Leadville 100 Training

We are 1 week out from the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run.  Having completed the Big Horn 100 a few weeks ago I'm feeling confident that I've got the endurance box checked, however, the cutoffs at Leadville are a little tighter.  As a result we'll need to push the pace early on to build a cushion at the 50 mile turn. Basically if you reach the Twin Lakes 60 mile with 30+ minutes to spare, then time can be made up by the Fish Hatchery.   From Fish to the finish it's all about how tough you are, because everyone is tired and everyone is feeling the pain from having 78 miles on their feet and frame.

Daley, Francisco and I decided to re familiarize ourselves with the trails in Leadville so we planned and executed a training weekend.  On Friday evening we did a simple run from Mayqueen to the top of Powerline and back. The following day we drove out to Winfield Station to run an out and back to Twin Lakes.  On Sunday morning before heading back down the mountain to watch the World Cup finale between Argentina and Germany we ran from just past the Fish Hatchery to the top of Powerline and back. 

These runs basically covered the major climbs on the course.  Going up and over Hope Pass was as difficult as I remembered.  It's definitively harder on the Twin Lakes side than the Winfield Station.   In addition to the conditioning that we got, it was a great reminder of the distances on the hardest stretches of the course and the approximate pace that we'll have to maintain.  Taking this info I plotted out our race plan.  

Although Daley has paced me a few times in Leadvillle, he has never run the full 100 mile distance.   You have to respect the 100 mile distance, you have to respect the mountains, you have to respect the weather and finally the impact of 10,000-12,500 feet of altitude. The trails are super technical but the other factors take their toll which is why there is only about a 40% finishing rate. 

From now till the race it's about staying healthy, doing light speed workouts with a focus on having a rock solid core and getting the weight down to below 180 pounds. 

This will be my fourth running of the Leadville 100 and I take nothing for granted.  I'm 2 for 3 on this track and hope it to be 3 out of 4.   More to follow....

Cheers!!

PT