Steamboat 50: Watermelon, DNF and IVs

The short of it all. I got pulled at the Mt. Werner aid station due to some pretty bad hydration.

Before getting into any race details, I have to say that this race is a must do. Beautiful course. Tough but runnable course. Great volunteers and organized by a group of folks whole truly love the sport of ultra running.

Michele and I arrived into Steamboat Springs around 3pm Friday afternoon. The blue skies, blazing fall colors and extremely warm temps accompanied our whole drive from Denver.

(Condo's view of the ski hill)

I awoke Saturday morning to very comfortable temps. Gear for the day was thankfully going to be minimal. Lots of nervous energy as I got ready race day morning and I just had a feeling that I was going to have a strong day. Times below are when I left an aid station (w/splits).

Start - 0:00 (0hr 00min):
Mt Werner A.S. - 1:20 (1hr 20min):
Long Lake A.S. - 2:30 (1hr 10min):
Base Camp A.S. - 3:31 (1hr 01min):

From the get go, my pace was easy and comfortable. Rarely during the 3 plus hours did I truly pick up the pace. On occasion I'd catch myself running faster while with others but these stretches were short lived. For a majority of this stretch I ran all alone just soaking in the ridiculously beautiful views.

I honestly forgot I was in a race early on. During the early climb, the morning glow and wakening colors along the ski face kept me distracted. And on occasion I'd catch a glimpse of the sun rising over the western horizon. The drop into some fantastic single track after Mt Wener A.S. would have been epic on its own. Mix in the morning sun rays which fired up the landscape made the next few miles memorable. The sparkling sun off Long Lake simply added yet another flavor to the fall colors.

These first 13 plus miles had me smiling the whole stretch and it's no shock I ran all but a few steps of them. The running continued on thru Rabbit Ears A.S.. I did get the pleasure to slow down and chat with Jim P for a short stretch. His blog is one of the few I regularly read and he's just been crushing it. No surprise he broke the 9hour mark that day.

To note, my hydration and fuel were spot on during this stretch with the following intake:
:15 min = 4/5 Ounces of Gatoraide
:30 min = Gel/Block and 4/5 Ounces of Water
:45 min = 4/5 Ounces of Gatoraide
:60 min = Gel/Block, S-Cap and 4/5 Ounces of Water.

Old Rabbit Ears A.S. - 4:10 (0hr 39min):
Rabbit Ears Peak - 4:56 (0hr 46min):
Old Rabbit Ears A.S. - 5:28 (0hr 32min):
Base Camp A.S. - 6:22 (0hr 54min):

Michele was hoping to meet me here but arrived 5 minutes later. Not a concern as I had all I needed. Why I even stopped at the aid station was beyond me and in hindsight was probably the dumbest thing I could have done.

I walked into the aid station and looked around not needing a damn thing. Nothing. However I grabbed 3 pieces of watermelon. The temps by now were starting to warm up and some real food looked appealing. As noted, my fuel and hydration were great and ZERO signs of stomach distress.

So I take in some watermelon and began my ascent of Rabbit Ears Peak. Minutes after leaving the aid station I was forced to stop as I proceeded to heave all the watermelon I just ingested. 3 solid vomits got out every piece of watermelon that was in my system. Fucking watermelon. It was watermelon I ate at mile 40 at Lake City that led to my vomiting. Here it just happened 17 miles earlier. It literally just came out of no where and I was pissed!

Spent a good few minutes hunched over and proceeded on with my run. The grunt up to the peaks were insanely steep but short enough that it never sucked. I was actually able to run a good chunk of the climb except for the steepest parts.

Under 5 hours and I was at the half way point. All was going perfect but I knew the vomiting from the watermelon intake had to be taken seriously. I started my decent and tried taking in water but it wasn't feeling right. But I kept at it soaking in what I could and stomaching a few blocks. By now I had sub-10 hours in my mind and made quick work of the decent to Rabbit Ears.

I ran the whole section without much issue. Pulled into the Rabbit Ears A.S. and found Michele rather quickly. Along side was her mother, sister, brother in law and there 1 year old twin monsters. It was awesome to see such support from my new extended family. I spent a few minutes here with the goal of trying to get some liquids in me. I got in a few cups of water which I was excited about. Got in a few pretzels too. The I grabbed a cup of their energy drinking think it was something like Gatoride. One sip and how I didn't vomit in front of everyone was beyond me. Again, out of no where this feeling to gag just came out of the woods. Michele had a few tums for me and off I went hoping for the best. I was able to run a good chunk of the next section but I had no desire to drink or eat anything.

Long Lake A.S. - 8:21 (1hr 59min):
Mt Werner A.S. - 10:41 (2hr 20min):

I wasn't able to stomach an ounce since leaving Old Rabbit Ears. I had tried and just spit out whatever I took in. At Base, I grabbed a quick coke with the hopes of it calming down my stomach and off I went. Right off the bat my motor skills were leaving me. I tripped like 3 times within seconds of running downhill. So I just accepted that walking a mile would be in my best interest if I wanted any hopes of sub 10 hours. Right when I though I was getting better I would start to run and quickly get thirsty and quickly vomit out the liquids I just consumed. Repeat this numerous times. I pretty much walked all but 1 mile to Long Lake. Good bye sub 10.

As much as my legs and mind wanted to run, my body wouldn't allow it. Legs felt great still. I was beyond extremely frustrated. Upon arrival to Long Lake, I decided to take a seat with the hopes of getting my stomach back. I'd wait 5 minutes, drink some soda and throw up. I'd wait another 5 minutes, eat some chips and throw up. Finally I just waited without taking in anything. 20 more minutes to be exact. Then out of frustration I just got up and left. The volunteers were extremely geeked and did a shot of something in my honor. The next 7 or so miles were just slow and stupid. Couldn't run much less walk. Somehow I just shuffled along getting passed by way to many folks.

At Mt Werner, I sat down next to an EMT. He asked when was the last time I drank anything. Over 4 hours ago. Then he went on to say he wouldn't let me proceed unless I could eat a few slices of orange and drink some Ginger Ale.

I placed my head down between my legs and thought what next. Could I make it to the bottom within the cut off? Probably. Would I be in a world of hurt? No doubt. 3 plus years ago, as a single guy, I would have proceeded. Now, with a wife who I love dearly, the decision to move on is much tougher to make. With our first little one ready to enter our lives in a few months, well the decision was easy. My first DNF ever.

The race director the night before said we all would be tired and that it would hurt but these aren't reasons to drop out. Regardless of distance I couldn't agree more with his rational. On the verge of severe dehydration I hope is a reason to quit. A ride to the gondola followed by a ride to the ER from the wife led to a 3 plus hour visit hooked up to two separate IVs and numerous blood tests. All the tests came back normal but the nurse indicated a few more hours out there in my condition may have left my kidneys in bad shape.

I type this a few days after the race and I still can't figure out what exactly went wrong. What I do know is dropping out really, really sucked. Stings actually. Even more so that I feel really good today. So now what? Well I might have to sign up for something soon with the goal of completing something I started. Not that it's going to ease the pain of this failed race. Only thing that will fix that pain is coming back next year.

No Sleep till Steamboat

At least that is how I'm feeling as of late. Work has been nothing less then a swift kick in the ass over the past week and will continue to be so thru this weekend and all of next week.

Normally, a week or so from race day, I'm all about going to sleep a bit earlier, waking up a bit later and getting in some lazy runs. Right now, work days of 12 hours dominate my life. I guess that is the down side of my profession. As a Sr. Financial Analyst, when things are busy, they are freakin busy. And this forecast cycle is no different.

I'm still taking Friday off, regardless of where work stands. It's race day in the beautiful mountains surrounding Steamboat Springs and there's no way I'm missing out on that.

I'm feeling pretty good going into this race. Far from how I felt during my past two races. So what does this mean? Who the hell knows. If it were a marathon I was running, then I can throw out some thoughts. But this is a 50 miler I'm about to tackle. All I can hope for is that I've better figured out my hydration and fuel intake. The past months of training would indicate I have...for the most part at least.

So with that said, I'm staying hush on my various goals for the race. However, as always, the main goal is to get out there, run as strong a race as I possibly can that day and enjoy every second of it. And drink IPAs afterwards of course!

August Summary

Runs - 25
Workouts - 0
Injured - 0

The Bad: That big ZERO that follows the word workouts. I pride myself on pushing weights in the gym and for the second straight month I slacked on that. I got a feeling that this will bite me during Steamboat. From one stand point, I only have so much time to focus on my exercise routine and lately it's been on running. At the same time though, is it really that difficult to wake up an extra hour or so earlier to hit the gym before heading to the office. Lately it has been for the following reason.

The heat over the past month has wiped me out. Specifically within the house. We don't have A/C so our house gets hot. And it stays hot. Normally I'm asleep early but over the past month my sleep time has been later and later which means I'm waking up later then my normal 5am time. I sleep in to catch up on the z's, but that means I miss out on going to the gym.

The Good: Twenty five runs this month is about as good as it gets for me. I've never been a huge monthly/weekly mileage guy so I was very excited with hitting this number for the month. The number of runs this month would have been higher had I not taken a mini taper before Leadville. I was also excited about exceeding the 100 mile mark over the last 12 days of the month.

Evening walks. Michele and I have gotten in the habit of walking the dog anywhere between 0.5 to 4 miles a night. Evening times during the summer up here in Denver are wonderful and we felt this was the best way to take advantage of it. Much healthier and cheaper then hanging out patio style at a local pub. Wonder if I should count these as really slow miles towards my monthly tally?

Bottom Line: Overall it's been a really good month. Yeah I wish I did somethings better or differently, but it was a solid training month. More importantly I've spent a lot of quality evening time with Michele.

With some 18 or so days before Steamboat 50, I'm going to take on my first true taper since last year prior to PPM. I'm almost not sure how to taper since it's been so long. Part of me is extremely tempted to log in one more long weekend of many miles. But the reality is I won't be able to as I'll be working as we're in the middle of another forecasting cycle. So instead I'll get in some shorter mile runs and refocus on the stretching, foam roller and massages.

North Loop - Indian Peaks Wilderness Area

It's 4 hours, 55 minutes as the Garmin strikes 20 miles. Based on what I recall of the route, I have between 6 and 7 miles to get back to the car. I start thinking how I'm on track to log in a solid time for this bear of a loop. All that remains is getting my ass up and over Pawnee Pass.

(Pawnee Pass tucked behind the pointy pinnicle)

The Indian Peaks Wilderness Area is a spot I've logged in many miles over the years. My National Geographic Topo is marked up with notes and highlights of all the trails I've covered during my training runs. Till this morning, the only pass I have yet to cross within the area was Buchanan Pass.

I arrived to the Long Lakes parking lot before 6am Saturday morning. A few bathroom brakes, some last minute food/liquid and I was off heading towards the Mitchell Lake parking lot at about the time the sun was lighting up the eastern peaks of the divide. I hit start as I left my car but walked the first 0.6 miles of paved road. Once on the trail, my slow trot began.

My pace is slow as I'm carrying 70 ounces in my Nathan pack along with 22 ounces in my handheld. Today's run was all about being on my feet, not logging in a fast time. A quick climb up the Mt. Audubon trail and before long I merge with Beaver Creek Trail and start my decent to Coney Flats. The weather early on consists of cool wind and solid cloud cover. A nice decent leads me thru the Coney Flats parking lot and I begin the tame ascent up to Buchanan Pass. The scenes up to this point are a bit lacking. Yeah the wind swept landscape along the eastern divide is very cool, but honestly nothing to write home about. But this is the Indian Peaks and it's all about the passes, numerous creek crossings and surrounding rugged peaks.

I'm power hiking the last mile up to Buchanan Pass. From the east side, the pass is pretty tame visually. As you head west, the real views come into play as far as I was concerned. The next hour leads down the beautiful valley as it mergers with Cascade Creek.

(Buchanan from the East side)

(Buchanan looking West. Note Fall in the high country)

The running is feeling easier but still slow and I'm staying on top of hydration and calories. At just under 9,000 feet I meet the Cascade Creek trail and from here I have 6 plus miles and a 3,600 feet of climbing ahead of me to reach the top of Pawnee Pass. The Cascade Trail is easily my favorite trail in all of the Indian Peaks. It was 9 years ago that I first hiked this trail. A few friends and I made it all the way to Crater Lake beneath Lone Eagle Peak for an overnight camping trip. It was my first overnight outing and laid the foundation for my love affair with the mountains.

A few miles later I merged onto the Pawnee Pass trail feeling good. I ran when I wanted to, power hiked when I wanted to. Rarely did the terrain dictate my pace. I just went with however I was feeling at the moment in time.

As mile 20 hit on the Garmin, I was honestly feeling pretty good. I had 1.5 miles to go to the top and was feeling pretty damn good about completing the route in 6 hours and 15 minutes.

For those who have never seen Pawnee Pass with their own eyes, any pics I contemplated posted would not do it justice. Specifically the western side of the pass. Some 20 or so technical switchbacks along the face of a 1,600 foot cliff is what one encounters on this bitch of a pass. The pass itself is easily my favorite in the state.

As my climbing starts, something decided not to click. My power hike became a drunk shuffle. I some how continued my climb without stopping but once at top I took a long 10 minute brake right at the divide itself. It had taken me almost 50 minutes to cover 1.5 miles. It was at this point I was pretty much done with my run. The remainder 4 plus miles to the car can get extremely technical with loose scree and I didn't want to risk a rolled ankle or anything worse with 3 weeks till Steamboat. But a quick look at the surround weather forced me to get going quickly.

(At 12, 541', darks clouds like this scar me)

So reluctantly, I started my run back to the car. Before long I was at treeline, then Lake Isabelle (why does that lake look so beat up now???) and then finally merging onto the west side of Long Lake. From here I mixed in some running with walking. 6 hours and 42 minutes later, I was back at my car. Rain was now falling and the thunder rumbling high above.

Exhausted mentally and physically, the first thing I thought about upon completing the run was what if I ran the route the other way. Knocking out Pawnee Pass first. Where would I be at mile 20? Would running the route this way be easier? A minute or so of contemplating this topic led to no quick answer. And it didn't matter. As the minutes ticked by after completing my run, my breathing started to come under control. My muscles started to relax and a nice stroll around the parking lot to stretch out relaxed me a bit.

It was at this time that I realized that it didn't matter what direction I went. I just spent damn near 7 wonderful hours running around the high country. During this time frame, I experienced sun and wind, wild flowers and wild mushrooms. I saw fall conditions up high and summer down low. Crossed paths with numerous hikers and a few runners. I had just completed the freaking North Loop in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. And right then and there it occurred to me. How fucking cool was that!!!!

Leadville 100 - Pacing Duties

Let me begin by congratulating Scott Kuhn of Durango with his 26 hour, 44 minute and 47 second finish time at this years Leadville 100 Trail Run. Simply awesome!

As I've noted in previous posts, I had the honor to crew and pace Scott during this years Leadville 100 race. This was Scott's first attempt at the 100 mile distance.

It was just before 9am as I pulled into the Twin Lakes. The temps were slowly warming up to a day that turned out just perfect weather wise. 20 minutes past 9 Anton flew thru. 30 or so minutes later Duncan followed.

(2010 Winner Duncan Callahan Leaving TL Aidstation)

Over the next few hours many more folks cruised on thru the 38 mile marker of the race. Some looked great. Others looked horrible. Sharron, Scott's wife, and I waited patiently.

Shortly before noon Scott came rolling thru. A bit behind his goal time, he looked great and showed no signs of falling apart. Got Scott what he needed and off he went to Winfield. The drive to Winfield sucks and it was a fucking zoo. Dusty, hot, crowded, washboarded roads is what greets the runners as they approach mile 47. Amazingly, things only got worse as they approached the turn around. Sharron and I waited over an hour for Scott. During that time, I just made sure I was 100% ready to pace Scott over to Fish.

(Winfield hot and busy)

3:30pm was about the time Scott rolled into Winfield. Still a bit behind his goals but knowing he's always been a strong second half runner, there was still hope that he'd get that 25 hour goal of his.

Scott and I were out of Winfield as quickly as he got in. There just wasn't any need or desire to stick around any longer. He had weighted in, gotten the food and liquid he needed and was out. Our pace to the base of Hope Pass was purely aided by gravity as the road is pretty much downhill over the 2+ mile stretch. Scott was in awesome spirits but obviously starting to get a bit tired and the heat for the first time was starting to be felt by many folks out.

Hope Pass from Winfield is a bitch. On fresh legs, completely runnable. On 50 mile legs, I'm guessing it humbled most folks that day. And how were we greeted as we made the turn onto the ascent of Hope you ask? With some female runner giving us a full beaver shot as she prepared to go number 1 maybe 12 inches away from the trail itself. Absolutely unavoidable to view this as she was right there!

The ascent started out great with conversation light and many runners descending giving out positive vibes. Fellow runners and pacers on the ascent were even more supportive. As the elevation of 12,526 (Hope Pass) approached, the mood and pace of many slowed drastically. Right at treeline, I saw Brandon and his pacer JP. Never had meet either one before but have followed both their blogs for some time now. I introduced myself to the both of them, offered up some encourage as it was obvious Brandon was bonking, and refocused on getting Scott up and over this beast of a climb. Scott to his credit never stopped till there was one switchback left before the pass. Scott, the man with an iron stomach, was about to yak. He spent a good minute hunched over but nothing happened. He just looked at me confused and all I could do was offer up a Tums and told him the quicker we get off the pass, the better he'll feel.

(Big Ass Llamas)

We quickly rolled into Hopeless where Scott took his first real sit down break of the race. I got him some crackers with PB and got him going as quickly as possible. What started out as a walk down hill turned into a shuffle then a run that lead us to passing many folks. Whatever stomach issues Scott was having were pretty much gone and he was feeling it. We cruised the flats west of Twin Lakes and enjoyed the numerous refreshing creek crossings of Lake Creek.

Entering Twin Lakes was awesome. Crowds compared to early were huge. Everyone just cheering all the runners along. I ran ahead to alert Sharron we had arrived, reloaded Scott's hydration pack and got him some food. A change of shoes and socks and we were quickly on our way. About 1/4 of a mile away from Twin Lakes, it dawned on me to ask Scott if he had his headlamp. SHIT!!!! Sharron forgot to put it into his bag. What resulted was a mad dash back to TL and to Hwy 82 where I luckily found Sharron walking back to her car. Now back to retracing my steps were I caught up to Scott a good 10+ minutes later. Guess pacers are good to have around.

The stretch between TL to Half Moon has some moderate climbs and stunning single track. We ran when Scott could and walked when he couldn't. The speed of sunset was exaggerated with the already dark forest of pines we were in.

(Just before sunset looking over
Twin Lakes)

As darkness set in, the headlamps came on for all. Never had I run in the dark like this before. Yeah there were midnight runs around Wash Park but that doesn't count. This was full on darkness in the wilderness. The pace slows down but a sense of ones surroundings shoots thru the roof. I loved every second of this. Conversation between Scott and I was fantastic. He was moving at such a solid pace. Before we knew it we were heading into HM. I got way amped for this as I knew it was one aid station closer to Scott's finish. I made sure Scott sat here for a few minutes as I reloaded his water and got him more food to take in.

We spent 5 minutes here at most and were off to Fish. Looking at the clock and knowing how many miles were left, I honestly thought Scott still had a great shot at finishing under 25. What I failed to consider was ones pace at night slows down. Ones pace after 70 miles of running slows down. Ones pace after not taking in enough calories slows down. I made every effort to alert him of the 15 minutes had gone by since his last water intake. His hydration intake for the most part was stealer. His calorie intake since Winfield wasn't. I made sure he ate something at the aid stations. I didn't make sure he ate something as were were running. Big mistake on my part.

The next couple of miles to Treeline were slow and steady. Never getting passed but just not moving fast. Arriving to Treeline was weird. I felt like I had stumbled upon some college kegger party in the woods. No aid station here. Just a place for crew to meet up with the runners for the first time since TL. We had no plans of meeting Sharron here and Scott was fine with actually running as quick as possible thru this 1/3 of mile stretch as the loud music and huge crowds were completely unmotivating.

Shortly after Treeline we hit Halfmoon Rd. A hardpacked dusty road that slowly descends the Arkansas valley. This road was straight and long. Oh and boring. Scott was still moving good but the walking brakes were starting to increase. Running in the dark on single track is fun. On a wide open road is boring. And it seemed like everyone felt like this. It's like the road just sucked the energy out of everyone here.

A quick left hand turn took us onto a paved road. Another left hand turn led to another paved road shooting us straight to Fish. Next aid station was about 2 miles away and the whole stretch was uphill. Also in view were Mt. Elbert and Mt Massive just glowing in the moonlight. The views were honestly stunning and this got me amped. I did my best to relay this energy to Scott and started a cheesy running game to get him to pick up the pace to at least Fish. Running along the side of the road was a power line and every 400 meters or so was the powerline pole. I got Scott to run each section and then walk a section. Then I'd ask him to step it up and run two sections and walk one. This went on for the next two miles and I probably talked non-stop this whole time. Reminding him to drink, to soak in the views and to tell him how awesome he was doing.

Before we knew it we were heading up the steep road into Fish at 11:20pm. Sharron was waiting to take over pacing duties. Scott got inside the aid station and took a seat and right then and there I knew his chance at 25 hours was over with. 25 minutes later Scott and Sharron were off to Mayqueen.

I stuck around Fish for a good 15 minutes just to unwind from the 28 miles, 8 hours and 5,000 plus feet of running I just finished. I felt great the whole time and if needed, I could have easily completed the whole 50 miles. Thankfully there was no need to do that as Sharron was there and that is exactly what Scott needed to cross the finish line. Those two make an amazing couple.

I drank a few beers at Fish provided to me by some friendly folks and then it hit me. It was freaking cold. I had spent the past 8 hours running in shorts and a short sleeved shirt and the temps over the past few hours were around the 40 degrees. I quickly bundled up and headed over to Mayqueen.

2:30am and the two rolled in. Not much was needed by either. Just some soup and an extra layer and off they went some 20 minutes later. Just before 6:44am I could see Sharron and Scott walking up the last few blocks to the finish line. The sun rays still hadn't hit town yet but had been warming up Massive for a good hour. Stunning mountain morning. With maybe 20 yards to go, Scott and Sharron decided the only way to finish was to run it in ending his epic journey together. The smile on Sharron's face said it all for the both of them as Scott himself was to tired to show much emotion. We all embraced each other shortly after the finish line crossing, snapped a few pics and I was off to Denver shortly after.

Scott had asked that I stick around for the awards ceremony at noon. While tempting, I opted out and told him that I'd attend the ceremonies only after I completed the race myself. He fully understood and said he'd be more then happy to return the favor of pacing and crewing. Scott, there's a solid chance I'll be taking you up on that offer soon. Unless of course you decide to make another attempt at that 25 hour marker.

Leadville

August 21st and 22nd are big dates for many running folks here in Colorado. On the 21st, there will be some 700 plus runners lining up for the Leadville 100. A few hours later in Manitou Springs, there will be another 1,500 runners make the trip up Pikes. Over the next 24 hours, many runners will fail and succeed in crossing the finish line.

Before the cut off time of 30 hours hits many folks in Leadville on the 22nd, yet another race will have already started. The Pikes Peak Marathon.

Early in the year, I had desires of doing either PPM or Leadville. As the early months ticked away, my focus went directly towards Leadville. Shortly after Lake City, I just realized I wasn't physically ready for the challenge.

So with so many folks lining up this weekend, I will not be one of them. However, I get the opportunity of doing the next best thing. Pacing my friend at Leadville.

While at Lake City, I bumped into an old running friend from my days in Durango. Scott and his wife Sharron were both running the SJS50 for the second year straight. The day after the race, I got the chance to catch up with Scott a bit and quickly realized he was running Leadville this year. His first 100 mile race. Within minutes his invite to pace and crew was accepted. No way I was going to pass up this opportunity.

Fast forward to less then 2 days before Leadville. Numerous phone calls and emails have been exchanged between Scott and I with the following plan in place (assumption being all goes to plan with Scotts goals):

Saturday - 9:30am: I will be driving over to Twin Lakes (from Denver) to meet his wife Sharron. From here we'll get Scott whatever he needs and get a much better feel for how his race is going. This will be the first time Sharon has seen Scott since the 4am start.

Saturday - 2:00pm: Meeting Scott at Winfield with the goal of pacing him back to Fish Hatchery some 26/27 miles later. My goals are simple. Not to slow down Scott. To make sure he's eating and drinking on a consistent basis. To offer up as much encouragement as possible. To make sure he gets back to Fish within a 7 to 8 hour time frame.

Saturday - 9:00pm: Sharron will be pacing Scott to the finish line. From here I'll rest up a bit and make my way to Mayqueen.

Sunday - 12:00am: Take over crewing duties and make sure both Sharron and Scott have all they need. Food, liquids but most likely correctly clothing as I'm sure temps will start to dip by now.

Sunday - 2:00am: Finish line at Leadville.

Scott's goals for Leadville are like everyone else. 1) Finish. 2) Finish within 25 hours. 3) Finish within 22 hours. I feel Scott get that 22 hour goal time. He's finished under 5 hrs at PPM. He's paced numerous times at Hardrock. He's gone under 12 without killing himself at the SJS50. Most importantly, this guy loves to run trails.

Looking forward to exciting weekend and reading all the race reports that will for sure follow.

Gold Hill to Miners Creek to Wheeler to 7-11

Or at least that was the goal.

Over a month ago we received an invite to stay the weekend at our friends house up in Breckenridge. Spending a weekend in the mountains with some close friends made the decision of accepting the invite easy.

Going into the weekend I had the goal of running easy as I thought my pacing at Leadville was next weekend, not in 2 weekends. On Thursday I realized my error and scrambled to put together one more last long run before my mini taper.

After much research, I decided to start at the Gold Hill trail head, run up Miners Creek Trail along the 10 Mile range and before dropping into Copper Mountain merge onto Wheeler past Peak 9 and down the Breck Ski area. From there I would run along the Blue River to the 7-11 just north of downtown where my friends house was located just 1/3 of mile up the street.

I had Michele drop me off at the trail head just before 7am and off I went. Temps were cool, 38, and while the sun was lighting up the 10 mile ridge, it felt like it would be hours before it finally crest over the divide to the east. 2 miles into the run I was cruising over Gold Hill and already stripping off my sleeves and gloves. 3 miles in I came across my first intersection, the Peaks trail and was shortly ascending the steeps of Miners Creek which would take me to the ridge along the 10 Mile range.

Mentally and physically I simply wasn't into it. I honestly would have rather slept in and spent the morning hiking with Michele. I had also logged in a lot of miles over the past 3 weeks and was feeling it. But I unfortunately needed this run and gave it all I had. While last weekend I was running everything thrown at me, this weekend I spent a lot of time power hiking sections.

Thankfully the beautiful day made being out there much easier. Especially as I got above treeline along the ridge where I decided to snap off a few pics and take in some carbs.

(Looking south towards Peaks 7, 8 and 9)

(Copper Mt where I was just 7 days earlier)

The trail all above treeline was pretty tame and while slow I was able to run a majority of it. Yet I was constantly getting distracted by the surrounding views. As the trail was descending, I thought it was only a matter of time before I met up with the Wheeler trail. But there were no signs of the trail. Then the trail took a sharp right and headed downhill towards Copper Mtn.


It was at this point that I freaked out and decided to head off trail, cross back over to the eastern flanks of the 10 Mile range and look for Wheeler. A stupid move for many reasons. 1) The next 1.5 miles took me an hour to cover as the terrain was steep, technical and straight tough. 2) The merger as it turned out was maybe 2 minutes further down the hill from where I hopped off the trail.


By the time I finally made it to the ski resort below the Imperial Lift, I was cashed. My cross country adventure just drained me. It didn't help that Peak 9 while only a mile away involved a huge drop and climb over vegetation with no trails.

(Type of terrain I traversed during my lost way)

At this pointed I opted to run up to Imperial and back down the 4 O'clock ski run, into town and over to 7-11. The run down was fun and I was able to keep up a decent clip considering the increasing temps and sometimes steep descent. Once in town, the paved route along the Blue was slow as my Crosslites do not enjoy this type of landing.

(View of the mornings journey from the finish line)

Hard to be mad with another day spent in the high country with such fantastic weather and views but I am disappointed on missing out on an additional 5 to 6 miles of running. Final stats for the day were just over 17 miles, 4,500 feet of climbing in 3 hours 45 minutes.