Las Vegas Marathon...a 1st

"Don't give up, don't ever give up. That's what I'm going to try to do every minute that I have left...." a quote from Jimmy Valvano in his famous speech on ESPN many years ago. When I reflect back on this past weekend and the Las Vegas Marathon this saying encapsulates Timmy Picciott's attitude, conviction and overall performance. When Timmy asked me to help pace him for this event I gladly agreed, not really appreciating what responsibility that I was going to take on. As I have often said, as you grow older there are very few "firsts" for most people. This weekend however I experienced several "firsts". On Saturday I ran the Death Valley Trail Marathon...a first...On Sunday I ran the Vegas Marathon with Brian, Francisco and Timmy...another first....and on Sunday evening I was able to pace Timmy who had never ran or attempted a marathon, albeit, and wanted to finish in under 4 hours....a heady task by any measure.

The marathon gun went off at 4PM PST. Timmy, Francisco and I were in corral #3, which was for runners attempting to finish with times around 3:45. With 44,000 runners, the course was jammed packed and not particularly friendly for those runners wanting to achieve a PR. When the gun went off we tried to manage our overall pace for the first 13 miles at an 8:45/min/mile pace. We actually came in at 8:40 for the first half of the race. I knew that we'd need to build a bit of a cushion...and this paid dividends when the half marathoners merged with the marathoners on the course and brought our pace to a screeching halt. It forced us to essentially run on the side walks and zig zag through the crowds for the remaining 13 miles, requiring a lot more energy to be expended. Overall hydration was good for the two of us as was nutrition through at least mile 17. It was at this point that Timmy started showing signs of fatigue, which is normal for a marathon. I decided that he needed more glycogen (gel packs) and water as he was laboring quite a bit and losing a lot through sweating. I had him double up on gel packs and began getting him water at every aid station as he continued to run, I'd grab water and catch back up with him. This seemed to work. He took a tumble somewhere around mile 16. Between mile 19 and 20 he took another fall, this time not so graceful and cramped up in the process. Admittedly I was more than a little concerned about his ability to finish the race in under 4 hours. At mile 22 we needed to average a 10 minute mile pace to the finish....I stretched the truth a bit and told him that we needed to average 9:15's. At this juncture, the goal was to focus only on grinding through the next mile. I told him that he was going to be REALLY pissed off at himself if he finished in 4:02 and needed to focus and just knock out each mile. This seemed to work...although time was not our friend at this point and he began to slip from miles 22-24. I knew that once we got to mile 24 that he'd begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and there is something that "clicks" in a runners mind that provides a great lift. At our current pace we were going to finish between 3:57 - 4:01...it was hard to tell as I was using my watch which was the unofficial time and there is always a difference between clocked time and watch time, so I was concerned. As we approached mile 25 my watch said 3:48...meaning we had 12 minutes to finish the last 1.2 miles. I knew that the last mile was going to be "easy", relatively speaking. There is something that happens, mentally, physically and emotionally that carries a runner through the last mile. It was actually the last 2/10's of a mile that Timmy shifted into another gear and I decided to film it on my IPhone and take it all in. When he crossed the finish line the race clock said 4:01...and I knew that because we had begun in corral #3 that our official time was probably 3-4 minutes under the 4:01. I was thinking, oh man...Timmy probably saw that clock and figured he'd missed his sub 4 hour marathon goal. I managed to find him and show him my watch, which I stopped as he crossed the finish line in 3:58....a remarkable achievement.

The night was cold and a bit windy and we grabbed the heat shields, some water, our finisher medals and had a photo snapped to capture the moment before heading back to the hotel to hook up with Brian and Francisco. Brian finished the half marathon with a time of a little over 2 hours...which was pretty sporty and in the top 1/3 of all participants. Francisco finished the marathon just about 15 minutes after Timmy and I, which was a great time given the fact that he'd run the Death Valley Trail Marathon the day before with me a few other friends from Texas and Colorado. The Vegas marathon was simply a great experience shared with good friends and great results. To see Timmy bonk at mile 20 and pull himself out of it to finish in under 4 hours was nothing short of impressive. He never gave up on his goal that day. He persevered and achieved his objective against all odds. To share that with him, Brian and Francisco made for a pretty special day. Hopefully there are many more of those to come. I want Timmy to think now about putting a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride in front of a marathon...wrap your mind around that and you have the Ironman experience. Lot's of work to do for the young bull...but for the time being he should enjoy this accomplishment...and as a pacer i will do the same.....Cheers!! PT

Death Valley Trail Marathon

The alarm went off at 5:30AM at the Furnace Creek Ranch "Resort" in Death Valley, Francisco, Andy and I rolled out of the rack and began getting dressed for the 26.2 mile trail run through canyons of Death Valley. Francisco, checked his email and an hour earlier a message had been sent out by Environ Sports the event organizer canceling the race......not cool. This event is open to the 1st 300 racers that enter. The average trail runner doesn't usually run this race, but instead it is made up of some pretty hard core dudes. So canceling this event due to the "weather" was going to make for an interesting conversation at race command at the 6:15AM meeting. The weather on this Saturday December 3, 2011 was about 48F, sunny with a good breeze. Earlier in the week California and parts of Nevada had experienced the Santa Ana winds that got up to over 120MPH. On this morning we were told that the wind gusts were up to at least 70MPH at the summit of the climb on the run and throughout the canyons were going to be challenging, with sand and dust blowing...neither of which are good for the lungs or eyes. It was official the race was canceled, there were a lot of very unhappy people that had traveled from all around the world to race. We collected our race tee's and gear and grabbed some breakfast, at which point in time Team Honey Badger began to organize the 2011 Death Valley Bandit Run. After all, Honey Badger don't give a shit he just does what he wants and today the Team HB was going to race DV dammit! Approximately 50 racers gathered at the entrance of Titus Canyon. Nancy and Ken, previous finishers of the DVTRM knew the course and had mapped a 13.1 mile out and back, which took us to the summit of just past Titus canyon at about 5,500 feet of elevation. We were warned about the high winds so we bundled up. We also all grabbed water bottles to drop along the course. So with warm gear, plenty of water and nutrition we began the 12 mile hike to the summit.

The weather was actually looking like to be a picture perfect day as we began our hike up through the canyon. It was sunny and about 50F, however, very windy. As we made our way up through the canyon the wind began to pick up and at about mile 5 it began to howl. With our heads down we pushed forward till the wind chill factor got the better of me and I decided to break from the group and run up the mountain. My strategy was to run the shady parts and walk fast in the sunny parts. This walk run strategy worked actually quite well. At about mile 9 I was hit by a gust of wind that ripped off my underarmor stocking hat, my visor and sun glasses off of my face. The wind gust hit with such force as I was running that it stood me up straight and pushed me back 4 or 5 steps from a RUN! It was at this point I thought, uh oh...this is why the race was canceled and we haven't even made it to the summit and the more wind exposed areas of the course. Fortunately, this was the only time that the wind gusts were that strong. Average wind speeds for the day I'm guessing were 35-40MPH. It was a punishing run, but thank God for the sun, otherwise the day could've ended short for us. I made it to the summit before the rest of the group and ran down the back side of the mountain to get in a full 13.1 miles on the out so that I could log exactly 26.2 miles. Met up with the rest of the group at the summit and snapped a few pics before the 12 mile descent back to the finish.

It took us about 5.5 hours to complete the run, however, there was a lot of stopping and it was a run that was "enjoyable" as opposed to a "race" per se. We were able to get our finishers medals at race HQ earlier that and today we earned it. We made it back to our vehicles and then sped off back to Vegas to get registered for the Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon tonight....the last race of the year. Brian and Timmy made it into Vegas and were awaiting our arrival so that we could go out and grab some dinner, which we did at Red Square at Mandalay Bay. Going to chill out today, watch some football at the sports book and bet a few bucks to keep the day interesting. Cheers!

The Dreaded Taper

Day 3 of the taper...got a great massage tonight from Amy...should be a big help for the marathons this weekend. Just finished watching HBO sports with Bryant Gumbell..not a big fan of his but a great series this evening. Can't sleep so I thought I'd blog... A good day at the office making progress on all fronts and very pleased with the management team. Looking forward to Jack's first basketball game on Thursday...a big day. Also looking forwad to the races this weekend. Ate well today, lite breakfast, then volunteered at food kitchen, snacked a little and had a great sushi dinner at Bara. Have a lot that I could blog about but think I should call it a night....tomorrow. Cheers!!

Back to Back Marathons to Finish 2011

I've entered the most frustrating period of training....the Taper. With a little extra weight put on over the Thanksgiving Holiday and unable to run 10 miles a day to burn it off, I'm having to do it the old fashion way.....eat really really healthy and calorie lite foods, with minimal carbs. Alcohol is not on my list of drinks that I can consume...so that'll help me drop weight. Today I got up at 3AM CST to catch my 6:10AM flight to Denver. I enjoyed 2 cups of coffee this am and a banana. When I got to the office I grabbed an apple and a yogurt. For lunch I had a 6 inch turkey sub from Subway, while dinner was a salad from whole foods with chicken. I was able to get in a 90 minute massage which actually was disappointing. He spent 1 hour on back and shoulders after I told the jack ass to work my calfs and feet as well as IT bands, moron! Tomorrow night I get a real massage from Amy with hot stones....she'll do it up right. Looking forward to seeing Jack's first hoops game on Thursday as well as Sadie's choir concert. On Friday I'm heading out to Vegas and onto Death Valley for an 8AM start to the Death Valley Trail Marathon. Post race I'm headed back to Vegas to run the Rock n Roll Marathon on Sunday late afternoon/evening. The Mexican Honey Badger, Hawaiian Ray, Ken and Nancy will all be doing the double marathons....a bunch of crazy Leadville runners...like me. These will be the last two races of the season and I'll be glad to coast into the Xmas holiday satisfied that I accomplished quite a bit, athletically in 2011. Lots of stuff to write about....but gotta get my rest this week so I go into this weekend primed. Will take a bunch of photos...Cheers! PS - I'm going to whip TP's ass at IMAZ......game on!

Post Turkey Day Weight Mgt

Well...I'm tipping the scales at about 185 pounds after gorging myself on turkey, pies and cheesecake. Haven't stopped yet either...as the leftovers deserve a proper intestinal burial as well. It's been quite a while since my last post. I've run one trail marathon and actually placed 1st overall with a time of 3:58. Got picked up by Team Healthways for the 196 Ragnar Relay, from Chattanooga to Nashville..a 196 mile run with an 11 man team. I logged in 35 miles over 24 hour period. A very challenging race given the start and stop nature of the run. I averaged slightly under an 8 minute mile overall...which left my calfs, quads and feet pretty beat up.

The Miamiman 1/2 IM was 2 weekends ago and I decided to scrap the race as my body was still pretty beat up from the Ragnar Race. It was a good decision as I prepare for my last 2 races on the 2011 season. A week from today I'll be racing the Death Valley Trail Marathon and the following evening I'll be on the Vegas strip with a bunch of good friends knocking down the Rock n' Roll Vegas Marathon. Training has been going well. I've been mostly on trails training however last weekend I banged out 22 miles on the roads around Percy Warner Park with Will Stinson and a few gals that are racing the Chattanooga 50 mile trail run in 3 weeks. My Plantar Fasciitis seems to have subsided and replaced with a mild tendonitis in my left mid achilles, or at least that is my preliminary self diagnosis. I need a massage in a bad way. As this season is fast approaching its end I have begun to plan for 2012. On the Official Race Calendar so far are the following races: IM St. George........May 5, 2012 (Registered) Western States 100...June 23, 2012 (Lottery to be drawn on December 10, 2011) Trail du Mont Blanc..August 31, 2012 (Lottery to be drawn on January 20, 2012) Berlin Marathon......September 30, 2012 (Registered) IM Arizona...........November 18, 2012 (Registered) Probably will not be able to do both 100 mile trail runs. The plan is to see if I get picked for Western States on December 10, 2011, which I have about an 11% probability. If I don't then I will register on December 16, 2011 for the Trail du Mont Blanc, which I should have a 67% chance at getting selected on January 20, 2012. If I can't get into either of these races, then I will try to do an IM in Europe. Lot's to do and so little time to do it in....and Oh yes, I forgot, I plan on crushing Timmy at IMAZ.

Back on the Trails

After going to the TN Titan's football game today I made it out to the trails for a 7 mile run that ended up at 9.5 miles. I'm not too familiar with the above trails and took a wrong turn and the rest is history. It was a 80F sunny day for the game. The Titans won by 13 points over the thug Ray Lewis and his Baltimore Ravens. Jack and I went to the game and had a great time. Post run I hustled home to choke down some food before getting on a conference call for work and then packed for my weekly pilgrimage to Denver. It was a short weekend that started with Sadie's soccer game on Friday night, followed by another on Saturday morning. Bought a new Yukon Denali for Carla, which I'm glad is over...really don't like car shopping. Then on a series of calls all weekend and spent about 12 hours working.....all good stuff..but made for a jam packed weekend without much training. Last week in Denver I made it to a couple of spin classes and got into the pool a few times as well. Got a great massage :) as well. This week I'm only a day or so in Denver and then on the road the rest of the week. Gotta get serious about the bike and swim and really focus on my training for the Miami Man in November. I've still got plenty of time and I'm in pretty good condition still from all of my Leadville training. Still nursing some foot problems from the LT 100.....but feeling better. Cheers!

Getting Back Into Tri Shape

Ok...so for the past 3 weeks I have not run...at least till today. Tomorrow morning I go see Dr Stark, my orthopedic doc. Gotta get my left foot checked out. For the last week I've been in the pool doing an average of 1,000 yards each work out. It may not seem like much, but I need to work up to longer distances. My right shoulder that I jacked up 9 weeks ago is sore and I need to not take on too much mileage at this point. I managed to get in a 50 mile ride yesterday. Needless to say my crotch is sore from the ride. Trying to get as much time in the saddle as possible. I'm surprisingly strong on the bike right now and it feels effortless even though I've been hitting the hills. Think it's my leg strength from he past 4 months of training in the Rockies, trail running, along with the extra red cells. Weight is in check at about 176lbs....feeling fast...feeling light....feeling strong. Cheers!

Progress.....

Yesterday I went out for my 20 mile ride out and back in Brentwood. It's the same route as last Friday. With my left foot still giving me problems I'm focused on the swim/bike routine for the next few weeks. So...last Friday I went out in the windy afternoon heat with temps around 98F. It was hot. It was also my first time on the bike in quite a while. was 16.8MPH and it took me 1 hour and 13 minutes. Admittedly my goal that day was to just get in a nice ride, the heat had my HR averaging 139BPM. Yesterday with the temps around 65F, or less than 30 degrees lower than on Monday, and heavy rains and winds I hopped on my bike at around 12:30PM. With my speeds averaging 19.6 MPH I finished in 1 hour and 2 minutes. The clincher....my HR averaged 133.

I felt great in the cooler temps, my state of mind was clear, I wanted to ride so I pushed it. Throughout the 1 hour ride I probably also put on 2-3 pounds from the heavy rains. Overall I was pleased with the ride. Once again my 3 toes on my left foot went numb as did my 2nd and 3rd toe on my right foot. My bike shoes were not tight at all and I was not wearing my inserts, so no abnormal pressure to either of the feet. Thinking that today it was just the cold, wet weather.

During the ride I was thinking about why did I feel so good today, was it my state of mind, the cooler temps, a days rest from riding, improvement from my previous ride, the egg over easy on a bagel, my hydration, etc. I also, thought about what my aunt use to say when she worked at Harry's dry cleaners in Syracuse. She could never get out a blood stain if the blood was the result of a fight. There was a chemical in the blood, perhaps adrenaline, that made it impossible to get the stain out. So that got me thinking once again about the state of mind of an athlete, nutrition, body chemistry and its impact on overall performance. When you hear the saying mind over matter, I'm thinking that's what that means....This area needs much more attention. This is an area that I intend to focus on. I'm on a SWA flight right now and landing in a few minutes...more to follow.

PT

Bicycle, Bicycle......

I want to ride my bicycle I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle I want to ride it where I like.........Like Nice France in June 2012. I haven't been able to run since the Leadville 100 as I've tweaked my left foot and not certain what the issue is at this point...maybe plantar fasciitis....maybe achilles issue at the point of insertion...maybe a bone spur(s). The symptoms are a pinching pain on the right base side of the heel when stretched, also the 3 middle toes are numb on occasion and sometimes feel like I've got a small lump in the soft middle padding of my left foot. Hmmm....not certain, so headed off to see Dr. Stark in the next week, or as soon as I can get in.

The pain hasn't stopped me from riding my bike, however, it seems as the riding my bike contributes to the numbness of the three middle toes. I've experienced this before and it kind of comes and goes. Gotta do more research on contributing factors, possible diagnoses and potential exercises to rehab it....much more to follow.

On Friday On got in a late afternoon 20 mile ride on the FB2PRO, a fast bike. It was my first time on the TTbike in months. My last bike experience was in the Leadville 100M MTB race, when I DNF'd at mile 60 after 8 hours and 15 minutes. That's a long time on a bike......So after a long break from the bike and a 2 week break from really any exercise per se, I hopped on my bike and gave it a go. Didn't push super hard, but in the 98F heat and afternoon winds, my average pace was a little of 17MPH. On this track I usually average 18-20MPH, depending on the conditions as well as my goals for the ride.

Yesterday, I stepped it up and got in a 40 mile ride. I left at about 2PM when the mercury was bubbling up to 100F. It was sunny. It was hot. At about mile 3 I flatted my back tire and skidded of the road into a field as i was cornering a turn at about 25MPH. For those of you that have experience this, it's a little scary at first, especially when in aero position as your hands are away from the brakes. Because you're not expecting to flat, your first thoughts are always one of confusion and wondering if you're hitting a rough patch on the road. Sometimes, if you're lucky you'll hear a bang or pop sound which alerts you of a flat, but most of the time, that doesn't happen. So without a tree in sight, I proceeded to change out the flat as I baked in the sun....not a good way to start my ride. It took me 2 CO2 cartridges to fill the new tube as I had issues with the stem extender. Once fixed, after about 10 minutes, I got back on the bike and hoped for the best.

Overall it was a good ride, i consumed about 35 Oz of water with Heed. I had plenty of energy, my HR averaged about 130BPM and minus the tire change it took me about 2 hours to go 40 miles. There were tough head winds on the out and on the back I had an occasional tail wind, but cross winds seemed to prevail and it made for a long back. I was dehydrated from the heat and needed more water. On a day like this I should be consuming 30 oz/hr to avoid dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.

So let's talk about the saddle....clearly the weak link in my chain....my butt is not saddle worthy yet. I know that I have to start back up the 1 hour per day spin classes in Denver to get both my bike legs and butt back into shape to handle the long rides. As I begin to prepare for IM Nice, France I need to review my bike training and technique so that I can conquer the rolling hills and climbs that the French Riviera will throw at me. I suffered for 7 hours on the bike in Lanzarote and I need to be off it in 5:30 in France....this will be a tall task...and will require a thoughtful training plan.

Today, I'm headed up to the gyn with Jack to shoot some hoops and jump in the pool for a 30 minute swim. I haven't been in the pool in months so this will be interesting. I'm going to need to get serious this winter in the pool so I can get my swim times down in the 1:15 range, which I know I can do if I drop a few pounds and get my butt in pool at least 3-4 days a week.

It all sounds good right now....time will tell.

Cheers!

The Leadville Race Report

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!

A week of rest & reflection...

The picture above has Hope Pass in the background. This weekend I will traverse her twice on the out and back in Leadville. At mile 42 and mile 53 I will begin my arduous ascent up her.....I'm expecting to celebrate each time I summit the pass and enjoy the spectacular views. Till then I will rest and prepare for this 100 mile epic trail run.....Cheers!

It's Redemption Time.......

I'm in Leadville at Provin Grounds....a great name for a coffee shop in a town known for its ultra sporting events. Tomorrow is the 3rd leg of the Leadman series where we will ride through the mountain trails for 100 miles. The race begins at 6:30AM, when the temps should be in the mid to high 40's and will climb into the 70's throughout the day. The course has a 4 hour cut off at mile 40, a 8 hour cutoff at mile 60 and 9 hour cut off at mile 74.......so there will be no slacking. Although it only takes an average of a 8.33MPH pace to complete the course in under 12 hours....it only take a split second to take your eye off the track and flip your bike and bust your ass up and have your race finished. The plan tomorrow is simple...ride a conservative race...finish in under 12 hours....anything over 12 hours...then I'm out of contention for a Leadman trophy.

So the picture above is my mountain bike, a Gary Fisher full suspension tubeless tire racing machine....actually with a real rider on it that would be so....but with my sorry ass on it...it's a means to an end.....the Leadman trophy and delivering my butt to the start line next Saturday for the 100 mile trail run.

Let's talk about preparation and training. My bike has only been ridden three times....the evening that I got it and took it to the local park....an uneventful ride....was thinking...this isn't too bad. There was hope after the first ride that I could tackle the 100M MTB. Then night two.....I took the bike out after work up to White Ranch, a very technical course....aka dangerous track. I actually took the picture just minutes before I wrecked....not cool. As I limped out of the trails that evening I swore off MTN biking, upset with myself on many fronts. Then there is time.....well time heals all or at least so the saying goes. My scapula, ribs, peck and shoulder have healed over the past 7 weeks and I've trained very very hard for the 100 Mile Trail Run. Unfortunately I've only been on the bike once, and it was in Leadville up Hagerman to SugarLoaf, a forest road that is part dirt and part rocky...not particularly easy....for me. I'd venture to guess that out of the 1,900 participants that I have the least amount of time on a mountain bike....perhaps 3 hours....EVER. Tomorrow's race is going to take everything I've got in my back of tricks to finish in under 12, yes 12 hours or 4X more than I've ridden that bike cumulatively. I guess that's what makes tomorrow pretty cool....it's going to be an adventure race for me.....after all...at the age of 44 there are few "firsts" that one gets to have....tomorrow is a first and I'm going to have fun with it....no matter the outcome..I'm out there to compete....and show those MTB's that wheels are for sissies, all you need is a pair of running shoes for 100 miles. We'll see. Start conservative....FINISH STRONG!

Going to hit the rack early tonight and get up at 4:30 to make a nice breakfast. Tim Engel will be crewing for me at Pipeline. For those of you who are interested you can go to http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com and hit real time race tracking box...my bib# is 344, Phillip Theodore...and you can get updates throughout the day.

By the way.....I know that tomorrow carries with it certain risks....I understand them, clearly....there's the starry eyed dreamers.....then there's those of us that will get out of bed tomorrow at 4:30AM to take on arguably one of the toughest MTB races on the planet. Cheers!!

A Great Weekend in Leadville

For the month of August I've rented a house in Leadville, CO. It's located about 20 minutes outside of town in a remote area with great views of the Mt. Massive and Mt. Albert, two of the highest Mt's in CO and the USA. On Friday afternoon I picked up the in laws and Sadie for a fun filled weekend. We arrived on Friday later afternoon, after navigating some traffic on Interstate 70. We grabbed dinner at Zicchatella's and then went back to the house, where we met up with Tim and Amy.

At about 11PM we arrive in Twin Lakes where Tim and I proceeded to run through the night to Fish Hatchery, well almost, before Amy picked us up with a mile or so to go at 3:30AM. We managed to get lost in the woods, it rained on us for a bit, but nothing too bad and the temps dropped into the mid 40's....this was a bummer. The track between TL and FH is a very long and difficult part of the course, mostly because of the time of night that you pass through this area...it only seems to go on forever.



After getting in at 4AM I managed to get in 4 hours of sleep and got up at 8AM to make breakfast for everybody....eggs, toast, hash browns and juice. It was pretty darn good after running 15 miles through the night. Later that morning we traveled to Twin Lakes to do some sight seeing and take some pictures. We then went on to Buena Vista and St Elmo's ghost town, before heading back into Leadville to do some shopping and grab dinner at the TN Pass Cafe in town. Completely exhausted we made it back to the house around 8PM and crashed after watching a movie with Sadie....A Series of Unfortunate Incidents.



On Sunday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast, hung out at the house till about 9AM and then left to drop off Sadie and Papa at the Mega Mountain Magic stables just outside of town. They got in a 2.5 hour trail ride while Grandma and I went to Turquoise Lake and took some cool pics, hit the Safeway for lunch and planned out a train ride through the mountain side of Leadville. It was a great day that ended with Sadie catching 6 or 7 nice rainbow trout in a lake near the house....really quite unbelievable. We got to bed at 10PM only to get out of bed at 4:20AM so we could beat the traffic and get everyone to the airport. It was a really nice weekend..See the pics.

Massage....Ahhhhhh!!

Got a fabulous massage this evening.....was so needed! Feeling good right now. Looking forward to Sadie and the in laws arriving tomorrow for a fun filled weekend at high altitude. We have an awesome house up in the Rockies overlooking Mt Albert and Mt Massive.....lots of wildlife and rest this weekend.

No work out today, giving the old bones a break. Tomorrow may do a short run...have 15 miles in so far this week and thinking about a 15 miler tomorrow night with Tim...it'll bring the tally to 30 miles which is great for the taper. No injuries...taking it easy....resting...blah blah blah...


Cheers!

The Infamous Taper.....

So far this week I've managed to get in a run on Monday and Wednesday evenings at White Ranch, in Golden CO. Lot's of climbing and descending on this 7-8 Mile course. Ran it both times with Tim. We manage to push one another quite well on the trails. Tim can descend with the best of them, while I try to take it easier on the descents, for fear of doing a face plant. This evening's run was pretty intense....we managed to run the last mile in under 7 minutes....that's fast!

Still nursing a few minor tweaks, but feeling quite strong right now. Just can't do anything stupid over the next two weeks leading up to the race. Still uncertain about the bike race.....

Getting some sleep this evening...

Cheers!

3 weeks and counting........

After the 50 mile smack down that occurred, I regrouped and reassessed my game plan on race day in Leadville. Experiencing several meltdowns over a 12 hour period is difficult but rewarding on many different levels. If you've never hit the wall, it's difficult to truly understand the feeling when you actually break through the wall. On race day in three weeks, it's a good bet that I'll face the wall several times. The advantage that I have during this race is the fact that I will have both crew support as well as pacer from mile 50 to the finish. Below is a picture of Daley and Will on our training weekend on 7/23 as we traversed Hope Pass at 12,500 for the first time. They're both looking rather chipper.....the return over Hope Pass wasn't as pretty as everyone ran out of water, due to the sun/altitude and my pacers struggled to return to Twin Lakes through the river with temps at 40F....chilly, but felt REALLY GOOD!




We managed to get in 42 miles of 2.5 days in Leadville. It was a great training weekend. My race plan has been written and I will be sending it out to the crew and pacer this week. The weather was spectacular. On Friday evening we climbed up the Power Line to Hagerman and back. On Saturday we began at Twin Lakes and went to the Winfield Station side on Hope Pass and back. This was a long day....what should've taken 5.5 hours took 7 hours and change.....slept good! On Sunday we ran from Half Moon to about Twin Lakes...a good run out and a better run back. On Sunday afternoon we braved the traffic, which only took forever, to get back to Denver....checked in at the Embassy Suites....went out for a couple of beers and some great Sushi. Walked back to the hotel.....stopped at Dairy Queen....and hit the rack...after watching CSI for the first time.

Overall a great weekend...nursing a few minor tweeks ....but feeling good going into the TAPER......grrrr.


Cheers!

Leadville Silver Rush 50.....Wow!

Leading up to the SR50 my training is far ahead of last year at this point in the season. My endurance levels are exceptional as is my overall fitness. In 2010 I finished the SR 50 in 10:04, which should've been closer to a 9:40 as I took a wrong turn and ended up go a couple of miles out of my way. Yesterday, in finished at 6:15PM which was a 12 hours and 15 minutes, or 2:11:00 longer.

It was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies and temps in the low 50's. I should've taken precautions at this point but ignored the potential impacts of heat, sun and altitude combination. I was dressed in black shorts, black shirt and black visor.....real smart. The day before the race I rested well back at the hotel, stayed off of my feet, hydrated, ate a nice plate of plain spaghetti and got to bed early..this was actually smart. During the week before I stuck to light runs nothing major, other than 21 miles 7 days before the race, but I felt recovered from it, albeit a little tired entering the race...or more just a little wore out...but nothing too bad.

On race morning I got up at 4AM, showered and headed downstairs for a light breakfast at the Delaware Hotel. Tim joined me 15 minutes later and we made it the the race start at 5:45AM, in plenty of time to get our chips and say hello to our friends racing that day. When the gun went off at 6:00AM, Hawaiian Shirt Ray, sprinted up the hill as we hooted and hollered and cheered him on as a kid 10 years younger attempted to keep pace with him. Ray crushed him in this sprint up the hill to claim the lone silver dollar waiting at the top of the hill. To really understand just how difficult a task this is...imagine running up 10 flights of stairs (25 degree slope), without the stairs, but on loose rocks and gravel....oh and don't forget at 10,250 of altitude. Very very impressive.

So the race begins and the first several miles are very uneventful. Conversations are being carried on by many of the runners as the pace is a fast hike, slow jog as the first 10 miles are uphill....which means the last 10 miles are downhill...almost. I met OJ from Nashville a nice younger guy that is friends with Brian Waller and Greg Greenwell. We chatted for a few minutes and he dropped as his pace was faster than I had wanted to go out at.

Goals for the Day
1. Finish the race before the 14 HR cutoff
2. Do not get injured

Mission accomplished...well sort of....I did complete the race under the cutoff and I also did not sustain any physical injuries. I did however suffer significantly throughout the race from an overall electrolyte imbalance...which caused extreme nausea....elevated HR...inability to easily digest anything I consumed. Fortunately, nurse Nancy, passed me and diagnosed my condition in about 2 seconds and offered up some sodium tablets, which remedied my situation in about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I only had enough sodium to last me till about mile 34...which meant another bonk on the horizon.

Nutrition
1. Packed 8 Shot Blocks...consumed 6
2. Packed 8 Hammer Gels....consumed 8 plus 2 Gu gels picked up at last aid station 7 miles from finish
3. 90oz of H2O with Gu Brew mix......big issue as the aid stations only had Herbalife to refill other than last aid station.
4. 2 slices of pizza, plain chees, which I was only able to eat one slice at the mid point turn around
5. Chips, 1/2 Chocolate Chip Cookie, bite of a banana, coke at all aid stations except #1, 1 slice of an orange and piece of watermellon with salt...yuk..but needed sodium bad at last aid station.

Overall assessment.....heat and altitude were an issue that I underestimated. Thought that I could get enough sodium from drinks and food so abandoned my endurolytes...big ass mistake!!! Should've recognized all of the symptoms...elevated HR and Nausea...sloshing stomach...meant electrolyte imbalance. Clothes that I had on exacerbated the heat factor...a rookie mistake and lack of respect for the sun....this will never happen again.

I will be downloading from my Garmin my HR over the 12:15 period of time...I know that it'll not be good. What will be good is that it was a good but painful learning experience.

More to follow.........

Silver Rush 50 Mile Mtn Bike....

Today the gun went off at 9AM MDT and about 500 Mtn bikers ran up the hill with their bikes, with their HR's most likely red lining.....It was a beautiful day for a race in Leadville. Throughout the day clouds rolled in but there was no rain, just cloud cover for the competitors. Hopefully we'll have the same weather for our 50 mile trail run....we'll see.

I took the day off from all exercise and just slept at the hotel, answered emails, got organized for work next week. Grabbed a dinner/lunch with Tim, Francisco, Hawaiian Ray and Scott at Zichetelli's, loading up on the carbs. Heading out to Mountain High Pizza's to grab a large cheese pizza. PLanning on packing up the pizza tomorrow for the run. It's a great food to chow down while running. Trying out Gu Brew tomorrow, which I'm hoping does the trick. No magnesium in Gu Brew, shot blocks or hammer gels. The race will have 7 aid stations that I will leverage tomorrow, but will have 75% of my needs in my camelback. So nutrition is pretty dialed in for tomorrow.

Physically I've gotten rest and stayed off of my feet today. My right foot is still giving me some troubles but I'm not expecting it to be a problem unless I step wrong on a rock or try to push it too hard. Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good. Trying out the "new" Brooks trail running shoes.

We'll be getting up at 4:30AM MDT to grab breakfast at the Delaware hotel before heading down to the race start at 6:00AM MST. The first goal tomorrow is to simply finish, without any major injuries. Ideally I'd like to finish in under 10 hours, but more realistically it'll be closer to 11 hours.

Till then....Cheers!

Back in the Saddle........

Francisco and I made it back up to Leadville, preparing for the SR 50 mile trail run. While Francisco ran the trails I decided to hop on my Mtn bike and give it another go. This afternoon was the first time that I've been on that bike since my bad accident. While most of the ride today was on gravel roads, I did manage to ride up Sugar Loaf which is a very rocky trail. I was a nervous wreck going up and coming down. I need to build back my confidence on the bike so I can relax. What I did realize was that I need to spend a bunch of time in the saddle and work my core between now and the LT 100 Bike. I also need to spend time analyzing the course and how I will manage the time on race day. I feel pretty comfortable that I'll get my game on for race day without a major crash, I now just need to determine if I am going to be able to finish, as there is no sense in riding 12 hours and missing the cutoff and beating up my body and not be able to get the Leadman trophy.

Tomorrow Tim is arriving in Leadville around 6AM so he can get in a 20 mile run, which is crazy.....My plan is to bike Columbine which is a 5 mile ride straight up the mountain...then I plan on relaxing the rest of the day and staying off my feet to rest up for the SR 50.

Weather was great today, however, lots of storm clouds. Hopefully it'll cooperate for us on Sunday.....Hitting the rack.

Cheers!

White Ranch....Trail Run

Well I made it back to the scene of the accident this evening. Made it out to White Ranch at about 7:15PM today after going through the most hellacious hail storm, which I video taped while driving. The weather cleared up and Tim, Patrick(a Rochester native) and I hit the trails at White Ranch to get in a 6 mile run.

My right foot is still giving me some issues, but I'm thinking that it's becoming a bit of the pea under the mattress routine....in other words...it's in between my ears....not really but kind of. At about 4.6 miles into the run Tim took a very nasty fall on a down hill and actually smashed his face into some rocks and busted up both his upper and lower lips. Luckily hit didn't lose any teeth. Patrick and I both agreed that his face looked much better after the fall.

We took the run pretty easily finishing 6 miles in about 1:15 minutes. My endurance levels feel great at 6,500 feet of altitude. The only issue that I'm wrestling with is my right foot...which I will keep a careful eye on.

Gotta give it up to the USA Women's Soccer team for CRUSHING France today and will take on Japan in the World Cup finals on Sunday at 12 MST....which is a huge bummer given the fact that I'll be about 3 hours or so from finishing when they start. So Jackson is going to text me updates.

Francisco will be arriving on Friday am and we'll head on up to Leadville.....

That's all I have for now....Cheers!

Preparing for the Silver Rush 50 Trail Run

I boarded the 6:50AM flight from Nashville to Denver today after a long weekend in upstate NY with the Family. I'm not certain which is harder work.......but glad to be back at altitude so I don't lose the acclimation that I have earned over the last month training out here in Denver, its foothills and Leadville.

I left the office at about 7:15PM and walked back to the hotel and headed straight for the work out room where I got in 3.5 miles on the treadmill at a 8:30/Mile average pace and my HR was around 120....which is good. I managed to stretch the calves, quads, IT bands, hamstrings and achilles during and post run. Overall felt good. Didn't have any issues with my right arch and think that 2 days off did it good.

Post work out I had a very nice salmon salad dinner at the hotel and 2 Blue Moons. Back at the room and calling it a night. Tired after a long day. The US Women's Soccer Team plays France at 10AM tomorrow and I'm very excited to have a tv in my office to get updates on the score. Tomorrow evening planning on getting in a 5 mile run with Tim on the trails....hopefully the weather will cooperate. Right now we're having a major thunderstorm in Denver, while it is pouring down rain and 51F in Leadville, which may make for a sloppy, chilly run on Sunday....bummer.

Anyways, getting 8 hours of sleep tonight.

Cheers!

Wedding Bells in Upstate NY

This past Thursday we made the trek up to Buffalo NY via SWA for Tim's wedding on Keuka Lake. Before going to the wedding we hit Niagara Falls, the Maid of the Mist and Darien Lake amusement park. On Friday evening we arrived at the Esperanza Mansion and was greeted by TIm and most of the wedding party, playing beer pong outside of our hotel room. I learned how to play beer pong and with a perfect record of 2-0 decided to quick while I was ahead and get some rest. The plan for the morning was to rise at 4:45AM to get in a 4 hour run around a portion of Keuka Lake.



The morning temps were in the high 50's low 60's...perfect for running. The sun officially rises at 5:54AM, but it was light out when I hit the road at 5AM. I made my way down the a route that led me to Keuka College and then down along the shoreline. At this hour of the morning the only thing up and about were the nocturnal animals...raccoons and deer. The run was very relaxing, but a bit punishing on the legs as most of the run was on pavement or on the dirt and gravel on the side of the road.

The total run was 21 miles and I must admit that it really beat my legs up. They felt like two pieces of lead. Not certain if that was from the pounding of the pavement and not being on trails, lack of nutrition or just still not being fully recovered from the Leadville marathon. In any event it was a challenge.

Later that day Timmy got married at 4:30PM overlooking Keuka Lake from the Esperanza Mansion. A beautiful day, ceremony and reception that followed. Got to bed around 11:30PM that night and then headed off to Rochester NY to see our good friends, the Baiocchi's. We had a fabulous time with them on Sunday and was able to catch up over a few beers, wine and some out of this world Sherry........mmmmm!

Was a little slow getting getting up this am and my joints were aching, not certain if it was the Sherry, Darien Lake, the 21 mile run the day before or the combination of all three. So I popped 2 Alleve and felt good the rest of the day. No work outs on Sunday or Monday but plan on getting in 5 miles tomorrow after I get back to Denver....on the treadmill... a nice soft surface. This weekend is the 50 mile Silver Rush and I need to take it easy going into the event to make certain that I finish it and stay in contention for the Leadman.....

Gotta get up at the crack.....cheers!

The Incline.......

After the marathon last Saturday, I took Sunday off and resumed training on Monday with a 1 hour 20 mile bike ride. It was a partly sunny day with temps in the high 80's. The idea with the bike ride was twofold (i) low impact work out on the right foot and (ii) get time in the saddle and start thinking about doing the bike portion of the Leadman. After my nasty fall I had swore off bikes and as usual, time makes the memory fade. As I hit 40MPH + it really made me think about just how dangerous the bike is......

Today I got up at the crack to catch my flight to Denver. Had a productive day and decided to hop in the car and drive down to Manitou Springs to tackle the infamous "Incline". It's a straight ascent up the mountain that peaks around 9,000FT + on a series of railroad ties. Instead of committing suicide and descending the stairs, I made the intelligent decision to hit the trails that switched backed down the mountain side.

The total loop was just shy of 3.5 Miles at took 1:11 on the first loop and 1:07 on the 2nd loop....yep a negative split. I did the incline in 40 minutes on the first loop and 40 minutes on the second loop, and made up time on the descent as I had some young runner thinking he was going to pass me.....not today slappy. Overall felt pretty good other than my right arch, which is giving me issues....nothing serious, but just nagging right now. Gotta catch these issues early and pay attention to them so that they don't turn into something more significant.



At the top of the photo is a false summit, when actually it's only 2/3 of the way up the mountain....my average HR was north of 130, I'm guessing. There were quite a few tourists trying to climb this bad boy. It was a great training day, which was about 2:18 minutes and 7 miles. Yes, that's right only 7 miles and it took me 2:18......it's a tough hill to climb....but i'll be thankful come August....

Cheers!!

Leadville Marathon Results.......

After picking up Daley and Tim we headed west on Friday afternoon, attempting to beat the July 4th weekend traffic to the Rockies. We were able to avoid much of the traffic but it was still crowded on the highways, turning a 1:45 drive into 2:20 to Leadville. We registered and then checked into the hotel, chilled out for a while and then headed out to grab a beer and a bite to eat. The local italian restaurant was packed so we put our name on the list and headed over to the Silver Dollar Saloon to swirl back a coupe PBR's....and in the process losing my damn car keys. Yep, that's right...lost my car keys, in Leadville. We managed to catch a ride back to the Silver King Hotel, which was about a mile up the road from the restaurant helpers. Never ended up finding them.....

On Saturday morning Daley & I woke up to the sound of an explosion, only to find out that it was Tim on the growler preparing for the race...actually several explosions. We left the hotel and walked to the race start about a mile from the hotel and arrive at 7:40, checked in...got a new bib # as mine was safely locked in the Jeep... The owner of LifeTime Fitness gave a short pep talk to all of the Leadman competitors just before Ken raised his rifle into the air began the race with a bang! Below is Daley and for a pre race pic..




The course has about 6,000 feet of elevation gain/loss over 26.2 miles on very rocky trails. We started off walking uphill, which got the HR up and the blood pumping right away. We ran the down hills and flats and were disciplined about walking every uphill, which always pays dividends later in the race. The race had both the Heavy Half Marathoners as well as the full Marathoners, so the trails were crowded on the way out and the for few miles of the way back, then it was pretty sparse. The weather was 70F and nothing but sun and lot's of it. Below is a pic as we were out of Leadville on our way up the trails looking over a mining




Mile 13 was at the top of Mosquito Pass at 13,180 feet as noted in the pic below with that stud ultra runner. It was a very tough hike to the top of the pass and the trail was very very very rocky, making the descent treacherous as Daley would find out :) aka The Honey Badger wannabe.... I was able to make it to the top of the pass at 3 hours and 8 minutes, with the goal of running the next 13.1 miles in under 2 hours...wishful thinking. Not having run the course I was under the impression (from Tim!!!) that it was "all down hill" after Mosquito Pass, that turned out not to be the case as there was still plenty of uphills to traverse. I managed to run a negative split with a 2:30 on the return....which I had to push. I heated up in the last few miles and got a little light headed....but was in pretty good shape compared to the Young Bull who ended up with a bout of altitude sickness, but still managed to finish the course in 5:59...a nice sub six performance for the sea side boy. Tim was able to best his prior year's performance with a 5:52 by 20 minutes....that deserves an attaboy!



Overall it was a good race and by far the hardest damn marathon in the USA. We (Tim and I) grabbed two scoops of ice cream before walking back to the hotel with the Rookie, aka the Young Bull aka the Honey Badger wannabe, to meet our driver to take us back down the mountain to the airport to catch our flights. With no shower I boarded the SWA flight back to Nasvegas and the humidity....It's good to be home. I grabbed a couple of slices of cold pizz out of the fridge a coors light and a bag of ice and off to bed I went...with Oliver and Francis.

The first race of the Leadman series is over....mulling over my chances of successfully completing the 100 mile bike....hmmm...very very tempting...with the jury still out...I'll just continue to train hard.


Cheers!!