Summer and Fall Racing Plans

With Collegiate Peaks now out of the way, time to start hunkering down and getting in some training for the upcoming summer/fall slugfest.

Unfortunately, the weather of late has not been kind....11 inches of Global Warming dumped on our doorstep last Wednesday (May 12) doesn't help. The good news, a massive warmup is just around the corner and will hopefully harbor good training in the coming weeks ahead.

I'm taking Monday, May 17 off to, well, celebrate 53 years of existence on Earth. Since the weather is going to be stellar on this hallowed day, I'd thought I would try to get in my age (or close to it) in kilometers on a run. I think a jaunt up to Devil's Backbone/Blue Sky Trail in Loveland/Ft Fun is in order. I asked my running buddy Vince "666" Gerber to join me.

So what's in store for me, in pain, misery and suffering this summer?



The San Juan Solstice, formally known as Lake City 50, has drawn me back for a third time. This is truly a scenic and tough run. Three major kickass climbs: the first one hits you after a few miles of road, then about a dozen stream crossings (ranging from minor to major) with a huge climb up to 13,000'. Then a nice descent to the valley below, then another climb up to 12,000'+ to the Continental Divide. From here you meander along the Divide for 11 miles and 12,000' before heading back down to a gully, followed by one last climb up to 11,000' through a dense aspen forest. Then a nice steep descent back to Lake City. The first year I did this it rained right after I got off of the Divide which provided slick mud to run/slog through. The second time it was bone dry and hot, little snow on the Divide to get through. What will this year bring? Hopefully not last year's blizzard that caught many runners unprepared for the wind, cold and heavy snow.



Haven't decided on the Leadville Marathon, but will do so before the end of the month. This is a tough run which takes you up to 13,100' (Mosquito Pass). Good trail and altitude training.



No, I'm not running Badwater this year, but will be crewing and pacing running friend Paul Grimm. This will be my third year there as a crew/pacer role. You can read my earlier post on Badwater here.



Grand Mesa 100 is a new 100 miler in the Grand Mesa area of Colorado. It looks to be a very low-key, scenic event. Having decided against dong a repeat of Leanhorse this year, and since Leadville 100 is not in the game plan this year, I'd thought I'd give this one a whirl. It looks to be a very interesting event.



Yep, another romp in the desert, this time in mid-October to accompany the full moon. This promises to be a hot one, as in years past held during this time. This will be my 8th visit there, for hopefully a 7th finish. Master Slacker "666" Gerber will also be there. I wish he'd quit following me around.



I'll be back to Oklahoma on Route 66 in mid-November for what will probably be the last installment of the Route 66 in Oklahoma - Motherroad III. Last time (Motherroad II in 2008) was an adventure, got lost and barely made it in for the final cutoff. Hopefully I won't be that close at the end. That was not fun. Unlike last time, I plan on having a crew there. I only made it last year due to the good graces of other crews help and assistance.



I made it through the lottery process (a first for me) for Across The Years. I had the choice of 3 venues, so I picked the 48 hour run starting on Dec 30 or Dec 29, and the 24 hour starting Dec 31. I got my first pick, so we'll see how the 48 hour goes for me. Last time I was there, I tried for 72 hours and had to deal with sore quads on day 2 and 3, only ending up doing 154 miles total, with lots of sleep and massage sessions during those last two days. Hopefully 48 hours will go better on me than 72 hours.

There may be some others that get my attention (Silverton 24 hour, et. al.) but I'll have to wait and see how things unfold during the summer/fall.

Collegiate Peaks 50, Uh 25 Miler

Mt Princeton - photo by Tad Nordstrom

I kicked off my Spring/Summer running season by signing up for Collegiate Peaks 50 mile run. Held in and around the Buena Vista, CO area, it offers breathtaking views of the Collegiate Peaks (Mt Yale, Mt Princeton, Mt Harvard) Wilderness. The race this year was held on May 1st, 2010 and the weather was looking reasonable, but cool. Ron Wright and I had to deal with shitty road conditions on the way down Friday afternoon on the east side of Eisenhower tunnel, and over Fremont Pass. When we got to the Copper Mountain/Leadville exit, they had a snowplow blocking the interstate diverting all traffic off onto the Copper Mountain exit due to multiple accidents on Vail Pass. It was white out on Fremont Pass, with the winds kicking up the snow and blowing it across the road. Ron was hesitant to pass some semis ahead due to the wind, snow and poor visibility. By the time was got to Leadville, it was just flurrying and soon it was sunny and void of any snow all the way to Buena Vista.

We rolled into town around 4 PM, so we decided to check in to our hotel first before heading to the packet pickup at the BV Community Center, where the race starts and ends. Picked up our packets and met Pat Homelvig and Karen Pate, and we sat with them while they ate their prerace meal. Ron and I opted out this year to find something else. Not long after, Rick and Jill Hessek showed up. After a bit, Ron and I decided to head over to the new brewpub just south of the community center. There we ran into Bill and Sue Hintze, sat with them, ordered some beer and had a nice conversation. Bob called a bit later saying he was in Leadville. I told him where we were and made a table reservation for all of us for dinner. Ed Green, Michele and Adam Bierstedt showed up with Bob, and we sat down for eats.

Ron and I went back to the room and got stuff ready for next day. Bob showed up not long after. After doing some pre-race stuff we hit the sheets.

Ron and I headed over to the race start, got primo parking right out front so as have easy access for the second loop. Went inside and mingled with old friends, met new ones until it was time to line up outside for the fun to start. It was fairly cold at the start (upper 20’s) so I was bundled up: two short sleeves, a long sleeve and a fleece long sleeve (my RR100 shirt from this year), a face buff, thin beanie with ball hat and gloves. It turned out to be just right during the run.
With the words “GO!” we were all off like turtles in the early morning light. The first ½ mile is on single track, so it is hard to get around the throng of runners. It then hits the city streets and more open to run. I was running with Bob’s friend Tad Nordstrom but we lost sight of Bob behind us. The next few miles are on pavement then dirt road and fairly rolling, so it’s an easy effort to run. I did walk a few of the shorter hills. I hit the trailhead and that’s when it hit me: my breathing sucks. It was all I could do to walk the hills as my breathing was pretty labored. Yep, my old friend Mr. Asthma has made an unwelcome visit. I suspect the cold temps at the start played into that as well. I ran some but walked more of the trails. After about a mile or so of this nonsense, the trails lead to a dirt road and is more flat and runable. Bob and PumpMeHarder caught up with me and I told Bob it’s gonna be a slog, as my breathing is becoming more and more difficult. Soon after Anita Fromm caught up with me and we talked a bit, then she pulled away as well. I got to the first aid station, mile 5.8 and kept going, as I still had plenty of water to go on. I took a couple more hits on the albuterol, that made it 6 since the race started.

Runners On Trail - photo by Tad Nordstrom

The next section is fairly rolling: runable on the flats and downs and a walk on the ups. Soon the rollers became roller coasters: short but steep climbs and moderate downs. I got to the next aid station, 5.6 miles distant in about an hour. From here, it continues to roll. But, then a miracle happened: I started feeling better, I was running more consistently now, and it was warming up. By the time I got to the next aid station I was really feeling great. Once again, I decided to not stop and hunker down to the 3.5 mile climb to the top, mile 17.8.

I walked the whole way along the sandy trail. People were running past, but I kept the walking going. It took 60 minutes to trudge up the hill to the aid station at the top, elevation 9400’. It was fairly breezy and cold up here. I stopped to fill bottles and thanked the aid station volunteers for hanging out. I was looking forward to doing some downhill running, since the past hour was spent walking and gasping.

From here to the end is mostly downhill, 8 miles of rocky trails to an old narrow gauge railway bed, then along a slightly downhill dirt road (part of the old railroad up here). The road section can be a bear at times, 2 miles of fairly boring downhills overlooking the valley below and of Buena Vista and the state prison facility. This year, I was able to run most of this part, walked a few bits, until the final downhill trail descent to the river and into town.

It was along the road that I decided that 50 miles wasn’t going to happen today. I got to the top of the course in 4 hours, and it would take about 1.5 hours to get to the finish line. That makes for a pretty tight cutoff, and with my breathing as it was, I didn’t want to deal with the 8.5 miles of uphill grind.

I saw Ed Green starting the big climb up the trail and told him I was done. I had no energy (or desire) to run the last ½ mile in so I walked it. Finished 25 miles in 5:23:35. Ironically, this was only a few seconds slower than last year’s effort, and I seemed to be struggling more this year than last. Last year I seemed to not be such a slug, but with the time difference of 26 seconds, I’m not sure what to make of that.

Yours Truly Trucking On In - photo by Bill Blasek

I got my finisher’s medal, said hello to Michele and Adam, sat down next to Tad and his wife and waited for Bob to come in. I would leave it up to Bob to tell me if he was interested in going back out for some extra miles. Frankly at this point, I was good either way. Bob finally made it in over 6 hours, and said that was it. Great! Time to break out the beer!

Well, not the race I had hoped for, but this race is always good in that it tells me what I need to work on (or not work on) for the coming summer races. I only had 5 weeks of good training to get ready for this, as I was sick for 6 weeks following Rocky Raccoon. This was also my first time at altitude this year, so that was a factor as well.

Now I know what I need to work on (more hills, more climbs, and more altitude) before San Juan Solstice in mid-June. I only hope it starts warming up soon and the snow starts melting up high so I can get in a few high-altitude runs before then.