Hell and Hope: The Leadville Trail 100 2011

“You are better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can!” These words brought a tear to my eye as I listened to Ken Chlouber, the founder of the Leadville Trail 100, give the 650 starters of the race a pep talk in the crowded gym on 6^th street. Could it be true that all of the months of self-doubt that I felt as a flatlander training for a Colorado mountain race be unwarranted… could I possibly finish this race?

The Leadville Trail 100 is a 100 mile foot race which takes place in the old mining town of Leadville, Colorado in the middle of August.  It is an out and back course with an average elevation of just over 10,000 feet. The highest point, Hope Pass, climbs to 12,600 feet and because of the out and back nature of the course, you get to summit the pass twice! The race is known for its beauty but also for the ruthlessness of the course at high altitude. I figured it was a great choice for my first 100 mile attempt! If you are going to go for 100 miles, you might as well go big!

As I lined up for the start with my fellow competitors on Saturday at 4am I remembered the words of Ken from the pre-race talk the day before.  “I can do more than I think I can” rang through my ears as the gun sounded and we took off into the darkness. The first 13 miles of the course follow Turquoise Lake and are relatively downhill and then onto a beautiful rolling trail along the lake. At 6:20am I met my support crew at mile 13.5 were they took care of me with the swiftness of a Nascar pit crew. There job for the next 100 miles was to make sure that at every aid station I was hydrated and stocked for the next leg of the race.

The run to mile 26.5 took us up the second highest climb of the course with some of the most spectacular views I had ever seen! I quickly found out that a hill climb in Colorado was not a hill climb in Wisconsin! My training hill repeats of 4 to 5 minutes back home were no match to the 2 to 3 hour climbs that I would encounter the next 73.5 miles. I knew that in order to finish the race I would need to slow down, so at mile 30, that is exactly what I did.

Hope Pass is the “claim to fame” of the Leadville Trail 100. I was warned of how nasty she could be but I did not believe it until I started the accent at mile 42. Even with trekking poles I struggled to pull myself up the steep climb at a whopping 2 to 2.5 miles per hour. Several people around me were stopping to rest, complaining of feeling lightheaded and nauseous, so I felt pretty good about myself until I saw the lead women RUNNING up the other side with a smile on her face. I was quickly put into my place as she blew by me! She would later finish at just over 19 hours!

Once over Hope Pass and down the treacherous decent you enter the turnaround at Winfield. There I met my pit crew, weighed in, (you are weighed in at this aid station, too much weight loss and you are forced to stop and rehydrate) and started my return home. If the first accent of Hope Pass was brutal, the second accent was hell! It was on the second accent that I needed to add in breaks at the end of each switch back. The air is thin at 12,600 feet and I could feel it!

Darkness started to set in just as I was crossing the river, (there is no bridge), and came to the mile 60 aid station at Twin Lakes. My amazing crew got me set-up with warm clothing as the temperature was quickly starting to drop into the 40’s. I would spend the next 16.5 miles in the darkness with just a headlamp and flashlight until I met up with my crew again.

As the miles crept beyond 60, I knew I was entering uncharted territory. Everything beyond this point was unknown as I had never trained passed 60 miles in a weekend. Surprisingly my legs were tired but they were fully functional.  I was able to manage a very brisk walk which worked out very well on the dark wooded trail.  I counted my blessings as I passed people who were noticeably sick and exhausted. The whole day my stomach had been fine and I wanted to keep it that way. I covered my ears and kept my head down as I crept by the less fortunate.

It was not until the Fish Hatchery Aid station at mile 76.5 that the fatigue really started to build. The blisters that I was able to ignore for the last 30 miles were screaming at me and my once “okay” legs were not loving the idea of having to travel another 23.5 miles.  I was very grateful that my husband was going to be pacing me for 10 miles. He had chosen the second hardest climb of the course and the brisk walk that he kept me at was enough to bring me into mile 86.5 with plenty of time to spare ahead of the cut-off time.  

You would think that only having 13.5 miles to go would be relatively easy in a 100 mile race but surprisingly many people drop out at this point. We all have our own personal limit and many bodies like to give out when the finish line is just a half marathon away. I was determined to not let this happen so  as much as I was sick of sucking on gels all day long I popped another one and picked up my next pacer. I had plenty of time to get to the finish line before 10am if nothing went wrong the next couple of hours.

After 99 miles of bliss, beauty, pain, and self- doubt the finish line is like a sunrise to a new day! In Leadville you turn a corner and see it’s beautiful image in the distance; could this really be happening? As I walked the last mile with my crew I held back the tears as I knew if I would start crying, I would not stop! I was physically exhausted, sleep deprived, and overwhelmed with gratitude. Out of the 650 people that started I was one of 350 people to have finished, talk about a little bit of luck and maybe something a little bigger than me helping to push me across that line.

For all of my efforts you would think that a new car, or a large pair of diamond earrings would be an appropriate finish award.  In the ultramarathon world, your price is a shiny new belt buckle! Most people are almost appalled by this, “you went all that way for a belt buckle?” they usually say in disbelief. What they don’t and can’t realize is everything that buckle represents. That belt buckle represents the hours of training, it represents the doctors that told me my back was not good enough to do 100 miles, the sacrifices that my family and friends made to help me get to the finish line, the blisters and the tears, the amazing views at the top of Hope Pass, and the ultimate truth that ANYTHING is possible!

13 weeks until Leadville!!! WHAT???

Wow! So I just took a look at my race calender and realised to my dismay that I only have 13 weeks of training until the Leadville 100! I must admit that I shuttered a little bit when I realised the short amount of time remaining to train for the longest, most hellish day of my life! I figured that since I have been away from the blogging world for a while I would spare you all the sentimental stuff and give you a little training update. The ups, downs, and honesty of the whole process, so... brace yourselves!!!

The Ups:
Overall, the whole training experience had been a very positive one! I am incredible surprised that I have been able to sustain the miles requires to this point considering that 8 years ago I was told that I was not supposed to run! I have figured out my dreaded blister problem... the agony of de' feet! Thanks to a beautiful little invention called Dry-Max socks, I ran my last 50 with not even the tiniest blister. Dry-Max does not sponsor me but they should now after all of the amazing advertising they are going to get from this blog!

I have also figured out the quadraceps breakdown issue. You see, after running 30 miles or so on brutal terrain and many severe downhills your quads start to feel a little like hamburger roadkill... if there is such a thing. The key to conquering this is to run long on VERY tired legs in your training. Some people would call this over-training and believe me, it is! Training for a 100 mile race is just a bunch of over training followed by some ice, ibuprofen, and a few mental breakdowns.

I am also very amazed at how my body has adjusted to the ultrarunning lifestyle. I have lost 10lbs, which has significantly helped the impact of all of this running on my back and my feet. I have also lost a lot of muscle bulk which I am convinced 7 years of Ironman training has done to me. I also have noticed that I am a much more efficient calories burner. I seem to require around 120 to 150 calories per hour, which is much easier to consume than the 180 to 200 that I have needed in the past. Am I turning into a fat burner... maybe?!

The Downs:

My biggest fear in this whole process is that during the next 13 weeks my body will break down and I will suffer an injury. I must make it clear that up to this point I have not been injured (except for a little foot pain which I will discuss next), but I have also been going for bi-weekly massages, acupuncture, strength training 3 days per week, yoga 3 days per week, spending 1 hour on a foam roller each week, seeing a Chiropractor once per month, and recently a visit to a  podiatrist. This Leadville training has been all consuming and very expensive and I sometimes wonder if I should take up a new, much less demanding hobby such as stamp collecting or knitting?

Mysterious pains are very common for an endurance athlete but I have come to figure out how to heal them quite quickly. My knee hurts; ice, stretch, foam roll... cured. Back discomfort; a little yoga, heat, and a chiropractic visit. However recently I have been plagued with a mysterious foot pain which no one can diagnose for me. No, it's not PF, or a stress fracture... a recent visit to a podiatrist confirmed this. When I asked him what it was, he simply told me that it was a little inflammation due to all of the miles I was putting on and, I quote, "your body just might not be able to handle this amount of time on your feet." My first reaction was to say "screw you buddy, if I listened to everyone that told me that I would be a Cheetos's eating couch potato watching old episodes of Jerry Springer!" But... I do have to admit that in the back of my mind I ask myself if I am chasing a dream that is not meant to be mine. *sigh*

So there you have it! An honest little report on the whole incredibly crazy process of training to run, walk, crawl, 100 miles. I will try to revisit soon, for an update or just a little venting as I know the next 13 weeks might just put me over the edge. So... if you see a short, dark-haired girl running down the road foaming at the mouth and cursing up at the sky, just drive on by... it is all just part of the process!

Faith, Love, and Running

During my run this morning I happened to be going in the direction of the sunrise. It was 6:30am as I left my house and began to travel down the quiet snow covered road. Within the first few miles, the sun started to peak out above the horizon.  I watched in awe as the colors of the sky began to change from a dark inky blue, to a pink and orange glow.  As I watched this amazing event that takes place every morning it got me thinking about faith, and of all things, the existence of a God.

You see, I am very logical person. I was raised a Christian, but as I got older and started thinking more and more about the stories that I heard growing up, I began to question the existence of all of these things that I was told were so.  I mean really, Immaculate Conception, turning water into wine, walking on water…  modern day science has no explanation of how these things could happen, and the logical, scientific mind can easily write them off as being bogus! Although I really wanted to believe that there would be a place for all of us when we die and that there was a man upstairs who loved me unconditionally, it was becoming harder and harder for me to convince myself that this could be true.

What I have found in the last few years, is that if you even have the tiniest amount of faith left, it can work in mysterious ways. In 2006, my husband was deployed to Iraq. He was responsible for escorting military convoys throughout the country. Some of his missions would last for days and I remember waiting for an email or phone call to confirm that he was still alive. Sometimes, I would not hear from him for days, and those were the times that I talked to God. I felt that even if I was a skeptic, it did not hurt to have a conversation with the only being that could possibly keep my husband safe. I remember being so deep in the conversation that I thought God was in the room with me, and these were the times that I felt the most comfort. Maybe, there really was a God and he could bring my husband home?

My faith has also been strengthened by participating in endurance events. When you really stop to think about what it takes to do an Ironman, or run 50 to 100 miles, your fitness will only get you so far.  I personally believe that in order to successfully finish an event of this nature, you have to look beyond yourself. I hate to say it, because I used to be the person that thought this, but no man is a rock by himself! If you really want to tap into a source of power far greater than what you yourself possess, you really need to have a conversation with God.  In fact, I am starting to think that one of the main reasons I continue to push the endurance envelope, is so I can inch my way closer and closer to this being that I could never begin to understand. 

Faith is a funny thing, and sometimes in life, you just need to believe.  I still don’t know what I think about Jonah and the Whale or the story of the loaves and the fishes, and I don’t know if I will ever be a regular in church.  What I can say, is that every Sunday when I leave my house for my long run and look towards that sunrise, I will begin a long conversation with a very powerful being that I can now say… I for sure… believe in.

Adios 2010! A Year in Review

As 2010 comes to a close I have a ritual, I call it, “My Year in Review”. Typically I don’t write this review down, but this year I have a blog to update so I felt it might be an interesting topic. Although I do not believe in New Year’s resolutions, I do believe in reviewing one’s year, and committing to make changes based on that review. It might be the business person in me, but it works!  It’s not a resolution, and I don’t have to be disappointed with myself if by the end of January, I have chosen a different path! It might just be the lazy person’s way of making a resolution, but hey, call me lazy!

2010 has been an athletic year! I have been lucky enough to have a body that has held up to my first two 50 mile runs and another Ironman. 10 years ago, I would have laughed at you if you had told me that I would be completing my 9^th Ironman by 2010. Ten years ago, I thought that running 2 miles was hard and now I am running 50.  Except for a minor setback in June, a broken elbow, I have been able to start and finish every race and training session that I began this year. I can tell you that running hill repeats in a splint up to your shoulder is very hot, and very uncomfortable!  My goal for 2011 is to not break another bone! Oh… and run 100 miles out in Leadville, CO!

2010 has also been good for my business. When I quit my job and set out on my own in 2008, I was scared! “Would I be able to do this”, I asked? I knew that most small businesses closed within the first couple of years. I tried my best to go into my business slowly and cautiously, and when the recession hit, I was ready! Sure, I lost a little business during that time, but my conservative planning paid off, and 2010 was a rebound. Thanks to the many amazing clients who have stuck with me, and sent their friends to me, I am happy to report that Stride MultiSport is stronger than ever! It is a lot of work, but I would not trade it for the world! 2011 will be even more amazing than 2010!

Finally, 2010 has proven to me that I am surrounded by the most amazing people in the world! I cannot say enough about my family, they are my pillar of strength! My parents follow me to all of my races, and my husband makes it possible for me to be gone for 18 hours a day! My friends are my constant inspiration, and their positive attitude makes it easier for me to do what I do every day!  If I could do one thing in 2011, it would be to show all of these people my extreme gratitude. They do so much more for me than I could ever do for them!

So as the ball drops into the New Year tomorrow, I will be looking back on my year. No resolutions will be made, but I hope that next year, I can write an even better review. I hope you can too!

Blizzard Running for Dummies

It is winter in Wisconsin, the temperature has fallen to  negative numbers with the windchill, the wind is gusting to almost 50 miles per hour outside, and there is at least 2 feet of snow on the ground. Why not take up the new winter sport that is sweeping (although rather slowly) the frigid frozen north, Blizzard Running!

Blizzard Running requires some form of mental insanity! Not only is it ridiculous, but it is also rather dangerous! Any exposed skin can be frost bitten within a matter of minutes and the danger of being hit by a passing snow plow is all to real. The Blizzard Runner must sacrifice all dignity, as passing motorists will not only give them a dirty look, but also might stop and ask, "do you need some help?", to which the runner must reply, "no, I am just going out for a run."  Be prepared to get a response similar to, "you are crazy", or, "what is wrong with you?"

Proper attire is essential for the Blizzard Runner. First, make sure to wear a very tight and all to un-flattering set of long underwear. On top of that, wear two to three layers of un-matching polar fleece and polyester. Then, layer with a jacket that restricts all movement, a face mask to block your eyesight, and ski gloves.  Proper foot wear is also important. Goretex trail running shoes, gators to keep snow out of your socks, and last but not least, Yak Trax for extra traction, will have you waddling with ease!

Make sure to plan your route accordingly, as gusting winds can make vision nearly impossible. I recommend a 1/4 mile straight away in front of one's home. Pick two very large markers to sight between as mailboxes and road signs can be buried under ridiculous amounts of snow. Run back and forth between these two points until you have gone comatose with boredom, or until you can no longer feel your face!

Finally, make sure to recover properly after your run! Sure some athlete's prefer a fancy protein drink to help promote muscle recovery, but this is Wisconsin people! Instead of recovering after your run, grab a shovel and start to dig through 4 foot high snow drifts that have magically accumulated in front of your garage overnight! Shoveling is great cross training, it hurts your back, freezes your fingers, and with all of the obscenities you will be yelling it also helps improve your vocabulary!

So as you can see, Blizzard Running is about as much fun as running in a frickin' blizzard can be! Grab your worst enemy and get out there today!

Leadville Trail 100 Run 2009

70 is the new 30!

“I am getting too old for this!” How many times do we hear this saying from our friends or feel like saying it ourselves? It seems that the older we get, the more the age excuse seems to slip out of our mouths. Sure, some of our parts begin to wear a little bit, and getting out of bed in the morning does not happen as fast as it used to, but does it mean that as we age we are condemned to a life of Depends and dentures?  I need to be careful when I talk about the aging subject because by most people’s standards I am still a kid, but I am convinced by what I have seen in the exercise world,  that getting older just makes us better.

Recently a long time client of mine celebrated his 77^th birthday. In order to truly appreciate this guy, let me paint you a picture of him. He started training with me when he was 73 because he knew that he needed to push himself more than he already was. In our training sessions not only does he perform some already challenging exercises like squats, lunges and pushups, but recently we have been practicing a standing long jump and jumping rope. When he sees a person half of his age doing a new or challenging exercise that we currently don’t do, he says to me, “we need to try that!”  

At the JFK 50 miler there were two different starting options, one at 5am, and one at 7am. Although most of us chose the 7am start with the 12 hour cut-off, a few brave souls started in the darkness of 5am to give themselves 14 hours to finish. A few of these folks just wanted the extra time, some were struggling with an injury, but many of them were noticeably older than the rest of us! At mile 30, I started to come up upon some of the 5 am starters. I ran into two older gentlemen, 70+, who told me that they walk the race every year. “We finish in just under 14 hours”, one of them said, “but we finish.” I personally, could not imagine walking 50 miles, running 50 miles and being out there for 10+ hours is enough for me! Four more hours of movement sounded ridiculous, especially for someone more than twice my age, but here were two guys that were proving me wrong!

I hope that as I grow older, I can age gracefully like my 77 year old client, and the two gentlemen that I met on the trail that day. There is so much to do in this life, that we truly need all 100 years to experience it all!  Although I think we need to accept the fact that we are aging, we should not automatically hang up our running shoes. Just because we can’t run, doesn’t mean we can move! If you are blessed with good health push forward, and if not, adapt the best you can!  Strive to make 70 the new 30!