Francisco, Scot, Ray and Tim all entered the SR 50 Trail Run
as a day of training and preparation for the UTMB 7 weeks from now. Daley was able to make it in from SF via
London for the race as well along with one of Scot’s friends, Greg. We all met for dinner at Zichetalla’s on
Saturday evening. The food was really
good…the Italian Bake. We talked a
little bit about UTMB but kept the conversation light.
Tim, Ray, Scot and Greg were staying up on Leadville while
Daley, Francisco and I stayed in Frisco, which was kind of a pain in the
ass.
On Sunday at 4:30AM we rolled out of bed into our race gear
and made the 30- minute trek up the mountain to Leadville. We arrived at 5:45,
fifteen minutes before race start. The
temperature was a chilly 40F, but the skies were clear and calling for late
afternoon thunderstorms. We made our way
over to starting line at about 5:55AM as the sun was making it’s way over
Mosquito Pass. A 50-mile trail run is
equivalent to a full distance ironman, so I knew that were going to be in for a
long day. For some of group the day
would be longer than others.
 |
| Pre-race Looking Good |
My previous finishes were 10:04 and 12:38 in 2010 and 2011,
respectively. Last years race was a
disaster for me. Bad nutrition, the heat
and altitude created several bonks.
After the finished I ran a 101F temp and had an elevated HR of over
100BPM through out the night. Simply put
I screwed up my nutrition as well as my hydration. I was determined not to have this happen
again in 2012.
In preparation for the race I packed my own nutrition and
decided not to rely on anything at the aid stations but water. In my camelback I had 3 delicious slices of
pizza, 2 PB sandwiches, BBQ chips and Reese’s PB cups along with 6 Hammer Gels
and 4 shot blocks. For hydration I had
water in my bladder and packed 3 bottles of Gatorade. This was a test for UTMB, relying on “real
food” as Tim calls it instead of water supplements, electrolytes, etc. The pizza has a ton of sodium as do the BBQ
chips and the PB cups and gels have the Glycogen. The water is easy on the stomach and the
Gatorade has electrolytes, but is used sparingly as it can be tough on the
stomach.
The 50-mile course is spread out over the eastern mountain
chain of Leadville with about 8,000 feet of climb. The trails are a mixture of dirt road, dirt
trail and a good bit is littered with lots of rocks, which really beats you up
and leaves your feet bruised. It is
nothing compared to the 62,000 feet of elevation change at the UTMB, which is
concerning and is going to require a very measured approach in order to
complete it in under 46 hours.
I decided to take the start of the SR50 slow, walking every
up hill, no matter how slight and jog the flats and run with care the downhill’s. That strategy worked fine till the first 3-mile
flat road, where Scot and I averaged about a 7:30/mile pace. We were able to catch up with Daley just
before the 15-mile aid station. Daley
was pushing hard early. At this aid
station we all refueled. Scot and Daley
were in and out pretty quickly while I refilled my camelback. I was feeling pretty good at mile 15. By mile 20 Daley’s IT band was giving him
problems and he was forced to drop from the race, a big bummer. Scot and I plowed forward and I eventually
lost Scot as well as Ray.
As I approached the 25-mile turnaround I passed Ray on his
return and shortly thereafter Scot passed by as well. They had about a 25-minute lead on me. At the turnaround I sucked down a slice of
pizza and a ham n cheese wrap while a volunteer attempted to refill my
camelback, unsuccessfully. At this point
the weather was still nice, with lots of cloud cover, with temps probably in
the high 60’s. The next 5-6 miles were
going to be difficult as I was going to have to go back up the side of the
mountain that I had just come down. This
section of the course, between mile 25-32 it is mostly uphill, steep and
rocky. I felt bad for the people that
were just beginning their descent, as I was about 20 miles from the finish of
which most of it is downhill. It was
during this stretch of the course that I stopped to take a 5-minute break to rest
my legs, choke down some Reese PB Cups and hydrate. So far, so good on nutrition and
hydration. It would actually be good the
entire race.
As I came through the 15/35-mile aid station I made certain
that I had plenty of water and passed on through to face the 3-mile slow climb
up the dirt road from hell. At this
point in the race the sun came back out, I popped in my earphones and jammed to
the Who and some other music that Jack had given me. I was feeling great. It was this section of the course that took a
toll on me in the previous two SR50’s.
Not this year. At about mile 37 I
actually was able to catch Hawaiian Ray, as he was having some issues with his
shin. I hung with him for a while, took
a short nutrition break and then caught back up with him at mile 42-aid
station. It was at this point that I
realized with a little bit of effort (actually A LOT) I could finished in under
11 hours. The last 6 miles I pushed it hard,
as did the weather. It was at this
point that the storm clouds rolled in and dumped all over us, it got windy and
cold so I had to stop and put on my rain gear for fear of getting hypothermic.
 |
Francisco Sporting his Swiftwicks
as he crosses the finish line in 14:16 |
With about 2 miles to go and driving hard to get in under 11
hours I caught up with Scot, walking. I
decided that it look like a much better idea to walk it in to the finish with
Scot. We had a nice chat and managed to
get across the finish line in 11 hours and 16 minutes. For the very first time I actually felt
pretty good after running 50 miles. I
attributed that to my nutrition, hydration, training and overall approach to the
course. Ray came in about 15 minutes
after Scot and I, while Tim made it across the finish line in 11:59 and
change. None of us knew the whereabouts of
Francisco. He decided to play “good Samaritan”
and help a few young ladies that we having a tough day across the finish line
in 14 hours and 16 minutes….a very long day fro him.
Overall the race was a success as I was able to test out my
nutrition and race strategy and it actually worked well. I plan on taking the same approach in
Chamonix which will undoubtedly be a much more challenging course, but fortunately
at lower altitude. Scot, Ray, Tim and
Francisco all made it through the day but with some minor aches and pains. Rest between now and UTMB will be important
for us all. We need to be healthy and
injury free when we get to UTMB. We are
4 weeks out now and the excitement is beginning to build. For now, it’s another Leadville Ultra in the history
books. It’s tough running at 10,000 feet
and above, but feels good when you finish.
Cheers!
