Reflection
It’s Thursday August 25, 2011, 4 days post race. I’m sitting up in the cabin in Leadville with a fire in the fireplace and a cold beer in hand relaxing after getting the cabin cleaned up and all of my gear packed up in the Jeep. It’s a partly cloudy evening and Mount Massive, Albert and Sugar Loaf are standing proudly off in the distance. About 700 runners signed up for the event, 374 runners attempted to traverse these three summits a total of six times in the out and back course in the Leadville Trail 100, only 245 finished in under 30 hours. Last year I was taken off Mt Massive from the tree line aid station. I’ve had a year to think about that race and the reasons why I DNF’d. I’ve had a year to prepare and plan out my strategy. This is a course that requires serious commitment to training and a solid race plan. Even with both of those in tow still only 40% of racers, on average, actually finish this race.
Preparation
I began the year with a 100 mile attempt at the Rocky Raccoon in Huntsville TX in early February 2011. On race morning the temps were in the high teens. It was brutally cold for the first 4 hours and then warmed up as the day went on. A 5 loop course through the pines of south Texas seemed relatively easy compared to Leadville the previous year, however, I was not ready for running on pine needles and the fact that they hid the many roots which caused me to bang up my feet and forced me to quit at mile 80. In hindsight, my race strategy was flawed and where my pacers were able to get me through in Leadville, my pacer was nor I was experienced at what best fit my style and needs late in the race.
Later in the spring I went to St Croix to compete in the hardest 70.3 on the circuit along with David Young and Daley Ervin. It was a beautiful venue. I wasn’t prepared for the heat as most of my training was in Denver CO and on the trails in Golden CO. The bike beat me up but I managed to beat the young bull and get in a great 6 hour work out.
Two weeks after the STX 70.3 I went to Florida with Will Stinson to compete in the Florida IM 70.3. With an average swim, an excellent bike and a weak run I finished another great workout in under 6 hours.
The cross training of the IM’s helped to keep me injury free in the early season months leading up to the Leadville Trail 100 Run.
After the 70.3 IM’s I pretty much switched exclusively to training for the Leadville 100. Every week I was getting in long runs up in the foothills of the Rockies either on Green Mountain or at White Ranch. Elevation was at 7,500 feet, not the average of 11,000 feet required in Leadville.
Because I entered the Leadman Series, it meant that I had to buy a mountain bike, which I did and train for the Leadville 100 Mile MTB. On my second outing I ventured up to White Ranch, a very technical course, and preceded to do an Endo, a term which I became very painfully familiar with. After hiking back out to my Jeep with the help of a very nice lady trail runner, I managed to make it to Denver Health to be told that I had a partially torn right pec, 2nd degree separation of my right shoulder, posterior 2 and 3 ribs fractured along with a fractured scapula. At 8 weeks out from the Leadville 100 mile Trail Run, 7 weeks from the Leadville 100 Mile MTB, 2 weeks out from the Leadville Marathon, 3 weeks out from the Leadville Silver Rush 50 Mile Trail Run I knew that I was going to have my work cut out for me.
Instead of folding up the tent, I knew that any sort of MTB riding was out of the question for the next 4-6 weeks. So my plan was to train hard for the run. I supplemented run training with strength training in the gym with a focus on strengthening my quads, gluts, calfs and core. In addition, I stretched well my IT bands, calfs, hamstrings and quads.
In the time leading up to the big race I developed mild Plantar Fasciitis in both feet as well as a strained left lower Achilles tendon. Nothing major, but this was because as I noticed issues developing I’d attend to them promptly.
Nutrition is always important and something that everyone can improve upon. My diet consists primarily of fish, salads and pasta…oh yeah..a couple of glasses of wine each night to fend off the evil DNF monster that has been hiding under my bed.
After successfully completing the marathon, 50-mile SR trail run, the 10k I took on the 100 mile MTB. After my crash I had been on the bike once up in Leadville and was scared to death that I would crash. I rode it for 14 miles and put it away. The day before the 100-mile MTB I decided, what the hell, give it a go. After all, I’m in great physical condition and exactly how hard could it actually be. Well, on race day I learned why Lance Armstrong declared it the toughest 100-mile bike race that he’s ever competed in. A long story short, a miscue at the first aid station, a near miss at the 40-mile cutoff, left me redlined, depleted mentally and physically as I was approaching the Columbine 7 mile climb up to 12,600 feet…the 50 mile turnaround.
With 45 minutes to get back down the mountain I had my hands full. I decided to ride safely down the mountain and if I made the cut off then fine. If not, then that was just fine with me too. I arrived at the 60-mile station at 8hrs and 15 minutes, which was 15 minutes past the cutoff. I was pretty tired from the dusty race and had a new found respect for the crazy Mtn bikers. As the race officials asked for my chip I told them that riding bikes were for fags and that the real way to race 100 miles was on foot….after all Honey Badger don’t need no damn bike…..Honey Badger doesn’t give a shit!
For the next 6 days it was all about recovery. After all I had my two pacers arriving and 4-person crew coming in to support me and get my ass across the line this year and I was not planning on disappointing the team again. So, I got in 3 massages the week leading up to the race, ran a couple of 2 mile easy runs on the treadmill, stretched, ate light foods till Thursday and got at least 8 hours of sleep every night.
The Race Planning
I had built out a comprehensive race plan that outlined the approximate times that I would be coming through the various aid stations as well as nutritional and gear needs throughout the race.
In addition, I had a pre-race day plan all laid out for the crew and pacers which we reviewed on Friday afternoon. My 2 pacers, Daley and Will and 4 crew, Carla, Brian, Sutton and Butler were in for a long 30 hours. Daley arrived on Thursday and we headed up to Leadville and did a little fishing and caught some nice rainbows and brook trout. We spent the evening relaxing and having a couple of beers and generally getting our minds wrapped around the challenge in front of us.
Fortunately, both Daley and Will have run the entire course in the months preceding the race, with a specific focus on the parts of the course that they’d be pacing me on throughout the night. I felt very confident that I had 2 of the best pacers on the course that day. Experienced, focused and determined to keep me going and getting me to the finish line in under 30 hours. All of the planning and training was about to pay off.
Race Day
At 2AM I was out of bed before my alarms went off. I hopped into the shower with 6 hours of sleep and put on my game face. Francisco was up at about 2:15 while everyone else got up shortly thereafter. I made eggs over easy on a bagel for Francisco and I. This is always a good base to start a race with.
At 3AM our designated driver, Brian Johnston, drove us to Leadville for a 3:30AM arrival and a 4AM shotgun start. Mario made his way down the gravel roads to the main road. I’m still uncertain how we didn’t crash that morning. This was a little stressful and everyone was on edge….or at least I was.
It was a clear morning, which promised for a beautiful sunrise, and meant that we were in for a sunny day. Leadville gets many sunny days and at 10,000 feet plus of elevation it gets hot and the suns rays can pound a runner into submission. Fortunately I learned this lesson and came prepared with my white ball cap, long sleeve white swiftwick shirt along with my long white compression socks. I was ready for the sun!
In keeping with tradition, we went to The Provin Grounds coffee shop, where we lost our crew in the shuffle. I sat in the coffee shop chatting it up with some first timers as they nervously outlined their game day strategies to me. To each his own. I had my strategy, which was to simply finish and have a slow steady race.
The Shotgun Start
Francisco, Tim and I made our way across the fence to the front of the pack to begin the race, only to get passed by 2/3 of the runners in the first few miles. Starting off too fast is a big ass problem. It’s a long day and elevating your heart rate in the early stages of the race will drive you into a caloric deficit that will attack you when you are at your weakest mental state. For some that is Twin Lakes on the way out or Winfield or Twin Lakes on the way back or most likely at Fish hatchery before the long last climb of the race.
The 50 Miles Out to Winfield
My cheerful crew made it out to the first aid station at Mayqueen Campgrounds. It was nice to see them as I came in pretty close to my projected time for the initial 13 miles of the race. I had gotten slowed down a bit on the single track around Turquois Lake, which was a good thing. I was still on edge and annoyed but I was able to keep my heart rate around 120BPM. The morning was chilly so I kept most of my gear and slipped on through the aid station and began my way up to Hagerman road and then onto Sugar Loaf, down Power Line and into the Fish Hatchery aid station.
Here I again, came in pretty close to my schedule. My crew was ready and waiting for me, despite our walkie talkie user errors. I checked into the aid station and came back where the crew changed out my camelback 100oz bladder with another 100oz of Hammer Nutrition Sustained Energy, which delivered to me about 320 calories per hour and problems at mile 44. After sucking down some food I was off to Twin Lakes which was about 17 miles away. At this point the sun was up and the race was in full swing. Along the way to Twin Lakes I picked up Francisco while dropping Tim.
While along the tree line Francisco and I met a 25 year guy from Lubbock Texas. He was hell bent on finishing in under 25 hours, with no crew and no pacers. He had his shirt off and was getting cooked in the sun as he was sucking down M&M’s and granola bars…..every generation has to touch the stove. I gave him some well earned advice and told him to get the idea of finishing in under 25 hours out of his head, put back on your shirt and pick up a pacer at Winfield. His inexperienced confidence was going to land him a DNF on this day. He beat me out to Winfield but I found him on the trail after Twin Lakes return, not too far from where the course took me down in 2010. He was done.
As I made my way into Twin Lakes it was hot, very hot. I radioed in to get everything set up in the shade and that I was overheating. I tried to eat some food but the sustained energy left me bloated and without any appetite except for some cookies. After resting for about 10 minutes I departed Twin Lakes around 12:20, about 2 hours ahead of the cut off. As I left Twin Lakes I hit the bathroom did my business and began my journey across the fields, river and various water holes to the base of Hope. I was not feeling well and began to get sleepy and nauscious. So I began hitting the hammer gels which worked well till about half way up the mountain where I bonked, badly. As I sat on a rock in the woods, Tim passed me and looked very strong. At this point I was at a low and was contemplating whether or not I was going to be able to go on. This is where your training comes into play. I’ve experienced many many bonks and bad ones at that. While you’re bonking you feel like your in a valley and there is no way out. However, when you come out of a bonk there is no better feeling in the world.
Today, my exit was a nice young lady who was kind enough to pick me up along the way and ask me to walk with her for 10 minutes. I did, I got up from my self pity party and began walking and talking with her. She was a medical researcher, with a focus in cardiology. She went to school in upstate NY and her parents were from Syracuse. In fact both her parents went to SU as did her aunts and uncles. What are the chances???? When we got to the Hopeless Aid station I thanked her for saving my race and she said that when she saw me she was about to bonk herself and that our chatting got her up the mountain. I saw her only one more time that day but not past Twin Lakes. I’m not certain if she made it to the finish line, hope that she did.
When I got the top of Hope Pass my legs were hurting me bad, however, I had my hiking poles which were ones of the keys to my race this day. They allowed me to carefully run down Hope and into Winfield Station where I met up with a focused and very well prepared Pacer, Will Stinson. I rested for 10 minutes with Will, but lost some time coming up Hope, however, I was still 90 minutes ahead of the cutoffs. Will’s energy levels were high which was contagious. At this juncture I pounded a lot of water as I was dehydrated as a result of not drinking anymore Sustained Energy at the mile 43. I had only peed once and that was at 5:30AM. I knew that this would become a bigger issue if I did not address the problem. So Will grabbed my camelback and dumped out my Sustained Energy and replaced it with water. I sucked down Ramin Noodles along with cookies at the aid station. I was getting my appetite back and this was a good thing!!
The 50 mile run back to Leadville
For Will going up and over Hope was never an easy task. In fact he had yet to make it up and over successfully without getting dehydrated or altitude sickness. Today was race day and as we made it up and over Hope Pass to the Hopeless Aid Station, Will shouted out “Hope, I game dayed you bitch!! I didn’t understand at first, but caught on quickly…yep he did…he game dayed it. I got down on my knees and kissed the ground at the top of Hope Pass, partly out of respect and partly to say goodbye as I didn’t ever plan being there again.
We had a fun run to the base of Hope and then did a run walk to Twin Lakes Aid station where the crew was anxiously awaiting our arrival. With an appetite I sucked down soup, some pasta and pizza along with cookies. I also drank a bunch of water and rested while the crew changed out my wet muddy socks and shoes from the second river/swamp crossing, yuk! I was getting mentally prepared and studied the times that we would need to average to get to Fish Hatchery, as seen in the picture below. In addition, I loaded up Daley with plenty of cold weather gear. I was not going to get into the same predicament as 2010 when we went out unprepared and the temps dropped and got us into trouble, quickly.
Leaving Twin Lakes there is a 4 mile climb to the tree line of Mt Albert. We managed to get to the top of it and then began an easy run/walk to the tree line aid station. Upon arrival at about 11:30PM it was cold and I needed more hot soup and cookies. Daley went into the aid station tent to get food as I stood outside. While standing there the medical doctor from last year came up to me and told me to come into the warm tent and get something to eat. I reminded him that he was the sonofabitch that cut off my race band in 2010 and sent me to the hospital in the back of a volunteers SUV. There was no way in hell I was going into that tent, this area felt like an ancient burial ground possessed by the DNF demons. I had to get out of there and fast. Daley, grabbed the soup I sucked it down and we were on our way to the Fish Hatchery. It was about a 5-6 mile trek from the tree line aid station and probably the longest hardest, but flattest section of the course.
We proceeded to walk to the Fish Hatchery, which seemed to take forever. The lights of the aid station were visible off in the distance but we didn't seem to be making progress. Others passed us and we passed others on this 2.5 hour slog across the pavement to the Fish Hatchery. As we made the turn down to the Fish Hatchery Daley called into Will to give him status update, which was not a very good one. At this juncture it was 2AM and I had now been up for 24 hours and was absolutely exhausted. I told Daley that I was ready to go to sleep. I had him radio in to make certain that they had a chair, with a back to it, and have it ready when I arrived so i could get a few minutes rest before taking on the last major climb of the race, The Power Line up to Sugar Loaf pass. My crew, for some reason never packed the lawn chairs in the car. I heard their response back over the walkie talkie that they had a picnic table ready for me. I recall getting really pissed and yelling at Daley to tell them that I needed a chair with a back to it. Fortunately another crew let us use one of their chairs.
As I entered the Fish Hatchery Aid Station I was 1 hour in front of the cut off. I knew that I had a little time to rest. I dropped into the chair and the crew covered me up with jackets and blankets. I was spent. With my eyes shut Butler and Daley massaged my legs while Carla jammed a thermos full of hot soup in my face telling me to drink this. I was at the proverbial "tipping point" and a race finish in under 30 hours was in the balance. If you've ever laid in bed at night reading a book and your eyes get soooo heavy that you cannot even force yourself to stay awake, this was the state I was in. I could hear the concern in the voices of the crew, but my Pacers reassured everybody that this was "normal". After about 15 minutes of rest, a solid massage and a thermos full of hot soup in my stomach I headed up to go through medical checkin. My weight was down only a pound, which was a good thing. I was well hydrated and my legs felt uncharacteristically good. As I made it back down to the Crew they were trying to get me psyched up and motivated to get to the finish line. I could see a lot of worry in their faces and doubt if I was going to be able to pull it off. Quite frankly I had doubts as well as I've done the Power Line climb many times and it's a bear. It's a 4 mile climb straight up the side of a mountain that reaches 11,000 feet of elevation. On fresh legs my time averaged 1 hour and 40 minutes. Now at 45 minutes in front of the cutoff if I was to bonk on this section I was not going to make the next cutoff at Mayqueen which was 6:30AM. It's a 10 mile stretch of which 4 is climbing and 6 is descending. So the goal was simple get to the top of Sugar Loaf Pass. My original plan was to leave Fish Hatchery at 12:50 and it was 2:15AM or 1 hour and 25 minutes behind a schedule that had me finishing at 9AM. I know that the crew had done the math in their heads and things weren't looking too good. I had also done the math and I knew that I was in trouble.
The Locker
As we left the Fish Hatchery Aid Station Will got in my face and said to me "....give me 2 hours..that's all I need from you...you give me that and I'll get you to Mayqueen!" I thought, shit, I'm not certain how much gas I've got left in the tank. Doubt had crept into my mind and it was at this point that I had to go the Locker. The Locker is a place in your mind that you keep a few thoughts that will provide to you the motivation needed in a time of desperation. This is a trick picked up that I had from listening to some pro's on the Ironman circuit. In my Locker I had just a few items.
I had notes from Sadie and Jack that reminded me how much time that I've spent away from home, training on the weekends in Leadville and other events preparing for this race. I also have a book on my desk in my office at the house that was given to me by a mentor of mine and retired business partner , Ron Baiocchi called "Sticking to It", an excerpt below, that reminds me that one's simple resolve is was makes the different between success and failure....in other words never quit, never give up.. 
When I opened the locker the goods were there, and when Will got in my face he provided the spark to drive me up the mountainside in 90 minutes. That's 10 minutes faster than any of my previous attempts and on 76 mile legs. People often wonder why I do these events. That in a nutshell is why. It is the mental exercise that is challenged by the physical pain to see if you can endure and conquer the lower primitive brain stem. It's the art of upper brain harnessing the power of the lower brain, which is fear, flight and simple emotions. Emotions are an extremely powerful tool if harnessed and managed. It is these type of events that allow you to sharpen these intellectual skills. The benefits spill over into all aspects of your personal and professional life. The real trick is finding the spark - at 2:15AM Will provided the spark. I still don't know how the hell we made it up to the top of Sugar Loaf in 90 minutes...but we did and this was the turning point in the race.
Sugar Loaf to the Finish Line
As we power hiked up the mountain side we passed a lot of racers that lacked either a Locker or the kick ass team that i had. As we approached the summit of Sugar Loaf we caught the Mexican Honey Badger and his pacer Scott. Somewhere in the middle of the night they had caught and passed us. Up till that point I was concerned about Francisco, frequently asking my pacers and crew if they had seen him after Twin Lakes, which nobody had. When we caught up with them it provided even more motivation, my training buddy and I were well positioned at the peak of Sugar Loaf and had a 6 mile descent into Mayqueen. Even though we were exhausted we ran down to base of Hagerman road and entered the woods for a sketchy jog/walk on the single track to the parking lot on the outskirts of the Aid station.
At a couple of miles outside of the final aid station it had dawned upon Will and I that our Crew and Daley may not be at the Aid Station when we got there. They were expecting us closer to the 6:30AM cutoff. Fortunately Daley got the team together and they were 5 minutes out from Mayqueen as we were approaching. Will used Francisco's phone to call Carla. When Carla saw a number calling her at this hour she thought the worst, she thought it was the dreaded call that I was done. Will's words to Carla when she answered was ",,He's done early!" She handed the phone over to Daley in a bit of a panic and Will told Daley that we were back on track and ahead of schedule. He needed to get to Mayqueen Aid Station and in a hurry. We arrived at 5:32AM into Mayqueen giving us 4.5 hours to run 13 miles to the finish. I'm not sure who was more surprised about getting to Mayqueen early, my crew, pacers or myself. As I sat in a chair and sucked down more soup the crew came up to greet me. Their faces this time were more of shock and amazement that WE WERE ALL actually going to pull this feat off.
Francisco and I rested for about 10 minutes, while the Daley got prepared for the final push to the finish line. As Daley, Scott, Francisco and I were leaving the Aid station for an 8 mile trek around Turquois Lake where we had been 25 1/2 hours earlier, the dawn began to break and the sun was kissing the mountain tops. The lake had a thin layer of fog across it. It was a spectacular site. The focus now was to just make it to the finish line.
I don't think that Daley's strong suit is math. He was computing every 5 minutes or so that we were behind and at risk of not making the 30 hour cutoff. By my simple math we had plenty of time, but he caused me to panic a little, by mistake or design, so we ran (12 minute mile pace or so) the majority of the 8 miles around the lake. When we got to the main road we had 90 minutes to go the last 5 miles. At this point we knew that we could walk it in for a sub 30 hour finish. The crew and Will all went into town to grab coffee and get something to eat while we were polishing off the last 13 miles of the course. As can be seen below Will was not going to misplace the Walkie Talkie.
They awaited our call. Will tried calling a number of times but neither of us could get through to one another. So I grabbed my phone and called Carla. She answered and I told her that we were just a mile or so away and to meet us at the top of the hill before the finish line. I asked her if she had seen Tim Engel finish and she told me that his girlfriend Amy hadn't seen or heard from him since Mayqueen. I thought, oh shit....something has happened to him...but I never saw him on Sugar Loaf or on the final 13 miles. Did something go wrong? I couldn't reconcile the facts in my head.
At about 1 mile out I stopped Daley and unzipped my camelback to get out a note that he had written to me last year after my failed attempt. I've been carrying that around with me since last year in my camelback as a reminder that we were going to finish this race. I handed it to him and thanked him.
As we approached the final turn to the home stretch we were met by the entire Crew. As we crested 6th Street we could see the finish line at the corner of 6th and Harrison. People lined the streets cheering on the racers, pacers and their crews. I've been down many many finishing chutes in Ironman competitions and their is no better feeling. It's hard to explain, albeit you'll hear people compare it to being there for the birth of their first child or some other significant moving experience in their life. This was different. This was the equivalent of doing back to back to back Ironman's....hmmm...there's an idea....just kidding. What made it so special was that I actually didn't know if I could complete this event. The fact was that I didn't. It was the team that did it. I would not have finished without the support of Daley, Will, Brian, Sutton, Butler and Carla. Being able to share this experience with this team is priceless. It made all of those miles of training, weekend sacrifices away from home, hospital and doctors visits all worth while.
Post Race
After crossing the finish line with my buddy Francisco Moreno, we collected our medals, got hugs from the Leadville 100 staff and snapped a few pictures. There was about 90 minutes before the award ceremony where the elusive Leadville 100 Trail Run belt buckles are handed out. While waiting I made my way to the medical tent, where I found Tim Engel sitting in a chair. He had finished about 20 minutes before I did. He was banged up so I got him a couple glasses of water, congratulated him and vice versa and headed back out to see the team. Brian drove Francisco and Victor to get their car at Mayqueen while Daley and Will went to local pizza joint to get the team a kick ass meat lovers pizza.....damn that was good! I then laid down on the courthouse lawn in the sun and fell asleep. I could've slept on a bed of nails at this point. We made our way up to the gymnasium where the belt buckles were presented. The winner Ryan Sands finished in 16 hours and change...an impressive south african kid. Then came the sub 25 hour finishers, which Hawaiin Ray was one...yay!! To finish in under 25 hours is a tough tough task. Then the mere mortals were presented with their buckles. As I hobbled up to get my buckle the volunteer handing them out from behind the table was the gentleman that took me to the hospital in the back of his SUV in 2010. We both smiled, laughed and he congratulated me, wow, pretty damn cool.
Now that this race is in the rear view mirror, it's time to relax and let the body heal as I contemplate the next adventure. I simply cannot thank my pacers and crew enough for their support and getting me to the finish line in under 30 hours. We did it!!!
CHEERS!
