I don’t even really know where to begin. Six weeks ago, there was no way I would have signed up for this race. I was wanting to wait until the Silver Rush 50 in order to decide whether I was ready for the 100 or not. But with the gobs of people signing up, they moved the last registration day up to July 15th instead of the 31st. I thought hard on it for a day or so and figured the only reason I would not sign up was because I was scared of failing again… so I signed the dotted line and figured the worst case scenario would be a DNF.

Silver Rush went great. Training went extremely well. I was ready.

In 2007 I jumped in with both feet, but was completely unprepared. I didn’t have a clue what it took to run 100 miles. I was undertrained, over tapered, went out too fast, and tore a hamstring early in the race having to drop at Twin Lakes outbound – 39.5 miles into the race. Pathetic and embarrassing. To make matters worse, I didn’t do what it took to heal and kept re-injuring the hammy for over a year. Lucky, meeting my bride to be, and doing the long distance relationship thing, then going through the first year of marriage kept me way off of anything resembling ultra training, and the hamstring healed! I started running again in January of this year and my first run of 3.75 miles (Lake Estes Loop) had me so sore I could barely sit on the pot! But I kept at it, increasing my mileage every week and in a couple of months was feeling good. Finished the Greenland 50k in 5:45ish and Silver Rush 50 miler in 11:22.

Now I found myself in Leadville, with a stomach stuffed full of butterflies, standing at 6th and Harrison, waiting for Ken to unload some buckshot into the dark high country night sending 800+ runners out on a jaunt to Winfield and back.

We were off. I have been using a low interval heart rate training method this year, so I didn’t have a clue what my pace would be, I was just going to keep my heart rate around 140 – 145 and see where that took me. I wasn’t even going to check any times until Twin Lakes and just wanted to be there around noon.

Me and my sugar just before the race.

Start to May Queen (to mile 13.5)

My pace was nice and slow. I never got winded and just enjoyed doing what I love. I didn’t keep track of specific landmark splits, but felt like I was moving okay. It was nice to listen to the conversations around me, hear peoples stories, and just enjoy the excitement of the morning. I will say, it was nice to get to the single track around Turquoise Lake… after all, this is a trail race!

Going around the lake was a tad slower than I’d have liked, but I just settled in and enjoyed the easy pace. As the sun came up I got my usual dawn burst and was feeling perfect! I came into May Queen in 2:17. Nice and slow, but not lallygagging either… so I was happy. Jamie, Abbey, and Phil, my amazing crew, were in wait and I was soon heading up Sugarloaf Pass.

May Queen to Fish Hatchery (to mile 23.5)

Climbing Sugar Loaf Pass.

Now it was the first climb of the day. My only plan was to keep the heart rate low. I settled in around 140, give or take, and had a very enjoyable climb up to the pass. At this point the sun was getting higher and it was an absolutely beautiful morning. That, coupled with the fact that I couldn’t have been feeling better, made me a very happy camper. I feel like I made good time on the climb and clipped right along the steep descent, keeping my speed in check on the very steep powerline section. I was having a ball. Running in the Leadville 100 and feeling infinitely better than I felt back in ’07.

I got to the paved road below the pass and basically just walked it into Fish Hatchery, running the flat or downhill sections, as I felt appropriate. I was in great shape as far as time goes so just took it easy. I was leaving Fish at the 4:30ish mark. I ran out of Fish in great spirits and was looking forward to the only 4 miles until pipeline.

Fish Hatchery to Halfmoon (to mile 31)

About mile 26.5 nearing Pipeline

This section is broken up into two parts. It’s almost split down the middle by a crew access point known as Pipeline. From Fish to Pipeline it is pretty quick, and it’s a good thing because it is the least appealing part of the entire 100 mile course! It’s all paved and gradually uphill for the most part. The views, however, are great! I moseyed along making good time… I think I got here to Pipeline in 45 minutes. Jamie was there waiting for me again, and got me on my way in no time. I did stop to stretch out my hips, as they were getting a little tight, but got it done quick and I was soon heading down the dirt road on my way to Halfmoon.

This section, from Pipeline to Halfmoon, seemed a lot longer than it should have, and I had my first little low funk during this stretch. The road climbs gently through open hillside then through thickening forest. It’s hot and a bit dusty, but I just kept plodding along and made it to Halfmoon 6:19 into the race. The volunteers at this aid station were on it! They grabbed my bottles, filled them and had them back to me in the time it took me to grab an orange slice or two and head out of the station! They were awesome!

Halfmoon to Twin Lakes (to mile 39.5 miles)

Now we’re talking! I was super excited about this leg of the race. It’s one of the most beautiful and enjoyable to run. It climbs gradually along the Colorado Trail through aspen groves and sub alpine forest. I was feeling okay here, but the low was hanging around so I just settled into it, pumped the fuel in, and enjoyed being out in the mountains. My heart rate was staying low, which was good, I just kept feeling like crap. Fatigued and tired. I tried a NoDoz, and it helped a little, but that drained feeling hung around. Even though I wasn’t feeling too great, I was sure enjoying being where I was. There is simply nothing like trail running in Colorado… nothing!

I fell into a good group that kept me moving pretty well and we were all soon descending down towards Twin Lakes. It’s a steep and rocky descent, but goes by in no time and I pulled into Twin Lakes around the 8 hour mark. 39.5 down. At this point, I was not feeling very confident about my chances of finishing. My body was not responding well and I was very tired; not that my muscles were tired, I just felt drained and systemically fatigued. But other than that, I was okay, so I just told myself I’d plod along and see what happened. Now for Hope Pass!

Twin Lakes to Winfield (to mile 50)

Nearing the top of Hope Pass (looking NNE)

From Twin Lakes, there is a flat mile or so with a few stream crossings before you start to climb up Hope Pass. I just power hiked this section hoping my low would go away. And it started to! I’m so glad it did because I was a little scared of the 3000+ foot climb ahead of me. I settled in, got a good rhythm going and marched up the hill! As I got higher I started feeling better and better and before long I was walking into Hopeless aid station, a station at tree line on the north side of the pass. This is a breathtaking place! The tents are nestled among the small trees, llamas and alpacas, how they get all of the supplies up to this remote spot, are scattered throughout this high valley, towering 13,000 foot summits stand guard high above, and hope pass, our two way door to Leadville glory, waits for us five hundred feet over our heads.

I grabbed a cup of powerade, and as I was turning to walk out of the aid station I noticed fellow Idiot Olan Young. He was sitting with his back against a log looking like a zombie! He hadn’t been able to keep anything down since Fish Hatchery and was definitely having an off day. I touched base with him, he assured me he was okay, so I wished him well and went on my way. Leadville is a vicious animal. Olan, with a solid finish in ’09 and even more and better training under his belt this year, was feeling the effects of this brutal course (as were many other runners I would put in a class much higher than my own!). You just never know when you get into these kind of distances. But that’s why we run them! It never gets “easy” to run 100 miles, and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

I wished Olan well, and started the last push to the top of the pass. I was in my favorite place in the world, Colorado’s Alpine Tundra, in the race of races, and feeling great, aside from a little “type 2 fun” style pain! I set a pretty good clip and topped out in about 16 minutes from Hopeless. What a view from up here! Leadville looked so small and far away in the north end of the Arkansas River Valley. Wow! Now I had a brutal descent ahead of me so I re-focused and started jogging down the south side of the pass. This went by pretty quick, aside from passing all of the people coming back up for round two. I saw Pete Stevenson here with his pacer, Eric Lee, fellow Special Idiots. We chatted for a few minutes touching base on how the rest of the crew was doing. It was awesome to see some familiar faces on the trail!

I kept on keeping on and soon made it down to the road leading to Winfield. I was way ahead of the schedule in my head so decided to just walk it into the 50 mile mark. It’s a 2+ mile stretch of dusty dirt road and I had 50 minutes to get to Winfield to make my 12 hour goal, so I took it nice and easy, stopping to talk to friends as they were heading back down the road and simply enjoying the day and relishing in the fact that Hope Pass made me feel stronger!

I jogged the last little bit into the aid station and was there around the 11:45 mark. I sat with my crew, drank some, chatted about the pass, then went into the aid station to get weighed and make the 50 mile mark official. I was spot on with my hydration and nutrition up to this point. At the medical check before the race I was exactly 165 lbs, and there at Winfield I was 164.9. I was pumped! I came out of the aid station with Brian, my pacer, and we were soon heading back down the road. We left Winfield 11:55 into the race.

Winfield to Twin Lakes (to mile 60.5)

Cruising back into Twin Lakes - Mile 60.5

Brian and I made decent time back down the road. Running a bit and walking a bit, just keeping the heart rate low. It was here I saw Olan again and he looked a little better. He would drop at Winfield, unfortunately, but it was a good thing as he was in pretty bad shape. My good friend Mike Poland had to drop at Winfield as well. In a sub 20 hour attempt, he rolled his ankle at mile 8! It was a bad sprain too and looked like an ostrich egg at Winfield. He made the good decision to bow out and save it for another day.

So, now back up Hope Pass, and this is the bad side! I definitely hit my worst low of the day here. It’s super steep and after running 52.3 miles, it hurts like hell! I have never heard of anyone having a good spell here… it flat sucks, or I guess I should say, it steep sucks! As bad as I felt, I did get a good pace set and just kept it steady for the most part. Up towards the top I was feeling like complete crap and did take a couple of short (1 minute) sit down breaks. These didn’t help so I kept them to a minimum. After what seemed like two years, we were finally getting close to the top. I don’t know if I have ever been happier getting to the top of a pass as I was here. It’s a monumental moment in your Pbville 100 experience. Maybe you didn’t “beat” Hope Pass, but you, at the very least, meekly settled on some sort of agreement with it to let you by. Either way, great job! It’s behind you! As is most of the climbing you’ll do during the race!

Since I did have such a crappy low on the way up, I decided to walk it into Hopeless. Here Ning and Mike Priddy (her pacer) passed us. We’d leap frog with them for quite a while and it was tons of fun to see them… Ning’s awesome and a blast to run with, and Mike is a joy to be around. So it was a good duo to flip flop with! Below Hopeless I started to run and had a small pain in my left ankle. I didn’t roll it, so just figured it was one of those normal running pangs. Looking back, I felt the same thing coming UP Hope on the outbound ascent, but it had gone away in a minute or so… no big deal. With this one I just decided to walk a bit longer to loosen it up.  This seemed to work and within 10 minutes we were running very well down toward Twin Lakes. So good in fact that I was running sub 8 minute pace for a while as we descended. I was feeling great! Strong, tons of energy, getting more excited by the mile and actually feeling stronger with every mile that passed.

Brian and I were enjoying the evening light as we made the stream crossings once again. I was just hiking this section with little spurts of running as I saw fit and it wasn’t too long before we were cruising into Twin Lakes.

I took an extended stop here to use the toilet, get extra layers, make sure I had my headlamp, etc. Again, with my great crew I was all set!

Twin Lakes to Halfmoon (to mile 68)

Here was where my race would be decided. My goal for this race was to be able to run strong along the Colorado Trail on this leg and from Halfmoon to Fish. There was a 1300ish foot climb I had to get up first, then there were miles and miles of gentle downhill terrain that if one could run, you could make up hours. As good as I was feeling, we blew up the climb in about half an hour, a kiss more. My heart rate had really settled in and I had it pegged at 140, nice and easy. If I had to walk most of these last 40 miles, I was still looking at a sub 27  hour finish, given everything else went okay. As strong as I was feeling, if I could run to Fish, I would be looking at a 25+ hour finish, which would be absolutely incredible! I was more than excited and was itching to top out of this climb so I could run.

By this point the headlamps were on and the terrain had flattened. It was time! I broke into a jog and OUCH! That ankle was not liking the running. Okay, same as before. I’ll walk to get the downhill systems working again. We walked for 10 minutes or so, then I tried to run again. OUCH! Even worse. Okay, walk some more. But this time it didn’t go away as I walked and kept getting worse. The pain wasn’t unbearable, so I figured I’d just walk until it got better. No worries. My main goal was to finish and any good time would just be gravy. I had plenty of time to walk it in, so, though dissapointed, I was resigning to the fact that this may be a long and ugly finish, but a finish nonetheless.

So we kept walking. I was trying to suck it up and not wince at the pain, as it was getting pretty bad. The trail is tilted here on the Colorado Trail, from left to right, and this angle was excruciating. So much so that it was starting to get me nauseated. Brain, being the awesome pacer that he was, went out into the woods and found me a good walking stick. This helped for a while, but soon anything that wasn’t slightly downhill and level made me want to puke. I was starting to get scared that my chances of even finishing were slowly being flushed away into that cold mountain night. One step at a time. Let’s get to Halfmoon, get this thing taped up, and go from there. So that’s what we did. I limped into Halfmoon, spirits still high and energy still there, but limped in.

Halfmoon looked like a war zone. People strewn out all over the place. One chick was bent over shaking violently and vomiting while her pacer was trying to urge her out of the aid station to continue. The medics were arranging ambulance rides for a couple of people. It was a mess! I felt bad taking the attention away from someone who actually had a legit reason for medical help while I got my ankle taped. But, oh well, what are you gonna do? The medics looked at me like I was crazy when I told them that nothing happened, that I had not rolled my ankle. They asked, assumingly, if I did roll it but just forgot. I laughed and told them it was a totally reasonable question considering the state of so many people, but no, I definitely did not roll it. He looked it over and told me it was posterior tibial tendinitis. He taped it up, gave me some tylenol, and sent me on my way.

Halfmoon to Pipeline (to 72.5 miles)

It felt a little better for a few minutes, then got far worse. I was nauseated again and started throwing up some frothy throat bile, trying my best to hold back the full blown puke… I needed those calories. The pain was just too intense. If I was on level ground that was slightly downhill, I could still move over three miles per hour, but ANY pitch to the trail and I was hunched over trying not to spew. Luckily the road to Pipeline was nice gentle downhill with mostly level terrain. But there were these pesky pot holes and wash outs that I wouldn’t catch until it was too late and stepping into one of those was like getting hit in the ankle with a baseball bat. The pain really started to take it’s toll on me and my ankle. I was getting drained and the ankle was getting worse, so my pace slowed to a crawl.

New game plan. Get to Pipeline, rest for a few minutes, then get on the paved road to Fish Hatchery and see if anything improved with the consistent, even surface. I still had hope, but knew it would be ugly. And the thought of sugar loaf pass was pretty dang scary because of the rough uneven terrain.

Barely able to walk down the dirt road we finally came into the large open area that is Pipeline at approx 19:40 into the race. I was in bad shape, but again, not nearly as bad as some of the poor brave souls hunched over and shuffling down the trail. This did give me some more hope and I was anxious to get on the paved road. I finally made it to Jamie and the crew vehicle. I sat down, ate some crackers, drank some gatorade, and was feeling pretty good with the weight off my ankle. This definitely lifted my spirits, as I knew I still had many more strong miles in me if this ankle would settle down. In hindsight I was being way too optimistic, which is a trait I will take pleasure in keeping, and had a skewed view of what I should do. I asked Brian if he wanted to go for a little hike, he was game, so I stood up and started walking toward the paved road and Fish Hatchery, just 4 miles way. But 40 yards out and I was frothing at the mouth again, hunched over in instant and intense pain. Damn it! I knew, right there, my day was done. I could push it to Fish, but getting over sugar loaf would have taken me 10 hours with how I had to walk on anything even remotely uneven. Not good for a 100 mile trail race.

I walked back to the car, still in too much pain to be dissapointed yet, and told my crew that I was done. Jamie had tears in her eyes, she knew how bad I wanted this. And to drop for something stupid like this… out of the blue and with no previous issues before. If I was totally beat I may feel better about it. But my legs felt great (other than the ankle), and my energy level has only increased since the top of Hope.

The reason I dropped? Yes, the pain was bad, very bad. But I dropped more so for the love I have for mountain running! Sure, I could push to Fish, attempt sugar loaf, but I knew, for a fact, I would not make the cut off at Mayqueen.  With the pain and how I was having to move to attempt (unsuccessfully) at keeping the pain down, something was seriously wrong in that ankle and if I had pushed, there was no telling what damage it could have done. Yeah, I know. Excuses. Bottom line, I DNF’d. It doesn’t really matter why. But I want to run this fall, this winter, and be back in even better form next August. Continuing would have jeopardized those mid range goals. Almost two weeks later and I’m just now able to jog without much pain in the ankle. Anyway.

Red dot = where I had to drop... so close!

Afterthoughts

Even with the extreme disappointment, I left Leadville far more confident than when i arrived!

In 2007 I had no business attempting this race. I was not in any kind of condition to run 100 miles and it was obvious. This year was different. I approached training 100% differently. Miles, time, heart rate, nutrition, flexibility, climbing, etc. Everything about this race, aside from the ankle, went almost perfectly. My pace was exactly what I wanted. Fueling, hydration, and nutrition were just about flawless. My volume and type of training paid off and it showed in the fact that I got stronger as the miles rolled by. And the fact that I had absolutely NO soreness (none) anywhere but the ankle in the days following the race was remarkable, in my opinion.

So all in all, I’m happy. I extended my longest run by 21.5 miles. My body, in general, performed very well, and I had an absolute blast doing it. Obviously I’m extremely dissapointed in the fact that I Did Not Finish.  It’s a bitter pill to swallow for sure. But a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, so I’m trying to look at the sweetness of the day to take into my training and future races.

It has been a mental issue in this week or so after the race. This was completely out of left field as I’ve never had any issues like this before. Especially since I felt as if I prepared so well, got my systems and muscles in incredible shape, and was otherwise ready for this race. Just goes to show that a lot can happen during 100 miles! Oh well… what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! Here’s to Leadville 2011!

A HUGE congrats to all of you Leadville 100 finishers! What a spectacular race and a fantastic group of people. It was a joy to be out there with you all and I can’t wait until next year!

It’s amazing how many miles we’ll run in order to find out what’s right inside of us! I guess that’s why we’re Special Idiots!

So sorry the video is so long… mainly for my family’s sake, as they were not able to be there. Watch if you want and enjoy! Pics below as well!

McHenry's Peak front and center, with Longs Peak behind on the left.

This was one of the most spectacular days I have spent in the mountains, period. Alan and I, in accordance with our Leadville training, wanted to spend all day on our feet, get up to a high average elevation, and get a ton of elevation gain in. Well, we got it! Our route would take us up the Flattop Mountain Trail, and end with us running down the North Longs Peak Trail back to Bear Lake. In between we would summit seven mountains, Flattop, Hallett, Otis, Taylor, Powell, McHenry’s, and Longs Peak.

We started off feeling pretty sluggish and it took us a whopping 1:55 to summit Flattop (we would end up climbing the entire trough route on Longs in less time). It was a beautiful morning and we were just out enjoying a nice hike soaking in the sunrise and our spectacular surroundings. It was a pretty uneventful hike over to Hallett, one I have made upwards of 40 times and will do many many more in the future. We soaked in the summit views and were soon heading down Hallett’s summit cone toward Otis Peak. Another uneventful climb up to the summit where, again, we took in our amazing surroundings. The view of the Sharkstooth is pretty amazing from here!

Then it was onto Taylor Peak, and our first summit of the day to reach over 13,000 feet. This is a long, 1200 foot climb over steepening tundra. We were feeling good here though, as we had had plenty of time to warn up, and made in climb in 37 minutes! The views from this summit are spectacular as well, as are the couloirs just to the south of the summit. Next was the longer than remembered walk over to the summit of Powell Peak. This entire stretch is spectacular with views to your left, down 1500 foot sheer cliffs, while to your right is gently sloping rolling tundra leading down to the upper reaches of the North Inlet drainage. After some more gawking at the landscape, we finally did reach the summit of Powell. Yet another summit in the midst of some of the most stunning scenery in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was here we got our first view of the next summit’s challenges, climbing through McHenry’s Notch.

We had some route finding issues on the descent into the notch… not because it was hard to find the route, but because we didn’t research anything before heading out. So we scrambled along the cliffs trying to get straight to the notch, when we should have dropped down the prominent gully leading south southeast from Powells summit, and traversed a series of small (3 – 10 foot high) cliff band that spit you out just below the notch. If we had known, it would have been quick and pretty easy. Consequently, we flirted with some very dangerous and challenging terrain. But no harm done and now we were on track once we figured it out. We were soon enjoying the views from the notch! The climb out is considered technical 5.3 climbing. But we didn’t find it terribly challenging. We both had running shoes on and I am terrified of anything technical, as I lost my nerve for climbing a few years ago, and I found it to be enjoyable. There are more than enough holds for both hands and feet, all the holds are positive (you can grab the holds – not just use pressure), and it’s only about 40 feet of 5.3 climbing, the rest is still steep with some 5.3 moves, but not as exposed and even more hand/foot holds. There was, for me anyway, only one spot that got my adrenalin going and that bothered me at all (the part Alan is climbing in the video) and it was short lived and easier to climb than it looked. Note that this is still 5th class climbing, and in no way am I trivializing the terrain… this is some very rugged, and extremely remote, mountain terrain.

Once through the notch, we were soon scrambling up the final steps of McHenry’s Peak, our 6th summit of the day! We spent a few minutes sucking back some fuel and some water and were soon picking our way down the broken cliffs of the mountain toward Stone Man Pass. It was here we were going to decide what to do next. Go up to Chiefs Head and Mt Alice, or head down into Glacier Gorge and climb Pagoda and Longs. Needing water, we chose to head into Upper Glacier Gorge and hit Pagoda and Longs, filtering on the way. We had both forgotten how rugged the terrain is from the summit of McHenry’s down into Glacier Gorge (including Stone Man). This took forever, so we lost gobs of time. There is just no fast way to get through this terrain safely. By the time we made it down and filtered water we knew we wouldn’t have time to climb both, so we opted to head up the Trough Route of Longs to at least the Ledges (one of the classic sections of the Keyhole Route), and decide whether to summit or not at that point, time depending. So up we went!

This is some steep terrain over a mix of loose nasty scree and steep slabs. We surprised ourselves and made it to the Ledges in right at an hour. That’s just over 2000 feet of climbing! However, it would take us 45 minutes to climb the next 900 feet to the summit! We decide we had enough time to summit and went for it. But we could tell a big difference from being at 12,000 feet to being at over 14,000 feet, so our climbing skillz took a punch in the face. We just pushed along and, through a constant huffing and puffing, made it to the summit in pretty good time! It took us just under 1:50 to climb from the base of the Trough (near Green Lake in Upper Glacier Gorge) to the summit. And this after a long day of climbing! So we were very excited!

We took it nice and easy on the way down toward the keyhole in the midst of sprinkles while hoping the heavy rain would hold off until we were below the boulerfield. We got our wish and didn’t really get rained on until we were dropping out of the boulderfield and onto the North Longs Peak Trail for our run back into Glacier Gorge. We were able to keep a nice steady pace on the descent and made it back down in an hour and a half with some filter and bathroom breaks. We were very glad to be back in the car, as we were wet, tired, and ready to be sitting down!

This was an absolutely spectacular day in the hills! It took us 23+ miles through some of the most challenging terrain the park has to offer, and we got in 10,000 feet of vertical gain (2/3rds of Leadville). We didn’t do it very quickly though. Our slow start, route finding errors in McHenry’s Notch (30+ minutes), and the ruggedness of the entirety of McHenry’s Peak and Stone Man Pass cost us a lot of time… but the time we were on our feet was time very well spent. It took us a total of 13:49 to travel the 23+ miles.

This route was so good that even in the midst of the pain, we were plotting a return trip to complete an entire circumnavigation of Glacier Gorge! We’ll have to see if that works out!

Enjoy the pics!

Michael

July 18, 2010

I was looking for a good 50 mile race to test the legs and see how the hammys would hold up as I prepare for the Leadville 100. The Silver Rush 50 fit the bill. However, with the lack of information on Leadville’s nice looking new site, it was hard to get any good info on the race. I did a lot of digging and found a few trip reports, mapped out, on mapmyrun.com and nat geo’s TOPO and have a better idea of elevation gain/loss.

From peoples gps, I’d find anywhere from 6,000 feet of gain to 9,000 feet. Mapping it out on mapmyrun got me at 5,100 feet, nat geo was approx 7,100 feet. None of the programs were accounting for all of the little ups and downs on certain parts of the course and mapmyrun’s profiles entirely omitted the 400 foot drop before climbing up to, what I call, Ball Mountain Pass on the outbound AND the reclimb of the drop inbound… so who knows. I kind of averaged everyone’s gps maps and factored in a usually more accurate nat geo TOPO profile to come up with my number, which I feel is pretty close, if anything, a bit low… 7,750 feet.

Anyway, on to the race!

Our great friends Steve and Lisa (and Jude) came out for the race from the Chicagoland area. Steve is a phenomenal athlete competing in Ironmans, and running his first Ultra, a snowpacked 50k (4:52), in Kettle Moraine State Forrest in Wisconsin this past spring. He really wanted to test his legs in a high altitude race in the mountains of Colorado! We were pumped! I had been feeling good with several 30-40 mile runs under my belt this spring, I just signed up for the Leadville 100, and was hoping for a nice, moderately paced, injury free finish. My goal was a nice and easy sub 12 hour finish.

We rolled into Leadville on Friday before the race. We just took it easy, ate at the Golden Burro, put our feet up, and enjoyed some nice down time. Steve and I went for a little jog Friday evening to knock the cobwebs off and it went pretty well. Steve was a little winded as he woke up at 400 feet and was now at 10,200 feet, so understandable! Saturday, we slept in a bit, went to the race check in, went for another little jog (on which Steve felt much better) and just put our feet up making final preps for the race.

The race started on Sunday at 6:00 am. We got there about 20 minutes before hand, and were ready to rock with 10 minutes to go. We enjoyed the nervous energy that is always thick on those race day mornings. Ken was ambling around with his shotgun waiting to get us off and running. With a minute to go, I gave Jamie a kiss and Steve and I walked up to the starting line, just behind Duncan Callahan, which was kind of cool… that kid is fast (won the race in 6:52ish)!!

Ken counted down, blasted his shotgun, and we were off, running (well, actually walking) up Dutch Henri Hill!

I’ll break down the race, for the sake of some otherwise lacking information, into the different sections here… I hope this report gives some future runners some good info!

Start to Black Cloud Aid Station (7+ miles)

Like I said, we started with a good walk up Dutch Henri, then were running on very dusty forest roads that undulated over rolling terrain for a couple of miles. You then get on a nice double track road on the edge of a forested rise in the lower reaches of Iowa Gulch. This is a beautiful section, passing beaver ponds, running through Aspen Groves, and offering views deeper into the gulch. The grade stays nice and mellow for quite a while, something I was not expecting. But it was nice, we were able to run a ton of it making great time! As you get closer to the aid station, the grade does steepen a bit, but it’s nothing too serious at all. We were definitely ahead of schedule to Black Cloud… I don’t remember our time, but we were 15 minutes or so ahead.

Note: Outbound, this station is a water only aid station. Inbound, it is a full service station.

Black Cloud to Printer Boy (6.5 miles)

Once you leave Black Cloud, you have 3 more miles of climbing and the grade begins to steepen as you climb higher into Iowa Gulch. We took our time, walking anything too steep and jogging what we felt comfortable with. We were both feeling great and knew we had a lot of hill left to climb and a lot of miles left to travel. We were just out enjoying this beautiful morning and relishing our surroundings! The flowers were spectacular and we even had some spotty cloud cover that made it very comfortable.

As you get higher, you can see CR 2B above you, this is the road your climbing to and what you will be running down to Printer Boy. Once you see the road above, sit tight, you still have a bit to go. At mile 10, as the trail you’re on turns into Iowa Amphitheater, you pop out on 2B and begin the 3.5 mile descent down a wide dirt road and to Printer Boy Aid Station. Nothing really to report here, pretty straight forward.

Since we had taken our sweet time on the climb (even though we were passing quite a few people) we fell a bit behind schedule here, but just by a few minutes. We made it to Printer Boy in 2:52 from the start, I was projecting 2:45 (though this was for an 11:15 finishing time – giving myself 45 minutes of leeway for my goal time of 12:00). So we were still totally happy with the pace.

Printer Boy to Rock Garden (4.5 miles)

Once at Printer Boy, you still have a mile or so of descent on nice trail through some of the more dense forest of the course. We moved pretty good through this part and were very shortly crossing California Gulch Road, and the start of the climb to Rock Garden. There are some fairly steep sections here, if I remember correctly. But we were both feeling good and set a good steady pace up a vast majority of it. There were a couple of sections of downhills, maybe a half mile in total, mixed in to the ascent to Rock Garden, which helped the time it took for this section. Once closer to the aid station, it steepens a bit, then flattens out as you run into the aid. This is a beautiful setting for an aid station, I stopped and took a few pictures from here, and had the camera ready, as you could tell it was going to get even prettier on the next stretch.

Rock Garden to Stumptown (6ish miles)

Leaving Rock Garden, you still have some good climbing to do! But it’s the most beautiful section of the course, so it sure is enjoyable! It isn’t terribly steep, for the most part, as you climb the flanks of Ball Mountain. It’s about a mile and 300 feet of gain to the top of this climb from Rock Garden Aid. Then you have a nice steep, and unexpected, drop of about 350+ feet before you start the climb that ends at “Ball Mountain Pass” (12,000 feet). I was kind of dreading this section below the pass as I’d read a lot of horror stories about how terribly hard it was. It really isn’t that steep and is over pretty quick. I’m sure Steve would tell you different as he came into an altitude induced low just near the top and was feeling the effects pretty hard. It is over quickly, so before we knew it we were heading down toward the turnaround 4+ miles away. A long 4 miles at that.

The descent just winds down on double track trail and county roads, and seems to take you in every direction you want to go except toward Stumptown, which you can see lower in the valley. But, not to worry, you eventually get there!

We came in at about 5:15, so 15 minutes behind my “fast” 11:15 finish pace. Still feeling good about it! I drank a Redbull here, had a nice and much needed bathroom break, and we were soon walking back up toward “Ball Mountain Pass.”

Stumptown to Rock Garden (6ish miles)

I was, however, a little worried about that climb back up to the pass, as it was steep as we came down! But we just kept plodding along, through the stump graveyard (hence the name Stumptown). Luckily, Steve was feeling great again, and had since he got a bit lower down this backside of the pass, and I just got behind him and let him set the great pace up the slope. This was my first “low” of the day, but luckily didn’t last long and wasn’t too deep… i think it was a mental issue as I scared myself out of it on the descent thinking about reclimbing the trail.

It felt great to run down the other side of the pass, and we made good time of it. The reclimb of the 350 or so  feet wasn’t particularly fun, but, again, I fell in behind Steve and his paced pulled right up. Before long we were running down again with the Rock Garden Aid Station in our sights!

It was on this descent that I think Steve had his most enjoyable experience of the weekend! It’s something that I have experienced on countless occasions on runs in the high country, and usually above timber line. It’s an emotional thing at times, just realizing where you are and that God has given you the ability to run for miles and miles through this demanding and exhilarating landscape! Sometimes it just hits you and and fills your heart up to the brim – almost like you’re floating! THIS is why we do it! THIS is the answer we try to give when people ask why we would ever want to run these long distances, or finish an Ironman, or stand on a summit. THIS is what we were made for! When an explanation is attempted, it will always fall short of these experiences, and the eye opening, slap in the face emotions that will grab you by the neck and lighten the load. In that exact spot we were jogging on a nice moderate trail, with the Sawatch Range across the Arkansas River Valley, so the biggest mountains in the state of Colorado (literally) were staring us in the face, on a picture perfect day, doing something we both truly love. If you don’t feel a tug at your heart in that situation, it’s beyond my understanding!

Rock Garden to Printer Boy (4.5 miles)

This descent is very nice at this point in the race. We made great time! I had had another mini-low on the final descent into Rock Garden, so was in better spirits being on the other side of it. We ran hard on a few of the descents, walking any of the up hills we encountered and in no time we were crossing California Gulch Rd again and making the mile long climb up to Printer Boy. This was a nice stretch as we were alone almost the entire stretch. We passed one guy on the descent, and got passed by some dude that was flying down the trail (and flying up the ups!). But that was it. Nice and peaceful stretch. We didn’t realize it, but on the climb back over the pass, and the descent and short climb to Printer Boy, we were making up gobs and gobs of time. As we came into Printer Boy, we were 20 minutes ahead of my 11:15 pace schedule (and 35+ minutes ahead of where the girls expected us according to our previous arrival times). We did 2:37 from Printer Boy to Stumptown and 2:40 back. Pretty consistent! It was here we thought a sub 11:00 finish was possible and wasted no time at Printer Boy.

Printer Boy to Black Cloud (6.5 miles)

We had a 3.5 mile climb ahead of us, and then a 10 mile descent! We felt like we were there! Hold on, not so fast! We rocked the first part of the climb. Taking it nice and easy, but still passing person after person, and not putting out too much effort. The only issue I was having at this point was my stomach. At Printer Boy, it had been 2 hours since I’d peed, and I know this can cause me some serious trouble. So I drank a ton… way too much… trying to get myself to pee. So my stomach was not happy. It wasn’t debilitating, just uncomfortable. When I finally started peeing, I immediately felt better, but this soon caused a new set of problems. Steve on the other hand, was feeling dang near perfect.

Once I started to pee, I think it threw my electrolytes off. I had taken a few s-caps, but I think I should have taken one with all of that water. I had a major low about a half mile from the top of the climb. So much so that I thought I was going to pass out on one occasion. This one hurt! This is where the “it doesn’t have to be fun, to be fun” quote applies. Steve kept me focused and we just slowed the pace down a bit. Steve stopped to pee and I kept going, reaching the top of the climb a minute ahead of Steve. It took me about 10 more minutes of hiking downhill for the low to go away. I soon felt much much better and was ready to run, feeling bad that I had made Steve walk with me on the first part of the descent. Then our roles swapped!

I didn’t know it, but Steve got slammed with hyponatremia. On the last climb, we both commented on how swollen his hands were and thought he had taken in too much salt… not knowing he was getting desperately low. We thought it was solely acute mountain sickness – aka altitude sickness – but had no idea what was really going on. So we thought, as we got lower, things would get better. But we were wrong. We walked it all the way down to Printer Boy (3 miles). It was very frustrating to Steve, as he is not used to having these sorts of issues during long events, and didn’t understand why his head would not clear from the foggy and dazed feeling. He wasn’t crampy, his legs felt strong, he was just very dazed, felt as if he could pass out, couldn’t see straight, and it scared him!

We sat at Printer Boy for a good 20 – 25 minutes getting some fluids in Steve. Mainly Coke as we thought his sugar could be low. But even stopping and the sugar didn’t help. Ken was at the aid station and was spurring Steve to get back on the trail, but Steve just wasn’t sure of what was going on, and didn’t want to make a dumb mistake that could seriously injure himself or set him back in his training for his next Ironman (September). So he took his time thinking it over. At this point we had 4 hours to walk it in (14 hour cutoff). Steve said if it was general fatigue, tired legs, you know, the normal expected issues with running 50 miles through the mountains, he would keep plodding along, and I would have been right there with him. Being that, at that point, we didn’t know what was going on with him, and that it was some systemic issues (vision, cognition, balance, swollen extremities, etc) Steve made the right call and bowed out here. Of course it killed him to do it, especially with only 7+ miles to go, but the race will be there next year, and he eventually figured out what was going on once he got to the medic back at the start line. So it turend out to be a good learning experience for both of us! Plus, he got to ride down with Ken… that’s pretty cool!

Printer Boy to Finish (7ish miles)

After sitting with Steve for almost half an hour, I about felt fresh! So I was able to push it pretty hard on these last seven miles. This was the hardest I pushed all day and it felt great! I chose to walk anything that was uphill, but ran most of the flat and all of the down. The flats were run easy, and I attacked the down hills, “attacked” for me anyway. I was able to pass quite a few people in the last seven miles… about 6 in all! I felt great about that and my confidence for the 100 was growing by the step!

I even got a nice refreshing shower running along CR 45 near the finish! The only bad thing about the last seven miles (besides Steve not being there) was a near emergency potty break. As I was running with a few miles to go, I passed a campground and saw two port-a-potty’s that looked like they would do the trick. I threw off my waist pack and ran over there, letting the bowels relax thinking I was seconds away from relief, only to find the doors padlocked shut!! Ouch! Clench back up and get back to business! Luckily, a few minutes later my excitement of finishing my first official 50 took over and the need passed. So don’t fall for those toilets! They’re like a mirage in the desert. Scooping up a handful of “water” only to throw a bunch of sand in your already parched mouth!

The final mile is slightly different than the first, as it doesn’t regain to the top of Dutch Henri, it goes around the hill to come in for a flat finish. Not much different, but different.

The last stretch took me just under 1:20 – so not blazing, but I was more than happy with it! My finish time was 11:22:27. So about 40 minutes faster than hoped and if we had known what was going on with Steve, could have shaved a good half hour plus off of that! I’m very happy with the time and feel great going into the 100 with the experience. I was just sad Steve couldn’t have crossed with me! But, he’s already determined to come back and get it done! He felt great in the days after, and was kind of wishing he had felt worse right after the race. It only took a couple of hours for his electrolytes to even out and he felt awesome!

All in all, this is a great race! The aid stations are well stocked and the volunteers are fantastic. We didn’t have to think! To top it off, the course is beautiful!

And a HUGE thank you to my beautiful wife Jamie, Lisa (Steve’s wife), and Jude (Steve and Lisa’s 3 month old son) for being an amazing crew! It was like they’d done it hundreds of times before… they were pro’s and made our lives much easier!

So a great day in the hills, once again! On to the Leadville 100!

Michael

Official Silver Rush 50 site

My sister came in town for a short week and we were able to get out and play for a trek up to Sky Pond! Tiffany loves to get out in the mountains and hike around. She’s actually done a lot in the few times she’s been out… Hallett Peak and Long’s Peak have been her favorite hikes thus far, but I knew the beauty and grandeur of Loch Vale and Sky Pond would rival those for sure!

We didn’t get a terribly early start, but were on the trail by 7:45. We made great time up the trail, stopping to see all the points of interest and to take in the surroundings. This trail is great! It winds up through the mountains along glacial moraines, over streams, above great view points, and passes several large waterfalls en route to some spectacular high alpine lakes.

The first of these lakes is The Loch. It’s a fairly large lake set in a stunning valley known as Loch Vale. It’s flanked on either side by Thatchtop mountain, Otis Peak, and Cathedral Wall. Above The Loch, the trail meanders through Loch Vale until it climbs to a head wall that’s home to one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the national park, Timberline Falls. From here, there is a 3rd class scramble up a wet and slippery little gully to the right (west) of Timberline Falls, that you will need to climb to gain the top of the head wall, to the shelf that holds both Lake of Glass and Sky Pond. This is a truly special place and home to some of the greatest scenery in the state of Colorado, let alone RMNP.

We enjoyed a little time at Lake of Glass before heading over to Sky Pond where we watched some climbers on Petite Grepon, one of the large spires directly west of Sky Pond. We ate some Wheat Thins, Tiffany yelled at me for not bringing bug spray, I held her head underwater for 10 minutes, then we started the 5 mile hike back to the trail head.

The weather was perfect! Bright blue skies, a cool breeze, mild temperatures, and stunning scenery! This is one of my favorite hikes and one I will do again and again in the future! And it’s always great to get out and enjoy the mountains with family! We just wished that Jamie was able to sneak away from her laboratory to join us – next time!

Here are some pics and a video of our day in the hills!

Michael

Lawn Lake and an Alpine Sunflower

The Lawn Lake trail is completely snow free! This is a great trail to run as it has a gentle grade for the full 6.3 miles to the lake, with the exception of part of the first half mile or so. It was an absolutely stunning day in the mountains! Cool, clear, running water, flowers, and perfect trail conditions! It’s great as I keep getting in better shape, these “hikes” don’t seem nearly as long as I remember! I have memories of the trail to Lawn Lake dragging on and on, but it seemed to pop up unexpectedly early! Before I knew it I was there!

I did some road running to get to the trail head, so my outing totaled about 19 miles and took me 3:55. I’m not sure about the gain… +/- 2500 feet?? Something to that effect. I am noticing, however, that I am getting dehydrated quickly in this warmer summer weather, so I have to really watch the water intake. If I stay hydrated, my energy level never falters, it’s when I let myself get a little behind that I get tired. I noticed i was getting lethargic on the way back down the trail (and my HR spiked from 140ish to about 170 – a clear sign I’m behind on my fluids), so stopped and filtered 40 oz of water (handheld bottle x2), downed the frigid Roaring River water as quickly as I could, and was soon feeling back to normal once again (and with my HR back in the 140 range).

All in all another great day on the trail!

Michael

Alan just rolled back into town and needed to get up high, so we decided to head up Hallett Peak for a nice evening jaunt.

The trail was in great condition and we only had to walk on snow a couple of times, and only for about 20 yards total. Once above tree line, the flowers are out in full force! They are stunning! There are even Alpine Forget Me Nots in bloom. These are my absolute favorite flower (followed closely by the bluebonnets of Texas). They are so small and delicate, yet so remarkably vibrant and stunning to see.

We dinked around taking pictures of flowers and the amazing landscape that surrounded us, but we did push it when we were moving. We made decent time up the trail, but were running out of time as Alan needed to be back in town by 6:30 at the latest. So we cut the day short and just tagged the summit of Flattop. It was a beautiful evening out. Crystal clear, great temps, and there were even a few marmots and pikas out to welcome us to the tundra!

We got about 8.5 miles in in 2:09 with about 3,000 feet of gain… so we were still clipping along okay despite the breaks and the goof off time!

Mike, Ning, and I decided we needed a run that would give us some hills, some decent distance and get us up high. The North Longs seemed like the perfect fit as it’s now snow free, a good solid climb (7+ miles and +/- 3,000 feet of gain), and gets us up to about 12,000 feet. We all have races coming up, Mike and Ning have the Leadville 100 in August, and I have the Silver Rush 50 next month with a tentative Leadville try in August given the 50 goes well. So we need to be running!

We made it to the trail head at about 8 am, geared up and hit the trail. We had planned to play it by ear as far as how much we’d run up to the pass, I wasn’t thinking it would even be an option to run a climb like that – for me, it’s historically been a stretch. But we just kept it low and slow and about a quarter of the way up, we all realized it was a possibility, so we just went for it. It really wasn’t too bad until we got above tree line and the trail steepened as the air got thin. But what a beautiful trail!

The trail winds through dense forests, crosses a number of streams (great for filter stops), and then spits you out in the Alpine Tundra with Longs Peak and Storm Peak towering overhead. What a place to run! We were even greeted by a few marmots as we neared Granite Pass! And we made great time! Nothing super fast or anything, but Mike hit the pass in 1:57:30ish, I came in at 1:58, and Ning was right behind at 1:59:30. We had dreamed that a sub 2 hour time would be incredible, so we were pumped! And that included three filter stops, a pee break, and Ning stretching out her legs, so we were very happy with the time!

We then decided to head back and run up to The Loch in Loch Vale which would add another 2.6 miles to the day. But on the way down, about 15 minutes into the descent, my stomach started to churn. I still have no idea why, but think it was a mix of a few things (going slightly anaerobic on the ascent, not eating well the past week, and being a bit dehydrated coming into the day). But it put a halt to my running. I told Mike and Ning I’d just meet them at the bridge at the start of the trail so they went on and I walked for a bit. This was the first time I had walked more on the descent then on the way up! Strange! After some seriously massive burbs, things began to settle down a bit and I was able to run strong to the base of the hill. But I still wasn’t out of the woods, as after crouching down to filter out of  Glacier Creek, it started acting up again. So I just walked to the Loch – hiked it hard, but only ran a quarter mile of it. I then took my time back to the trail head while Mike and Ning shot over to Haiyaha on the way back, adding another mile or so. I just needed to stop moving so my stomach would settle down. Now I really feel for those who have these stomach issues when they run! Every once in a while, mine will get a little off on a run, but never this bad… not debilitating, but certainly not pleasant.

So I made it back to Bear Lake at 4:26 from the gun… Nothing blazing by any stretch, but a great day out and the best climbing I’ve ever done! So all in all, another great day in the hills!

Tickle a gnome and he’ll take you home; tickle a bear and he’ll brush your hair!

Michael

Here are some pics from the week during the times we got to have some fun with each other!

Click here for the pics

I’ve had two of my biggest weeks running since 2007, so I’m super pumped about that. Everything is working really well and I’m ready to up the mileage again next week! Now my numbers are not that big compared to most of my running friends, but for me it’s great to be back to a positive trend and injury free! Two weeks ago I ran 65 miles and this past week (ending yesterday) I took a more relaxed approach to recover but managed a good 51 miles! This next week I hope to surpass 70, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m proud of my progress, but it’s hard to feel great when you have friends routinely covering 125+ per week! Yikes! Still a bit off from there.

Water break!

So anyway, the snow is rapidly melting, maybe too fast for the poor souls in downtown Estes where the Big Thompson is severely threatening to run over its banks and into many homes and businesses. But, the trails are clearing up nicely! Alan an I managed a great outing up Lady Washington (13,281 feet) last Tuesday. There is still some snow in the trees on the upper part of the Long’s trail, but above treeline is in pretty good shape with just spotty snow.

On the slopes of Lady Washington - Mummy Range in the distance

We bee-lined for Chasm Junction then went up the east ridge of Lady Washington. Pretty straightforward and tons of fun! The views from the summit are always surprising! I always forget how massive the east face and the diamond of Longs is. We sat on the very cold and windy summit for a few minutes then headed over to Chasm View for an up close view of the diamond. We soaked it in for a bit, then made our way down to the boulder-field and ran back to the trail head. I don’t remember our time, but I think it was a bit under 4:30… which we were happy with for all the lallygagging we did!

The tundra is beginning to come alive and we saw tons of green shoots under the dead tundra grasses of last summer. It’s so great to see life awakening in the upper elevations! A sign of miles and miles of summer running to come!!

Life on the tundra!

Nearing the summit!

On the summit! The diamond of longs overshadows!

near Chasm View - The Diamond behind!

** (edit – 05/19) Just went for a recon run up to sundance cut-off on lumpy and the trail is much more improved than I anticipated… Muddy in spots, but will probably be in good enough shape, all the way around, for an enjoyable run or hike by this weekend! **

If you do want to get up high and get some good running in, Trail Ridge Rd is in perfect shape almost all the way to the visitor center. Alan and I had a great time up there yesterday! We parked at Rainbow Curve (where the road is currently closed) and were able to run all the way to Rock Cut without stepping on one flake of snow. Then there was a small patch where the crews were working on digging out the bathrooms, and then it was snow free almost the entire way to the visitor center!

It was an amazingly beautiful day up high and I was hot in my shorts and jacket, so there were definitely no weather concerns. We took it very easy up the long first climb, then ran most of the way to rock cut, where we took a short break to talk to the snow clearing crews. They were digging out the bathrooms near the toll memorial getting ready for the opening of the road. We ran on ahead and were blown away by some of the biggest drifts we have ever seen up there! The NPS crew said it was 35 feet high.. I’d have to say it was only 25-28 feet high, but we’re still talking about a lot of snow!

Shortly past this we reached the Lava Cliffs. Here there was a snow eater hard at work! It’s so much fun to watch one of these up close! We spent some time watching him work, then went on ahead into the coolest part of the run… the snow canyon! There was a long stretch where just one width of a snow eater had been plowed out making a narrow canyon on either side of us with a one inch layer of snow on the pavement. We played around in this stretch for a while, climbing the walls, exploring the drifts and tundra above, and just enjoying the nice warm day!

We ran on to find the end of the road, maybe a mile from the visitor center. There was another snow eater hard at work in a one-snow-eater-width plowed path. We figured we couldn’t come this far and not see the Visitor Center under its blanket of snow, so we hopped over the ridge, on nice crusty snow and tundra, ran down the backside and ended up right in the parking lot! It was great! There is far more snow up there than I expected as parts of the buildings were completely covered. There is at least 8-12 feet of snow in the parking lot, with more drifted up and over the roofs of the two main buildings (visitor center and trail ridge store). We walked up on the roofs and enjoyed this other worldly experience, one that not too many get to experience as it’s so inaccessible this time of year.

We were soon headed back up the mountain above the visitor center and running back up the road with weather moving in and thunder cracking over the Never Summer Range to the west. Taking our time and enjoying the day, we took about 4.5 hours to do the 17.25 miles and 2,000 feet of gain/loss. This was a day I will remember for a long while! It was the first good weather outing to be had in the park all year. Shorts, a bottle of gel, a water bottle… nothing else needed! Perfect!

Here are some pics and a video… Enjoy!