At the end of year I post my list of books that I read at year and link them to Amazon so you can check them out if interested. Here is my list for 2011. The ones that I put the number in bold are worth the read, the rest were either for work or just plan crap.
If you have any suggestions of books to check out for 2012 I am all ears. I try to read at least 12 a year but if I ever want to knock down my growing list I am going to have to read more than 25. I just don't see that happening.
1. K2: Life & Death on the Worlds most dangerous mountain
2. The Extra Mile- Pam Reed
3. In Defense of Food
4. Coaching for Performance
5. Food Rules
6. Eiger Dreams
7. Paleo Diet for Athletes
8. Relentless Forward Progress
9. Running on empty
10. Seal Team Six
11. Cycling home from Siberia
12. The Big Year
13. The Man Who Cycled the World
14. The Big Book of Endurance Training
15. And Then the Vulture Eats You
16. The Raw Truth
17. Now Discover Your Strengths
18. The Paleo Diet
19. Steve Jobs
Showing posts with label 100 miler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 100 miler. Show all posts
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Looking into 2012
Been kind of lazy with my posting lately but not really a lot to talk about. Just been training hard for the Red Hot 55K in Feb. With the Hardrock lottery last weekend and not getting in again of course really got me thinking about races for next year. My wife and I need to sit down and figure out what will work before everything sells out. Guess I better quit dragging my feet. Here is what I am looking at for 2012 from April on, now I just need to make some decisions.
April
28th- Collegiate Peaks 25 or 50 was thinking the 25 then Greenland a week later but maybe the 50 would be best.
May
5th- Greenland 50K
6th- Fort Collins Marathon (still want to get that Boston qual time)
12th- Quad Rock 50miler
19th- Buena Vista Adventure Race
June
2nd- Dirty Thirty 50K
16th- Mount Evans (one of my favorite races, 2 close to Black Hills to do?)
17th- Estes Park Marathon (only consider if doing Leadville)
23rd- Lake City 50 (only consider if doing Leadville)
22-24th- Black Hills 100
30th- Leadville Marathon (only consider if doing Leadville)
July
8th- Pace at Hardrock again- 50 miles (not sure if I can do this if I do Blackhills 100)
15th- Leadville 50 (only consider if doing Leadville)
14th- Devils Backbone 50 (only consider if doing Leadville)
14th- Summit County Adventure race
Aug
18-19th- Leadville 100
18-19th- Pike Peak ascent and marathon double (if I do Blackhills)
One race that I am eyeing due to being by my dad’s in MT is
Oct
Le Grizz 50
Thoughts? Or other races I might be missing that are not far away? I use the shorter races as practice training runs for the 100.
April
28th- Collegiate Peaks 25 or 50 was thinking the 25 then Greenland a week later but maybe the 50 would be best.
May
5th- Greenland 50K
6th- Fort Collins Marathon (still want to get that Boston qual time)
12th- Quad Rock 50miler
19th- Buena Vista Adventure Race
June
2nd- Dirty Thirty 50K
16th- Mount Evans (one of my favorite races, 2 close to Black Hills to do?)
17th- Estes Park Marathon (only consider if doing Leadville)
23rd- Lake City 50 (only consider if doing Leadville)
22-24th- Black Hills 100
30th- Leadville Marathon (only consider if doing Leadville)
July
8th- Pace at Hardrock again- 50 miles (not sure if I can do this if I do Blackhills 100)
15th- Leadville 50 (only consider if doing Leadville)
14th- Devils Backbone 50 (only consider if doing Leadville)
14th- Summit County Adventure race
Aug
18-19th- Leadville 100
18-19th- Pike Peak ascent and marathon double (if I do Blackhills)
One race that I am eyeing due to being by my dad’s in MT is
Oct
Le Grizz 50
Thoughts? Or other races I might be missing that are not far away? I use the shorter races as practice training runs for the 100.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Salomon Team Hardrock Video
I know I have been real quite on here lately. Life has been getting in the way lately and I hope to make a better effort of updating this more often the rest of the year. Anyway I came across this today and had to share it. This is the #1 race on my life list of 100 milers. I have paced it twice and have seen 60 miles of the course. Maybe someday I will get picked in the lottery. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Top 4 ultra runners in the Boulder area
Last week at the BTR (Boulder Trail Runners) talk they had the top 4 ultra runners in the US. I was not able to go but did find this blog giving us the low down on the talk.
You can find it by clicking below.
http://www.activeataltitude.com/blog/?p=121
And of course the video!!!!
Enjoy!!!
You can find it by clicking below.
http://www.activeataltitude.com/blog/?p=121
And of course the video!!!!
Boulder Trail Runners - Q&A with Scott Jurek, Anton Krupicka, Dave Mackey and Geoff Roes from Alpine Works on Vimeo.
Enjoy!!!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Grossman Motivation Series Part 10
These are great motivation pieces written by a great runner, Eric Grossman. I had to copy these from Running Times just for my own record in case this is ever removed from the site. LOVE IT! You can find it by clicking here or just read below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe you saw me on TV. The Western States 100 was featured on NBC's World of Adventure Sports in July of 2007. I was interviewed the day before the race as well as at mile 56. You might have noted my deliberate and rational mental preparation during the former, and my almost complete mental breakdown during the latter. I was stopped. Though desperate for water, I could barely sip any fluid. Though desperate for calories, I could only nibble at food. Everything was making me sick. The run had already completely stripped me of all pretense and all hope of finishing competitively. When asked how I was doing, I could only respond: "I can't imagine going on."
I have only been able to muster the desire to run Western States on alternate years. I ran in 2005 until I dropped out at mile 78. At mile 20, my vision completely blurred in one eye, I collided with a sharp branch and gouged my right thigh. Over the next 50 miles, the inflammation grew intolerable. In 2009, I once again organized my training around preparation for this pre-eminent ultramarathon. I sprained my ankle at mile 12. Although I finished, I wasn't able to run again until late fall that year. When I did start training again, I developed chronic Achilles tendinitis that stayed with me through the five ultras I started in 2010. When I became simultaneously plagued by an acute hamstring pain, I stopped running. Instead, I began to saw and split large fallen trees for firewood. Seriously. I gave myself a hernia.
That was two and a half weeks ago. Last Thursday, I was scheduled for a follow-up exam with the surgeon. I jogged lightly in the morning. Knowing my propensities, he asked if I had been running since the surgery. He checked my incision, cut a suture and sent me out with a pass to ramp up training again at my discretion.
Early last spring, after months of trouble with my Achilles, I was told that recovery would likely depend on spending a year limited to very light running. I had reasons to try and run anyway. For several years I've enjoyed the benefits of competing with a sponsored ultrarunning team. I wanted to keep my place on the team. So, I ran even when I would have been better served by resting. Now I have given myself no real options.
That is the ultimate truth we have to contend with: Decision making, like politics, is local. Each depends on nearby factors. Appearances notwithstanding, choices aren't freely made. The decision to run depends on the rewards we get by doing it, offset by the costs we incur. So why are some people able to exercise moderation and work toward their long-term interest while others fall prey to temptation, overdo it and end up injured?
Freedom emerges where the person inserts long-term interests into near-term calculations. This doesn't involve magic, but it does involve reflection and effort. My purpose in the previous nine parts of this series has been to elucidate the kind of reflection and effort required. One pitfall we both face when I write about willpower is that we may both be convinced it is something I have and you need. So I keep reminding myself, and you, that willpower doesn’t work that way. We cultivate the freedom we desire. When we imagine that it is a gift that some just happen to have, it immediately evaporates.
Aligning short and long-term interests mostly requires a comfortable relationship with the passage of time. Yes, patience is a virtue, and your best ally in cultivating freedom. As I hope I’ve shown, I’m not particularly patient. When I start training after a layoff, my impulse is to see how far or how fast I can go. After a few weeks I feel good — I’ve readjusted to the immediate metabolic demands and my legs itch to move faster. The short-term gratification I get from running longer and faster does not align with the long-term benefits I’ll get from coming back slowly.
I’ll need to refer to my own playbook to manage. If you haven’t already read them, check out parts 1–9 in this series (see "related articles" below). At the core of developing willpower is one central tenet: feelings change. What feels good today may not feel good tomorrow and perhaps, more importantly, what feels painful today may not cause pain tomorrow. One of the greatest appeals of running ultramarathons is that we are forced to realize that it never always gets worse. That’s because you will have run into the wall. The race is so long, though, that you have time to come out on the other side. The most striking thing you find is that what had seemed hopeless can be recovered. You will rise and fly again and quite likely feel ecstatic for having transformed yourself.
If you did catch that episode of World of Adventure Sports, and stuck it out through the last commercial break, you saw the backside of a tall scrawny runner as he strode through the undergrowth en route to a respectable sub 24-hour finish at the Western States 100. I was conferred the Energizer Bunny award for getting back on the trail and finishing despite my near total collapse only a little over halfway through the run. The reward of finishing was reason enough for withstanding the trials of that day. The real value of the experience, however, was outlasting my impulse to stop. Nearly every bone in my body cried to be still and rest. A very subtle chord resonated through me that this too shall pass. So I hobbled out of the aid station, then walked, jogged and finally ran again. All it took was time.
Eric Grossman is a member of the Montrail ultrarunning team. At age 40, Grossman won the 2008 USATF 50-mile national championship. Check back next week for more of Grossman's motivational tips.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe you saw me on TV. The Western States 100 was featured on NBC's World of Adventure Sports in July of 2007. I was interviewed the day before the race as well as at mile 56. You might have noted my deliberate and rational mental preparation during the former, and my almost complete mental breakdown during the latter. I was stopped. Though desperate for water, I could barely sip any fluid. Though desperate for calories, I could only nibble at food. Everything was making me sick. The run had already completely stripped me of all pretense and all hope of finishing competitively. When asked how I was doing, I could only respond: "I can't imagine going on."
I have only been able to muster the desire to run Western States on alternate years. I ran in 2005 until I dropped out at mile 78. At mile 20, my vision completely blurred in one eye, I collided with a sharp branch and gouged my right thigh. Over the next 50 miles, the inflammation grew intolerable. In 2009, I once again organized my training around preparation for this pre-eminent ultramarathon. I sprained my ankle at mile 12. Although I finished, I wasn't able to run again until late fall that year. When I did start training again, I developed chronic Achilles tendinitis that stayed with me through the five ultras I started in 2010. When I became simultaneously plagued by an acute hamstring pain, I stopped running. Instead, I began to saw and split large fallen trees for firewood. Seriously. I gave myself a hernia.
That was two and a half weeks ago. Last Thursday, I was scheduled for a follow-up exam with the surgeon. I jogged lightly in the morning. Knowing my propensities, he asked if I had been running since the surgery. He checked my incision, cut a suture and sent me out with a pass to ramp up training again at my discretion.
Early last spring, after months of trouble with my Achilles, I was told that recovery would likely depend on spending a year limited to very light running. I had reasons to try and run anyway. For several years I've enjoyed the benefits of competing with a sponsored ultrarunning team. I wanted to keep my place on the team. So, I ran even when I would have been better served by resting. Now I have given myself no real options.
That is the ultimate truth we have to contend with: Decision making, like politics, is local. Each depends on nearby factors. Appearances notwithstanding, choices aren't freely made. The decision to run depends on the rewards we get by doing it, offset by the costs we incur. So why are some people able to exercise moderation and work toward their long-term interest while others fall prey to temptation, overdo it and end up injured?
Freedom emerges where the person inserts long-term interests into near-term calculations. This doesn't involve magic, but it does involve reflection and effort. My purpose in the previous nine parts of this series has been to elucidate the kind of reflection and effort required. One pitfall we both face when I write about willpower is that we may both be convinced it is something I have and you need. So I keep reminding myself, and you, that willpower doesn’t work that way. We cultivate the freedom we desire. When we imagine that it is a gift that some just happen to have, it immediately evaporates.
Aligning short and long-term interests mostly requires a comfortable relationship with the passage of time. Yes, patience is a virtue, and your best ally in cultivating freedom. As I hope I’ve shown, I’m not particularly patient. When I start training after a layoff, my impulse is to see how far or how fast I can go. After a few weeks I feel good — I’ve readjusted to the immediate metabolic demands and my legs itch to move faster. The short-term gratification I get from running longer and faster does not align with the long-term benefits I’ll get from coming back slowly.
I’ll need to refer to my own playbook to manage. If you haven’t already read them, check out parts 1–9 in this series (see "related articles" below). At the core of developing willpower is one central tenet: feelings change. What feels good today may not feel good tomorrow and perhaps, more importantly, what feels painful today may not cause pain tomorrow. One of the greatest appeals of running ultramarathons is that we are forced to realize that it never always gets worse. That’s because you will have run into the wall. The race is so long, though, that you have time to come out on the other side. The most striking thing you find is that what had seemed hopeless can be recovered. You will rise and fly again and quite likely feel ecstatic for having transformed yourself.
If you did catch that episode of World of Adventure Sports, and stuck it out through the last commercial break, you saw the backside of a tall scrawny runner as he strode through the undergrowth en route to a respectable sub 24-hour finish at the Western States 100. I was conferred the Energizer Bunny award for getting back on the trail and finishing despite my near total collapse only a little over halfway through the run. The reward of finishing was reason enough for withstanding the trials of that day. The real value of the experience, however, was outlasting my impulse to stop. Nearly every bone in my body cried to be still and rest. A very subtle chord resonated through me that this too shall pass. So I hobbled out of the aid station, then walked, jogged and finally ran again. All it took was time.
Eric Grossman is a member of the Montrail ultrarunning team. At age 40, Grossman won the 2008 USATF 50-mile national championship. Check back next week for more of Grossman's motivational tips.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tor des Geants
I have never even heard of this race before today but this makes any race in the US look like child's play. HOLY CRAP!
The Tor des Geants, held this year from Sept. 12 to 19, is a 200-mile race through the Italian Alps, with a couple dozen passes, rough and rocky trails, and nearly 80,000 feet of climbing. Beat (guy in the video from CA) finished the race in 132 hours - more than five days - on less than five hours of sleep. He didn't intend to try to convey the entire experience of the Tor des Geants, just touch the surface of what it might be like to barely sleep for five days and cross 25 steep passes in the Italian Alps.
Freakin NUTS!! I think this one might have to go on the bucket list.
The Tor des Geants, held this year from Sept. 12 to 19, is a 200-mile race through the Italian Alps, with a couple dozen passes, rough and rocky trails, and nearly 80,000 feet of climbing. Beat (guy in the video from CA) finished the race in 132 hours - more than five days - on less than five hours of sleep. He didn't intend to try to convey the entire experience of the Tor des Geants, just touch the surface of what it might be like to barely sleep for five days and cross 25 steep passes in the Italian Alps.
Freakin NUTS!! I think this one might have to go on the bucket list.
No sleep 'til Courmayeur from Jill Homer on Vimeo.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Leadville 100 mile run- Race Report
This past Saturday the last 2 years of training/racing finally came to age, I finally completed my goal of running 100 miles on my 3rd attempt. It was a good thing also because before the race I was telling myself that 3 strikes and I was out of this 100 mile thing and going back to shorter faster races which I seem to do good at if I train for them.
Leadville is a classic course that you have to give respect to, if you don't it will chew you up and spit you out. On paper when you compare the climbing with other hundred milers you may think that it really is not a big deal, the problem is that a large chunk of the climbing happens between miles 40-60. After all that climbing you still have 40 miles until the finish, this is where it becomes a huge challenge. With the average elevation at 11,000 feet above sea level it is one of the highest 100 milers in the US and below is my experience in 2010.
Race Website
Event Description:
50 miles out and back in the midst of the Colorado Rockies. Lowest point is 9,200 ft. and the highest point is Hope Pass, 12,600 ft. The majority is on forest trails with some mountain roads. Pacers allowed after the 50 mile point. 11 well-supplied aid stations with cut-offs; 5 are medical checks. (I only did 2 medical checks).
Here is the race Profile, you read the 1st 50 miles left to right then backwards for the second 50.
Course Map
View Leadville Trail 100 2009 map in a larger map
Weather:
The weather forecast for both Saturday the 21th and Sunday the 22th was a high of 71, low of 40 with a 0-10% chance of rain. It was perfect weather!
Race Report:
Some sections will be long and some parts will be short. It all comes down to if anything eventful happened in that section and to what I can really remember. 28 hours out on the trails and roads in the mountains kind of blend together in a lot of parts.
The first time in the header is the split for that section of trail and the second time is the total running time.
Pre-Race Meeting
Start to Mayqueen 2:24/2:24
The night before the race was really bad as far as trying to get some sleep. We decided to camp since we were taking the dog with us. So in the 6 person tent we had the 3 of us and the dog, needless to say the dog was climbing all over me driving me mad. It was a good thing that I was able to take out my hearing aid so I never heard the other campers that were up drinking just feet away well past midnight. That would explain why the dog would not lay still. Oh well….
The Family at the Starting Line
Got my butt out of bed around 2:30-2:35 just before the alarm was set to go off and we piled into the car for the drive into town. There was so many people at the start that I really did not know where I should line up at to start. My plan this first section was just to cruise nice and slow, if that meant I was in the back of the congo line then so be it. As I was walking up to the crowd I spotted an old frat brother from CSU Brian O’Malley who was also running. This would be his first attempt at the distance and he all sorts of questions. I lined up with O’Malley as the gun when off and spent the first 6ish miles jogging along with him catching up on the past 15 years since we have seen each other. It was great to see Brian and as we hit the single track around the lake he fell in behind me and that would be the last I would see of O’Malley. I was really bummed on Monday when I saw in the results that he dropped at 50. If anyone who is reading this has the contact info for Brain please let me know I would like to get a hold of him to hear his race story.
The rest of this section was pretty uneventful as I cruised into Mayqueen. I told my crew not to meet me here on the outbound due to the large amount of people running this year. It was just way to stressful for both the crew and myself to try and find each other in this crazy crowd.
I grabbed some food, refilled my bottles and hit the road, not spending more than 1-2 mins in this aid station.
Mayqueen to Fish 2:08/4:32
This section was even more uneventful. After leaving the cluster of an aid station I just fell into line on the single track and did the walk/jog up to Haggerman Pass road. The Colorado Trail up to the road is a nice mellow climb for the most part but there is no where to pass so it is best just to fall back into line and follow everyone.
Once on the dirt road we had to climb up to the top of the Powerlines at about 11,200ft. For being where I was among middle/back of the pack I was shocked to see how many people were trying to run this road to the top! There was no need to do this. I just power hiked up it without killing myself. There was this one dude who was trying to kill this road with all of his might, he was breathing super hard and looked like he was about to pass out. With all that effort he only beat to the top by a mere minute or so, I passed him heading down the other side. I memorized his race number and sure enough, he did not finish. One thing is that it sure was entertaining to watch how much people where trying to kill themselves on this climb. It helped pass the time.
This is the 1st place that I saw my crew, I passed off my night stuff, grabbed my sunglasses and hit the road.
Leaving Fish Hatchery
Fish to Halfmoon 1:32/6:05
Now it was time to roll for a little bit. This is a flat road section of about 8-9 miles with a mix of both asphalt and jeep road. About halfway across this section is a location called Treeline that I could meet my crew. I felt really good through this section and just cruised along catching and passing lots of people who had killed themselves climbing in the last section. I never felt like I was running hard but just out for a nice easy Saturday morning long run. This is a great section to make up a little bit of time without putting out a big effort to do so. I was just rolling through here and really don’t remember a lot from this section.
Meeting the Crew at Treeline
Halfmoon to Twin 1:42/7:47
This is another pretty uneventful section that I really don’t have a lot to write about. It is a great section of rolling Colorado Trail that is well shaded from the morning sun. My goal on this section was just to walk the uphills, run the downhills, and try to get some food into me for the upcoming big 3500 or so foot climb up Hope Pass in the next section of the race. As I was jogging the down the final ~1000ft into Twin Lakes I came across a guy limping along and as I slowed down to make sure he was ok I discovered it was Donald Beuke. His year long battle with a tight IT band was rearing its ugly head again. He said it is fine uphill and on flats but was killing him on the downhills. I was able to talking him into jogging down the road with me and we came into Twin Lakes at mile 40 together. I was just happy to have some company even if it was short lived. I left Twin Lakes before Donald and did not see him again which is a huge bummer. We did some training together this past spring and it would have been cool to run with him a little farther.
At the aid station I grabbed my coat, gloves, hat, and some food hitting the road eating as much as I could to ready myself for what I consider to be the heart of Leadville 100, the double crossing of Hope Pass.
Coming into Twin Lakes
Twin to Winfield 3:56/11:44
Now the fun really starts. I left Twin Lake eating a Mojo Bar trying to get as much energy as I could for the up coming climb of Hope Pass. You cross a flat 2 miles or so to get to the base of the 3 mile ~3000ft climb. On the way to the climb one has to do a river crossing. This year the cold water that came up to just below my knees felt great on the tired legs, but did cause a weird burning feeling in my feet which passed quickly.
The climb from this side of Hope was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. I just put my head down and worked my way up to the aid station on the top of the pass trying not to work to hard because I do have to come back over this again. Once at the Hopeless aid station close to the top of the pass I took a 5 min breather and ate some soup. This was the first real break at any aid station all day and I could feel my stomach starting to get weak so I thought some soup would help calm it a little.
After a finishing my soup I got my butt up to finish the last ~500ft to the true top of the pass and jogged down the other side. This is a cool part of the race due to the out and back nature of the course. I was able to see all my buddies who were in front of me coming back over. I made pretty quick work of the downhill and the 2.5 mile road into the Winfield (halfway mark) to pick up my pacer Fred. Now the fun really begins.
Winfield to Twin 5:34/17:18
Before I start digging into the meat of this race I want to share some advice that 2 friends gave me before the race. There were many more responses to this list from Facebook but I took the top 15. Then reason that I bring them up is that I start breaking these rules in this section.
Gerber and Misti’s Tips for Leadville and other 100s.
1. YOU CAN NOT BANK TIME! Don’t do it or even think about it.
2. Don’t sit down ever, unless you are changing your shoes.
3. Don’t go anywhere NEAR the fire or propane heaters at the aid stations. The gravitational field of them is amazing.
4. EAT early, eat often, and as much as you can assimilate.
5. Take your electrolytes, even if you aren’t cramping. They help with digestion too.
6. Sometimes it feels better to just puke it up and get on with the show.
7. The fastest times on this course are out in 45% of total time and back in 55% of total time.
8. Training is over 2 weeks before the race. Nothing you do the week before will help you. Take an easy, relax, and eat some bacon.
9. Try to remember that “it never always gets worse.” Seriously, this is the miracle. You can trust it.
10. Red Bull is your friend.
11. For the 1st 50 miles listen to your body, for the second 50 stop listening.
12. If you don’t think you are going absurdly slow the first 50, you’re going to fast.
13. When gels start making you gag, try bacon. Seriously!
14. A cold beer at mile 70 is pretty darn good.
15. If you drop for some lame ass reason, it is going to stick with you for 364 days.
I was weighed in at Winfield and was up 2 pounds, that was good news. I found my crew, took a load off for a few minutes trying to eat some more for the big climb to come. After a few more minutes chatting with my wife I grabbed a cup of soup and my pacer Pastor Fred and hit the road back to the trail head to go back over the pass.
About 1.5 miles up the road from Winfield the trouble started, I suddenly had to poop-BAD! I grabbed some paper and ran into the woods, of course I did not grab enough paper so I had to run back out to the road to get some more from Fred. After getting cleaned up I was walking out of the woods when out of no where the puke just started flying everywhere. I spent the next few minutes on my hands and knees puking valuable calories and energy into the dirt. Darn it, I need those calories to get back over the freaking pass!
Fred and I just kept walking and started the climb back over. About every 10 minutes or so I would heel back over and throw down some more calories into the dirt. As this was going on my pace was getting slower and slower due to running out of energy. Just before tree line I saw a nice big rock on the side of the trail and took Fred’s suggestion, I curled up into a ball on top of the rock and took a 10 minute nap. The hope was to get my system to settle down a bit and it worked. From that point on I was able to keep a very very slow but steady pace the rest of the way up Hope Pass only puking a couple more times and taking a couple short breaks to catch my breath. At the top I kept up the hiking all the way to the aid station just ~500ft or so down the other side. It was time to problem solve and get this race going again, I was losing too much time if I wanted to finish this thing.
At the aid station we came across Gerber and his runner who started giving me a hard time about breaking the rules. I was sitting around the camp fire feeling sorry for myself trying to eat. After a few minutes of heckling from Fred (my pacer) and Gerber the four of us left and started a slow jog down the pass back to Twin Lakes. Slowly I was starting to get my stomach back, a gel here and Clif Block there. I was starting to rebuild the foundation to finish this thing. Before I knew it we were back in Twin Lakes (mile 60) and it was time to change my socks/shoes and get the heck out of there.
Breaking the Rules on top of Hope Pass
Twin to Halfmoon 2:49/20:08
Being silly at Twin Lakes
Last pose before leaving Twin Lakes
I really don’t remember a lot about this section. I do remember that Fred and I agreed just to take an easy on the uphill and recover as much as possible. We needed to keep building on that new foundation that we just started laying down. I spent most of this section walking all the uphills at an easy pace and slow jogging the downhills while trying to eat a Clif Block every 15-20 minutes. We kept this cycle up all the way into the aid station. I was starting to get sleepy but held off on taking anything. Fred wanted me to hold off from taking the No Doz as long as I could so that it would have a more dramatic effect in the early morning hours when I would need it most.
Halfmoon to Fish 2:32/22:41
At Halfmoon the lady in charge of the cut-offs came up to me and start questioning me. I must have looked like crap. At this point I don’t think I was much more than 30 mins ahead of the cut-offs. I started asking her questions like. “If the cut-off is 2:30am (don’t remember the real time) then that is how many hours from the start?”. I had a running hour total on my watch and I could not do the math, I was too tired. She just looked at me and said, “You ask way too many questions.” and walked away. Guess my mind was working a little.
We walked the jeep road all the way from Halfmoon to my crew car at Treeline. I was getting more and more tired. The stomach was not feeling that great either and the legs hurt like hell. I am running out of time and feeling really down on myself about it at this point.
At Treeline I broke the rules again. I sat down in a chair for no other reason than just to get off my feet. I was really pondering the thought of quitting. As I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself because I was hurting my mind drifted off to the last time I saw my grandfather who passed around the end of June. This was nothing compared to what I saw him go through as cancer was taking over his body! Between that thought about grandpa, the frustration in my wife’s voice, and the disappointed look on Fred’s face I asked my wife to fill my bottle with Ginger Ale, popped some No Doz and I kept walking. I did not care if we made the cut-offs or not, we were going to walk this whole thing even if it was unofficially.
We just kept walking all the way to the Fish Hatchery getting a little quicker with every step. By the time we got to the Fish Hatchery about an hour later we were power hiking and I had finished off both bottles containing ginger ale and water. I had also eaten a whole pack and a half of Clif Shots.
Fish to Mayqueen 2:45/25:26
At Fish Hatchery I had to run up and check in before meeting my crew. I was starting to cut it really close to the cut-off. After checking in I grabbed a turkey wrap and told Fred I was hitting the road all within about 30 seconds to a minute. He said back that he needed to stay behind and eat a little and will catch-up shortly. On the way out I stopped to kiss my wife aka my crew grabbing 2 new bottles of water and ginger ale along with a bunch of Clif Blocks. I asked to send some an extra bottle with Fred since we had about 11ish miles to Mayqueen with the last big climb.
Once on the road to the base of the Powerlines (last big climb) I decided since it was a rolling downhill that I would try jogging and see how that felt. I ended up running all the way to the base of the climb where I went into a quick strong power hike. There are 3 false summits on this climb, I was hiking so strong that my pacer (Fred) did not catch up to me until between the 1st and 2nd false summit. I was moving very strong and passing people like mad. I had no idea why I was moving so good but I went with it. Once on the top of the Powerlines at about 11,200ft above sea level we took a quick break to refill my bottles from Fred’s pack.
From this point on I just started rolling, Fred and I jogged down the Haggerman Pass road together to the start of the Colorado Trail single track that would take us to Mayqueen. Once on the single track I took off! I felt really really good! I ran every step from this point all the way to Mayqueen passing all kinds of people. As I was coming into Mayqueen I started looking for Ashley (crew/wife) so I could get an extra bottle to carry since I lost my pacer. I still had 13 miles to go to the finish and 2 bottles was not going to cut it. Not locating her anywhere I went into Mayqueen and sat down breaking the rules again. I had to wait for Fred to catch up so I had enough fluids to finish this thing.
About 5-8 minutes later he came rolling in and after a fluid top off in his backpack and some more food for both of us we hit the last section of trail without ever seeing Ashley.
Mayqueen to Finish 3:12/28:39
What to say about this section but I never would have believed that I could still run like this between miles 90 to100. Just shocking! I got rolling again and lost Fred again which had me freaked out about having enough fluids to finish this. I ran for the next 5 or so miles coming into Tabor Boat ramp to lots of cheering people and empty bottles. I asked a person camping right there off the trail if they could fill my bottles with water and they did! Awesome!! Lets Roll!!! As I got about 20 feet past the boat ramp I heard someone yelling my name, I turned around and my wife was running down the boat ramp. She found me!!!! She was just as shocked as I was on how good I was feeling. I dumped out one bottle of water and topped it off with ginger ale, kissed her, grabbed a hat and headed towards the finish. I was able to maintain a run all the way on the single track trail to the final road that would take me into town. The final 5 miles of road I did a run/walk cycle all the way to the finish coming across in 28:39, one hour and 21 minutes ahead of the cut-off! Awesome!!!!! I really had no real emotions as I ran up the red carpet with Braden who did the last ½ mile with me. I was just happy to be done. I never would have thought that it would hurt less to run than to walk the final miles of this thing.
Views from this section
Tabor Boat Ramp
Finishing it up with Braden
Some Happy Campers!
The Under 30 Hours Buckle
Final Thoughts:
I know that I am not a great writer but I hope that you enjoyed sharing this little story with me. I would like to thank Ashley who has been putting up with me and my training for the past 3 plus years we have been together, I love you babe. And of course a big shout out to Pastor Fred Ecks who delivered me from the gates of hell back into the Lands of the Holy Trails. Thanks for pushing me through the rough patches dude.
I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. There were only 5 people who left the mile 76 aid station Fish Hatchery later than me that finished and I ended up in front over 140 people by the time I hit the red carpet in Leadville, you can do the math to see how many people I passed the last 25 miles. You can recover from the deep dark places if you take the time to do some problem solving to why you are there in the first place and just walk it out. I also learned a great deal about the great people that I have surrounded myself with. Next time we will go even faster!
Here are some great videos that some friends made during their adventure at Leadville.
Olan's Video:
Brandon's Video:
Leadville is a classic course that you have to give respect to, if you don't it will chew you up and spit you out. On paper when you compare the climbing with other hundred milers you may think that it really is not a big deal, the problem is that a large chunk of the climbing happens between miles 40-60. After all that climbing you still have 40 miles until the finish, this is where it becomes a huge challenge. With the average elevation at 11,000 feet above sea level it is one of the highest 100 milers in the US and below is my experience in 2010.
Race Website
Event Description:
50 miles out and back in the midst of the Colorado Rockies. Lowest point is 9,200 ft. and the highest point is Hope Pass, 12,600 ft. The majority is on forest trails with some mountain roads. Pacers allowed after the 50 mile point. 11 well-supplied aid stations with cut-offs; 5 are medical checks. (I only did 2 medical checks).
Here is the race Profile, you read the 1st 50 miles left to right then backwards for the second 50.
Course Map
View Leadville Trail 100 2009 map in a larger map
Weather:
The weather forecast for both Saturday the 21th and Sunday the 22th was a high of 71, low of 40 with a 0-10% chance of rain. It was perfect weather!
Race Report:
Some sections will be long and some parts will be short. It all comes down to if anything eventful happened in that section and to what I can really remember. 28 hours out on the trails and roads in the mountains kind of blend together in a lot of parts.
The first time in the header is the split for that section of trail and the second time is the total running time.
Pre-Race Meeting
Start to Mayqueen 2:24/2:24
The night before the race was really bad as far as trying to get some sleep. We decided to camp since we were taking the dog with us. So in the 6 person tent we had the 3 of us and the dog, needless to say the dog was climbing all over me driving me mad. It was a good thing that I was able to take out my hearing aid so I never heard the other campers that were up drinking just feet away well past midnight. That would explain why the dog would not lay still. Oh well….
The Family at the Starting Line
Got my butt out of bed around 2:30-2:35 just before the alarm was set to go off and we piled into the car for the drive into town. There was so many people at the start that I really did not know where I should line up at to start. My plan this first section was just to cruise nice and slow, if that meant I was in the back of the congo line then so be it. As I was walking up to the crowd I spotted an old frat brother from CSU Brian O’Malley who was also running. This would be his first attempt at the distance and he all sorts of questions. I lined up with O’Malley as the gun when off and spent the first 6ish miles jogging along with him catching up on the past 15 years since we have seen each other. It was great to see Brian and as we hit the single track around the lake he fell in behind me and that would be the last I would see of O’Malley. I was really bummed on Monday when I saw in the results that he dropped at 50. If anyone who is reading this has the contact info for Brain please let me know I would like to get a hold of him to hear his race story.
The rest of this section was pretty uneventful as I cruised into Mayqueen. I told my crew not to meet me here on the outbound due to the large amount of people running this year. It was just way to stressful for both the crew and myself to try and find each other in this crazy crowd.
I grabbed some food, refilled my bottles and hit the road, not spending more than 1-2 mins in this aid station.
Mayqueen to Fish 2:08/4:32
This section was even more uneventful. After leaving the cluster of an aid station I just fell into line on the single track and did the walk/jog up to Haggerman Pass road. The Colorado Trail up to the road is a nice mellow climb for the most part but there is no where to pass so it is best just to fall back into line and follow everyone.
Once on the dirt road we had to climb up to the top of the Powerlines at about 11,200ft. For being where I was among middle/back of the pack I was shocked to see how many people were trying to run this road to the top! There was no need to do this. I just power hiked up it without killing myself. There was this one dude who was trying to kill this road with all of his might, he was breathing super hard and looked like he was about to pass out. With all that effort he only beat to the top by a mere minute or so, I passed him heading down the other side. I memorized his race number and sure enough, he did not finish. One thing is that it sure was entertaining to watch how much people where trying to kill themselves on this climb. It helped pass the time.
This is the 1st place that I saw my crew, I passed off my night stuff, grabbed my sunglasses and hit the road.
Leaving Fish Hatchery
Fish to Halfmoon 1:32/6:05
Now it was time to roll for a little bit. This is a flat road section of about 8-9 miles with a mix of both asphalt and jeep road. About halfway across this section is a location called Treeline that I could meet my crew. I felt really good through this section and just cruised along catching and passing lots of people who had killed themselves climbing in the last section. I never felt like I was running hard but just out for a nice easy Saturday morning long run. This is a great section to make up a little bit of time without putting out a big effort to do so. I was just rolling through here and really don’t remember a lot from this section.
Meeting the Crew at Treeline
Halfmoon to Twin 1:42/7:47
This is another pretty uneventful section that I really don’t have a lot to write about. It is a great section of rolling Colorado Trail that is well shaded from the morning sun. My goal on this section was just to walk the uphills, run the downhills, and try to get some food into me for the upcoming big 3500 or so foot climb up Hope Pass in the next section of the race. As I was jogging the down the final ~1000ft into Twin Lakes I came across a guy limping along and as I slowed down to make sure he was ok I discovered it was Donald Beuke. His year long battle with a tight IT band was rearing its ugly head again. He said it is fine uphill and on flats but was killing him on the downhills. I was able to talking him into jogging down the road with me and we came into Twin Lakes at mile 40 together. I was just happy to have some company even if it was short lived. I left Twin Lakes before Donald and did not see him again which is a huge bummer. We did some training together this past spring and it would have been cool to run with him a little farther.
At the aid station I grabbed my coat, gloves, hat, and some food hitting the road eating as much as I could to ready myself for what I consider to be the heart of Leadville 100, the double crossing of Hope Pass.
Coming into Twin Lakes
Twin to Winfield 3:56/11:44
Now the fun really starts. I left Twin Lake eating a Mojo Bar trying to get as much energy as I could for the up coming climb of Hope Pass. You cross a flat 2 miles or so to get to the base of the 3 mile ~3000ft climb. On the way to the climb one has to do a river crossing. This year the cold water that came up to just below my knees felt great on the tired legs, but did cause a weird burning feeling in my feet which passed quickly.
The climb from this side of Hope was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. I just put my head down and worked my way up to the aid station on the top of the pass trying not to work to hard because I do have to come back over this again. Once at the Hopeless aid station close to the top of the pass I took a 5 min breather and ate some soup. This was the first real break at any aid station all day and I could feel my stomach starting to get weak so I thought some soup would help calm it a little.
After a finishing my soup I got my butt up to finish the last ~500ft to the true top of the pass and jogged down the other side. This is a cool part of the race due to the out and back nature of the course. I was able to see all my buddies who were in front of me coming back over. I made pretty quick work of the downhill and the 2.5 mile road into the Winfield (halfway mark) to pick up my pacer Fred. Now the fun really begins.
Winfield to Twin 5:34/17:18
Before I start digging into the meat of this race I want to share some advice that 2 friends gave me before the race. There were many more responses to this list from Facebook but I took the top 15. Then reason that I bring them up is that I start breaking these rules in this section.
Gerber and Misti’s Tips for Leadville and other 100s.
1. YOU CAN NOT BANK TIME! Don’t do it or even think about it.
2. Don’t sit down ever, unless you are changing your shoes.
3. Don’t go anywhere NEAR the fire or propane heaters at the aid stations. The gravitational field of them is amazing.
4. EAT early, eat often, and as much as you can assimilate.
5. Take your electrolytes, even if you aren’t cramping. They help with digestion too.
6. Sometimes it feels better to just puke it up and get on with the show.
7. The fastest times on this course are out in 45% of total time and back in 55% of total time.
8. Training is over 2 weeks before the race. Nothing you do the week before will help you. Take an easy, relax, and eat some bacon.
9. Try to remember that “it never always gets worse.” Seriously, this is the miracle. You can trust it.
10. Red Bull is your friend.
11. For the 1st 50 miles listen to your body, for the second 50 stop listening.
12. If you don’t think you are going absurdly slow the first 50, you’re going to fast.
13. When gels start making you gag, try bacon. Seriously!
14. A cold beer at mile 70 is pretty darn good.
15. If you drop for some lame ass reason, it is going to stick with you for 364 days.
I was weighed in at Winfield and was up 2 pounds, that was good news. I found my crew, took a load off for a few minutes trying to eat some more for the big climb to come. After a few more minutes chatting with my wife I grabbed a cup of soup and my pacer Pastor Fred and hit the road back to the trail head to go back over the pass.
About 1.5 miles up the road from Winfield the trouble started, I suddenly had to poop-BAD! I grabbed some paper and ran into the woods, of course I did not grab enough paper so I had to run back out to the road to get some more from Fred. After getting cleaned up I was walking out of the woods when out of no where the puke just started flying everywhere. I spent the next few minutes on my hands and knees puking valuable calories and energy into the dirt. Darn it, I need those calories to get back over the freaking pass!
Fred and I just kept walking and started the climb back over. About every 10 minutes or so I would heel back over and throw down some more calories into the dirt. As this was going on my pace was getting slower and slower due to running out of energy. Just before tree line I saw a nice big rock on the side of the trail and took Fred’s suggestion, I curled up into a ball on top of the rock and took a 10 minute nap. The hope was to get my system to settle down a bit and it worked. From that point on I was able to keep a very very slow but steady pace the rest of the way up Hope Pass only puking a couple more times and taking a couple short breaks to catch my breath. At the top I kept up the hiking all the way to the aid station just ~500ft or so down the other side. It was time to problem solve and get this race going again, I was losing too much time if I wanted to finish this thing.
At the aid station we came across Gerber and his runner who started giving me a hard time about breaking the rules. I was sitting around the camp fire feeling sorry for myself trying to eat. After a few minutes of heckling from Fred (my pacer) and Gerber the four of us left and started a slow jog down the pass back to Twin Lakes. Slowly I was starting to get my stomach back, a gel here and Clif Block there. I was starting to rebuild the foundation to finish this thing. Before I knew it we were back in Twin Lakes (mile 60) and it was time to change my socks/shoes and get the heck out of there.
Breaking the Rules on top of Hope Pass
Twin to Halfmoon 2:49/20:08
Being silly at Twin Lakes
Last pose before leaving Twin Lakes
I really don’t remember a lot about this section. I do remember that Fred and I agreed just to take an easy on the uphill and recover as much as possible. We needed to keep building on that new foundation that we just started laying down. I spent most of this section walking all the uphills at an easy pace and slow jogging the downhills while trying to eat a Clif Block every 15-20 minutes. We kept this cycle up all the way into the aid station. I was starting to get sleepy but held off on taking anything. Fred wanted me to hold off from taking the No Doz as long as I could so that it would have a more dramatic effect in the early morning hours when I would need it most.
Halfmoon to Fish 2:32/22:41
At Halfmoon the lady in charge of the cut-offs came up to me and start questioning me. I must have looked like crap. At this point I don’t think I was much more than 30 mins ahead of the cut-offs. I started asking her questions like. “If the cut-off is 2:30am (don’t remember the real time) then that is how many hours from the start?”. I had a running hour total on my watch and I could not do the math, I was too tired. She just looked at me and said, “You ask way too many questions.” and walked away. Guess my mind was working a little.
We walked the jeep road all the way from Halfmoon to my crew car at Treeline. I was getting more and more tired. The stomach was not feeling that great either and the legs hurt like hell. I am running out of time and feeling really down on myself about it at this point.
At Treeline I broke the rules again. I sat down in a chair for no other reason than just to get off my feet. I was really pondering the thought of quitting. As I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself because I was hurting my mind drifted off to the last time I saw my grandfather who passed around the end of June. This was nothing compared to what I saw him go through as cancer was taking over his body! Between that thought about grandpa, the frustration in my wife’s voice, and the disappointed look on Fred’s face I asked my wife to fill my bottle with Ginger Ale, popped some No Doz and I kept walking. I did not care if we made the cut-offs or not, we were going to walk this whole thing even if it was unofficially.
We just kept walking all the way to the Fish Hatchery getting a little quicker with every step. By the time we got to the Fish Hatchery about an hour later we were power hiking and I had finished off both bottles containing ginger ale and water. I had also eaten a whole pack and a half of Clif Shots.
Fish to Mayqueen 2:45/25:26
At Fish Hatchery I had to run up and check in before meeting my crew. I was starting to cut it really close to the cut-off. After checking in I grabbed a turkey wrap and told Fred I was hitting the road all within about 30 seconds to a minute. He said back that he needed to stay behind and eat a little and will catch-up shortly. On the way out I stopped to kiss my wife aka my crew grabbing 2 new bottles of water and ginger ale along with a bunch of Clif Blocks. I asked to send some an extra bottle with Fred since we had about 11ish miles to Mayqueen with the last big climb.
Once on the road to the base of the Powerlines (last big climb) I decided since it was a rolling downhill that I would try jogging and see how that felt. I ended up running all the way to the base of the climb where I went into a quick strong power hike. There are 3 false summits on this climb, I was hiking so strong that my pacer (Fred) did not catch up to me until between the 1st and 2nd false summit. I was moving very strong and passing people like mad. I had no idea why I was moving so good but I went with it. Once on the top of the Powerlines at about 11,200ft above sea level we took a quick break to refill my bottles from Fred’s pack.
From this point on I just started rolling, Fred and I jogged down the Haggerman Pass road together to the start of the Colorado Trail single track that would take us to Mayqueen. Once on the single track I took off! I felt really really good! I ran every step from this point all the way to Mayqueen passing all kinds of people. As I was coming into Mayqueen I started looking for Ashley (crew/wife) so I could get an extra bottle to carry since I lost my pacer. I still had 13 miles to go to the finish and 2 bottles was not going to cut it. Not locating her anywhere I went into Mayqueen and sat down breaking the rules again. I had to wait for Fred to catch up so I had enough fluids to finish this thing.
About 5-8 minutes later he came rolling in and after a fluid top off in his backpack and some more food for both of us we hit the last section of trail without ever seeing Ashley.
Mayqueen to Finish 3:12/28:39
What to say about this section but I never would have believed that I could still run like this between miles 90 to100. Just shocking! I got rolling again and lost Fred again which had me freaked out about having enough fluids to finish this. I ran for the next 5 or so miles coming into Tabor Boat ramp to lots of cheering people and empty bottles. I asked a person camping right there off the trail if they could fill my bottles with water and they did! Awesome!! Lets Roll!!! As I got about 20 feet past the boat ramp I heard someone yelling my name, I turned around and my wife was running down the boat ramp. She found me!!!! She was just as shocked as I was on how good I was feeling. I dumped out one bottle of water and topped it off with ginger ale, kissed her, grabbed a hat and headed towards the finish. I was able to maintain a run all the way on the single track trail to the final road that would take me into town. The final 5 miles of road I did a run/walk cycle all the way to the finish coming across in 28:39, one hour and 21 minutes ahead of the cut-off! Awesome!!!!! I really had no real emotions as I ran up the red carpet with Braden who did the last ½ mile with me. I was just happy to be done. I never would have thought that it would hurt less to run than to walk the final miles of this thing.
Views from this section
Tabor Boat Ramp
Finishing it up with Braden
Some Happy Campers!
The Under 30 Hours Buckle
Final Thoughts:
I know that I am not a great writer but I hope that you enjoyed sharing this little story with me. I would like to thank Ashley who has been putting up with me and my training for the past 3 plus years we have been together, I love you babe. And of course a big shout out to Pastor Fred Ecks who delivered me from the gates of hell back into the Lands of the Holy Trails. Thanks for pushing me through the rough patches dude.
I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. There were only 5 people who left the mile 76 aid station Fish Hatchery later than me that finished and I ended up in front over 140 people by the time I hit the red carpet in Leadville, you can do the math to see how many people I passed the last 25 miles. You can recover from the deep dark places if you take the time to do some problem solving to why you are there in the first place and just walk it out. I also learned a great deal about the great people that I have surrounded myself with. Next time we will go even faster!
Here are some great videos that some friends made during their adventure at Leadville.
Olan's Video:
Leadville 100 Trail Run 2010 from Melissa Young on Vimeo.
Brandon's Video:
Leadville Trail 100 2010 from Brandon Fuller on Vimeo.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
My Leadville Plan!!
Figured since everyone else is blogging their race plans I better put mine out there also.
1. When I can I will run.
2. When I can't run I will walk.
3. I will eat as much as my glass stomach will allow me too.
4. I will hit Winfield when I get off of Hope Pass around the time I get there.
5. My goal finish time is when I cross the finish line.
Pretty simple, any questions?
1. When I can I will run.
2. When I can't run I will walk.
3. I will eat as much as my glass stomach will allow me too.
4. I will hit Winfield when I get off of Hope Pass around the time I get there.
5. My goal finish time is when I cross the finish line.
Pretty simple, any questions?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Pacing at Hardrock
Not a lot to say but it was a kick ass time. I will wait until JT puts up his race report before I write one. In the mean time here are the photos that I took out on the 48 mile of the course that I was on. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
JT's Hardrock 100 Race Report
I took awhile for it to get done since JT has been a lazy sh*t but as promised in my earlier post here is JT's race report for the Hardrock 100 mile trail run. He wrote in sections so I have linked each section below for you. Enjoy... Hopefully I can have the chance to run this race, there is nothing else like it.
Part 1: Silverton to Cunningham
Part 2: Cunningham Gulch to Maggie Gulch
Part 3: Maggie Gulch to Pole Creek
Part 4: Pole Creek to Sherman
Part 5: Sherman to Grouse Gulch
Part 6: Grouse Gulch to Ouray
Part 7: Ouray aid station
Part 8: Ouray to Governor Basin
Part 9: Gov Basin to Virginius Pass
Part 10: Kroger's to Telluride
Part 11: Telluride to Chapman Gulch
Part 12: Chapman Gulch to KT
Part 13: KT to Putnam
Part 14: Putnam to Silverton(Finish)
Part 1: Silverton to Cunningham
Part 2: Cunningham Gulch to Maggie Gulch
Part 3: Maggie Gulch to Pole Creek
Part 4: Pole Creek to Sherman
Part 5: Sherman to Grouse Gulch
Part 6: Grouse Gulch to Ouray
Part 7: Ouray aid station
Part 8: Ouray to Governor Basin
Part 9: Gov Basin to Virginius Pass
Part 10: Kroger's to Telluride
Part 11: Telluride to Chapman Gulch
Part 12: Chapman Gulch to KT
Part 13: KT to Putnam
Part 14: Putnam to Silverton(Finish)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Hardrock with a side of Sneffelupaguses
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement."
- Steve Prefontaine
Hardrock 100
I could not think of a better quote to sum up what I saw this past weekend at the Hardrock 100 mile trail run. There was nothing but guts and glory on display at the finish line as I watched people come across the finish line to kiss the rock.
I am going to give a short recap of Hardrock and leave the race report to JT. I will link to his report when it is completed.
JT had me pace him for about 15 miles of the course on Friday night. We left the GG aid station outside of Silverton at about 7pm arriving in Ouray at about 11:30pm. He was able to move pretty quickly through this section which was about 15 miles/3000ft of gain and 5500ft of loss. After dropping off JT with Paul Smith, I had to drive Paul's truck back up to Silverton via the Million Dollar Highway, this is scary when it is late and you are tired from running for over 4 hours. Click on the link to check it out. It is basically a cliff highway with a huge drop off just on the otherside of the white line, no room for error!
Here are some of the pictures that I took:
Here are some of the pictures that JT, Katie (crew) and his other pacer (Paul) took:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jteisher/Hardrock
After getting about 4 hours of sleep in the back of my 4Runner I headed back down to Ouray to knock out a 14er called Mount Sneffels on Saturday morning.
Mount Sneffels
I arrived at the lower trailhead at about 9am to hit the trail by 9:30am. I choose to start at the lower trailhead instead of 4X4ing up to the upper trailhead so that I could get a few extra miles and vertical feet in. This climb/hike ended up being about 6 miles and 3000ft of gain. It took me 3 hours and 15 mins car to car.
Here is the link to the route description on 14ers.com: Mount Sneffels
This climb is really straight forward and easy to follow so I am not going to write up a long trip report. Basically it is a very beautiful part of the state. It is a toss up between Aspen area and the San Juans for the prettiest places that I have seen so far in my quest of the 14ers.
Here are my pictures from the climb:
After the climb I headed back to Silverton to hang out at the finish line and watch people come across. I just love the aura that surrounds a 100 miler.
Hope everyone has a great week! I am planning on doing Mount Lindsey this coming Saturday so I will post pictures/report next week on that.
- Steve Prefontaine
Hardrock 100
I could not think of a better quote to sum up what I saw this past weekend at the Hardrock 100 mile trail run. There was nothing but guts and glory on display at the finish line as I watched people come across the finish line to kiss the rock.
I am going to give a short recap of Hardrock and leave the race report to JT. I will link to his report when it is completed.
JT had me pace him for about 15 miles of the course on Friday night. We left the GG aid station outside of Silverton at about 7pm arriving in Ouray at about 11:30pm. He was able to move pretty quickly through this section which was about 15 miles/3000ft of gain and 5500ft of loss. After dropping off JT with Paul Smith, I had to drive Paul's truck back up to Silverton via the Million Dollar Highway, this is scary when it is late and you are tired from running for over 4 hours. Click on the link to check it out. It is basically a cliff highway with a huge drop off just on the otherside of the white line, no room for error!
Here are some of the pictures that I took:
Here are some of the pictures that JT, Katie (crew) and his other pacer (Paul) took:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jteisher/Hardrock
After getting about 4 hours of sleep in the back of my 4Runner I headed back down to Ouray to knock out a 14er called Mount Sneffels on Saturday morning.
Mount Sneffels
I arrived at the lower trailhead at about 9am to hit the trail by 9:30am. I choose to start at the lower trailhead instead of 4X4ing up to the upper trailhead so that I could get a few extra miles and vertical feet in. This climb/hike ended up being about 6 miles and 3000ft of gain. It took me 3 hours and 15 mins car to car.
Here is the link to the route description on 14ers.com: Mount Sneffels
This climb is really straight forward and easy to follow so I am not going to write up a long trip report. Basically it is a very beautiful part of the state. It is a toss up between Aspen area and the San Juans for the prettiest places that I have seen so far in my quest of the 14ers.
Here are my pictures from the climb:
After the climb I headed back to Silverton to hang out at the finish line and watch people come across. I just love the aura that surrounds a 100 miler.
Hope everyone has a great week! I am planning on doing Mount Lindsey this coming Saturday so I will post pictures/report next week on that.
Monday, June 29, 2009
New York Times Article on Bighorn 100
The full article can be seen by clicking here. I also have copied the text below.
Shad
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around-the-Clock Footrace Embraces Rugged Landscape
By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: June 27, 2009
DAYTON, Wyo. — A tiny ranger station cabin at 1:30 a.m. — with cold, muddy feet and sore muscles after 48 miles of rugged mountain trail running, and 52 miles still to go when you head back out into the chilly darkness at 9,000 feet — may seem like a strange place to find bliss.
About 600 runners competed in four distance events along the wilderness trails of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming.
And a grilled cheese sandwich may seem like the least likely of bliss-inducers. But there it was, handed to me by an aid-station volunteer. After one bite, I sincerely felt that that sandwich, probably quite ordinary in the real world I had left behind more than 13 hours earlier, on a sunny Friday morning in Dayton at the start of the Bighorn Trail 100, was perhaps the best thing I’d ever tasted. I savored every greasy crumb.
Intensity of experience — from giddy joy to bleak gloom and back again — was the signature stamp of my participation in a 100-mile race through the mountains of northeastern Wyoming last weekend. Like the rolling green landscape itself, there was no flat, no lukewarm and no moderation , the 107 runners climbing 17,500 feet and descending about the same on mostly narrow single-track trails.
Anything, especially later in the race as mentally fatigued runners neared the 34-hour cutoff, could break through to overwhelm the senses with its power. It might be a sound. That cracking noise in the woods — what was it? Or a sight — how immense the orange crescent moon seemed, rising as you headed down the trail alone with your headlamp and thoughts at 4 a.m. Or a taste — how something as simple as a sandwich could make you swoon when your body was screaming for calories.
The result, for a plodding midpack runner whose only hope was to finish, was not triumph but awe.
And a few humbling realizations: That the Bighorn Mountains could not be conquered by a mere human being on foot. That shoe-sucking mud and thigh-deep snow banks, and steep climbs that sometimes felt as if they would never end, were things that at best could be fought only to a draw, and even then only with luck. And that as tough as you think you are, there is always somebody tougher and faster, and that the course itself, in the end, would always be tougher still.
This year’s winner, Karl Meltzer, 41, of Sandy, Utah, broke the course record, in 19 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds. His run included an encounter with an annoyed moose in the middle of the night that he said forced him to dive into the woods and hide behind a tree. Meltzer also held the previous course record, 20:12:58, set in 2007.
By the standards of a road marathon or a 10-kilometer race, that is absurdly slow — about 5.2 miles per hour, even taking into account nocturnal moose entanglements. But one of the lessons of the Bighorn, to this first-time participant at least, was that going 5.2 miles per hour around the clock in this terrain might as well be the same thing as sprouting wings — unimaginable and beyond understanding.
Averaging such a pace (I mustered just under 3 m.p.h. in finishing at 32:25:14 and was left spent in every way I could think of) meant running very fast in the places where a person could run at all to compensate for the miles where the terrain was too steep, or the trail too rutted, rough and rocky to allow anything but hiking — or for participants like me, a slow grinding crawl. No one before this year had ever broken 20 hours.
Bighorn, like most long trail races, gives each runner autonomy on how the goal may best be accomplished. The trail was well marked, and the aid stations — four to six miles apart — were stocked with food and water. But there were no scheduled breaks, only the continual ticking of the 34-hour cut-off clock in the backdrop as a goading reminder that every pause came with a price. Seventy-two people, from all over the country and a few from Canada, got through in time.
But like so many pieces of the modern West, there was also a great backstory at the Bighorn 100 about the relationship of people and the landscape.
In the late 1980s, a hydroelectric project was proposed that would have flooded some areas near Dayton and torn up the canyons. A group of residents had the idea, unlikely as it sounds, of starting a wilderness foot race (initially 30K, 50K and 50-mile distances, only extending to the 100-mile in 2002) as a way of fighting back.
The notion was that by exposing more people to the valleys and passes of the Bighorn Range, environmental defenders might be sprouted who would fall in love and write letters opposing the project and the harm it would do to the Indian burial grounds and the elk caving ranges along the Dry Fork and Little Bighorn Rivers, where much of the course unfolds. “It was wild and scenic, and we wanted to keep it that way,” the race director, Michelle Maneval, said.
Whether runner enthusiasm played a role, the electricity plan was eventually shelved, Maneval said. By then, the race, begun in 1993, had taken on its own life. Always held around the summer solstice, it requires around 370 volunteers to pull off, including 120 on the search-and-rescue squad, with 600 runners competing in four distance events.
And it all ends in a park in downtown Dayton that feels like small-town summer Saturday night distilled to its essence of lawn chairs and barbecue smoke. By then, it is hard not to feel, if only from the mud you wear and the deep-tissue ache of long distance, that you are different from what you were before. And there is a bittersweet feeling to that. You have touched the boundary of something bigger than yourself, but also lost something too, in the certainty that a grilled cheese sandwich, in all likelihood, will never again taste so sweet.
Shad
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around-the-Clock Footrace Embraces Rugged Landscape
By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: June 27, 2009
DAYTON, Wyo. — A tiny ranger station cabin at 1:30 a.m. — with cold, muddy feet and sore muscles after 48 miles of rugged mountain trail running, and 52 miles still to go when you head back out into the chilly darkness at 9,000 feet — may seem like a strange place to find bliss.
About 600 runners competed in four distance events along the wilderness trails of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming.
And a grilled cheese sandwich may seem like the least likely of bliss-inducers. But there it was, handed to me by an aid-station volunteer. After one bite, I sincerely felt that that sandwich, probably quite ordinary in the real world I had left behind more than 13 hours earlier, on a sunny Friday morning in Dayton at the start of the Bighorn Trail 100, was perhaps the best thing I’d ever tasted. I savored every greasy crumb.
Intensity of experience — from giddy joy to bleak gloom and back again — was the signature stamp of my participation in a 100-mile race through the mountains of northeastern Wyoming last weekend. Like the rolling green landscape itself, there was no flat, no lukewarm and no moderation , the 107 runners climbing 17,500 feet and descending about the same on mostly narrow single-track trails.
Anything, especially later in the race as mentally fatigued runners neared the 34-hour cutoff, could break through to overwhelm the senses with its power. It might be a sound. That cracking noise in the woods — what was it? Or a sight — how immense the orange crescent moon seemed, rising as you headed down the trail alone with your headlamp and thoughts at 4 a.m. Or a taste — how something as simple as a sandwich could make you swoon when your body was screaming for calories.
The result, for a plodding midpack runner whose only hope was to finish, was not triumph but awe.
And a few humbling realizations: That the Bighorn Mountains could not be conquered by a mere human being on foot. That shoe-sucking mud and thigh-deep snow banks, and steep climbs that sometimes felt as if they would never end, were things that at best could be fought only to a draw, and even then only with luck. And that as tough as you think you are, there is always somebody tougher and faster, and that the course itself, in the end, would always be tougher still.
This year’s winner, Karl Meltzer, 41, of Sandy, Utah, broke the course record, in 19 hours 15 minutes 26 seconds. His run included an encounter with an annoyed moose in the middle of the night that he said forced him to dive into the woods and hide behind a tree. Meltzer also held the previous course record, 20:12:58, set in 2007.
By the standards of a road marathon or a 10-kilometer race, that is absurdly slow — about 5.2 miles per hour, even taking into account nocturnal moose entanglements. But one of the lessons of the Bighorn, to this first-time participant at least, was that going 5.2 miles per hour around the clock in this terrain might as well be the same thing as sprouting wings — unimaginable and beyond understanding.
Averaging such a pace (I mustered just under 3 m.p.h. in finishing at 32:25:14 and was left spent in every way I could think of) meant running very fast in the places where a person could run at all to compensate for the miles where the terrain was too steep, or the trail too rutted, rough and rocky to allow anything but hiking — or for participants like me, a slow grinding crawl. No one before this year had ever broken 20 hours.
Bighorn, like most long trail races, gives each runner autonomy on how the goal may best be accomplished. The trail was well marked, and the aid stations — four to six miles apart — were stocked with food and water. But there were no scheduled breaks, only the continual ticking of the 34-hour cut-off clock in the backdrop as a goading reminder that every pause came with a price. Seventy-two people, from all over the country and a few from Canada, got through in time.
But like so many pieces of the modern West, there was also a great backstory at the Bighorn 100 about the relationship of people and the landscape.
In the late 1980s, a hydroelectric project was proposed that would have flooded some areas near Dayton and torn up the canyons. A group of residents had the idea, unlikely as it sounds, of starting a wilderness foot race (initially 30K, 50K and 50-mile distances, only extending to the 100-mile in 2002) as a way of fighting back.
The notion was that by exposing more people to the valleys and passes of the Bighorn Range, environmental defenders might be sprouted who would fall in love and write letters opposing the project and the harm it would do to the Indian burial grounds and the elk caving ranges along the Dry Fork and Little Bighorn Rivers, where much of the course unfolds. “It was wild and scenic, and we wanted to keep it that way,” the race director, Michelle Maneval, said.
Whether runner enthusiasm played a role, the electricity plan was eventually shelved, Maneval said. By then, the race, begun in 1993, had taken on its own life. Always held around the summer solstice, it requires around 370 volunteers to pull off, including 120 on the search-and-rescue squad, with 600 runners competing in four distance events.
And it all ends in a park in downtown Dayton that feels like small-town summer Saturday night distilled to its essence of lawn chairs and barbecue smoke. By then, it is hard not to feel, if only from the mud you wear and the deep-tissue ache of long distance, that you are different from what you were before. And there is a bittersweet feeling to that. You have touched the boundary of something bigger than yourself, but also lost something too, in the certainty that a grilled cheese sandwich, in all likelihood, will never again taste so sweet.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Bighorn 100 Report (100 mile try #2)
Well Ashley and I headed out to Northern WY this past weekend to give the 100 miler another shot. It was a learning experence that is for sure. One of these days I will get one.
Race Description
The Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Run is an arduous trail run that will take place in the Little Bighorn – Tongue River areas of the Bighorn National Forest. Starting time for the event will be 11 AM, Friday June 19, 2009, with a 34 hour (average pace of 2.94 mph) time limit to finish the event. Runners must be prepared for potential extreme temperature variation and weather conditions during the event with possible temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the day in the canyons and being well below freezing at night in the mountains. The course is wild and scenic traversing territory inhabited by elk, deer, moose, bears, cougars, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes with the potential for wildlife encounters with runners. Crew access points on parts of the course are limited and the runner should be prepared to participate with a fanny pack and other necessary equipment to ensure their ability to safely traverse difficult remote mountainous trails in potentially unpredictable weather conditions. The course is an out-and-back consisting of 76 miles of single track trail, 16 miles of rugged double track jeep trail, and 8 miles of gravel road with approximately 17,500 feet of climb and 18,000 feet of descent.
Profile
Weather
Hot during the day and cold/windy in the night. The sunset and sunrise were perfect.
Race Report
Well it was a lot of fun, Ashley and I learned a lot of lessons that we actually wrote down for future reference. Basically there was no reason that I should not have finished this race if I would have had planned the drop bag correctly and thought out the whole race a little better. It seemed like the whole weekend was one big rush and that attitude seemed to catch up with us.
We left Denver around 11am the day before the race after Ashley got off work which would put us in Sheridan around 5-5:30pm for the race check in, which closed at 7pm, lots of time. About 10 miles outside of Sheridan we drove through a huge rain storm that seemed to be heading towards town and our camp site. We decided to stop at the KOA and pitch the tent quickly before the rain hit and before heading into town for the race check-in. We got to the KOA about 5:30pm, pitched the tent and were at the race check-in before 6:30pm, lots of time with the exception that they were already closed!! Are you kidding me! The website said until 7pm. There were still people there to weigh me in and give me my race bib but the drop bag people were long gone. No drop bag, great. This seemed to set the tone for the whole 1st day. All we could do is go get some dinner, beer and rest up for the race the next day.
The next morning after having some breakfast with Ashley, Braden, and Joe (my pacer who showed up in the middle of the night) we headed to the race start about 9am for the pre race briefing, the only problem was there was no one there. Fuck! The briefing was in the park in Dayton at the finish line not up the canyon where the race started. That was my fault for miss reading the packet. When we realized the error and got to the park as the meeting was getting over and people were leaving to go to the start up the canyon. At this point I was so worked up on the way things were going I just got quite and kept my mouth shut before I said something that I would regret to someone. Ashley and Joe went to find the race director to tell her what had happened at the check in and see if we could get a drop bag up to the Footbridge. Of course I put it away since they did not take it last night, so when she said that she would it there but needed right away I had to rush to throw some gels, Snicker bars, and a long sleeve tech shirt in the bag. This was one of my mistakes that I will talk about later. Now let’s get to the start line and talk about the race itself.
I had the following plan laid out which I though was very doable for this 100. Basically it was averaging 4mph the 1st 48 miles and 3mph coming back.
Mile 30- 7 hours
Mile 48- 12 hours
Mile 66- 18 hours
Average 3mph to the finish which would be 30 hours.
I was doing great the 1st part of the race staying on what I had laid out as a race plan. That 1st climb from the start up to Horse Creek was a bitch. It was basically a 4000ft climb in about 7 miles. I would say that the steepness of this compares to some of the easier 14ers trails here in Colorado. It just climbs and climbs and climbs. Needless to say there was a lot of power hiking up this section. Since it is all single track you kind of get stuck in a train which helps me to control my pace and not push to hard. From the top of the climb to Dry Fork is a rolling section that I ran with a 59 year old guy from Canada named Karl Jensen. Karl ran his 1st 100 miler in 1993 then took off 6 years to build his house. In 1999 he ran his 2nd 100 miler and has completed over 35 of them since 1999. Amazing!! He basically told me to slow my roll and do not run any uphills what so ever. He ended up finishing less than 29 hours. Our little group of 3 also included Doug Blackford who is a retired house builder from N.C. I spent the next 10-15 miles almost to mile 30 running and swapping stories with Doug who ended up winning his age division of over 60 with a 31:52 finish. Maybe I should have just hung with him the entire race.
I came into Footbridge (mile 30) at 7:05 right on target which would be 6pm after the huge 2 mile/2500 foot downhill. It was warm and I was feeling good. I would not see my crew until the turn around at mile 48 so I told them I should be there around 12-13 hours (big climb heading out). I figured that since it was warm and it was only 9000ft high at the turn around that a long sleeve shirt should be enough to get me to the turn around, so that is all I had in my drop bag. I was wrong! By the time I came into a back country aid station called Elk Camp (a lot like Hope Pass station in Leadville 100) at mile 43, I was frozen from the wind and the dramatic temp drop that happened when the sun went down, moving very slow, shaking uncontrollably and I lost my stomach also during this stretch. I spent about 2 hours there warming up by the fire and lost lots of other time from moving so slow trying to get there. Finally a runner came through that had an extra wind breaker and let me have it. I put it on along with a shower cap to trap the heat from my head that they had at the aid station, and my I-Pod cranking Tool and hiked up to the turn around at the Ranger Station getting there at 16-16:30 during the race, way off my pace. After getting my warm clothes on, picking up my pacer I starting walking back trying to get my stomach back. I had only thrown up twice so far and was still peeing with clear high volume every couple of hours which is a good sign. That means that I am drinking correctly. Walking back I had a cup of mashed potatoes which every 5-10 mins I would take a spoonful and wash it down with a gulp of water. I did this all the way back to Elk Camp which is where I got stuck at earlier. At Elk Camp I ate a couple of Ginger Cookies, filled my bottle and camel back, and hit the trail with Joe.
About mile 55 as the sun was coming up I got my stomach back and was able to keep small amounts of food down. We started jogging all the downhills trying to make up the time I spent warming up and walking slow due to being frozen earlier but could not make up enough time. Joe did a great job of keeping me motivated and moving forward. I would hit high points where I felt great and we would jog, and low points where I was walking even the downhills. The last big downhill coming into the Footbridge aid station was a 4000ft drop in about 6 miles. I got wrecked on this section. I was not wearing my normal camel pack but a small backpack with a bladder in it, I needed something to put my muddy/wet night clothes in after the sun came up since my pacer was not allowed to carry or mule my stuff. Of course my dumb ass never trained with this pack so by the time I got to the Footbridge my back was trashed.
I came into Footbridge(mile 66) about 30mins before the cutoff of 11am and based on the speed was I going did not think that I had enough time (4ish hours) to make the next cut off/drop point (mile 83) so I dropped instead of trashing myself. It was a good effort in my mind.
I just have not been able to get this 100 mile thing figured out. I think that course was tougher than Leadville due to hills, mud (lots of shoe sucking mud), snow and the remote nature of the course. If you do not plan your drop bags right (which I did not) you can easy pay the price. I am in good enough shape; there is no doubt but I still struggling with the food/clothes/logistics of the whole thing.
Anyway today my legs feel mostly recovered already. I have very little soreness in the legs at all. My feet on the other had are trashed from all the water and mud. It is going to take 1-2 weeks for all the open wounds on my heels to heal up. I got blisters on my heels that we popped and duct taped during the race (1st time ever!). They ended up getting a little infected. Sunday night after getting home Ashley cleaned them up and found some more blisters under the blisters. We cut them all open and disinfected them all. Needless to say I was screaming like a little girl while she did this. Nice to have a medic girl to save the doctor office trips. I am having trouble walking on my feet still today but at least the legs feel good. This is the first time that I have ever gotten bad blisters in a race or on a run. I have gotten blisters before but never painful ones.
I want to thank Ashley/Braden for crewing me and putting up with all the hours I spent training. Joe for making the drive up there by himself to pace me, welcome to the world of 100s Joe! And Paul for helping me with my training plan, I am sorry that my poor planning caused a DNF after all the hard work we put in.
I am going to take this month off from structured training, still going to run when the feet heal up, and figure out what is next. I really want to keep building and try again this fall with maybe the Boulder 100 or a 50 miler or a marathon or two. Of course I need to knock out 5 or so 14ers this month also if I can so stay tuned for those trip reports.
If you have any ideas of some good races to look at I am all ears. I am thinking about the Steamboat 50, or Blue Sky 50k, or Boulder 100, or Pony Express 100. Also looking at the Tucson Marathon in Dec to go try to run fast for a Boston time. I will be down at HardRock 100 in a few weeks to pace JT on a 15 mile section.
Ashley and I are going to talk this all over as we are driving out to Iowa this weekend for my Grandma’s 90th birthday and figure out what is next. Let me know if you have any ideas.
Thanks for reading and here are some photos from the race. Hit the trails!
Race Description
The Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Run is an arduous trail run that will take place in the Little Bighorn – Tongue River areas of the Bighorn National Forest. Starting time for the event will be 11 AM, Friday June 19, 2009, with a 34 hour (average pace of 2.94 mph) time limit to finish the event. Runners must be prepared for potential extreme temperature variation and weather conditions during the event with possible temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the day in the canyons and being well below freezing at night in the mountains. The course is wild and scenic traversing territory inhabited by elk, deer, moose, bears, cougars, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes with the potential for wildlife encounters with runners. Crew access points on parts of the course are limited and the runner should be prepared to participate with a fanny pack and other necessary equipment to ensure their ability to safely traverse difficult remote mountainous trails in potentially unpredictable weather conditions. The course is an out-and-back consisting of 76 miles of single track trail, 16 miles of rugged double track jeep trail, and 8 miles of gravel road with approximately 17,500 feet of climb and 18,000 feet of descent.
Profile
Weather
Hot during the day and cold/windy in the night. The sunset and sunrise were perfect.
Race Report
Well it was a lot of fun, Ashley and I learned a lot of lessons that we actually wrote down for future reference. Basically there was no reason that I should not have finished this race if I would have had planned the drop bag correctly and thought out the whole race a little better. It seemed like the whole weekend was one big rush and that attitude seemed to catch up with us.
We left Denver around 11am the day before the race after Ashley got off work which would put us in Sheridan around 5-5:30pm for the race check in, which closed at 7pm, lots of time. About 10 miles outside of Sheridan we drove through a huge rain storm that seemed to be heading towards town and our camp site. We decided to stop at the KOA and pitch the tent quickly before the rain hit and before heading into town for the race check-in. We got to the KOA about 5:30pm, pitched the tent and were at the race check-in before 6:30pm, lots of time with the exception that they were already closed!! Are you kidding me! The website said until 7pm. There were still people there to weigh me in and give me my race bib but the drop bag people were long gone. No drop bag, great. This seemed to set the tone for the whole 1st day. All we could do is go get some dinner, beer and rest up for the race the next day.
The next morning after having some breakfast with Ashley, Braden, and Joe (my pacer who showed up in the middle of the night) we headed to the race start about 9am for the pre race briefing, the only problem was there was no one there. Fuck! The briefing was in the park in Dayton at the finish line not up the canyon where the race started. That was my fault for miss reading the packet. When we realized the error and got to the park as the meeting was getting over and people were leaving to go to the start up the canyon. At this point I was so worked up on the way things were going I just got quite and kept my mouth shut before I said something that I would regret to someone. Ashley and Joe went to find the race director to tell her what had happened at the check in and see if we could get a drop bag up to the Footbridge. Of course I put it away since they did not take it last night, so when she said that she would it there but needed right away I had to rush to throw some gels, Snicker bars, and a long sleeve tech shirt in the bag. This was one of my mistakes that I will talk about later. Now let’s get to the start line and talk about the race itself.
I had the following plan laid out which I though was very doable for this 100. Basically it was averaging 4mph the 1st 48 miles and 3mph coming back.
Mile 30- 7 hours
Mile 48- 12 hours
Mile 66- 18 hours
Average 3mph to the finish which would be 30 hours.
I was doing great the 1st part of the race staying on what I had laid out as a race plan. That 1st climb from the start up to Horse Creek was a bitch. It was basically a 4000ft climb in about 7 miles. I would say that the steepness of this compares to some of the easier 14ers trails here in Colorado. It just climbs and climbs and climbs. Needless to say there was a lot of power hiking up this section. Since it is all single track you kind of get stuck in a train which helps me to control my pace and not push to hard. From the top of the climb to Dry Fork is a rolling section that I ran with a 59 year old guy from Canada named Karl Jensen. Karl ran his 1st 100 miler in 1993 then took off 6 years to build his house. In 1999 he ran his 2nd 100 miler and has completed over 35 of them since 1999. Amazing!! He basically told me to slow my roll and do not run any uphills what so ever. He ended up finishing less than 29 hours. Our little group of 3 also included Doug Blackford who is a retired house builder from N.C. I spent the next 10-15 miles almost to mile 30 running and swapping stories with Doug who ended up winning his age division of over 60 with a 31:52 finish. Maybe I should have just hung with him the entire race.
I came into Footbridge (mile 30) at 7:05 right on target which would be 6pm after the huge 2 mile/2500 foot downhill. It was warm and I was feeling good. I would not see my crew until the turn around at mile 48 so I told them I should be there around 12-13 hours (big climb heading out). I figured that since it was warm and it was only 9000ft high at the turn around that a long sleeve shirt should be enough to get me to the turn around, so that is all I had in my drop bag. I was wrong! By the time I came into a back country aid station called Elk Camp (a lot like Hope Pass station in Leadville 100) at mile 43, I was frozen from the wind and the dramatic temp drop that happened when the sun went down, moving very slow, shaking uncontrollably and I lost my stomach also during this stretch. I spent about 2 hours there warming up by the fire and lost lots of other time from moving so slow trying to get there. Finally a runner came through that had an extra wind breaker and let me have it. I put it on along with a shower cap to trap the heat from my head that they had at the aid station, and my I-Pod cranking Tool and hiked up to the turn around at the Ranger Station getting there at 16-16:30 during the race, way off my pace. After getting my warm clothes on, picking up my pacer I starting walking back trying to get my stomach back. I had only thrown up twice so far and was still peeing with clear high volume every couple of hours which is a good sign. That means that I am drinking correctly. Walking back I had a cup of mashed potatoes which every 5-10 mins I would take a spoonful and wash it down with a gulp of water. I did this all the way back to Elk Camp which is where I got stuck at earlier. At Elk Camp I ate a couple of Ginger Cookies, filled my bottle and camel back, and hit the trail with Joe.
About mile 55 as the sun was coming up I got my stomach back and was able to keep small amounts of food down. We started jogging all the downhills trying to make up the time I spent warming up and walking slow due to being frozen earlier but could not make up enough time. Joe did a great job of keeping me motivated and moving forward. I would hit high points where I felt great and we would jog, and low points where I was walking even the downhills. The last big downhill coming into the Footbridge aid station was a 4000ft drop in about 6 miles. I got wrecked on this section. I was not wearing my normal camel pack but a small backpack with a bladder in it, I needed something to put my muddy/wet night clothes in after the sun came up since my pacer was not allowed to carry or mule my stuff. Of course my dumb ass never trained with this pack so by the time I got to the Footbridge my back was trashed.
I came into Footbridge(mile 66) about 30mins before the cutoff of 11am and based on the speed was I going did not think that I had enough time (4ish hours) to make the next cut off/drop point (mile 83) so I dropped instead of trashing myself. It was a good effort in my mind.
I just have not been able to get this 100 mile thing figured out. I think that course was tougher than Leadville due to hills, mud (lots of shoe sucking mud), snow and the remote nature of the course. If you do not plan your drop bags right (which I did not) you can easy pay the price. I am in good enough shape; there is no doubt but I still struggling with the food/clothes/logistics of the whole thing.
Anyway today my legs feel mostly recovered already. I have very little soreness in the legs at all. My feet on the other had are trashed from all the water and mud. It is going to take 1-2 weeks for all the open wounds on my heels to heal up. I got blisters on my heels that we popped and duct taped during the race (1st time ever!). They ended up getting a little infected. Sunday night after getting home Ashley cleaned them up and found some more blisters under the blisters. We cut them all open and disinfected them all. Needless to say I was screaming like a little girl while she did this. Nice to have a medic girl to save the doctor office trips. I am having trouble walking on my feet still today but at least the legs feel good. This is the first time that I have ever gotten bad blisters in a race or on a run. I have gotten blisters before but never painful ones.
I want to thank Ashley/Braden for crewing me and putting up with all the hours I spent training. Joe for making the drive up there by himself to pace me, welcome to the world of 100s Joe! And Paul for helping me with my training plan, I am sorry that my poor planning caused a DNF after all the hard work we put in.
I am going to take this month off from structured training, still going to run when the feet heal up, and figure out what is next. I really want to keep building and try again this fall with maybe the Boulder 100 or a 50 miler or a marathon or two. Of course I need to knock out 5 or so 14ers this month also if I can so stay tuned for those trip reports.
If you have any ideas of some good races to look at I am all ears. I am thinking about the Steamboat 50, or Blue Sky 50k, or Boulder 100, or Pony Express 100. Also looking at the Tucson Marathon in Dec to go try to run fast for a Boston time. I will be down at HardRock 100 in a few weeks to pace JT on a 15 mile section.
Ashley and I are going to talk this all over as we are driving out to Iowa this weekend for my Grandma’s 90th birthday and figure out what is next. Let me know if you have any ideas.
Thanks for reading and here are some photos from the race. Hit the trails!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Leadville 100 mile run-- Race Report
This past Saturday the whole year of training finally came to age, it was time to try and run my 1st 100 miler and I choose Leadville. Leadville is a classic course that you have to give respect to, if you don't it will chew you up and spit you out. With the average elevation at 11,000 feet above sea level it is one of the highest 100 milers in the country and below is my experience.
Race Website
Event Description:
50 miles out and back in the midst of the Colorado Rockies. Lowest point is 9,200 ft. and the highest point is Hope Pass, 12,600 ft. The majority is on forest trails with some mountain roads. Pacers allowed after the 50 mile point. 11 well-supplied aid stations with cut-offs; 5 are medical checks.
Here is the race Profile, you read the 1st 50 miles left to right then backwards for the second 50.
Weather:
The weather forecast for both Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th was a high of 55, low of 30 with a 60% chance of rain and snow up to 4-8 inches. It never did snow that much but there was lots rain and hail with some snow. It was an interesting day of weather.
Race Report:
The start of the race at 4:00 am was much better than I expected based on what NOAA was predicting for the weekend (see above). There was little rain and I was more awake than I thought I would be considering I only got about 2 hours of sleep. It was a good thing that I went up to Leadville on Wed night to get away from the everyday crap that goes on so I could rest as much as possible. The 2 previous nights I slept 12 and 10 hours each. I ran nice and slow from the start, taking my time getting to Mayqueen, mile 13.5 or so. I stopped to take a leak a few times which is good, means I am starting out with good hydration. I continued on around Turquoise Lake where I ended up behind a line of dozens of very slow folks which helped me start out at the slow pace that I wanted. I have a bad habit of taking off at the start line and burning myself out in longer races, for example you can go back in my blog and read about Red Hot 50K and Greenland 50K where I did this. There really was nothing eventful about this section. It was really neat to see about 500 headlamps going around the single track trail of the lake though. I made it into Mayqueen at 2:18, about 3 minutes slower than I intended. At Mayqueen I ate as much as I could, half a banana, half a peanut butter sandwich, a bottle of Cytomax, fig newton and some candy. During this section I had lots of water, candy, and a gel. I was trying to stay ahead of the calorie curve as much as I could. I spent a few mins in the tent refilling my Camelback and kept walking up the road while eating everything that Ashley was giving me.
I was going good leaving Mayqueen and looking forward to climbing up Sugarloaf, but as I climbed to the top of Sugarloaf there was a rain/snow/hail storm. Even with the storm I was able to keep a good clip up and down the hill which kept me some what warm considering how wet I was. I was wearing lots of clothing along with my Gortex jacket but that did not make a huge difference. I came into the Fish Hatchery some what cold about 2 hours later for a total running time of about 4:18 at this point. I changed my gloves because my hands were freezing and headed out on the road to treeline. The stretch from the Fish Hatchery to Halfmoon my least favorite part of the course, so I had to work to keep a decent pace here, usually I run/walked this section in training all summer, using the telephone poles on the road, I would walk one and run three, but today on the outbound I was able to run all the way to Treeline and run/walk the rest to Halfmoon. During this section I ate 1 gel, granola bar, some hard candy, and drank most of my water bladder. At the Fish Hatchery Ashley feed me half a peanut butter sandwich, 1 bottle of Cytomax, and an oatmeal pie cookie. On the road to Treeline I drank one more bottle of Cytomax.
I came into Treeline at 5:04 and Halfmoon at 5:34, still close to my goal pace.
From Halfmoon to Twin Lakes I was able to keep up a good run/walk cycle that got me into Twin Lakes at 7:35. During this section I was starting to have trouble with nausea so my food intake drop drastically. I drank lots of water during this section, almost the whole bladder, but only ate some hard candy. This was the start of mistake one. When I came into Twin Lakes I tried to get caught up on my calories. I ate some watermelon, 1/4 of peanut butter sandwich, cookie, and one bottle of Cytomax. Looking back it was not enough calories as you will see in the next section. Also in this section I took the wrong trail and by the time I realized it I was far down the hill. I cussed myself out because I did the same thing a month earlier in training and new better. This mistake cost me about 15 mins and 1-1.5 miles.
The run from Twin Lakes to the top of Hope is where things started falling apart. The climb up Hope was very muddy and it started to hail on me pretty hard, when it was not hailing it was raining. There was so much hail on the trail that it looked like it was under an inch of snow, the trail was whited out. I was having all kinds of problems with staying warm that by the time I hit Hopeless aid station at 9:26 the aid station worker pulled me and wrapped me in a blanket. I was shivering and was not responding to their questions very well. They wrapped me up and started pushing chicken broth and magic mash potato drink. They told me that I got this way because I did not have enough calories for my body to generate heat, not good. After about 20-30 mins I bounced back and left to run down to Winfield, the halfway point. On the way down I drank a bottle of Poweraid. I got into Winfield at 11:39 into the race, 30 mins behind my goal pace but still OK in my book considering what has happened so far. At Winfield I ate some more potato soup, bottle of Cytomax, and some noodles, this was all I could handle right now. After chowing down Nick (my pacer) and I took off up the road at a quick walking pace.
The climb back up Hope was hard and a good challenge. Nick drove me hard up the hill and we reached the Hopeless Aid at 13:51 into the race. When I reached Hopeless, I thought I was doing OK. I sat down on a log by the fire and ate some more potato soup. While I was sitting there Nick was in the tent getting himself some food another runner started puking right next to me, this causing me to loose everything that I had in my stomach. After a few minutes and some Poweraid Nick and left to get down to Twin Lakes. I had Nick get in front and just hold a quick power hike down the hill, I did not think that my stomach could hold up the the jarring action of running. Some where along this muddy trail another mistake was made and I can not pin point when it happened. As I was sliding around in the mud I twisted my left knee really good I think. It started hurting like hell and a couple of times it even just gave out on me as I was trying to walk down the hill. I was very thankful that I decided back in Winfield to use my hiking poles on this section. I think I will be using them all the way to the end. I tried to jog/run a couple of times across the field to the river crossing but my knee just would not let me, it would just give out and I would catch myself with my hiking poles. As we were coming into Twin Lakes I was starting to run out of energy. I have puked up everything that I had eaten since Winfield which meant that I had not had anything but Poweraid and Cytomax for calories since the 45 mile mark and this was mile 60. This was not good. I got into Twin Lakes at 15:32 into the race. At Twin Lakes I took the time and put on dry clothes and shoes since the night was coming. I was going to do everything I could to stay warm since my experience during the 1st time over Hope. I ate some more soup, other food that I can not remember, and drank some hot green tea to warm up the insides. After about 15 mins in the aid station my new pacer Tim and I took off for Treeline.
As Tim and I took off to climb out of Twin Lakes, little did I know that this next section was going to be a true test for me. The first mile up the hill went alright, but then I just stopped in the middle of the jeep road and puked up all the food I just ate at Twin Lakes, there went my precious calories into the dirt. Tim and I just kept walking, between my knee pain on any kind of up or down hill and my quickly disappearing energy this was all I could do. Finally a few hours later of me stumbling through the woods Tim got me to eat 2 crackers which stayed down. This was a good sign, now if my knee would just rebound. During this section I had to stop a lot to rest, I just had no energy at all. Tim kept asking me to eat and I kept turning him down. This was another mistake on my part, I should have made myself eat even if it was going to come up. This section was the longest section ever, we got into Halfmoon at 19:40, it took me 4 hours to go 9 or so miles, my race was falling apart. In Halfmoon the lady in charge of the cut offs (I can not remember her name) got me to eat a couple more crackers and 1/4 of a banana. She talked to me and told me just to keep trying to keep food down and to keep going. It was pretty safe from there to the Fish Hatchery to experiment to see if I could get my energy and knee back. With that advice Tim and I headed out of Halfmoon to meet the crew and the new pacer Patty at Treeline. From Halfmoon to Treeline is about 2.5 mile jog down the road, we walked it, I had no energy. During this short section I kept seeing some weird things. I saw some wild life that was not there and someone walking between Tim and I. That was very weird and the first time that that has happened to me. I also kept falling asleep while walking, when this happened I would stumble or trip which would wake me up and kill my damaged knee. Thank god for the hiking poles, they saved me so many times.
At treeline, I must have looked like death. When I got there my crew threw me in the truck to warm me up and try and get me to eat which I would not do. Finally Ashley started rubbing honey on my gums and with in minutes a little energy came back to me. With this new found small amount of energy my new pacer Patty and I headed out down the road to the Fish Hatchery. By this time my left knee was trashed. I already knew that there was no way that I was going to be able to make the climb over Sugarloaf with it. I was OK going on with low energy but not with my knee. During this short section to Sugarloaf I went back and forth in my head trying to figure out how to get myself up that mountain, there just was no way. I knee was giving out and I was falling over just walking down the road. By the time that I reached the Fish Hatchery at 22:40 into the race I threw in the towel with no regrets.
I know that I am not a great writer but I hope that you enjoyed sharing this little story with me. I would like to thank Ashley who has been putting up with me and my training for the past 7-8 months, she was also my main crew and was supposed to pace me from Mayqueen to the end, sorry we did not get that far. I want to also thank Dan for helping Ashley crew me all day and letting us use his truck. Thank you to all my pacers in order of what they did or were supposed to pace, Nick, Tim, Patty, Rebecca, and Ashley. It meant a lot to Ashley and I for you to come up to Leadville to try and help me complete this course. I am sorry to those pacers (Rebecca and Ashley) who did not get to run.
Even though we did not make it 100 miles as a team we were still successful! I am very happy and proud of this effort. At the same time I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. I also learned a great deal about the great people that I have surrounded myself with. Next time we will go even farther!
Shad
Here is a slideshow of all the pictures that I have.
Race Website
Event Description:
50 miles out and back in the midst of the Colorado Rockies. Lowest point is 9,200 ft. and the highest point is Hope Pass, 12,600 ft. The majority is on forest trails with some mountain roads. Pacers allowed after the 50 mile point. 11 well-supplied aid stations with cut-offs; 5 are medical checks.
Here is the race Profile, you read the 1st 50 miles left to right then backwards for the second 50.
Weather:
The weather forecast for both Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th was a high of 55, low of 30 with a 60% chance of rain and snow up to 4-8 inches. It never did snow that much but there was lots rain and hail with some snow. It was an interesting day of weather.
Race Report:
The start of the race at 4:00 am was much better than I expected based on what NOAA was predicting for the weekend (see above). There was little rain and I was more awake than I thought I would be considering I only got about 2 hours of sleep. It was a good thing that I went up to Leadville on Wed night to get away from the everyday crap that goes on so I could rest as much as possible. The 2 previous nights I slept 12 and 10 hours each. I ran nice and slow from the start, taking my time getting to Mayqueen, mile 13.5 or so. I stopped to take a leak a few times which is good, means I am starting out with good hydration. I continued on around Turquoise Lake where I ended up behind a line of dozens of very slow folks which helped me start out at the slow pace that I wanted. I have a bad habit of taking off at the start line and burning myself out in longer races, for example you can go back in my blog and read about Red Hot 50K and Greenland 50K where I did this. There really was nothing eventful about this section. It was really neat to see about 500 headlamps going around the single track trail of the lake though. I made it into Mayqueen at 2:18, about 3 minutes slower than I intended. At Mayqueen I ate as much as I could, half a banana, half a peanut butter sandwich, a bottle of Cytomax, fig newton and some candy. During this section I had lots of water, candy, and a gel. I was trying to stay ahead of the calorie curve as much as I could. I spent a few mins in the tent refilling my Camelback and kept walking up the road while eating everything that Ashley was giving me.
I was going good leaving Mayqueen and looking forward to climbing up Sugarloaf, but as I climbed to the top of Sugarloaf there was a rain/snow/hail storm. Even with the storm I was able to keep a good clip up and down the hill which kept me some what warm considering how wet I was. I was wearing lots of clothing along with my Gortex jacket but that did not make a huge difference. I came into the Fish Hatchery some what cold about 2 hours later for a total running time of about 4:18 at this point. I changed my gloves because my hands were freezing and headed out on the road to treeline. The stretch from the Fish Hatchery to Halfmoon my least favorite part of the course, so I had to work to keep a decent pace here, usually I run/walked this section in training all summer, using the telephone poles on the road, I would walk one and run three, but today on the outbound I was able to run all the way to Treeline and run/walk the rest to Halfmoon. During this section I ate 1 gel, granola bar, some hard candy, and drank most of my water bladder. At the Fish Hatchery Ashley feed me half a peanut butter sandwich, 1 bottle of Cytomax, and an oatmeal pie cookie. On the road to Treeline I drank one more bottle of Cytomax.
I came into Treeline at 5:04 and Halfmoon at 5:34, still close to my goal pace.
From Halfmoon to Twin Lakes I was able to keep up a good run/walk cycle that got me into Twin Lakes at 7:35. During this section I was starting to have trouble with nausea so my food intake drop drastically. I drank lots of water during this section, almost the whole bladder, but only ate some hard candy. This was the start of mistake one. When I came into Twin Lakes I tried to get caught up on my calories. I ate some watermelon, 1/4 of peanut butter sandwich, cookie, and one bottle of Cytomax. Looking back it was not enough calories as you will see in the next section. Also in this section I took the wrong trail and by the time I realized it I was far down the hill. I cussed myself out because I did the same thing a month earlier in training and new better. This mistake cost me about 15 mins and 1-1.5 miles.
The run from Twin Lakes to the top of Hope is where things started falling apart. The climb up Hope was very muddy and it started to hail on me pretty hard, when it was not hailing it was raining. There was so much hail on the trail that it looked like it was under an inch of snow, the trail was whited out. I was having all kinds of problems with staying warm that by the time I hit Hopeless aid station at 9:26 the aid station worker pulled me and wrapped me in a blanket. I was shivering and was not responding to their questions very well. They wrapped me up and started pushing chicken broth and magic mash potato drink. They told me that I got this way because I did not have enough calories for my body to generate heat, not good. After about 20-30 mins I bounced back and left to run down to Winfield, the halfway point. On the way down I drank a bottle of Poweraid. I got into Winfield at 11:39 into the race, 30 mins behind my goal pace but still OK in my book considering what has happened so far. At Winfield I ate some more potato soup, bottle of Cytomax, and some noodles, this was all I could handle right now. After chowing down Nick (my pacer) and I took off up the road at a quick walking pace.
The climb back up Hope was hard and a good challenge. Nick drove me hard up the hill and we reached the Hopeless Aid at 13:51 into the race. When I reached Hopeless, I thought I was doing OK. I sat down on a log by the fire and ate some more potato soup. While I was sitting there Nick was in the tent getting himself some food another runner started puking right next to me, this causing me to loose everything that I had in my stomach. After a few minutes and some Poweraid Nick and left to get down to Twin Lakes. I had Nick get in front and just hold a quick power hike down the hill, I did not think that my stomach could hold up the the jarring action of running. Some where along this muddy trail another mistake was made and I can not pin point when it happened. As I was sliding around in the mud I twisted my left knee really good I think. It started hurting like hell and a couple of times it even just gave out on me as I was trying to walk down the hill. I was very thankful that I decided back in Winfield to use my hiking poles on this section. I think I will be using them all the way to the end. I tried to jog/run a couple of times across the field to the river crossing but my knee just would not let me, it would just give out and I would catch myself with my hiking poles. As we were coming into Twin Lakes I was starting to run out of energy. I have puked up everything that I had eaten since Winfield which meant that I had not had anything but Poweraid and Cytomax for calories since the 45 mile mark and this was mile 60. This was not good. I got into Twin Lakes at 15:32 into the race. At Twin Lakes I took the time and put on dry clothes and shoes since the night was coming. I was going to do everything I could to stay warm since my experience during the 1st time over Hope. I ate some more soup, other food that I can not remember, and drank some hot green tea to warm up the insides. After about 15 mins in the aid station my new pacer Tim and I took off for Treeline.
As Tim and I took off to climb out of Twin Lakes, little did I know that this next section was going to be a true test for me. The first mile up the hill went alright, but then I just stopped in the middle of the jeep road and puked up all the food I just ate at Twin Lakes, there went my precious calories into the dirt. Tim and I just kept walking, between my knee pain on any kind of up or down hill and my quickly disappearing energy this was all I could do. Finally a few hours later of me stumbling through the woods Tim got me to eat 2 crackers which stayed down. This was a good sign, now if my knee would just rebound. During this section I had to stop a lot to rest, I just had no energy at all. Tim kept asking me to eat and I kept turning him down. This was another mistake on my part, I should have made myself eat even if it was going to come up. This section was the longest section ever, we got into Halfmoon at 19:40, it took me 4 hours to go 9 or so miles, my race was falling apart. In Halfmoon the lady in charge of the cut offs (I can not remember her name) got me to eat a couple more crackers and 1/4 of a banana. She talked to me and told me just to keep trying to keep food down and to keep going. It was pretty safe from there to the Fish Hatchery to experiment to see if I could get my energy and knee back. With that advice Tim and I headed out of Halfmoon to meet the crew and the new pacer Patty at Treeline. From Halfmoon to Treeline is about 2.5 mile jog down the road, we walked it, I had no energy. During this short section I kept seeing some weird things. I saw some wild life that was not there and someone walking between Tim and I. That was very weird and the first time that that has happened to me. I also kept falling asleep while walking, when this happened I would stumble or trip which would wake me up and kill my damaged knee. Thank god for the hiking poles, they saved me so many times.
At treeline, I must have looked like death. When I got there my crew threw me in the truck to warm me up and try and get me to eat which I would not do. Finally Ashley started rubbing honey on my gums and with in minutes a little energy came back to me. With this new found small amount of energy my new pacer Patty and I headed out down the road to the Fish Hatchery. By this time my left knee was trashed. I already knew that there was no way that I was going to be able to make the climb over Sugarloaf with it. I was OK going on with low energy but not with my knee. During this short section to Sugarloaf I went back and forth in my head trying to figure out how to get myself up that mountain, there just was no way. I knee was giving out and I was falling over just walking down the road. By the time that I reached the Fish Hatchery at 22:40 into the race I threw in the towel with no regrets.
I know that I am not a great writer but I hope that you enjoyed sharing this little story with me. I would like to thank Ashley who has been putting up with me and my training for the past 7-8 months, she was also my main crew and was supposed to pace me from Mayqueen to the end, sorry we did not get that far. I want to also thank Dan for helping Ashley crew me all day and letting us use his truck. Thank you to all my pacers in order of what they did or were supposed to pace, Nick, Tim, Patty, Rebecca, and Ashley. It meant a lot to Ashley and I for you to come up to Leadville to try and help me complete this course. I am sorry to those pacers (Rebecca and Ashley) who did not get to run.
Even though we did not make it 100 miles as a team we were still successful! I am very happy and proud of this effort. At the same time I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. I also learned a great deal about the great people that I have surrounded myself with. Next time we will go even farther!
Shad
Here is a slideshow of all the pictures that I have.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)