Life after Leadville 100!

     I was going to write a post about the Leadviile 100 but I need to move on from that and get ready for my next races.  Simple race report, had great time, nutrition was spot on, crew was spot on, and had a great time with my pacers and ran a 23:13:54!  Since the race I have been in a funk for sure, not wanting to get out to run by making excuses, and just feeling blah at best.  My family and I went home (to St. Louis) for 6 days and I thought I would get out to run more.  I managed to run a sad-ass 14 miles total.  As of 9/4 I am back to training full time to get ready for the Bear Chase 100k Sept. 28.  I would love to have a good showing there, which would be sub 10 hours hours for me.  I ran 4:30 for 50k last year and think sub 10 is within my reach.  Another race I am very excited about is the Pere Marquette 7.4 mile trail race in Alton, Il.  I actually ran the course when I was home and ran 1:10, which would put me in top 100 but I am shooting for top 3 in my age group.  I think I can actually run sub 1 hour pretty easily and hopefully closer to 55 minutes.  They make this race out to be the toughest race in the midwest but I have my doubts with only 1600 ft gain in 7.5 miles it wasn't that bad but it was a dry trail also.  The race is held December 14 this year so weather will have a lot to do with finish times.  I decided to throw my name into the lotteries of a few big races next year.  The lotteries are in December and January for the big 100 mile races which include Hardrock 100, Western States 100, and Badwater 135 mile races, hopefully I can get into one of them.  I have a very fun year planned for next year and hopefully I can train through my last two races this year and take some much needed time off. 
Peace Stephen!

Leadville 100 pre-thoughts!

     Well the long awaited Leadville 100 is less than a week away and I getting excited.  I know running 100 miles all above 10,000 ft with 18,000 ft of climb might not sound exciting to you but im ready.  I am ready in a couple different ways first is to get it over with, I have been training for this run since November 2012.  I am ready to get it over with and think about something else.  Another way I am ready is this is the first 100 miler I feel that I actually trained for and am going to kill it.  I know the miles and long runs I have put in the last 8 or so monthes and I excited to go out have a good time.  Another reason I am ready is the course is a out and back loop and out of the 50 miles I have ran 35 miles of it the other 15 miles being a rock road.  I have a great crew that's going to be with me this time also, from my best man at my wedding (Chris) to my pacer (Brian) who I will pick up with 25 or so miles left that will take me to finish.  My wife, two kids and Brian's wife will also be there.  We had orange t-shirts made for everyone in our crew to get in the spirit.  I have 3 days of work to do then its time to go acclimate at 10,000 from monday night till the race start saturday morning.  I hope to get up above 12,000 ft on some of the high mountain passes we can drive to then just hangout and enjoy the weather and lack of oxygen.  I have been putting multiple trips to Leadville to train on the course and I believe I am acclimated especially since I live at 6300 ft already but the last week up high will help out.  Anyone can go to the website during the race and send me a text like message talking shit or whatever.  It is crazy that with such a big race coming up I still can't help but think about next year and what I have planned.  Next year will be a time that I step away from alot of racing and concentrate on training for my main goal which is hiking the whole length of the 485 mile Colorado Trail.  It has been a trip my father and I have talked about for a few years and next year its go time.  We will leave from Waterton Canyon (Denver) on June 17 and I hope to average 37 miles per day and finish in 14 days in Durango Colorado.  More to come on that adventure but first I have a date in Leadville. 
Peace Stephen! 

Less than 4 weeks!

     Well the first two races in my Leadville trifecta are done.  The Leadville Marathon was a great training run since we started at 10,200 ft and went up to 13,200 ft elevation. I didn't know how my body would react but I was fine until the calories just wouldn't go down and I struggled the last 10 miles but still finished a respectable 4:54. I went through the halfway point in 2:30 and was able to negative split the race to finish but thought the race could've been better. The Silver Rush 50 miler was scheduled 2 weeks later and I went into the race wanting to run PR at the 50 mile distance which would be a sub 8:57 time. I knew I was fit and ready to run. Since I started running ultras 8 years ago many things have changed in the ultrarunning community, one being the nutrition and mainly more "on the go" foods. The main one would be gels, if you have never ate one of these things please do and let me know what you think. To me they are hard to eat no matter what time of day but when your stomach feels like shit anyways then trying to force them down its a no go for me. So going into the Silver Rush 50 I went back to my old school nutrition which is drinking 1 bottle of Ensure every hour and eating at the aid stations like they are buffets. My father came out to crew for me and we drove around the day before finding all the crew points. I wrote out a plan of what I thought I needed at the 3 crew points which would keep enough calories in me to keep me rolling and boy did it. I felt good all day long from the climbs which had us going over 12,000 ft 6 times to the last 10 miles of downhill running which I did averaging sub 9 min miles. I finished with a PR of 8:35:05 which is a 23 min under my fastest 50 miler and this was at altitude ranging from 10,400 to 12,000 ft.  The run totaled 9,100 ft elevation gain and loss. I made my nutrition schedule out for the Leadville 100 miler and the old school nutrition remains. I have less then 4 weeks until the race and my confidence is higher than ever. I just need to get up to Leadville a few more times to run the course and be more familiar with when I can push and when I need to relax. It is crazy that a race I have been training for and thinking about since November of last year is less than a month away. I just want to run to my full potential and get the big buckle which is under 25 hours but since I ran 8:35 for 50 miles I feel I have a great chance to do so. I wrote out my game plan and decided a 21:45 finish would be my A goal and that is 13:00 min average. I have two more weeks of training then a nice two week taper and its go time. I can't wait,
Stephen      

     Well the first tune up race for the Leadville 100 went well, I finished the Roxborough 50 miler in 9:39.  I had some stomach issues which had me walking most of the last 20 miles or so but all in all it was good. The race director said the race had a total of 5000 ft gain/loss but when I downloaded my data from my garmin it said 10,130 ft of gain/loss.  So that was a stout training run considering Leadville 100 has around 17,000 total gain/loss.  Since I slowed the last 20 miles I was hardly sore at all and was back to full training in 3 days.  Amazing what all that base training I have done since November has helped me recovery in my longer runs.  I got up on the Leadville 100 course to run up and down the powerline section and it has some awesome trails and even better views. I know I can run under 25 hours with my fitness right now I just need to be patient and eat like i'm at a buffet. Hopefully I can get up to run the Hope Pass section next week and I feel comfortable about the rest of the 50 mile course. I can't wait for the Leadville 100 for a couple different reasons. My best friend from home is coming out and all of my family will be there to see me finish which is going to be awesome. Well next up is the Leadville Marathon June 29 and I am ready to kill it. 

Leadville 100 update!

Well as of May 25 I have 12 weeks until my "A" race of the year which is Leadville 100.  I have had a couple of races since last post which was Colfax Marathon and Bolder Boulder 10k.  I finished Colfax Marathon in 3:28:57 which was only two days after a 21 mile 3400 ft gain effort and four days before a 22 mile 4400 ft gain effort.  That week was my biggest yet to date and my body handled it well.  Bolder Boulder 10k was a good effort in which I averaged 6:30 miles for 6.2 miles total feeling refreshed and ready to continue my training the following day.  I have a few longer more challenging races coming up with the Roxborough 50 miler on June 1 and Leadville Marathon June 29.  These two races will really show me how my training has been going.  In a way I can't wait for the Leadville 100 to be over it has consumed my life now since I thought about doing it last November. I definatly need a break from training to do some fun stuff like check some more 14ers off my list but for now they will have to wait.  For now I will have to trudge along getting my training in so hopefully Leadville won't totally eat me for supper and I will have that big beltbuckle in hand at the end but only time will tell.  For now off to train,
Stephen!