North Fork 50K Race Report

I showed up at North Fork 50K confident, but without much idea how it would go. When I decided to focus my Winter training on a marathon, multiple veteran ultra runners told me that was a brilliant idea and that they had good trail seasons after marathons. Bottom line, I knew I was fit, just not sure how trail fit I was, having only a few weeks of concentrated trail training.  The plan was simply to go out hard and see what I could do.  (I did have rough guidelines of 10:15 overall pace and sub-5.5 hour finish).

Fortunately, I have raced and trained on the North Fork course many times, so I was able to put together a decent mental strategy. The initial climb is one of the three toughest of the day and will certainly send your work rate quite high early. But, the 12 miles after that are pretty darn benign and very runnable. That said, I expected to be ahead of that 10:15 pace by the midway point. I took off hard enough to earn a PR on the initial climb and found my place in the field. I am guessing I was about 10-12 runners back early on. I arrived at the top of the climb feeling pretty good and running much of it. As expected, I ran pretty hard to the midway point where my average pace was under-9:30, well under my goal. Again, I knew that'd be the case based on the course, but still I wondered if I could maintain. With my nutrition plan being so simple and refined after multiple seasons now, I spent almost zero time in aid stations, which helped tremendously. I would get wet, fill my water bottle and leave. In total, I think I ingested about 400 Kcals on the day, mostly from Skratch Labs, two gels, and a few Mountain Dew shots.

After splitting from the 50 mile runners and starting the second big climb of the day, things slowed quite a bit. I had passed a few runners in aid stations and now had a few directly ahead of me. One was struggling and the other (a woman, I believe Leila Degrave) was literally floating up the climb. My breathing was labored and I tripped, letting out a huge moan. She looked back, I think concerned I might die. I didn't go all the way to the ground, but I put my hands out to brace the fall and smashing my water bottle on the ground. About a third of my water went shooting out of my water bottle. The second time at this race I've done that (this first time I lost it all!). The part that really sucked was that this was the one section that I was concerned about not having enough water for -- 5.5 miles of mostly uphill from Buffalo Creek to Shinglemill. Sure enough, I was short of water and dry by the time I arrived at Shinglemill. I took my longest stop of the day here to rehydrate, eat a cookie (I was starving!!), and cool off. The goal with a long stop was to be ready to get after it on the decent back to Buffalo Creek.

I passed a few runners between aid and on my way down to Buffalo Creek, running hard but not quite all out. I made sure I passed hard enough that they didn't have the motivation to pass me back. Just before I arrived at Buffalo Creek, I passed one more runner who was walking. Another quick stop to get wet at aid and I was on my way up Baldy. I felt sluggish on the climbs all day, but managed a PR on every one except Baldy. I was grinding hard and my overall pace slipped over 10 for the first time all day. Nonetheless, I kept making deals with myself and would run for at least 60 seconds at a time and began catching another runner -- key to motivation. Finally, I got close enough to the other runner that I let him pace me the remainder of the climb. At the top, heading toward Strawberry Jack, I overtook him, unsure of whether I could hold on.

He stayed with me but didn't try to pass before we arrived at Strawberry Jack. At aid, I had a bit of Mountain Dew and cooled off. I rarely ever ask aid station volunteers my place, but I thought I might be doing well and went and asked. They said I was 6th overall and 5th male. Honestly, I was quite happy with that and prepared to do just enough to keep the last runner I passed from passing back. The problem was that I found 4th and 5th place were right in front me within 100 yards of leaving aid. So, I started pushing the decent hard, hard enough to log a PR on the Strava segment. I finally passed 4th place a half a mile down the trail and then had to keep the effort as he was running well. Unlike 2014 -- when I coasted in the final few miles satisfied with my time and place -- I continued pushing the downhill and the final stretch to the finish, crossing the finish line in 5:15 and 9:50 average pace and 4th place. I was totally exhausted and immediately sat down and began drinking gallons of water.

I've been joking with friends that past few days that I am "on a hot streak" with what I'd say are five consecutive great races and eight of my last eleven -- Bear 100 the notable exception and a few "B race" in Indian Creek Fifties and Golden Gate D30. I suppose I could spend a lot time analyzing this, but the short answer is that I am likely in the "sweet spot" of age, cumulative training miles (what I call momentum), experience, and overall health. All those things have played a role in my success, but the catalyst that unlocked lots of this and started my hot streak was changing my diet to LCHF. I would say that this has made my body more metabolically stable: I recover better and I have fewer energy highs and lows. And, it has made my nutrition approach to races quite simple -- 100 kcals an hour and water. I really don't care that much how I get those 100 Kcals either: solid food, beverages, even sugar! I use a few supplements to help fat burning and to minimize central nervous system fatigue, but that's it. I spend more time think about shoes and race shorts than I do nutrition.

Bear Chase 50k - Race Report

My employer sponsors a run club and each year we get a small amount of money to be put toward race fees if we participate in the club. I chose to have my fees put toward the Bear Chase 50k this year as an opportunity to break-up my last month of training for the year and prepare for my upcoming Javelina Jundred (100k). I did a bit of specific work to prepare, but mostly just logged some miles and did a mini-taper (a few days) heading into the race. It was apparent the day was going to get hot, which is good because Javelina will likely be warm as well. I typically handle the heat pretty well, but it still impacts race performance!

Since I carpooled with my buddy Woody, I picked up both our bibs on Friday and we enjoyed a leisure morning arriving at the race by 6:45 am (7:30 start) and just milled round as we waited for the start. I had my typical breakfast (a few eggs before leaving the house and an Epic Bar at the start line) before taking some Vespa thirty minutes before the start. I lathered in some sun screen and got myself ready to go.

Note that they changed the location of the start/finish area due to the flooding this Spring, so my description of some of the miles may not match previous year's events.

First Lap (Blue Course)

Part of what made the Bear Chase appealing as a tune-up for JJ is the loops the course uses. Of course, no one enjoys a loop course, but it does offer some advantages in terms of logistics on race day. Bear Chase sends the 50k runners out later than the 100k and 50m runners and on their shorter (10k) course to start. In doing some pre-race analysis, I thought I could run 4:45 and was considering going out at 9:15 pace and then seeing how it felt after a few miles. Well, as soon as we started, I threw that out the window and was running close to 8:15 pace right out of the gate. Had it not been for Mt Carbon, my first mile likely would have been near 8-flat.

The first lap went by pretty quickly and easily, with only a little bit of vertical gain after the Mt Carbon climb. I knew I was in the top 10 runners but had no idea where inside the top 10. I drank water only as I attempted to allow my gut to settle in and get my aerobic/fat-burning engine going. Toward the end of the first lap, two runners passed me, the only two that would pass me all day. I came into start/finish area in good spirits and topped off water before grabbing some Tailwind out of my drop bag. I felt pretty juiced and ready to see what the day had in store.

Second Lap (Orange Course)

Leaving for the second loop, my average pace was around 8:40 and I knew I had put myself out there. The only choice now was to go for it and see how long I could hold on. Though the field was still pretty sparse, I was now coming up on some 50m runners and it became difficult to know who I was encountering along the course. The next trip up Mt Carbon was a real burner and I got my HR deep into Zone 5, pretty much putting me on notice that my third trip up was going to involve some hiking.

During mile 10, we split off to go out around the Fox Hollow Golf Course and some pretty enjoyable miles, including 3 water crossings. I had mixed my Tailwind too thick (200 Kcals in a single bottle) and was using every aid station as a chance to top off my bottle and water it down. But, it was pretty clear today was a water-only kind of day after this first bottle -- the effort level and the heat were not conducive to taking in Kcals. I was in a pretty good groove until we start running on the trail along Morrison Rd, where it became clear I was red lining myself and the second half of the race was going to hurt. There are several short, steep climbs along this section that really take the steam out of you. Most of them were just steep enough to want to hike, but short enough to not want to hike. I chose hiking, mostly.

I came through the start/finish area once again and took only water and another serving of Vespa. This time I was a bit less enthused as I left, really wanting to get the final Mt Carbon climb over with.

Final Lap (Orange Course)

I ran pretty well until Mt Carbon and then I hiked the entire .3 mile segment, too much burn in the legs to run it a third time. The descent and miles along Fox Hollow treated me well, including 30 sec stops in each water crossing to drench my shirt and legs. By mile 24, I was hurting bad and wondering how I was going to run for another hour. I started trying to figure out what my finish time would be if I averaged 10 minute miles. My legs were so dead the miles felt like 10 - 10:30 pace, but I managed to fight through and put in a couple more sub-9s, including walking all the steep hills in this section. During the 27th mile, I could see both runners ahead that had passed me. I would gain on them and then they'd put ground on me. There just wasn't enough gas left in the tank to catch them and I began wondering if I might get caught, so I promised myself I wouldn't walk a step -- show no weakness!

After doing a mini-out-and-back segment to the park entrance and we turned back toward the start/finish area for the last time, I became relieved knowing it would be over soon and that I was likely in fine shape to finish well and without being caught. I crossed the line in 4:33, 9th place overall and 2nd in my AG. A pretty stout 2 hour improvement on my 50K PR (though that race had 8400 feet of vert!).

I will say that I was really impressed with the management of this race. The start/finish area, while not their typical one, was great and very easy to work with aid and drop bags. The timing, bibs, busing, everything went smooth. As is typical for me, I found the trail harder than I expected, namely some reasonably technical section that left my ankles a bit stiff the next few days and some sandy sections that were tough to get great traction in. And, a fair amount of the track was narrow biking track. None of that is bad, just things to note if you ever plan to do the race. For a guy that likes to do lots of vertical, this race presented a real challenge because it was so runnable. The consistency of running for that long is not something I do often (without hiking).

I spent the remainder of the day on the couch, totally wrecked and experiencing some issues from the heat and dehydration. I've bounced back pretty good at this stage and feel good to continue training for JJ, if I can muster up the motivation!

Training Update

Well, I've run 900 miles and 110K of vertical since my last training update; I guess I am a bit over due. I have intentionally treated the second half of this year a bit differently than the first, where I had a very detailed plan for how I would attack Western States 100. Even if it was somewhat unguided, I have been training. I guess you could say I have training OCD. A kinder thing to say is that I just love the rhythm of training and don't believe in showing up for an event less than fully prepared. In any case, I trained without much of a plan for July and August, choosing to take advantage of opportunities to run with friends and try to enjoy the summer with my family. When September rolled around, I got serious about putting together a mini-training cycle to prepare for my final race of the season, Javelina Jundred (100k). In addition to that, I added a tune-up race in the Bear Chase 50k this weekend. For this weekend, I have thought about some goals, I honestly don't know what to expect. It will be the "easiest" 50k that I've run so I don't really know how much or how fast I can run... we'll see.

The two things that stand out from training since Western States is a bit more focus on quality (with a bit less quantity) and a bit less vertical gain. I still get out to the mountain trails on occasion, but I am definitely keeping my focus on "runnable" terrain since both of my upcoming races fit into that category. Additionally, I have had a slight uptick in my cross training sessions. I'd like to get into the gym three days a week over the winter, but I am happy with 1 or 2 days a week right now. Barring a setback, I am on pace for personal bests in both distance and vertical gain this year. My body has held up well, but I do plan to ease off the gas quite a bit after JJ.

And, lastly, I have thought a bit about 2016 races and have a few things in my mind. It will once again come down to lotteries (maybe not lotteries for my own races, however!).  I hope to have that all nailed down by year end.

HPRS - Indian Creek 50K Race Report

A few years back, when I was cutting my teeth in ultra running, I came across the blog of John Lacroix (aka Sherpa John or SJ). Of all the blogs I came across, his appealed to me because he is not an elite. He typically addresses ultra running from the point of view of a Regular Joe or Weekend Warrior. And, his desire is to keep the tradition and culture of ultra running alive and well. We can  disagree on exactly how much tradition we should keep, but we must agree that ultra running is growing rapidly, too rapidly, and the future of the sport is challenged because it is not easy to add supply to meet the demand. But, I digress....

When I met SJ, he had recently moved to the Boulder area and wanted to create a community of ultra runners out here. New to ultra running, and without many friends running ultras, I jumped at the chance to participate in a few of his Fat Ass events, running the inaugural version of them. I even joined him and Jeremy Ebel on their first trip to the Grand Canyon. Obviously, through our various adventures together, we've become friends. As a New Englander, he is often very opinionated and can be controversial, but I can say that he truly cares about the ultra running community at large and those in Denver Front Range. He spends tons of hours of his own time organizing Fat Ass events and helping to build community. It was a natural extension for him to start his own race series this summer. I thought I was done with racing after The Bear 100 in September, but he reached out and asked me if I'd come run his inaugural Indian Creek Fifties event. The race is close to my home and I often train on those trails, so I decided it would be a fun way to end the season. Enough background, onto the report...

After Bear, I haven't trained much at all. I was surprised at how quickly I recovered from the race itself, but I am pretty worn out from a big summer of racing and somewhat unmotivated these days. I did enough in October, but nothing close to my normal training. My goal all along was just to show up and have a good time. And, the night before was Halloween and both my kids were up late. As a result, I got about 3 hours of sleep the night before and just sort of slumbered to the start line only half ready to race. We stood in the dark for a few minutes and listened to SJ's announcements, and then he said "go" and off we went.

Rampart 1 - 9.25

I didn't recognize anyone in my immediate surroundings, so I just cruised along by myself the first few miles. The first few miles were pitch black, and I was sort of happy about that because I need more experience on trails in the dark. (After this race, I am starting to think I need a better headlamp too.) Between feeling sluggish from little sleep, being dark, and being overdressed, I felt super slow. A few miles in I heard my name and recognized "Coach Greg", my son's youth running coach. We chatted and hiked for a few minutes together. It was to be his first 50 miler and I think he was hoping I was doing the 50 mile event as well. He was hiking much better than me and soon disappeared into the dark. I once again ran alone, but found myself at the front of a long conga line heading reasonably technical trail in the dark. I felt like I was holding everyone up, but only a few people made a push to pass me. Finally, at six miles, I pulled over to use the restroom and the conga line passed me by.

The remaining miles into the aid station were mostly downhill and my feet were really bugging me. I wore my Hoka Mafate and they typically loosen up on me in the first few miles, causing my feet to slide around quite a bit. Plus, I used KT tape to tape my big toes and the friction rubbing against my second toes was causing some blistering. At aid, I refilled on water and stopped to tighten my shoes. My feet felt much better the rest of the day, though I did end up with a few small blisters. As for nutrition, I went with a pretty typical plan: no breakfast and Ucan as my only fuel for the first half of the race.

Reservation (start area) - 14.25

Leaving aid, I put on my iPod and did my best to keep in good spirits. I was heading mostly uphill again and having trouble keeping up with the runners around me, getting passed a couple of times. I had run all this trail in June with Tony and Chuck, but in the reverse direction. It was much harder in this direction! Nonetheless, I was gradually starting to get into the race and increasing the effort, particularly in my hiking. I've done so many mountain events this summer that I've really become a good hiker, often hiking as fast as others who are running around me. And, I have developed a good run/hike mix that keeps the moderate climbs in the low teens for pace. Before long, I reached the top of the climb and start descending down into the start area for the end of loop one. One thing that has bugged me of late is how much I've been tripping, so I really focused on my running stride downhill and made a comfortable descent without any trips!

At aid station, I dropped all my cold weather and dark gear. And, I dropped my extra water bottle because I had consumed all of my Ucan. I topped off my water and grabbed a couple Honey Stinger Energy chews. The sugar was an instant pick me up and I left the aid station in good spirits, knowing the course was net downhill for the next five or so miles.

Stevens Gulch - 19.85

The first couple of miles are downhill, but technical in spots. I once again focused on my stride and just put it into "cruiser" mode. I passed a couple of runners before another runner whom I'd never met, Eric, came up behind me and started chatting. We chatted a bit and, as a veteran of these trails, I explained to him what we would see the next few miles. Some of this section is really steep downhill and didn't try to play hero, just continuing on in my cruiser mode. Finally, we joined the Colorado Trail and I put in a couple of respectable miles. Eric had long left me, but I was catching up with some other runners.

As I approached aid, a volunteer grabbed my water bottle to fill it and I stopped to chat with Robbie (volunteering at aid). This was where I decided to fully switch to sugar. From the end of loop one, I had been nursing a few Honey Stinger Bites and a bottle of Skratch Labs. But, I was also mixing in some solid food in the form of Hammer Bars. Before leaving, I grabbed more chews and mixed one more bottle of Skratch.

Rampart 2 - 23.45

I ran this next section of trails back in the summer of 2012, and I remembered the uphill coming in the next few miles. I also remembered how hot this section can get. It didn't disappoint in either area. But, this is when my run/hike mix really started to pay dividends as I slowly began to catch and pass runners. The sugar was kicking in and my grade adjusted pace (according to Strava) was in the low 10's. With each passing mile I was feeling stronger. And, each time I passed a runner, I became more motivated. I soon caught Eric again and I slowed to hang and chat with him a bit. He gave me a bit of his ultra background (second 50-miler) and future plans (Big Horn in 2015). After sharing a few war stories of my own, I gently pulled away and he said goodbye and good luck. There were a few downhill sections before aid and I was clipping along nicely. While I don't typically enjoy my Hokas, they were feeling really nice on these downhill dirt road sections as I cruised along.

I continued to feel really strong as I pulled into aid station, and really motivated. I grabbed a couple of Honey Stinger gels and some water before heading out. I knew the remaining miles were mostly uphill, but I didn't realize what a grind it was going to be.

Reservation/Finish - 32.8 miles

The remaining part of the course was the same as the first 9 miles from the morning, so I was somewhat familiar with what was to come. (Though, I was admittedly half awake and courses always look different in reverse.) While the course is mostly up hill, the first three miles after aid are net downhill and I start increasing the pace and effort, catching a few more runners. Much of the course since the last aid station was double track dirt road and quite easy to make up time, but we finally exited the dirt road and rejoined trail. I could see two runners up ahead of me and I decided to slow down a bit and save some energy for the remaining miles. I am glad I did because the climb was longer than I remembered from the morning and I would eventually run out of water. Once going uphill, I shifted to a hard hike. Both runners that were immediately ahead of me were running and walking, but I managed to keep them in my sight without any meaningful running. I slowly gained on them and finally passed when I sensed I was feeling stronger than they were. I must have repeated this at least six times in the four mile climb. Each time I passed a runner, I was sure to run the next few minutes to make sure they didn't try to pass me back.

By mile 29, I was sure we'd start heading downhill soon, but it just didn't come soon enough. I became more and more frustrated with the continuous climbing. I had been pushing hard -- close to half marathon effort -- for the past 10 miles and it was catching up with me. (I wish I had worn my heart rate monitor because I am certain I was in Zone 4 for much of the climbing.) Things got a little hairy when I ran out of water, finishing my last gulp to chase a gel, hoping for one last burst to finish and fighting off some feelings of an ensuing bonk.  Mercifully, we got to the top of the and a course marshal told me to turn left with "1.5 miles downhill to the finish".

Not long after the turn, I came across one last runner that was close enough to pass. He stopped to stretch out a cramping hamstring. As I was running by, I asked how if he was okay. When he looked up, I recognized Coach Greg. He explained that he was struggling and unsure if he'd continue to finish the 50 miler. I was done racing and decided to run and chat the remaining mile plus with him. He congratulated me on a well run race and we both complained that the course was harder than we expected. (I always complain that the course is harder than expected!) With the finish line in sight, I picked up the pace for the final 100 yards, crossing the finish line and hugging SJ. Coach Greg came in right behind me and decided to call it good at 50k, a decision that I think was wise.

All in all, I had a decent race. I was happy that I ran strong the final miles, continuing a theme that worked for me all summer (other than Bear 100). Much of that, I believe, is due to my nutrition plan. I keep my food minimal (100-200 Kcals per hour) and mostly of the fat-burning variety early in races (Ucan, real food, plain water), then switch to sugar products in the second half to get a kick to finish strong. This strategy worked well in all my races except the 100, the one distance that has eluded me. The one downside to this strategy is that I can tell each time that I switch to sugar, my hydration gets out of whack. The sugar leaves me with cotton mouth and thirsty. If I do it for too long, particularly in hot weather, I begin to feel dehydrated. I need to continue to adapt and explore for the 100 mile distance. I think this likely means mixing in some fat products (nuts, oils and butters) and exhibiting more patience in the first half.

I am really happy for Sherpa John. The race went off really well for a first time event. A few of his core principles are not to cater to elites and to encourage runners to help one another; I think he accomplished both. He had quite a few runners -- friends of his -- out there volunteering and supporting him, a testament to the community he has made since arriving in Boulder a few years ago. I am not sure exactly what 2015 has in store for me, but I have a feeling I will run at least one of his events.

Power of Four 50k - Race Report

I was not going to do a race report because I did not really think I'd be racing this. It was supposed to be a training run. However, the more I got to thinking about it, it is a new-ish race and there isn't a ton of information available and perhaps someone could benefit from the things I learned.

A few random notes that I'd like to mention up front:

• There is a cash prize for this event. The top 3 men and women each get some cash. Of course, this makes for a somewhat lopsided field as you get the elites that want a chance for cash with the remainder of the field being generally more of the mid-pack variety. 
• The race is pretty darn new, 2014 being the 2nd year. I felt like the majority of things went pretty well for them and it is a solid event. But, there are a few things I will knit-pick about in this report.
• I have to be honest and say that I wasn't quite "into" this event. It was supposed to be a training run, but of course I showed up wanting to give more effort than that. I was sort of caught in between those mindsets as I raced. Onto the report...

I never intended to run this race or any other races between North Fork 50 (my "A" race for the year) and Bear 100 in September. However, a link popped up on Facebook advertising this event and I decided a weekend in Aspen and "nearly 10k" of climbing would be a good way to prepare for Bear 100. As it turned out, July was an insanely busy month and I have been commuting to the mountains nearly every weekend and am just sort of burnt out, feeling like a weekend on the couch was a better plan! Then, we learned Friday night that I screwed up and booked the hotel room for Sunday night, not Saturday. Ugh, off to a poor start. So we had to scramble to find a room for Saturday night early Saturday morning and then head off for the 4+ hour drive to Aspen.

When we arrived in Aspen, I noticed right away that it was hot! Yeah it was only about 80 degrees, but above 8,000 feet that feels pretty warm. Plus, it is has been a cool summer and had been a cool, rainy week. We picked up my race stuff at Aspen Mountain and watched about 5 minutes of the bike race before heading to our hotel in Snowmass. One thing we did right in this adventure was get a hotel in Snowmass (the end of the race) instead of Aspen (the start of the race). We had to drive 20 or so minutes race morning, but it was nice to be two minutes from our hotel when the race ended. We spent the remainder of the day hanging out in Snowmass Village and swimming in our hotel pool. I was really dreading the race all afternoon, just not able to get my head in the game sort of thing. It is a real bummer to be such a beautiful place with your family and dreading a race the next morning. Fortunately, we had a ton of fun, even playing a few games of foosball in the village.

Race morning the alarm went off at 4:45 and I got myself together and headed to the start line...

A profile of the course elevation

Start to top of Aspen Mountain (5.2 miles)

I have been a part of a few small races, but this one was pretty darn low key! All the runners showed up at the Aspen Mountain Gondola and the race organizers provided a few words before firing off a gun and sending us straight up the heart of Aspen Mountain. The first 5 miles are a 3500 foot climb, averaging close to 13% grade. I am not a good enough runner to run much of that grade in such a long race (6+ hours). The pace was somewhat frantic to start as people jockeyed for position and those going for cash pushed themselves out front. As a result, I definitely hit the first mile too hard. Things finally calmed down a bit the second mile and I got into a 90% hike and 10% run mode and just grinded my way to the top, reaching the summit in roughly 1:21. I was actually pretty happy with that split considering it normally takes me 1:40+ to summit similar climbs (like Hope Pass from the north). At the top was a pretty simple aid station where I got some water and moved right along.

Nutrition note: My general nutrition plan this summer has been a bit of "real food", usually Hammer or Lara bars, every 30 minutes with a goal of eating an entire bar per hour. Then I supplement with some Skratch Labs (about 40 kcals per hour) until it gets hot. Once it is hot, or late in the race, I switch to pure water and gels. I executed this plan pretty much to perfection and ate 4 bars, 3 gels, and 3 packets of Skratch for a total of 1400 Kcals on the day. The one problem is that is only about 5 hours worth of food. More on that part later....

Aspen Mountain to Midnight Mine/Castle Creek Road (10.3 miles)

After summiting you go straight down, giving back nearly all that vertical in the space of five miles. It is an average of about 500 feet per mile down. The good news (for me) is that it is all jeep/service road and quite runnable. I averaged 7:30 miles all the way down without much trouble. Of course, my quads took a pounding, but I didn't feel challenged aerobically and I continued to eat and finally got somewhat into the race.

Midnight Mine/Castle Creek Road to Tiehack Parking Lot (mile 15.5?)

This is where I started to get a bit frustrated with the race: nothing big, just a few small details that make a big deal to me. First of all, at this point I knew the vertical was going to be off. It was supposed to be 3900 feet and I was not quite at 3500 feet at this point. Not a huge deal, but since I signed up to get vertical, I wanted every foot. Next, I asked the aid station volunteers where the next aid station was to be sure I carried enough fuel. There was a little confusion and they gave me some bad information. Once again, this didn't cause me any issues or alter my race, but it was just kind of annoying.

I left the intersection of Midnight Mine and Castle Creek and start heading straight up hill. This climb was tough, like backside of Hope Pass tough. One mile is over one thousand feet of vertical gain (more than 20% grade) and I was grinding to just keep moving forward. And I was sweating like crazy! The trail was a mix of actual trail and some overgrown trail made from bushwhacking. All of it was in the morning sun, making it quite humid as the day warmed up. I measured my progress by vertical gain, just wanting that number to climb higher and higher, both for the training effect and the knowledge that there would be less work to do later. I was a bit surprised when I hit the 12 mile mark and popped out on another service road. This was the end of the climb! Only 1.7 miles? Hmm. To my left was a giant jug of water just sitting by the side of the road -- a make shift aid station. The race directions say the next aid station is at mile 15.5 and I had only consumed about half of one water bottle since the last aid station, so I passed on the fluids and started downhill.

Once again the downhill is mostly jeep/service road and I was pounding my quads at sub-8:00 pace. I was well behind vertical and starting to realize that I am either going to come up short of the 9+ I was hoping for or that I have some brutal miles left somewhere. While I continued to pound down at a reasonable pace, I began to notice that every uphill is annoying and I was just generally lethargic. My nutrition was going fine, but I would likely be out of fuel by hour five. As I approached 16 miles, I was in a neighborhood and running along, sort of just searching the for the next aid station. Finally, I crossed a large bridge over Maroon Creek and hit the Tiehack Parking lot at mile 17, not 15.5. Fortunately I never ran out of water or fuel. In fact, other than water, I used only my own supplies that I carried with me all day. But, missing an aid station distance by 1.5 miles always messes with my mind. How long is the course? A true 50k? Am I going to have enough fuel and water to the next aid station?

My shoes (Altra Olympus) were brand new and a half size larger than previously purchased so my feet were sliding all around on the steep descents. At the parking lot, I took off my shoes to empty out rocks and cinched them down tight to avoid further slipping, worried I might get some of my dreaded friction blisters. As I was filling up on water and chatting with other runners and aid station volunteers, I heard another racer organizer giving instructions to the "Rec" (14 mile/22k) racers. I managed to time it perfectly so they are going off at the same time I start climbing again. Blah.

Tiehack Parking Lot to Elk Camp Restaurant (mile 23)

Leaving Tiehack there is a bit of exposed service-road climb as the trail starts heading up Buttermilk Mountain. I remembered specifically the instructions at the beginning of the race and the organizer saying that "100% of the second half of the course is single track". (This turned out to be not entirely accurate, but was still something to look forward to.) Before long we were on the Government Trail toward Snowmass. And this trail was as advertised! Lots of beautiful wild flowers, Aspen trees, and sections of technical trail. It was very much what you'd expect running in the mountains of Colorado. I sensed -- and vaguely remembered from the course website -- that this section was a smaller climb and was going to be more of the grind walk/run mix variety. The trouble was that I just didn't have a ton of desire to run the portions I could. And, unlike the previous sections, the downhill was technical single track, so I wasn't flying like earlier in the day. A few miles in I came across another unmanned aid station (a water jug) and, smartly, topped off my water bottles.

About that same time, two women from the "Rec" race passed me and they worked together with another woman I had seen earlier, who was doing the 50k course. Again, without much fight, I watched as they continued to work together and remain a hundred yards or so ahead of me. Finally, the two women doing the shorter races pulled away and the 50k runner sort of drifted back to me. (She wound up 3rd woman overall and earned some cash!) I pulled up behind and she asked if I wanted to pass, but I didn't sense that I was much stronger than her at the moment and declined. I just wanted to grind to mile 23 so I could see my family, head downhill and end this thing. I continued to stare/obsess over my Garmin watching the miles slowly tick away and hoping the vertical would start to accumulate faster.

After it became clear neither of us was in the mood to pull away, the woman (Kylie) and I started chatting. She is doing the Pikes Peak Double (Ascent and Marathon) in a few weeks and lives in Snowmass, so she figured this was a good warm-up event. As we got near the 23 mile mark on my Garmin, she asked what our distance was and I mentioned that the aid station should be coming soon. She agreed. Instead, we started subtly climbing and the miles kept ticking away. Soon we were on some service road and just kind of zig-zagging our way toward Elk Camp. We could see Elk Camp and just kept turning in all kinds of different directions on fully exposed trail, with people all around us hiking and biking. I mentioned to Kylie that this must be the highest point for the remainder of the race and she said she thought we went all the way to the top of the mountain (probably another 1K). This news disappointed me because I was spent and just want to be done. But, it also encouraged me because it is obviously the only way we are getting to 9k of vertical on the day. And, it confused me because the course directions that I read online very clearly described us running across, not up the mountain. In addition to Kylie, a gentleman at the bike shop in town had mentioned he also thought the race went all the way to the top. I didn't know what to believe. How long is this race? Will I go uphill or down? When will I actually see aid?

Finally, approaching mile 25 and I saw my family. They had taken the Gondola from Snowmass Village and were hanging out at "mid mountain" doing various activities as they waited to see me. The good news was that they were having fun. The bad news was that I was not. I was hungry, hot, and generally grumpy. I felt bad about not being more enthusiastic to see them. This had to be among the lower moments they have seen me have in an ultra. My wife had me reapply sunscreen and gave me a quick update on what they were doing while waiting for me. I headed over to the aid station and was once again disappointed. My main gripe is that they clearly advertised in the race directions that each aid station would have Redbull. And boy was I hoping to have a giant chug of Redbull at this aid station. In fact, it kept me going the last couple of miles. I just needed the calories and the jolt to snap me out of my funk. Worse, I had my own energy drink that I didn't request they bring because I figured there would be some available.

Elk Camp Restaurant to Finish (mile 31)

As I said good bye to my family, Kylie had already left and put a few hundred yard gap on me, but I didn't care at all. I was ready to just grind out the final few miles and be done. Fortunately, the race directions on the website were correct and the course starts cutting across, not up, the mountain. Similar to miles 18-22, this is mostly runnable with a mix of uphill and downhill. But, I just didn't have the energy. I was out of food and nothing at the aid station appealed to me. (They offered Cliff products which have never sat well with me.) I just trotted along and worked through my mini-bonk and kept waiting for the final descent to come. At one point, I saw a few runners behind me and I gave a little effort, ensuring I didn't get passed the final miles. And, I slogged out a few short, steep uphills. Finally, mercifully, the final descent becomes official at mile 29. I began running at a comfortably hard pace. No one was close enough for me to want to catch and no one was close enough to worry about being caught. I passed one gentleman with less than a mile to go hunched over on the side of the trail and obviously wrecked. He said he was alright and would make it to the finish, so I continued down the hill to the finish. I finished in 6:32, 20th male, 23rd overall.

One of the really cool things about the race is that it includes a voucher for a free meal (and a beer!) from the Base Camp Bar and Grill right in Snowmass. We had eaten there the night before and I was a big fan of the food. I enjoyed my beer and burger before heading back to our hotel. While I was eating, my wife checked into our second hotel, the one I accidentally booked for Sunday night. Since we paid for it, we decided to check in, use the pool, shower, nap, and wait out traffic before heading home. Honestly, it turned out pretty incredible! I managed a little PT in the hot tub before taking a 45 minute nap. We didn't leave until 6 pm and had no traffic on the way home. Plus, my kids got to spend another few hours swimming. And all kids love swimming when you are in a hotel, right?

I know I was pretty critical of the race. Some of the things I said are just born out of frustration from having a ho-hum day and not really being "into" the race. It is not entirely unusual for ultra distance events to be marginally off in mileages. That is part of the reason I wrote this report -- so others can learn from my experience and be prepared. I did get the impression that perhaps this started as a biking event and has been adapted to be a running event. Perhaps that is why there is some small confusion about the course and aid station locations? The shirts they gave away are very nice, one of the nicest of all the races I have done. And the free meal to Base Camp Bar and Grill was a great treat, not your typical end-of-race-Costco-patty-BBQ. The bartender was nice enough to sub out my Bud Light (included with the meal) for an Aspen IPA and he is now my favorite person in Snowmass.

If I had one real complaint, it is the aid stations. I know the race is only a 50k, but for us mid-pack folks on such a tough course, that is at least 6+ hours. I'd like to see some more real food at the aid stations -- fruit, PB&J maybe, something. Even if it was only offered at the mile 25 aid station, that would be an improvement. And don't ever tell me there is Redbull if you don't have it because I am a junkie for it during ultras!

In terms of training effect, I think I got what I wanted out of this. Obviously, I won't cover 9K of vert in the first 6 hours at Bear. The pace will be much more relaxed. One thing I have been noticing all summer is that I am a good climber below 11k in elevation. My splits at this race suggested as much. The good news is that Bear 100 peaks (8800 feet or so) close to my starting altitude for this weekend (8000 feet), so I expect that will help me keep it easy as well. Onto recovery so I can log a few more good weeks of training!

Weekly Training Wrap - 7/28 - 8/3

Oh, what to say this week.... First thing is that I am so very thankful that my wife and kids like to travel with me and support me. It has been quite a year! (And it is not over.) I have raced five times already and have two races remaining (one is questionable). The long weekends and recovery periods are starting to make me wonder if I am over racing a bit. I guess time will tell....

This weekend was the Power of Four 50K in Aspen, CO. Being a high altitude, big vertical race, it isn't exactly in my wheelhouse. But, I signed up knowing that I need to accumulate as much vertical gain as I can in August to prepare for The Bear. They advertise the race as being "almost 10K" of vertical gain, but I tracked it closer to 8500 feet. Either way, it was enough to tax my quads and my glutes and help me get prepared. The first climb was a nice Bear simulation with almost 4K of vertical, very similar to the first climb at Bear 100. I split that first 10 miles in 2 hours, or about half an hour faster than I hope to in September. The second climb was steep (more than 1K of vert in a mile, or about 20% grade) and fairly hot, but it was short. And the final climb was just a long grinder that lasted nearly 8 miles with only a little relief. The bonus of the last climb was the beautiful single track trail. Overall I am happy with a 6:32 finish and feel like that was within 15-20 mins of my current potential.

My family got to take the Gondola from Snowmass Village to Elk Camp and play while they waited for me to come in. They did a rock climbing wall and several other games before they witnessed my suffering. Hanging out in these ski towns is a ton of fun during the summer. Too bad I was here to race!

I am satisfied with where my training is right now. However, I am feeling a bit exhausted and somewhat unmotivated from a busy, long summer. My kids start school next week and the addition of a routine to daily life should help things settle in a bit. My goal right now is to keep grinding but do my best to make training fun and enjoyable. I am in the "no man's land" portion of training and need to get a little closer to the race before I really get excited about the task in front of me.

Walking into the mile 25 aid station, hot and grumpy!

At the finish, just relieved to be done.

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	Off	Rest
Tuesday	9	Easy Strength Training
Wednesday	6	McMillan - "The Pyramid" TM Hill workout
Thursday	9	Easy/MAF
Friday	Off	Rest
Saturday	6	Easy/GA
Sunday	31	Power of Four 50k
Total	61	About 10,900 feet of vert