Really stupid…
If an idea is good, it's on the verge of being stupid. ~ Michel Gondry
I have always had this theory… get a group of people in a room, throw out a bunch of ideas and at the end of the night, look at your list to find the most idiotic and that's the one you should do.
This blog was spawned from one very stupid idea – run the Leadville 100. I gave that a shot in the summer of '07, completed 73 miles, & and survived. The blog lives on…
Post-camp rest…
High Lonesome living up to its name.
Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here! ~ The Dude
Mon 12 July: 3:58, 21.54 miles, Hello Muddah: Day 3 Betasso laps
Wed 14 July: 00:32, 3 miles, Casa Trails barefoot
Thurs 15 July: 00:36, 4.11 miles, Janet's house surges
Sat 17 July: 2:00, 11.20 miles, Casa Trails exploration
Sun 18 July: 3:30, 16 miles, High Lonesome
Total: 10:38, 55.85 miles, 8,924' vert
Finished up Camp One: Hello Muddah with an easily supported effort in Betasso that fed into some night running. It was hot, even at the 6:00 start but my legs responded quickly to the effort and I fell into a nice rhythm spinning laps just over 30-minutes long. Ate shit on lap 3 and cut both elbows, my left hand and my back and landed heavily on my right hip. Such is life... hopped back up and continued, albeit bloody and dirty. Maintained a fairly steady pace throughout only walking during the final laps as my legs got tired and it got dark. All in all a successful end to a successful Camp. Feeling more and more prepared for the race, which is great.
The next several days were all about rest and recovery so I took Tuesday completely off, did a very mellow run on Wednesday barefoot then just rolled some easy miles with a few surges with Janet on Thursday. I was back at it Saturday with 2 hours in the woods. Didn't feel great but did find a new trail to keep me entertained. All in all, I felt better as the day progressed, so that was encouraging.
Sunday, I headed up to one of my favorite routes, High Lonesome. This trail peaks at about 12,000 feet on the Continental Divide in the Indian Peaks Wilderness northwest of my house. I started at the Hessie Trailhead after a deep creek crossing on my motorcycle, which was exciting (and wet). The King Lake trail is fairly mellow and I made quick work of the ascent, feeling strong and fresh. Hit the High Lonesome trail in about 1:20 then headed north along the divide to amazing scenery bursting with color. The wildflowers are amazing this time of year and seeing them up high makes it even more special.
Spun a couple miles on High Lonesome then dropped down on the Devil's Thumb Lake trail. There was one large patch of snow with which to contend but it wasn't a huge deal. Then I made my way down, past Devil's Thumb Lake and decided to burn a little more time by heading back up to Lost Lake. I usually spend quite a bit of time in the Lost Lake area in the winter so it was cool to see it un-frozen and devoid of snow. Found our standard hike-out area and poked around up there a little bit before heading back down to the moto where I packed up and headed into Ned to meet with Pete to discuss crew logistics for the race.
All in all, a good week off the heavy lifting with some fun miles thrown in for good measure. We are now about 5 weeks out and I am feeling strong, fit and healthy. All good ways to be.
~stubert.
Hello Muddah…
Yeah, well... I'm married now. ~ Brian Bellamy
Mon 5 July: 00:41, 2.96 miles, Red Plow barefoot
Tues 6 July: 1:00, 6.2 miles, Thorne Lake surges
Wed 7 July: 2:32, 12.65 miles, Casa Trails
Thurs 8 July: 2:06, 7.76 miles, GGCSP hike/run
Sat 10 July: 4:08, 22.69 miles, LT100 Start to Fish Hatchery
Sun 11 July: 7:59, 30.6 miles, LT100 Colorado Trail to Double Hope
Total: 20:44, 82.87 miles, 15,712 vert
Great week of training. Rolled right into the LT100 Camp One: Hello Muddah.
The week started with fairly typical, mellow running. Just logging hours and getting comfortable at a sustainable pace. Nothing really too interesting aside from dodging some weather, getting a little wet at times, and enjoying spending time in the woods. On Thursday, I decided to mix things up a bit and did my run sporting a heavy pack (well, the hiking portion of my run). Then ditched the pack and ran up some terrain that previously had not been runnable by me. Good stuff. I was a bit sore after but it was worth it for sure.
LT100 Camp One: Hello Muddah
Friday I spent the day getting organized for the weekend's adventure then jammed up to Leadville with Brad and Jess on Saturday to start the first of two planned running weekends on the course. We had a leisurely start and after shuttling a car to Mayqueen, Brad dropped us off at the start.
We headed out in the rain and made quick time back to the campground where we rendezvoused with Brad, saw the weather break, and continued on to Mayqueen with beautiful conditions. I bid my companions fairwell at MQ and continued on to the Fish Hatchery. I really felt great all day and made quick work of Sugarloaf. All told, a successful day on course.
Jess and Brad met me at Fish and shuttled me back to the cabin where I grabbed a shower and some food then jammed into town to get some food for Brad and Jess. There we met up with Sean, who is also running the LT100, had a beer and got psyched for the following day's adventure... the infamous double crossing of Hope Pass from Twin Lakes to Winfield and back.
Day two started early with a quick pick up of Sean at his hotel and drive over to Twin Lakes. Sean and I headed up the Colorado Trail toward Treeline and I spun around after about an hour ten to meet Jess and Brad in Twin Lakes after 2 hours of running. From there, the three of us made our way across the river to the base of Hope Pass then jammed up the hill. It was another gorgeous day and we jammed up the pass to the Hopeless aid station where Brad and Jess turned around, leaving me to carry on solo to Winfield.
I summited in just under 2 hours (cumulative 4 hours), a mere 5 minutes after a bear apparently did the same (according to a hiker I met on the trail). Then rolled down to the Winfield road. From here, it is the longest 2.5 miles you have ever experienced up to the ghost town of Winfield at just under the 5 hour mark where I dumped rocks out of my shoe, read the historical plaque detailing the mining town's past and then jammed back down the road to the base of the pass.
The south side of Hope is unbelievably steep and I power hiked the whole section. I summited at about the 6:39 mark then rolled down the north side of the pass and back to Twin Lakes in just under 8 total. That made for a sub-6-hour double crossing which is not too shabby, not too shabby at all.
I headed back to the cabin where I showered, ate dinner then jammed back home to see my lovely Rach. She hooked me up big time with massive amounts of tasty and nutritious food for the weekend. I can't say enough about how helpful she has been throughout all of this. I honestly could not do this without her.
All in all, this was a confidence-building week and it was great to get out on the course with good friends. I finished up Hello Muddah on Monday (more about that later) and feel like it was very much a success.
Good times, good times.
~stubert.
Busy bee…
It's a grind. ~ Soul Coughing
Mon 28 June: 00:29, 2.81 miles, Casa Trails barefoot
Tues 29 June: 00:59, 5.74 miles, Thorne Lake surges
Wed 30 June: 2:24, 8.48 miles, South Arapaho Peak
Thurs 1 July: 2:08, 9.5 miles, Arapaho Glacier Trail
Sat 3 July: 2:56, 17.95 miles, Cirque de Ned
Sun 4 July: 4.25, 22.64 miles, GGCSP Mega Zoo loop
Total: 13:33, 67.48 miles, 6495' vert
Seems like I get progressively tardier on these updates. Staying busy for sure.
This was a bit of an "off" week but I still managed over 65 miles and lots of good training. Summited South Arapaho on Wednesday in record time. Beat my previous record to the summit by 35 minutes – for the round trip. So a pretty decent effort. Headed back up there Thursday night with Bob and Brad for a good hike/run. We got stormed off at about 12,000 feet and pretty soaked in the dark on the way down but it was so worth the trip and great to spend some time with those guys.
Saturday, I ventured out on a great loop from my house to Nederland. Typically, this ends up being about 24 miles and 4 hours or so, so I asked Rach to pick me up in Rollinsville at about the 3-hour mark. Rolled in there a little early, feeling strong.
Sunday was spent retracing a route I first did in '08 with pretty poor results. This time, I added a couple of miles and decreased my time by about 30 minutes and felt solid throughout.
Definitely feeling the strain of all the training I have been doing these past 6 months. Rach reminded me the other night that I should enjoy the journey as well as the destination, and she is absolutely right. I'm looking forward to Camp 1: Hello Mudda in Leadville this weekend. Scheduled to run the first 23 miles of the course on Saturday, do a Colorado Trail out/back then double crossing of Hope on Sunday, then head home and do a night run on Monday. May spin Betasso laps for that. Spaces are still available and company would be most welcomed if anyone would like to join in the fun and/or games.
~stubert.
June by the numbers…
Year to date
Don't try to follow me. Tick... tick... tick... EEERadicator! ~ The Eradicator
June turned out to be a pretty stellar month on the training end of things. Here is a run-down of the numbers:
- Miles: 311.51
- Hours: 60.03
- Vert: 44,996
Not too shabby. For the year, here is about where I am sitting:
- Miles: 1308
- Hours: 250
- Vert: 118427
Vert is definitely off quite a bit since I haven't logged all my miles with my Garmin.
Good times.
~stubert.
Dialing it in…
This is out of our range and it's grown. ~ Kurt Cobain
Mon June 21: 00:29, 2.87 miles, Casa Trails barefoot
Tues June 22: 1:06, 6.68 miles, Janet's house
Wed June 23: 2:55, 16 miles, Zoo Loop GGCSP
Thurs June 24: 2:17, 7.92 miles, Arapaho Glacier Trail
Sat June 26: 2:34, 13.88 miles, Casa Trails + barefoot
Sun June 27: 7:46, 37.66 miles, LT100 Start > Twin Lakes
Total: 17:08, 85.01 miles, 11,815 vert
Interesting week of running with highs and lows throughout. Overall, I am feeling fit but still have some work to do before the LT100 if I am going to perform well there. It'll come.
The first runs of the week were really business as usual and I have been feeling really great on all my shorter efforts. I have been tossing in big ascents up to altitude every week and those just feel better and better the more I do them and the higher I get on the mountain so I'll keep throwing those in the mix as they seem to be working well for me. It is gorgeous up high as well with tons of marmots running about and the wildflowers really starting to pop.
The big event for the week was Sunday's self-supported effort on the first 38ish miles of the LT100 course: Start to Twin Lakes. The day started early with my alarm waking me at 3:45 for the drive up to the course. I dragged my trailer up with my motorbike to make the self-support system complete and, after stashing provisions in a couple of locations along the course (and a couple of misguided attempts to find a shortcut back to the highway), made it to Twin Lakes, got the bike off the trailer and headed back to the start in Leadville. Gear stashed, shoes on and I was ready to roll around 8:15.
I actually felt great and had a little bit of a tough time going slowly enough to meet my prescribed splits. I was a little fast into Mayqueen and Fish, then didn't have any real set times for the rest of the day. Nice, easy running throughout. I felt strong on the section between Fish and Treeline, stopped to refuel, then made my way onto the new section between Treeline and the Colorado Trail.
This was the only section of the course with which I was not familiar and it is relatively flat and fast. Not a lot of coverage, which actually probably won't be a big problem on race day given when I will be hitting this portion of the course, so I am not too worried about it. I continued to run well but as this section progressed and I approached the Colorado Trail, started having some stomach problems when contributed to my eventual downfall on the day's run.
By the time I reached the CT, I was feeling pretty crappy with a stomach that wouldn't empty and (subsequently), legs that just didn't want to go anymore. So I walked. And walked. Really demoralizing, to say the least. The CT continues to climb quite a bit more than I remembered as well with a couple of short, steep downhills but what seems like a fairly upward trend for quite some time as one makes one's way toward Twin Lakes. I tried alternating run/walking but really walked a solid majority of the last 5 miles or so into TL. I did pick it up for the last mile, which is decidedly downhill but that didn't leave me feeling particularly strongly about the day overall despite a decent finish time.
I think there are a few elements that contributed to these problems:
- Solo effort: It's tough being out there all alone for that period of time. My self-support system worked well (decently spaced drop off points) but running solo for that long takes a toll. So there was a big mental component to it for me. This should be much less of a problem during the race and the training I am putting in now, solo, will pay off during the event.
- Fuel selection: The self-support contributed here for sure as I only had a few choices in my drop-kits. Need to provide myself with more variety during these solo runs in order to be sure that I have some options. Rice milk/protein drink was not working well for me on Sunday. I think that as the protein sits, it becomes a bit bitter so on race day, if I decide this is something I need/want, I'll have my crew mix it up when it is requested vs. having it sit around.
- General mental attitude: This was a challenging week for me mentally. Redford, one of our bunnies died on Friday, which was really tough. I am sure that contributed to some of the lows I experienced in the later stages of the run.
Overall my time into TL was decent and considering how much of the final hour and a half was walking, was really quite strong. Though I felt pretty down about the run in the hours after finishing, upon reflection, I am okay with it. Wanted to finish with significantly higher quality but there is still time to work on my pacing, patience, consumption and mental/physical fitness.
~stubert.
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