Hope Pass Run

Well, it seems the training and other choices over the last 8 months have paid off (last week's physical pain has disappeared - hoping it will stay away).  Stephen and I headed down to Leadville early this morning for our weekly long run.  Twin Lakes to Winfield and back.  8,000 ft of climb over 12,600 ft pass.  The double crossing of Hope Pass today on just three gels was child's play and, if we had the time, I would've liked to turn around and do it again.  It felt easy and fun from start to finish and the views were amazing.  The beers afterwards were, like, exquisite - all 12 of them...

Coming Around and JT Upgrades Hat-ware

My body's starting to come around and the pain seems to be dulling.  I took it easy for a couple days with some easy 10k jogs where I could bag them and turn around if I wasn't enjoying them.  They went fine.  Today I decided to ride from my place to Mt Evans for the Mt Evans Ascent race.  It was a good call and gave me back a bit of the fun in training that had fallen away recently.  Ended up with a 5 hour ride with 9,300 ft of climb up to 12,500 ft elevation.  Felt super strong on the long climbs and still felt pretty fresh when I got home - both good signs.

I hung around a bit at Echo Lake to wait for JT to finally make it down the mtn.  He'd asked me to bring him an Elevation Trail hat if I rode over, so I did along with some expensive beers for him.

Elevation Trail's social class just moved a couple levels.  I'm just not sure whether it's up or down.

They're having Brothel Bed Races in my little town today, which clearly pays homage to what made this place awesome in 1860.  I've never seen anyone move self-propelled more than 3 feet in town, so this should be good.

Tired of it

I'm tired of training and am at the point where I just want Leadman to be over.  I'm tired of reading about it, talking about it, writing about it, thinking about it, and, most of all, trying to train for it.  It's getting old.  I feel like I'm just working to maintain fitness right now and not enjoying much, if any of the work.  I also have six screws and a metal plate in my left ankle that hurts like a MF on occasion, like for about a week every 8 weeks.  That's not helping with the motivation currently.  Here it is, sunny, warm, blue sky day and I'm dreading having to run.  We went down to Leadville yesterday and ran some of the 100 mi course.  It was gorgeous and all I could think about was stopping.  I ended up forging on mostly out of guilt for not wanting to waste the day for the person accompanying me.

We were talking about how everything down to the smallest thing can cause aggravation near the end of a 100 mile race: uphills, downhills, flats, rocks, road, the way your hat fits, the waistband of your shorts, everything.  That's sort of the way I feel on every run.  Everything aches like I have the flu and all I want to do is enjoy running again... without structure.  I'm sick of tracking the mileage, time, and elevation.  I'm also probably going to bag Elevation Trail and the podcasts - just feels like a waste of time and money.  I'm feeling sorry for myself, in general.

Then, last night, I received an email that my dear, kind (kindest) friend was diagnosed with cancer.  I read it with a gaping hollowness followed and filled with internal rage.  Remain strong, bright, and positive as you have always been - love will win.

Field Trip and Open Coaching Spots

Doesn't that look inviting?

Heading down to Leadville tomorrow morning for some runnin'.  If anyone local would like to join, the bus leaves Central City at 7am.  I'm not sure how much different it can be than my runs around my place but it'll be nice to see the course again for the 8000th time.

Killed off a few athletes, so have three spots open for coaching now.  Please shoot me an email if interested in filling one of the open spots.  tim -AT- footfeathers.com

Here's to a good week of training!

San Diego 100 Scorcher

With temps in the low 100s, the San Diego 100 drop rate is over 60% (with only about 37 finishers so far as I write this).  Tan Nguyen is one of those soft folks who thinks upper 70s is too hot, so I was a bit nervous for him after seeing the forecast of oven-like heat at the race.  Unable to eat and gagging for the last 16 hours of his run, he toughed it out for an amazing 26:24 finish in his first 100 mile run (according to him, his last 100 miler… ;-)

His effort is far more impressive than my two finishes there.  Congratulations, Tan!

Mile 90.  "Tim, you suck." -text msg.

10 miles later just after crossing the line.  RD, Scott Mills on right.  Buckle time.

Loose Goals for Leadman

LT 100 MTB Start

Oddly, I haven't sat down and combed through past Leadman results or come up with expectations or goals for the individual events, other than the 100 mile run.  There's no entry list (I did email the coordinator today to get one), so I don't know who all is competing and, frankly, I don't really care.  It doesn't affect my ability or performance.  I can only do the best I can, right?  I do know that Travis Macy is participating (have fun waiting for the heavy crap on his blog to load up...).  He is not only 16 years younger than I am but he's a pro athlete with a much deeper natural athletic ability than I possess.  If he doesn't beat me by at least four hours at Leadman, then something really wrong happened to him (like his bike breaks in half in the mtb races or his leg falls off in the 100 run).  With that cleared up, here's what I feel I can manage under best case scenarios in the events (i.e. no mechanicals, great weather, perfectly managed fueling/hydration, etc.).

Leadville Marathon 4:20-4:30
Silver Rush 50 mi MTB 4:30-4:45
Silver Rush 50 mi Run 7:40
LT 100 mi MTB 8:30-9:00
Leadville 10k Run :45-:50
LT 100 Run 19:00-21:00
Best potential: 36:38 - 39:45

Flat tires, chain broken, crash, injury in any of the events, illness, whatever.  Any of these factors could tack on HOURS to the time.  The above is under perfect conditions and having perfect races to my full potential.  No doubt Travis Macy should easily finish up around 33:00-33:30 overall.  Hopefully, I'll get the current entry list; would be cool to see some other monster athletes like Travis going for the Leadman title.

My overall goals are to have a great time racing and providing super positive exposure for my main sponsor, VFuel.  Without their great product and support I wouldn't be participating in Leadman and I appreciate them very much.

Today - 20 miles with 4,000 ft climb up at 10,450 ft elev.

La Sportiva Love

If I only had the same tread on my bald car tires...

Sorry (not really) if I sound like I'm fulfilling any sponsor obligation.  Not the case.  I've been reviewing (honestly) the La Sportiva shoes for a long time, long before I hooked up with the company.  I appreciate quality in certain things and running shoes have always been one of them.

The most versatile La Sportiva shoe, in my opinion, the C-Lite 2.0.  This has been my go-to shoe for most races from half marathons to 100 milers.  Comfort, lightness, cushion, traction.  It's all there.  Hello quick first 40-60 miles at the Leadville 100 and every step of the Silver Rush 50 mile.

After my bit of disappointment with the Vertical K model, I was hopeful when the Helios was announced.  Fits like a slipper, has ample cushioning and traction, and is light as an orange feather.  The flatness of it (4mm drop) leaves me feeling like I'm flapping my foot on the ground after a couple hours, so this is my sub marathon distance shoes (i.e. Leadville 10k).

The big daddy Ultra Raptor arrived today and I immediately wanted to put them on and run Hardrock (it's killing me to miss that race this year, fyi).  The protection, grip, comfort, and burliness is reminiscent of the old Montrail Hardrock, albeit with supple heel to toe action and springy toe-off.  It may be a bit heavier than the minimalist shoes the "elites" wear but that's why my feet warrant modeling careers and their feet look like Kathy Bates took a sledgehammer to them in the movie, "Misery".  I see these rock stars emerging somewhere between mile 40-60 at the Leadville 100.