I joined the American Trail Running Association (ATRA) back in February after winning a free entry into Rocky 50 from their newsletter. I saw another race in Colorado (Pikes Peak Ultra), in which they were again offering a couple of free entries and won again. I was super excited and couldn't wait to tell my wife, then realized how she may not be as excited about it as I was. I started to do more research into the race and found out that they also had the USATF 30k National Championship. Perfect. She could run the 30k & I could enjoy a day in the Colorado mountains. My wife, Michele, was an endurance athlete long before I thought it was a good idea or fun. She completed two Ironman distance triathlons back in the 90's before we had our daughter. I bought her a pair of trail shoes for Christmas a few years ago and she has made the full plunge into the trail running scene. Thus, she was fairly receptive to the idea of a Colorado trip for a race. Whew!
I started to spend time reading and re-reading the course description. It was fairly detailed, but I was anxious about the number of different trails it connected, turns, out & backs, elevation...... oh yea, elevation. How was I going to manage that. Then of course there were time cutoffs. As I began to study the time cutoffs, I saw they got tighter in the middle of the race, which meant having to move a little faster as you went further. I wasn't really sure if the elevation gain was going to be 11,000 feet gain by itself or 11,000 feet gain/loss. That's a big difference. Most of my long runs with a lot of hill work in Texas were maxing at 12-16 miles and 2,000 feet of gain. I have stuck to low heart rate training for a year now & ended up doing 50% of my runs as a fast hike, especially in this Texas heat.
The week prior to Pikes Peak Ultra, we had the awards ceremony for the Spring Series of the Texas Trail Running Championship. This was being held near Dallas at the Fossil Valley night race. I ran Fossil Valley last year and really enjoyed the race format. Dave Hanenburg is the race director & he makes it a fun night for all with a technical 2.69 mile loop which features two steep 150 foot climbs. I figured I would sign up for the 6 hour race and go very conservatively, plus pray that I did not injure myself before my goal race. I knocked out 9 loops with time for a 10th, but decided not to push my luck or legs past 24 miles. My friend, Adam Mendoza, was the faster Master runner in this race, but made it into the top five overall, so I won the age group award - a cowbell. Cowbells are essential when manning an aid station, so I was excited to have my own to bring to the next trail race I volunteer at. I also ran into a good trail running friend, Keith Gartrell, whom was at Fossil Valley crewing for his wife, Rebecca. I talked to Keith about heading to the mountains and he suggested I take a baby aspirin daily for the week prior to going to altitude. My wife found a study in which athletes had positive results doing so ( having to come from low elevation to high elevation quickly). We both decided to give this a go. I had considered Hypoxico training, but my "free race" was already costing me a couple grand from airflights, hotel, rental car, etc...
The first mistake I made was trying to get the cheapest rental car available - I won't mention their name, but it sounds like "Fox". I was a little concerned about what kind of karma we were getting as we got to our car and found bullet holes in the tail of it. My daughter also said there was some kind of weird stain on the back seat which she didn't want to sit on.
I started to spend time reading and re-reading the course description. It was fairly detailed, but I was anxious about the number of different trails it connected, turns, out & backs, elevation...... oh yea, elevation. How was I going to manage that. Then of course there were time cutoffs. As I began to study the time cutoffs, I saw they got tighter in the middle of the race, which meant having to move a little faster as you went further. I wasn't really sure if the elevation gain was going to be 11,000 feet gain by itself or 11,000 feet gain/loss. That's a big difference. Most of my long runs with a lot of hill work in Texas were maxing at 12-16 miles and 2,000 feet of gain. I have stuck to low heart rate training for a year now & ended up doing 50% of my runs as a fast hike, especially in this Texas heat.
The week prior to Pikes Peak Ultra, we had the awards ceremony for the Spring Series of the Texas Trail Running Championship. This was being held near Dallas at the Fossil Valley night race. I ran Fossil Valley last year and really enjoyed the race format. Dave Hanenburg is the race director & he makes it a fun night for all with a technical 2.69 mile loop which features two steep 150 foot climbs. I figured I would sign up for the 6 hour race and go very conservatively, plus pray that I did not injure myself before my goal race. I knocked out 9 loops with time for a 10th, but decided not to push my luck or legs past 24 miles. My friend, Adam Mendoza, was the faster Master runner in this race, but made it into the top five overall, so I won the age group award - a cowbell. Cowbells are essential when manning an aid station, so I was excited to have my own to bring to the next trail race I volunteer at. I also ran into a good trail running friend, Keith Gartrell, whom was at Fossil Valley crewing for his wife, Rebecca. I talked to Keith about heading to the mountains and he suggested I take a baby aspirin daily for the week prior to going to altitude. My wife found a study in which athletes had positive results doing so ( having to come from low elevation to high elevation quickly). We both decided to give this a go. I had considered Hypoxico training, but my "free race" was already costing me a couple grand from airflights, hotel, rental car, etc...
The first mistake I made was trying to get the cheapest rental car available - I won't mention their name, but it sounds like "Fox". I was a little concerned about what kind of karma we were getting as we got to our car and found bullet holes in the tail of it. My daughter also said there was some kind of weird stain on the back seat which she didn't want to sit on.
We had a great breakfast at a place called "Snooze" and that seemed to put us all back on the right path with our state of mind. We got to Colorado Springs, did a quick drive through the Garden of the Gods, as we decided to save our legs for the next morning. We arrived at packet pickup and saw this guy:
Jason Bryant is an incredible trail/mountain runner from North Carolina. I have gotten to know him from time at the Team RWB trail running camp at Camp Eagle in Texas. He is also an excellent story teller: ask him how to "meander up to a wild horse". Jason was at the race on behalf of the USATF. This felt like another positive karma moment for me, as did meeting up with our friend Bri Tammaro for dinner. Bri works for the Para-Olympics Committee in Colorado Springs, but used to be a Summer nanny for our daughter.
The 50 mile race started at 5:30 A.M. - I had packed my headlamp, flashlight, & extra batteries, but never had to use them - the pre-dawn light was sufficient to light the trail. I packed a light jacket, arm sleeves, gloves and food I would never need. I started in the middle of the pack, but was soon at the back within the first half-mile. I was determined to keep my heart rate low for the first couple of hours, but knew that the climb starting at mile 11 would change that. I listened to other runners talking, then decided to chat it up with the runners/hikers I would be around the rest of the day. This made the miles fly by and I was feeling good as we hiked upwards. After about 5 miles, we started to descend and the Sun began to brighten up the mountain sides. I tried to keep myself under control & this was reinforced when I saw a runner cleaning an elbow wound from sliding down the gravely trail surface. Here was one of my first views as the clouds began to burn off:
The 50 mile race started at 5:30 A.M. - I had packed my headlamp, flashlight, & extra batteries, but never had to use them - the pre-dawn light was sufficient to light the trail. I packed a light jacket, arm sleeves, gloves and food I would never need. I started in the middle of the pack, but was soon at the back within the first half-mile. I was determined to keep my heart rate low for the first couple of hours, but knew that the climb starting at mile 11 would change that. I listened to other runners talking, then decided to chat it up with the runners/hikers I would be around the rest of the day. This made the miles fly by and I was feeling good as we hiked upwards. After about 5 miles, we started to descend and the Sun began to brighten up the mountain sides. I tried to keep myself under control & this was reinforced when I saw a runner cleaning an elbow wound from sliding down the gravely trail surface. Here was one of my first views as the clouds began to burn off:
I decided to wait until the mile 11 aid station to use my trekking poles. The climbing turned to a 30% grade right off of the jeep road and I knew I would be slow on this section. The trail was cut into the side of a barren surface and I could see that slipping off of the trail would mean a several hundred foot slide with nothing to grab hold of. One runner insisted I go first, but she soon made her way past me - I'm pretty sure she wanted to get past this section quickly.
One of my favorite things early in the race was hearing the sound of water as we ran next to creeks or could hear a waterfall in the distance.
I caught up to a couple runners who had passed me and learned that Matthew was from Austin & John was living in Colorado Springs. John asked me about my Hard Rock pack - I knew this would happen when I bought it - I don't want to come off as a Hard Rock poser, but I really liked the pack and wanted it. It turns out that John had just completed Hard Rock two weeks earlier, as well as completed it the year before. I settled in to a solid fast hike with John to hear some good Hard Rock stories. Here we are heading up Skyline Drive - this road went up & up, but was fun and mindless to fast hike:
We finally reached one of the key aid stations at close to mile 20 & 11,000 feet. I had been complimented on the way I was managing the altitude when we were at 8,000 feet, but my real concerns were getting above 9,000 feet. Now I was at 11,000 and everything felt fine until somebody brought up cutoff times. It was 11 A.M., we had traveled almost 20 miles, had climbed from 6200 feet, but it took 5.5 hours. We had to do an out & back which was a little over 3 miles, but went up another 800 feet. I took off with a little more urgency and was fast hiking it with a guy who knew the area fairly well. Lon & I ended up staying close and encouraging each other for the next 18 miles. We reached the bib-punch turn around spot, then started running down. We made it back to the aid station by Noon & I spotted a variety of beers on display. The aid station volunteer offered one, but I said I would wait until I finished the next section as a reward. We were an hour ahead of the cutoff time, but had a different out & back section that was a little over 6 miles. This was the cutoff I had worried about, as the route was all at 11,000 feet. I put in my headphones and put my mind to the task of maintaining 15 minute miles. I was able to run for 5-10 minute stretches, then fast hike, but there were a couple of short, steep hills that had other runners sitting down. I had imagined this section being on a ridge with big views, but had to settle for this scenic meadow:
I finally made it out to the turnaround bib-punch point and had this nice view of Pikes Peak. On my way back, I was passed by some motorcycle riders, ATV's, & Gators in this section as they all seemed to be headed out for their own adventure.
There is obviously a large amount of park land & I learned that some of it was newly opened. I made it back to the main aid station at mile 28ish and had a shot of beer. I was still an hour ahead of the cutoff time and had some downhill running to look forward to. I allowed myself to get into a steady trot, but was watching my heart rate. It had been sitting around 140 on the flatter sections, but was now at 70. I thought to myself that I couldn't be that relaxed, so I upped my tempo & it dropped to 60. I was feeling good, but I had a brief thought that maybe my heart was about to stop. Then I realized that the chest strap had been slipping down - silly me. I fueled myself on Tailwind, dates, & Stinger chews. Lon warned me to save a little for the Mt. Rosa climb at mile 36. I tried to take in some extra fuel & almost choked as a gunshot went off just ahead, then another, then another. A couple of runners ahead of me slowed to a walk & I was hoping we hadn't wandered onto some private property. More shots, then I saw a woman holding her child & standing behind the trunk of her car. Her spouse was ripping off shots from his pistol into a target on the hill. We ran around them on the jeep road, but he didn't wait until we were safely by. BANG! BANG! BANG! - I flinched a little each time hoping he didn't ricochet something in my direction.
We had been told that we were to stay out of the water as much as possible. Soon after we passed the shooter, we had to cross a small stream into another park area. There were some volunteers to monitor our crossing and make sure we didn't bring bacteria into this new section.... or something like that. Apparently, there is an endangered trout species that reside in those parts & they have found that some bacteria was creating a problem - whatever the case, I didn't have to wash my shoes with soap and water. Yeah me! I felt good and continued to move well through this section. I came across another area with several targets and bullet casings - these Colorado folks seemed to like their guns as much as us Texas folk. I texted my wife to say that I was ahead of cutoffs and only about 4 hours from finishing. I forgot about Mt. Rosa in all of my good feelings of the moment. She texted me that she finished her 30K in 4:17 & won her age group. I got even more excited and super proud of her. The previous year, they had prize money for the Masters winner - I wondered if she scored. (No she didn't) :/
I hit the aid station at the bottom of Mt. Rosa and asked for the details of this out & back section. The main aid station volunteer was the brother of race director, Justin Ricks. He told me that the climb was 1.8 miles & 1800 feet. We were at 11,000 feet already. I started upwards, but quickly found my heart banging to get out of my chest. I took off my heart rate monitor & stuck it in my side pocket. A few minutes later I noticed that the monitor was still giving me a weak reading. I let other runners pass me and focused on taking 100 steps up, followed by a minute to let my breathing return to normal. I must have repeated this 10 times and noticed I hadn't made it more than a half mile. I continued this method and repeated another 10 times until I reached a clearing. Then I could see the top of Mt. Rosa - I still had another half mile to go & 600 feet to climb. I took my headphones out and saved the song that was on for my way down: Coming Down The Mountain by the Meat Puppets. As runners coming down from the top passed me, they warned me of the approaching storm. I could hear the thunder getting closer & I hoped I wasn't going to be the perfect lightening rod at the top. I finally reached the top & could hear thunder in the distance to my left, multiple gunshots going off down to my right. I was excited to know that the rest was all downhill to the finish, except it wasn't.
We had been told that we were to stay out of the water as much as possible. Soon after we passed the shooter, we had to cross a small stream into another park area. There were some volunteers to monitor our crossing and make sure we didn't bring bacteria into this new section.... or something like that. Apparently, there is an endangered trout species that reside in those parts & they have found that some bacteria was creating a problem - whatever the case, I didn't have to wash my shoes with soap and water. Yeah me! I felt good and continued to move well through this section. I came across another area with several targets and bullet casings - these Colorado folks seemed to like their guns as much as us Texas folk. I texted my wife to say that I was ahead of cutoffs and only about 4 hours from finishing. I forgot about Mt. Rosa in all of my good feelings of the moment. She texted me that she finished her 30K in 4:17 & won her age group. I got even more excited and super proud of her. The previous year, they had prize money for the Masters winner - I wondered if she scored. (No she didn't) :/
I hit the aid station at the bottom of Mt. Rosa and asked for the details of this out & back section. The main aid station volunteer was the brother of race director, Justin Ricks. He told me that the climb was 1.8 miles & 1800 feet. We were at 11,000 feet already. I started upwards, but quickly found my heart banging to get out of my chest. I took off my heart rate monitor & stuck it in my side pocket. A few minutes later I noticed that the monitor was still giving me a weak reading. I let other runners pass me and focused on taking 100 steps up, followed by a minute to let my breathing return to normal. I must have repeated this 10 times and noticed I hadn't made it more than a half mile. I continued this method and repeated another 10 times until I reached a clearing. Then I could see the top of Mt. Rosa - I still had another half mile to go & 600 feet to climb. I took my headphones out and saved the song that was on for my way down: Coming Down The Mountain by the Meat Puppets. As runners coming down from the top passed me, they warned me of the approaching storm. I could hear the thunder getting closer & I hoped I wasn't going to be the perfect lightening rod at the top. I finally reached the top & could hear thunder in the distance to my left, multiple gunshots going off down to my right. I was excited to know that the rest was all downhill to the finish, except it wasn't.
I caught up with Lon & followed him down to the aid station. I thanked Mr. Ricks for his fantastic course markings and challenging course design. I knew they had the task ahead of taking all of the blue ribbons down in the following 24 hours. I told Lon that I thought we could cover the next 11+ miles in 2.5 hours, if we ran most of it. I took off and thought Lon was behind me, but turned around after 5 minutes and saw I was alone. Miles 39-45 contained a lot of technical downhill running. I was getting really tired of it and saw that I had only gone 2 miles. I continued to push and the wind started to pick up with some cool sprinkles. Michele had texted me that there was hail down below earlier in the day & I wondered if this was coming my way. It didn't, but the breeze was cool & kept me going. I reached a jeep road and looked backwards to see this cave. I thought "the tunnel of love is closed".
I ran a lot of the jeep road with another runner. He wasn't feeling great, but he made a great push to the finish. We hit the mile 45 aid station where Justin Ricks, the race director was hanging out. I also thanked him for the great course marking and event. I really had been concerned about going off-course & now knew I would be okay the rest of the way. We actually had to hike back up another 500 feet over the next mile or so, which meant that much more downhill running to the finish. We caught more runners over the last five miles, but I ended up running the last 2 miles by myself. I wanted to break 14 hours & I kept running every bit of downhill. I could see the finish line .5 miles away & 200 feet below, then I was there. I earned a cowbell for my finish - two cowbells in a weeks time. I felt really great about my day in the mountains and finding a really great race. The folks at Mad Moose put on a great event. If you are looking for an out of state race, check out their race menu.
Finally, we enjoyed some great recovery food and beverage at the Bristol Brewery the next day. They converted an old elementary school to a really neat brewery & restaurant.
I ran a lot of the jeep road with another runner. He wasn't feeling great, but he made a great push to the finish. We hit the mile 45 aid station where Justin Ricks, the race director was hanging out. I also thanked him for the great course marking and event. I really had been concerned about going off-course & now knew I would be okay the rest of the way. We actually had to hike back up another 500 feet over the next mile or so, which meant that much more downhill running to the finish. We caught more runners over the last five miles, but I ended up running the last 2 miles by myself. I wanted to break 14 hours & I kept running every bit of downhill. I could see the finish line .5 miles away & 200 feet below, then I was there. I earned a cowbell for my finish - two cowbells in a weeks time. I felt really great about my day in the mountains and finding a really great race. The folks at Mad Moose put on a great event. If you are looking for an out of state race, check out their race menu.
Finally, we enjoyed some great recovery food and beverage at the Bristol Brewery the next day. They converted an old elementary school to a really neat brewery & restaurant.
This is where old beer retires + the equations on the wall can help you figure out how much to tip!