Episode 8 | Renee Jacobs – Fastest Known Time on California’s 14ers

by Nikki Parnell — May 8, 2020

In this episode, we talk with Renee Jacobs, the FKT holder for California’s 14ers. On top of being a mom of a two year old at the time, Renee decided to embark on this grand adventure of running/climbing the 15 mountains in California that are over 14,000 feet tall. The previous record was somewhere around 9 days and 12 hours, she did it in 6 days, 4 hours and 5 minutes. We picked her brain on how she prepared mentally and physically for this massive undertaking, why it was so important to her to do this FKT attempt solo and without a man, how she protects her headspace on an adventure such as this to stay confident and in control while scaling mountains, and so much more.

This FKT attempt took years of dreaming and months of planning and training to come together. If you want to know all the technical details of the trip, besides what we talk about in the episode, I would highly recommend reading Renee’s trip report. It puts into perspective just how much thought and life went into this endeavor.

One of my big takeaways was how much Renee believes in the power women have in this world of endurance sports. In mountaineering, there’s an underlying theme of women being the weaker sex and Renee has seen that sentiment become the norm and accepted by men and women alike. But Renee is challenging that status quo. Sometimes women can be just as strong and fast as men, and Renee set out on her FKT alone, showing that women don’t need a guide to get up all these mountains. She says, “There’s no reason why women can’t do all these super cool awesome things men are doing in just the same style.” Renee wants women to have role models to show that more is possible if we want to get after it. Some of the biggest hang-ups women face are feeling insecure about reading maps, using GPS navigation and getting lost. But these are skills that you can acquire and educate yourself on that will empower you to do more than you thought you could. The reminder is simple but profound: If you want to do something, to go after a dream, it is within your power to get yourself there. There will be things you don’t know how to do. Teach yourself. Don’t be a victim of your own ignorance.

Renee also talks about protecting your headspace and how important that comes into play when climbing and free soloing up mountaintops. As a mother especially, knowing her child is at home waiting for her, she has had to work even harder on training her mind so that she can keep doing what she loves while staying confident and safe in the mountains. There will be negative thoughts and the doubts will come. If you can recognize what is going on, that those doubts are only thoughts, that the fears are not what is actually happening, and if you know what you’re attempting is within your ability level, then you can take confidence in that and change the conversation in your head. You don’t have to listen to the dark demon on your shoulder telling you to turn back.

Meditation practice was another tool that has helped her immensely both in motherhood and while tackling the FKT. Quieting her mind and trusting in her training program encouraged her when the fatigue set in. She would try to remember that her body was capable of more than what her brain was telling her. Our brains often switch to survival mode and tell our muscles they’re done before they actually are. But so many people have proven that our potential reaches far beyond our perceived limits.

Renee also mentions the wonderful feelings she experienced on the FKT that made the whole journey worth it. She entered into the flow state several times – when she’d be “skipping like a happy deer down the trail” in a period of ecstatic downhill running. There was euphoria of being outside in great beauty while achieving her goals, knowing how much hard work had gone into reaching each mountaintop. She paints the picture of the grueling last summit (it sounded horrific) and the feeling of the last miles getting back to the car as the sun was rising after 6 intense days of moving on her feet. There were powerful emotions and she wishes she could bottle that feeling up and share it with everyone so they could experience it.

After finishing this great feat, coming back to normal life was a little depressing. Your goal is complete, you crash, the endorphins fade away, and an existential crisis of sorts can arise. Renee had to do some soul searching and asking herself questions about what happiness is and how to find it in day to day life when she isn’t summiting mountains. I think we’re all searching for those answers. It sounds like a new FKT dream is revealing itself to her though, so I think her engineering mind will once again have the excuse to dive into the reading and self-growth that Renee loves so much.

Stef and I were so thankful to get to learn from Renee about this experience but also about deeper things that reach beyond an FKT attempt. She had a way of relating with us even though we have never done something quite so epic as this. Her overarching message to other moms to keep hold of their dreams is something we back 100%.

Go give it a listen! You can listen to the episode right here (below) or just search for Run Hard Mom Hard wherever you get your podcasts. Queue it up for your next run! And don’t forget to rate, review and comment!