Running has improved my life and has become an integral part of it. I love to share running stories and experiences with others, as well as, try to inspire and motivate others through my running.
This weekend is the Javelina Jundred 100 mile endurance run. This is my 2nd attempt at a 100 mile race (I dropped at Mohican 100 last year at mile 52 with bad blisters). If I can get past any blister issues, I think I will do alright. I'll be happy if I just finish under the 30-hour cutoff.
GORE-TEX TransRockies Run 2009 Race Report Buena Vista to Beaver Creek August 23-28, 2009 (113.5 Miles/20,788 ft. gain) Total Run Time: 29:56:34; Overall Division Place: 36 out of 47 (Open Mixed) Official Website|Final Results
Day 1 of our 6-day stage race started at 10 am. I felt this was a bit late as it was already getting warm with the sun in full force and temperatures getting into the mid-80's by early afternoon. Nonetheless, there was a lot of excitement in the air from all the runners rearing to go.
The gun went off and we were off and it wasn't long before I noticed that Kelly and I were getting passed by most everyone the first half mile. Kelly and I have different running styles, so it didn’t surprise me when Kelly told me to slow down when I sped up to prevent us from getting passed at the beginning. She had told me that she needed to warm up for the first few miles and that it was going to be a long race. Wise words, indeed!
As we start way up our first set of hills we come to the realization that we're not in Chicago anymore. In fact, it doesn't even really seem like Colorado, more like Arizona, in fact. We're running in what seems like the high desert with many ups/downs. We haven't really trained for the mountain climbs and only came out the week before to acclimate, so the altitude may have been affecting us too because we were getting fatigued pretty good after our initial climbs. I still wanted to push forward, but Kelly wanted to hold back.
I should have listened better and not have pushed us so hard in the beginning because I paid for it later. The first half of Day 1 Kelly had been suffering and I had been feeling great, but as the day wore on and the hotter it got, the worse I felt. We had a role reversal and now Kelly was pulling me along the second half and the several miles on flat paved and straight road to the finish seemed like it took forever.
Today brought us a tough climb up Hope Pass from Vicksburg trail head and down to Twin Lakes. We were told that we'd be climbing grades of 45% and they were right and reaching an elevation of over 12,600 ft. This stage, although, slow to reach the peak with the slowest mile taking over 50 minutes, proved to have some of the most stunning views. This climb was our first difficult climb of the week and we just kept putting one foot in front of the other to make it to the top.
Once we reached the summit, we snapped a couple of photos, then started our way down, which I thought was an exciting time. The first part was fairly narrow and technical single track to tree line where the first checkpoint was at. Kelly was stuck behind a slower guy and was unable to pass, so I had to wait for her before entering the checkpoint. Once we teamed up again, we were running downhill much of the way with another team (Nic and Jen from Idaho).
Here is a video of Andy Jones Wilkins heading down from Hope Pass (same direction we took down) at the Leadville 100 on the Saturday before. I thought it'd be cool to give you some perspective on this downhill from the top.
The section below tree line was a nice steep soft bed of dirt, pine needles, and roots. I ended up running ahead. It was so much fun to just let loose and run fast down the single track. When I think I'd reached a point where I should wait for Kelly, I'd stop to let her catch up, but then would barrel down again. There was no chance at getting lost on this trail, but it felt easier on my legs to just let loose opposed to putting on the breaks to run down slower. At the base of the mountain, we ran the remaining flat section together into Twin Lakes.
After finishing, we were shuttled into Leadville where camp was set up. I was talking up this Pizza joint to Kelly, so we walked to the restaurant, but they were closed until 3 p.m. This was 1-hour too long, so we walked down Harrison to find something else to eat. We found a diner and a couple that we met on the shuttle in from the finish (Martin and Chrissy from Boston) offered to let us sit with them to eat since service seemed a bit slow. We enjoyed our meal and discussion and would later end up seeing them on the trail quite often on future stages.
We were told by other runners that day 3 was notoriously the difficult day of the stage race, that if we could make it through today, that we'd be okay the rest of the week. I'm not sure why, but regardless, this was a great day for us and we did awesome. We just kept moving forward at all times. On the climbs, we briskly hiked them, then when the downhills and flats came, we ran well on them.
By this time, it was apparent that of the people who generally ran our pace, we were stronger downhill runners than they. They may have gotten up the hills in a faster time, but we'd generally catch up on the downhills. This stage offered some awesome scenery as well with an array of different terrain to run on including road, fire trail, and single track. It also included 3 stream crossings, which I managed to keep my feet dry on all three.
I was feeling great the entire stage and about midway through I guess I was climbing uphill faster than Kelly would have liked me too as she was having a rough time as her quads were fried and she couldn't muster enough to keep up. She started hyperventilating when I got too far ahead so one of our friends from lunch yesterday, who happen to pass Kelly at the time, started running up the trail a bit to inform me that Kelly was having some issues, so I ran back down the hill to help. It was nothing serious, but we agreed that we'd remain in closer proximity of one another during our run from that point forward. The remaining miles, including the crossing of the Continental Divide, of this stage seemed to pass by easily and we finished strong.
Today involved a tall climb starting a mile 2, which seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r with grades at times of greater than 45%. In fact, on our way up, a 4x4 taking supplies to our first checkpoint broke down (I think the jeep's drive shaft broke). As a result, this ended up being our first (un)official aid station. Good thing because Kelly was almost out of water by this point and we had another 1.5 miles to the summit before hitting the official checkpoint. At steep grades, this was going to take us a bit to get to so it was important that we have enough fluids.
As we approached the top, again, the views were awesome any which way we looked. It was pretty cool to be able and see our campsite at the base of the mountain and realize the accomplishment of climbing to where we were currently from there. The downhills were fairly technical on the fire road down to the most eventful part of the entire stage, running in the stream as part of the trail. The water was freezing and after a short while of running in it, my feet felt numb as if I was running on nubs. We finished by running on road to the town of Red Cliff.
Upon finishing, we soaked our legs in the nearby stream, which was colder than any ice bath I've ever taken, after which, we ate lunch at the restaurant next to the finish line. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn't ready for the crowd of runners and it took almost 2-hours to get our lunch. All was good as we didn't really have anywhere we needed to be.
We shuttled from Nova Guides to Red Cliff on this cold morning and waited in the warm restaurant we ate at yesterday until just minutes before the start. Kelly reminded me that we should take it easy since she had fried quads, which means that I shouldn't run too far ahead. Of course, the truth of the matter is that I learned that if I'm either too far ahead or running right next to her that she tends to slow down, but if I'm just a little bit ahead, she keeps a little faster pace. Sort of what we call an invisible tether to keep us moving forward productively. With these head games, I try to keep Kelly moving productively by intentionally setting a certain amount of distance between us.
We started the morning by taking it easy on the instant climb. We noticed many teams initially passing us, but then later succumbing to the mountain climbs and slowing down enough for us to catch them. We were doing quite well this stage with the uphill climbs. I was especially feeling great where I was actually running some of the less grade switchbacks heading up Vail mountain. It was pretty cool to be hiking up a mountain and seeing all the ski slopes.
After we reached checkpoint two where they were having a "So you think you can dance" theme for the video this evening, which we didn't participate in, but did watch others dance, we had about a 10 mile downhill to the finish. Kelly's quads were still trashed by this time, so we needed to take it easy for awhile, but after several miles, something came over Kelly and she started running faster downhill. Maybe it was the fact that we saw so many other teams waiting for us to pass, but I'm not sure. Regardless, it was nice to run fast with her and pass all the teams we did.
In the last tenth of a mile on one of the final single track sections leading down to the town of Vail, I was moving too fast that I lost control and face-planted off the trail into the grassy section. Thankfully, I wasn't injured, just a few scratches on my arms and legs, but when Kelly came up behind me, she asked if I was okay and helped me up, we continued on since we had one more 'Open Mixed' team to pass before the finish. Unfortunately, we were able to pass them before they finished, but the competition on the final few miles was so much fun. Following the finish was an ice bath in the stream and lunch at a local restaurant.
With a total of 92 miles under our belt at over 16,000 ft of climbing, it was quite unbelievable how well we felt at the start of this race. We were shuttled from our camp to downtown Vail to start our trek through town and immediately to switchbacks heading up mountain. We maintained pace up the switchbacks and were passed by a few teams. No worries as history showed, we'd get them on the downhills, which we did. The grades weren't any harder than prior days, but again, after more miles under our belt they seemed to take a little more effort to climb.
Once we started going downhill we know we had another set of climbs towards the end of the race, but we'd focus on that when the time comes. Just before checkpoint #2 we had a good downhill streak going and we didn't want it to end. We filled up our bottles and continued on. The next section was a steep grade on single track in the pine section, then in the midst of shoulder-high grass through a valley to the base of the mountain. Let me just tell you that I LOVED these sections. It was so much fun to run FAST down. There were so many other teams daintily heading down the trail, which they all had to move aside as I went barreling down them, again, only going so far while waiting for Kelly to catch up. We passed many teams many of which we hadn't seen all day, so I know we were making some good progress. We were headed down the last few miles in a train with two other teams that made it even more fun.
Once we hit checkpoint #3, we had another big climb from Avon up a side of a mountain before heading down Beaver Creek. This climb was deceptively brutal. We were heading uphill, then level out a bit, then had to additionally climb up some steep switchbacks before descending down some switchbacks into Beaver Creek; however, on the descent we had been told there were black bears in the area and they were in the trees where the switchbacks led us into. At this point, our friends Martin and Chrissy stop dead in their tracks as a 2-3 yr. old black bear comes walking across the open field. They weren't sure what to do so they just stood still and waited it out. In the meantime, other teams are coming into view above us and it seems that everyone decided to walk down the middle of the hill avoiding all switchbacks in efforts to make it safely down to the finish. Kelly and I continued down the switch backs as we were notified by a woman living in one of the houses on the hill that the two other bears were further up the hill. As we approached the final switchback, we were told by those in front of us that there were two bears at the end of the road and to just take the final steep hill to get to the finish. What an eventful finish. Anyway, this is what we did and the grassy section was pretty steep and slippery and difficult to stay upright as we went down it. Once we reached the bottom of this hill, we ran in across the bridge and through the finish chute.
What a wonderful overall experience that Kelly and I had with each other on this epic journey covering 113.5 miles with 20,788 ft. of elevation gain in 6-days. There's no other person that I would have wanted to run this event with. I'm so proud of her and her abilities to complete this race as it was a personal best in so many areas (distance, elevation gains, altitude, etc.)
Kelly and I are en route from my sister's house in Monument, Co where we spent the week to Denver airport where we will take the shuttle to Buena Vista, so this will be short as I'm writing this from my phone.
The race starts tomorrow and we will be attempting to use my SPOT GPS tracker for our family and friends to keep track of us until next Saturday when we cross the finish line of this 113 mile journey.
This past weekend was the CHUGs ("Chicago Ultrarunners") first camping/night running trip together and it was held the at Marengo Ridge ("the ridge") state park in Marengo, IL. Props go out to Sarah Jurgaitis and Ben Willis for planning this awesome event for us as they did an outstanding job. They really took the idea from conception to completion. They even mapped the route to the park with signs on telephone poles directing the way, as well as, marking the 4+ mile single/double track trails with glowsticks and aluminum foil arrows so no one got lost during the run. All this for $2 a head and pot luck food/beverage item to the group.
Kelly and I (and our dogs, Britton and Mia) arrived in the 3 o'clock hour and were the 1st ones there besides Sarah and Ben, who already had their tent set up, but weren't physically present as they were running some last minute errands. The lot they chose for us was huge, so there was plenty of space to pick from to pitch our tent. We also brought a gazebo style tent with bug netting that we also set up. Once we finished with our setup, others started trickling in. All-in-all we had 13 runners join in on the fun.
By the time we finished setting up our tents, we were drenched in sweat as the temperatures were well into the 90's and the humidity was about 75%; however, as the evening progressed, the temperatures decreased into the mid 70's and the humidity increased to about 95%. This made for a fun soakfest for everyone. After eating dinner, which was included hamburgers, corn-on-the-cob, fruit, chips, and beer, we started to gear up and head out once it got dark.
Kelly and I took Britton and Mia for a run with the group on this first loop. We each have a waist belt and leash system designed for running with dogs, so it enabled us to be hands free. It was the first time I used it and it worked great. The only problem was that Britton was pulling me to hard as she was anxious to get going. She has no concept of pace as she just wants to sprint, so I really didn't have to try and run that hard to get moving. I tugged at the leash a few times to slow her down before she finally got the idea that we were going on a longer run.
On this first loop, my focus was on the dogs to make sure that they weren't being over-exerted or overheating. We stopped several times to rehydrate them and by the 2 mile mark, Britton let me take the lead as she ran behind me the rest of the way. The dogs were happy campers and loved being out with nature running on the double and single track trails, as were Kelly and I. I stayed behind and let Kelly go out on loop 2 sans dog. Me and the dogs went into the car with the air conditioning on full blast to cool down. I let the dogs stay in the car for about 15 minutes, while I cooled down for about 5 minutes before socializing with others who remained behind.
When Kelly got back, I was really hesitant to run a 2nd loop. I think camping set in and I was having fun drinking some beer. Anyway, push came to shove and I was gearing up for my 2nd loop. This loop was really enjoyable as I was able to just run and not focus on making sure the dogs were okay. When we arrived back at camp, I decided to end my running and focus on the beer drinking. Tony and Geof headed back out on their last loop and got back to camp at about 2:30 am. We were still at it, but people started bailing and going to sleep at about 2:45-3:00 am.
The dogs had never slept outdoors before, so this was going to be interesting. I think they were tired because they didn't make a peep until the sun was up and heard Debbie's dog barking at some of the early risers. Once the dogs were barking, we were up. So, a nice 4'ish hours of sleep and we were up packing up our tents and getting our car loaded up before heading to breakfast at Cafe 20.
Once we figured out the table configuration to fit our party, conversation flowed naturally and food was ordered. I was really looking forward to the cheesy potato casserole that Kelly and I had the last time we ate there, but were the last to receive our meals and were informed that they ran out :-(. Anyway, it didn't deter from the excellent time we had with everyone. It's good to be a CHUG!
I can't wait for the next camping/night running trip at Kettle Moraine state park in September.
For those of you who have visited my pace calculator posting, I'm informing you that I have updated it to include some default features. I've also updated the skin generator to support the default values as well. Those enhancements are listed below:
DefaultDistanceType=short (short/long) DefaultDistance=0 (Decimal value to represent distance (in miles) to display) DefaultDays=0 (Integer value to represent days to display) DefaultHours=0 (Integer value to represent hours to display) DefaultMinutes=0 (Integer value to represent minutes to display) DefaultSeconds=0 (Integer value to represent seconds to display)
I may be webcasting at different events on behalf of myself or the CHUGs and those videos can be watched here or by clicking the link below the video for a larger picture.
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This weekend is the Javelina Jundred 100 mile endurance run. This is my 2nd attempt at a 100 mile race (I dropped at Mohican 100 last year at mile 52 with bad blisters). If I can get past any blister issues, I think I will do alright. I'll be happy if I just finish under the 30-hour cutoff. 
