-Some days you have it, some days you don't. Didn't run as well as I thought I could. I guess I can't really complain about a four hour PR and my first big buckle though. But I'll be faster next year. I think I have a 21-22 hour run in me at Leadville.
-No rest for the weary. I think I can significantly lower my hundred mile PR at Oil Creek in October. After spending so much time over the past few years worrying about Hardrock and Leadville, it was almost comical looking at the course profile for OC. Really looking forward to that race, we'll see what happens when I switch from PBR to Yuengling and Iron City.
-I've told anyone who would listen that once I completed the Hardrock/Leadville double I would attempt the Rocky Mountain Slam. So 2010 has the makings of an epic year: a PR attempt at Boston followed by Bighorn, Hardrock, Leadville, and the Bear. All depends on whether or not I get into Hardrock again, I have a nagging suspicion that I'm due to flunk the lottery one of these years...
-Speaking of epic years, I just took down the "to-do" list from my office wall. Austin marathon. Salida marathon. Grand Canyon R2R2R. Desert RATS. Collegiate Peaks. Jemez Mountain. Hardrock. Pikes Peak. Leadville. What a great year it's been!
-Hardrock is obviously the harder course, with at least nine climbs worse than Hope Pass. But it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as Leadville.
-Love this quote over here. "F.A.A. rules state that a pilot flying above 10,000’ for longer than thirty minutes needs to be on supplemental oxygen. At the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run, I’d be well above 10,000’. For thirty hours. Running."
-Glad to see minimal whining about the course change. My heart really goes out to those people affected by the helicopter crash.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Leadville 2009, part II
Winfield to Leadville
Weighed in at Winfield, ten pounds down. It was hot, but I didn’t feel like I had lost that much weight (there has been recent discussion on the e-mail list over whether that scale was off…). Was still unable to eat any solid food here, so it was more ensure, a can of coke, and a few swigs of Pabst.
Picked up Mike Safari here to pace me for a bit. A future Leadville finisher, Mike wanted to see what the big deal about Hope Pass was. We left the aid station and made real good time along the road. Soon enough we were on our way up the steep side of Hope Pass. I wasn’t feeling the greatest so again I picked a pace that allowed me to stay slow but steady up the mountain.
Saw a bunch of friends on this part of the course, all making their way down Hope Pass. Also saw a bunch of people I didn’t know cheer for PBR as I passed, it was awesome!
Got passed by a few folks on the way up but I kept at it and soon enough Mike and I were at the top. I point out Leadville to him in the distance. Holy hell did I still have a long way to run!
Shortly after the Hopeless aid station I stopped to drop my first deuce of the day. A monumental occasion, I was hoping this would clear up my stomach. Once again, I didn’t think my stomach was ruining my chances of getting a finish, but I could definitely tell my pace was suffering from not being able to take some solid grub in.
Good run the rest of the way down Hope. Had Mike hold my water belt as I crossed the river so I could take a nice dip all the way in. We headed across the grass field and soon saw Katie and Nacheaux. They had made some awesome signs and had a cold beer waiting. What a great crew I had!
In and out of Twin Lakes fairly quickly. I’m out at 5:43PM, a scathing two minutes ahead of schedule. Stomach was still giving me some issues. This section was where I began to fall apart last year and I wanted to get through it as quickly as possible.
Mike and I began the long hike up to the Colorado trail. I did cover this a lot more aggressively than Hope Pass, but I still wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Once we hit the Colorado trail, things started to improve a bit. I wasn’t exactly Usain Bolt, but I started running more and even passing some people. Got through Box Creek Pass at 7:42PM and made it a few more miles before having to switch on my light. Before too long I could hear Katie with her cowbell and I rolled in to treeline.
Mike had done a fantastic job as a pacer, keeping me moving even though I wasn’t at my physical best. We talked about all kinds of topics out there and he always managed to keep my mind off how bad I was hurting. But he was done now, and it was time for me to pick up a new pacer. My friend Clark would take the reigns here, with the job of getting me to Mayqueen with enough time to finish the final leg under 25 hours.
For the first time all day I was finally able to choke down some food. You’d be amazed at how good a snickers bar tastes when it’s the only thing you’ve eaten for 70+ miles. Took another dump before leaving but after that Clark and I tore up the road to Fish Hatchery. Yeah, it’s a boring part of the course, but it was some of the best running I would do all day. Clark kept me moving, pushing me forward and making me run most of the way. Probably ran 80% of that section, arriving at Fish at 9:46PM, 15 minutes ahead of my goal time.
Attempted to change shoes at Fish. Was planning on switching to the La Sportiva Fireblades. But I had developed a blister on my heel during Pikes Peak, and it had gotten worse throughout the day at Leadville. When I put on the Fireblades, I could tell things were gonna get painful pretty quick, I guess it’s a much tighter fit in the heel. So I changed back into the Wildcats. I would end up running 67 miles of the race in the 'cats.
Left Fish Hatchery still feeling great. Ran the road over to the bottom of the final climb of the day, Sugarloaf. I hammered up Sugarloaf pretty good, hiking as hard as I could. Managed to pass quite a few people. Soon the downhill came and I was able to run most of it. Along the dirt road and back on the Colorado trail. That last section of the CO trail always takes a lot longer than it should, but at 12:45AM I was finally at Mayqueen, the final aid station of the day.
By the time I changed into my Saucony and rolled out of Mayqueen, once again being limited to ensure, it was almost 1AM. Clark was now done, and I was on my own for the final 13 miles. Normally I wouldn’t be worried about covering a half marathon in four hours. But after going at it for 87 miles, I was kinda pooped.
I spent the entire trip around Turquoise Lake falling asleep while running, then waking up as I was falling to the ground. Sometimes I was able to save the dive, sometimes I wasn’t. I remember when I finally got to the Tabor boat ramp I saw Judy D, and I was so tired that I just curled up into a ball by her feet and tried to drop out. It must have been pretty comical to see. She gave me a coke and some caffeine pills and somehow got me back on my feet and moving slowly towards the finish line. I remember thinking that I still had seven miles to go, which at that time felt like an impossible distance for a human to cover.
The caffeine kicked in and gave me a boost for a few miles. I was soon caught by Larry D, Paul S, and Rick H. Ran with those guys for a bit before they pulled away. As we made the left turn on to the Boulevard, Paul told me that I could walk in from here and still finish sub-25. I took that as an order and walked the next 1.5 miles.
Eventually the lights of Leadville came into view and inspired me to get my ass moving. Managed to pass two more runners just as we got back onto the paved road. About three blocks from the finish I met Katie and Nacheaux, who handed me a well deserved PBR. Soon after that I crossed the finish line in 24:29:20, my new 100 mile PR.
Weighed in at Winfield, ten pounds down. It was hot, but I didn’t feel like I had lost that much weight (there has been recent discussion on the e-mail list over whether that scale was off…). Was still unable to eat any solid food here, so it was more ensure, a can of coke, and a few swigs of Pabst.
Picked up Mike Safari here to pace me for a bit. A future Leadville finisher, Mike wanted to see what the big deal about Hope Pass was. We left the aid station and made real good time along the road. Soon enough we were on our way up the steep side of Hope Pass. I wasn’t feeling the greatest so again I picked a pace that allowed me to stay slow but steady up the mountain.
Saw a bunch of friends on this part of the course, all making their way down Hope Pass. Also saw a bunch of people I didn’t know cheer for PBR as I passed, it was awesome!
Got passed by a few folks on the way up but I kept at it and soon enough Mike and I were at the top. I point out Leadville to him in the distance. Holy hell did I still have a long way to run!
Shortly after the Hopeless aid station I stopped to drop my first deuce of the day. A monumental occasion, I was hoping this would clear up my stomach. Once again, I didn’t think my stomach was ruining my chances of getting a finish, but I could definitely tell my pace was suffering from not being able to take some solid grub in.
Good run the rest of the way down Hope. Had Mike hold my water belt as I crossed the river so I could take a nice dip all the way in. We headed across the grass field and soon saw Katie and Nacheaux. They had made some awesome signs and had a cold beer waiting. What a great crew I had!
In and out of Twin Lakes fairly quickly. I’m out at 5:43PM, a scathing two minutes ahead of schedule. Stomach was still giving me some issues. This section was where I began to fall apart last year and I wanted to get through it as quickly as possible.
Mike and I began the long hike up to the Colorado trail. I did cover this a lot more aggressively than Hope Pass, but I still wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Once we hit the Colorado trail, things started to improve a bit. I wasn’t exactly Usain Bolt, but I started running more and even passing some people. Got through Box Creek Pass at 7:42PM and made it a few more miles before having to switch on my light. Before too long I could hear Katie with her cowbell and I rolled in to treeline.
Mike had done a fantastic job as a pacer, keeping me moving even though I wasn’t at my physical best. We talked about all kinds of topics out there and he always managed to keep my mind off how bad I was hurting. But he was done now, and it was time for me to pick up a new pacer. My friend Clark would take the reigns here, with the job of getting me to Mayqueen with enough time to finish the final leg under 25 hours.
For the first time all day I was finally able to choke down some food. You’d be amazed at how good a snickers bar tastes when it’s the only thing you’ve eaten for 70+ miles. Took another dump before leaving but after that Clark and I tore up the road to Fish Hatchery. Yeah, it’s a boring part of the course, but it was some of the best running I would do all day. Clark kept me moving, pushing me forward and making me run most of the way. Probably ran 80% of that section, arriving at Fish at 9:46PM, 15 minutes ahead of my goal time.
Attempted to change shoes at Fish. Was planning on switching to the La Sportiva Fireblades. But I had developed a blister on my heel during Pikes Peak, and it had gotten worse throughout the day at Leadville. When I put on the Fireblades, I could tell things were gonna get painful pretty quick, I guess it’s a much tighter fit in the heel. So I changed back into the Wildcats. I would end up running 67 miles of the race in the 'cats.
Left Fish Hatchery still feeling great. Ran the road over to the bottom of the final climb of the day, Sugarloaf. I hammered up Sugarloaf pretty good, hiking as hard as I could. Managed to pass quite a few people. Soon the downhill came and I was able to run most of it. Along the dirt road and back on the Colorado trail. That last section of the CO trail always takes a lot longer than it should, but at 12:45AM I was finally at Mayqueen, the final aid station of the day.
By the time I changed into my Saucony and rolled out of Mayqueen, once again being limited to ensure, it was almost 1AM. Clark was now done, and I was on my own for the final 13 miles. Normally I wouldn’t be worried about covering a half marathon in four hours. But after going at it for 87 miles, I was kinda pooped.
I spent the entire trip around Turquoise Lake falling asleep while running, then waking up as I was falling to the ground. Sometimes I was able to save the dive, sometimes I wasn’t. I remember when I finally got to the Tabor boat ramp I saw Judy D, and I was so tired that I just curled up into a ball by her feet and tried to drop out. It must have been pretty comical to see. She gave me a coke and some caffeine pills and somehow got me back on my feet and moving slowly towards the finish line. I remember thinking that I still had seven miles to go, which at that time felt like an impossible distance for a human to cover.
The caffeine kicked in and gave me a boost for a few miles. I was soon caught by Larry D, Paul S, and Rick H. Ran with those guys for a bit before they pulled away. As we made the left turn on to the Boulevard, Paul told me that I could walk in from here and still finish sub-25. I took that as an order and walked the next 1.5 miles.
Eventually the lights of Leadville came into view and inspired me to get my ass moving. Managed to pass two more runners just as we got back onto the paved road. About three blocks from the finish I met Katie and Nacheaux, who handed me a well deserved PBR. Soon after that I crossed the finish line in 24:29:20, my new 100 mile PR.
sweet wheels!
Already started training for Leadman '10. I think I can take Lance in the LT 100 mountain bike race.
get in shape - drink more!
Thanks to Wiley for pointing this article out. Mentions the Boston Hash, who I'll be hashing with this April when I'm in town for the Boston Marathon!
TransRockies
barefoot article
Article on barefoot running in today's NY Times, read it here. I think the barefoot runners are approaching the CrossFitters on my list of annoying workout people.
Still looking for anyone who runs barefoot who still runs fast. The guy who finished the SF Marathon sounds like such a badass at first, but then you read that he finished in 4:48. Ugh. Though I do give props to Barefoot Ted, who finished Leadville in 25:55. Luckily for him that tiny buckle won't put nearly as much stress on his bare feet as the big buckle would...
Still looking for anyone who runs barefoot who still runs fast. The guy who finished the SF Marathon sounds like such a badass at first, but then you read that he finished in 4:48. Ugh. Though I do give props to Barefoot Ted, who finished Leadville in 25:55. Luckily for him that tiny buckle won't put nearly as much stress on his bare feet as the big buckle would...
bender
Training has taken a back seat for a while as I'm currently focused on drinking.
Saturday was a blast. Took Katie's old school cruiser and met Nacheaux at Benny's to begin the day. We then hit foam fest, and I was able to visit every brewery at least once, and most at least twice. From there it was off to one of my favorite local dives, Murphy's. I think I had four Wisconsin lunchbox's here, which would contribute heavily to my Sunday hangover as well as the epic bike wreck that would launch me over the haldlebars on the way up to Trinity's one year anniversary. Don't know how I was able to ride home that night, but I do remember getting lost in the Garden.
Sunday was an early start as I helped lay the Kimchi hash. Hung out at Coach's for a bit, then took off to Pulpit Rock to man the brass monkey check. After returning to Coach's for a few more beers, we all went to O'Furry's for some wings and $3 monster PBRs. Good times!
More of the same tonight, as I'm off to the DIM hash after work.
Looking forward to Thursday's MOPP hash in Manitou. Should have quite a few visitors attending. 6PM at the Townhouse Lounge if anyone wants to show up. Great trail followed by a pub crawl in Manitou.
Friday it's off to Winter Park for Invihash. Probably won't be able to blog about that since I won't remember any of it.
Saturday was a blast. Took Katie's old school cruiser and met Nacheaux at Benny's to begin the day. We then hit foam fest, and I was able to visit every brewery at least once, and most at least twice. From there it was off to one of my favorite local dives, Murphy's. I think I had four Wisconsin lunchbox's here, which would contribute heavily to my Sunday hangover as well as the epic bike wreck that would launch me over the haldlebars on the way up to Trinity's one year anniversary. Don't know how I was able to ride home that night, but I do remember getting lost in the Garden.
Sunday was an early start as I helped lay the Kimchi hash. Hung out at Coach's for a bit, then took off to Pulpit Rock to man the brass monkey check. After returning to Coach's for a few more beers, we all went to O'Furry's for some wings and $3 monster PBRs. Good times!
More of the same tonight, as I'm off to the DIM hash after work.
Looking forward to Thursday's MOPP hash in Manitou. Should have quite a few visitors attending. 6PM at the Townhouse Lounge if anyone wants to show up. Great trail followed by a pub crawl in Manitou.
Friday it's off to Winter Park for Invihash. Probably won't be able to blog about that since I won't remember any of it.
Friday, August 28, 2009
12:56.27
Ritz (that would be former CU Buff Dathan Ritzenhein, not current CO hasher Tits on the Ritz) busted out a 12:56 5,000 meters in Zurich today. I believe that's a new American record, and slightly faster than the pace I averaged at Leadville...
finally...
Got in a decent run this morning. White Acres, Quarry, Contemplative Trail. About six miles in an hour. Legs felt good. Must be getting old, can't recover from the big races as quick as I used to!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Leadville stats
The Leadville website is listing 275 finishers, including one over the final cutoff at 30:01:02. I think close to 600 started, so it's another sub 50% finish rate. 59 runners got the big belt buckle for a sub 25 hour run.
Leadville pic
Found a pic of me online over here. Weird, he can take a picture of me, and possibly make money off that pic, but I can't snag it for use on my blog.
Ask and you shall receive. OK, here's the pic. Guess I have a lot of computer genius friends. So let me try this: Gee, I sure wish I could hack into peoples bank accounts and move all their cash into my wallet...
Ask and you shall receive. OK, here's the pic. Guess I have a lot of computer genius friends. So let me try this: Gee, I sure wish I could hack into peoples bank accounts and move all their cash into my wallet...
After realizing I hadn't eaten in 24 hours I called Katie to see what was up. She said, "you retard, I'm in Wisconsin for the week." So I took a page from my sister and decided to see other people, namely the smokin' hot lead singer from Filthy Children. BLOS and I found her sitting alone at the Bluebird after the show, almost drunker than we were. She said FC would come play Manitou for $350! Unfortunately, she said she would have to bring the entire band and I could not get a solo performance. Oh well, they're a lot of fun and I hope to see 'em soon. Trying to get 'em in at Trinity. If not, look for a possible world tour of Manitou Springs, possibly with Pat Mac-Fucking-Donald and Melodyjane.
Katie might be able to get back on my good side if she brings back lots of PBR schwag from Wisco. I might starve to death before she gets back though...
Katie might be able to get back on my good side if she brings back lots of PBR schwag from Wisco. I might starve to death before she gets back though...
Black Joe Lewis/Filthy Children
Great time at the Black Joe Lewis show last night! BLOS and I went up a bit early to warm up with some alcoholic Tang at the PS Lounge (my second time there in three days!) and some G&T's at the Satire Lounge.
BLOS took a ton of great pics, which I'm sure he will post when he finally gets out of bed, probably some time tomorrow.
Great set by BJL, and a definite highlight for me when he acknowledged my Lovejoy's shirt!
Also saw an awesome local band open the show, Filthy Children. Definitely be making return trips to Colfax to see those guys!
BLOS took a ton of great pics, which I'm sure he will post when he finally gets out of bed, probably some time tomorrow.
Great set by BJL, and a definite highlight for me when he acknowledged my Lovejoy's shirt!
Also saw an awesome local band open the show, Filthy Children. Definitely be making return trips to Colfax to see those guys!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
AJW at his best
Just shows what a sexy sport ultrarunning is! AJW is my new favorite ultrarunner after this video...
Hooray PETA!
I'm normally not a big fan of PETA, as, believe it or not, I'm known to eat some animal from time to time. But if they're gonna start making fun of fat people, I'll get right behind 'em!
See the recent CNN nugget about it here. Save the whales, lose the blubber! I love it!
I also love how CNN gets a fat chick on there to argue. I'm sure she said something I should have listened to, but whenever people that big talk, all I hear is "nom...nom...nom..."
See the recent CNN nugget about it here. Save the whales, lose the blubber! I love it!
I also love how CNN gets a fat chick on there to argue. I'm sure she said something I should have listened to, but whenever people that big talk, all I hear is "nom...nom...nom..."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Leadville 2009, part I
Leadville to Winfield
It was early, 2:45AM, which on a Saturday means I should've been going to bed but instead I was waking up. I had the same feeling of dread as I did one year before. I had just wolfed down a clif bar and it wasn’t sitting right. My stomach, normally a trash compactor for anything I put into it, didn’t seem to be working right. Not the kind of thing that bodes well for a 100 mile run. As Tony would say later, "on a good day, running 100 miles is fucking hard. Period. On a bad day, it's borderline impossible." I was hoping my stomach wouldn't be the cause of a bad day.
But, truth be told, I knew I was going to finish this run. There was just no other option. I had trained my ass off over the last year. And every second loop up the Incline, every extra mile on the Intemann trail, every time I got up to run at 4:45AM instead of 5AM, it was all with the vision of my collapse and DNF at Halfmoon in 2008. I had lived in shame for an entire year, and I was ready to put it behind me. Back-to-back DNF’s would have been a crushing blow, and probably the end, of my running career, and I wasn’t going to let that happen, especially due to stomach issues.
The gun went off and I began my run down
I was feeling really good down the boulevard. I saw Keith in front of me, which had me worry for a minute that I was already behind the 30 hour cutoff pace, but there were other big buckle runners all around, so I didn't panic. Soon we were on the singletrack path around
I hit Mayqueen in 2:05. Perfect. I grabbed my iPod and downed an ensure. My stomach was still feeling a bit queasy and I didn’t think any solid food would stay down, so I stuck with liquids.
I had the Widespread Panic shows from Mile High to take my mind off running for a bit. The music drove me on, and I ran the singletrack uphill to the dirt road and then over to the first big climb of the day,
I caught up to Brooks and we left Fish Hatchery together and ran down my least favorite part of the course, the paved road. The views were fantastic though, with
I passed the purple horse stall and in a bit I was routed off the normal course on to
From
Forty miles in, and up until this point everything had been ass backward for me. Usually I charge up hills, play it safe on the way down, and eat everything and anything I can get my hands on at the aid stations. Here I had been holding steady on the ups, hammering by people on the downs, and had only taken in liquids over the past six hours. I swear I could still feel the clif bar in my stomach that I had eaten over eight hours earlier. I can’t say my stomach issues were hurting me, but it left me at a loss as how hard to push the next part of the course.
I decided to play it safe. Though I blame the Halfmoon aid station for my misery the year before, I think the damage was actually done while trying to hammer Hope Pass. I run from
The pace up
I didn't waste too much time at the top and begun the very steep and rugged descent. Ran well here, even though I finished all my water just before hitting the dirt road to Winfield. The dirt road run sucked as usual, breathing in all the dust the cars were kicking up. After what seemed like an eternity I finally ran into Winfield at 2:17PM. Despite a lackluster
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Just won two tickets to see Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears at the Bluebird Theater! Saw these guys open for Traveler at Red Rocks and they were awesome! They're from Austin, FYI. See one of their songs here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)