other people were relying on me to finish. My van of teammates so diligently followed me and helped me along the last couple miles with fresh cold water, and shouts of encouragement. I had about a mile and a half left to go, and I waved them to go ahead to the end. After a couple minutes of walking, and feeling like the end was still nowhere in sight, the most wonderful thing happened to me in that moment. My wonderful friend, Angela, was there on the highway, and rushed to my side! At this point, I lost it. I was crying, I was delirious, and I was just so ready to be done. She had the faith in me that I didn’t have left in myself, and that got me to the finish! I have never been so happy to see a familiar face in my entire life! It was enough to muster out any last bit of strength I had. And just like that, 28.54 miles with the blood, sweat, and tears, albeit  cliché, I had accomplished the most difficult challenge of my life.

Jane, finishing strong!

Jane and Eric finished the last 12 miles that brought our team to the finish line on Mt. Crested Butte. It was so neat to learn that we finished in first place in the co-ed ultra division, and 8^th place overall out of 52 teams, (45 of which were 12man teams).  I am so incredibly proud and honored that I was able to run with a group of such fantastic and outstanding people. I only wish I could have performed better. A little more than a week has gone by, and I'm thankful that the body has a miraculous way of forgetting pain. If, (and yes, Eric, that's a BIG If!) I decide to do this again next year, I know exactly the things that I will do differently, beginning with my training! I knew going into this that I hadn't put in the proper training required, and that I was gonna just "wing" it, and I certainly paid that price! However, this experience is one that I will truly cherish and never forget. I learned so much about myself, and my team. It was truly an incredible experience coming together as 6 individuals with such different lives and backgrounds, and sharing one common interest, and coming out with a fresh take and perspective that was learned through one another :) We started out as a group of strangers, and ended up a close group of friends. After all, you can't be stuck in a van for 30 hours without showering and discussing poop, and not be friends :)

First Place! Nothin. But. Dust...

Thoughs on Christianity and Gay Marriage--I'm all for LOVE.

First of all, I am never really one to get into political or controversial debates, mostly because I don’t really think it ever really matters debating and arguing things or ideas that don’t directly or personally involve me. However, I am going to put my 2cents in on this one.

Lately (it seems like more so than usual), there has been so much debate and argument over the controversy of gay marriage rights. WHY? Why can't people just be allowed to live happily, reguardless of whom they choose to love, and have the same rights as anyone else?? First of all, I am just going to say that I am a full believing - Jesus Saves - Christian girl. I fully believe and have faith that Jesus died on the cross for my sins that I might have eternal life with Him in Heaven. I further believe that it is the faith in Christ and my eternal after-life, that gives me the peace and assurance that I can make it through any trial or struggle here on this earth. STOP.

However, I do not believe that because of my faith, I have any right to tell other's that they are "wrong" and I am "right". I do not believe that I am any better than anyone else here on this earth, or that because people don’t believe exactly what I believe, that they won’t go to heaven, or be as  blessed in their lifetime here on this earth. I don’t believe for a second that I was put here on this earth to be the judge of that anyway.  That being said, I am so sick and tired of “Christians” judging others and purposefully causing hurt to other people in this world. So if this is you, STOP IT! You're making us all look bad! If people truly believed the Bible when the Bible says “all sin leads to death”, then they would quit worrying so much about what other people are doing and focus more on perfecting themselves. I can almost guarantee that the same people pointing fingers and making statements that gay people are sinners and going against God, are the same people who are cheating on their spouses, and getting drunk on weekends, and using the Lord’s name in vain. They are the same people who smile at you in church on Sunday, and talk badly about you behind your back on Monday. Who are they to decide which sins are worse in God’s eyes?? God says He is they only Judge, so why is everyone so hell-bent on judging everyone else? Maybe instead of passing judgment and pretending that they know best, Christians should focus more on extending love toward people and follow Christ’s example. Jesus ate dinner with thieves and prostitutes. He hung out and loved on the people that members of the church had outcast. He showed kindness and compassion.

I know and love plenty of gay people, and I know that there is NO WAY I could ever look a single one of them in the eye and tell them, “I believe you are a sinner because of the way you choose to live your life, and I don’t believe you’re going to heaven.” First of of all, even if I felt that way, (which I don't ;) it would never be my place to say. What good would that do? What would it solve? Nothing. It would just make me a judgmental person, and I would lose all trust and credibility with my friends and peers. And also, because if a sin is a sin is a sin, then that means I’ll be sitting right alongside them in hell, because I sin every day. As much as I try to be a good example of a Christian, and a good steward on this earth, I am not perfect and I never will be, and I don’t pretend to be.

And why does it affect others so much if homosexuals are able to have the same rights as a married man&woman? I don’t think that it should matter one ounce to a husband and a wife who are happily married, that a gay couple in Boston is allowed to have access to each other’s medical records. People are so focused on a “definition of a word” when there are so many BIGGER issues in this world! WAKE UP, PEOPLE! Stop worrying so much about hating other people’s actions and lifestyles, and start worrying about how to make yourself a better person.

I read somewhere in one article that a Christian was so upset about this because he felt like mankind shouldn't have the audacity to try and change God's definition of marriage. However, isn’t that what organized religions all over the world do every single day? They change their rules and definitions all the time (*and my personal favorite, they 'received testimony') to conveniently go along with their policies in their present time. If they REALLY took the bible literally, then having pierced ears would be a sin. Well, I have piercings and tattoos, and I know God still loves me. I know some denominations consider body piercings to be a sin, and they have made up ridiculous rules that woman may have 1-2 earrings per ear, any more that that would be immodest, therefore sinful. GIVE ME A BREAK! And God bless the Catholics who still serve wine at communion, and there are so many denominations that see any amount of alcohol as a sin. Did we all forget that Jesus’ first miracle was turning the water into wine at a wedding, so that the party could continue??? We can’t just cut and paste the words of the bible to line up with our own personal believes, yet so actively shun the individual who ‘has the audacity’ to try to change one single definition of a word “marriage” publicly.

As far as the politics go, I feel that it is ludicrous that government officials are the ones that are trying to tell people how to live their lives, especially in a country that was founded on the principle of the persuit of happiness.  This is not to touch on our constitutional rights, I’m gonna take it a step further and remind the Christians who are so strongly against homosexuality, that God gave people free will. How is it up to ANYBODY how other people CHOOSE to live their lives? If all the Christians banded together to put a “stop” to homosexuality, well, guess what, it’s still not going anywhere. So I would suggest that they focus their energy on leading by example and love instead of casting judgment and hate.

This is not meant to offend anybody and start a debate, so save yourselves from arguing or debating with me on this because I don’t care to debate with you. My only goal out of this is that we all start focusing on making ourselves better individuals and stop casting stones at other people. Thank God he blessed us all with our own thoughts, opinions, and a very special little thing called free-will.

I love Target! and Gay people :)

Just a Collection of Thoughts on Tragedy

It’s been 7 days since the most recent tragic incident in my lifetime has occurred, and since then I’ve had various thoughts running through my mind. The thoughts range from sadness, to anger, to fear, and back to anger. Now that a little bit of time has passed, I am training myself to have a fearless and loving attitude, and forget all of the negative feelings of anger and hate.

One week ago today, a sad and sick man decided to commit an act so heinous, so sickening, that it has left us all reeling for the days, weeks, and possibly years to come. That hot summer night when so many people were innocently out to have fun with their friends, boyfriends, and families, nobody ever thought that they would be the next victim played out like the fictitious scene unfolding on the big screen ahead of them. A regular summer night turned out to be a night we will remember for the rest of our lives.

I’ll never forget waking up at 4:00am as I was about to leave for my EPIC relay event, and opening up my Facebook page as I do every morning, to see the countless posts and newsfeeds about the “Aurora Theater Shooting.” Is this real? Someone opened fire at the Batman movie? Twelve people are dead? In my own city? Anyone I know????  So many questions of how and why that will never be answered were going non-stop in my head. Immediately I felt sick to my stomach. Even though I was miles away, tucked safely in bed at the time of the incident, I couldn’t help but feel so personally wronged. How dare some sicko come into a public place, 20 miles from my house, in a suburb of my city, in my state, from where I know so many people; and do something that “happens in other terrible places”, not here in wonderful Colorado.

It is impossible to escape the constant news coverage of this incident. It is continuously being replayed on every local channel, it is on my Facebook feed, my twitter feed, it is in the status updates of my peers, it is on the national news. It is impossible to look away from that mocking, orange-headed face with a sadistic smile. It is impossible to be submerged in this and not feel anger, fear, and hate. But I’ve decided today, in this moment, that those feelings are over.

In my 27 years, I’ve experienced so many difficult tragedies. I was sitting in Mr. Groves’ 8^th grade science class when news broke of the Columbine Massacre in my home-state 200 miles away from my own school. I was a junior in high school on my way to class when I learned of the tragic terrorist acts of 9/11. I was a senior in high school when my mother passed away.  And now, I’m a 27 year old woman making memories of this most recent tragic event in my neighboring city, where I personally know the Aurora Policemen and first responders on the scene of that chaotic nightmare.

I couldn’t help the feelings of anger and disgust; imploring God to punish this man for what he did to those innocent people, for the peace of mind he stole from the rest of us. But I’ve decided I will not let the enemy win. I will not live my life in fear and hatred. I will not become bitter and lose my faith in humanity.  If I continue to stew in those negative thoughts, I will be no better of a person than the criminal. I will not let those emotions of fear and hate live inside of me. I will continue to go about my day extending love toward my neighbors. I will continue to go to movies. I will continue to go to Jazz in the Park. I will continue to fly. I will continue to walk down my street without fearing any person walking in my general direction. I will continue to go to concerts, sporting events, and ample other places where mass crowds will attend. If, God forbid, I should find myself in the midst of a future tragic event and my life is stolen, well then so-be-it. I want to go out of this life and this earth with the power of living it. I want those who know me to know that I was not a girl who lived in fear. Even if such a tragic event should take my life, I will go happily, knowing that I lived a fearless, loving life.

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Thankful for another beautiful sunrise and another day on this earth.

God bless the victims and the families of victims on that sad day in history.

21st Shenanigans and What-Not.

As most of you know, I took a trip to Vegas with the little sis for her 21st birthday about 2 months ago. I've been meaning to update the blog about the trip, but got a little behind on time. Clearly, it's taken quite some time to recover from that one! Let me tell you, it was a trip to remember!



Happy 21st Birthday, Sister!

So apparently, once upon a time ago, I had made a promise to my baby sister, that when she turned 21 years old, I would take her to the fabulous Las Vegas. Well, it is yet to be determined whether or not I did, in fact, make that promise; but regardless, big sis held true to the bargain. (Once again, proving me to be the best big sister on earth :)
Let's start off with how crazy it is, that my little baby Sisterface, Miss Laurie Nicole, is actually 21?? How did this happen? And how do I get this point across without sounding like one of those ridiculous 'old' people recalling 'way back when.....'? It doesn't really matter, however, I could not be more proud of the 21 year old girl that is my precious girl, than anyone could ever imagine, and I consider myself the lucky one, who got to celebrate her big day with her, in a very big way.




My gift. Too much??

April 27, 2012 just happened to land on a Friday, and so she, Justin, and I were on the 6am flight out of Denver, bright eye-ed and bushy-tailed as ever, waiting to let Sin City unfold before us. We were supposed to meet their friend, Richie, (of Washington, DC) in Vegas about an hour after we arrived, however the silly guy missed his 5am flight out of DC. Thankfully for him, he was able to fly standby, and after being re-routed through Chicago, he finally joined us later in the day.

6am flight out of Denver. Who's EXCITED?!?!

As the older, wiser, sister, I made sure we started out the morning right with breakfast drinks at 9am! Sister got the full spread: Bloody Mary, beer, pina colada, mojito, all at one breakfast setting! A drunk breakfast seemed like such a great idea at the time (don't they always??) until it lead to making ridiculous drunk purchases: i.e. a Fossil purse (which I paid way too much money for, and was almost immediately shipped back to Vegas for a full refund) and the best purchase in history: a travel-size steam iron! Yes, you read that correctly. Make all the fun you want, but until you've tried this thing, you have NO idea what you're missing out on! Once our whole group was finally together, that's when the fun really began! Let's just say, Friday was an eventful day....

Sister's first legal drink

Breakfast :)

Scared of what's about to go down....

We spent the remainder of Friday walking down the strip stopping at various bars and casino's, for what other purpose that exercising our right as Americans to over-indulge in the act of boozing and gambling.  We also played a solid game of beer pong (because that's what everyone does in Vegas, right?) for free in a shady hole-in-the-wall. Of course, the girl's team won!

Vegas Crew

Brain Freeze!

We kept up our fun of gambling/drinking/sightseeing, when about 7 that night, I realized my iPhone was missing! I know, I know. Shocking is what most of you are thinking....However Richie and myself are convinced that I did not drunkenly misplace my phone, we are convinced that it was stolen, given that his blackberry mysteriously disappeared also. Our theory? The nasty men that snap the porno-cards at you pick-pocketed us. BOO! [Unfortunately with losing that phone, I also lost many priceless photos of our group including Sister's first time at the slot machine, and a fantastic photo with the midget at the cheap Irish bar on the strip.] That certainly put a damper on the evening, but I just chalk it up to an excellent "Vegas story".

We got checked in at the Luxor and put our little heads to bed. Sadly, these drunk kids and this old lady didn't have the energy to make it out to da club.

The next day Sister enjoyed her very first roller coaster ride at New York, New York. I couldn't believe she'd never ridden one before! This was the perfect first roller coaster ride! You can tell by her picture, that she was obviously impressed. HAHA! We lost a few more games of roulette and black jack, and decided just to spend some quality time lounging by the pool.

Sister's look of boredom.

Richie and me, terrified!

We played a a great practical joke (that may or may not have gone too far) by informing the world via facebook, that Laurie and Justin were married at the little wedding chapel in our hotel, but after family members were beyond upset, we realized perhaps it wasn't so funny....

The Newley-weds!

By Sunday, I think we were all a little over-stimulated, and maybe a little on each-other's nerves. So what else would we do? Why, keep drinking, of course! I may have reverted back to my immature ways and challenged Richie to a push up contest in the middle of the Tram station at Mandalay Bay. Classy, I know. We got a little ridiculous when we decided it would be "the best idea EVER!" to get a giant booze-infused slurpee drink, 4 straws, and ride the diagonal elevators in the Luxor, and try to have the whole drink consumed before reaching the top floor.  Before we all barrelled into the elevator, we tried to be as courteous as possible, and try to snag an empty elevator. We allowed passengers to get on and off, in an attempt to have our private box. Meanwhile, some adorable little chubby 5 year old boy with his mom was super excited to push the call button, only to have his dreams crushed by our very own Richard, who beat the kid to the chase. (Asshole move #1). After the poor kid and his mom got inside of the elevator and the doors began to close, Richard pushed the call button for the next elevator, only to see the doors open to the same one the little boy and his mom were waiting to ride! (Asshole move #2). This time, after waiting for what seemed to be a reasonable amount of time, Richard pressed the button again, and......yet again, their same doors opened. (asshole move #3). I wish I could say that that was the last time this event occurred, but unfortunately, this happened about 2 more times before the mom got pissed and asked us what we were doing.  I about died of embarrassment, and we gave up for the time being....by this point, we needed a re-fill on the frozen beverage. We finally got our private elevator and it was go-time. We steadily sucked down those drinks and stumbled out of the elevator at the top floor. Let's just say, we had a few rounds, some MAJOR brain-freezes, and a false sense of the ground after repeated trips in elevators. I would also be extremely embarrassed to be acting like this in public, if it were anywhere else,  but Vegas. Our victory moment was spent "Tebowing" our single drink in the lobby on the top floor.

Victory.

Four O' Clock Monday morning, came all too soon, yet not soon enough. The 6am flight back to Denver was exactly what I needed to get me back to the reality, that unlike my sweet baby sister, I am not 21 anymore. I can't handle these types of shenanigans without consequences anymore! But for my sister, I would do it all over again :) But I really hope that I don't ever have to......