San Juan Solstice 50

"Ready, set, go!" at 5am Saturday morning. 13 hours 35 minutes later I was back where I started. Crossing the finish line of my first 50 mile race.

Leaving work much later then I wanted to Thursday afternoon didn't stop Michele and I from arriving in Gunnison, CO around 9pm. A good nights sleep followed by some lazy time, an easy run and an ice bath Friday morning led to a 1pm arrival to a sunny, clear and almost hot Lake City, Colorado.



Bib pick up, bag drop off, pasta dinner and an early bed time at the surprisingly nice Matterhorn Hotel was the best I could have asked for Friday night. Up by 3:30am, at the Armory by 4:50AM and running at 5am. Times that follow are approximate but good enough for me.

Alpine Aid - 2 hours in: While the first 3 miles might be the most uneventful, I found them to be wonderful. 200 people, running in the dark all with the single goal of running 50 miles thru the San Juan's. Some where here to lay down the hammer (congrats to Dakota Jones and Darcy Africa on their impressive wins) while others (like myself) where looking to cross the finish line in one piece.

From the get go, the aches and pains I've been experiencing over the past week plus were still there. There was no way of avoiding them so my goals within the first mile were to run extremely conservative, drink liquids, stay up with the carb intake and have as much fun as possible.

Heading up to Alpine was gorgeous. Portions of this climb are extremely runnable (which I didn't do since I was holding back) and the creek crossings were unfortunately uneventful. The sun finally greeted us 7+ miles in just as I approached tree line. A mile plus venture above treeline lead to the first major descent into Williams aid station. A decent I would normally bomb but didn't. Mile 13 lead to my first pit stop. Let's just say I was THANKFULL I packed in some TP moments before leaving the hotel room.

Williams - 4 hours in: A very slow time but one I was extremely happy with considering the circumstances. Honestly felt like I'd hardly done much work. My time spent in the aid station was minimal and I was able to cruise to the Carson turn off pretty quickly passing a good 10 runners, not to mention the 20 or so sitting around at Williams. The climb up to Carson was crazy steep. Again, portions were runnable but yet again I held back. I just stuck with my power hiking passing another 5 folks as we arrived to Carson.

Carson - 5 hours 30 minutes in: I felt really strong since leaving Williams and wasted little time in Carson. A slice of watermelon, refill of the 2 water bottles and was back at it with the power hiking. Before I knew it I saw my first Colorado Trail trailmaker. Then I was passing Coney Peak and it dawned on me I was at the highest point of the course. I stopped for a good few minutes and just soaked it all in. Uncompahgre Peak to the north. Red Cloud to the west. The Grenadiers to the southwest. Powderhorn Wilderness to the east. I could have spent all day soaking in the views from this amazing vantage point. Hardly a cloud in the sky and a nice cool stiff wind at my back. Then I remembered I was in a race and got back after it.

Divide - 8 hours in?: Cruising into the Divide aid station came at a perfect time. I spent a good 5 minutes here chatting it up, eating watermelon, drinking liquids and eating some PB&J before heading out. And for the first time all day my body got tired. I found my powerhike slowing down and my downhill running not so enjoyable. The next 9 miles were uneventful. Not due to the amazing views but more to the body slowing giving up on me. Then within a mile of Slum, my first stomach issue. Was it the PB&J? Couldn't be the water intake cause I've gone number 1 a half dozen times to this point. Or the blocks cause I was chomping them down consistently. Then the stomach just about barfed at the thought of anything but water.



Slum - 10 hours 15 minutes: I could hear this aid station from a good distance away. Pretty pumped to get in as my wife was hanging out ready to offer up some support. Some more watermelon, some water and some cup of noddles. Figured the stomach could handle this. 5 minutes spent here at most. Kissed Michele good bye, thanked everyone and ran across 149 and took 10 running steps downhill. Then I barfed. And barfed again and again and again. A good 10 minutes hunched over a tree letting out every fluid out of my body.

Now not only was I pretty tired, but I just emptied out the tank. The uphill to Vickers, while beautiful, hurt. No energy in the body meant a slow walk. A few more vomit sessions here and there and finally got to the top of the climb to yak yet again. Stomach was in operation shut down. Guessing I spent a good 45 minutes throwing pretty much nothing up.

Laid low at the Vickers Aid station for a good 10 minutes drinking a little flat coke. Sitting around got boring so I just got up and gave it all I got. The running downhill was slow but manageable. Views of Lake City pumped me up and the thought of finishing finally crossed my mind. That was all the motivation I needed to bring it home.

Finish - 13 hours 35 minutes in: Yup, it took me that long to finish off the last 10 miles! Almost comical. Stomach holds on tight and I finsih at least an hour sooner. But who the hell cares. Yeah I do I guess, but Michele didn't. Neither did the volunteers, or the family and friends of my fellow runners or the locals of Lake City.




Gotta love the post game pose of laying on the ground after finishing the race. Seemed to be a common theme among many folks. Maybe 10 minutes after finishing the race I got hungry. So I ate, drank, ate some more. Guess the stomach was coming around. Odd how it went and came back around so quick. Then I took a shower, picked up some more liquids and off to this great joint for more beer and brats!



Slept great, packed up and headed off to the breakfast ceremony Sunday morning. I have to hand it to all those that make this race possible. Each and every single volunteer made for such a fantastic race. As tough as the race was, I loved every second I was out there. Yeah physically I was beat up, but mentally, I didn't have a down moment. And the fellow runners. Meet up with a few old friends and meet so many wonderful new faces. The passion for this sport by so many folks is why I come back for more.

A few fun stats:
# of 22 ounce bottles consumed = 9+
# of block packs consumed = 5
# of GU's = 0
# of socks changed = 0. Yup, I packed in 3 pairs and wore the same pair the whole race and the feet never were an issue. Gotta love them Injini's.

So what's next? Who know's. I got nothing on the calendar and will leave it like that for a few weeks. For now I got a finishers hat that I was so exicted to hand off to Jim L., my father in law. Yet another trip to the San Juans that exceeded all my expectations.

Lake City 50 in 3 Days

18 or so weeks ago I signed up for the SJS50. Now I'm 3 days away from running my first 50 Mile race.

I'll have to admit that the past few days have been a bit rattling for me. Most of this stems from prerace jitters I've always experienced. Nothing to concern myself with here. However, new to me, is how my body feels. Honestly just feels achy, tired and far from well rested. A far cry of how it felt a week ago. I'm sure I'm overthinking every ache, pain and discomfort I experience whether I'm out for a run or simply sitting at my desk. Regardless, this bit of doubt about my body has it's effects on my confidence level as I head into race day. Just hoping that it's part of the pre-race jitters game and that all will feel solid come Saturday morning.

It's been just shy of 4 weeks since Jemez. While I haven't logged in any huge miles during this stretch (just one 20+ miler), I've been pretty consistent with my training with my biggest break occurring just a few days ago with 3 straight days of rest. By far my biggest non-injured time off this year. Not sure how all this will work out for Lake City but felt that any type of extended rest period would have been worse.

The most common thing I think about heading into the race is my hydration, fuel and gear. I've opted out of my Nathan bag and gone with the double barrel action. 2-22oz bottles in my Nathan waist pack. I'll pack enough gels, blocks and sCaps heading into Williams. I won't have a drop bag here but will have an extra pair of socks with me. I'll have my first drop bag at Carson. Jacket, socks, more gel, blocks and sCaps will be waiting. Along with a hand held 22oz bottle. Not sure I want to carry a 3rd bottle but likely will be needed for the next 9 mile section. Slumming Aid Station will have yet another drop bag waiting for me. Here I'll have a pair of shoes, if needed, socks and will ditch the handheld. For some reason I'm hung up on socks and I'm sure it's due to the Crosslites drying up quickly but the socks remaining damp.

Goal over the next few days is not to think much about the race, get the hell out of work early Thursday and try and make it to Gunnison shortly after sunset. Sleep in Friday, eat some good meals, get in a really lazy run and pray for some more sleep Friday night.

Then it's an early wake up call Saturday morning to what I'm sure will be an amazing day playing in my favorite backyard. The San Juans!

2 Weeks till Lake City: Durango Style

That's right, doing one more long run with a little bit of Durango Love. Karma baby. A nice long weekend planned with Michele and I visiting Andrea, Matt and their beautiful daughter Adaira celebrating the big ONE birthday

Thursday: Got out of work at 4:30pm and into Grand Junction by 10pm. Not much more to be said about this as it was rather uneventful and just thankful to be out of the front range.

Friday: Up early and on our way to Ouray. Made my routine pitstop at McD's in Delta. For some odd reason, I love to stop at McD's when making the journey from GJ to Ouray. Not sure how this started but it's been something I've done numerous times now. Pulled into Ouray just after 10am and parked in the Hot Springs parking lot.

The goal was simple this morning. For Michele to enjoy a beautiful, I mean BEAUTIFUL morning in the hot springs while I went for a nice run around town with McD's coffee in the system. Specifically, a nice run around the awesome Perimeter Trail.

The trail itself is maybe 5 miles with a decent 1.4K of up and down. But the views you get of the town are fantastic. The loop trail does as advertised, run the perimeter of town. The running pace was easy. Easy on the flats, easier on the steeps, easiest on the descents.



Shortly after my sweaty run, I bee-lined my way into the hot tubs and rinsed off with some pool action.

A quick bite to eat and we proceeded to Durango. Spent the next few nights in the wonderful Rochester Hotel. Expensive but well worth it. Central location, great hospitality, adorable rooms and a solid breakfast. Off to Matt and Andrea's for Adaira's birthday bash. The evening was low key with gift opening, backyard drinks and catching up with some close friends. Opted to skip the BBQ for some Ken&Sue's. If you're in Durango, you gotta visit this fine restuarant.

Saturday: My goal was to be at a trailhead by 6am which meant I had to get up well before sunrise. Two nights of bad sleep made this very difficult and I ended up getting to the Lower Hermosa TH at 6:15am with an empty stomach, tired body and mind and venturing onto a trail system I had never been on.

While the body was simply tired, the mind was up to the task once I got going. On today's agenda was a loop consisting of the trails Jones Creek, Pinkerton-Flagstaff/Goulding/Dutch/Lower Hermosa. By my guess, 20+ miles with just under 5K of up and down.

Jones Creek was 4 easy miles of uphill trails. Nothing steep and in all honesty, the trail was nothing overly memorable. Finally met up with the Pinkerton-Flagstaff trail and the fun began. Mt and Dirt bikes frequent this ridge line along the Hermosa Cliffs so the trails were soft, dusty and freakin steep. For the next 4 miles I ran up, down, up, down, up, down....you get the picture. If not, below is all I saw. Trust me, the trail goes straight up.



Yes the views were amazing with Durango to the far south.



And the famous high points of Chicago Basin along the SW Weminuche to the north.



Physically, the Pinkerton-Flagstaff trail kicked my ass, but after a good 4 miles of goofing around and a quick little trip down to the cabin along Goulding, I hit the Dutch Creek Trail. I've heard of this trail and all I knew of it was how remote the trail is. The descent is some 3K and 6 miles. And a more important stat was the 20 or so creek crossings. Some where barely deep enough to get my shoe soaked. Others got my feet soaked. A good 6 were easily a foot deep.



From the start I wanted to get my feet wet and get use to running in wet cold shoes since this will be expected in Lake City. The most shocking of this was how freakin cold the water was. Not so much when you dippped in but as you left the water the toes and feet were just numb. Extra socks will be a must.

By the time I connected with the Lower Hermosa trail I had seen ZERO people in 16/17 miles and over 3 hours of running. The next 4 miles heading back to the car wouldn't be as nice. Mt Bikers, dogs, people and a few Texans. Still, the trail itself left a lasting impression with some sweet single track action.


Overall, the run was fantastic. Yeah the physical effort left a lot to be desired but I put in a solid effort 2 weeks before San Juan without blowing up. Mentally, I was pretty damn strong.

The remainder of the day was spent drinking, eating, drinking some more and a lot of socializing at day 2 of Adaira's birthday party. 92 degree temps decided to visit Durango in June leaving us with perfect evening mountain weather conditions. 10pm came around and it was time for bed.

Sunday: Slept in! Hearty breakfast and coffee at the Rochester! One last 5 mile run around my favorite in-town loop before heading out! Oh how I miss the Nature trail and Animas River. Two of the many routes I ran numerous times during my year plus in Durango.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend. Spent a lot of time with my wonderful wife who puts up with my running addition. Love you for it sweetie! While it was a crazy weekend for the party throwers Matt and Andrea, it was great spend some time with them. Thanks for having us over and throwing such a great party! Durango, as always, you delivered yet another amazing weekend. Durango Love Baby!

May Summary

Runs - 19
Workouts - 4
Injured - 0

The Bad: As I've pointed out, two things have frustrated me this month. One being the fact that I had to taper much more then I cared to going into Jemez. Would have loved going into the race not so much in full training mode, but with a few more runs and miles in the system. I honestly feel that this would have paid off nicely heading to Lake City. Then again resting the injured body parts isn't the worst thing for me so I digress.

Two, and easily the most frustrating, was my fuel intake during Jemez. Gotta do a better job on this matter or I will crumble while in the heart of the San Juans. I know better and just didn't bother taking in the necessary liquids and carbs. Great lesson learned here cause it sucked how one mile I was feeling solid only to lose it a few miles later.

The Good: Since Jemez, I've been running pretty strong. Of course there were a few days of tightness but overall I've very pleased. So encouraging that it's giving me a positive outlook as the San Juan 50 closes in.

I also am really happy with how the Jemez 50K went down. As tough as the day was at times, never did I want to quit. Never did I have thoughts of "man this sucks" go thru my head. The opposite actually. Loved the brutal ups and downs, the vibe of race day for an ultra and the level of fitness by the competitors. It was such an amazing thing to be a part of and consider myself so lucky to experience it all.

Bottom Line: Ending the month on such a positive vibe, it's easy for me to get ahead of myself in regards to races and running in general. Leadville or Bear? More weekly miles? More vert? Gotta check myself here. I think the best thing for me to do is take this month as it comes. Get some miles in, run and complete The Solstice and rest up a bit. I'll decide on the 19th, hopefully around 5pm, what my next step will be.

What I do know is it's finally summer and summer means playtime above treeline!!!!

Jemez 50K: Tale of Two Races

Wow, what a tough freakin race. While I've run 1 ultra prior to this, never had I taken on anything of this magnitude. 33 miles with just under 8,000 feet of up and down at a pretty high elevation. Race descriptions for some reason forgot to mention hot temps and windy conditions.

Before the race ever got started, Michele and I were lucky enough to break away from Denver Thursday afternoon. By 8pm we were kicking it in beautiful Taos. While I went to sleep early, Michele stayed up past midnight doing homework. The next morning was spent sleeping in, eating a wonderful breakfast at Doc Martins and driving over to Los Alamos. Checked into the North Road Inn (Highly Recommended), some more homework by Michele, bib pick up, pasta meal, few cold beers and another early bedtime.

Saturday morning came early and I was feeling good and excited for the what the day was about to bring.


(prerace excitment at what the course would throw at us)



Tale One:
Race pace started out very comfortable with me up front with a dozen plus folks. Deep down inside I knew I should have pulled back but just went with the flow. This pace went on up and over Guaje Ridge. Again, I knew I should have checked my pace but the whole climb up Guaje was runnable. I was also more motivated by passing up a good half a dozen runners and a few 50 milers. The climb up Guaje was steep on occasion but nothing worse then I've trained on here along the front range.

Now the decent of Guaje was a different story. Sharp switchbacks, steep drop offs, a fall here could get really ugly so a fast decent was out of the question. Still held my own nicely as I arrived to climb number two of the day. Caballo Top. A hell of a climb at that with 2 miles, 1,771 feet of steep up and an elevation peak of 10.5K. My pace up here went extremely well. While the running was a rarity, I was power hiking past more 50 milers then I could count. I also managed to pick off a few 50Ks in the process. The views from the top were amazing and I was at possibly 8th place overall.

The decent off Caballo was almost too steep for me to run but I gave her hell and made it down the peak in half the time it took me to summit. As proud as I was of my decent, I got straight smoked by a few folks running the 50K. One of them being a gal who came in 3rd overall. Seriously, this gals downhill running was amazing to watch. Pipeline was the next aid station with the third climb of the day to the outskirts of the Caldera rim. Kept up a somewhat runnable pace at times during the climb but in honestly I was shocked by how steep this ascent was. Thankfully not as long as Caballo's climb but still rough. Pipeline came and went and before I knew I was arriving Ski Lodge.

Tale Two:
It was at the Ski Lodge that I noticed I hadn't taken in a S-Cap or Gel in easily an hour (which I was already slacking on to begin with). Worse my water intake was pathetic. 18 miles and under 4 hours into the race and I had maybe drank 20 ounces of water. 20 ounces on a day that saw temps in the 80s in town. And my body was starting to feel it. I took in some watermelon, water, Heed and off I went in 10th place. Within 10 minutes my stomach turned on me. It just wasn't happy and I couldn't figure out why. Was it the watermelon? Or the huge amounts of liquid I just took in? Either way the 3 miles back to pipeline were SLOW. Once at pipeline I took a seat for a good 5 minutes. Took in a little water, S-Cap and off I went.

By now, my stomach was starting to come around. My legs were still feeling well and my body as a whole felt good. However what was frustrating me was how little energy I had. Damn near running on empty at this point. Every little climb just got the best of me. Making matters worse I was starting to get passed up by those same runners I had passed early on in the race. The worse stretch for me easily was between the Ski Lodge and Guaje Ridge.

(Pipeline just kicking my ass)

Upon leaving Guaje Ridge, I felt like I had something in me and was able to finally cruise a manageable pace till Rendija Canyon. The climb out of Rendija Canyon, while short, about killed me. And for the first time in 6 miles, I got passed 2 more times. It was stubbornness that got me to the finish and prevented me from getting passed again.

18th place with a finish time of 6 hours 50 minutes. As rough as a race I had, it was a wonderful day. The conditions were hot and windy but made for incredible views. The volunteers were beyond amazing. Each and every single one of them were greatly appreciated. I can see coming myself coming back down and signing up for the 50M. Lastly, got to thank the race committee. Hell of race they put together in a hell of a town.

Finished up the weekend by bombing it to Santa Fe for a little B&B action, amazing Mexican food and a lot of relaxation under the warm sun of the beautiful New Mexican northern mountains.

With 4 weeks till the SJS50, I need to figure out two things quickly. 1) Hydration/fuel and 2) pace. If I don't get a grip on this, it will be a very long day.

(relieved to be done)

Some rough splits follow:

Start to Guaje Ridge - 1:04.06
to Caballo Base - 36.29
to Caballo Mt - 40.53
to Caballo Base - 21.13
to Pipeline - 42.02
to Ski Lodge - 30.26
to Guaje Ridge - 1:30.15 (ouch)
to Rendija Canyon - 55.11
to Finish - 29.43

Countdown to Jemez 50K

It honestly seems like yesterday when I signed up for the Jemez 50K. And here I am, just days away from running that race I've been training so much for over the past few months.

Training for the most part has been solid. My body, not so much. Never have I been 100% over the past 5 months. And never have I logged in so many miles and vert feet this early in the year. Yet I've somehow stay pretty consistent with my training. Not sure what any of this means or says but I'm sure to find out Saturday morning.

Part of me is feeling extremely confident. Part of me is honestly a bit freaked out. And for two reasons. 1) How will my L.Quad react race day? It just hasn't been 100% for 3+ weeks now. Not sure why either. Rest, ice, stretching just doesn't seem to help it out much. Hasn't impacted my actual training too much but it has impacted my original game plane which leads to my second concern. 2) How will this all impact me for the upcoming San Juan Solstice 50M? I've tapered much more then I wanted to going into the Jemez 50K. Was initally going to use this as another long run before the SJS50 but the damn quad has forced a few extra easy/rest days. Days I could have used to get stronger for my first 50 miler.

Yeah, this whole ultra thing is new to me, but that's a terrible excuse to not perform to the best of my ability. Still, it's frustrating having so many unknowns around my training. At the same time, I'm so freakin into getting this figured out and making it work.

On a lighter note, I had the pleasure to pace my friends wife, Becky and her friend, Robin, thru their first marathon yesterday. The gals, who just picked up running less then 2 years ago decided to make Colfax their first marathon attempt. Over the past year I've shared my knowledge and love of the sport with them so when they asked for a little help, I was more then happy to do so.

Met the girls just shy of mile 20. Both of them looked strong and were cruising along at a 10:30 pace. I simply ran with them offering up encouragement every few minutes and helping them with water and gatoraide whenever needed. By mile 22 1/2, Robin started falling off. I knew that the 17th Ave hill near mile 23 was approaching and with the girls now running different paces, I was caught up on who to pace thru that mentally tough section.

Decided to run up to Becky and get her thru the 2 block stretch. You could tell the last thing she wanted was to run up that hill but she ran it like a champ and I knew the last few miles for her would be easy sailing. Mere seconds after reaching the top, I made a sprint back down and got Robin motivated up the hill. 2 steps of walking followed by me yelling out "get your ass moving" was all Robin needed to make it up the hill smoothly. Motivated her in thru numerous "I gotta stop running now" and let her enjoy the final .2 miles on her own. Outside of a few steps thru aid stations, these gals ran the whole distance

Congrats ladies, it's a hell of an accomplishment!!!

April Summary

Runs - 20
Workouts - 7
Injured - 2

The Bad: During a nice 8 day stretch during the latter end of the month, I got in a hearty 2 runs in. Far from ideal. While the L Quad was giving me some issues, hence the injury days, I think the blame could be pointed at the fact that I was working 70 hour work weeks. That left me mentally and physically exhausted. An excuse? I guess so. Way I look at is I lost out on 5 runs and probably 60 miles as my weekend was shot. Could turn this into a positive and look at it as a nice rest period but screw that.

L Quad still somewhat bothersome but nothing that can't be corrected between now and Jemez 50K. And that damn L bursa sack near the patella tendon. Still a bit puffy but thankfully far from giving me issues. Still, would love for that fucker to calm down and act normal.

The Good: Got in some healthy long runs this month. Hell, I got in three 20 plus mile runs in within 8 days of each other. The vert gained over the month was also positive. Didn't hit the number I had initially set myself but still very productive. I was also very consistent (except for those 8 days).

Bottom Line: I knew going into this month that work would be in the way and boy was it. Still, I am very pleased with my long runs, vert and consistency. I honestly think I've done a lot of good work leading up to Jemez. Goal for May is to stay strong, healthy and sharp all while getting ready for San Juan the following month. How will I do this? No fucking clue as I've never had back to back races of such difficulty and mileage during my life. I guess June's summary will show how I did.