Leadville 100

Many people would say that long distance running is an individual sport, but when you plan on running 100 miles it is a full team event and your success depends on your crew and pacers even though they get very little credit or appreciation. 

This was an awesome year to run the Leadville 100.  Not only did both Sean and I have awesome crews and pacers that would be out there supporting us, but a huge number of the Runner's Roost teams were either running, pacing, crewing, or cheering out there. 

The Runner's Roost Crew who ran the 100 included:  Abby McQueeney Penamonte, Corky Dean, Philip J Snyder, Amy O'Connell, Becca Hall, Sean and Laura Wetstine, David Clark, Laurie Nakauchi, Ben Reeves, Seth Spooter Kelly, Donnie Haubert, Chris Sullivan, Oza Klanjsek, Junko Kazukawa, Nick Lang,  and Trevor Williams. (collage by Amy O'Connell)

We headed up to Leadville on Thursday to acclimate as well as to do the medical check in and packet pickup.   The medical check is pretty low key, they basically make sure you fill out a survey about any medical conditions or allergies you have,  and any medications you take and then weigh you so they can evaluate if you are fueling and hydrating properly on the course.  The next weigh in will be at the 50 mile mark at Winfield and then they do a final weigh in after you finish.  In the past, they have held people and made them eat or drink at Winfield if their weight dropped more than 6%.  This year, they promised that they would not do that, but that they were just weighing people for a study on ultra running and fueling/hydration. 

Packet Pickup Security Pup.  We have matching paws. 

Friday, there was a mandatory meeting to inform the runners about risks on the course as well as any changes for the crews.  They did their usual motivational speech where you repeat "I commit, I will not quit." 

Dr. John gives his speech every year about drinking when thirsty and not overhydrating, eating enough sugar, avoiding ibuprofen to prevent kidney failure, avoiding getting struck by lightening, and having proper gear in case of rain or cold. 

Here is most of the Roost crew the day before the race.  Luckily, Nick did not pull a muscle carrying me on his shoulders.  That would have been the dumbest injury before the LT100 ever.  

 

 

The race started at 4am Saturday morning. We got up at 2am and got ready and ate some breakfast before the race and then headed over to the starting line. 

Starting Line

The race runs from downtown Leadville on a gravel road to Turquoise lake.  You run on the North East side of Turquoise Lake to Mayqueen Campground.  From there you take Colorado Trail segment 10 until you get to Hagerman Road over Sugarloafin Pass.  You follow the rough eroded and rocky dirt road down the quad busting hill to Fish Hatchery and then run on the most evil part of the race - the road- for what feels like an eternity.  Eventually, you end up on a gravel road and find yourself back on the Colorado Trail, you pass the turnoff for Mt. Elbert and keep going to Twin Lakes.  From Twin Lakes you head through the marsh and across a river and climb Hope pass and then descend a very slippery and steep singletrack trail to Winfield.  Easy as that, and then you turn around and head back to the start. 

The crew has the most stressful job.  Their job is to predict what the runner will need and to get to the aid stations at the appropriate time with the appropriate gear.  This year, traffic and parking were worse than ever and they often had to run or walk to you carrying whatever they thought you would need.   Even though this was my 2nd year doing this race, I couldn't fully predict what I would need at each point in the race.  There are lots of variables: Will it be raining on the top of hope pass?  Is one handheld water bottle enough for this segment? Do I need warm clothing for this segment? Will poles help me climb this mountain?  Do I need to wear a headlamp for this section or will I get back in daylight?  What kind of nutrition will I need?  Should I change my shoes?   The safe answer is to always have more than you think you will need, but it also weighs you down and over 100 miles it becomes a drag.  

Sean Smiling and Running

Sean's Pit Crew: massage, hydration etc. 

One of the highlights of the 2nd 50 miles is that you can have pacers.  They are only supposed to change at official aid stations so most people have about 4 pacers.   Some rock star pacers do the whole 5omiles.   Nobody likes me that much that they would want to stay with me that long. :)  The pacer's job is to make sure you keep eating and drinking, carry your gear, keep you on the trail, keep you moving when you want to quit, and get help if you are having a medical crisis. 

Sean and I both had big goals for the day. Sean wanted to get sub 20 hours and I wanted to get sub 25 hours.  Sean started out with a more aggressive pace than last year and then  bonked and then tried to hold on for dear life until he bounced back again.

I tried to run a very conservative pace.  It was going well until I got to Hagerman pass and then my back started hurting and then the sciatica started.  I kept trying to stretch and to get my back to pop.  Then I realized that my knees were really bugging me when I was trying to run downhill.  I was nervous because last year I had knee pain whenever I ran downhill starting at mile 20.   One of the keys to being successful in this race is to hike uphill well and to be able to run efficiently downhill without trashing your quads.  

The one thing with ultras is that if you feel good it will end soon and if you feel bad it will also end soon.  I got to Twin Lakes  at mile 40 and was excited for hope pass.  The highlight of the race for me is the water crossings and the llamas at Hopeless aid station.   I will admit that I was excited to hike uphill just to avoid having to run downhill for a while. 

Climbing over Hope Pass.

Somehow, by time I was done with the ascent and descent and ascent and descent again over Hope my knees felt as good as knew.  I felt the best I had felt the entire race from mile 60-93.  Once it got dark, I did do quite a bit of hiking because I was getting clumsier and kept tripping on rocks.  My toes were killing me by then from kicking rocks all day and I knew I had a nice blister going between my toes. 

I was a little behind schedule when I got to Mayqueen on the way back and was hoping to still break 25 hours, although it would have meant that I ran the last 14 miles in 2:20 which is challenging at the end of 100 miles in the dark.  I was feeling great leaving Mayqueen but had been slacking on the nutrition because the finish line was so close.  By time I got to the Boat Launch at 7 miles from the finish my body started shutting down and I started shivering.  I was still running in my tank top and shorts because I had been so warm and was in too much of a hurry to make sure I had an extra shirt or jacket.  I knew it was getting bad so I started begging for clothing.  First I took my pacers long sleeve shirt, then 2 plastic bags, a hat, and gloves from another pacer, then a sweater and a sweatshirt from a guy driving by.  We were also using peoples phones to try to get a hold of my crew so they could meet us with more clothing.  I started blacking out and weaving around the road.  I continued the death trudge toward the finish and finally warmed up about 2 miles from the finish.  By then running seemed to be slower than walking.  I walked most of the way until I go to the top of the hill and then ran in to the finish. 

Sean finished in 23:08 more than 1 hour faster than last year and I finished in 26:22 three hours faster than last year.  Neither one of us met our goals, but we did get nice PRs and Sean got another big buckle. 

Sean finishing with his pacer Jared Conlin. 

Sean and his Crew

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture with all of my Crew and Pacers.  My rock star team consisted of Heather Alvarado, Dan Archuleta, Cindy DeMarco, Eric Hislop, John Shea, Kathy Shea, and Barkley.  Thank you guys for everything! You were awesome!

Team Archurado

Sean and his big buckle. 

Blister aftermath

Sean's Cankles

Marinating in Turquoise Lake

Marinating  in Turquoise Lake

 

 

We seem to be recovering faster this year.  Last year we had severe knee pain after the race, but this year we both just have some ankle pain.  Marinating in Turquoise lake did wonders for our muscle pain; now if only the ankle pain would go away so we can get back to running again.