After nearly a year of anticipation and preparation – the time has come! I flew to Denver this morning for the TransRockies Run!

I have been a bundle of nerves the past few weeks. Mostly questioning my physical preparation and stressing about gear and having everything I needed. I certainly could have run more over the course of the summer but work got so, so busy and physically demanding…and it’s just been ungodly hot. I am reminding myself that I got some solid trail weekends in with a few multi-day efforts that had me running on tired and sore legs. I’ve also had my fair share of training in suffering and practice mental fortitude to finish hard days.  Finally, I felt similarly in the days leading up to the Every Woman’s Marathon. I think that it’s normal to question your prep and to feel anticipation around big races like this!

But seriously….I don’t know how you feel perfectly trained and ready for 120 miles spread across six days with 20,000 feet of climb!? Here’s a breakdown of the six stages. There is a start and finish line for each stage and we have nine hours to finish every day. They assure us that as long as we keep moving, we’ll finish even if we’re hiking and not running. But I also don’t really want to be on my feet for upwards of nine hours a day because that wears you out too.

The goal is to hike the climbs (to preserve energy and because they’re just HARD – especially at elevation) and technical downhills (to try and avoid injuries and eating it) and to run the runnable downhills and flats whenever possible.

And as far as prep goes, I’m going to share details on that in the remainder of this post. I’m pretty dang proud of how it all came together but it wasn’t without months and months of research and a few weeks of manic Amazon ordering…the last of which arrived at the final hour of 8p Saturday night.

I had been making piles and organizing specific things for about a week but I spent most of Saturday actually getting it all packed up.

Note, I had to pack all of my things to get them out there but TransRockies will issue me a duffel bag at check-in that all of my gear has to go into. Luckily, it’s huge! Like big enough that Finn could fit inside of it. Also lucky for me – they transport our duffels from camp to camp. The only thing we have to carry every day out on the trails is our hydration pack. In our hydration pack we have mandatory gear that includes a rain shell, gloves, a warm hat and an emergency blanket.

They also set up and break down camp for us. Amazing! The luggage I brought with me will be stored until the end of the race.

Here are six running outfits all ready to go! It’s a mix of lululemon, Alo and Adidas. I placed each outfit into a gallon sized plastic bag along with a pair of socks and underwear for the shorts that don’t have them built in. Additionally, I placed a dryer sheet in each bag because that hot tip was given to me by previous participants to help manage smelly worn running clothes.

You can see that pretty much everything went into plastic bags. It’s monsoon season in Colorado so they said there’s no guarantee that our duffels won’t get wet.

Here’s everything you see in the photo above!

• Six individually packaged running outfits
• Another bag of long-sleeved running layers for cold starts
• A bag of extra running socks – I’ll probably put an extra pair in my hydration pack every day
• Two pairs of trail shoes – Topo Mountain Racers
• Casual clothes for camp after we finish running for the day – leggings, tanks, long sleeves
• Warm things like beanies, gloves, socks for evenings – they told us to expect temps in the 30s and 40s when we camp at night. A few nights we are camping 10,000+ ft elevation and you can wake up with frost on your tent!
• Base layers to wear as PJs. One is an Amazon cheapy but they’re soft and cozy and the other is a nice Smart Wool set (top and bottom).
• A bag with my rain shell and puffy jacket
• A bag with a buff, bandanas, running belts and quick dry microfiber towels for showering
• Toiletries – we do get to take a shower every day. Only three minutes but that is much better than no shower at all!

And for the other side…

• Inside of the giant purple bag is my Hest Sleeping Pad, a Marmot zero degree rated sleeping bag and a stuffable camp blanket.
• A belt bag and a drop bag. We have the option for a drop bag every day at the start and I’ll also use it going back and forth to the shower and around camp. I’ll use the belt bag as a mini purse if we go into town at any of our stops or to carry things around at camp.
• My Kindle. Hoping to get a lot of reading done on this trip in the afternoon/evenings when we have downtime. There are a couple of days where they told us we will have zero cell or wifi access.
• Nutrition – electrolytes (mix of LMNT, ProMix and Liquid IV), gels, bars, salt tabs, carb/electrolyte drink. They feed us breakfast and dinner each day and support us on course but most people bring a lot of their own nutrition. You know how it can be trying things you didn’t train with on race day – sometimes not good! I plan to mostly use my stuff and supplement at the aid stations with the real food they have. The aid gels are Gu and they’re just not my fave.
• Tea bags and a travel mug for warm beverages at camp.
• Hats
• Two pairs of running sunglasses – one more technical and one more casual
• Leki trekking poles – give me wings!
• Salomon hydration vest
• Camping pillow
• A poncho for the downpours they promise we’ll have at camp
• First aid supplies ranging from moleskin to supplements to GI stuff to pain relief and more!
• Hot hands for cold nights and cold starting lines!
• Feminine supplies
• Lights for our tent, reusable race cup, a line with hooks to hang things, carabiners, magnetic race bib holders and more

Forgot to include the Oofos recovery slides! These are for wearing around camp with warm socks!

I also have a small roller bag with clothes for before and after the race. It will be stored with my luggage.

And I think that does it! Whew – it’s a lot of gear but I feel that I have what I need and that it’s well-organized. Time to tackle the miles!

I’m writing this post from the loveliest outdoor seating area at the Denver Airport and there’s a band warming up to play. I guess they’re having a summer concert series. It’s 77 degrees, breezy and 30% humidity – hallelujah! I’ll meet up with my friends at 12:30p and we are taking a TransRockies shuttle from Denver to Buena Vista at 1p. Once we arrive in Buena Vista, we’ll check-in for the race and get settled in our hotel for the night where we’ll need to repack all of our gear. The race starts at 8:30a Monday!

I’m 100% certain you will not hear from me on my blog until after the race. I’m leaving my laptop with my stored luggage. I will be popping in on Instagram when I have service so you can follow along there!

And I’ll leave you with a reminder a friend sent me this week that helped with my mindset, “Wishing you the best time!!! Life is meant to be full of adventures and you are about to embark on a huge one! You got this!” 

YES! Let’s GO!