2015 New Mexico State Parks Series - Sugarite

26.2 Miles 3:46:23

Sugarite Canyon - New Mexico

 

A lot has been going on since my last race and most of it involves my dad.   I had completely written off this race and was planning on spending time at home this weekend.  As the race approached my wife and I talked about going camping with the kids at the race site.   It sounded like fun but then some issues came up with my dad’s ex-wife and we didn’t feel comfortable leaving our house unattended for the weekend.   My wife suggested I go alone and on the night before the race I still hadn’t decided.   I was really stressed with life in general and needed some alone time so I finally left Denver at 8pm for a race in New Mexico. After the 3hr drive I arrived at my campsite sometime after midnight.   Less than 5 hours of sleep and it was time to get up and make it to the 6am race start.

 

0-20 miles Avg 8:46 pace

My goal for this race was just to get in a long training run and be able to get some running done the next day with my trail club.  I started off very conservative running the first 20 or so miles a little under 9:00/mi pace.   Surprisingly it felt really easy just like another long run with my friends back in Denver.   Despite the slightly higher elevation of 7500ft and the warm temperatures I was never out of breath or in any difficulty once.   One neat thing about this race was that it started in Colorado and then crossed into New Mexico.  I liked seeing the signs welcome to Colorado and welcome to New Mexico.   I wanted to run faster but I kept thinking of my trail run the next day so I kept it under control.

 

21-26.2 Avg 8:15 pace

Most of the race was overcast which was still pretty warm but the last few miles the sun broke free and it really started feeling hot.  When I hit mile 20 I let myself speed up a little.   From my really consistent 8:45’s I pushed the pace up into the 8:20’s for the last few miles and then really picking up the pace and ran the last mile in 7:38.   All while keeping my cool and never getting much out of breath or being in any real trouble.   The best thing about this race was for that nearly 4hrs I didn’t think about any of the crap going on back in Denver.

 

Post Race

This was a really small race with 26 finishers but still I felt pretty good with my second place overall finish.  More than that I was happy with my fitness level.  I just cruised through that marathon like it was nothing and tomorrow I am going to kick my friends butt’s up the side of a mountain.    The next day I ran a 10 mile trail run with 2000+ feet of elevation gain and felt great.

 

2015 South Park Marathon

26.2 miles 4:50:09

Fairplay Colorado

0-7 miles avg 10:14/mi pace
This was the first inaugural South Park marathon near Fair Play Colorado. For my friends outside of Colorado yes South Park is a real place although it’s more of a ghost town and museum but Fairplay looks and feels like might imagine from the cartoon. The race started at 10000ft and ran up on the dirt roads out of town from the profile it looks like we spent all of about 15:00 below 10000ft. The dirt roads were pretty easy to run on but they kept climbing up an up as we approached the mountains. The clouds in the distance looked angry so I took my jacket with me which felt too warm almost immediately. I wore my jacket for about 3 miles and then around my waist for the remainder of the race but it was more of a precaution in case it rained or snowed.


7-14 miles avg 13:33/mi pace
Turning off the dirt road we got our first taste of trails around mile 7 and it was hell. It had rained most of yesterday and this trail was a sloppy mess. Running was impossible even walking in the slick mud was a chore as my shoes collected huge amounts of mud. Lucky the mud pit was relatively short and then we had some nice jeep trials followed by only downhill in the first half of the race. After horseshoe gulch we again hit the dirt roads for more steady climbing towards the turnaround on top of peerless mountain. The higher we climbed the more snow we encountered and remember its June. The race director spent hours shoveling a path though some of the snow drifts which was really awesome. Near the top it seemed we were only running on snow drifts that that stretched forever. At one point I fell through the snow waist deep and had to pull myself out by my arms… burr. Eventually I hit the turnaround at 12200 ft, the race organizer had originally planned on going to the top at 13000 but the snow forced them to change the route.


15-20 miles avg 10:04/mi pace
I was pretty happy to turn back towards town also get some downhill running. Up top it was too steep to even run at times and the snow and ice didn’t help either. I fell pretty hard on my hip when my feet went out from under me while walking down what looked like a waterfall. From then on I just took my time and safely navigated myself off the mountain. The dirt road was a much more manageable grade and I actually clocked 4 miles of sub 9:00/mi pace between miles 16-19. That was a ton of pounding on my not so fresh legs. Last weekend I ran the steamboat marathon that has a lot of downhill running. I was actually happy for the 1 mile uphill coming up which was the only significate climb in the second half of the race.


21-26.2 miles avg 10:07/mi pace
Back through the mud pit but going down it wasn’t so bad. My shoes still collected 5 pounds of mud each but I was able to run the entire time. Running on the dirt roads back into town was a lonely but neat experience of its own. I had beaten the mountain and was almost home. I pushed as much as possible but the small ups and downs really had me exhausted. Also for some reason I was really dehydrated, I thought I was drinking a lot of liquids. Finishing the race was cool, there was no fanfare but that made it even more special. I was doing this for me and me alone which I guess means I really love these tough trail battles.

Pics


Here are a few shots of South park.  the race stated at the gate also notice the goats roaming the town

 

The mud pit

Only a mile or two later such a big change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First view of peerless

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoveling this out took the RD hours and cost him a nice sunburn

 

 

Is this a trail or a waterfall?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So much snow.  Soon after taking this pic is where fell though the snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

turnaround

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Town is way down that way somewhere

 

 

 

AThis mountain was across the valley and made the one I was climbing look like an ant hill (it’s the lower slopes of Mt Sherman)

 

 

Those clouds were threating to rain the whole day, I did get a few sprinkles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Steamboat Marathon

26.2 Miles - 4:00 Pace Group Leader (3:57:31)
Steamboat Springs, Colorado


I got roped into this race by a friend of mine about a month ago to help the Marathon Maniacs pace the Steamboat Marathon. He was pacing 4:00 but moved down to 3:45 so I could have the slower time. Coming into this race I was beat, 50 mile PR 5 weeks ago and marathon PR 3 weeks ago. My friends are always are calling me crazy but this time I was starting to believe them. I ran the steamboat marathon last 5 years ago in a time of 5:02! Yes you read that right five hours and two minutes which was a PR at the time. That seems like a different life ago which was a little way into my weight loss journey. I believe at the time I was about 210lbs. 5 years later and another 30lbs loss my marathon PR is now 3:26 I have wanted to come back and prove myself on this course that beat me down in 2010.


0-10 Miles, 1:30:26, 9:03 avg pace (1:10 under goal pace)
Being the 4:00 pacer makes you a very popular person at the start of the race. Just standing in line at the bathroom and then eating my PB&J near a trash can I started acquiring runners and answering questions. Most popular questions for pacers are “how many marathons have you run?”, “are we running even splits”, “have you run this race before?” and they kept coming but that’s all part of the gig. I told everyone at the start of the race that we would be running even effort splits meaning a little faster on the downhill and slower on the uphills. People really seemed to like this strategy as we ran about 20 sec/mi fast on the downhill and then gave it back by climbing slower than pace. This race has a ton of downhill but the website fails to mention it has lots of ups too. My group started out huge maybe 20- 30 people but after 10 miles we were down to 10 people who were serious about breaking 4hrs.


11-20 Miles, 10 miles in 1:31:30, 9:09 avg pace (overall 1:16 under goal pace)
Another thing the race fails to mention is the heat. Maybe it’s because the race starts above 8,000ft but that sun seems so intense. Around mile 11 or 12 I saw a girl about 100 meters in front of our group collapse. The shoulder of the road had a steep drop off and I thought she had just stepped off the road and fell down the hill. But as we got closer I saw her try to sit up and immediately fall over 2 times. I sent my group off on their own and stayed with the girl and another runner that had also stopped. It didn’t take me long to flag down a race vehicle and at the same time a bike medic pulled up to the scene. She was in good hands so I left and quickly rejoined my group. Mile 13 featured a big climb on the road and running by even effort we slowed to nearly 10:00 pace. But it didn’t matter that hill took half my runners. And the hills didn’t stop either my pace group slowly disintegrated though as I slowed as much as possible. At mile 15 we were only ahead of pace by about 20 seconds. On the next downhill we again picked up the pace banking a few second per mile, I warned the few runners I had left about one more tough climb where we would give back all our banked time.


21-26.2 Miles, 6.2 miles in 55:35, 8:58 avg pace (overall 2:29 under goal pace)
The heat and the hills had completely imploded my pace group leaving me 1 runner. As promised the 1 runner and I hit that big hill on mile 21 and gave back some serious time. Cresting that hill I asked her how she felt, she was doing great in feeling really good, I told her “well I am not the 4:00 pacer anymore now I am you pacer if you want to speed up”. With a few miles to go we dramatically picked up the pace grabbing a few 8:30’s. Now nearing the end of the race the 4:00 pacer is one of the least popular people on the course, often people were cursing when they saw me but others joined and again our group began to grow. I knew it was a bad sign when I passed the 3:45 pacer, it was so hot and hilly I felt bad for him. Finishing the race was pretty awesome as I remember how much I hurt finishing in 5:02 and today I was coasting in at 3:57.

Pacing
That puts me at 2-0 for pacing and this time on a tough hot course. When I finished I was surprised to see the 4:30 pacer at the finish, apparently medical pulled her from the race. The other pacers all looked like hell and a little depressed, then I heard that 3:30 missed his time as well and 3:45 still hadn’t finished. The next day at work I learned that I was the only marathon pacer to hit the goal time! After the race the one runner I took from start to finish came and found me to say thanks and get her picture with me. It was her first marathon and she was so happy how it all turned out. That one thank you made it all worthwhile.



I believe this one is early on in the race maybe around mile 10.  The maniacs have an awesome pacer sign very light and the pole has holes drilled,  it was easy to carry for 4hrs.

Finish line photo

 

 

2015 Colfax Marathon

26.2 Miles - 3:26:49 – PR (7:54 pace)
5th Consecutive Colfax Marathon
Denver Colorado


Coming into this race the plan was to just run it easily, I even considered switching to the half. Less than 2 weeks ago I had run a great race which left me physical and emotionally wreaked from running. Since then the longest I had run was 10 miles and just to test out my legs I ran last mile at marathon race pace. My coach gave me a little encouragement and I was ready to go. Don’t forget I was an ambassador of this race so I spent 9hrs on my still tired feet Friday working the Expo.

 Miles 0-15 (15 miles @ 8:05 pace)
I was a little worried how my body and mind would hold up late into the race. The strategy was to take it easy for the first 15 miles and put myself in positon for a PR. At mile 16 I would decide if I wanted to really go for it or back off. I ran the early miles all by feel, as soon as I felt like I was starting to get out of breath I would back off on effort. The first half of this course was pretty hilly with the last big hill being the entire 15th mile. Keeping this strategy of feeling like I could talk (I did chat with a friend the first 6 miles) I was able to cover the first 15 miles close to my PR pace.


Miles 16-20 (5 miles @ 7:32 pace)
Coming off mile 15 you are treated to a sweet 5 miles of downhill. I picked up the pace to 7:30’s but because of the downhill the effort was still pretty easy. I decided to not push any harder and keep the effort low. My feet were starting to ach and my quads and calf’s weren’t feeling so good, it was just leftover fatigue. The sun came out and the temps climbed but I didn’t feel like it affected that much. I was doing really well on my nutrition eating and drinking pretty often.


Miles 21-26.2 (6.2 miles @ 7:44 pace)
I couldn’t believe I had run 20 miles without any real problems. In my head a switch flipped “let’s go get that PR”. Around mile 21 I caught up with the 3:30 pace group and wasted no time cutting right through them. Blasting through that pace group felt great and now I was working hard to hold my pace in the 7:40’s but compared to everyone around me I was just flying. This is my 5th time running this marathon and I know every hill and every turn. Mile 23 we hit a major hill and I logged my slowest mile of the last 10K at 8:05. Looking at my watch I knew it would be close even if I ran my heart out. My thoughts were “I don’t care if I miss my PR this has been an amazing race”. My watch clocked me running my last 0.2 at 6:45 pace as I charged to the finish to collect a new PR.


Post race
That’s was a hilly marathon at altitude and I ran a hard 50miler 2 weeks ago so not really PR conditions. I only beat my time by 6 seconds but this race gave me a lot of confidence, I think I can run a lot faster. Because this was my local race I spent half of the day sitting in grass chatting with friends. I think I had 10 or so friends running the marathon, at least 30 in the half and a few more the relay.


The PR Drought is over
My last Marathon PR was over 2 and half years ago (12 marathons ago). Also during this time were a few ultras which probably contributed to the slowdown.


Weird Stat
My fastest 4 marathons are now separated by 1 minute and 4 seconds.
May 2015 Colfax – 3:26:49
Oct 2012 Rock n Roll Denver – 3:26:55
May 2012 Colfax – 3:27:27
May 2014 Colorado – 3:27:53



I do not look happy for some reason.  This is around mile 6 because I am still running with my buddy Matt in the blue.   This was Matt's first marathon

 

Just ran under the US flag which was very cool

Coming back through the stadium at around mile 20.   Looking like I am in much better shape and focused than I did here at mile 6.

 

2015 Run Through Time Marathon

26.2 Miles - 4:46:58,

3500 ft elevation gain

Salida, Colorado



It took me a lot longer than usual to get around to writing this report. Part of that was because I was mad at my Garmin for not uploading the data of this race. It had no problem uploading workouts the week after the run but for some reason it has something against his race. After trying to upload the data many times I finally broke down and manually entered the time distance and splits into my running log.

This is my 3 consecutive year running this marathon. I love going back because the course is beautiful The weather is also awesome, maybe a bit cold for some people, I think it has always been between 30-50F. This year was by far the best weather and at the same time by far the worst trail conditions. It snowed a lot a week ago and then it was melting while we were running the race. Finally I love this race because it’s cheap, the marathon is $53. I’ll keep coming back.

Miles 0-8 ( 8 miles @ 10:03 pace)
The beginning of this race is a 2 mile loop on nearly flat dirt roads. I think it’s a great idea because it spreads out the runners a bit before we hit the single track. After a little climb this first section is mostly up and down not too hard. In the prior years I had to walk up the last big climb but this year I cruised all the way up that hill. The trail was a mess but at the time it was frozen mud which didn’t slow us down and wasn’t slippery.

Miles 9-14 (6 miles @ 10:44 pace)
This next section was all dirt roads and all up hill. The first 4.5 miles of this section alone climbed 1300ft. In previous years I had walked up big portions of this road but not today. Again I was stronger and I powered up the climb without needing to walk. At the half marathon mark I was at 2:15 which was 5 minutes faster than last year and 10 minutes faster than the year before. I thought I was on my way to 4:30 or faster time.

Miles 15-20 ( 6 miles @ 10:48 pace)
The second half of this race is mostly downhill so I was ready to kick some butt. On the back side of the course we encountered miles of snow of anywhere between 6 inches and 2 feet deep. The runners ahead had started a trail but I found myself leaping from step to step. In some place the holes I was stepping into went past my knee. Finally I had to walk 16 miles into the race on a flat section, I was pissed off. The downhill was ruined and it was impossible to find any rhythm or pace. Adding to my frustration I missed a turn and had to backtrack making the race 26.9 miles long.

Miles 21-26.9 (6.9 miles @ 11:18 pace)
Now we were finally out of the snow but that frozen mud had thawed out into a giant mess. Through all of the snow and mud I was determined to keep my pace up which really took a toll on my legs. By the time the mud was over and the trail was clear I had nothing left. I was a little discouraged that I had worked so hard on the uphill only to have everything go down in flames on the downhill. I stopped looking at my watch back at mile 16.

Course Personal Best
Despite the fact that I run ran the uphill part of the race faster than the downhill it was enough for a course best for me. I was about 2 minutes faster than last year and about 10 minutes faster than 2013 year before. I like to think of this race as a preseason check because a slow time here represents a much faster road time in May I think I am in at least 3:27 shape.
2013 - 4:56 -> 3:31 in May at Colfax Marathon
2014 – 4:48 -> 3:27 in May at Colorado Marathon
2015 – 4:46 -> ???

2014 Rock n’ Roll Denver

26.2 mi – 3:50:55

Goals for this race (in order of importance)
1. Run easy enough so I can recover before my 50miler on November 1st
2. Run Sub 4hrs
3. Have fun

Pre Race
I do a lot of things that other runners would call dumb, within my track club I have the reputation being “that crazy guy”. But I am not that crazy and I take on challenges that I think I can overcome. This race on the other hand had me questioning my sanity. A marathon 2 weeks before a 50 miler that is stupid. It’s not a good sign when you are questioning yourself add to that the pressure of all my friends running or spectating, a streak that I can’t let die (goal #2) and a rough training schedule that I just finished a week earlier. It was obvious that there was no way that I could hit all three of my goals.


0 – 10, 10 miles – 1:27:29, 8:45 pace
Right of the bat my legs felt like crud. I have found that when I am training hard I can go week to week without soreness but as soon as a take some time off all that fatigue catches up with me. This week and last week was my rest break. The 5 weeks of training before that was brutal with 5 long runs over 20 miles. It didn’t help that they changed the course this year and significantly added a lot more hills to the early miles. By mile 10 my legs felt like they could cramp up at any moment. At least the weather was perfect it was in the 50’s and overcast.


11-20, 10 miles – 1:29:07:29, 8:55 pace
One thing that I did have going for me was the amount of friends and family running and spectating. Knowing that I was going to run slower I backed up into coral 6 and ran with a friend. As the day got hotter he had to let me go on without him but we ran a good chunk together. I slowed down too but not at much as the entire race seemed to slow. Because I started in corral 6 I kept catching up to friends which I would chat with for a moment and then be on my way. I am amazed that was able to find so many people within the 12,000 runners. At mile 12ish 10,000 of those runners turned off our course to finish the half marathon. The course was a little more lonesome, just the way I like it. I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad but I told myself that I would go when I saw an open pot-a-pottie. Unfortunately that didn’t happen until mile 15, I always go by this rule and sometime it takes until mile 18-20 before I don’t have to wait in line. My calfs still were threating to cramp and I was feeling warm, I was no longer coasting and I knew that was going to have to work now to keep my sub 4:00.

21-24, 4 miles – 35:42, 8:51 pace
The clouds rolled away and the sun came out raising the temp up to about 70F. I was still holding my pace pretty steady. At this time I was flying past people who were destroyed, which was most everyone. My kids were waiting for me at their usual spot where they could see me twice and I was happy to see them as usual. In addition to my family I probably saw a friend spectating every 2-3 miles along the course. One of my goals this off season is to repay the favor and cheer my friends on in their races.

25-26.2, 2.2 miles – 18:38, 8:28 pace
With only 2 miles to go I lifted the self-imposed speed limit. Late in a marathon if you can hold your pace you pass people like crazy, speed up and it’s like they are standing still as you blow past them. This race has really grown and the finish this year was awesome. From about a half mile out you are running through a tunnel of cheering people, it was so loud. I actually had a final kick in me that felt fast my gamin said 7:30 pace for the last 0.2, at least it was enough to outsprint superman. Later my son asked me “why didn’t superman just fly to the finish?

Goals Revisited
1. Run easy enough to recover. Check, today (Wednesday) I ran 7 miles @ 8:38 pace for my easy run
2. Run Sub 4hrs. Check, and the streak continues to 10 sub 4’s in a row.
3. Have fun. Check.... Well sorta, that was a lot harder than I planned so there wasn’t much time to stop and smell the roses.

A few stats
21st Marathon/Ultra
8th fastest marathon
10th consecutive sub 4:00 marathon (excluding ultras and trail 26.2’s)
4th Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon (I have also run the half 2 times)
6th marathon of 2014

Pictures
21.5 miles into the race and I am having way to much fun


This one is at 23.5 miles. I just gave my daughter a high five, I look determined.

American Discovery Trail Marathon

Colorado Springs, CO
26.2 – 3:41:24 

Pre-Race, Goals and Strategies. 
I was sick off and on all last week and I cut both of last weekend’s runs short because of stomach problems. During the week I thought I was getting better but Saturday and Sunday were not good, I felt like I was pre-race hydrating with pepto bismol. Needless to say any plans and goals I had made for this race were off the table. I didn’t take any medicine after about 3 pm the day before the race because I didn’t know how it would react to long distance running and I don’t want to run races that way. 

Surprisingly I woke up race morning feeling good. Because of the point to point course I now had a 30 minute bus ride to figure out today’s race plan. I decided that I needed to go out fast enough that a PR would be possible but if anything went wrong just back off and call it a training day (no gutting it out today). Really I decided that I would make the call on the run but I want to keep that PR door open. I was ready for a nice flat fast marathon… 

Miles 0-8 (8:02 pace) 
I saw my friend at the start of the race who was pacing the 3:45 group. I looked at his pace chart and saw that the mile spits were all over the place to account for the hills. I did look at the race profile and saw that it dropped 1200 ft over 26 miles. I was pretty shocked that there were any hills on this course. My buddy reassured me that they were small hills but to watch out for mile 9 and 22. I took off running many of the first miles under 8 min pace. If I hadn’t stopped at the bathroom this section would have easily averaged sub 8:00 pace. When I got out of the bathroom the 3:30 group had caught me and I spent the next few miles near them. The course had been 100% dirt so far but it was not the nice hard packed dirt I was also expecting. It was soft and almost sand like in places, other runner and I shifted back and forth across the 8ft wide path trying to say on hard packed dirt. The course featured a lot of little hills very short but steep hills. Enough to knock you off your comfortable pace and make to need to accelerate to get back on pace. With the hills, trail surface, possible illness and warm weather I called it off right there and started enjoying my day. 

Miles 9-20 (8:32 pace) 
As my friend warned mile 9 did feature a long slow climb. But to tell the truth I would gladly take this over those short steep climbs. The short hills kept coming but now that I was in cruise control they didn’t bother me so much. This part of the course went through the air force academy it was gorgeous out there lot of trees and huge mountains. The race began to spread out and it got a bit lonely it felt like just another long run. I forgot to mention all those short steep hills where also accompanied by a short steep downhill’s. The downhill’s might actually be harder on your quads then up but downhill fatigue sneaks up on you and all the sudden I noticed at mile 18 that my legs felt trashed. 

Miles 21-26.2 (8:50 pace) 
Suddenly the race wasn’t so lonely and I was running with people again (only about 400 in the race). The final miles were on a bike path in town which was paved at times. At this point I was feeling pretty good although overheated. I was thinking that I could run 3:38-3:39 if ran a little harder. All that was left was another mystery hill at mile 23. It was a big hill and this time I attacked passing a bunch of people on the way up all while laughing at the handmade signs. The signs were staggered every 20ft or so with 1 word per sign “Shut”, “UP”, “Legs!” it was just so fitting. After the hill I coasted down an equally big downhill and then some flat miles to the finish. I kept trying to calculate how fast I needed for 3:39 but my brain refused to work. I actually had a small kick coming into the finish my watch said 7:35 for the last 0.2 miles not much but it felt good to know I could speed up. 

Post Race – and pics 
Mini milestone - this was marathon/ultra #20 when I joined Loseit I had 2 completed. 
Lesson Learned - I run lots of hills and trails but not at that pace. This hills shouldn’t have caught me off like that, I should have done my research and known what was on the course. 
End of the day - After the race I felt about as tired as a hard long run which is fine because I have other long races I need to run this fall, “Live to fight another day”. 

I think this is at about mile 8. Good shot of the loose dirt I was talking about. 
 

I took this one around mile 12 while running 
 

On the pavement somewhere around mile 22 
 

I only look like I am walking, still moving at sub 9:00 pace 
 

2014 Leadville Marathon

26.2 miles – 6:35:48 (not a PW, Last year at Pikes Peak finished in 7:03)
6,021 ft of elevation gain with the lowest point on the course at an elevation of 10,184 ft 

So this was an interesting adventure. About a month ago I realized I was in full mental burnout. I had a couple of hot long races in May that spelled doom for my trail marathon and ultra-marathon over the summer. Letting my friends know that I was out was the hardest part and they ended up convincing me to stay in the marathon, after all I was trained up for an ultra so I could easily handle a marathon… 

Trip out to Mosquito pass, miles 0 - 9 
Any marathon is tough and if your mind in the game it it’s going to be a rough day. Add to that brutal climbing and crazy elevation and you have the perfect recipe for misery. The race started in Leadville CO, which sits high in the mountains at 10,180ft. First climb on the list was 2,000ft of vertical over the first 5 miles of the race. I was walking 1 mile into the race which wasn’t too surprising and I was the only walker. My body felt fine but my mind just couldn’t seem to get into race mode. In those first 5 miles most of my friends left me in the dust. Going downhill I could easily run 90% of the time. I kept an eye on the giant pass in front of us that we would eventually have to conquer. 

Mosquito pass, miles 10 - 17 
From the aid station it was about 4 miles and 2,000ft vertical to the turnaround point. I walked up the whole thing which isn’t as easy as it sounds. Trees don’t grow above 11,500 and without them the wind was very strong and cold. It was so loud that I was unable to talk with people right next to me. Hiking became so hard that I had to start pacing myself (Hiking!). It’s a little scary when it feels like your breathing is accelerating uncontrollably (like you can’t catch your breath), it’s not a good feeling so you slow down. But I am happy that I never stopped moving, I continued on with relentless forward progress. Nearing the top I was so cold especially my hands I couldn’t wait to get off that mountain. Coming down wasn’t much easier the trail was so technical and in places covered with mud or snow. I tripped and almost went down, I caught myself but my already tired ankle and knee got twisted. They both felt funny as I spent a minute walking it off and then I was back running but now a little more cautious and slower. 



Back to town, 18 – 26.2 
Arriving back at the aid station I felt good about the race or the first time. I had survived the pass and I was heading back to town. In the back of my mind I knew I wasn’t out of the woods yet because there was big climb around 20 miles. I enjoyed the downhill this time, no more giant rocks so I could free my mind and enjoy the scenery. The climb at mile 20 was very hard even though it was only 1,000 ft again I ended up walking the majority of that section. Arriving at the final aid station I felt relived I knew the finish was 5 miles away and almost all downhill with one little blip along the way. This was my best section of the race. I recorded my fastest mile running back into town mile 26 was a blistering 8:50 (and my only sub 10 min mile). Over the last few miles of the race the clouds rolled in and about an hour or so after I finished my friends and I got snowed on at the finish line. 

Post 
While reflecting on this adventure and reading my own report I feel the burnout really shows. So many times in this race I was weak and willing to just go with the flow. This has to be the least competitive I have ever seen myself. One by one my friends passed me and I didn’t even try to chase them down. At the same time this race showed me that perhaps I am stronger than I think. For six and half hours Leadville striped me down to nothing. During that time I was more miserable than I have been in a race in a long time. But quit never crossed my mind. 


At the start of the race with my friend Tim (he won this crazy race) 
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Course Profile 



Just out of town 



Mile 9, Mosquito pass in the distance 
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Halfway up Mosquito pass 



Almost to the top 



Top of the Pass 13,170ft 



Heading down the pass 



Mile 26, fastest mile of the day 8:50!