Previous | Next Season | 2006 Index | Newsletter Index
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 3:05 PM
Subject: Incline Club News: A BUNCH of Race Reports!
As promised, race reports!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Michael Everson reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: August 19, 2006
Distance: 13.3 Miles
Goal: 3:45
Results: 3:44:40
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: Cool temps in the morning with slight drizzle.
Pleasant in the middle with a little sunshine. Cooler temps at the top
with slight drizzle.
Things Done Right: Trained all winter. Practiced a lot on Barr Trail.
Took the right amount of water and gel (packed light). Stayed at my pace.
Took a jacket.
Things Done Wrong: Forgot to charge watch battery (it died). Needed to
take one more salt tab and didn’t. Got hypothermia.
Other Stuff: Course was in good shape considering the rains in the past
month. Golden Stairs were in exceptional shape compared to two weeks ago.
I ran a PR for the second year in a row. Overall, I’m happy with the
result.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Dan Smith reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 8/19/06
Distance: 13.32
Goal: 3:45
Results: 3:52:49
General Information: I had high hopes for running the Ascent this year in
a slighter faster time than last year. But an Achilles injury in March
knocked out all running for nearly six weeks. Although I had entered the
race, I didn’t make any trip reservations until June. Feeling strong
enough to run, but not necessarily faster, I made my way to Colorado with
a hopeful attitude. I made it to the IC club time check on Thursday,
running it way too fast, so I was determined to go out slowly. On race day
I still was too fast at Ruxton and Hydro, but not so drastically that it
hurt me. I found negotiating the Ws was far easier, with less congestion
than when I had gone out faster. Thanks, Matt!! Thereafter I ran my splits
just as planned for a 3:45....until Barr Camp, when my flatlanders lack of
altitude training was exposed. My splits tailed off, but I didn’t hit any
kind of wall and wasn’t
passed by many except for the occasional second waver running faster than
3:15 pace. In fact, it may have been my lack of hill bounding training
that did me in, since I was guarding a tender Achilles all summer. I
wasn’t huffing and puffing the last three miles as much as lacking leg
strength. Next year: more hills and step up practice and a few more long
runs to get better endurance. Overall I was pleased with my results and
hungry for another shot at the Peak!
Thins Done Right: Went out easy. Followed my planned splits. Came out to
Colorado three days before the race to get acclimatized to some degree.
Gave Matt Carpenter a ride down the mountain when I saw him training there
on Thursday before the race. Thanks for the training insights, Matt!
Things Done Wrong: Got injured in March, which put me behind schedule for
my best performance.
Calculator: It helps to use it, even a non-altitude trained runner can use
it with the caveat that you WILL slow down above Barr Camp.
Other Stuff: Thanks a thousand times to the volunteers who make this
special race possible for us obsessed Peak runners.
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Brenda Cowell reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 8-21-06
Distance: 26.2
Goal: Make cut off’s
Results: Didn’t make cut off at the top
General Information: Only made it to the top. Didn’t make cut off at the
top.
Things Done Right: Pacing, hydration
Things Done Wrong: Training. Will train harder next year. No excuses.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Joe Cowell reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 8-20-06
Distance: 13.2
Goal: Make it to the top
Results: Made it to the top
General Information: All things considered I was happy with the way the
race went.
Hope to be injury free next year.
Things Done Right: Paced myself
Things Done Wrong: Could have used more altitude training
***
Ski Haus Continental Divide Trail Run
Bob Mishler reports:
Location: Steamboat Springs
Date: August 20, 2006
Distance: 16.5 miles
Goal: finish
Results: 3: 39
Website: http://www.runningseries.com/races/continentaldivide_trail_run.php
General Information: Fish Creek Falls to top of Mt. Werner
Tour of some beautiful country that you might not see any other way!
Things Done Right: showed up
Things Done Wrong: ran a long hard run the Friday before
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Michael Hartley reports:
Location: Pikes Peak
Date: August 20
Distance: 26 and some
Goal: Finish
Results: Finish/ Six and a half
General Information: Great day! Excited at top to be within 5 minutes of
my Saturday Ascent.
Things Done Right: Did not start to fast. Took advantage of straights and
down slopes. Re-energized when viewing Matt cranking downhill.
Things Done Wrong: I am happy with the finish.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Michael Hartley reports:
Location: Peak
Date: 8/19/06
Distance: 13 and some
Goal: Finish and prepare for the Marathon
Results: Finished and alive for the Sunday fun
General Information: Nervous, but awesome run.
Things Done Right: Bagels and pasta since Wednesday. It worked. Portioned
marathon bar during race.
Things Done Wrong: I am happy with the results. I know I can handle the
double now so I should train with higher mileage and speed work for faster
time. : )
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Alana Podratz reports:
Location: Pikes Peak, Colorado
Date: 08/20/2006
Distance: 26.2
Goal: 7 hours 30 minutes
Results: 9 hours 20 minutes
General Information: Toughest race mentally I have ever ran. The mountain
had me on race day.
Things Done Right: Finishing under 10 hours.
Things Done Wrong: I couldn’t get my head right. I was a bundle of nerves
the whole week before and at the start. So much so that I made myself
sick. I should have just gone out and done it, like any other day (with
800 of my closest friends on Barr Trail)!
Other Stuff: Thank You to all the Race Volunteers and The El Paso County
Search and Rescue!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
John O’Donnell reports:
Location: Manitou Springs, Colo
Date: 8-19-2006
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: 4: 00 hours
Results: 4: 16
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: One of the most beautiful days to have a race. Nice
and cool with clouds NO rain or snow.
Things Done Right: Started with a good taper, good carb load. Race day
plenty of fluids and gel packs. Had a good group for a 4: 0 hour pace. At
a-frame about 3 minutes off, but after that, I just couldn’t get it going.
Things Done Wrong: Got cramps in both calves, why is the question ?
Calculator: Used the cal., it is a very handy tool.
Other Stuff: Many new faces this year, not too many friends.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Chaz Lalond reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 08/19/06
Distance: 13.3
Goal: Keep the streak going
Results: success @3:14:00
General Information: An overcast and muggy day.
Things Done Right: Stayed injury free while using Matt’s training schedule
C with one small exception. I swam on Mondays after our long runs on
Sundays. Also, once we started Thu evening runs I swam on Fridays. I
increased the high altitude training runs by staying at Barr Camp for a total of 5 weekends
vs 3 last year.
Things Done Wrong: With the high humidity I should have drank more to keep
up with the extra fluid losses[sweat].
Calculator: I still lose time between Barr Camp and A frame
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Gahlen Crawford reports:
Location: Manitou Springs, CO
Date: 8-19-2006
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: 4:05
Results: 5:14:33
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/race_results/2006_pikes_peak_ascent_by_age.htm
General Information: I had a tough time above the Bottomless Pit sign.
Things Done Right: I trained with the IC.
Things Done Wrong: I ate poorly and had limited rest for the week prior to
the race.
Calculator: I used the calculator and stayed on track to set a PR through
mile 8. At that point, my energy was depleted. The remaining 5 miles
were grueling.
Other Stuff: My daughter, Rachel, who ran with the IC earlier in the
season, blew out her ACL during Basic Training at the Air Force Academy
and had surgery this past Wednesday. She is doing well and is back on the
Hill.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Charles Scheibe reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: August 19, 2006
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: sub 4: 00
Results: 4: 02: 08
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/
General Information: First leg of the anticipated DOUBLE!
Things Done Right: Well-rested and fueled; hydrated! Maintained steady
and conservative pace after Barr Camp.
Things Done Wrong: Not enough HIGH altitude training; in fact, did not
train above Barr Camp before races. Used Pace calculator; went out too
fast, trying to put time in the bank, and, as always, paid a severe
penalty for early withdrawal.
Calculator: Definitely illustrated my lack of training above Barr Camp!
Other Stuff: Despite missing my goal and PR by a little over 2 minutes,
and going out too fast and paying the price, I was able to notch another
ascent and stay in the running for my first DOUBLE.
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Michael Shafai reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 8/20/2006
Distance: 26.2 mi
Goal: Sub 6
Results: 5: 45
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: Great weather! Great people! Great support! Had
fun talking to other runners on the mtn, like Doug Laufer, Steve Abeyta,
Jim Cannon, etc. Looking forward to next year.
Things Done Right: Had to stop at Barr Camp on the way down the mountain
because nature called. Felt great for the last 7 miles back down the
mountain and passed a lot of runners
Things Done Wrong: Ate dinner too late the night before (at a wedding...
didn’t eat ‘til around 9PM). The meal didn’t feel the need to exit until
I was up above A-Frame. This slowed me down tremendously on the ascent
portion, and I didn’t get a chance to solve the problem until Barr Camp on
the return trip. Oh well. S**T happens!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Carl Nelson reports:
Location: Pikes Peak
Date: August 19, 2006
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: 4:00:00
Results: 3:49:52
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/
General Information: The rain had been falling but by the time of the
race, it was cloudy, cool, but no rain — perfect day for a run up the
Peak.
Things Done Right: Tried to follow the excellent guidelines given by Matt
Carpenter for a successful run up the mountain. Listened to the helpful
comments made by the ICers.
Things Done Wrong: I didn’t say “on your left” often enough and got really
slowed down after Barr Camp. Didn’t anticipate the cramping that would
take place in my legs two miles from the top. There was no where to go but
up!
Other Stuff: This being my first Ascent, I thought the trail was in great
shape, much better than me and I look forward to doing it again next year.
Thanks for all the help and encouragement each Thursday evening.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Richard Hedlind reports:
Location: Barr Trail
Date: 8/19/06
Distance: 13.32
Goal: <3.20
Results: 3.49
General Information: This race needs no introduction. We all know what it
is about. : )
Things Done Right: I was consistent on eating my CarbBooms during the
race. Also warmed up legs and stomach before the race. Also keeping my own
pace and not getting rushed by the Adrenaline.
Things Done Wrong: I am still analyzing this one. The short answer is that
I believe I was overtrained... During the BTMR my racing attitude fell
apart between No Name and Barr Camp. Same thing this time around. The last
7 miles I was moving slow and thinking negative thoughts about my
performance. I have never been so consistent in my training as I have been
this season, but I think it came with the price of exhaustion. I should be
better at taking breaks from hard training during the season to recover. I
also did not drink enough during the race.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Fred Wright reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 08/19/06
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: 3:44
Results: 4:18
General Information: Race day weather turned out reasonably good, if a bit
humid. Previous few days saw some heavy rainfall, which made Barr trail
difficult in places below No Name. My race went fairly well up to the
Bottomless Pit sign, and then progressively “went downhill” after that.
From A Frame to the summit I was drained, with each mile taking longer
than the last, resulting in a 30 minute last mile! I was staggering at
times on the Golden Stairs, and seriously worried about falling off the
mountain.
Things Done Right: Hard to say, right now.
Things Done Wrong: Not enough long hard runs. The six weeks prior to the
BTMR I was either tapering for the Mount Washington race (which went very
well, due to good I/C training prior to June), or vacationing in Maine. My
longest run in Maine was two hours. Any questions?
Other Stuff: The best part of the course was the I/C’s top mile!!!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Michael Hagen reports:
Location: The peak
Date: 8/19
Distance: 13.32
Goal: Not to be too much worse than last year.
Results: 2:42:55, 16th
General Information: I did better than I deserved. This race demands
focused, specific training. I didn’t — concentrating on triathlon this
year. As I haven’t done any triathlons with a run equivalent to the PPA
(I’d love to, if there was one) I didn’t train on the peak other than a
hike to Barr Camp with my father-in-law and the Barr Trail Race. So I
must be happy, because I don’t think I could expect better.
Things Done Right: Went rather conservatively, which was appropriate give
my level of preparation. Verified that specificity of training is
important! : )
Things Done Wrong: Didn’t train on the peak. That was a conscious
decision given other priorities, but certainly hurt my performance.
Calculator: As always (4 of 4), I was below target pace until Barr Camp,
and then rapidly started falling behind pace thereafter. That was to be
expected considering lack of training at altitude, but I also need to
figure out how to race the section from Barr Camp to A-Frame. It gets me
every time!
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Tom McKernan reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 20 Aug 2006
Distance: 26 miles
Goal: 9 hours
Results: 9 hours, 11 minutes
General Information: Not too bad, I was 21 minutes faster this year, two
minutes off my PR Ascent time, but a few minutes slower on the descent
from last year.
Things Done Right: I trained with a heart monitor all year and keeping it
near 85-90% max on the Sunday runs. Perhaps that was a little too high.
During the race, I kept a steady effort, at about 90% max heart rate, and
managed to do the top relatively pain free but slow.
Thing Done Wrong: I probably needed to drink just a tad more and I
probably didn’t eat enough during the race, limiting myself to the snacks
at the aid station and a couple packets of GU.
Calculator: Despite about doing 5-6 runs above 12000 ft, Elk Park x 2, PP
3-2 x 3, and climbing Mt Antero, I still didn’t make the summit IAW the
calculator. I was 2:40 to Barr Camp, 3:55 to A-Frame, and 5:54 to the
Summit. Adding 30 minutes to your Barr Camp time still seems like a good
rule of thumb. What does a lot of high altitude training mean? That
should be explained better on the website.
Other Stuff: Many thanks to the volunteers!
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Andy Dillon reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: 8/20/2006
Distance: 26 miles
Goal: No goal this year
Results: 6 hours 44mins
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: I have done the Ascent 7 years running and decided to
try the marathon for a change. It’s a different experience for sure! First
of all, it’s far less crowded, and you can run your own pace through the
W’s. However, the last mile up is tough as you are constantly stopping to
give way to the downhillers. On the way down it was great how everybody
got out of the way. Excellent race etiquette and a great atmosphere. I was
surprised how tough the downhill was though — it really beats you up!
My race went well until above the treeline, but I bonked in the last
couple of miles. On the way down I felt totally exhausted until Barr Camp,
but then I felt much better and picked up the pace. The Gatorade at the
aid stations went down well on the way down — I think that contributed to
my late recovery! Oxygen might have something to do with it also : -)
Things Done Right: Ran a good pace until A-Frame on the way up, so I gave
myself a shot at a good time, however it wasn’t my day. Managed not to
fall on the way down, which was an unexpected bonus!
Things Done Wrong: Too many nights of interrupted sleep (baby Patrick was
born in June). That makes it hard to get out and train. Still, he’s worth
it : -) It’s no secret — more running on the mountain makes you a better
runner in these races and I didn’t do enough this year. Need a fuel
strategy for this race — Gu and water work great for me on the way up but
I couldn’t take any more Gu on the way down. I decided Gatorade at the aid
stations was the way to go and it worked for me, however I should have
figured this out beforehand then I wouldn’t have passed the first couple
of stations on the way down and taken just water!
Calculator: A great tool.
Other Stuff: A great race — and it was inspiring to see Matt flying down
the mountain ahead of all those international mountain runner types!
Congratulations to all the IC’ers who took part in, volunteered or
supported these races this weekend — you were awesome!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Valerie Deneau-Prothe reports:
Location: Manitou Springs, CO
Date: August 19, 2006
Distance: 13.32 mi
Goal: 3:42
Results: 3:53
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: Half marathon up my favorite hill! : ) It was a
PERFECT day for a PR! The weather was damp and cool, but not
raining, the crowd was great, I felt great, and my 2 favorite motivators
were there (John and Christine)! However, somewhere along the way I blew
it.
I made a lot of gains this training year and knew I was capable of a
3:38-3:45 so, I took the splits for a 3:40, modified them for the crowds
on the lower sections and decided on a 3:42 goal. My plan was working
beautifully...I wasn’t stressing, pushing, or cussing ;) and I was still
hitting my splits (oh this rocks!). I smiled as I hit No Name knowing I
would soon be on the delightful “flats” en route to Barr Camp. I was
feeling great when the gams started running out of energy. What the h---?
I used a mild expletive or 2 as I kept
trying to coax the girls into moving a little faster. They’d humor me a
bit, then fall back into a shuffle. I kept trying to push, then I
remembered, “Oh yeah...I still have 8 mi to go with much elevation gain!"
and I backed off. Long story short, I ended up hiking much of the last 7
miles of the race and even cried a bit (out of frustration). I couldn’t
believe it, my legs were just spent. Not whining, just very confused...and
looking forward to next year! : )
Things Done Right: — Lots of high altitude
- Great long runs on hills
- Fairly consistent speed work and tempo runs
- Dropped a couple of lbs.
- Slept well
- Ate well
- Laid out my clothes the night before
- Hydrated well
- Took E-Caps
Things Done Wrong: — Maybe did too much the 2-3 weeks before the race as I
felt incredibly fatigued and over trained up until 4 days before the race.
Although, I really didn’t think I was pushing it.
- Incredibly stressed out at work the weeks before the race.
Calculator: I used the calculator as a baseline, but found that
adjustments need to be made for the W’s and No Name splits due to the
crowds in my time range. Also, I usually combine Ruxton and Hydro into 1
split. As Ruxton is too slow and Hydro is too fast for me, but combined
they work beautifully together! : )
Other Stuff: Just looking forward to next season!
***
Leadville Trail 100
Ted Bidwell reports:
Location: Leadville, CO
Date: 8/19-20/2006
Distance: 100 Miles
Goal: Finish
Results: Finished — 24: 19: 52
Website: http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/
General Information: I finally decided to run Leadville 8 days prior to
the race. I had completed Western States in late June and had never run
two 100-milers in a year, much less 8 weeks. I had rested and my long run
was a 50K in Leadville 5 weeks prior to Leadville. I arranged to stay with
Gordon and his family that weekend and really felt relaxed knowing my only
goal was to finish. I slept well the three nights
leading up to Saturday morning and felt ready to run and finish the 100
miles. I ran the first sections into May Queen and Fish Hatchery very
conservatively and felt strong. I was 171st in MQ and 107th into FH. Both
of my IT bands seemed to be acting up, but not like they had the previous
year. After Half Moon the pain went away, or I just forgot about it. I
arrived 67th at Winfield in exactly 11 hours. The climb over and down
Hope had gone well. On the return, we encountered rain, sleet, hail and
some very cold wind the last 2 miles. I hustled down the mountain to get
back into Twin Lakes to warm up at the lower altitude. I kept saying to
myself, you’re going to hurt, but from TL into HM and beyond I was moving
right along getting into FH 42nd at a little over 18 hours. Once I got to
the trail head at the road to go up the power line and over Sugarloaf, I
reminded my self that it would take 90 minutes and forget about how many
false summits were in store going up. From the trail head to the summit
was a little over 70 minutes and into MQ I felt really good taking less
than 3 hours to go from FH to MQ and be 42nd in. My run into Leadville
went really good as my time from MQ was 11 minutes faster than any
previous finish. I look back to the conservative first half as the reason
for my PB at Leadville and my strong finish 24: 19 and 37th I got the
monkey off my back of last years DNF and look forward to some easy running
for a few months. See you on the trails!
Things Done Right: Ran conservatively the first half. Went into the run
wanting to
finish and not worry about time (just under 29 hours) or who was in front or behind me.
Things Done Wrong: Taken care of a rock in my left shoe first thing
instead of running 40 miles before changing socks and shoes on the way in
at Twin Lakes.
***
Leadville Trail 100
Anton Krupicka reports:
Location: Leadville, CO
Date: August 19, 2006
Distance: 100 miles
Goal: In descending order: win, sub-17, sub-17: 16, sub-24, sub-25,
finish Results: 17: 01: 56
Website: http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/
General: I had a pretty sleepless night before this race.I was kind of
keyed up/nervous after the pep-rally-ish action in the gym Friday morning,
plus I’d been thinking about this race a great deal the last couple weeks
and was excited that it was finally here. Also, for some reason, I had a
splitting headache (that was still there when I woke up at 2:45am for the
start). However, none of this was actually made any worse by the fact
that my chosen abode for the evening was the Ice Palace City Park restroom
(lots of rain Friday). Surprisingly cozy and clean as far as public
restrooms are concerned! I very nearly missed the start of the race
because I was taking too much time in the bathroom (which makes me 3 for 4
for near misses of starts at races this summer .hmmm. maybe I should work on
that.), so I spent the first
downhill and asphalt mile hoping the lead pack wouldn’t disappear into the
dark night without me and wondering just why in the hell everyone was
running so freakin’ fast — it’s a hundred mile race for chrissake! Once
we hit the Boulevard I noticed that Steve Peterson had already
taken WAY off. He must’ve sprinted off the line, so I spent most of this
section running near Dan Vega and Karl Meltzer at the front. Right at the
bottom of the rocky downhill at the bottom of the Boulevard Dean Karnazes
came charging up to my shoulder and that was the last I saw of him until I
was on my way back to Leadville. We also caught Steve by the bottom of
the Boulevard. When we hit the powerline cut up to Turquoise Lake, Dan and
Karl walked while I ran so I was forced into taking the lead onto the lake
trail. Dan soon caught up and I appreciated him running behind me with
his uber-bright flashlight.mine was proving to be a little deficient.
After a bit I stopped for a pee break and Dan, Karl, and Steve all ran
past me. I tucked in behind Steve, though, and took advantage of his
light until he inexplicably
stopped for some reason, so I easily caught up to Dan and ran with him all
the rest of the way around the lake to Mayqueen. At one point, maybe a
mile before Mayqueen, Steve was running directly behind me when he tripped
and fell HARD.6’3” is a long ways to fall. I took my first gel when we
hit the asphalt and ran into the aid station in 1: 49 with Karl and Dan
(not before nearly falling on my face as I stepped off the road,
however. My only trip-up of the entire race). I felt like this split was
slow-ish, but it was very, very easy and I felt like the darkness had made
going any faster around the lake a bit of a liability. Leaving the aid
station, I exchanged water bottles with my crew, picked up an extra gel,
dropped off my headlamp (all completely on the run), and took off up the
road towards the Colorado Trail in the lead (I could think of no reason
why I should’ve dallied around in the aid station. So into the lead I
went). Back on the trail, Karl and Dan caught up with me (I was running
very easily because I didn’t really want to be in the lead) and let Karl
pass me because he expressed interest in going a little faster on the
rocky sections. Fine with me. However, when we hit the first little
uphill climb leading up to Hagerman Pass Road, both Dan and Karl started
hiking and I kept running and that was the last I saw of either. I ran as
comfortably as possible going up Sugarloaf (stopped to pee once and was
pleased to not get caught), and couldn’t even see any pursuers on those
tight switchbacks up there even though I was constantly reminding myself
to slow down and take it easy. Descending Sugarloaf I just tried to go as
quickly as I could without imparting an undue amount of stress on the
quads. I hit the woods at one point for a 27 second pit-stop and was
pleased that the gap had grown enough to where no one caught up to me.
Going into the Fish Hatchery (3: 16) I got a little confused (why do you
have to run through a garage?), but everything went fine (exchanged
bottles, picked up a Powerbar and more gels from my crew) and saw that
Karl was coming in right as I was leaving (I had maybe a 1-2 minute
lead).he must’ve run the downhill pretty hard. On the next road section I
focused on chewing my Powerbar and taking it easy. Seeing Karl at the aid
station had got my competitive fires stoked though and I found it hard to
keep the adrenaline under control. I saw my crew at Treeline and finally
quit worrying about anyone catching back up to me (I couldn’t see anyone
behind me on the road). Running up the road to Half-Moon it hit me that
A.) Four hours is a long run, no matter how you look at it, and B.) I was
still a ridiculously long ways from being done. It was on this road that
I first had the slightest hint of any fatigue. figured that wasn’t too
bad considering I’d been running for four hours! The Half-Moon aid station
(4: 10) was frustrating because I just wanted a couple cups of water, but
I couldn’t find any and ended up slamming a cup of Coke instead. Why is
it so weird to not want to spend a lot of time (not making any forward
motion, I might add) in the aid stations? I was super-psyched to get on
the Colorado Trail over to Twin Lakes, because that trail is awesome. The
hill at the beginning felt easier than it did on training runs and this
whole section of trail was pretty much without incident. Except that it
got really foggy and started raining a mile or two before Twin Lakes. On
the section of singletrack from the beaver ponds to the jeep road my legs
felt really, really good so I was excited about the next uphill section.
I hit Twin Lakes in 5:30 in pouring rain (apparently a lot of people were
snickering at my shirtlessness at this point, but I was completely
comfortable. My philosophy is: the less clothes I wear the less I’ll sweat
and the less dehydrated I’ll become), so I picked up a shirt and a jacket
from my crew and headed across the meadow and river to Hope Pass. I
hadn’t decided if I was going to hike Hope Pass or not, so I just decided
to base it off of the effort it took. As it turned out, I felt great and
ran all the way to the Hopeless Aid Station (6: 42). During the climb I
ascended above the clouds and blue sky broke out for the first time all
day.so much for needing a shirt and jacket---they just ended up around my
neck and waist. I hiked everything except for the two or three flat
switchbacks from the aid station to the top of the pass (6: 56) and then
just focused on getting
to Winfield. I tried not to really kill the downhill, but it seemed that
opening up a little at times caused less pounding on the legs than
constantly trying to brake. I got to the Winfield road in 7:23 and then
took it as easily as possible running up the road into Winfield (but, I
remember thinking that I was definitely starting to get a little tired),
which I reached in 7:45. This split certainly surprised me (well, I guess
not that split so much as how quickly I was able to run from Twin Lakes to
the top of Hope Pass. This is where I had been planning on going a lot
slower than I did). I came into the aid station excited to get rid of my
shirt and rain jacket and to pick up my first pacer, Alex Nichols (Noah
Zark), but not a single member of my crew was anywhere to be seen!
Consequently, I broke my stride for the first time all race to snag three
gels and a Powerbar and refill my handheld bottle from the aid station.
As I ran out of the station
I threw my jacket on the ground and yelled (to anyone that would listen) to
tell my crew to pick up my jacket for me. After about five minutes of
running back down the road while gnawing on a Powerbar, Alex came
sprinting down the road carrying two water bottles and plenty of other
fuel, which proved to be a very good thing. In retrospect, if I had
indeed gone back up Hope Pass by myself I wouldn’t have had nearly enough
food or water. Apparently, they hadn’t expected me for another 15 minutes,
so Alex and Nick were in the bathroom and Julian and Angie were mixing
Powerade. It turned out to not be a big deal. Fifteen minutes after
leaving Winfield, Alex and I ran into Steve Peterson coming up the road.
He was moving very slowly, and I was moving quicker (going downhill), so I
figured I had nearly a 35 minute lead on him at that point. Alex also
informed me that Steve had looked terrible when he came into Twin Lakes at
40 miles and had only been 15 minutes or so behind me. When we left the
road and hit the Sheep’s Gulch trailhead, we started hiking immediately.
The trail up that side of Hope Pass is just so steep (and incredibly rocky
at first). I really can’t envision myself running that portion of the
course during the race any time soon. The sun was also out now and I was
sweating a lot. Alex kept on reminding me to eat and drink which was good
because I definitely felt like I was hitting the hardest part of the
course yet. The nice thing about an out and back course is being able to
see how close your competitors are. Well, everyone was a long ways back.
I figured that unless I really, really crashed and burned (always a
possibility), Steve should be my only real concern because of his
penchant for running fairly evenly-splitted races. As it turned out, he
reached Winfield in 8:19 (which he said was a PR for him) and ended up
having a pretty terrible second half. But I knew he couldn’t be counted
out. Well, by time we got to the top of Hope Pass (9:07) my legs were
feeling good and recovered from all the walking and I made maybe my single
worst running move of the whole race by starting a pretty quick descent.
Alex sprinted ahead to the Hopeless Aid Station (9: 14) to refill the
water bottles I’d been guzzling while I just blazed on through. He soon
caught up though and we ran down the trail passing all sorts of runners
coming up the trail. All of their comments served as a big motivational
boost and Alex and I may have overdid it a little bit as he tripped and
ate dirt at one point and even now three or four days later says his quads
are still sore
(he’s not much of a downhiller. I’m not sore at all). Either way, we
splashed through all the river crossings and came back into Twin Lakes at
9:59 for what I think might be the fastest ever split on that section. At
the time, it really didn’t feel that stressful, but I think it might have
sparked the crappiness that wa s to ensue for the next 25 miles or so. I
picked up a new pacer at Twin Lakes (Nick Campbell), and we started the
climb back up to the Colorado Trail. I alternated running and walking
(depending on the severity of the gradient), but actually felt a lot
better on this uphill than I’d anticipated. Towards the top of the climb
up to the beaver ponds there are a bunch of false “summits” and I began to
lose a lot of my snap. I remember remarking to Nick to not take it
personally if I started becoming particularly whiny and complaining and
that things would be a lot better if “gravity would just show me a little
love.” The trail at
this point becomes quite moderate with generally a lot of flat and even
downhill terrain occurring and I was able to run a great deal, but I
remember there being one or two fairly short uphills in particular that I
walked and I had been planning on absolutely running this entire section
of trail. We finally hit the extended downhill leading to Halfmoon road
right when it began raining, then raining hard, then hailing. None of
this really bothered me, but it just sort of added to my overall mood of
despondence and “let’s just get through this goddamn thing.” Once we hit
the road, I was at least able to maintain a very consistent running tempo,
but it was much much slower than I’d anticipated being able to run this
section. At least a minute per mile
slower. I mean, after the aid station (which we reached in 11: 43, didn’t
stop at all) this section is pretty much all slightly downhill and smooth
road. However, instead of making some serious time, I was in
let’s-just-keep-running-and-not-walking-mode, which was pretty
disappointing for me, but hey, the reason I was doing this race was to see
what happens on the far side of 50 miles, and I was finding out. By
time we made it to my crew at Treeline it had stopped raining so I
dumped my two shirts while Nick picked up a dry one and we continued on
our way down the road and over to Fish Hatchery. God, this section
sucked. Every step was hurting. Knees, ankles, hips. And the unvarying
smoothness of the road was doing absolutely nothing to help me get out of
my funk. I just needed to be using some different muscles. At one point
in this section the road is ever-so-slightly uphill and even this tiny
difference in grade did a lot to help me pick up the pace a bit just
because I was using my muscles differently. Well, we finally made it to
Fish Hatchery in 12: 45. I’d hoped to run that 7 mile section at least 5
minutes faster, but there didn’t seem to be much I could do at the time,
as Nick was having to constantly remind me to drink because I was getting
too lazy to simply lift the bottle to my mouth. At Fish Hatchery I felt
like I needed to do SOMETHING different, so for some
reason I snagged a couple cookies, but only ate one. I also picked up a
new pacer, Julian Boggs, who was rarin’ to go. I think this, combined
with the fact that I was so excited to get to the bottom of Sugarloaf
simply because I knew I would be walking it made me have a little break in
the badness and we actually ran a decent pace over to the bottom of
Sugarloaf. Julian also began relaying a bunch of amusing/somewhat
insulting stories from their talks with other crews at the aid stations
that got me kind of fired up. (For instance, Steve coming into Fish
Hatchery in the morning, throwing down his two water bottles, and
demanding, “and find out who that shirtless kid
is!” Or all the old, grizzled crew members who assured my crew that no one
as young as I could expect to go out that hard and lead the whole damn
race. Not to mention, whisperings that my crew was a “bunch of idiots who
don’t know what they’re doing.”) As a result, the beginning of the
Sugarloaf climb actually went pretty well. We hiked it pretty hard, and I
didn’t feel horrible running the first little downhill sections. I even
ran a few (very few) of the more moderate less steep sections. However,
by the time we had gotten to the final
downhill before the top, things were getting pretty ugly. Whereas coming
into Halfmoon road I’d been able to really rock the downhill sections
(dropping my pacer, Nick), on this downhill it was a struggle to even run,
let alone run quickly. I was just tired. Bonking. I hadn’t eaten/drank
any less, my body was just really going through a low point. However, on
the final climb to the top of the pass, I was still excited for the
downhill side because I thought I could make up a great deal of time on
the extended downhill. Plus, I was thinking it was “all downhill” from
there to Leadville (figuratively speaking, obviously). Well, when the flat
on the top of the pass came, I was having a really hard time running. It
was very, very slow. And then I had to make a bathroom stop, urgently.
For some reason, that really took it out of me. Moments later I had to
stop again and this time what was coming out was not pretty. And I felt
horrible---dizzy, weak, kind of stumbling/staggering down the pass. I was
WALKING. DOWNHILL. And Julian was dropping me while walking. I just
didn’t have it in either my legs or my stomach. I hadn’t completely given
up mentally, though. Thoughts of walking the last 20 miles in 7 hours
definitely crossed my mind, but then a couple moments later I’d be running
again. And then I’d have to walk again. Finally, from about the mud
puddles that are half-way up Sugar Loaf pass, I was able to run all the
way down to Hagerman Pass road. I definitely remember walking another
section or two on this road, but ran (very slowly) most of it, mostly
because when we rounded the curve before dropping onto the Colorado
Trail, there was a woman there taking pictures or something. There were
more than a couple times on this section of road that I turned around
because I thought I heard Steve coming up behind me. I also remember
commenting to Julian that if Steve caught me there would really be nothing
I could do. As slow as we were going, there was no way we were going to
go any faster. Getting onto the Colorado Trail changed things. I ran all
the first downhill part, and then walked little uphill sections and then
ran anything flat or downhill. Having to change my stride and step over
rocks and pay attention to my footing made a ton of difference. Finally,
maybe about a
half mile from Mayqueen I started running for good and then REALLY running
again. I’d been thinking about getting to Mayqueen for so long that when
I got there (14: 57) I felt like I should stop and do something (I’m not
sure what.sit down? eat a bunch of food? take a nap?), but what I ended
up doing was eating a cookie (I was so sick of Powerade and Powergels),
grabbing a handful of M&M’s that I just tossed on the ground, fumbling
with a bottle of Powerade that I ended up not taking (Julian: “Dude, what
are you doing? Let’s go, we have PLENTY of food and liquids!”), and
finally exiting the station after wasting less than a minute. However,
mentally, I was still just thinking about finishing. Coming into Mayqueen
I’d yelled to my crew to have warm
clothes and headlamps ready at the Tabor boat ramp because I was
anticipating a long, slow crawl into the finish. Things were definitely
way better once we hit the trail going around Turquoise Lake, but for some
reason I still couldn’t run all of the little
uphills that punctuate that section of the course. However, when I was
actually running I would get moving at a pretty good pace. Then, about 15
minutes from the boat ramp, something switched in a big way. I started
running and it actually felt sustainable. When I got to the boat ramp
(15:55ish?), Julian stopped and I picked up Alex as a pacer again and for
some reason I REALLY started running. Alex said that they’d overheard
Steve’s crew at Fish Hatchery and that he was about 50 minutes behind me.
This really lit a fire under me (I’d thought he was a lot closer) and from
there to the bottom of the Boulevard Alex and I ran HARD. He commented
later on that because he was carrying so much crap (extra clothes, food,
headlamps) there were times when he was actually struggling a little to
keep up. All I know is that from the dam to the bottom of the Boulevard
we were really moving. Close to 7
minutes/mile (well, at least it felt really fast after 95 miles or so of
running). At the bottom of the Boulevard (16: 28 or so, I think) Alex and
I hiked up that little rocky hill while I sucked down one last gel and
drank some water. I’d almost completely neglected the food and drink ever
since Mayqueen. At the top of the hill we started running again and I
felt much better than expected and just started focusing on sub-17. This
was astounding to me considering how recently I’d been questioning if I
was going to be able to do anything but walk to the finish. All the way
up the Boulevard, though, I’d be feeling pretty solid one minute, and then
I’d hit a little bad patch and have to slow it down quite a bit again, but
I definitely ran the entire way. When we finally hit the pavement (which
I knew to be about a mile from the finish) and picked up the police cars,
it looked like breaking 17 would be really close, but then we hit the last
asphalt uphill-which I ran-but it definitely crushed any hopes of a
serious charge over the last mile. The last few blocks (half mile or so)
before the finish were awesome. I felt really good and ran strong into
the finish. When the police cars put on their sirens I finally realized
that Steve wasn’t going to catch me and I’d won the damn thing.
Things Done Right: I trained pretty damn hard for this race. Six days a
week I was doing at least a 20 miler in the mornings plus a short easy jog
in the evenings. I trained A LOT on mountain singletrack trails with tons
of climbing. I now believe very strongly in back-to-back long runs on the
weekends. My last big weekend (two weeks before the race) I ran from my
apartment, through the Garden of the Gods, up Pikes Peak, and back for a
50 miler on Saturday, and then ran up and down Pikes Peak plus a little
extra for a 30 miler on Sunday. Attending IC Thursday workouts the second
half of the summer definitely had a positive effect on my ability to run
up hills (mountains) more quickly and easily. This summer I also really
slowed down all of my daily runs and pretty much became more concerned
with time rather than distance. For instance, I would think about going
for 2:40-3:00 runs
instead of 20-22 milers. This allowed me to put in a lot more time
without destroying myself with a bunch of “medium-hard” runs like I have
in the past. Also, I tapered fairly significantly for this race. That’s
something I didn’t do all summer because none of those races were nearly
as important to me.
Things Done Wrong: Maybe I went out a little too fast (particularly over
Hope Pass the first time). But, hey, I gave it a shot, and I’m not
completely convinced that it was a bad thing to do. Obviously, I don’t
have much experience with these things, but it seems to me (and, according
to such people as Paul DeWitt) that most people have some sort of
significant bad patch in almost every 100 miler they do. Looking at
Matt’s race last year, it seems like he never had a bad patch. I don’t
know if that’s due to better preparation than I (possibly) or luck (also,
possible), but I feel like if I’d somehow
been able to avoid whatever was happening to me physically coming down
Sugarloaf that I would’ve been able to come within an hour or so of Matt’s
record. Again, I still have no idea what made the difference before and
after Mayqueen, but there was no tangible difference in my actions (i.e.
difference in fueling or liquids) to affect such a difference in my
ability to run. I should really stop coming so close to missing the
starts of races. It’s a good thing I don’t run 100 meter dashes instead
of 100 mile dashes.
Other Stuff: It’s very inspiring to see people who are out there all
night. I mean, I had a good night’s sleep and people were still coming in
the next morning! However, at the upper end of the sport, I think there
needs to be a reconsideration by some of the top ultrarunners as to how
hard they’re willing to train in order to have a good race. One hundred
miles is a long LONG ways! I think you must be willing to run A LOT! In
the end, if you don’t truly enjoy the training aspect, I don’t think
you’re going to have much fun being an ultrarunner, because a lot of
preparation is required. Also, I was surprised at how offended some
people were at some minor transgressions of mine against the so-called
“conventional ultra-running wisdom.” I got a fair amount of guff for only
carrying one water bottle (it wasn’t that hot out), wearing racing
flat-type shoes (it’s what I train in,
these are the beefiest shoes I’ve run in in over 2 years, and carrying any
extra weight for that long is a huge disadvantage), wearing short shorts
(hey, they have pockets for my gels--beyond some cursory coverage, that’s
all I want out of my shorts on a run of this length, and if they get wet
they dry out A LOT quicker), and not wearing a shirt for most of the race
(again, less sweat=less water I have to carry=less weight). Overall, Ken
and Merilee do an outstanding job with this event.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Roger Sajak reports:
Race: Pikes Peak Ascent: Manitou Springs, Co
Date: 08/19/06
Distance: 13.1 Miles
Goal: Volunteering
Results: Aided many runners
General Information: Volunteered at “A” Frame for water station for the
Pikes Peak
Ascent
Things Done Right: Volunteered
Things Done Wrong: Nothing went wrong
***
Summer Round Up
Tim Steffens
Location: Bear Creek
Date: 7/9/06
Distance: 12k
Goal: none
Results: 1:09:13
General Information: Muddy!! It was a really nice morning though. I liked
the race being back at Bear Creek but last years course was really nice as
well.
Things Done Right: Good rest the night before.
Things Done Wrong: I was still working graveyard shifts… eww.
Other Stuff: Sorry about so many race reports at once!!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon (Double)
Craig Hafer reports:
Location: Pikes Peak
Date: Aug. 19 and Aug. 20
Distance: 13.2 miles and 26.2 miles
Goal: 3:20 and 5:30
Results: 3:22 and 5:30
General Information: The weather turned out to be perfect, even after a
heavy rain forecast. I felt good after the first day and was only 5
minutes slower to the top on day two.
Things Done Right: I trained properly and stayed hydrated and ate proper
nutrition for both races.
Things Done Wrong: I could have walked more on day one and probably saved
time and energy.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Jim Mahon reports:
Race: Location: Pikes Peak Barr Trail
Date: 19 Aug 2006
Distance: 13.32
Goal: 4:08
Results: 4:22:14
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/
General: 7815 feet to Heaven
Things Done Right: Eleven weekends in a row from the start to the finish.
Things Done Wrong: I need to retire from work (hit the Power Ball) so I
can make the Thursday ICer workouts.
Calculator: Just like last year, I was right on the 4 hr splits until
after Barr Camp. Then I started losing about 2 minutes per mile.
Other Stuff: No rain, snow, or sleet. Nice cool weather. Trail
maintenance volunteers did a hell of job considering the recent rains.
No lines at the porta-potties or at the vans???
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Jamie McMillin reports:
Location: Colo Springs
Date: August 19
Distance: 13.3
Goal: < 5 hours
Results: 824, 16/35, Jamie L McMillin, 62, Colo Springs, CO, 4:52:18
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: I felt great all the way up to the 1 mile to go sign
as I focused on making no ego-driven passes in the first 5 miles, thus
preserving resources for the trek from Barr Camp to the summit. Didn’t
push it. Sun came out when I finished. Extremely gratified to achieve my
goal, as I missed it by 32 minutes last year.
Things Done Right: Probably the difference maker was in my preparation
particularly in doing summit to Barr Camp and back to the summit in 4 of
the 5 weeks leading up to the race. Lots of time in altitude.
Things Done Wrong: Set my goal too low.
Calculator: NA
Other Stuff: Dreary, overcast weather was perfect, (when compared to
driving sleet, rain, thunder and lightning experienced in last year’s
race)
***
Pikes Peak Marathon
Cscheibe reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: August 20, 2006
Distance: 26.21 miles
Goal: finish; PR; sub 7: 00
Results: all of the above; 6:59:35
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: Much anticipated attempt at completing the DOUBLE
after aborting the attempt after reaching the summit on Sunday last year!
Things Done Right: Practiced what I’d learned from the previous day, and
last year, and went out at a more conservative pace; focused on an even
effort! Wore mittens; avoided the numbing pain in my fingers that I had
experienced the past 2 attempts!
Things Done Wrong: Let other runners dictate my pace the first couple of
miles on the descent; turned ankle more than 11 miles from finish.
Calculator: Very effective this time; amazing how important it is to
follow the prescription on the first couple of check points!
Other Stuff: Very satisfying results; achieved my DOUBLE and PR’d in the
marathon in the process! Plan to train harder next year and spend time
above Barr Camp.
***
Pikes Peak Double
Steve Bremner reports:
Location: Manitou
Date: Aug 19 and 20, 2006
Distance: half and full marathon
Goal: 2:50 ascent; finish marathon
Results: 3:03 ascent; 4:56 marathon
General:
Ascent: Ran pretty good to A-Frame (2: 06), but struggled to the finish,
losing about 2 minutes a mile off my training times on the last three. I’m
blaming it on the low pressure system.
Marathon: Slower to the top (3: 11). Stayed with Ed Baxter until shortly
before Bottomless Pit sign, then watched him pull away. Started off wobbly
on the downhill portion. As about five younger runners passed me with ease
I thought “Old, tired legs. Sigh.” Got down the cirque aid station and
stopped. Ate handful of grapes, some chex mix, and felt revived. The new
magic fuel? Started running again and got into great rhythm. Passed ALL
the young runners who had passed me on the previous mile and set my sights
on more victims. “Crazy Legs” hunted down about 20 more on the way to the
finish line. I got passed by no one. Running sub-5 was in doubt until I
reached “4 miles to go” however. A glance at my watch showed 4:28. My
thought was “I think I can run eight minute miles to the finish!” I
proceeded to run seven minute miles and finished below 5 hours with more
than a three minute cushion.
Things Done Right: Trained a lot on the mountain. Ran to the top about 6
times.
Things Done Wrong: Didn’t train hard enough on the mountain. Need to run
to the top 12-15 times next year.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Tim Steffens reports:
Location: Pikes Peak
Date: 8/19/06
Distance: 13.3 miles
Goal: 3:30:00
Results: 3:30:20
General Information: I started out too fast! I had checked my time to
Ruxton on the previous Thursday run and I made it there on schedule but I
made it to Hydro in just over 11 min. I tried to slow down but I had a PR
by making it to Barr Camp in 1:40, but I felt good so I went with it! lol.
I felt really good at the A-frame and if I would have done things better I
might have actually made a better time than I was hoping for. I was not as
strong on top this year, but I made my goal!! WOOOO HOOOO!! Well, 20
seconds over but who is counting...right? I had a great ascent this
year...I’m considering the marathon next year...hmmm...I will just have to
wait and see...???!!! I worked the No Name Creek aid station the for the
marathon and what an
experience!! You all looked really good going up...but coming down I have
never seen soooo many cuts and blood! YEAH!! Neat stuff!! Matt...I have a
great pic of you coming down the mountain!! Good job to all!!!
Things Done Right: Ate well and I have been getting plenty of rest
recently! I just made the switch at work from graveyards to an 8 to 5! It
was good to file down the fangs and become human again. I feel better and
my health has returned.
Things Done Wrong: Started out too fast, but all in all I made my goal
that is all that matters.
Other Stuff: Thanks to all of you ICers! The people in this club are truly
amazing and wonderful!!
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Shawn Erchinger reports:
Location: Colorado Springs
Date: August 19, 2006
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: 2 hrs. 59 min. 59 sec. OR faster
Results: 2 hrs. 58 min. 53 sec.
Website: www.pikespeakmarathon.org
General Information: The weather was just perfect. Nice and cool. The
race went well for me from the start. I went out and was extremely
conservative over the first mile. Once I hit the trail I kept remembering
what Matt told us in practice. I kept asking myself the question “Can I
maintain this pace all the way to the top.” I tried to stay focused on
running my race instead of trying to stay with Lisa Goldsmith when she
passed me 1.5 miles into the race. My strategy worked well and I managed
to start passing the walkers over the last 3 miles of the course when I
was still able to run the
majority of it.
Things Done Right: Stuck to my pre-race plan to try and run relaxed and
maintain my pace all the way. I hydrated well, drank gatorade at all the
aid stations even though it meant walking for 2-5 seconds to get a good
drink, and took GU regularly to help me during the final miles. I trained
consistently on the Incline and on Barr Trail. I made it to as
many Thursday Incline Club workouts as I could which really helped. In the
last month before the race I my buddies and I drove to the summit and ran
3,2,1s on Fridays and Sundays. This proved to be the smartest thing I did
in training. The 3,2,1s really helped me do well over the last 3 miles.
Knowing where I was in the final minutes helped me run sub 3.
Things Done Wrong: I should have done more long runs. I never had one 2
1/2 hour training run to prepare for the race and rarely ran for even 2
hours. Most of my workouts were less then an hour. If I want to run
really well in the Ascent I need to put in a lot more time on my feet.
I left two of my GUs in the pocket of the jacket I planned to wear but
then put it in my bag at the last minute for a trip to the summit.
I also forgot gloves and needed to borrow a pair at the last second. I
have good friends!
Calculator: Fred wrote his splits on his arm and I was able to memorize
them as we walked to the starting line. We trained a lot together and
both had the goal of running sub 3. He ran 2:56:24 and since I had his
splits fresh in my mind it really helped. I had planned on trying to get
to Barr Camp in 1: 26 and A-Frame in as close to 2 hrs. as possible. Fred
clued me in that I could get to A-Frame in 2:08 and still run a sub 3. I
made it to the steel A-Frame sign in 2:07:56. The mile markers along the
course seemed to be way off to me so I went with what I knew from running
the top 3 miles of the Peak.
Other Stuff: Nope. I’m looking forward to 2007! Sub 2:50!
***
Leadville 100
Gordon Barnett reports
Location: Leadville Colorado
Date: 19-20 August 2006
Distance: 100 Miles
Goal: To finish under 30 hours and enjoy the adventure
Results: Finished under 30 hours and enjoyed the adventure
Website: http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/
General Information: Here we are at the start, the Court House on Harrison
in downtown Leadville — from this point on referred to as Pbville. I want
to say here and now, as my daughter whispered in my ear, “no matter the
outcome — I am SO proud of you"... this isn’t only about the “runner” but
the love and support that gets you to the finish line. My first attempt at
completing 100 miles in the high country of Colorado would be shared with
my family and close friends. Meanwhile, back to the start line at the
Pbville Court House. Ted and I looked about for other CRUD runners — but
our headlamps picked out no familiar faces. We knew that Paul Smith, Judy
DeWitt, Keith Grimes, John Genet, Larry DeWitt, Harry Harcrow, Dan Vega,
and Anita Bower were there and
ready to go. 5-4-3-2-1... The mayor of Pbville fired a 20-guage shotgun
into the cool dark morning air BLAM! I Love Ultra starts, the 2006 Pbville
100 Race Across the Sky was under way. It was amazing turning around to
see the wave of lights bobbing weaving their way down the boulevard as we
made our way out and up the cutline under the powerline to the single
track that edged along Turquoise Lake. The night’s rain had stopped as I
gazed at the stars, and settled into a steady pace that I hoped I could
sustain. The sun started to rise reflecting in
Turquoise Lake, it was going to be a great day. Reached Mayqueen in 2:33.
Not bad, my pace strategy was to come in at 2:30. My amazing crew made up
of Carole (best support person ever), daughters Carly and atie, my
son-in-law Jason Frank, Katie’s boyfriend Peter Chapman, and buddy
Jonathan Veteto, had everything ready. I was out of the aid station in 4
minutes. Not exactly Matt’s time — but I made every attempt to get out
quickly — not sitting unless I needed a shoe change. My strategy was to
take on about 500 calories at each aid station, walking if necessary to
make sure I was refueling properly. Peter would describe what lay ahead -
total miles, run/walk ratio, and projected arrival time at the next aid
station. Next “up” Fish Hatchery, to get there we connect to the Colorado
Trail and the climb (1,200 feet) over Sugarloaf pass. We came off the
Colorado Trail and turned up Hagerman Pass Road. This section held some
very cool memories. A few short weeks previously I had joined Doug, Bob,
Sarah, Jim & Rick on my first Kenyan High
Altitude Training Camp. We spent 5 days above treeline in two huts — part
of the 10th Mountain Division hut system. The training camp must have
worked as I was able to combine running and a good power walk pace to the
top of the pass. You’re at the summit of the pass when you cross under the
powerlines, from here it’s a fairly steep downhill. It felt good to run,
picking my line through the wash out ruts knowing this was a quad thrasher
I let gravity take over. I came into the Fish Hatchery aid station in
4:55, out two minutes later. I had hoped to be out around 4:55, I had
wanted to build a buffer to stay ahead of cut-off — and would have to pick
it up some. Heading out of Fish, trying to find some runnable shoulder
sections away from the pavement,
Carole’s MDX passed with hoots of encouragement. A short time later, I saw
her approaching, telling me she had dropped Peter and Katie at Treeline,
and was heading back to town to pick up Jason and Jonathan — my two pacers
who were back at the house grabbing some zzzs for the long night ahead.
Basically blew through Treeline, saying bye to Katie and Peter, as a few
rain drops started to fall. Out I went onto Halfmoon road which is a dirt
road that leads up past the Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive trailheads. I mixed
running and walking, continuing my strategy to walk the ups which were
some pretty decent climbs. Some oncoming vehicle traffic from the
plentiful camp spots in the area. It was here is where my crew and I had
our only mix-up. The aid station at Halfmoon is not accessible to crew!
Later I kicked myself for not paying
attention to the course description — which plainly stated this fact. I
think it was harder on my crew — as they had no way of knowing if I needed
anything or the shape I was in. What they didn’t know was I hit Halfmoon
in 6: 30 feeling great. The remaining 9 miles into Twin Lakes is a mixture
of significant climbs, followed by some decent down hill. There is a long
downhill section (3.5 miles) into Twin Lakes. I was feeling a slight
tightness in the quads — but no worries — as I had my timer set to pop
S-Caps (capsules containing sodium, magnesium, and potassium) every hour.
Just to make things interesting, there’s a short steep rocky stretch
coming into the aid station, last year while crewing for Ted I saw a
number of runners crash in front of cheering crews and spectators. I made
it to Twin Lakes in 8:40. I quickly made my way through the aid station to
pick up my choice of refueling calories — boiled potatoes and salt. Carole
and the rest of the crew had everything laid out, first time to sit as I
changed socks and
shoes. Katie swapped out my Camelback bladder, while Peter calmly told me
I was about 12 minutes off my target pace — and to pick it up where
possible. From here it was on up over Hope Pass and down into Winfield. It
was about to get interesting. It’s here where Leadville really starts!
This was the one section I was most familiar with, having paced Ted the
10.5 miles in from Winfield to Twin Lakes in 2005. The first 1.5 miles or
so are fairly flat, with several creek crossings. One in particular was
about mid-thigh with climbing rope stretched across. The cold water felt
good. Running out of the flats and into the trees, I began the climb up
Hope Pass.I settled into a steady cadence, a power walking pace that I
could sustain. Not too far into the 3,400 climb I saw some familiar faces
coming down the trail towards me — Rick and his fiancé Jill who had hiked
Hope earlier in the day to cheer on the members of Team CRUD. A few final
strategic words from Rick, then keeping my momentum it was onwards and
upwards. A short distance later running down came the race leader Anton
(Tony) Krupicka. Tony is 23 and one a hell of a runner. He joined in on
the Wednesday night social
runs out of the Colorado Running Company, today looked as he always does;
racing flats, no socks, no shirt — no water! He looked strong, thoughts of
Matt’s 15:42:59 record crossed my mind. Tony had at least 1 hour on second
place at that point. He was cleaning up at Pbville this year, previously
winning a 50 km and the Pbville Marathon a few weeks before. I passed a
sign that read 2 miles to the llamas at Hopeless — the pack animals and
the Aid station approximately ½ mile from the summit. This was soon
followed by the 1mile and ½ mile to go signs. I kept a strong steady pace
into Hopeless, yelling hello to Frenando the llama. I found out that all
18 or 20 of the grazing llamas are named Fernando. The people volunteering
at Hopeless are absolutely the best. Entering the aid station I was behind
a certain runner who when asked if his refueling requirements were being
met — yelled “NO! I need my Camelback filled!” I looked straight at him
and said, “Please?” The volunteer that this jerk screamed at, reached out
touched my shoulder and said, “thank you.” Coming out of the tent I almost
ran into Harry Harcrow who looked a bit dazed. Harry told me later that
after seeing me had to go for a lie down. With a wave to the llamas and
again thanking all the volunteers I started up to the summit. The skies
were clear, I remember thinking to myself, wow how lucky is
this? — good weather over Hope. As I crested the summit I saw dark and
somewhat ominous clouds building to the southwest. It was here I saw Dan
Vega looking quite strong and easily in the top ten. We said hi to each
other, and it was up and over the top. The first section of the descent is
switchbacks on loose decomposing granite. The footing gradually got
better, with the exception of a couple of skree sections. I tried not to
look at the rapidly approaching clouds. The skies continued to darken.
From 100 yards down the trail I saw a friendly face moving upwards — Mr.
Bidwell. Ted was looking exceptionally strong, I was hoping the very best
for him this year, wanting him to wipe last years painful DNF from his
memory. He had a great 100 at Western in June, and was running this one
’relaxed’ having decided to
run Pbville a few days prior to the entry cutoff. Following Ted was Keith
Grimes, looking a little bit taxed. Keith had battled injury all year and
a very recent stomach ailment, but he’s tough. A few minutes behind Keith
was Paul Smith — smiling as usual. It was Paul that gave me the
encouragement to enter Pbville. Months before, on a cold Thursday winter
morning run in Cheyenne Canyon, he convinced that I was ready and it was
“time.” Thanks Paul! Nearing Winfield Road the clouds opened and it
started to rain. Then hail. Then bright flashes of lightning — too closely
followed by loud cracks of thunder. The footing turned to a slippery slick
mud. I thought of my son-in-law Jason waiting for me the aid station, he
was pacing me back up over Hope Pass and into Twin Lakes. On a mountain
bike trip with Carly
earlier in the summer he did a real number on his ankle — severely
damaging ligaments. His ankle was still swollen, and it had hampered his
training — but Jason is strong and was ready to go. It started to come
down harder, not too concerned as I knew I had a warm change of clothes
and poncho waiting for me about 40 minutes away at Winfield. I then saw a
runner approaching I was anxious to see, Judy DeWitt. There was no way she
was going to be the CRUD DNF pink dress Poster Child this year. To make
sure was Jim — Paul’s dad who was pacing her whole 50. I called to her
across the road giving a thumbs up — telling Jim to bring her “home"
safe. Soon after Judy came Anita with her pacer — looking confident and
strong. I made Winfield in 12: 38, 8 minutes off the pace I had set. I ran
into the tent where a rather attractive female said, you look good! I had
to return the compliment and said, so do you. Rain was still falling but
there were bright skies in the south giving us encouragement for the
second attack on Hope. Jason was ready to go! A change into warm dry
clothes and we were off. The road back is a gradual downhill so we were
able to run — feeling great. The rain stopped before getting off Winfield
road, and soon we were stripping layers. Thank goodness for mules .er
pacers. Pbville is the only 100 I know where you can have your pacer carry
stuff for the runner (more on that later.) As quickly as the storm moved
in — it had moved out leaving clear skies all the way up and over Hope.
Even the footing improved. When I asked Jason to pace me on this section I
had hoped the summit would be clear. Being a trail runner, climber, and
mountain biker from Calgary, Alberta I knew he would love the 360 degree
vista. did he ever! Jason was stoked by the whole experience; we may have
another ultra guy in the family. Down into Hopeless, we both slurped down
Ramen Noodles by the fire. One of the volunteers — who had the same sly
grin as on the way up — petted Luke a Golden Retriever an awful lot like
our Brewster. I asked him why so happy. His response, “because I’m not
doing what you are!” A farewell wave to Luke, the Fernandos, and we
continued our descent. I love this section; although the soft pine needle
trail was muddy we were still able to maintain a good pace. To divert our
attention we had the rushing mountain creek paralleling the trail and the
mountain wild flowers. When we came out
of the trees into the flats before Twin Lakes, the evening skies were upon
us. As the night approached we brought out the headlamps as we saw the
twinkling lights of the Twin Lake aid station off in the distance. We got
wet going through the creek crossings, before we knew it our lamps picked
up Carly and Katie (Team Gordon) patiently waiting at the Twin Lakes aid
station. Time in 16: 47, over one hour ahead of cutoff — but 17 minutes
off strategy pace — Peter calmly pointed out. Much to his disappointment,
Jason’s pacing challenge was over (Thank you Jason!) Jonathan’s adventure
was now beginning. A few months earlier running buddy Jonathan Veteto
volunteered to be my pacer — for 50 miles if I needed him! He’s planning
on running his first 50 soon and wanted to know what it felt like! We
tried not to spend too much time here. Another change into dry shoes, and
we were off — up the 1,400 feet climb on the trail to Halfmoon. I have
heard that this is where the atmosphere of the race changes, it is now
totally dark and other runners becoming more and more scarce. A fact is
that close to 50% of the starting runners have dropped by this point, with
the remaining runners spread out all over the remaining 40 miles. Jonathan
kept pushing me where necessary, earlier he had threatened to dangle a
beer in front of me and use a cattle prod behind to keep me moving. We
headed up, flashlights pointing the way. Every so often we’d see pinpoints
of light looking back at us through the trees. At one point hearing
runners behind us, we stepped to the side to let them by. As it was pitch
black I didn’t realize the ledge where I had stepped actually dropped away
from the trail, I started to fall sideways but felt a hand grab my arm and
pull me back to the trail. I thanked the Good Samaritan, and realized it
was Jenn Shelton (ultra racer extraordinaire) who we had seen earlier at
the aid station tent in Twin Lakes. Turned out she was pacing a friend, we
“heard” her for the next
few miles whopping and hollering. seemed to be really enjoying herself!
As we made it over the inclines and started down to the trail head and
Halfmoon road, several strange occurrences took place. A runner came up
fast behind us and flew past, we called out great job — but he yelled back
saying, “no praise I’m a pacer.” Odd we thought, where’s his runner? A
short while later we came upon a runner who was piggy-backing his pacer
down the trail! We found out the female pacer had broken or sprained her
ankle, the runner who we assumed was her husband or boyfriend was actually
keeping a pretty good pace moving down hill. I asked if we could help in
any way, holding out a Camelback the runner asked if we could carry it
down the hill and drop it at the trail head. “Sure” I said, taking the
Camelback which seemed to weigh 10 pounds, promptly handing it to
Jonathan. (Thank you for everything Jonathan.) As we approached the trail
head an EMT crew complete with stretcher was making its way uphill. We
asked what the problem was, only to be yelled at by th e crew lead to move
out! (Yes sir!) Coming into the aid station at Halfmoon, we came upon
another strange sight. In the ditch was a Range Rover, its front wheels
embedded into the soft wet clay while the rear wheels were elevated off
the road. We saw several girls
sitting adjacent to the vehicle. Thinking they were from the stranded
vehicle, we asked if they were okay or needed help. We discovered they
were part of the Halfmoon Aid Station Crew, nonchalantly saying the driver
ran “that way” pointing down a dirt road at right angles to us. We made
the aid station at 19: 54, I was shooting for 19: 45 — we had picked up 8
minutes in the last 9 miles! We spent 5 minutes in the aid station, eating
more Ramen noodles and potatoes with salt in a baggie before heading off
down the road to Fish Hatchery. Feeling jazzed by picking up some time, we
decided to run through Treeline and told Team Gordon to meet us at Fish
Hatchery — I felt bad as they had everything spread out and waiting for
us.. what a crew! Carole tossed me a Boost as we ran past. We headed back
along the flat highway section to Fish
Hatcheries; I didn’t care for these 4 miles any more than I did on the
outbound journey. We arrived at Fish at 21:43 — picking up more time — now
just 3 minutes over my strategy pace. Jonathan told me as we headed up the
paved road out of the Fish Hatchery aid station that we just had a
marathon to go to the finish line. the only time I thought that 23 miles
was a short manageable distance. Now was not the time to get too confident
as we still had the climb back up Sugarloaf. I had heard all kinds of
horror stories from fellow CRUDers about this section, disembodied
floating green glow sticks, false summits, and the climb. did I mention
false summits? We spotted and caught up to headlights in front of us, just
as we were thinking Sugarloaf wasn’t so bad we’d hit another false
summit — another climb and another false summit! The night sky was filled
with millions of stars and a sliver moon, as we made it to the top of
Sugarloaf we had an incredible view of the Milky Way. We could also see
the lights at May Queen, and off to the right in the distance the Lights
of Leadville — and the finish. We knew the worst was behind us. Down we
walked/ran on the jeep road until the right turn at the T onto Hagerman
Road. My quads were tightening, which
made for short sustained periods of running followed by power walking. We
continued to catch and pass runners, including one gentleman from
California with a bad cough sounding like he had fluid in his lungs who
wished us well. Soon we could see flashlights pointing the way off
Hagerman and onto the downhill slop of the Colorado Trail. This section
was tough, it became very rocky and muddy trying not to slip as we saw the
lights through the trees from the Mayqueen aid station which still seemed
so far away. We continued to pick our way down the trail, feeling
confident. I had a bottle of No Doz caffeine pills, but we just didn’t
need them I was pumped with the whole adventure and what we were
accomplishing. Off the trail and onto the pavement, I knew we were about
to come into the Mayqueen aid station. This was bittersweet for me as this
was where Ted pulled himself out of the 2005 race. We came in feeling
happy and strong at 25: 18, one hour and 18 minutes ahead of the cut-off
time, and 22 minutes ahead of my pace time — I felt
incredible. We stayed 6 minutes, having a little stomach trouble I spent
most of that time in a porta-potty. I wanted to change into a CRUD shirt
for the finish line, but they had all gotten dirty or wet and Carole
didn’t have one with my stuff. After running for over 24 hours, emotions
were on edge and I got short with Carole and Team Gordon — sorry crew and
crew chief — you guys are the very best and I wouldn’t have been able to
get this far without your love and support!
Out we went, next stop — the FINISH LINE! 13.5 miles to go, and for the
first time — knowing we had picked up so much time in the last section
(thank you Jonathan!) I knew I was going to finish. The first section is
almost 7 miles of rolling single track around the north shore of Turquoise
Lake. We ran and walked this section following a group of
runners as it was too difficult to pass on the single track. It started
getting light as the sun was coming up over the lake, there was broken
cloud keeping the temperature low. As Keith would say, this was now a
“multi-day” event. We really lucked out with the weather, even with the
rain and hail coming off Hope. As we approached the Boat Ramp, I picked
out someone walking her way towards us - it was Carole — with a clean
CRUD shirt. After leaving Mayqueen she had gone back into town to the pink
house, she washed and dried the shirt and walked in on the course 2 miles
so I could cross the finish line in a CRUD shirt. What can I say, Carole
you are the best, thank you for all your love and support. We said goodbye
to Carole, telling her we’d see her soon at the finish. I was speechless,
blown away by Carole’s actions. Coming off the lake trail and across the
road, we dropped down the cutline under the powerline which emptied out
onto a wide dirt road known as the Boulevard and 3.25 miles to go. This
section seemed to go on forever;
slightly uphill we walked for the most part. After what seemed like an
eternity, passing runners bent over vomiting, we were at pavement again, 1
mile to go we knew we were almost there. You could start to feel the
energy, we turned the corner and up at the top of the street we saw it -
the FINISH line banner. A most incredible sight, but nothing as sweet as
seeing the smiling faces of Carly, Jason, Katie, Peter and Carole,
standing on the curb, still yelling and screaming support. The “best crew
ever” came down
the street to meet us and with Jonathan we all made our way together
towards the finish. I ran in the last few yards breaking the tape in 29:
20: 32 in 156th place under the 30 hour cutoff, getting a hug from race
director Marilee and hand shake from Pbville Race President Ken. Ted was
there to congratulate me. The only thing left to do now was to get checked
out in the medical tent, and find the cold beer.
Things Done Right: Stuck with my race strategy
Things Done Wrong: Nothing really
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Jon Magistro reports:
Location: The mother of mountains!!!
Date: 8/19/06
Distance: a long darn way!!!!!
Goal: Beat Last year’s time
Results: I Beat last year’s time
General Information: A great day for a race!!! It was cool and overcast
the entire way. No lightning or hail this year.
Things Done Right: This year my plan was to pace myself really well at the
bottom of the mountain, by actually listening to my HR monitor. I kept
reeling myself back in to match my HR with the calculator splits I printed
out before I left the house. I had been doing a lot of hill work and at my
pace the mountain didn’t feel as steep as normal, until above treeline of
course (more on that later). My time for the final mile was the best I had
ever done, until the log jam of people near the finish.
Things Done Wrong: I sprained my ankle very badly in late September last
year playing softball. Then I took it upon myself to make matters worse by
being a typical man and not going to the Dr for x-rays or rehab! Nice
going, huh? Anyway this caused me to take 4 1/2 months off of training.
Since I am
horizontally gifted, and metabolism(ly) challenged I was able to pack on a
good 15 lbs. of hard fought fat!! This made training more of an effort
throughout the year winding down to race day. I had increased my weekly
mileage but not the amount of time spent at altitude since I had moved out
of the PP area. I was tracking perfectly for my goal, but as the
calculator page says expect to lose SERIOUS time above treeline. So I
followed directions and lost serious time. Actually I just did a poor job
of eating above treeline and that cost me the energy needed to push even
more. I finally remembered to eat and proceeded to have my best final mile
ever, including training runs. Lastly, I was just a few minutes too slow
to avoid the long jam of people piled up behind a
brave soul who was struggling to finish. I’m glad for his success in
finishing however while he was blocking the trail to catch his breath and
over falling over multiple times the 10+ people behind him were losing
time overall. p.s. — if this was you... Great job finishing!! Next time
please step off the trail for catching your wind, I for one know how hard
it is to be passed near the end of a race but in the time we are finishing
(we are slow after all) the only thing we have is our time and having to
stand on the trail waiting (multiple times) can be a frustrating way to
finish.
Calculator: To those of you who may not know about this or haven’t used
it, please do. This tool can make your race and experience sooooo much
better.
Other Stuff: I would like to thank every single volunteer who again this
year LIED to me at every aid station. Can you believe that these people
actually kept telling me that I was looking good???? The nerve of these
people!! They must have to fail a lie detector test in order to sign-up
bcz they are really good at it. Truthfully though, YOU ARE THE BEST thank
you so much for all of your lying. I will say again, that I will return to
fight another day on this mountain. I will keep improving until I finally
beat my mother-in-laws time from 20+
years ago....ROCK ON!!!!!!
***
Peak Double
Doug Laufer reports:
Location: Pikes Peak
Date: Aug 19-20 2006
Distance: further than most, but others are longer
Goal: Goal was finish both days, sub 3: 30 Saturday, sub 6: 00 Sunday, and
improve on double time.
Results: 3:23:00 ascent; 5:52:11 round trip: Wow best ascent in 5 years,
best round time in 8 years, best double
Website: http://www.skyrunner.com/peak.htm
General Information: Nasty case of plantar fasciitis (PF) beginning of May
cost me about 6 weeks of quality training. Once I could run consistently
again (mid June) I focused on running high. I even did the minute hard
easy at 12,000+ feet a few times. Side note: I really worked at getting
rid of PF, good results. In talking to other runners found lots of us are
dealing with it. Would be happy to share
my experiences. There are a number of good web sites, here is just one of
them: www.drpribut.com/sports/heelhtm.htm.
Besides training high I focused on mental preparation (PMA makes a
difference), I also worked on even effort, working hard but avoiding going
into the red zone. Due to PF my base was not what I wanted, did not do
anything longer than an ascent in training and as a precaution limited
downhill running. I guess approach worked, ascent really could not have
gone any better, pretty much hit my “ideal — best case” splits (see
calculator comments). I felt good, mentally was really buzzed. I really
drew on the energy from the local running community. We are very lucky to
have all the support and interaction that occurs in Pikes Peak Country.
After ascent focused on getting ready for Sunday — reload and rest. Felt
pretty good at start Sunday, mentally was still riding high. Early in the
race I set another goal: beat Matt to A Frame, and I did it with about 1
½ minute to spare. Yes, Matt did not pass me going back down until just
after I passed A Frame on way up. At A Frame I was four minutes behind
Saturday (my splits were about 1 minute slower per segment (W’s, No Name,
BC, A Frame)). Then the lack of base started to be a factor — I did not
bonk, but I started thinking about the downhill, fretting about my foot,
feeling satisfied (after all just met my goal of the day : -)), was
thinking about being tired and depleted. I pretty much power walked the
top three miles (had run much of it Saturday). I lost 2 minutes to
Saturday on miles 3 & 2 and the last mile was FIVE minutes slower than
Saturday (needed food, yielding right of way to downhill runners, and
saving some energy for downhill). Ascent time was 13 minutes slower than
Saturday. Decent time of 2: 16 kind of weak but I have been slower. PF
never was an issue!! Given lack of base, long runs and downhill training
RT went as good as I could have expected.
Things Done Right: Keys to success this year were:
*Getting high often
*Even effort, avoiding red zone
*PMA
Things Done Wrong: Keys to improvement for next year
*Better base
*A few long runs 5-6 hour range
*Quality downhill training
*Reload for double: I could feel energy level wane after about 3 hours
Sunday, body was depleted, I had to conserve and spread out reserves. Was
craving food — maybe should have taken more at aid stations. I really
think I did all I could think of to reload after Ascent (fluids, carbs,
rest) but need to improve , open to suggestions.
Calculator: For ascent felt if all went perfect I could run a 3:22, missed
by exactly 1 minute, although I could swear the clock said 3:22: 58 when I
finished ;-). I was 1 minute ahead of pace at Barr Camp, lost 3 minutes
for A Frame segment. One minute ahead of pace chart for top 3 miles for
net of off one minute. Not sure why I was off pace for A Frame segment,
felt
ok -something to work on I guess.
Other Stuff: Just one hill but it is a very long one
***
Summer Roundup Trail Run
Gahlen Crawford reports:
Location: Colorado Springs
Date: July 9, 2006
Distance: 12 K
Goal: 1: 30
Results: 1: 31: 53
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/
General Information: Nice race but muddy in places.
Things Done Right: Paced myself well.
Things Done Wrong: Did NOT do any of the practice runs on Tuesdays or
Thursdays.
***
Barr Trail Mountain Race
Gahlen Crawford reports:
Location: Manitou Springs, CO
Date: July 16, 2006
Distance: 12 miles
Goal: 3:25
Results: 3:18:30
Website: http://www.runpikespeak.com
General Information: Hot. Set a new PR.
Things Done Right: Trained with IC throughout the season. Set a slower
pace from last year heading up but had additional energy to run down
faster.
Things Done Wrong: Gained weight from last year.
***
Barr Trail Mountain Race
Charles Scheibe reports:
Location: Manitou Springs
Date: July 16, 2006
Distance: 12 miles
Goal: sub 2:50
Results: 2:39
Website: http://www.runpikespeak.com
General Information: Well-administered trail run; hot weather.
Things Done Right: Maintained a consistent effort throughout race.
***
Squaw Valley Mountain Run
Adam Feerst reports:
Location: Squaw Valley, CA
Date: 8/5/06
Distance: 3.6mi
Goal: Solid last LT run before Pikes; 1st master; 36-38 min
Results: Good run. 1st master, 6th overall; 34: 25, but run was shorter
than I thought.
Website: http://www.bigblueadventure.com
General Information: Advertised at 3.6mi, 2,000’, up service/cat roads, at
the Squaw Valley ski area (6,200’ base). The actual distance and/or grade
for this race must have been less. My time goal was an extrapolation of
what I’ve run at the Denver Trail Runners time trial Mt. Falcon (in
Morrison), a similar grade over 2.5mi. I was 3 min faster than I expected.
Things Done Right: Kept it at a LT effort. In other words, I ran it like a
training run, rather than waste an all out effort before Pikes and
Imogene.
Things Done Wrong: I shadowed the 5th place finisher too far back, rather
than staying right next to him. The race was shorter than I expected. That
didn’t leave enough time to reel him in at the end.
***
Pikes Peak Ascent
Sergio de Lourenco reports:
Location: Manitou
Date: Aug. 19, 2006
Distance: 13.32 miles
Goal: 1. PR (5:43) 2. 5:30 3. 5:15 if all is perfect
Results: Even better than perfect... 5:05
General Information: What a fantastic day. The temperature was perfect, I
felt great and stayed relaxed the entire race. Far exceeded all my goals
and took about 3 hours off my time from exactly 51 weeks earlier (also
took off 45 pounds). I’d been working towards this for 51 weeks and it
was worth every day. Great race! Right: Ate great the days leading up to
the race, tapered well, hydrated great during the race. Just took water
(to refill my bottle) and Gatorade at aid stations, often passing several
people at each station. Knew the course well and ran a smart race (which I
need to do since I’m not fast enough to run any other kind of race).
Treeline training paid off!
Things Done Wrong: Inexperience got me...I finished with some gas left in
the tank. I set my pace at a 5:25 ascent (based off my previous best of
5: 43). I felt great the entire race and could have started my final push
earlier. That’s what I get for being a rookie.
Calculator: Used it in June set at a 5:30 pace and was about 15 ahead of
pace until 2 to go when I bonked. Worked on treeline a lot after that and
came back in July trying for a 5:15 pace and bonked even earlier. So I
set the pace for 5:25 on race day. It was hard holding back because I
felt like I was going soooo slow, but I didn’t want to crash out... again.
Was about 10 minutes ahead of pace from NNC on, even when I thought I was
slowing. Regardless, it’s a great way to pace yourself.
Other Stuff: Now, I’m big and slow and this was only my second race ever
and I’ve realized one thing...it’s a blast passing people (especially
those that have passed you earlier). Walking through the clouds was
great! It’s fun listening to people who aren’t familiar with the course
talk/complain/wonder as they move on.
***********************************************
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS:
***********************************************
Additions to Incline Club News from IC members are welcome and encouraged.
Submit a Newsletter Item at:
http://www.inclineclub.com/newsletter.htm
***********************************************
WEBSITES:
***********************************************
Training for the Ascent and Marathon on Pikes Peak
http://www.skyrunner.com/guide/
Barr Trail Mountain Race
http://www.runpikespeak.com
presented by Pikes Peak National Bank
Incline Club
http://www.inclineclub.com
***********************************************
ACCOUNT SETTINGS:
***********************************************
To change your e-mail address or unsubscribe from the Incline Club
newsletter go here:
http://www.inclineclub.com/membership.asp
Top | Previous | Next Season | 2006 Index | Newsletter Index