I Hate Being Sick!

Last Thursday afternoon I received my first Flu shot ever. Apparently it's required since I'm a future parent. Last Friday I started to feel off my game. Last Saturday my body was just tired and sore and my 10 mile trail run extremely sluggish. By Saturday night I had a full on cold. Monday and Tuesday I left work early. Wednesday I didn't even bother going in.

Yet through all this I tried to run. The miles were slow and painful. On Monday for example, I made it 5 blocks away from the house when I made every effort to cough up my lungs. Instead of going back home, I finished my sloppy lap around Wash Park. Wednesdays climb of Green Mt in Boulder consisted of breathing thru a plugged nose and constant clearing of the throat. Yet I painfully forged on.

You see, when I get sick, I know the best thing for me to do is simply lay down to relax and catch up on some sleep. But my attention span is short. I sit around for an hour and I get bored. I get this build up of energy (mind you very little energy) and feel the need to release it right away. A walk around the block with the dog would be suffice but in my mind, that's not good enough. So on goes the running gear, the wife shaking her head in disagreement with my plan, yet I proceed on.

Every run during this span has ended with me wondering "what the hell was I thinking!" as I hit stop on my Garmin. In all my years of running while sick, rarely have I felt better afterwards. Yet I continue with this foolish pattern.

Part of me is writing this in hopes that one day I'll be smart enough to not run while I'm sick. Maybe I'll read this the next time I'm sick as a reminder that running while under the weather can be pretty unproductive.

But seriously, who am I kidding. I've proven my stubbornness for years now and I won't be change my mindset. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm sick, I should run. Not because it's going to heal me quicker, but because it's the only way I know how to deal with my hatred of being sick.

Fans on the Field 10K

Literally hours after not finishing Steamboat, I wanted sign up for something. The Bear Chase 50K in Lakewood and the Denver Marathon quickly crossed my mind. Thankfully I listened to the much more rational sounding wife and gave it a week before pulling the trigger on either. That week was enough time to realize that I was both physically and mentally tired to put myself thru another 3 to 4 plus hour race.

With the short term goal of trying to get fast again, I decided to sign up for the Fans on the Field 10K.

Going into this race, I knew I had little speed in my body. Based on my training runs over the past few months, I was figuring I had run my in-town 6 mile distances around 45 minutes on average. While the average time didn't bother as it hasn't been my focus, not knowing what my body could handle at a fast pace did. It had been well over a year since I tried running fast on pavement for anything greater then 3 miles.

I picked up my race packed Saturday afternoon just to get a feel of the parking situation as some 3K plus were expected to partake in the races. On Sunday morning, Michele and I arrived to a very packed parking lot some 30 minutes before start time. This gave me enough time water a few plants, get in a solid warm up and place myself near the front of the pack.

(Pre-race crowds)

The race start was delayed some 10 minutes due to long lines at packet pick up. As I waited near the start, it dawned on me that I've only run this distance once before. The 05 or 06 Bolder Boulder. I had an "A" wave start and I also had a long weekend of booze in me. I recall my first mile coming in at 6 flat followed by a decent vomit in my mouth. Yes I vomited in my mouth. I think I finished that race in like 37/38 minutes.

The race got underway and was pretty congested on the tight Platte River Trail. I just settled into a pace I felt was very controlled for the next 3 miles. Coors Field came and went and there I saw the 3 mile marker at something like 19:30/45. Not much effort exerted to reach this time. At this point I had the intentions to pick it up for the second half of the race but for some reason held back till I reached mile 4. Mile 4 and I kicked into another gear.

Kicking it into another gear was short lived as it was at this point that we merged with the untimed 5K race that started 15 minutes after the 10K race. The next 1/3 of a mile consisted of merging thru strollers, kids and Bronco jersey wearing folks. Then to further slow things down we entered the Pepsi Center. The amount of running spent on the court was short lived and most of the journey thru The Can consisted of running up and down hallways and opened doors.

Finally we exited and an open spaced road led us to and thru Invesco and to the finish line.

40 minutes and 15 seconds. The course per my Garmin, along with a few other peeps Garmins indicated the route a bit longer then 6.2. I saw everything from 6.35 to 6.55.

(My gosh I dislike the Broncos so much!)

I found Michele quickly after crossing the finish line. Instead of getting some food into my system, I headed straight for the Avery tent and threw down an IPA before 10am. It wasn't a Dale's but I wasn't picky. We waited around an hour so I could pick up this gem.

The race itself was interesting I guess but not a race I'd run again. I hardly noticed Coors or Mile High as I was just focused on running. I did notice The Can due to all the sharp right and left turns. The merger with the 5K runners could have been set up better to avoid all the criss-crossing that occurred.

As for my time, I was very content with it. Initially, I wasn't sure if a 40 minute time was possible. In hindsight, I could have easily ran the first 3 miles 30 seconds quicker without it impacting my next 3 miles. I could have also red lined it more over the last 1.2 miles. Biggest plus was how good I felt right after the race. As dumb and obvious as this may sound, it was shocking to see how quickly the mile markers come and go compared to all these longer races I've been running. It's like I had this mind set that I was at either 10,000 feet in elevation or that I had 800 feet of climbing to do over the next mile.

These shorter races really do nothing for me, but I do love training for them. So I'll continue to focus more on speed and try to knock out a few more shorter before a Thanksgiving race.

September Summary

Runs - 15
W/O's - 1
Injured - 0

The Bad: DNFing at Run Rabbit Run. Enough said on this matter.

The Good: My taper which started about two weeks before Steamboat went about as well as I could have hoped for. Enough focused runs, mixed in with rest days went great and had me feeling sharp race day. My diet during this same time frame was on point.

The first 32+ miles of Steamboat were ran pretty damn solidly. I could feel the crash coming as I approached the last few miles but I'm taking whatever positives I can out of this race.

My initial goal was to take the rest of the month of after Steamboat. However record high temps and beautiful sunsets made that impossible. So the rest period consisted of a handful of 4 to 5 mile easy runs around Wash Park.

Going Forward: Get back to the gym and hit it hard. I love pushing weights while logging in miles. What better time to refocus on this as the days get colder and shorter. Plus the wife likes me more with a bit more bulk.

Plyometrics. It's been a while since my body was able to do quick strong explosive movements. The kind of movements needed as you approach a steep and deep face sprinkled with aspens and cliff bands. These type of workouts focus on other muscle groups within my legs and pay huge dividends when I start up a new training cycle.

Shorter distances. Specifically a Turkey Trot in either Loveland or Ft. Collins. I do enjoy running these races but the last few years have seen my times bounce around the 18 minute range. A far cry from that one time I almost broke 17 minutes. It would be nice to break 18 in a few months. Plus it's a good reason to try out that new track at South High only blocks away from the house.

Continue enjoying the trails during this amazing time of year. Just not for 6 hour at a time like I have over the past few months.

(Oh how Bisbee misses SW Colorado)

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!!!!