2015 Salida Run Through Time Marathon Report

Writing this one with a feeling of mixed emotion. First race of the year... Done! Was it done at my goal? Nope. But I did finish. After puking my guts hourly for over 10 hours between 3AM and 1PM yesterday, it's a wonder I even got to run this race. Or was it just stupid? If I would have remembered my S-Caps, it may have been better. Overall, I ran a 50K today! After a 3 mile pre-race warmup, here is how things went down. I noticed on the warmup that my MAF was still sort of jacked. I guess that is somewhat expected given that I was puking so many hours before. I drank tons of broth and Gatorade to catch up but nothing can catch you up from retching your guts into the porcelain throne over and over.  The first few miles of the race went great. I did a great job at holding back as folks went out faster than they should. I just stayed religious to my HRM and tried to keep things between 165-170 (last year I was around 180 most of the first half). I was surprised though that the lead pack was not more strung out right away keeping the pace decent. After looping back by the start, we started to weave up the infamous "S" mountain. The climb up this is not as severe as it would appear since there is all the switchbacks and whatnot. I just hung to upper 160s to 170 HR max and continued to cruise. Just before the first aid station, I felt like I was being held back so I started to pass one by one. I would cruise behind folks for a while and then pass when possible all of the way up to the long road climb. You can quickly tell who doesn't run on ice all winter as those are the ones that get you hung up quickly. Anyhow, being held up some this early in the race is good because it forces you to to ensure you aren't burning up too early. Upon hitting the road climb, I was feeling great. Keeping my HR mostly in the upper 160s still, I continued to hammer up the road picking off folks one by one. A couple of these miles, I ran slightly slower than last year. Saving 30 seconds per mile on this climb could cost minutes per mile later if not careful. Being religious about "following my heart" I made it to the out and back turnaround in no time. As I began to descend back to the aid station at a sub 7 min pace, I began to feel a twinge in my left quad. I thought nothing of it as I had been drinking plenty of water and electrolytes and was trying a new thing of gels every 45 min vs. every hour to hour fifteen. The trail to this point was dry or frozen mud so pretty alright. Despite holding back, I made it to the halfway point about 3 minutes faster than last year with plenty of energy to smoke last year's descent.

Right out of the aid, it was a different story. The trail quickly became mucky muck. The next runner in front of me was out of sight and it seemed a couple gained some ground on me on the last descent. Still feeling good, I began to climb the mud out of there at a good clip still managing to not get passed and put some distance on those behind me. Now I just had to ride this thing out. After climbing and climbing what felt more like last year, I had a gel and soon later crossed a cattle grate that looked unfamiliar. As I began to descend, something didn't feel right. I saw another guy running toward me and I knew something was wrong. Being that he wasn't the guy in front of me out of the aid, I knew he went the wrong way too. We and another guy behind me backtracked about a mile to where we missed the turn to go downhill. 2 bonus miles and a couple hundred feet of gain and I was back on track. As the descent began, I knew I was over 15 min behind where I was before and would be hard pressed to still hit my sub 4 hour goal. The twinge in my quad continued to grow as I quickly passed a few folks before it really started locking up. I stopped for a quick stretch and continued on passing a few more through the snow. It was amazing to me today how many were simply not able to run the snow sections. Maybe they were too tired or maybe they just don't train. I don't know. I did well through the remainder of the ups. As the trail began to descend, my quad really began to hurt. I was not able to even just cruise it out and quickly found my self limping to a walk every time we went down. For the next few miles, my story was get passed by a few folks and then pass them back every time the the trail climbed. This continued on and actually got worse before the aid just before the surprise late climb. I was really hoping they would have S-Caps since I forgot mine and was realizing that this was all probably result of yesterday's escapades. After a quick couple hand fulls of potato chips I was back onto the trail. I don't know what it was but that aid station, the volunteers seemed to be in a bad mood. I always thank aid staff for volunteering at every station and am always grateful but something about the mood of this station was off. I quickly got out of there as I had my own demons to battle and plenty of miles to battle them. After another painful mile or so of descending after that aid, the surprise climb came. I was more ready for it this year and made quick work of it. All those that passed me on the descent to it, I passed on the climb as they hiked and I was fine running.

Nothing so frustrating when you know your fitness is there cause you can still climb ok, just to be debilitated on the descent to the point of walking. I still felt plenty of umph in my aerobic abilities and was just purely frustrated but definitely taking in the beauty and enjoying the day as much as I could. After telling the last guys I passed "see you on the descent" as kind of my ongoing joke. Only this descent, I made up my mind to just run it in regardless of the pain in the quad hoping it wouldn't do permanent damage. At first it wasn't fast, but it was consistent and my effort continued to grow and grow as the pain seemed to subside some. Maybe the potato chips kicked in just enough or something but the strong pinch in my quad had faded to a bearable amount. I kept increasing my clip and passed back a few folks to the final aid where I topped off my drink and grabbed another handful of potato chips. The vibe here was much happier with less than 3 miles to go. The aid staff were all smiles and good times as we trekked our final way into the mucky muck of a trail. I was finally back to sub-9 pace. In the final couple of switchbacks, I finally decided to forget about my silly quad and make a spectacular finish. I passed one after the last switchback and three more on the way across the tracks and two more after that in the final bit for my final finish. That final mile was the way I wanted my entire second half of the race to pan out but not today. Finishing time I think was 4:32:30. With a 3:45 goal, this was severely disappointing. I'm not going to dwell hard on it though. I think I got what I wanted and that was that my fitness is where it should be for now. While I don't know if I would have been 3:45, I would have definitely been sub 4 without the mileage mishaps and the quad cramps so there you have it. A beautiful day in the mountains full of excuses with 50K total mileage on the day.

Looking toward the future, my goal for for the first Leadman race, the trail marathon in now less than 100 days, the expectation was to be +30 min on my Salida time. This appears to be the norm. That and it appears that in analyzing folk's Salida times and Pikes Peak times, I felt I would be 30 min slower than Salida but at least 30 min faster than Pikes. That said, I know I won't be running 5 hours at Leadville unless I have another bad day. The goal now will be to beat my Salida time and try to be sub 4:30 up there to kick the series off. In the mean time, I need to just keep training steady and it will be there in no time.

Until next time...

See you at the top.  

Run Rabbit Run 100

Intro

If you only want to read about the race and not all my ramblings, skip to "The Race" below. You have been warned. With my new job, I haven't been as readily posting about my adventurous activities this year and it has been a great year to ultra running at that. While last year with the Bear Chase Race 50k was technically my first ultra, this year was my first season. With 3 fifty mile races, two trail marathons, and a handful of other races, I have had a great tail end of my season all with races as afterthoughts. In early June, I finally folded and signed up for Pikes Peak Marathon. I wasn't going to do it this year in an effort to save $$ and try and get out of debt but I finally folded when I still realized I could get in through the Triple Crown Series. After beating my last year's Garden of the Gods 10 mile time by over two minutes on very little training and consistency, and an insanely fast time on the Summer Round-up 12K in July, with the San Juan Solstice 50 Miler thrown in-between there somewhere, I was in the final weeks for Pikes Peak. A two week beach trip with daily beach half marathons proved to be unworthy for a mountain runner as I struggled to run a Pikes Peak ascent test run even within an hour of last year's 3:26 time and equally as slow of a descent and I was worried. A couple more consistent weeks and I was throwing down some impressive times and ultimately Ran a 3:07 PR ascent and a 5:07 total round trip time. Well enough about that. The point is that although my goal was sub 5:00, I was ecstatic about my time. Two days later, I was supposed to be recovering but my body felt great and as if I hadn't raced Pikes Peak so I signed up for the Pagosa Springs, Devil Mountain 50 Mile race six days after Pikes had happened. This was close but I had a solid week that included a sprint triathlon at Schriever AFB the day prior to Pagosa and still had a rocking time at Pagosa. While these should all be separate posts, my point here is that nowhere during this time was I training for a 100 miler. I had thrown around the idea in mid august and Kendrick Callaway basically talked me out of it saying I should wait and how he DNFed on his first couple tries at centuries. I made up my mind during Pagosa, that if my recovery went well, that I would sign up for Run Rabbit Run 100 in Steamboat that was to occur in less than two weeks later. What was I thinking? No actual focused 100 mile training, no plan, just going with the flow. Well, not only did I have an awesome race at Pagosa, despite my epic bonk at mile 42 that required me to sit down on the trail for a while and recover, I raced awesomely and was proud of my fastest 50 mile time yet. Just 2 days later, I felt as if I hadn't raced Pikes Peak and sure as heck like I hadn't raced a mountain 50 miler so I did it. I signed up for Run Rabbit Run 100. The race has Hares, who are racing for a prize purse of $12K and many rules with strict time cutoffs, and tortoises who are just out for a good time with far less rules but the tortoises showed full on ultrasignup. While I was fairly confident that I could do a 100 in under 30 hours, the Run Rabbit Run has over 20K' of elevation gain and I didn't want to be stressed about cutoffs. I wanted to be focused on finishing my first 100 and the hardest thing I have tried in my life. I decided to email the race director and ask about tortoise spots. Well, ask and ye shall receive. He granted me a spot. All I had to worry about now was finishing!

Preparation

Well enough blabber already. I haven't even started discussing the race and here we are. While newer at the whole ultra running thing, I am no stranger to the mountains or good long and hard pushes so I am mentally prepared to know what it takes to make it 100 miles. The fact that I am a ground pounding Devil Dog Marine, doesn't really hurt for me either. If nothing else, I know for a fact that I have the determination to finish this race. The two weeks between Pagosa and the race. My mind filled with so many questions. As I started to prepare, I learned that there is much more logistics and preparation in a 100 than even for a 50. You have to think about so many things as you plan for your crew and your drop bags as well as night time logistics. I decided to book lodging for my family and my crew to make things easy for them. While I may have camped myself, the comfort of lodging was nice for everyone and it was just over 100 yards from the start line of the race. We stayed at the Ptarmagin house and it was great. I had a 2 bedroom suite that slept 7-8 people comfortably for $550 for 3 nights. There were no granite counter tops or marble floors but the suite was very clean and adequate to support our needs. So back to actual prep. Let's discuss taper. I was all over on my taper and didn't really know what to do. It ended up that in the two weeks after Pagosa, I probably maybe ran a total of 30 miles before the race with nothing over 8 miles. I figured with a 50 miler 2 weeks prior, I didn't need anything else long and just to be recovered so much of what I did was very low heart rate. I had one night hike with some buddies a week prior but no long all night adventures as training either. 

Course Summary

I don't feel like looking up the actuals and this is a mountain ultra so none of it was exact anyhow. Here is what I remember:

1. Start to Mt Werner (Top of Steamboat ski resort): 5.5 miles and 3,800' gain

2. Mt. Werner to Long Lake: 6. something miles with mostly loss. Total about 12 mi.

3. Long Lake to Fish Creek Falls: 6. something miles with around 2K elevaiton loss and a total of about 17 miles.

4. Fish Creek Falls to Olympian Hall: 4 Miles and 1,200' downhill on pavement to downtown steamboat Howelson ski area. Total about 22 miles. 

5. Olympian Hall to Cow Creek: 8 miles with a big up and long slow down  total of about 30 miles.

6. Cow Creek to Olympian hall: 12 Miles with a long slow climb and a quick steep descent back to town. Total of about 42 miles. 

7. Olympian Hall to Fish Creek Falls: 4 miles back up the pavement up a 1,200' climb for a total of over 46 miles.

8. Fish Creek Falls to Long Lake: 6. something miles back up a couple thousand feet to Long lake around mile 53 total. 

9. Long Lake to Summit Lake: 5.5 miles and a slight up for a total of around 58 Miles.

10. Summit Lake to Dry Lake: 8 miles of downhill road and a couple thousand feet loss for a total of around 66 miles. 

11. Dry Lake to Spring Creek Ponds: 4.5 Miles downhill with about another 1k of loss. Total of about 70 Miles.

12. Spring Creek Ponds to Dry Lake: 4.5 miles back up about 1k' and total of about 75 miles. 

13. Dry Lake Back to Summit Lake: 8 Miles and a couple thousand feet back up for total of about 83 Miles.

14. Summit Lake to Long lake via Wyoming Trail: 8 Miles with some small ups and downs for a total of about 91 Miles.

15. Long Lake to Mt Werner- 7ish miles upish and total of 98 Miles.

16. Mt. Werner to finish: 6 miles and 3,800' loss for a total of 103 miles.

Crew Plan

The first thing I wanted to do was to make a crew plan. As I thought about it, they should know when to expect me and where. I had a couple of friends lined up but no pacers yet so I continued to ask around running groups and facebook friends. It is hard to find someone not only who can run farther than marathon distances with you but also be a cheer leader. I decided not to worry about it and would run with or without a pacer and put my mind to finishing no matter what. As I reviewed the maps, I looked at each section of the race and analyzed how far it was and what the elevation change was given the distance. I tried to use what I knew to say how fast I would do that section during a 50 miler and then add some time for going a further distance. My first calculation where I thought I was being very generous was just over 22 hours. Knowing my friend Brandon Worthington had won the Tortoises with a time slower than that and several successful hundreds under his belt, I thought maybe I should take a more conservative look. I decided to fall back on what I thought were my worst case times and stick with that. I ended up with a primary time goal of around 25 hours and given past results knew I was probably still a little ambitious seeing my times on other similar races to other runners who had accomplished those times. My secondary goal was 28 hours with an unwritten goal to make the sub 30 mark for a cooler belt buckle and to say I could have done Hares if I had to. Ultimately, finishing the race period was my goal since it was my first go. I had a whole plan typed out of my timing for each section and what I wanted my crew to do for me there. In order to do that, I had to think about what time I would be and when and ensure I had the right things for them. Because my crew was supposed to be driving a 70s vw bus around the mountains, I wanted to guarantee my success with or without them so I decided to use aid bags no matter what and have them get my bag from the station. This was my insurance policy that I would always have my stuff no matter what. They ended up driving a 4 runner and making every stop but the peace of mind was nice. I planned additional sunscreen on day stops, when to take my headlamp and put extra shoes on stations where I would cross multiple times at nice distances where I might need them and extra clothing up high at night time elevations where I knew it would be cold since it was September. 

Aid Bags

The Run Rabbit Run 100 allows for 5 aid/drop bags and I used all five. The first one being at Long lake where you pass 3 times at miles 11.5ish, 52.7ish, and 90ish. The second one being at Olympian Halls where you cross at about mile 22ish and then again at mile 42ish. The third one being at summit lake where you cross at miles 57 and 82ish, the fourth at Dry lake at miles 65 and 75ish, and the last one at Spring creek falls turnaround at 70ish miles. I planned one to two bottles of Hammer Perpetuem per section as long as I could stand it and had TP, gels, fruit leather, and advil at every bag. In the drop bags, I had sub baggies for each time I might come through a station so it was easy for the crew since they were labeled. I also had first aid, sunscreen, vaseline, batteries etc at the stations. I also had planned socks, gloves, and additional layers accross the board. After having a water bladder mishap at SJS this year and being tired of camelbaks, I tested a 2 bottle method at Pagosa where I had one in each hand. I didn't like not having some sort of hand free so I got one of those single bottle carriers to sit on my butt with a small pouch for additional storage. I planned this for daytime hours and to switch to the camelback at the Long Lake 53 mile aid station where it would turn to or already be night time. 

Pre-Race

The two weeks prior seemed to be agonizing while I didn't feel like I ran so much and I felt fine, the closer to the race I got, the worse I felt. A strong taper revealed tight IT band and other minor pains. Anyhow, I am a Strong believer in the Maffetone Method and went almost 100% Keto diet for a good portion of this time. I actually dropped an additional 5 lbs. I didn't have to carry on the race and hopefully got more efficient at burning fat. I left feeling a bit antsy with my family packed up mid day Thursday to head up to steamboat. Since we checked into the condo at about 4:30, we unloaded the car and the wife put the son down for a nap while I went to the pre-race briefing and to drop off aid bags.  I didn't really recognize anyone at the pre race briefing except people I have seen online such as Jason Schlarb or whatever. I quietly got my race number, met a couple of new friends and listened to the briefing. It was comforting to know that smart wool was a sponsor and they were local and Altra was a sponsor because they liked that the race gives back 1/3 of the proceeds to charity and even the director doesn't get paid a dime. In the drawing, I got some smart wool compression socks and an Altra Headband multipurpose thigie that matched my new red Lone Peaks. I liked the culture and was excited for the day to come. I went back to the condo and took the fam out to dinner at an awesome burger joint in Steamboat. We had some awesome burgers and got back in time for the crew and my pacer to start arriving. I had my good friend Matt, my good friend and bro in law, Ben, my step-father John, and my Pacer Neeraj all ready to go. I gave them what I wanted and it was good to have Neeraj as he is an ultra runner himself and completed his first 100 this year at Bighorn. He also knows literally everyone from the Pros to seriously most people we encountered on the course. I bought a pony keg of Rock Mountain Brewery's Red Head for the crew to enjoy throughout the weekend. Finally, I went to bed about midnight for my 8 AM race start. I had a rare occasion of a hard time falling asleep pondering the day ahead and was frustrated because I knew I needed a good night's rest followed by restless sleep and my son waking up at 4 AM and not wanting to sleep. After getting up at 6:30ish, I made my final preps, took my obligatory 2 pre-race poops, drank some coffee and ate some bacon and was out the door. In gondola square, we waited inside the Bear with the other racers young and old. I had more coffee there and was calm but not really sure how to feel given the task ahead.We took a few photos and then it was time. 

The Race

The First Marathon

Start to Mt. Werner

Purposefully near the back of the group as the race started we all started to head up the ski resort. I realized being this far back was a bad decision as I began the slow walk at the back of the group. I passed people here and there with my trekking poles heading up Mt. Werner. I was trying not to overdo it my first few miles and took it easy. I started in a tank top, a head band, mtn biking gloves, and shorts for the mixed weather. The gloves and headband kept the edge of the cold off while I knew my body was getting ready to produce some major heat on the climb to come. This outfit proved to be the proper choice as we ascended up, up, and up. I brought my smart phone to take videos and to slow me down so I took videos once in a while. By the time we got to the steep section under the gondola, I was passing people left and right and had caught the lead female. I got one last kiss from the wife and son and traded the trekking poles for my second bottle before taking off not to see them again for the next few hours. For some reason, I had in my head the gondola would be at the top of the mountain so I was confused as we had only done about 2 miles and it had already been about 40ish minutes. How was I so far ahead/off on my planning? Then I realized that there was a long way to the top of Mt. Werner. I proceeded on power hiking mostly to the top and feeling great about my 14 minute mile pace. I was taking it super easy and trying to save energy for later. Like the start of every race, I was religous about taking S-Caps and food hourly. I had a gel and maybe a fruit leather in the first bit and in 1:25, I had finally made the real top of Mt. Werner right on time to my planning and was in about 30th place where I would end up finishing the race. 

Mt. Werner to Long Lake

Quickly dropping off the back side and just in front of the lead female Tortoise I followed a local, who works at smartwool (sorry I forgot your name) towards the next aid. He was familiar with the trails so that was nice to have. After me falling back a bit to take my first Pee, we chatted for most of this section and I thought things like, I wonder if where I am now, I will be at the exact same time tomorrow morning and also loving the smoothness of the trail around the area. At 12ish miles, Long lake came rather quickly. Seeing it, I had an epiphany, it is a "long" lake. Haha. Anyhow, I quickly found my aid bag with help of the wonderful volunteers and restocked my food supply. In hindsight, this early in the race I should have not bothered with aid and just carried a couple extra food stuffs on me to save the time. I was in and out in under 5 minutes and was headed back toward fish creek falls. 

Long Lake to Fish Creek Falls

There is a small out and back from the trail junction where you get to see who is ahead and behind you and at the aid the lead female tortoise and several other folks had passed me. I took my time with 10 minute miles on the upper falls area and as the trail got rocky and I passed the second female who actually quickly let me by although I was hoping she wouldn't and force me to pace for awhile. , I got excited. I took my second pee somewhere in there and jumped around all nimbly bimbly and suddenly realizing how wet and jagged the trail was and how it could be easy to crash and ruin the entire run here. I slowed where needed but eventually caught up to Rocky Venzor and realized I must be going too fast. It was his first 100 too but the fact that he got me by over 2 hours on SJS means I have no business being here. After chatting with him into Fish Creek Falls, I met my crew for the first time. The crew sat me down and I was only about 10 minutes behind my plan of about 3.5 hours and the 17 miles. I don't remember much other than they reapplied sunscreen and checked my feet. I was in and out in probably a little over 5 min. In this time, a few racers passed me. 

Fish Creek Falls to Olympian Hall

I met my mustache twin and ran with him for a while. At this point, I think I was still in the top 20 ish people still. Although taking it super easy from what I would have ran those sections on a 50, I was worried that I was doing something wrong. I enjoyed the 9ish minute miles down towards olympian hall and just behind the lead female again. They cruised by quickly and while I don't usually run pavement, I kind of liked the road after the slipping and sliding around in fish creek falls. It was fun waiting at the stoplight in town before crossing and heading a bit more to the aid station and seeing the crew a second time. It was getting hot. They swapped my tanktop with a white shirt and I decided to keep my shoes. and socks. I grabbed a handful of gummy bears, a couple of pickes and the crew stuffed my pocket with a couple of cuties and I was off only to be back here in roughly 20 miles. Here was about a little over 21 miles and I was only about 10 minutes behind my planned time still but I think the section between Mt. Werner and Long Lake was a mile longer than advertized because my watch picked up an extra mile. Normally, I would expect some difference but this section was an extra mile on the way out as well as I discovered the next day. 

Olympian Hall to Cow Creek

Starting the steep hike out of Olympian Hall, I was still behind the lead female and somehow worried that folks would pass. We speed hiked up emerald mtn and I was confused if I should run or hike. Being that I was not quite a marathon into this four marathon deal, I thought it prudent to hike and maintain a 14-15 min mile pace on the couple thousand foot climb. Shortly after leaving O-Hall, I put in the headphones and rocked it out for a while. As we neared the water only aid station that was moved down hill a mile, I decided I had enough water and didn't refill. From there, I knew there would be another mile of up and then lots 'o down.  Well the water aid was 3 miles up and I was only expecting 2. And there was quite a bit more up and it began to get steep. I remained shortly behind hte lead female before a rock really started bothering me. I stopped to dump my shoe 2 times prior as I have heard not removing rocks early can ruin 100s. I finally had to stop and remove my sock where I discovered it there right on the pad of my foot. At just over a marathon in and over 5 hours, I put some moleskin on my foot there as a few racers passed in that short amount of time. My mood suddenly changed to not as happy and very tired which was strange given the low effort until this time. The next section that I expected to be relatively flat proved to be more up and down on steeps than I bargained for. This messed with my mind a bit and although the high for the day was 70, it felt 90 on the exposed ridge. The descent finally came and I actually struggled to maintain a 10 to 10:30 pace down the hill towards the crew. On the smoothest part of the trail, my right foot caught a root and I went down sliding like a MLB player into Home plate head first. Luckily the bottle took most of the brunt and I excaped with only a small cut on the hand and glad no one saw me. This really messed with my head as I ran low on water. About a half mile from the aid a few runners passed me as I struggled into Cow Creek at 30 miles. Right before the aid, I realized I had been carrying an extra full 6 oz bottle this whole time that I thought was empty for cupless aid. I chugged that and got to the crew where I drank a good amount of Coke and Gatorade along with eating a couple of pickles. As the crew prepped me, I was on the verge of tears and I didn't know why. I wasn't doubting finishing the race at this point but I just wasn't feeling good. After 10ish minutes at the aid and a few other runners getting ahead, I took off not feeling well. Neeraj gave me the best advice of the day to take my time in the heat and save it for night. I could tell the crew was a bit worried as I took a sip of beer before departing. 

The Second Marathon

Cow Creek to Olympian Hall

While the 2 mile road to the trail back up was gradually up, I traded off between an 11 min/mile jog and walking and it was honestly all I could manage. Eventually, I made the turnoff to head back up as another runner passed me. Feeling worse and worse, I realized that I had reached my max with sugar and could not intake anymore. A couple of gummy bears in my mouth made me want to gag and although it was now shady and cooler, and I could have probably ran much of this gradual up and down rolling ascent, I was feeling even worse and at mile 36 I puked just after drinking water. Uggg. That was much earlier than I expected that to happen. I decided to mandatory walk for the next mile or so to recover no matter the terrain. About a mile later, I took my first crap and continued on my ever long journey back up the hill where some miles seemed to be over 20 minutes per mile and several other runners passing me. I ran out of water about a mile and a half before the water only aid station and slowed greatly until I could get water. I had been rationing already until I ran out and did not want to dehydrate since I puked out most of what I had drank since cow creek. Now I could not eat and didn't have water. I chugged a bit at the water only before taking a full bottle for the final 3 mile descent into Olympian hall. Struggling to make 10-11 min miles on the descent I finally snapped out of it about a mile before O-Hall. Somewhere right around the water, I also decided to drop the music and go back to listening to nature around. I suddenly started feeling good again. DOn't know what happened but I was great. Maybe the water... I cruised into the aid and planned a longer stop here before departing. The crew changed my shoes over to my saucony peregrines and I was over an hour off of my plan at this point. They put my compression socks on at my request (I have to humbly admit I have always made fun of these but they felt so so good after 42 miles. Thank you Smart wool!).

Olympian Hall to Fish Creek Falls

 With a dry shirt and an attempt to eat some food, I headed for fish creek falls with a couple hand fulls of tortilla wraps. The crew was worried I didn't eat enough but I was going to force myself to eat this in the next 4 miles.  After a couple cups of Coke, I headed out totaling my stop for probably just over 10 minutes. The new shoes felt great, although my feet didn't hurt in the old ones. I passed a couple of people right out of the aid and jogged much of the road back toward the falls averaging about 12 min miles up the 1,200' climb and passing several more folks. While it had gotten cooler down at O-Hall, that climb was hot and I shouldn't have taken the dark colored shirt when I did. I ate all the food but it took me pretty much the whole way as I had to take the smallest nibbles to not feel like I was going to hurl. At Fish Creek Falls, Neeraj decided to jump in with me. My time with him was strategic as he was my only pacer and while he would have gone all the way with me while I need it, I wanted to use him when I needed him most which I figured wouldn't be until after dry creek the second time to finish the final 50k of the race. I picked up my trekking poles here and carried them for the remainder of the race. This is the last time I would see my wife and son and John until the end of the race so I kissed them goodbye.

Fish Creek Falls to Long Lake

The crew gave me more food and a headlamp and a long sleeved shirt and we were off with a steady hike. I knew the lower section of fish creek was steep and nasty and I was still recovering from not feeling better later.  Neeraj and I just kept the hike at a steady pace as I wondered when the Lead Hares would pass. He said they were reported to only be 10 minutes from O-Hall when they left a while after me so I expected them very soon. A couple of racers passed me early in this section but I kept the hike steady and continued to eat. Silly me, I took my wife's child BD headlamp that wasn't bright but could have managed so Neeraj kindly traded me for his spare. We charged my watch during this section as well using a portable battery pack as the Garmin 310XT only lasts 16-18 hours. I eventually passed the racers that passed me after the aid station and made a decent jog through the upper section back to Long Lake. The company of Neeraj was nice as we have not really gotten to know each other yet so we had good stories to tell with mostly me excitedly talknig. It was completely dark by now. Just at the edge of the lake, we stopped and turned off headlamps to marvel at the beauty of the stars for a minute before taking off again.  We arrived at long lake to a beautiful looking fire but I refused to sit by it and get cozy and not want to leave. As I switched over to a my Osprey pack and bladder, the aid station crew advised runners to take all clothing available with them as the next section was very very cold. I stuffed my tights and jacket in my bag and ate some food. While we were there, Rob Krar (The lead hare) came through with 2 other hares in hot pursuit. Both within less than 3 minutes in tow. I realized I had gotten to Long Lake before them so I was very happy about that despite the fact that they did the first half of the race in 4 hours less than me. Being that the solid food was now what I needed to eat, I had some ramen and coke at this aid statio before departing. What a lovely dinner. 

The Third Marathon

Long Lake to Summit Lake

At about 13:35 hours into the race, we departed towards summit lake with an extra runner, Dave. Dave was  friend of Neeraj and I found out that my second potential pacer was staying at his house back in Boulder. I wasn't surprised as he should be tapering at that point. It was nice to talk to Dave through the next section where a couple more hares passed us but no Tortoises. Still about in 45th place, we gave a good effort towards summit lake. We did have to stop less than half a mile into this section as I realized I was colder than I wanted to be and put on my tights and jacket only to get too hot soon. I left the jacket on but unzipped to thwart the cold. We jogged the downs and flats and walked the ups and got there in no time and starting to pick off a few runners and make it to about Mile 57 point something. Here I ate more Ramen and drank more coke sticking with what worked before. I also had coffee here which was nice.

Summit Lake to Dry Lake

This 8 mile section flew by as we had thought the reascent of this earlier on might be the crux of the race, we now realized that it wasn't that steep. We cruised about 10 min mile pace for almost all of it and made up some major time and passed several folks along the way. It seemed like no time at all on this section passed and we were into Dry Lake. For such a longer distance, I don't remember much except for being so positive and actually glad I had my poles even on this slight descent to assist me from trips and falls. I do remember about 2 miles from Dry Lake, we passed Neeraj's friend Scott who was running his 22nd 100. When I say passed, he was going the other way in the lead hare position at 14 miles ahead of us. He was doing awesome. We arrived at Dry lake expecting to find the crew for the first time in 19 miles and not able to find them started getting some more ramen, a cookie, and some coke. Surprisingly they had only hot chocolate here and not coffee before we found the crew right at the front of the line. How did we miss them? They checked me out and here I also agreed to let Neeraj take a break since I felt good and knew the next 4.5 miles were downhill. I did also take one advil here for the first time. 

Dry Lake to Spring Creek Ponds Back to Dry Lake

Through here, I passed several more runners and made an average descent of about 9 min/mile which was too fast as I hopped the bridges over the river and was served a cold PBR and delicious burger by Jason Schlarb himself before jetting back out. The crew was surprised to see me here this quick. I finished my burger on the run as I ran more than I hiked back up which in hindsight was probably a mistake. I felt good here from mile 70 to 75 but it was too soon still to be playing games. I was not feeling the tiredness of the night at all and rocked the climb back up faster than planned. Still feeling good back at dry lake, I ate some bacon and some ramen that someone put potato soup in and I did not like. After drinking some coke and spending slightly too much time here with the last crew stop until the finish, We took off with about 50k to go. 

The Fourth Marathon

Dry Lake to Summit Lake

Now with 3 marathons under my belt for the day and Neeraj back with me, we slowly tackled the long steady hill. We decided to run much except every once in a while on flatter spots to keep the running muscles good. Somewhere in here where I could barely hike the lead female Hare, Nikki Kimball came jogging up and quickly off into the night ahead of us. About half hour later, the second female hare came up and we jogged/sped hiked her into Summit Lake. She was not feeling well and was worried about getting passed by Darcy Africa who was apparently not far behind. This section was not as much of a bear as I thought it was as we cruised into the aid station at mile 83 or so and I had not been wearing a jacket ever since the first time we were in Dry lake. Entering the tent and sitting down here, I was now feeling fatigued but still not doubting that I could finish this. I ate more ramen and a breakfast burrito and had some coke and swithced shoes again to my trusty Pure Grit 2's with over 600 miles on them and still ticking. We stayed here too long and I started to lock up before we left. Upon exit, it was too cold so I put my jacket on only for the second time of the night departing mile 83ish toward the finish line.

Summit Lake to Long Lake (via Wyoming Trail)

As the twilight began, we headed up the steep exit from Summit Lake aid station to the Wyoming Trail. I was not feeling awesome suddenly. This was shameful as I felt we took the last section from Dry lake to summit lake easy to really excel through this relatively flat section and make up some good time. Unfortunately, my little speedster stunt from Dry Lake to Spring Creek Ponds and back up may have been my culprit. As it got lighter out, I struggled to even jog. Darci Africa and a couple more tortoises passed me through this area. Although it was getting light outside, we were not getting warmth from the sun and I did not get the rejuvenating feeling I so commonly hear about during this time. Although Long Lake to Summit lake was so short the other direction, I was not mentally prepared for this section and was really bogging down. I took a caffeine pill somewhere in this section and I think it really helped my dragging. It wasn't until we reached the meadow just above long lake that we finally got so me good warming sun and I was hurting, especially in both shins and pretty much not able to run at all anymore. It was going to be a walking battle to be sub 30 hours. It was here that we saw the lead of the 50 mile pack. Ten minutes later and we would have missed them. We proceeded to see the rest of the 50 milers over the next several miles. Neeraj was smart enough to get in front of me and let them congratulate him so I didn't have the muster the energy to say thanks to all of the wonderful compliments which were nice to hear. We reached Long Lake in what seemed like forever later. I think it was roughly 9 AM when we got there but cannot quite remember. A quick bite to eat and gear check and we were off for the final bit of the battle. Now at over 91 miles, I had it in the bag as long as I kept moving. 

Long lake to Mt. Werner

With a steady walking pace out of Long Lake, we began our climb back toward's Mt. Werner. I didn't remember coming down so much on the way in and the hike was grueling as it began to get hot. We stopped to remove jackets and I really wanted to just lay down. I realized I hadn't had any Advil since mile 65 at Dry Lake the first time and decided to take a couple. A few tortoises passed me through this section as we continued to walk steadily as I felt I could pretty much not run anymore. After the advil kicked in and Neeraj was slowly making me eat Clif Shot Blocks, I suddenly had a reduced enough pain level to start running and hiking much faster. We passed most of the folks that passed me as we counted what we thought would be six miles back to the top of Mt. Werner. At 6 miles, we realized we were nowhere close and continued to follow the trail to what seemed to go everywhere but to the top I remembered jetting through just over 24 hours ago. We finally arrived at the 7 mile distance that I now clocked both ways through this section with 3 other runners right on my tail. I quickly changed from my tights and long sleeves into some pink women's panties that say "no tan lines" over my compression shorts and no shirt.

Mt. Werner to Designated Hugger

We headed down the hill and quickly passed another female tortoise who passed me through the aid. The down was grueling but for a few minutes I thought I would be able to maintain that 9-10 min/mile pace to the bottom and actually get a sub 28 hour time still. After about half a mile or so of "hammering" it down, I had to walk some. We would jog about 2/10 of a mile and then go back to walking for another 1/10 all of the way down from here. Other runners would begin to catch up and I wanted to fight it so we would run more. Everything was very tired through here and my running was more like shuffling where I would basically drag my feet along because lifting them was too pounding on my shins. About one mile from the finish, I realized that a couple other runners were right on my tail. While it hardly mattered if they beat me at this point, I didn't want them to. We rocketed into the finish line with about a 9 minute mile pace for the last mile. It hurt so bad but I didn't care. I was not getting passed. I dropped all my stuff and floated up the steps to the Designated hugger where I got my hug and stopped the clock at 28:09. Mission successful and I got my mug and buckle to prove it. After a couple of pics, I immediately put my feet in the nice little river and shared beers with my friends and family. 

Recovery

The couple hundred yard walk back to the condo was hell on my legs and my body started freaking out at that point. I had feverish conditions. With a couple heavy blankets, I curled up shivering on the couch. Sitting down and nodding off in a long hot shower felt good but as soon as I got out, I began shivering again. It wasn't until I had some chicken noodle soup that I finally began to feel more normal. I hobbled back down to the finish line with the crew and we enjoyed Pizza, Beer, and Hot dogs as we cheered on fellow runners. I ended up staying that night with the fam and was feeling decent the next day. A week later now and my left shin still has a tight knot in it that I cannot seem to get to go away. I took my first run post race today (had a couple of walks and short bike rides earlier in the week) and it was ok. I was able to run a full 3 miles without stopping but I ran with my HRM and my normal 8:45ish pace at 155 HR was obviously not there. Cruising at about 9:50 avg per mile at the same HR, I can see I have more healing and recovery to do. This is about where I expected to be at this point as I am still euphoric about the race and my future of ultra running and the adventures to come. At this point, I am anxious to feel better and just run for a while not training for anything specific. 

After Thoughts

This section is a quick thought on what I thought I did good and what I would change next time.

First, I want to ensure a longer taper next time than a 50 miler 2 weeks prior. I think this may have been part of my demise early in the race. Second, I think I would put even less effort into the first climb up Mt. Werner as it hardly matters. Third, Compression socks are where it is at. I will always have a pair of these available at 100s in the future. 4th: You can only eat pure sugar for so long before the body rejects it. I ate solid foods early but I should be prepared for this feeling and not so ready to bonk. 5th: The 2 bottles method works very well and I was able to rock them everywhere except during the heat of the day where I did run out of water a bit early. 5th: Coke is a life saver. I can drink it even when I cannot tolerate sugar. 6th: I maybe need to think about how to speed up my aid station time. If I cut them all in half, I bet I would have finished an hour sooner. 

Brass Knuckle Shuffle 2013/Monster Marathon

On November 30, I discovered the Human Potential Running Series at its fullest. With my first race with the group that I learned about from the CRUD group from Colorado Springs, I was fully indoctrinated. The race was supposed to be the Boulder Brass Knucle Shuffle but with the flooding earlier this year, it was changed to the Monster Marathon in Morrison, CO. The whole idea of this running series is that it is a FATASS series. It is 100% free in return, there are no awards, no t-shirts, no belt buckles, no frills, no whining, and no aid stations. Sherpa John LaCroix created the series a number of years ago to bring together front range ultra runners and build community. I would assume that you know what ultra running is but in case you don't, it is any race over marathon distance. This specific series was designed to keep ultra runners running and training properly through the winter months for their Summer racing season. After skiing at Loveland for the first day of the season the day prior, I showed up to this run ready to rumble! I had no idea what to expect but the course was advertized as 27 something miles and 7,000' of elevation gain and loss. Being that my camelbak is fully molded in the tube, I carried just my hand bottle and for some dumb reason, I left my fuel belt that I hate in the car thinking I would be fine. In addition, there was one planned aid station at around mile 12 or so and I put my "drop" bag in the car that would be over there with some extra water and snacks. With a few Honey Stinger gels and a baggie of SCaps (1 per hour), and 21 oz of Hammer Perpetuem mixed with water on me, I took off on the nice slow pace south towards Mt. Morrison from the start. The first little while was great as everyone was kind of bunched up and conversating. Then, shortly thereafter I found myself in the front few people in the group. I wanted to go ahead but wasn't comfortable with the course. Once we hit Mount Morrison proper for the grueling climb, I took the lead and marched to the top sweating my butt off and trying to keep my heartrate below 160 bpm. Shortly thereafter, I found myself at the top soaked in sweat on the concrete pad. I snapped a quick selfie and headed back down.

I tried to take it easy on the descent as it was only a very steep social trail and very rocky. After hitting the top of red rocks amphitheater park. After dumping the rocks out of my shoes, I made my way to the bottom and met back up with other runners from the group when I met Jeremy Ebel, who won the Bear Chase Race 50 mile this year when I did the 50k. I ran with him and others for a while as we made our way to Dakota Ridge for the ascent. After a while, I was concerned about my climbing heartrate, so I backed off and let him go ahead. A ways up Dakota Ridge, we headed west down the side towards Green mountain. Thankfully, someone left a 5 gal jug of water at the parking lot just before C470 so I topped off my bottle and continued on to the planned aid station at mile 14 or so. It was supposed to be at 12 or 13 but I think it was closer to 14 in the Florida parking lot. After a quick refuel and filling my pockets with goodies, I took off for the first of three climbs of Green Mountain. I never thought much of this bald hill east of C470 but it is nothing to be scoffed at. At this point, I was trying to manage my heartrate to stay below 160 and really nearer to 155 so I let a few runners pass. After a while, I found my self descending toward the East and then once at the bottom I turned back Westish towards a steep trail going back to the top. I was beat at this point so I decided to walk the hill and eat a Chia bar. It was good until about the last bite that I spit out and couldn't handle it anymore. Reaching the summit rim trail at the top again, I sat down for a minute since I was so so tired. I ate some dried blueberries and a clif shot and killed the remainder of my water. I was out and there was a long way to the go until the end. It was depressing to say the least. I made my turn and the second descent. I was happy to see that we were nearing the crossing back over C470, when I realized that the directions were calling for one final ascent of this beast. At this point, I was at about 22 miles and already at 5 hours. I called the wife to let her know I was finishing a lot later than 5 hours. I thought I had at least 3 more miles to go and it was going to be rough without any more water. After the even more grueling hike up the hill, I started to eat more food from my pocket stash and finally reached the top and began to run down. Eventually, I made it back to the parking lot across C470 and I was surprised to see that there was some water left in the jug. I filled my 21 oz bottle and also saw that someone left some Hammer HEED, so I got a scoop and took off. After getting the water, my energy immediately returned and began to come out of my zombie hike and start running back dakota ridge and back down to the car which ended up being 27 miles from where I started. At 6 hours and 24 mintues, I was beat. Who would ever think that 14:xx minutes per mile average would be a decent time.

With 42 starters, 34 actually finished and I think that although taking it easy, I was the 9th one to finish. I crawled into my truck not feeling too hot and after chugging a mini mountain dew, a gatorade, and some Hammer Recoverite, I drove down to the gas station near Bandimere Speedway. I grabbed a 1 liter dr pepper and chugged a lot right away. I think that was too much liquid and carbonation and it kind of hurt so I just laid the seat back for a while. Eventually, I drove home. What a great run Sherpa John put together and I had such a great time. I wish I would have ran a little harder because the next day I did a 9 mile run at a normal or even faster pace feeling just fine. I guess I should be happy about that.

I have some photos so I will try and add them when I can.

Until next time,

See you at the top!

My First Ultra-Marathon: The Bear Chase Race 50K

History

Yesterday I ran my first ultra-marathon and I would like to tell you a little about the whole experience. If you only wish to read about the race and not my other ramblings about the path leading up, skip below until you see "The Race." Before I get too deep into this or that, you should know that an ultra-marathon is any race that is over the standard 26.2 mile marathon distance. Coming off a high from completing the Pikes Peak Ascent this year and getting a 3:26 time, I was excited to see what else I can do with my body. In training for the pikes peak ascent, I started running again in January of this year after getting to the heaviest weight of my life. I am 6' tall (legitimately) and weighed 216 lbs (now down to 186). I call that sympathy weight from my wife having our son in late November. Anyhow, I was running at a 10 minute pace and could barely finish 3 miles without feeling like I was going to die. By March, I was able to run a 23 minute 5k and was beginning to ramp up more miles to about 30 or so per week into April. Running a few other short races throughout the season and fighting through a groin pull, I quickly made it to Pikes Peak and really focused on that one race which was a good culmination between hiking/climbing all the Colorado 14ers and running. After finishing the 14ers last year, I was trying to figure out what to do next. You can't climb higher without leaving Colorado and I needed a real challenge. The ascent seemed to foot the bill. I went into it with a goal of 4 hours and trained to meet that time only to rock it out on race day with the time above despite having strep throat.

Decisions... Decisions...

Anyhow, enough of my life story. After Pikes Peak, I found myself asking what now? How do I top that? Maybe I will run the full Pikes Peak marathon next year which is the 3rd oldest in the country but that is a year away. I need some smaller things to keep my body in shape and adventure going on for my mind. I continued to put in my weekend long runs after the ascent and carry the normal weekly mileage of 30 to 35 miles per week. My weekly long runs ranged from 12 to 16 miles after that. I was maintaining but not increasing minus one week where I put in 50+ to see how well I could handle it. I read somewhere that 1 super week every couple of months can do a lot of good for you where you up your mileage 25-50% just for that one week and then resume normal schedule. Towards the end of my long week, I was running 8 miles for the 5th day in a row. With my standard well rested 8 mile time to be 1 hour. Thats a 7:30 pace holding for 8 miles. Day 5 I was running at about an 8 min per mile pace and feeling great about it. Earlier that day, I had received an email abou the Bear Chase Race which hosted a 100k, a 50 miler, and a 50k. During that run, I found my self thinking that if I could hold an 8 minute pace after 5 days back to back of 8 mile runs, I should be able to do something really long like a 50 miler. Wait... What? What am I even thinking? A 50 miler with no planning, no proper training? I guess its the adventure... The challenge. I began to google, "Can you run a 50 mile ultra on 30 miles per week?" Sure enough, I find that you can if you have the time in and some longer runs especially. Well, I hadn't run anythign over 16 miles all year but I was putting in 4 hour runs training for pikes peak so I felt it was possible. Worst case I could walk to finish anything I couldn't actually run. With my hiking experience, I know I could walk that far because I have done it. Not in 1 day but because I never had to. With my previous blogging experience being my Trip Reports on www.14ers.com on my mountainmicah83 profile, I have laid out some pretty impressive trips over the past few years. Multi-day trips where my elevation gain has exceeded the height of mount everest in a week and my mileage was nothing to scoff at for sure. That is how I know I have it in me. Plus, I am obviously a glutton for punishment which is what brought me to sign up for the Marines right out of high school. How is getting your butt kicked supposed to be fun? I know there is a lot of background here but trust me, when I was trying to research if I could pull off this race, I was frantically searching blogs just like this one to read about people's first ultra marathons and the like. I wanted to know what they had done before to see if I had something similar.
Finally, I reach the deadline a little over a week before the race where I thought the price was going to go up if I didn't bite now. Only problem was I called sick into work that day for the first time in like 3 years. I had a nasty sore throat and some pretty bad cold symptoms. The other problem is that my wife was requesting my presence at a party where she was earning an award for her hard work. The party was at 6 PM in Colorado Springs and my race was to be in the West Denver Area. Now I knew I could finish 50 miles but could I finish it in enough time to make the party? I was not going to guarantee that. I would have had to finish in under 10 hours and still somehow have the energy to look human at the party. I wasn't sure I would even be able to walk after that ordeal. Thinking my cold would pass in just a couple of days, I compromised and decided on the 50K which is only 31 miles. Only... Really? I have only run one marathon which was back in 2007 and I barely finished with a time of 4:52, I walked the last 5 or so miles and said I would never run that far again. Here I am thinking a 50K will be "only" 31 miles. Worst case, I would run 15-20 miles and walk the rest. Monday morning rolls around and I don't feel any better despite jamming all sorts of vitamins down my throat such as garlic, echinacia, zinc down my thorat and even slamming a 1/2 tsp of honey, cayenne, and grated garlic every half hour. I go to the doc and she says she doesn't think I have strep or a cold but possibly pneumonia. Oh no! After getting the chest x-ray to confirm and immediate antibiotics, I figured I was done running for a while. Not only was I going to lose my race money, I was gonna get fat again. I'm pretty sure running a 50k with pneumonia would kill you. Luckily the results came back and I didn't have that. So recovering from being sick and having chest congestion I had to decide if 50K was really a good idea like if I could pull it off without some major repercussions later on. The race director informed me that I could step down to the 10K or half marathon they were offering if I wanted to. After a week of being sick and still feeling it, I had to make the decision. I went for 2 test runs. 1 with the stroller and baby for 2 miles. That felt good but I still wansn't sure so I ran my normal 4 mile loop with a goal of a 7:30 pace. If that felt good, I would do my race. If not, I was doing something less! The run was fine and I made it in 29:58 feeling good. I was in on the 50K.
The same day, I noticed that the course was to change. Due to all of the flooding in Denver and Boulder, the Bear Creek Lake (designed to catch a 100 yr. flood) was so deep it was covering over half the course which was a 12ish mile loop to be run several times. In fact the original start line was something like 40' under water. They said the race was still on. Planning on racing on Saturday at 7:15 AM meant I needed to leave the house by 4:15 to make it in time for packet pickup and drop bag placement. At 11:30 that night, the race team called me notifying me that the park had received a lot of rain that day and the course was unsafe and the race would have to be on Sunday. I thanked the Lord for the extra day of recovery.

The Race

Race Day Preperations

After countless hours of neurotically researching what to do to be prepared for I had my bags packed. Here is what I had:
2 Pairs of shoes
3 Pairs of socks (there were water crossings scheduled)
Running shorts with pockets
White polyester short sleeve shirt
Running GoLite jacket
Running gloves
Tear away sweats
Sunscreen
Bag Balm
S! Caps
Honey Stingers
Clif Shots
Alieve
Tylenol
Moleskin
A hand towel
Watch
Headphones
16 oz hand carry water bottle.
Waking up at 3:45 am and leaving the house by 4 Allowed for a quick non-eventful drive to park ad bandimere speedway where the runners were shuttled to the race area. I was in place and had my race packet. Now I had 45 minutes in the cold to apply sunscreen, eat breakfast, apply bag balm to my crotch, inner thighs and nipples etc. It was pretty cold and windy so I was glad to have my GoLite jacket, OR Gloves, and fleece beanie.

The Actual Race

The starts of the 100K, the 50M, and the 50K were all staggered by about 2 minutes a piece. I decided to start without a jacket or beanie but with gloves. I decided to start at the back of the pack so I didn't roll out at a 7:30 pace all excited. After the gun went off and a short run on the path, the race quickly choked into the single track trail. I was forced to almost walk for quite a while beign stuck behind all the runners, many of which were purposefully slow because they were in longer distance races than my own. After about 2 miles, the water crossing came. The sun wasn't even out yet and we were running through cold water. I did a lot of pre-race contemplation on this if I would take the time to remove my shoes and go barefoot through or what I would do. I ended up just running through and getting the wet feet. Turns out that the Soloman Sense Mantra shoes I was wearing did as good of a job at holding water in as keeping it out. That water was there to stay for a while. By the time we started the ascent for Mt. Carbon, I met up with the first walkers. I have read that many ultra runners will walk hills to save energy to run the rest but in my training for Pikes Peak, I learned that I am faster to just keep running even if it means running as slow as I can walk. I find it easier to not switch back and forth. The descent from Mt. Carbon was beautiful with the early morning views of Downtown Denver but was painfully slow stuck in the long line of runners with no room to pass. This was probably saving me from myself of going too fast too early. I mean it was only 4 miles into a 31 mile race. The first aid station, I topped off my 16 oz runners world hand carry water bottle that I used on the ascent with the electrolyte drink they had. I picked that up at Wally world for seriously like five bucks. At this point, I wanted to use the porta potty there do drain some of my hydration but I wasn't happy about waiting in line so I just ran a little farther down the trail, hopped the road and watered a bush. Rolling around the course, there were a couple more steep but short hills that I ran and did not walk. Getting on the backside of the lap, the single track made it hard to pass often but I passed cautiously and courteously when I could. Since headphones were allowed, "On Your Left" wasn't working so well cause people couldn't hear. People were very polite and offered to let me pass most of the time so I would tell them I would wait for a more open spot. After the next aid station and an electrolite drink refill, I continued on. At these first two aid stations after roughly 7 miles, I had probably drank about 24 oz of water and popped my first Clif Shot and my first S! Caps tab. From there, the course opened to a double track where passing was easier and I finally had some breating room. I kicked up to about an 8:30 per mile pace to finish the first of 3 10.3 mile laps in 1:35. My goal for lap 1 was 1:30 so I wasn't far off and just over a 9 min pace average. Looking good after lap 1.

My feet were still damp from the water and just wern't feeling right. My left foot was already starting to hurt so i decided to swap shoes from My Soloman Sense Mantras that I used on the Ascent to my $80 mizunos I bought at DSW when I started back running in January that I have put over 700 miles on this year. I figured I would use those for a lap and let the Solomans take a rest and get a different feel on my feet. With my electrolyte drink, dry feet, and head phones I started lap 2. The head phones
were kind of neat since I never run with them except for when I have to use a treadmill. They were like a drug. I started lap 2 at 1:39 on the clock this time not so congested. The goal this lap is to catch back up to being at 3 hours even after 2 laps. I strived to hold about an 8:30 pace feeling really great. The first few miles were difficult as the 10k and half marathon folks were coming head on down single tracks. Mt. Carbon quickly came back up. I shortened my stride and upped my pace count. I had already passed several folks the first few miles but who knows which distance they were running. I must have locked onto the 8:30 pace pretty well because 20.6 miles came at the end of loop 2 with me feeling great. The wall I was expecting at around mile 18 never came. I came in at 3:04 which means I dropped the 5 extra mins I started the lap with. My shoes felt great so I decided not to change back. I grabbed a few more gels for the last lap and dropped my shirt before taking off. I couldn't believe it, with my goal of 5 hours, I had 1:55 left to finish the last lap but I knew at that point I wouldn't need it. Mt. Carbon quickly came again and suddenly I couldn't stand the taste of the electrolyte drink. I still ran the hill and made it down and to the aid station where I changed for water. I also began to take advantage of the mountain dew and the pepsi. A few oz per station. The water was so good and I figured I had enough electrolytes in me to finish. This lap was hotter and I was sweating more. Between the aid stations, I actually ran out of water for
the first time in the race. Luckily I only had to wait about half a mile to get more. The final few miles from the last station, I began to feel a little pain in my feet especially. I figured this is what ultra running is all about. Sticking through the pain. I kept up with a 9:30ish pace to finish. The final hill I got a little emotional as I realized that I was about to finish and managed to run the whole way. I ended up finishing in 4:39 which is a 9:00 pace average and was so so so happy. My marathon 5 years ago was 4:52 and was roughly 5 miles less and not so hilly. The race director told me to hang around because I might have placed for my age group. I highly doubted it so I went and sat down with a beer.  Based off last years results, I would have been like 6th in my age group and maybe 20th overall. Somehow, I ended up 1st in 20-29 and 11th overall out of 202 runners doing the 50k. Thank you elites for not running this race and giving some normal people a chance to win! Also thank you to the race director and staff for making this race happen despite all of the setbacks.

Here are my stats:

See you at the top!

Pikes Peak Ascent

Tight Pants

January of this year came around and I found myself at my fattest ever. I am 6' tall and was 216 lbs of which not very much was muscle but rather a beer gut and love handles. Luckily, I can blame that as sympathy weight for my wife and our at the time one month old son. I didn't exactly have or at least make a lot of time to work out and it was rapidly starting to show. I decided to start running again. In the past, I have been what you might call a "seasonal" runner. I would pick a running event in the summer, train for it, and try and do well for myself. Training for things is the best way to keep me focused on staying in shape. Even at my fattest, I would still consider myself fairly active with rock climbing (which was getting harder as I got heavier) and mountain escapades where I would take off for a week and climb tons of mountains such as the adventure last summer where I knocked out 8 14ers in 6 days between Colorado's San Juan Mountains and Elk Mountains. My first run out was very painful. I was able to run a full 3 miles without stopping or walking at all but it was hardly running at my sloth like 10 min per mile pace. I was so sore that I didn't run again for a whole week. The next week, I ran the same distance probably 3 times and was already seeing major improvements in my pace and how I was feeling to include sleeping better, faster recovery, and overall health. I knew it was time to pick an event to work for so that I could keep this up and do my "seasonal" thing.

For the past few years, I have talked about doing the Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon but never got around to actually signing up. I have always figured they would be a good mix between my mountain experience and staying in shape. After finishing the last of Colorado's peaks over 14,000' last labor day weekend on Mt. Huron with my 6 months pregnant wife and a pony keg of beer (which I still have to write a blog about), I had to find something new. People keep asking me what now? What will you do next? I hadn't given it much thought. It was kind of the end of one goal. I knew I wanted to do the rest of the centennials which are the remainder of the highest 100 mountains in Colorado after the 14ers but not with as much vigor. I also would like to climb Aconcagua some day but I also know that things will slow down a bit for the next few years until my son and any other kids get old enough to bring along on these adventures. That is not to say that we won't be doing some things still with young kids. Finally I decided this might as well be the year to do the Pikes Peak Ascent. I knew I could hike that far but not if I could run some. Late January, I decided to sign up with a goal of 4 hours. Early Feb came around and I was already down 10 lbs and signing up not only for the Ascent but the entire Pikes Peak Triple Crown series which consists of the Garden of the Gods hilly 10 miler, the Summer Round-Up 12K trail run and the Ascent. I figured if I was going to do the ascent, I would need to be hitting milestones with training along the way anyhow. I set a goal for the Garden of the God's 10 miler for an 8 minute per mile pace at 1:20:00 and the roundup at 1 hour.

Training

By Mid March, I found myself signing up for the Colorado Springs St. Paddy's day 5k and finishing with a time of 23:03. That works out to roughly a 7:30 pace which I hadn't hit in the couple months of training for multiple miles in a row. This was a good check to see that I could improve so much in such a short amount of time. Sometime around April, I decided to join the Manitou incline club that hadn't actually run the actual incline for several years since it was technically private property. I figured if I was going to do well in the ascent, I would go learn from those who do it best. I would run with the club that Matt Carpenter, who holds the all-time records for the race, hosts. I think I started with a training run to Barr camp and back to Memorial Park in Manitou and then did one up Crystal park road up to section 16 and back to the same park. By no means was I fast, but I was learning to run up up and away. While not even making the club runs every week, I was still seeing improvements. Mid May, I ran the Take 5 Mile Race in the Garden to see how bad the hills really were. As many times as I have climbed there and never once actually ran. Running at a weight of 15 lbs loss down to 201, I ended up winning the Clydesdales big guy class with a time of 36:46. That's a pace of 7:22 a mile. Not only was I faster than the St. Paddy's race, I did it through the hills of Garden of the Gods. I began to align my new goal of finishing the Triple Crown in a total of under 6 hours. Finally, June came around and it was time for the Garden of the Gods 10 miler. I ran the full course a week prior with the dog in 1:20:00 almost exactly then, the Tuesday prior, I broke 1 hour for my first time ever on an 8 mile tempo training run on a flatter course. Unfortunately, I pulled my groin slightly doing so. GoG 10 finally came and the weather was perfect. In my excitement, I passed by mile 1 and looked at my watch realizing that I just ran a 6 min/mile pace. Knowing that could not be good, I slowed up just a tiny bit as the hills kicked in. With my original goal of 1:20:00, I was sort of hoping I could do a 1:15:00 but was unsure of how my groin would hold up as it was sore. At the 5 mile mark into the race, I was right on schedule for the 1:15:00 time and then I started to realize that I was still undertrained. I began to slow up more and more and my groin started to hurt. Losing a few minutes on the return trip and not being able to hammer the final downhills exiting the garden, I finished with my chip time of 1:18:55. I was happy I beat my original goal but sad I couldn't hold up to hit 1:15:00. Anyhow I was still on track for my triple crown goal so I was happy but my groin was trashed. That was June 10 and I knew I wasn't gonna be able to run for a while. June became my lowest mileage month of the year as I dropped from my 123 miles in May to 49 total for June. Into July, I finally decided that I could not just sit around anymore. I needed to at least run and completethe su mmer roundup 12k so that I could do the ascent as I signed up for the Ascent via the triple crown. Knowing my time wouldn't be great with the minimal training and the nagging groin, I decided I would try hard on the uphills and take it easy on the down. The ascent was slow and I couldn't run fast downI was gonna start trying to get back out there but just slow. My groin was still pinching but I went for it never going too fast. The day before the race I drove to the top of Pikes Peak, hiked down to A-Frame and ran back to the summit as a first try figuring the uphill wouldn't hurt my groin so much. With a goal of 1 hour that I could have made, I ended up finishing in 1:05:49 and feeling like crap. This put me 5 minutes behind my 5 hour finish goal on the full triple crown. 1:18:55+1:05:49= 2:24:44 leaving me to have to finish the ascent in 3:36 which was faster than my goal but I knew if any race was possible to shave time it was this one with my altitude experience on the 14ers and continued training through race day with no further injuries. I decided to run Barr Trail Mountain Race as a test to see where I was at for Pikes Peak. At just over a month from the Ascent and even less with needed taper time, it would probably be a pretty close test.

I ended up running BTMR in 2:23:17. Still not sure if I would try and slowly run all of the way on the ascent or go for a run/walk method, I opted to speed walk some of the way to the w's to preserve energy. I found I could speed hike faster than many could run. My split to Barr Camp ended up being 1hr 28 min and according to Matt Carpenter's calculator, that should be 51% of your ascent time. Given that detail, there was no way I could have finished at that pace to the top and I knew I needed to go slower on race day. Anyhow, the descent proved I was nowhere ready as I had to take it easy for my groin I was also tired. Several folks I passed in the last 30 minutes of the way up were passing me on the way back down. I'm just amazed that even that time I was only sort of proud of was only 13 minutes slower than my first road half marathon. I got 2 more practice runs bottom to top timing at 3:55 for the first time and 3:44 the second time. Interestingly, the 3:55 I used the run/walk method and the 3:44 I ran almost the entire way. Also I did a sprint triathlon the day prior to the 3:44 so the improvement was nice. The following week was taper time. I went to the pikes peak summit and ran down to the 2 mile sign and back to the summit being really happy with my splits without 11 miles of ascent before those 2.

The final taper week before the race and I cut my mileage and planned on maintaining intensity only to get some PR's on my 3 and 4 mile runs.

Two days before race day I came down with a horrific sore throat and I immediately knew that it had to be strep throat. While I usually wait at least a few days before running to the Doc, I didn't wanna waste all this training and not get to race. They just gave me antibiotics in case it was strep so I would start feeling better. Normally that wouldn't be the right solution but I was in a pinch and it was a quick fix. The final night before the race I had the luck of Matt Carpenter visiting me in my dream and telling me that I was running too slow and that I was actually capable of being much faster if I would just try it. Great timing. Thanks Matt!

The Race

Race morning came and my throat was still sore. Was I ever mad. However, I was still running. Knowing that the "fast" runners were in wave 1, I started at the very front of wave 2. Most races, I leave some room for the elites and all those faster than me but this was different. While being careful not to make my garden of the gods sprint out of the gate mistake twice, I also was leery of not getting caught behind er'body on the trail. I hit hydro street in about the first 20 or so runners and let the speed demons pass me figuring I wouldn't win my heat. Feeling great, I made Barr camp in about 1:39 (keep in mind this was starting down at memorial park and not at the train station) so this was about the same speed as my BTMR a month prior but I wasn't spent at Barr. I just ran right on through. Prior to that though, I kept track of everybody in my heat ahead of me (or at least tried to). One by one, I picked them off. Several I passed through the Ws and then several more in the next few miles that went out too hard through the Ws. In the downhill sections a couple of miles below Barr Camp, I was already passing slower folks from heat 1. With a 30 minute lead, I was surprised that with the qualifying times this would happen but they can qualify at sea level I suppose and it could have been years ago. By Barr Camp, I only had 3 left in my heat in front of me. As I continued to pass wave 1ers left and right, I found my self stuck in long waves of wave 1 death marchers the farther I went. They were in groups of 5-15 all stacked up so I had to pass when I could and it became frustrating. An interesting note is that on my other training runs from bottom to top, I was drinking only about 32oz of electrolyte drink. By A-Frame, I had more than double that. The sickness had sucked out all my liquid. I was filling up my 16oz handheld bottle at every aid station. By the time I hit A-Frame, I couldn't believe my watch. 2:23 and I only had the 3 to go which I knew I was capable of 52-55 minutes. At about that time, my calfs started cramping up and locking up my legs. Any big step-ups just locked me up and I would have to stop and stretch. Even through that I was able to speed hike without the locking up so I continued to do that and run where I could. By this point, the death march line was unbelievable. There wern't groups anymore, It was just like a solid line of zombies. I tried to pass where I could without being too rude but it was my race. This felt worse than the stories I hear of the traffic through the Ws cause this was at the top. Getting a little rude through the 16 golden stairs as folks were just plain in the way, I pushed through to the giant surprise "Beer" aid station. I awoke out of my cramping funk and was so excited after a few oz of beer that I just took off. One more beer station just prior to the finish and I got a 3:26:06. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Never in my wildest dreams of training, would I have planned for that time. Matt's little visit in my dream seemed to work out magnificently. My friends Jeremy and Jessica were volunteering to shuttle runners and they happened to get to seem me finish. Jeremy got a video of me being so excited. I ended up going through over 3 liters of water and had 4 or 5 gels which were clif shots or honey stingers. I ran in the soloman sense mantras which seemed to be a good mix of trail, semi-light, and only a small heel to toe drop with great control due to the tight heel.

I am having trouble embedding it but my friend Jeremy made this video: Youtube Video

There isn't a better time than sharing such a good time with friends. In one event, I went from 18th place in my age group in the triple crown to 8th place. Taking 39th place overall in the series coming from 97th after the summer roundup 12k, I couldn't have been happier. I finished the series ahead of people who were getting the 1:15:00 I wanted in the garden 10 miler and 55 mins in the roundup. Not to brag too much but I am really proud of my turnaround. There were 375 runners total and 36 in my age group. I would say not bad for a little over 7 month's work from barely being able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes. I can't wait for next year although I expect the progress will slow up a bit. Maybe I'll give a shot at the full. For now, I gotta figure out my next adventure but combining my love for mountains with a little running has been so beneficial.

Last, a big thanks to my wife Anna and my son Eli for supporting me through my comeback and all the training time away from home. With a starting weight in January, I weighed in on 189 just before the race. If nothing else, the weight loss is a good thing to have.

Until next time... See you at the top!