Catching Up

As usual, I have fallen way behind in keeping up with this. With two bike camps, the 50 weekend (which hosts both the 50 bike and 50 run on back to back days), followed by a quick trip out to Tahoe and back to put on a race, I have had little time to even see a computer. I did manage to squeeze in some decent running since July 8th (date of last post). I got in some short runs the Wednesday and Thursday before the 50s, and then ran 10 miles of the 50 mile run as a pseudo-sweep. It started in with a torrential down pour, so I let the search and rescue guys on four-wheelers take care of the rest of the race. I was glad it happened though, as I now know that I need a more rain resistant jacket. This has been ordered, and will be here any day now. The day after the run was clean up, and the following day we left for Tahoe. On the way out, we stayed in Salt Lake City. I had never seen the Mormon Temple before, so I decided to take a 10 mile run from our hotel to the center of downtown. It was a good run, but rained the entire time.

It is a pretty cool building, though not as large as I would have expected.  I stopped in to a little pub to grab dinner, and then took a cab back to the hotel.

The next day we arrived at the Northstar Resort on the north side of Lake Tahoe, and I grabbed a quick 1 hour run along the trails on the mountain, then we headed to dinner.  The next morning I did some speed work on the same trails, and then we started putting in long work days.

Saturday was the mountain bike qualifier, and we got up at 4am, to start working.  We worked all day long, and it was hot.  I had been planning for the possibility all along that I might go over to the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 that was being hosted the same day about 30 miles away after we finished work.

I was really tired once we called it a day, but decided I should go over and see if anyone needed volunteer help or more importantly a pacer.  After going to a couple of aid stations, Paul and I ended up at the 80 mile aid station.  The top 20-40 runners were just coming through at a trickle.  I told Paul I could find a ride, and that I was hanging around until I found someone who could use my services.

I knew this would be a good opportunity to run while tired, and to run at night.  What I hadn't planned on was pacing with someone who would eventually be a top 25 finisher.  I don't usually see how those guys finish races...you know, because I am so far back in the pack.

The first group I talked to about pacing, need some help.  A lady's husband had been in the top 10, but was going through some stomach issues.  It turns out that he has a history of similar occurrences at the 100 mile distance, but somehow manages to hack it out, and ends up doing very well despite the setback.

About 1 or 1:15 AM my runner rolls in to the aid station.  He looked like death.  He had that glazed over look, and had been puking some since mile 50.  He didn't resist the idea of a pacer, and we got some food and drink in him before setting off on the first leg of the last 20 miles.

Soooo...I hadn't really studied this course at all.  This is what the first two miles of the last 20 miles looks like:

Just look at mile 30, which is also mile 80, and see that immediately upon leaving the aid station you climb almost 2000ft in about 2 miles.

I am not a strong climber.  Kevin, my runner, is a very strong climber.  Even in his condition, and having run 80 miles, it took everything I had to stay with him.  I did my best to hide my heavy breathing.  I hung with him, and knew that everything else would be pretty easy after that.

He was pretty amazing.  He ran all the downs, most of the flats, and climbed at a very strong pace on the ups.  Towards the end, he even climbed most of those "small" ups you see on the profile.

It was great to get the training in during those conditions, but it was really important for me to see an elite type ultra runner hammer out a good pace when he felt terrible.

At every aid station I would get a good look at his face, and realize he still had that glazed look a lot of the time, and was not eating much, and somehow still went back out and handed it to that course while in that condition.  It is a lesson I hope to remember when I am merely tired during a run or the race, and want to walk.  I will remember that Kevin felt horrible, looked horrible, and still turned out that kind of pace, and finished 24 overall in a very difficult race.  It is still hard for me to believe that he felt so poorly, and yet he improved 9 spots in the standings from the time I started running with him until the finish.

Kevin Koch, you are my new ultra hero.

Here are some pictures and videos from the course.

Sorry if anyone had a seizure because of the videos.  I don't know how to control the speed or to give you play options.

Kevin and his wife Shannon gave me a ride back to the house, I showered up, and then went to work.  We started getting ready to leave later that evening.  After some work, we went back to the house, and I laid down on the bed for 2 seconds and fell asleep.  Paul woke me up so we could go back to work.  I went downstairs, and some folks were still eating.  I laid on the floor for 2 seconds, and went back to sleep.  Finally we finished all the work, and headed for home.  I got in the back of the truck, and immediately went to sleep.

We stayed the night in Elko, NV, and then got home around 6:30PM the following day.  That night I went for a 20 miler or so at night, and finished around 12:30 AM.  I took today off, and will not run tomorrow either.

There was a giant full moon, and pretty clear night as I ran.  It looked like this:

On Thursday there is some talk of doing a 26 miler called the 4 Pass Loop around Vail.  We'll see if that happens, and how it pans out.

I feel positive now.

28 In Reverse of Last Sunday

If you are here for pictures, I must apologize.

 The lens was foggy, and everything came out super blurry.

The run was good though. After the grueling day yesterday I decided that the same 28 mile loop from last Sunday would be best run in reverse. This of course means that I got to run DOWN Powerline, instead of hiking UP Powerline.

 Nevertheless, 28 miles at 10,000ft+, with some climbing is still a good day. It took 6 hours and 5 minutes. I didn't start until 8:00 AM, so it was fairly warm by the finish. I felt good, and was able to run over 3/4 of the route, even a lot of the uphills.

 The two day total came out to just over 50 miles and about 11.5 hours. I feel really good about where my training is going.

 Hopefully I remember to drink water on race day.

 Here is the course in 3D.




If you are a big video person, here is the link:  http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/render_route_video?route_key=515137328958079143&site=mapmyrun.com

Training Run With a 14er in the Middle

Today got off to an early start.

Last week I had run with Smokey on Sunday.  We knocked out the 28 miles that started and ended the 100.

Today we decided to knock out a fairly lengthy run, but to summit a 14er in the middle (For the flatlanders, a 14er is a 14,000ft peak).

Smokey runs Community Threads, an awesome consignment shop in Leadville.  While we train at about the same pace, he has a much stronger background in running, has finished the 100 twice, and is a fast climber.

He lives 2 streets over, so we started our run form the neighborhood, and headed South/Southeast towards Mount Sherman.


It ended up being just shy of 20 miles, but had about 3600-3700 feet of climbing, and took about 5.5 hrs to complete.  It took us 3 hours and 5 minutes to summit the peak from our doorsteps.  It could have been quicker, but there were times when the grade of the climb was over 10%.

Here is the elevation profile:

Like I said, the run started in town, so we headed out on pavement first.  There are a couple of fairly steep pavement sections, so we ran over 3/4 of the way to the trailhead.  It was a nice tough grind.

From this picture, you don't get a great feel for the grade of the road, but you did get a look at what we will be climbing later.

Once you get to the trailhead, it rolls a bit through a meadow until you get to the base of the mountain and really start your climb.

Mt. Sherman is often someone's first 14er because it is a short route.  However, you do still need to be in shape as it is very steep at some points.  Where it is steep is not actually dangerous (no drop offs to the sides), but it is a pretty grueling ascent.

You make it over tree line pretty fast, and this is what the trail looks like on the side of the mountain.

Those are people back there on the trail, if that gives you a sense of scale

We motored up the mountain at a pretty good clip, and I felt great.  I am only mildly feeling any altitude affects now, and my climbing is already getting stronger.  I am not where I need to be yet, but today was a good confidence builder, and training day.

After making the saddle, we moved up along the ridge line.  I took a picture here last year also.  They look almost the same.

These flowers are called Blue Bells, and they are purple, so I of course thought of Southern Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream from Blue Bell

Hiking and running the ridge line is one of my favorite parts of ascending 14ers.  Remember that this video looks more dangerous than it really is, there was never any real chance of falling off the sides.

As we neared the summit, I snapped this shot of the valley below, and you can see most of the roads, we ran in on, and even town back in the distance where we started.

Finally, we reached the summit, snapped the obligatory peak photo, and headed home.

It took about 2 hours and 20 minutes to make it back to town.  We were grinding out some pretty good times.  The course back is mostly down hill, but there are a couple of climbs that make you want to swear on the way back, and we ran them all.  After all this is training.

I ate a lot, and have been icing my feet as a precautionary measure.  They feel okay, but one is tight, and the other has a stone bruise.  Neither issue should be very problematic, I just want to stay ahead of any possible future issues.

Here is a pretty cool way to see the entirety of the route we took:

Marathon 6/29 - Today

Since I last posted, I have finally been able to get in some good, long runs in Leadville.

On Saturday, I helped put on the Leadville Trail Marathon.  It is a pretty beastly course.  It mostly climbs for the first half, up to over 13,000ft at Mosquito Pass.  Then you turn around and come back, remembering that it was MOSTLY uphill on the way out, only to remember that there are several climbs on the way back to the finish.

This is the panorama shot from the aid station I was working:

It is a tough race.  I ended up being the gopher for several aid stations, and then swept the last 20 miles on foot.

Here is the video from when we marked up to Mosquito Pass on Thursday before the race.  Don't freak out, remember I have long arms, and can reach way out over the edge.

The next day I put in 28 miles that encompassed the start of the race, then we break over to Powerline for the climb, and do the end of the race.  It was a good day.

Just focus on the part from town to the squiggly line before the fish hatchery and back to town.

The training is going well over all, and I am just trying to make sure I stay on schedule.

I ran some out at Lodgepole Flats.  It looked like this:

I ran the Firecracker 5k yesterday morning here in town, and got 5th place.  However, the time was just over 20 minutes.  Not my best effort.

Anyhow, in the next couple of days, I should get 2 long runs in at some point, and hopefully I will have more photos to share.


Until then...

Run Training Camp

Sorry, no pictures.

Run camp was fun as usual, but I had to work more this year than last, so my runs during the camp were shorter.

On Day 1, the run took the campers from Mayqueen to Fish Hatchery along the race course, and then from there, all the way to Twin Lakes.  This covers from about mile 13.5 to mile 39 in the race.  I had to set up and work the aid station at Fish Hatchery.  When the last person came through, I took off running.  I basically ended up doing about 13-14 miles.

Day 2 is when the campers have the opportunity to do the double traverse of Hope Pass.  This is the turnaround point (50 miles) of the run.  Many of the runners elected to summit the Pass, and come back down on the same side.  I was essentially sweeping the course one direction, and helping at the last aid station, so I just ran all the way over, and caught a ride back.  Here in the next few weeks, I will be doing the double traverse of the pass (over and back) at least once before race day.

Day 3 is a night run from May Queen back to town along the lake.  I marked the course earlier on the day on my bike with help from a couple of other guys.  That evening, I ran that final 13.5 miles back to town in a pretty quick training pace.

Yesterday I ran 6 miles out at Lodgepole Flats.  It is a relatively flat area, and mostly fire road.  Then yesterday evening, I hiked to the ridge line of Mt. Sherman.  It is only about 3 miles roundtrip, but it took 2 hours because of how steep the climb is.

The rest of the time has been long days of manual labor.  The next scheduled runs are the marathon, and then a long run on Sunday morning.  Hopefully those both pan out, and maybe I'll even have some good pictures to post.