2008 Incline Club News V12 - Off Season, Race Reports, and Farewell as Editor

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Incline Club News V12 - Off Season, Race Reports, and Farewell as Editor

Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 8:34 AM
Subject: Incline Club News V12 — Off Season, Race Reports, and Farewell as Editor

Hi Incline Club,

Reminder — Club Is in “Off Season"
After another successful season, the Incline Club is in off season mode. See you on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving!

Race Reports
Thanks for all the race reports, (both Rs and non-Rs) and volunteer reports. Be sure to take a few minutes to read what others have written. There are some interesting tidbits from volunteers and runners alike! :)

Farewell
My joyful obligations at home with my crew of four little Incline Clubbers are ramping up, and I simply need to clear out more time on our family schedule. So this is my last Incline Club newsletter. Thank you for letting me serve as your newsletter editor these last couple of years, I have TRULY enjoyed it. Incline Clubbers are the BEST!

P.S. look out for Incline Club news next season from Matt.

~Connilee

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“R” REPORTS:
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Leadville Trail 100 — Leadville Colorado — August 15th-16th

Gina Harcrow reports:
Distance: 100 miles
Goal: sub-25
Results: 28:49:12
Website: http://leadvilletrail100.com

General Summary:
This is the 5th year in a row that either Harry or I have run Leadville. For all 5 years we are blessed to have Rick and Doris Hoopes drive out from Nebraska to crew and pace us. They are the best crew any runner could ever hope for. Harry’s boss Joe volunteered to pace me the first 22 miles and Harry was going to pace me the last 28 miles to the finish. Both Grandmas and my brother and sister in law joined us as well to watch the kids and help out along the way.

The start of the race at 4:00 am was much more pleasant than expected. There was no rain and it didn’t feel exceptionally cold. I ran nice and slow and chit chatted with my fellow runners. I stopped to go to the bathroom on the boulevard and had diarrhea. Not to worry, I told myself it was too much coffee and it would pass. I was wrong, and this turned out to be just the first of many such wonderful stops during the race. I continued on to turquoise lake where I ended up behind a line of dozens of very slow folks. I battled past them all, only to have to stop again to go. I then decided it would be worth the extra few minutes to go up to the bathrooms at Tabor. Back onto the trail, back to passing lines of people, I made it into Mayqueen at 2:26, about 6 minutes slower than I intended. Then I did the classic dumb thing. Since it was light out and not raining at the present moment, I decided to take off and leave my jacket. I felt good climbing the Colorado Trail and good on Hagerman Road, but as I climbe d to the top of Sugarloaf there was a rain/snow/hail storm. I was soooo cold, all I could concentrate on was getting to the top so I could get down. Although, it was kind of cool watching the lightning hit the powerlines. It makes this loud bang accompanied by bursts of sparks. Coming down the powerlines, I had to stop 3 more times. It looked like it wasn’t just the morning coffee. I came into Fish cold and slightly dejected and knowing that a PR was probably out of the question. But, there was an outhouse with toilet paper, thank god for the small things. I put my jacket back on and headed out on the road to tree-line. The stretch from fish to Halfmoon is the worst part of the course, so I had to work to keep a decent pace here. I talked with Keith Grimes and David Wilcox a little on this stretch which made it more bearable. I felt alright at tree-line and was hoping to make some up some time to twin lakes but once again, the only thing I was looking forward to at Halfmoon was the outhouse. I knew I had lost more time here. I walked all of the way to the trail from Halfmoon. The trail to Twin Lakes is my favorite part of the course, but I was extremely slow and suffered from multiple stops along the way. I came into Twin Lakes 34 minutes slower than I wanted begging my crew for pepto or something. They found some Imodium and off I went. The climb up and down Hope Pass went well. I ran out of twin lakes in the rain which turned to hail, but on the climb up Hope the sun came out and stayed out all the way to Winfield. The climb up Hope was very muddy but the backside wasn’t bad at all. I ran hard down Hope and ran strong into Winfield. I made Winfield at 11:36, although 28 minutes slower than I planned, it meant that I had made up about 7 minutes between twin and Winfield. I hit the bathrooms, took some Imodium, and headed out with my pacer Joe. We had barely started down the road when I had to stop again. By the time we started climbing Hope I was spent. I drank both my bottles and we were only about ha lf way up. My pacer gave me his Gatorade. The climb back up Hope was slow and brutal. When we reached the summit, Joe ran down to the aid station to fill my bottles and started back up to meet me. When I reached Hope, I was not doing well. I sat down on a log in the tent and ate some soup. After a few minutes we moved on. I couldn’t even run down for awhile, as runner after runner passed me. Finally, somewhere along the descent, my stomach settled down and I told Joe to take the lead and run. We managed to run down the second half of Hope into Twin Lakes. It had taken me 4:06 to get from Winfield to Twin and I knew that the best I was going to do that day was finish, maybe. More Pepto and outhouses, and off we climbed out of Twin. The first few miles went alright, but then it was just more of the same. Lots of walking, walking, walking. 3 hours later we made it to Half Moon. I managed to recover a little and we were able to run some to tree-line. This was my pacer’s first ultra experience and after crawling along with me for 22 miles it might be his last. At tree-line, I picked up Harry to pace me to the finish. He knew I was in bad shape and wanting to quit so he made every effort to encourage me along the way. We ran on and off to Fish Hatchery. Once there, I decided to have some of my blisters work on. This was probably a waste of time looking back. I had so many blisters it really didn’t matter. After spending way too much time at Fish Hatchery we moved on. The climb up the power lines wasn’t too bad, but another storm had come in and it was getting cold. I watched a runner in front of me remove his jacket and continue to the top of the powerlines in a short sleeve shirt in a snow storm. We aren’t always in our right mind out there. We reached the top and started down the road in the rain and snow. I was extremely tired and slightly delusional and asked Harry several times if I could please stop and sleep for 10 minutes. I think I was starting to get hypothermic. He began to really pu sh me then, telling me we had to get down and making me run as much as he could. Every time I started walking he would tell me we need to run now. Over and over he pushed me and encouraged me on the down until we finally made it to the Colorado Trail. I felt a little better in the trees out of the altitude and out of the storm. Leaving Mayqueen, I had over 5 hours to finish. The rain and snow continued and it was cold but at that point I knew I could finish. Harry encouraged me along the way and made me run parts of the boulevard and 6th street. I fought back the tears when I saw the finish line because no matter how much pain I had endured, I had made it. Finish Time 28:49. It was by far the most suffering I have ever done on a run and I can only attribute my finish to an amazing crew and pacers and my awesome husband who carried me through those last 50 miles. Without them I never ever could have done it.

Things Done Right:
I didn’t quit.

Things Done Wrong:
I could have always taken in more nutrition to keep my energy level up.

***
PPA & Marathon — Manitou Springs — 8-16 & 17-08

Larry Miller reports:
Distance: 39
Goal: make it home
Results: did it almost

General Summary:
Volunteered to work both days for the PP Ascent and Marathon on top of the mountain helping with the finish line, timing.

Things Done Right:
Took along all my bad weather clothing.

Things Done Wrong:
Nothing

Any Other Stuff:
It all started on the 15th of August, I picked up all the timing and finish line things for the top of Pikes Peak, and it was raining then. Saturday the 16th got up at 3:45 and drove to Manitou it was raining all the way and I knew this was going to be a bad day on the mountain. The drive up was going real good till we got on highway 24 and hit heavy wet clouds, and we were in a fog, all the way to the top of the Pike. But the Good side had a new volunteer, Mike Sandil Incliner, on top it wasn’t too foggy, wind was blowing and about 1-2 inches of snow and hail on top. Not bad if you’re dry.
The fun started at about 2:28+ first runner, you knew it was bad he was wet and cold, and looked like H---. The timing went ok, but the back-up system went down and that couldn’t be corrected, so on we went. As the lightning was going off, word came up that the racers were being turned back at A-frame. Then it became a wait and see how many people make the top. We had no idea how many of you were out there. There were over 1600 that could have started that day. When it was over the count was around 757 that made the top. Very few second wavers’ got though. For you that got turned around you really don’t know how lucky you are. You did get a good 18-19 mile run in, and it was wet, not dry and hot.

Next Day.
Marathon day I got to sleep in got up at 4:00 am then drove over to Manitou, I couldn’t believe I could see the top of the mountain all the way there, boy did I relax, I’m the driver today, a 15 passenger van, you think coming down in one is fun after running up, try driving one up the mountain. With 10 kids (volunteers, adults) in the back crying and praying, later on this.
Got to the Highway gate and they said to make sure I stay behind the snow plow to the top. Asked him how far up the mountain the plow was, 15 mile mark. Ask if it was slow going for the plow he just looked at me and said good luck, oh boy. Well this day we could see the trees and the mountain all the way up no clouds’ no rain, Then we got to mile 14.65 on the highway and then things changed, this is were the crying and praying comes in, not the weather but the road, that new asphalt is bad news it was a sheet of ice all the way up to where ever the asphalt ends. Give me gravel mountain road any day. We hit the gravel road it was plowed about 4 or 5 inches of snow. And the road under it was muddddyyyy. Now remember I’m driving a 15 passenger van. We’re doing 10-15 miles an hour tops, back of the van likes to fishtail, on, we go. Mile 18.456, the last up-hill to the last turn to the top, van slowing, van fishtailing, I thinking why me. Why me, OSP 4X4 behind me, fishtail moving slower up, made th e turn straight shot to the summit house made it, I made it, I’m thinking, then there’s the plow I have to stop, I’m just 39 feet to my parking space and safety. I had to wait 2 minutes; shoot over stopped the van, I jump out, ran to the bathroom and safety. I made it.
Oh, the race went off great, snow is great to run in and if dressed right timing is fun. Matt was smiling as he came up and as he left just before the first turn a jump of joy, will that or he slipped on a rock and was really fling.
But wait there is a down hill side of this, coming at the end of this race, I’m not driving, no way not on that ice on the W’s no way. Oh, great, I know give me a challenge and I’ll try it once, once up once down, on ice and snow. We left the summit 2:20 pm lite snow, parking lot clear. This time less kids, got on the road and it was great, no brakes, no ice, no snow, no cars, and no crying from the kids in the back. No cars there was no up hill traffic, highway was closed at Glen Cove.
We made it back down the mountain no problem.
Vern if you read this hope your. Ok.

I don’t know how times I’ve been up top timing or running these race’s, But I know Saturday’s Ascent had to be the ugliest condition for the Ascenders’ I’ve seen. You got wet at the onset and wetter as you went up and then above timberline even wetter, oh throw in some lighting, then to top it off, on top, wind and sleet, hail and snow. GOOD JOB TO ALL OF YOU.

***
Pikes Peak Ascent — Pikes Peak — Aug 16, 2008

John Garner reports:
Distance: 13.3
Goal: 3:30, 3:45, 4:00, 4:15
Results: 3:57:34

General Summary:
Epic! This is the one they will be talking about for years. (Mostly to serve as a warning to others...)

The race started in the low 50’s with rain, and stayed that way until A-Frame. At that point the rain was replaced by grapple, the 50 deg temps with 20’s and the wind decided to pick up to the 40+mph range at times.

Things Done Right:
Since November: 1375+ miles and 215,000+ ft of gain over 262 hours worth of training.

Dresses better than most (I won’t say ‘well’).

Went out fast enough to get past A-Frame before they started turning folks back.

Was too oblivious to note just how close that lightning strike at a-frame was.

Avoided last years stomach issues by taking my own Gatorade mix.

Things Done Wrong:
Didn’t dress well enough. By the time I finished, I was soaked from head to toe. I quickly started to shiver as soon as I stopped moving.

Good rain gear (top and bottom) is on my ‘must purchase’ list this month. Wind resistant is not enough, I need something that wont soak through after 20 minutes.

I need to find a better way to carry that much stuff, as my upper back was starting to get sore from the weight of the pack with all of the extra gear in it.

Comments on Calculator:
Here are the splits with play by play color commentary:

I started the race with shorts, long sleeve tech T (incline club, of course), windproof (*not* waterproof) jacket with hood and a nylon baseball cap. In the camelback was 48oz of endurance formula Gatorade, a pair of gloves (not waterproof), knit hat, and a lined pair of warm-up pants (free ones my wife got from EAS at a conference last year since I could not find my wind pants).

Start -> Ruxton: 3:33 (3:33): Way too fast for my goal 3:30 pace, but what else is new for this section? I didn’t have much of a warm-up, and my average HR for this section was only 109. I almost ran a few other folks over as the majority of the wave 2 folks were following the curve of the road rather than the shortest tangents for that first curve.

Ruxton -> Hydro: 8:20 (11:54): A bit closer to the 3:30 target pace, but still a touch fast. I was trying to slowly bring my HR up to the pre-determined goal of 160 for the race. The hood was annoying me so I pulled it off at this time and just let the cap do the job. It worked out rather well till a-frame.

Hydro -> W’s: 30:29 (42:24): Way over the 28:59 goal time, but the weight of the pack and extra clothing was telling me that this was a good time to slow down. The HR was now up to 165, which is 5bpm faster than the same section during an IC sunday when I did it almost 2 minutes faster. My effort level didnt feel all that high, but I had the feeling that this was not going to be a ‘normal’ race.

W’s -> Noname: 19:53 (1:02:17): By this time I figured that the weather would make a 3:30 impossible (for me) due to the extra gear. A 3:45 still looked good. HR was still a touch high at 165, but not too alarming since the legs still felt ok.

Noname -> 7.8: 21:57 (1:24:14): Oddly enough, this split was very close to the original 3:30 goal pace. I was able to get my HR back to the 160 that I wanted, which was good. I was now totally soaked from neck to toes. Oddly enough the cap was doing a good job for my head as it was the only dry part on me.

7.8 -> Barr Camp: 25:02 (1:49:17): My feet went from wet to drenched due to a few over sized puddles. I figured that it was time to cut the pace since this may be a race of survival rather than of speed and I wanted a good sized reserve for the fun part above treeline.

BC -> Bottomless Pit: 17:52 (2:07:10): All pace goals were now out the window and I just wanted to finish the race. My hands were starting to get cold, so I pulled my gloves out of the pack and attempted to put them on. Trying to get wet, cold hands into dry gloves proved to be a difficult maneuver. It slowed me down more than expected as I didnt want to face plant into anything hard.

BP -> A-Frame: 35:58 (2:44:08). At this time the pace drops to a fast but rather comfortable hike. This split also includes the 3 minutes it took me to put on the pants I had 1 switchback below the a-frame sign where I found a nice area sheltered from the rain. As I was approaching A-frame I knew I should put them on, but I figured I’d do it 2 switchbacks or so after the aid station just in case they decided to call the race early :-). Little did I know at the time that they would close the course only a few minutes after I went past. I was wet, but otherwise feeling fine. The number of folks turning back by themselves was a bit of a cause for worry, but none of them were dressed very well. At least they knew that they were in over their head. I never saw the lightning that apparently struck nearby, but I did hear it.

A-Frame -> 2 to go: 24:18 (3:08:27): Oh, My God! You have got to be kidding me. The wind, the sleet, the stinging when the sleet hit anything that was exposed, the folks out there in nothing but shorts and a t-shirt. WTF where they thinking? From here on out, I could only see about 3 ft in front of me. The hat/hood combination severely limited visibility, and the wind basically forced me to keep my head down. I could no longer spot folks as I came up behind them until I was about 3’ from them. Thus I could not anticipate their arrival and plan on an easy way to get around them. I had somebody ask me if we had hit the 2 mile marker yet. I just said no. I didnt have the heart to tell her she still had 3/4ths of a mile to go. The SAR folks had their work cut out for them. It was bad.

2 -> 1 to go: 21:54 (3:30:21): This is supposed to be the ‘easy’ part, but more walking popsicles from wave 1 slowed things down a good bit. Given the direction of the wind, this section was just nasty.

1 -> Finish: 27:12 (3:57:34): Here I quickly discovered two things: 1) frozen rocks are slippery and 2) dont stand right behind somebody from wave 1 since if they lose their footing they are going to take you out with them. My HR was now down to 140 as this basically turned into a leisurely hike. I knew I was going to finish under 4 hours, and now I just didnt want to hurt myself.

Post race: Once I got past the log jam at the finish line, I made a bee line for the sweat check and then the medical area to get changed. At this point I was shivering so badly that it took me 5 minutes to get my shirt off and a dry one on. I then put on a fresh jacket and wool cap. After I shoved the wet stuff into the bag I bolted for the finisher shirts and then the vans. It then took them another 10 minutes to get us on the vans. I finally stopped shivering when I hit the school buses at the 7 mile marker.

***
Pike’s Peak Ascent — COS — Aug 16, 2008

Mark Jakusovszky reports:
Distance: 13.32
Goal: 4:15
Results: DNF (turned back @ A-Frame)

General Summary:
A loooong day, since I was involuntarily signed up for the Pikes Peak 3/4 marathon ;-) I was disappointed that I couldn’t finish, but it did look very ugly up there! I was on a pace to finish well ahead of last year’s time (just under 5 hours) despite the weather, but I guess I’ll just have to wait until next year to qualify for W1.

Things Done Right:
Hydrated. Ate right. Wore sufficient rain/weather gear. Got to race on time. Paced myself well on the Ws (involuntarily via the “W2 crowd”). Trained at high altitude.

Things Done Wrong:
Started training late. Tapered late. Regardless, I’m just going to blame the weather..... ;-)

Comments on Calculator:
The calculator ROCKS! I knew where I had to be and when, but just was not fast enough to make the cutoff.

***
Pike’s Peak Ascent — 08/16/2008

Chaz Lalonde reports:
Distance: 13.3 miles
Goal: Beat last year's time to keep my streak alive.
Results: 3 minutes slower

General Summary:
Had a good training season with no injuries. Was ahead of my splits at A frame then gradually lost 30-45secs per mile in the next 2 miles. Lost 1+ minute in the last mile battling the winds and elements.

Things Done Right:
Good pacing until A frame. Brought appropriate layers of clothing for the entire race. Placed 3/8” screws in my racing flats the am of race.

Things Done Wrong:
Didn’t pray enough for better weather

Any Other Stuff:
My streak ends at 9 consecutive years while improving my time in the Ascent. Age &/or weather finally caught up to me.

***
Pikes Peak Ascent — Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs — 08/16/08

Louise Erasmus reports:
Distance: 13
Goal: 3.36
Results: 3.54

General Summary:
It was one of the coldest Ascent’s that I have experienced. The weather up top was unbelievable. I’m just glad that they have cut of people at A-frame. I think that there were a lot of people borderline hypothermia. I think I was close. It was just very slow going up on the last 3 miles. I was within my goal till A-frame then everything changed. People were going very slow but when I got to pass I was running as fast as I could especially the last mile.

Things Done Right:
I was going slow and even effort all the way up.

Things Done Wrong:
Not eating enought salt. NOT wearing enough. My daughter forgot her jacket so I gave her mine. I only had on a thin technical shirt and gloves and a hat. That was not nearly enough. Should have come more prepared.

Comments on Calculator:
Matt’s calculator is great. I was within goal all the way of the time. I actually was a little ahead of the goal.

Any Other Stuff:
Course was wet and rainy till A-frame. Then hail and lightning and snow.

***
Kelly J Jackson — Pikes Peak — 8/17/2008

Kelly Jackson reports:
Distance: 26.21 miles
Goal: 8 hours
Results: 8:13

General Summary:
Not as hard as I thought it would be. Weather was terrible the day before the race, but the race gods smiled on us on Sunday. No doubt about it that 13 miles of downhill will eventually get your knees.

Things Done Right:
Had a great training year. Did lots of strength training and it paid off. Night before the race, I washed my running gear in waterproofing which kept me dry up top. Dressed appropriately. Brought my YakTrax for the icy section. Finished strong and wasn’t too worn out at the end.

Things Done Wrong:
Next time I’ll try pushing harder. I’ll also try to remember to take the anti-inflammatory a little sooner.

Any Other Stuff:
Snowing and foggy above the cirque, then got really slick at the 16 Golden Stairs. Put my YakTrax on for the downhill portion and took off while the others around me were slipping and sliding. Other than that, the weather was perfect. Sure beats the heat.

***
Pike’s Peak Marathon — 8-17-08

Joe and Brenda cowell reports:
Distance: 16
Goal: volunteer
Results: volunteered

General Summary:
Brenda and I volunteered for pp marathon Thanks, JC BC

Things Done Right:
n/a

Things Done Wrong:
n/a

***
Garden of the Gods — Colorado Springs, Co — June 8, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 10miles
Goal: 1hr 25min
Results: 1hr25min

General Summary:
I lacked the conditioning to push myself to catch the 1st place runner in my age group

Things Done Right:
Kept focused on maintaining my pace

Things Done Wrong:
Had not trained enough

***
Greenland Open Space — Palmer Lake, Co — April 19,2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 8miles
Goal: 1hr 10min
Results: 1;12;02

General Summary:
Need to establish a real training program

Things Done Right:
Focused and kept my pace

Things Done Wrong:
Lacked training and conditioning

***

Scar Top Mountain 12K — Coal Creek Canyon, Co — July 4, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 12K
Goal: 51 min
Results: 1:08:02

General Summary:
Had just spent a week kayaking. No running for a week prior to the race.

Things Done Right:
Gave my best attempt

Things Done Wrong:
Lack of training prior to race day

***
Barr Trail Mtn Race — Colorado Springs, Co — July 13, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 12K
Goal: 2:30 or less
Results: 2:38:38

General Summary:
Still lacking conditioning for mountain runs

Things Done Right:
Finished and won a new pair of trail shoes!

Things Done Wrong:
Fell 3 miles from finish, broke one finger, jammed three others and received bone-bruises on my right knee. Lost my focus, slowed down and missed my goal.

***
Summer Round-up Trail Run — Colorado Springs, Co — July 6, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 12K
Goal: 50 min
Results: 1:09:19

General Summary:
Never ran the course prior so I had no idea what I was in for! Egads. I had run the Scar Top Mtn 12K on the 4th of July, but really wanted to try to win my age group in this race.

Things Done Right:
Gave 100%

Things Done Wrong:
Not enough hill training

***
Grand Prix Classic 10K — Tiffany Square-Colorado Springs, Co — July 26, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 10K
Goal: 45min
Results: 48:21

General Summary:
Had surgery on my broken finger on Wednesday prior so I ran with a huge wrap/cast on my left hand/arm. Doctor had said not to run :-) A bit tired

Things Done Right:
Kept my pace comfortable

Things Done Wrong:
Didn’t achieve my goal

***

Evergreen Town Race — Evergreen, Co — Aug 3, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 10K
Goal: 45min
Results: 48:47

General Summary:
I had an MRI on the knee I bruised during Barr Trail — found I have torn meniscus as well as bruising so I didn’t run the week prior to this race..trying to rest my knee. I felt tired mid-way thru the run

Things Done Right:
Ran and gave a good effort

Things Done Wrong:
Too old to not run for the week prior to a race :-)

***
Pikes Peak Marathon — Manitou, Co — Aug 17, 2008

Stephanie Wiecks reports:
Distance: 26.2 miles
Goal: 6:30
Results: 7:10

General Summary:
Totally under-trained for this one. Had intended to meet w/ Incline Club for training but have all my excuses for not. Was advised by knee specialist not to compete in this, so I took an overly cautious approach to the descent.

Things Done Right:
Had registered for the Triple Crown so I had to complete the Ascent as quickly as able.

Things Done Wrong:
Undertrained. Having fallen during Barr Trail I hesitated to run on the icey trails and avoided running on the rough rocky parts. Downhill is usually my strength, but I know I was afraid of falling again and further damaging my hand (still in a splint) so I walked a great deal until the trail cleared.

***
Pike’s Peak Ascent — 8/16/2008

Jack Ramsey/Blake Ramsey reports:
Distance: 13.3
Goal: 3:45&3:15
Results: 4:04&3:18

General Summary:
Wet & cold! Blake’s first Ascent (age 17), he will remember this one for the rest of his life(as we all will!)

Things Done Right:
Jack:Trained fairly well(could always do more it seems), dressed warmly for the start.
Blake: Trained well, dressed well for the race.

Things Done Wrong:
Jack: Wore wool Nike pants and gloves that became saturated by race end. Thank go0dness for the foresight to tie a Tyvek jacket around my waist at start, pulled it over my head several times above tree line. Still hypothermic at the end of the race.
Blake: Gloves were soaked and cold at the end, Tyvek jacket was a help but still hypothermic at the end Glad to get off the mountain!

Comments on Calculator:
Jack: Consistently one min faster on all splits up to A frame, then everything went to hell! Oh well, made it to the top all though I had my doubts at times!

Any Other Stuff:
Jack: This was probably the most difficult physical thing I have ever done, the sleet and wind above A frame was really tough. Need to have better cold weather gear if this occurs again.
Blake: Wore Under Armour pants and Tyvek jacket that saved the day but was still in misery at the top.

***
NF 50 — Near San Francisco — 12/1/2007

Matt Carpenter reports:
Distance: 50+ miles
Goal: Win
Results: 2nd

General Summary:
OK, rules are rules so I guess I need to do this R Report to get the R and have a perfect Sunday streak.

Had a great run for 18 miles, a good run for 18 more, hung on for 8 more and then the wheels fell off at 44 miles. Bottom line, the winner trained better for this course so he, um - won! I just have to admit I did not take my usual approach to this race.

Things Done Right:
I did it.

Things Done Wrong:
I was too cheap to fly out and check out the course. On the other foot, the winner made a trip out and ran the course beforehand. This forced me to run his race. Come race day he ran slow on the ups, medium on the flats and fast on the downs. That is not the way I run so I got pretty beat up. Along those lines, while I knew the general course from studying the maps, I had no idea that in CA if there is a little hill they put in steps - wood ones, rock ones or both. Thank goodness they don’t build the trails around here or the Barr Trail would look more like the Incline step-wise. I knew I was in trouble when we hit the first set and about 5 guys went blowing by me:-( Each set we hit tore me up a little more and I even crashed on one.

I had a crew person lined up but they pulled. Then I was lazy and did not want to go through the hassle to arrange for another crew. This would probably work most of the time. But at this level it didn’t. I would come into a station slightly in the lead or with the leader only to have to fumble for my stuff while the winner grabbed his stuff from his wife and carried on. At the 18 mile aid station they could not even find my drop bag and I lost some time hunting it down. Having to make it up at this level takes its toll and in this case I was stupid and tore my legs up chasing after him on a sick downhill. Bottom line, not having a crew was really stupid on my part!

I need to just admit that the Pikes Peak Double was not a smart move on my part if I was to do better at this race. While I won the Double, I lost about 2 months valuable training time recovering from it. Chalk this one up to greed!

Any Other Stuff:
I plan to go back with 3 major adjustments. 1) I will train for the steps on the course. 2) I will have a crew. 3) I will not have a Pikes Peak Double to recover from. Time will tell...

Mark Twain has a quote that goes, “the coldest winter I ever spent was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” With all due respect to those that live there, I could not agree more. After 3 days I was just chilled to the bone!

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Pikes Peak Ascent — W’s Aid Station — August 16, 2008

William Keller reports:
Distance: 13.2
Goal: Don’t spill the Gatorade on the runners
Results: Fail.

General Summary:
Worked the aid station on the W’s and got to see many of you from a different angle as well as a species previously unknown to me during a race...the leaders. Really enjoyed the 9 or ten hours of volunteer stuff despite the weather, no seriously, I did.

Things Done Right:
Wore good rain gear from head to toe. Headlamp was great for 4:30am packhorse trail assault up the W’s. Wisely refrained from telling anyone about the weather at the summit unless they asked. Graduated Aid Station Advanced course with a B+.

Things Done Wrong:
Occasionally spilled on some runners while filling up their bottles. When they realized they were already wet, it wasn’t a big deal (but I still heard about it). Tried to master pouring two fisted with gatoradeG and water...moderate success.

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Pikes Peak Marathon — Manitou — August 17, 2008

Greg Voelkel reports:
Distance: 26.2
Goal: Top Ten finish and sub 4:15
Results: 6th, 4:13:05, 2:39 up and 1:33 down

General Summary:
My second Pikes Peak Marathon, first since 2000.

Things Done Right:
My training was perfect and all of my winter snow running and altitude training paid off. I had a good taper and ate right on race week. I also pushed myself to my physical limits. I put 4 screws in each shoe before the race and my traction coming down the top three miles was really good.

Things Done Wrong:
#1 Pacing — I went out with Bernie Boettcher at about a 2:30-2:35 ascent pace. Because of the fast times I had been running on short sections of the trail during my taper I thought I could do it. Through most of my training my goal was to break 2:40 on the Ascent but I tricked myself into thinking I could do more with some faster upper mountain times on my 3-2-1 and Elk park to the top workouts. However, it turned into the typical semi-collapse on the top three miles. My 1:16 from Barr Camp to the top on a training run from Elk Park turned into a 1:24 on race day. My 43 minutes for the top three miles on my last 3-2-1 workout turned into 50 minutes on race day. Luckily I had a PR of 1:49 to A-Frame so I still broke 2:40 by 6 seconds but not quite the way I would have liked.

#2 — Not putting on my jacket above A-Frame. I definitely spent some extra calories trying to keep myself warm above A-frame while I had a jacket tied around my waist the whole time. I attribute that to altitude induced stupidity.

#3 — Took 3 gels instead of 4 and missed calorie boost at Barr Camp. I took my three Powergels at Barr Camp, A-Frame and the summit which was fine, but in my preparation I didn’t plan on needing anything else on the descent. Coming into Barr Camp on the way down I was getting weak and needed a gel or something. Not only did I not have one but I also blew right through the aid station. I ended up having two hard falls and almost blacked out over the next two miles until I reached Bob’s road. This two mile stretch cost me at least three minutes on my descent and a lot of extra pain. After getting two Gatorades and a handful of grapes at Bob’s road I was “relatively” OK for the rest of the descent.

Comments on Calculator:
The calculator is about right if you have trained on the mountain. The challenge is running a correctly paced race. Running the “perfect” race on Pikes takes a lot of experience and is also a tough mental challenge.

Any Other Stuff:
Overall, a great run on Pikes. I loved doing a winter snow run in August. I loved the Sunday incline club runs and Matt definitely has the training nailed for this mountain. After just one week away from Colorado I’m already completely homesick for a good trail run and dry weather. Hopefully I’ll be back soon.

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Pikes Peak Marathon — Manitou Springs — 08/17/2008

Julie O’Neill reports:
Distance: 26.2
Goal: under 7 hours
Results: 6:39
Website: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.com

General Summary:
Cool at the start, snow at the summit, warm but comfortable on the way down — good weather to stay comfortable during the entire race. Felt good throughout which is a first for marathon length races I have run.

Things Done Right:
Dressed for the weather and had enough layers for the snow up high. Stayed at comfortable pace thru the W’s and was able to get in some good running between French Creek and Barr Camp. Refueled at consistent intervals.

Things Done Wrong:
Had cotton gloves for dealing with rocks above tree line, but with snow they quickly became wet and heavy. Should have used H2O resistant gloves instead.

Any Other Stuff:
Course was slippery and lots of sliding from the Cirque to Summit and back. Became very slow and passing in this area was all but impossible. It was frustrating to physically be able to go faster, but be held up by the bottlenecks that occurred in this stretch of the course.

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IC BIRTHDAYS: 8/30/2008 — 9/5/2008
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NEW IC MEMBERS: 8/18/2008 — 8/29/2008
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UPDATED ABOUT ME PAGES: 8/18/2008 — 8/29/2008
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