GR10-Xtrem 94k

After taking a few months break from running events I volunteered for a 100 mile race put on by some cool dudes in Belgium. I was hoping to pay back a little since the races are close to home and we know quite a few of the volunteers and participants, also secretly hoping that it would help get me motivated to sign up and schedule next years events. Basically I was mentally burnt out from doing multiple long distance events over the summer. Coping with preparation and long periods of monotony intermixed with significant adversity had taken its toll. So much so that I still have trouble working up the energy, or mental capacity to relive some of those memories and finish my race report from King Offa’s Dyke Race four months ago. From a physical standpoint, other than getting fat and neglecting my yoga routine, things have been going mostly well.

Well it worked, after I got home from a weekend of volunteering and catching up on sleep I started registering with reckless abandon. Oh a mountain 94k in Spain in 3 weeks, piece of cake… oh a winter 250k in less than 2 months, no problem… and a looped 6k every hour for as long as you can go a few months later, how hard could that be, shit might as well sign up for another 300k later in the year as well. I’m pretty sure I am becoming the typical ultraholic.

Anyway onto Spain. I ditched out on work a bit early Friday to catch a bus, to catch a metro, to catch a train, to catch my flight. Thanks to the highly efficient dutch public transportation system I arrived on time even though I left about an hour later than originally planned. We landed in Valencia a couple of hours later and hopped in my rental car for a short drive up to Puzol (the z is really the c with a squiggly below it), realized the grocery store was open for 5 minutes and quickly grabbed some frozen pizzas and a few Pilsner Urquells. Which in listening to beer podcasts, that are teaching me how to home brew, is the model pilsner that the world based it’s modern shitty tastes upon. Oddly enough it isn’t too bad and much better than the protypical euro/US crap lager. And finally in bed by 10 or maybe it was 11?

Race starts at 6am, i woke up around 4:30 after a pretty solid night sleep. Headed over to the start/registration area and got my stuff. The cafe next door was open so I grabbed another cup of coffee waiting inside for 10 minutes before the start. One of the reasons I love European races, there is always a cafe open close by for a last minute cup of joe. And then to start line 30 seconds before the start.. and shit I forgot to take my headlamp out of my bag. So DFL again. Oh well.

First hour or so was under a glorious almost full moon. The GR10 is a very well marked trail with a red and white stripe making it easy to follow along. It starts almost at the sea and then basically goes north west into up through the mountains to a small town called La Pobleta-Andilla. It was a lot more uphill than downhill shown in the profile below.

The sun started to come up and the moon headed down. That’s the moon in the pic below by the way. Nice and bright.

The trail was very similar to running in Prescott Arizona. Warm, sunny, dry and rocky, with some amazing views. A couple weeks back when I was running to work, I pulled a muscle in my calf. I tried running again a week later and made it about 1.6k before I turned around and walked home. It was bad enough that I almost talked my wife into taking my place in Spain but due to scheduling conflicts that didn’t work out. So plan B was to do my famous, take that shit far over the edge, active recovery model for healing. Needless to say the first 20k was annoyingly painful but eventually the pain receded to a dull annoyance.

The first chunk of the race was a majority of uphill climbing, which I was looking forward to. Then some nice easy half descents every so often. I really do better in variation of terrain compared to flatter runnable courses. Then we hit this section of scrambling which was buckets of fun.

The scenery was just mesmerizing, varying geologies with olive orchards in abundance across the vista. It was making me a little homesick for Arizona. What a difference compared the flat cold lowlands where I dwell currently. It was a fantastic destination for a January race.

Overall the race was going splendidly. I had packed enough junk food too keep my energy levels up and other than running out of water for a brief 5k stretch things were flawless. I was holding a solid 6km/hr pace hiking up and running downs as typical for me.

And then the fun began… in my rushed preparation, I never translated the race briefing. I just looked it over and pretended my Spanish reading comprehension was much more capable than the illiterate non-exisitence it truly is. Looking back I’m sure it said important things like even though by the sea it is warm, once you get above 1,000m the temperatures drop fast. Make sure  you bring warmer wind proof outer wear to put on in these cold conditions. Desert temperatures drop fast in the winter etc…. I think I looked at the weather in Puzol once it said it would be sunny and 20c in the day and 5c in the morning, so I brought shorts, a half buff, a light pair of gloves and my rain jacket. Thank goodness I am permanently scarred from my Pennine Way failure that I always bring my rain jacket.

Lo and behold when the sun dropped, the temps plummeted and just as we started climbing to the high point of the course the wind picked up. What was a nice cooling breeze earlier turned into a gusty, well below 0 wind chill. It was freezing. I have actually built up a good tolerance to cold, in fact I ride my bike daily regardless of temps, wind speed or conditions. However after you run 70k things start slowing down and I get the chills almost immediately if I stop moving. Even though I was moving my body was barely generating enough heat to keep from shivering. Then came a nice very warm checkpoint at 80k and I knew if I stuck around for too long there was no way I was coming out. So I did my typical routine as fast as possible and got the hell out of there. Then had to climb even higher to the top of the course where it got really cold. I was very concerned about going hypothermic wishing I had brought a hat and pants at the very least. Well even though I just wanted to lay down and take a nap, the only realistic thing to do was keep moving forward as fast as I could, which was difficult at night and it was a very rocky technical part of the course. Finally hitting a small village and a surprise checkpoint 6k after the previous one. Again I stuffed my face with chips and tried to drink as much coke as possible without regurgitating the chips I just ate.

It was warmer and mostly downhill to the finish, but a very steep downhill so the going was slow again. My quads were destroyed over the last 8k, although it was pretty uneventful from here. I finished just in time to grab a beer at the finish line and hop on the bus for the 90 minute ride back to the start.

Next day I woke up and could barely lift my legs because my quads were so sore. Eventually after I worked some of the swelling out I was able to walk. Took a quick tour of Valencia which is a very pretty city. And basically did the reverse of the a couple days ago to get home. Overall a very successful and fun trip!

Lakeland 100 2016

This one has a little back story, after my dnf at Leadville I really wanted to complete the 100 mile distance in 2016. This was one of the few hilly 100 milers that I knew about in the area during the summer time. This way I could build up my training in the same way as I did for Leadville but restrict the amount of training races to prevent any injuries. It was also a good option as there would be no jet lag to deal with or any elevation related issues.  However shortly after I signed up for Lakeland I found out about The Great Escape and signed up for that one too, thinking this could be my fall back option just in case. And I remember talking to Sarah, a little shell-shocked, right after the Great Escape about not wanting to do this 100 miler. She said don’t worry in a week you will feel completely differently and she was right.

I coupled this race with a vacation to Scotland to we had a nice week touring around Scotland for a week. We arrived in the Lakes District on Thursday, the race started the following day at 6:00pm. I got a decent night of sleep that night which was very helpful and bit unusual. We kind of planned the day out but ended up being a little late to Coniston and I ended up being a bit flustered at the race registration and kit check. There is a big energy difference between small and large races. I tend to prefer the smaller ones as I feel more relaxed and less stimulated. But there is definitely more of an upbeat energy when you have a bigger race like Lakeland or Leadville and it makes you want to go out and run fast. At 4:30 we had an hour long race briefing, which was probably a little too long. Eventually 6:00pm rolled around and we were corralled and headed out. I forgot to take out my hearing aid so I had to find Sarah to drop it off, and naturally I ended up in last place.

Normally I don’t do the time splits etc.. but in true Lakeland fashion (at least the blogs I read) I am going to for this race report! But in Km’s because miles suck.

Coniston to CP1 Seathwaithe: Fri 7:45pm – 11.3k in 1:45, expected 1:53 Climb: 2162ft  Descent: 1988ft

The first leg had a pretty decent climb on it and about 2km in the road changed to singletrack and the traffic jam began.

It wasn’t too bad and eventually the trail widened to road width and I was able to pick up my pace. This is an interesting phenomenon I noticed since moving over here. I am a back of the packer on races in continental europe, at least in the Benelux/France regions. So starting out DFL usually isn’t an issue from a pacing perspective. In the UK it’s a completely different story where I tend to be more of a midpacker so starting out DFL usually leads to a much slower pace until I pass a bunch till I get into a more similar pace group. This time it took me a couple of legs to get into that group, it’s a fun challenge but at the same time I wasted a lot of energy changing speeds. It was a pretty good climb but I don’t remember thinking it was that long, which was interesting because smaller inclines later in the race felt like they lasted forever.

Once we got up to the top there was a relatively steep descent and then into our first aid stop at Seathwaite. Unfortunately I don’t remember a whole lot from the early part of the race. It’s almost as if I have amnesia until the following morning?

CP2 Eskdale: Fri 9:38pm– 11.3k (22.5k) in 1:54, expected 1:44  Climb: 1263ft (3425ft) Descent: 1375ft (3363ft)

The only things I really remember between this and the next check point were being wet and having some pretty steep descents. I also twisted my ankle pretty badly during this section which would haunt me the whole race. Other than that? I think they were playing my name is Prince at this aid stop which was kind of cool, or maybe it was the next one. I was really trying to limit my stop time, while eating as many salt and vinegar chips and drinking as much coke as I could. I also flipped my tailwind into the camelbak and water in my front flask, but tailwind alone was working fine and I wasn’t drinking water at this point. I also put on my headlamp getting ready for dark.

CP3  Head: Fri 11:13pm – 8.7k (31.2k) in 1:34, expected 1:20 Climb: 974ft (4400ft) Descent: 942ft (4304ft)

Dark and blank, and maybe we got lost? I seriously think I am repressing memories or something. I didn’t talk much about the race but this one is an unmarked 105 miler venturing through the Lakes District in England. I somehow originally missed the fact that it was unmarked but was fortunately told by Paige during the great escape that most races in the UK were unmarked. So I double checked and ended up coming prepared with my wife’s fancy ass handheld gps, which I didn’t use all that frequently but I estimate it probably saved me 5-10km worth of not getting lost. The 100 miler had 345 starters and then half way through we joined up with 700 of the 50 milers and for the most part other runners were always in site. I think it was this section where I learned my lesson to check the GPS every so often as whole groups of people frequently get lost too… including the one I was following and had to lead back on course.

CP4 Buttermere Sat 1:44am– 11.1k (42.3k) in 2:31, expected 2:20 Climb: 2336ft (6736ft) Descent: 2188ft (6493ft)

This one is really a blank, but looks like a decent climb? It was in the middle of night in my defense.

CP5 Braithwaite Sat 3:57am– 10.5k(52.8k) in 2:13, expected 2:36 Climb: 1880ft (8615ft) Descent: 2011ft (8504ft)

From the elevation chart this one looked to be the monster climb of the race but in reality it was a pretty gradual climb and a semi-runnable descent. Unfortunately I was having a hard time running after twisting my ankle a while back. Eventually the pain dulled somewhat and I was able to keep a decent downhill running pace. My insoles kept bunching up around my toes from the steep and wet descents, it was quite annoying and I frequently had to stop to fix them which slowed me down quite a bit. This was a nice indoor check point and I sat down for a while and drank some coffee.

CP6 Blencathra Sat 6:26am – 13.7k (66.5k) in 2:29, expected 2:44 Climb: 1568ft (10184ft) Descent: 1001ft (9505ft)

And now the memories are coming back some, there is a long flat boring section on a sidewalk before you do some climbing. There was some strange dude doing a weird walk or dance after what looked to be a hard nights drinking on the side of the road. I might have also been hallucinating? Either way hopefully he made it home ok. It was getting light and I was able to stash my headlamp and woke up a little bit. This was probably my favorite section as the sun was coming up and there were some amazing view as you round the valley.

CP7 Dockray Sat 8:34am – 12.4k (78.9k) in 2:08, expected 2:28 Climb: 1368ft (11552ft) Descent: 827ft (10331ft)

This was a relatively difficult portion due to fatigue, running was happening less frequently. I think this is pretty normal for me around this stage of the race. During the great escape the 80-120k portion was probably the most challenging. This one started a little earlier for me but was shorter lived. The good news is this aid station had pickle and cheese sandwiches and soup which was a fantastic combo. I was still eating and drinking constantly and from a fuel standpoint was doing well.

CP8 Dalemain 11:21am – 16.3k(95.1k) in 2:47, expected 2:42 Climb: 1214ft (12766ft) Descent: 2093ft (12425ft)

This was a long section, the good news is Sarah did a surprise stop to say hi.It was great to see them early on. I read that this section had some nice single track to run on but unfortunately I didn’t have the energy to run on it. Too bad. It was ok but quite rocky, actually the entire race was quite rocky and very reminiscent of Arizona. I was still walking at a decent pace although this section had a ton of descent. The aid stop was the 60 mile point so we were a little more than half done and the only place with a drop bag. I reloaded my bag with candy and food, changed and swapped out my headlamp and batteries. I was a cranky son of a bitch unfortunately for Sarah but she got me out of there in decent time. The 50 miler started just after I arrived, they had to do a 5 mile loop and then joined our course after that.

CP9 Howtown Sat 1:35pm–  11.4k (106.5k) in 2:13, expected 1:54 Climb: 965ft (13730ft) Descent: 935ft (13360ft)

This section mostly sucked. I hit my lowest low after leaving Dalemain while getting passed by about 700 50 milers… and virtually every one of them with encouraging words. Eventually the low wore off and once we cleared the climb I got my downhill running mojo back catching up with quite a few of them. The trails were busy now but that was ok as I seemed to have fallen far enough behind to be in a steady pace group for me. This check point stood at the base of the final big big climb, or so I thought. The reality was every climb seemed like a big one for me after this.

CP10 Mardale Head Sat 4:49pm – 15.1k (121.7k) in 3:15, expected 3:47 Climb: 2510ft (16240ft) Descent: 2205ft (15564ft)

After a gnarly steep climb there was a nice soft squishy descent that led to a flatter portion around a lake. The flat portion was tough on me, with rocky sections that were difficult to maintain a decent pace. I ran out of water and tailwind about 2k out from the check point and ended up spending a little extra time eating and drinking, and chatting with some fellow racers. Sandwiches and soup!

CP11 Kentmere Sat 7:23pm – 10.5k (132.1k) in 2:33, expected 2:37 Climb: 1670ft (17917ft) Descent: 1932ft (17497ft)

Not too much to say during this section other than the hills began feeling much more difficult and seemed to take forever to get up top.

CP12 Ambleside Sat 9:58pm – 11.7k (143.9k) in 2:35, expected 2:21 Climb: 1611ft (19528ft) Descent: 1975ft (19472ft)

After a couple more climbs, and getting lost once or twice more, I was heading into night number 2 as I closed into Ambleside. It was in the late evening yet there were still plenty of people in town cheering us on as we ran through. Sarah and the boys were planning on meeting me here and it was great to see them. When I stopped my body temperature lowered quickly, luckily this was an indoor checkpoint and very warm. I asked the volunteer for a coffee with a couple of scoops of coffee and I think she added 3 or 4 as my heart was racing leaving the check point. I said goodbye to the family and was off.

CP13 Chapel Stile Sun 12:03am – 9.0k (152.9k) in 2:05, expected 1:48 Climb: 768ft (20295ft) Descent: 699ft (20171ft)

It’s pretty remarkable after going 150k, how long the last 15-20k seem to take. This section was probably the easiest of the race but this deep heavy weariness was settling in and it was extremely difficult to keep my pace up. My ankle had been causing me some minor grief for the last 30k and it was morphing into a very strong shin splint like pain in my left leg. I ended up linking up with a group of 50 milers that were going steady to get to the next check point which was this tent in the field with leather couches. Very nice touch. Food was still going down fine and I was content stuffing my face like before at the checkpoints. I was also eating sugary candy which was creating a very quick uptick in energy. I wonder if it was more effective due to the low carb diet I did a couple off weeks prior to the race.

CP14 Tilberthwaite Sun 2:30am – 10.5k (163.3k) in 2:27, expected 2:05 Climb: 1270ft (21565ft) Descent: 1060ft (21230ft)

All I could think about was finishing the race, I truly just wanted it to be over. Just to end the suffering. I got stuck with the group a bit but they were traveling too slow for me and I ended up jumping ahead of them. I picked it up after this and passed a few groups of 50 milers and some other shell shocked 100 milers. The trail got nasty going up and then wet coming down and then disappeared at one point leaving us to bushwack through the swamps. To be honest the trail was probably right in front of me and I likely completely missed it. In fact I was hallucinating at times, at one point I saw a dead buffalo that ended up being a mossy rock. It felt like the longest 10k of my life.

The final checkpoint sat at the base of the final climb. Running up to it was eery as you could see some random headlamps in the middle of the sky. It was a dark night with no moon. I was actually a bit afraid to get started and had to convince myself it was just another climb and everything would be fine. This was the longest I had been without sleep on a race and it really affects your normal rationalization. My ankle and shin were hurting and I was medicating with ibuprofen which seemed to help dull the pain slightly. The final climb was pretty steep initially but eventually levels off as you climb to the pass. Most of the climb was next to a ravine and at one point towards the top I unexpectedly woke up just standing there right next to a drop off. The way down was really steep at the top and was pretty slow going. Eventually it leveled off and turned into a smooth road and two other runners I had been grouped with took off running for the finish. I did the same but couldn’t keep up. This last km or two very likely were the fastest for the entire race. Finally back at the start 33 hours and 47 minutes later. And so happy it was over.

Finish Coniston Sun 3:47am – 5.6k (169k) in 1:17 (33:47), expected 1:07 (33:29) Climb: 928ft (22493ft) Descent: 1263ft (22493ft)

This was a really cool event, the views are just amazing. The volunteers were remarkable almost like attentive servers, it really did help cut time down at the checkpoints. Each CP had a cool theme and made it unique. The race organization was great too.

 

 

 

The Great Escape 100 mile

I think this post should be titled the glorious six, but in order to keep things conventional I’ll stick to the boring route. I’ll come back to the unofficial tile in a bit. Earlier in the year my wife took part of this new race called Legends, it was organized by a new running company duo that wanted to put on a difficult and longer ultra race in the Ardennes. After a very successful winter race they added a couple 100 milers to their schedule. I already had my second 100 mile attempt, the Lakeland 100 planned for the end July. However, after I came across news for the Great Escape I really wanted to participate in this one to support the new company and run one of the first 100 milers in the area.

The race starts in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg heads north and west over the Escaprdenne trail to Maboge, Belgium. I had made plans with Sander to stay overnight at a hotel in the next town over from the start, It was a 4:00am start time and I was hoping to get an extra hour or two of sleep rather than waking up at 1:30am and taking the bus from the finish. Although it ended up not being that great of a night of sleep and sorely absent of coffee.

Sander and I made the short drive to the start where we met the rest of the runners, grabbed our trackers and started just after 4:00am. I started out just walking to get warmed up and it was dark and a decent climb right away so there was no rush for me. The first 65k of the trail was quite challenging as there is a lot of elevation gain and loss, according to my watch it was 3,000m or half of the unofficial total. It’s also a very scenic portion of the race and it was nice running in the cool early morning. I was running with Sander for about 5k then fell back and was running solo trying to get everything situated and geared up for the race.

There was a nice smooth downhill to the first aid stop 18k into the race, things were clicking and feeling good as I closed into it. My normal race strategy of walking ups and running downs was working great. Unfortunately I lost Sander here as he tends to gain on the ups and I usually catch up on the downs, although this time he seemed to fall further back than I was anticipating and I ended up not seeing him again till the middle of the night. I refilled my bottles and drank and ate as much as I could. There were these amazing tortilla wraps with veggies in them that went down perfectly. I began running with Peter here, we met a few weeks back at the trail des trappistes and realized after that we run close to the same pace. We would end up sticking together through the rest of the race which was great because we seemed to go through our ups and downs at very complimentary times.

We were moving pretty well, more running than walking and the next 20k flew by. The longest climbs and descents of the race were in this section and for the most part the downs were perfectly runnable. The 40k check point came quick. I met with Sarah and was able to replenish my stocks with my first drop bag. It was such an uplift to see the family here and the check point was inside. I didn’t eat too much but drank a coke and washed my face and hands. So far the weather was perfect cloudy and cool, but I was still sweating profusely as the climbs were very challenging. Mostly clean and refueled I headed out to meet up with Peter shortly after.

This section had some intense and steep downhills and mostly gradual climbs. It was definitely a quad buster portion of the race. There was also some really beautiful single track that was a joy to run on. As we dropped into Kautenbach Sarah met up with me again to say hi, and the check point was about 5km up. I ran out of water a little after this point and was starting to have a tough time. It seemed like the check point would never show up. Eventually we came upon it nicely situated in front of a beautiful privately owned castle. I did the usual refill and refuel and then sat down to eat some food. Feeling a million times better after this check point Peter and I headed out into the woods.

I don’t remember much after this section, other than looking over at Peter and asking if he was ok, and him shaking his head yes and then puking. We were still moving at a decent pace running less and walking more but still making pretty good progress. We came into Clervaux and Sarah met us again right when we dropped into town with Jeremiah. I teased with her that I was dropping and she gave me the “hell no your not” response. She took a few pics and we made our way to the football club where the half way mark check point was.

I changed here and reloaded my pack to prepare for the night, glad to put on a dry pair of shoes if only for 30 minutes. It had rained and the grass in the fields were wet which ended up soaking my shoes. I had to coax Peter to get moving a bit and then we headed back out. 13:43 into the race, not bad considering we spent 35 minutes at the check point.

Initially we moved pretty well, the course after this point began to level out, this portion traverses mostly farmland and eventually reconnects with the Belgium trail system in Houffalize. I was really expecting this portion to be some of the fastest of the course but for some reason I could not get things going and gradually went from 6km/hr to 5km/hr over the next 20k. The trail was challenging for me during this stretch, I was hitting a low and the 24k between check points was feeling quite long. Eventually after a false check point due to some crew-pies waiting for their runner, we hit the real thing just as the sun set.

The temperature seemed to plummet instantly and I put on my wool shirt to keep warm. I sat down for a bit which was probably a bad idea as my body temps dropped fast. So far the checkpoints were amazing and staffed by awesome volunteers, they all ha plenty of coke, a staple for me, and also had a bonus of salty vegetarian food options! I was in dreamland. After going through the CP refill routine I ate as much as I could and we put on our headlamps and kept forward momentum.

The next 20k was a slow slog through overgrown trails in the dark. The headlamps made for weird shadowing on the plants and made it very difficult to see where you were stepping. There were holes, and fallen trees, roots and some creeks running down the trails to make things fun. I was also in a tough mental place and the kilometers were dragging on. Peter really was amazing here he led the way and I was able to just stumble along. We had been leapfrogging and leapfrogged by a few other runners up to this point, Dirk, Paige, Donald and Jonathon. And after this point we would end up running basically together as a group.

Eventually we, or I, stumbled up to the check point on top of Houffalize, Peter hauled ass up the mountain. It was around 2:00 am and Sarah woke up in the middle of the night to meet me with the little man in tow. What a huge benefit it was to having her there. 120km into the race in the middle of the night and there was a hot meal provided here. A huge slice of lasagna. It was amazing and I almost finished it too. Unfortunately just before we left Sander pulled into the check point, he had decided to drop at CP5 and hitched a ride here to head back to the house with Sarah. He seemed in good spirits and wished me the best. Sarah kept me sharp here marching mine and Peter’s ass out the door about 45 minutes later. I would have likely taken a nap if she hadn’t been there. That’s what the rest of the group was doing at least.

I stumbled through the next couple of hours half asleep and hallucinating. It was a slow march along but relatively easy terrain. About 30km from the finish things started to get tough again. Steep technical ups and downs, mud and other fun assorted stuff such as chains. And did  I mention a lot of elevation change.

The aid stops became more frequent about every 10k which was helpful and shortened our stop time. Around 6:00am I was picking up and feeling great. I had some aches and pains but my energy levels were great. We had been traveling in the group of 6 everyone was progressing a little faster or slower but every so often we would all stop and wait for the slow two to catch up. I had never run a race like this before but it was a cool experience to have multiple people encouraging you as we went. Sarah and the boys stopped by at one of the last aid stops to say hi. It was beautiful and sunny and such an enjoyable moment.

We headed down to the finish, I thought it was a down section but just before you run into Maboge there is another short climb that was hidden in the elevation chart. Brutal but relatively short, and a little after was the finish line. However there was this fun little 5k loop we had to do first before it was over, what a trip. At least the end was in sight.

So up we went on a final steep ass climb the 6 of us together with the course physician, to keep an eye on us I found out later. Once we broke over the steep section it levels out and was quite an enjoyable loop. The way down was another creek masquerading as a road which felt wonderful keeping my sore feet cool.

Back down in Maboge and into the finish at 33:35, where we made a 6 way tie for 8th place! Got a medal, enjoyed a fine trappiste and an amazing BBQ, had a nice reunion with the family and took a little nap in the sun.

A week later thinking about the race still makes me happy. It was an insanely tough course with an unofficial 5900m elevation gain. The Rd’s put on another spectacular race that once again far exceeded any expectations I had. The volunteers were fabulous. And my crew was top notch as always.

Notes:

A couple of changes that I am going to make for the Lakeland 100. Two front soft flasks with tailwind is time consuming. I will shift the tailwind to the reservoir and only carry one front flask with water.

I took out my insoles a while back to prevent my feet from slipping. That was a bad idea my feet were very sensitive by the end with the dirt, rocks adnd rubber bottom irritating my soles. I will add back my insoles.

Suunto is awesome. The midway recharge with a portable pack worked great.

I need to pack some more salty food options for between aid stations. Some type of tortilla wrap will be good. Sweet food gets old after a while.

 

Cretes de Spa 55k – 2016

Well the original plan for this year was to only do three races, which blossomed into 4 with the addition of The Great Escape. Then I became worried about my poor state of training and I added this one again to jump start things. So 5 races this year, as of right now.

I read back on this one from last year and it was kind of funny to see how similar my experience was between the two: https://6movements.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/cretes-de-spa-57k/

I drove up the night before solo so that made the prep a little easier. I didn’t sleep that well but that’s ok I was pretty well rested this week.

I started out about the same place as last year, DFL. BUT I had a different plan this year… well the plan was being formulated a couple of KM’s into the race. Since my attempt at the Berg en Dal 60k in October I have been adopting a run/walk technique on all of my runs. This in addition to doing very low volume training has been clicking really well for me for the past 3-4 months. The complicated part is utilizing the run/walk method in ultras since the course, and not the watch, dictates tempo. After discussing this a bit with the Legends Trail RD’s he encouraged a fast walk on the flats & a reasonably fast walk on the ups, and run the downs style. So that’s what I did for the most part, unless the down was negligible then I walked as well. I also brought a hell lot more calories this year, 4000 range, and was focused on eating and drinking on all the walking portions.

From a weather and terrain standpoint the years started to diverge in similarity. This year the previous week there was a lot of snow most of it was still sitting on the ground, and if there wasn’t snow there was mud as bad or worse than last year from the snow melt. The weather was fantastic a little chilly in the morning, but the sun shined all day and warmed up to very comfortable temps. The first 13k section was pretty uneventful, it was nice being familiar with the course and also just accepting the fact that the course was gonna be messy, I was chugging early through the mud at will. I was carrying most of the food I wanted to consume and just used the aid stops for water.

Next was the longest and steepest climbs of the race, I made sure to eat as I ran the rest of the down after the aid stop and just started chugging up the hills. I began to notice how much easier the hill climbs were this year compared to last. I think the addition of heavier squats and some consistent heavy lifting is paying dividends. The run walk thing was a little hard to swallow, passing everyone on the ups but getting passed by everyone on the flats. After the two big climbs, and lots of mud and snow we hit the 28k checkpoint. I did my water tailwind routine here, ate a sandwich and was off.

This section was the most technically challenging ie. rivers running down the trails, steep trails with slick mud and shoe sucking mud hiding under snow. It was great fun! I was still feeling great, no crash, although my stomach was starting to have a couple of issues with the candy consumption but nothing major. The next aid stop was at 40k I spent a bit more time here, was shooting for 5 minutes at all the stops but I spent a couple extra here to eat a PB&J sandwich.

Then came the “flat” section, my least favorite and not really flat but more gradual inclines and declines. I kept at the fast walk pace, or running when the declines were decent enough. The first and last portion of this 10k are running through very deep mud, I lost my shoes a few times from the mud suck and had to work them back on. Speaking of shoes I wore my Altra Lone Peak 2.5 and am entirely happy with this model. Its the perfect trail shoe, no blisters or sore feet. When soaked in mud for 9 hours that is impressive, especially the soreness piece.

Overall I was pretty impressed with my pace and I made it to the last aid stop around 25 minutes before the cutoff. This one was a quick turnaround and up to this point I still hadn’t felt a crash. So I filled up both bottles with tailwind and took off, the last 15k of the course is mostly downhill with some small climbs. Felt strong all the way to the end and finished in 8:30 or about 14 min faster than last year even though the course was more difficult this year. The sunshine always helps too.

The run/walk strategy worked well, 6.7 kph or about 4.1 mph, that’s probably faster than I could sustain for longer periods on that course. The nutrition worked well mostly, soft candies are better than chewier candies and I think a combination of types woks the best. Tailwind or some concentrated isotonic drinks works really well.

I lifted this off their FB page

 

 

2016 – Cycle 1

Cycle I
Goals: This first cycle’s primary focus will be to lose weight and secondarily, gradually increase my aerobic capacity. Strength training will be less of a focus this cycle however I will gradually increase weights on the squat and deadlift and stagger weeks from heavy and volume, place a little more emphasis on balancing my pulls to my presses, and rehab my injured right shoulder with higher rep work for the cycle. In order:
1. Lose weight – preferably 2 lbs. per week, focus on getting into the low 190 range
2. Work back up to the 50k distance over the next 8 weeks
3. Rehab shoulder with lighter weight, higher volume upper body work
4. Focus on balance between upper presses and pulls
5. Consistent, gradual progression and “easy” work in the squats and deadlifts
6. Continue regular Yoga practice

Assessment of previous cycle: Overall the consistency was good and weights were generally increasing. I pushed a few increases a little too much and ended up stalling a bit and creating some odd pains. My shoulder injury flared back up unexpectedly. Towards the end of the cycle I came down with a bug that seemed to affect the last two weeks significantly. My running/biking mileage has tapered off quite a bit due to the holidays. Overall not a bad cycle but not a great one as well.

—————Week 1: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.01.04
Weight – 204.8 lbs.

Bench – 5 x 8/7 @ 80kgs
Pull ups – 6 x 5 @ BW
Deadlift EMOM – 13 x 2 @ 130kgs

Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

Had to lift with my youngest which made things a bit erratic. Bench press / pull up super sets were surprisingly difficult but didn’t cause any shoulder irritation, DL’s were relatively easy. Feeling a little better from the illness last week, nice to get the blood moving.

My weight strategy is to keep basal metabolic calories at 500 and then add any additional activity from my fitbit as my allowance for the day. After running the 1,500 + activity for a few days I have been typically under by about 1,000 calories, or right in the 2,500-3,000 range. Tracking has been making me eat less, but I have also been sick so I think my hunger has been satiated easier as well.

Tuesday, 16.01.05
Bike Commute – 35k

Wednesday, 16.01.06
Weight – 205.0
Press – 5 x 8 @ 40kgs
Swiss Rows – 5 x 8 @ 60kgs
Squats – 13 x 3 @ 80kgs

Yoga

Good workout today, the lighter higher reps seem to be helping the shoulder rehab. There is very little irritation when pressing now. Tired and unmotivated initially but it worked out in the end. 39 squats is a decent amount of volume, it was very easy though so I think I will do 2.5kg increases each week. Weight is pretty stagnant, might be a good thing.

Thursday, 16.01.07
Run Commute – 18k
Bike Commute – 17.5k

Friday, 16.01.08
Farmers Carries – 3 x 80M @ 82kgs
Ab roll outs – 3 x 10

Bike Commute – 35k

Wasn’t feeling all that motivated today so stuck with the two critical items for the day.

Sunday, 16.01.10
Walk/Run – 2 hrs

Time to get some long weekend runs scheduled.

—————Week 2: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.01.11
Weight – 203.8

Bench – 4/1 x 8/5 @ 81kgs
Pull Ups – 4 x 6 @ BW
TBDL – 13 x 3 @ 112kgs

Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

First week+ of tracking calories went pretty well. I am averaging about 3,200 calories per day. and burning around 4,000-4,500 per day. Nice to see the weight holding very steady.
Bench was tough for some reason. I think I might drop the reps to 5, 8 seems to be about 2 too many. Maybe I will switch to 6 x 5.

Tuesday, 16.01.12
Yoga

Bike commute didn’t happen today.

Wednesday, 16.01.13
Run Commute – 18k
Bike Commute – 17.5k

Run went well today, next week I plan to do the walk/run pattern 1k walk to 2k run.

Thursday, 16.01.14
Press – 5 x 5 @ 50kgs
Swiss Rows – 5 x 5 @ 60kgs
Squats – 13 x 2 @ 90kgs

Video’d a coupe of squats with my new range of motion. Seems like my depth is ok, I am keeping my stance in tight which cause my knees to extend further past my toes but it seems to cause the least torque on them so I think it should be ok? 5kg jump in a couple of weeks should be fine. I think I am going to go to a 6 x 5 scheme rather than an 8. Seems like I get a better workout with a few less reps but more weight.

Friday, 16.01.15
Bike commute – 35k
Yoga

Tried working out this morning but ran out of time before I got past my warmup sets. Maybe I’ll give it another go tomorrow.

Sunday, 16.01.17
Trail run – 3 hr
Had a nice snowy cold run. Next week I’ll increase the time to 4 hrs.

—————Week 3: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.01.18
Weight – 204.0

Bench – 5 x 5 @ 90kgs
Pull Ups – 4 x 6 @ BW
DL – 13 x 2 @ 140kgs

Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

Things were feeling surprisingly strong so I auto-regulated and went for it a bit on the bench and DL. Bench felt surprisingly easy at 90kgs no shoulder issues, the deadlifts were heavy but were fast and peppy, no grinding at all. Really happy with this workout. I think only deadlifting regular and heavy every other week might be a good way to fully recover between heavy days. I have also been thinking about throwing out my third lifting day and only do workouts on Mon and Wed. Then I will have a 4 day recovery period to help setup the longer endurance runs on the weekend. I think the extra hour of sleep on Friday might be more beneficial than having a goof around day in the gym especially as my focus shifts a bit more to endurance.

Weight is still stagnant, my calories went up a bit last week around 3,500 average. I am going to try to reduce that and get in the 2,500 range for a couple of weeks and maybe load up a little before run days only. I really need to get this scale moving down.

Tuesday, 16.01.19
Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

It was cold out there this morning, and on top of that I had very little energy. I think I might start eating a PB&J in the morning to have a little more kick on the bike ride in. First day at 2,500 calories, dieting sucks.

Wednesday, 16.01.20
Press – 5 x 4/9 @ 51kgs
Inv Rows – 5 x 8 @ BW
Squats – 4 x 3 @ 80kgs

My pull down addition for the squat rack came in the mail so I was distracted and skipped out on quite a few squats while I was lifting and putting it together. Still need to tighten the bolts before I can use it. Its pretty well built and came with two handles I don’t have so I think it was a pretty good deal. The plate loading is pretty convenient too.

Thursday, 16.01.21
Run commute – 18k
Bike commute – 17.5k
Yoga

Icy run in today, cold and foggy too. Made for a slow run as the path was slick the entire way. Heading to the hills this weekend for a long hilly trail run.

Friday, 16.01.22
Bike commute – 35k
Yoga

Didn’t get my lifting session in, figured an extra hour of sleep was more beneficial.

Saturday, 16.01.23
Planning on running but felt pretty crappy so I skipped it. A bit frustrating still having to deal with being sick for so long.

—————Week 4: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.01.25
Weight – 205.2

Bench – 5 x 5 @ 90kgs
Pull ups – 5 x 5 @ BW
TBDL – 10 x 3 @ 122kgs
Bike Commute – 35k
Walk

Well my head cold seems to be going away today finally. Really dissapointed about not being able to take advantage of running in the hills this weekend. Weight is still not moving, my 2,500 calorie goal was unsuccessful, I was at more like 3,800. I had a lot of late night hunger, I think I might take a second protein shake after dinner for satiation purposes. This week I will shoot for 3,000 initially and see what the results are, maybe skip alcohol every other day too.

Tuesday, 16.01.26
Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

Wednesday, 16.01.27
Press – 5 x 3 @ 60kgs
Cable Rows – 4 x 10 @ 80kgs
Squats – 13 x 2 @ 100kgs

Walk

Good workout today, I went heavier on the presses and it felt great. Also jumped 10kgs on the squat and it was still relatively easy. Weight dropped a bit today so the 3k ceiling seems to be working.

Thursday, 16.01.28
Run Commute – 18k
Bike Commute – 19k

Friday, 16.01.29
Pull Downs – 3 x 15 @ 40kgs
Ab roll outs – 3 x 10
Farmers – 1 x 80m @ 92kgs

Bike Commute – 35k

Yoga

Nice to get a short Friday session done. I’ll try to get a long run in Sunday. The whole walk 1k, run 1k is working out really well for me. Surprised it took me so long to adopt something like this especially from an Ultra perspective. My plan is to utilize the walking early on to make sure I am fueling and drinking enough rather than run the first 20 miles and then slow down and start thinking about the nutrition piece. I’m signing up for a 55k in March so I have my race schedule in place. I’ll post up the weekly look in a bit.

Sunday, 16.01.31
Walk – 2.5 hours

Ended up taking the littlest on a walk during his nap and ran some errands.

—————Week 5: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.02.01
Weight – 204.0

Bench – 5 x 5 @ 90kgs
Pull ups – 5 x 5/6 @ BW
DL – 13 x 2 @ 140kgs

Bike Commute – 35k

Wow those DL’s were tough today. Weight is still sitting still, even with a week of daily averages of 3,100 calories. One good note I am down a hole on my weight belt. So maybe the weight is changing from fat to muscle? I am going to stick with the 3k amount but focus a little more on getting closer to 200 grams of protein per day. Saw an article roll by about losing weight while gaining muscle at 2.4g protein per kilo of weight. I really need to get a long run in one of these days, and its likely not going to be this weekend…

Tuesday, 16.02.02
Bike commute – 17.5k

Wednesday, 16.02.03
Low Rows – 5 x 10 @ 80kgs
Press – 5 x 5(8) @ 55kgs
Squats – EMOM 10 x 3 @ 80kgs

I tried the last set press and then push press for the pluses. I did not like it and felt a tweak in my lower back from it. Ballistic lifts when tired really don’t sit well with me, that was my main issue with crossfit and it still seems to be true now. I think if I wanna push the pluses I can either do the same weight or do a drop set directly after for max reps.

Thursday, 16.02.04
Run/walk commute – 18k
Bike Commute – 17.5k

Friday, 16.02.05
Pull Downs – 3 x 10 @ 60kgs
CGBP – 3 x 10 @ 60kgs
Farmers – 3 x 80m @ 82kgs
Ab rollouts – 3 x 9 @ BW

Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

Sunday, 16.02.07
Trail run – 3 hrs

—————Week 6: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.02.08
Weight – 202.6
Bench – 5 x 8 @ 60kgs
Pull downs – 5 x 8 @ 60kgs
TBDL – 5 x 5 @ 82kgs

Short on sleep and had the little man hanging with me so I did a quick light and easy session. Changing up the schedule a little starting this week. It shouldn’t affect the lifting schedule just front load the runs a little. I will see how it all meshes. Weight is down a very small amount.

Tuesday, 16.02.09
Run Commute – 18k
Yoga
Bike Commute – 17.5k

Was a little sore in the calves this morning but the running helped work it out today. Looing forward to a heavy squat day tomorrow and a resumption of the microloading.

Wednesday, 16.02.10
Press – 3 x 5 x 57.5kgs
Low Rows – 3 x 10 @ 70kgs
Squats – 13 x 2 @ 101kgs

Bike Commute – 35k

I think I am going to add some squat work in on each day for a warm-up and work up to one heavy set. They seem to have a nice effect on getting things moving along, and I also think I could use some patterning from repeating the movement more frequently. Stopping at parallel is a challenge fore me but it does seem to relieve some pressure on my knees.

Thursday, 16.02.11
Bike Commute – 35k

Friday, 16.02.12
Squats – worked up to 2 reps @ 105kgs
Bench/Pull ups supersets – EMOM 13 x 2(last three 1) @ 80kgs increasing 2.5kgs per set to 110kgs & 3 Pull ups

Bike commute – 35k

That was a fun workout nice to push the bench a little. I think I will put the bench back in on Fridays and combine with Farmers walks. Then I can keep my Mondays with CGBP and pull ups.

Saturday, 16.02.13
Sunday, 16.02.14
MTB – 18k

—————Week 7: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.02.15
Weight – 201.2 lbs

CGBP – 5 x 5 @ 80kgs
Pull ups – 5 x 5 @ BW
DL – EMOM 13 x 2 @ 142.5kgs

Yoga

Weight down a bit more, two weeks in the right direction. DL’s were tough, but went for a hard ride yesterday and my legs and back were a bit sore. My microloading plan is a little more liberal than I first thought due to the every other week increases. I think 2.5kgs every two weeks should be manageable in both the DL and Squats and then 1lb increases for the bench and press.

Tuesday, 16.02.16
Run/walk Commute – 18k
Yoga
Bike Commute – 17.5k

Wednesday, 16.02.17
Press – 4 x 5(1×3) @ 55kgs
Low rows – 5 x 8 @ 70kgs
Squats EMOM 10 x 3 @ 80kgs

Bike Commute – 35k

Trying to focus on building a good pattern in the squat. I think I have the stance down and initiating with the hips and sitting down and back seems to work pretty well. Still experimenting with depth, but the full squat depth does seem to put more pressure on the knees and back. I think once my stomach hits my quads its a good depth cue. Which is a little below parallel.

Thursday, 16.02.18
Bike Commute – 35k
Yoga

Friday, 16.02.19
Came down with the flu on the trip home yesterday and didn’t make it past the warmup. Illnesses are awful this year so far.

Saturday, 16.02.20
Farmers – 3 x 80m @ 92kgs
Ab roll outs – 3 x 10 @ BW
Bench – EMOM 12 x 2 (last two sets 1) @ 80kgs – 110kgs increasing 2.5kgs per set
Pull ups supersetted with bench – EMOM 10 X 3

Felt much better a day later so I decided to get my workout in.

—————Week 8: Cycle I—————
Monday, 16.02.22
CGBP – 5 x 5 @ 80kgs
Pull ups – 6 x 5 @ BW

Ran out of time for DL’s. I will add them in tomorrow since I am not riding/running this week.

Tuesday, 16.02.23
Weight – 203.6 lbs.
TBDL – EMOM 10 x 2 @ 132kgs

Wednesday, 16.02.24
Press – 5/5/4/3/2 @ 60kgs
Low Rows – 5 x 10 @ 70kgs
Squats – EMOM 13 x 2 @ 102.5kgs

Easy day for the low rows and squats, time to increase loads in the rows to 80kgs and I am going to make 2.5kg jumps every other week on the squats. The press was quite difficult as expected and I had issue with stabilization in my lower back after the 3rd set and 3rd rep? Maybe I should consider wearing the belt for presses to counter the instability. It’s funny how fast the drop off in press ability happens after the 2nd – 3rd set. The first to sets of 5 were relatively easy but after the 3rd rep in the 3rd set my shoulders were almost at failure. Same for the following two sets. I think the 60kg start point is good to get things inline with the bench. The requisite strength is there just the stamina is lacking. right now the press is 60% of my bench, It think that is a pretty good ratio. My squat is around 72% of my DL. Overall this is probably the highest level of strength I have had across the main lifts so I think this routine is working pretty well. Although the weight gain is still pretty stagnant or slightly increasing.

Thursday, 16.02.25
Bike Commute – 17.5k

Friday, 16.02.26
Farmers – 3 x 80m @ 72kgs
Ab roll outs – 3 x 10
Bench & Pull up SS – E75s 13 x 2(last set 1) @ 80kgs – 112.5kgs increasing 2.5kgs per set
– Pull ups – 13 x 3 @ BW

Yoga
Bike commute 35k

Good last workout for the week. Going to shoot for a 5 hour run Sunday.

Sunday, 16.02.28
Trail Run – 4hrs – 27k +/-1,600

Wow that was rather tough… I am in trouble in a couple weeks for my 55k with +/- 6,000ft…

Leadville Trail 100

Leadville was the one I had been training for most of the year. It would be my first 100 mile attempt. I lucked out when I put in for the lottery and was able to get a spot to both the  MTB and trail run events. We were able to spend a couple of weeks up at elevation, hoping that this would help acclimate to the higher altitude for the race. I didn’t plan to do much before both events and ended up just walking and running the beer mile a couple of days before the event. The knee was feeling mostly ok and there wasn’t really any residual soreness from the MTB race the weekend before.

I arrived in Leadville about 15 minutes before the race started. It was a pretty chill starting coral and I was able to start closer to the front than I expected. The first 13 mile chunk went by pretty well. It was mostly runnable but busy so a lot of walking and running but at a decent speed. I started getting a hot spot on my arches which was unusual for me and then my knees started aching in odd places. When I hit the first aid stop Sarah was meeting me and she had an extra pair of shoes. She filled my pack up and I was off into some nice singletrack before the first climb. I started getting some early quad soreness here, not sure if it was from the bike race but likely. The powerline downhill was next, I had heard people complain about it being steep but I found it very runnable. Cruising into the next aid stop at 25 miles was a breeze. I think I was 5 hours into the race and had a decent cut-off cushion built up. Scott met me here and got me refueled and back on the road. My knee was achy intially

The next portion was pretty flat and I was able to maintain a pretty good pace between walking and running here. In fact things went great all the way into Twin Lakes, where I was able to see the crew and sit down for a bit. Headed back out with an hour and fifteen minute cushion for cut offs. Shortly after the climb up hopes pass my wheels came off and the elevation really began to take its toll. I took my hiking poles which now looking back seems like a huge mistake. The extra effort I was using with my upper body was just too much for me to keep a steady breathe and I was stopping for air pretty often. Once I got to the hopeless aid station I put the poles in my pack and refueled and felt much better for the rest of the climb up the pass. Going down worked pretty well until things got steep and busy on the trail. I reached Winfield at 5:30pm only 30 minutes ahead now. I decided to sit down and get refueled as much as I could in 15 minutes. People were dropping out and it was tough to ignore the stress of the looming cut off. I picked up my pacer Craig here and asked if it was cool if he would carry my pack. We headed out and once we were back on the trail things started working for me again and we were running the few downhill miles before the climb back up the pass. Not having a pack or my hiking poles seemed to have helped. I was making good time on the climb back up and once we got up top we gave a conquering yell. A quick stop at hopeless and we were off running down the other side in the dark, Craig with a cell phone light. Maybe we weren’t running as fast as I thought we were, but I really wanted to make the cutoff so I thought we were moving? Things went way better this direction and we ended up going the opposite direction back to twin lakes in 3 hours and 45 minutes, which was an hour faster than the incoming leg, 9 hours to go 21 miles…. ouch.

I picked up Scott at twin lakes and we headed up the next climb. It was dark and slow again and I was breathing hard, thank goodness it was pretty short and once we were on top it was a nice easy gradual downhill to half pipe. My quads were absolute toast from the run down hopes and I couldn’t manage any more running so it was a hike after this. We made it into half pipe with a little more time on the clock, I tried to eat and drink as much as I could for the next leg. It was getting cold and I probably sat in front of that heater for a bit too long. Eventually the aid volunteers kicked us out. We managed to keep the same pace into outward bound. This was the flat boring section of the race. It was nice to have Scott keeping my pace in check and hauling water for me. It was probably terribly boring for him out there as I was having trouble talking because of the elevation and dust. After outward bound was the last climb of the race. On the way out and going down, powerline seemed pretty tame, but it pretty much ended me on the way back in and up. It wasn’t a terribly difficult climb but it felt like it was never ending and that was a mind fuck I wasn’t prepared for. We eventually made it to the “you fucking got this aid stop” at the top but it felt like forever. I was hoping to stop here and mooch a beer but I was still shooting for the cut off and just passed on by. Unfortunately I was on empty and as we started downhill I was breathing as hard as if we were going up. After some encouragement from Scott I tried picking it up but there was nothing left, I took it as far as I could, or maybe as far as I was willing to go. It took us the next 6 hours to go 11 miles, about 2 hours long of cutoffs. Probably the longest 5 miles downhill of my life. And that was that, we ended up getting picked up by Craig and Megan at Mayqueen aid stop at 87 and drive back to Leadville, grabbed some breakfast and cheered the last few finishers on.

I was proud of my effort after the race and oddly enough I felt very little disappointment. Finishing would have been cool, but it’s easy too think back and say I should have just done it when you are sitting around not having just run 80+ miles. The combination of tight cutoffs and high elevation was too difficult obstacle for me to overcome especially being a naturally slow big runner. It was a fun race, has a lot of great energy. I am really grateful for my awesome friends Craig, Scott and Megan and my wife Sarah who crewed for me. I really don’t think I would have made it out of Winfield at 50 miles without them.

Ok onto the next attempt! I need to manage to get registered this time… http://www.lakeland100.com/the-lakeland-100

LA6000D 63k

I signed up for the LA6000D a while back thinking it would be a good high altitude prep race for Leadville. The race description claimed it was a 63k with 4000m (13,000′) elevation gain and the highest point is at 3000m (10,000′). Pretty much the same elevation as the start of Leadville with slightly less elevation gain. Basically a single climb from the valley floor in the pic below to the snowy part of peak on the left.

I flew into France Thursday night so I could relax a little on Friday before the race. Instead of relaxing I decided to rent a mountain bike and ended up riding a 50k with a good 2000m worth of climbing. Whoops. Hopefully it will also be a good training mistake as the MTB race is a week before the trail run. Anyway onto the race.

The start was at 6am on Saturday morning. I got a decent nights sleep and woke up at 4am, got dressed, drank some coffee and drove to the start line. Expecting a smaller race of around 400, I was quite surprised to see about 1,500 people at the start line. It almost felt like a bigger road marathon.

The first 3-4k were reasonably flat, but shortly after the big climb started. I was in DFL as I was being excessively cautious with me knee. The trail varied from a easy climb to a steep challenging climb to an even steeper WTF climb. The race was set up as a marketing tool for the local ski resorts and we went from resort to resort on the way up. A portion of the climb was done on the local bobsled track, odd but fun and they had music playing on the track.

Things were going pretty well for the first 19k it was a lot of hiking in a conga line. I probably was not consuming enough calories as this section took around 3 and a half hours and I just went through my electrolyte drink. I did manage to pass some people on the way up by holding a pretty steady pace. The first aid stop was pretty hectic, there wasn’t a lot of room or decent food to eat. I filled up on fluids and grabbed a chunk of banana. I need to remember that the races over here usually have terrible food options as I brought some candy with me, but I was wishing I had brought some solid food.

The next 11k was to the base of the glacier, there was a very nice gradual descent into the next aid stop at ~29k. Then we started up the glacier which was a very gnarly steep climb plus higher elevations. I was taking regular stops to catch my breathe and recoup some energy.  This portion took me a little over an hour to go less than ~2k. It was tough. Eventually we made it up and there was another fluid stop and a bit more climb before the long descent down.

Up on the top!

The descent on the upper portion of the race was very steep. I was taking it very slow, basically walking. There were a couple of flare ups on my right IT band but nothing that lingered for too long. Eventually things leveled out a little and then we had one more significant climb at around the 40k point. Once again it was slow going up and frequent breaks. Once up top a sign said 21k to go and it was all downhill from this point. We were still making our way down the ski slopes so the trails were still steep and I was still taking it easy coming down. That was my mantra for this race to walk away without any injury. Pretty much everybody I had passed at this point flew on by me now. Switchbacks don’t exist up here unfortunately, I am assuming it was because they were ski slopes and they didn’t want to mess them up.

Things started going really well after the aid stop here at 45k, I drank some pepsi and then there was some amazing single track with gradual switchbacks! I couldn’t hold myself back and had to run. In fact I had this big stupid ear to ear grin on my face it was such great down hill single track. There were a couple of more fluid stops and I grabbed some pepsi whenever I could, as the caffeine was definitely helping. And then kept on running down. The race cut offs were setup 7 hours up and 5.5 hours down, or something like that. I think I was a little ahead of those cut offs the whole way. Eventually the trail bottomed out at the valley and it was another few kilometers into town. I ran most of the way in and finished in 12:16.

And that’s that, no knee pain or after race swelling like the last one. The IT band seems to be recovering. I think some of the recovery work I have been doing has been helpful but now I am wondering if my wife’s idea of really “injuring” the IT band is what help forces your body to heal it. Whereas when you just get to the point where it’s an inflamed overuse injury there is no acute healing process that takes place? I’m gonna test it out again this weekend with some back to back runs, in addition to some shoe experiments and bring some solid food.

Here is a cool youtube which shows the course.

Ultimate Trails 110k

Well it’s been a couple of weeks now so I should get this thing written. The UT110k took place in the Lakes District in Ambleside. When I found this race it seemed to be a perfect training race for Leadville and it really lived up to that billing. In fact I think I might have been looking forward to this race more than Leadville, 14k feet elevation gain, a lot of single track and the possibility of several pub stops! We left family plus one in tow, on Thursday night via ferry from Rotterdam to get here, which was a surprisingly relaxing way to travel. From there we had a short drive from Hull to Ambleside, but we took the scenic route and stopped in York for a sight-seeing break.

The race was scheduled to start Saturday morning at 12:00am. Basically Friday night. There was a safety meeting scheduled at 8pm which kind of threw a wrench into my original sleeping plans, but those failed after I was only able to nap for about 45 minutes earlier in the afternoon.

Safety Briefing

Start line… about 4 hours before the start.

The plan of attack for this one was to run as much as I could until my knee hurt too much and then walk the rest. There was a 24hour cutoff so that meant a 20+mm pace could finish. I tried to sleep again after the briefing but I didn’t manage much, maybe another 30 minutes but I am not sure. I was feeling surprisingly awake though and they had a traveling espresso machine at the start line so I grabbed an Americano to drink while I waited for the start. Oddly enough this was also the first time I have really run a significant portion of a race in the dark.

We ended up starting at 12:15, for timing purposes or something. The first 12k had a nice climb initially that bottlenecked pretty bad, I was hiking pretty fast up this climb but kept getting stuck so I slowed down and just hung out with the crowd. After 3-4k there trail became a dirt road and I started plugging away running. There was another climb over Garburn pass and then a pretty technical descent into the 1st aid station. I was felling great so I just blew right on through.

The crowd really thinned out after this and it got dark. The strategy was working run when I could and hike as fast as I could. We made a long ascent up Nan Bield Pass and in front and back was this long snake of headlamps. This was when I realized these weren’t the short climbs I was used to, these were the mean long Colorado type bastards.

Looking back from halfway up the pass.

The steep gnarly descent on the other side.

The next aid stop was right after this descent. At this point the downhill was really affecting my ITBS. It was manageable but progressively getting worse. Good thing the next 13k was a reasonably flat run along the lake. I popped an ibuprofen here and used some of this crème I bought at Tesco which seemed to work pretty well dulling some of it out.

Sunrise along Haweswater.

Once we rounded past the lake we dropped down into a town to the 3rd checkpoint. I was making pretty good time at this point. And then just before the stop something twanged in the knee and all the sudden I could barely walk. So I limped into the aid station and refilled my water, ate a few snacks and I did the Iburprofren and Voltarol thing again. Grabbed my things and limped out… I grabbed my hiking poles I had been muling along and they helped a bit up the long gradual climb to Askham Moor. I still don’t know what a Moor is, maybe a hill, but after the climb I was rewarded with this view!

I decided to just have fun and enjoy sightseeing the rest of the race. I was already 3hrs ahead of any cutoffs so there wasn’t anything to worry about. It was a smile inspiring sunny day too, which is rare from what I here about the lakes district. There was an aid station in there somewhere, but shortly after was this fun climb looming in the distance.

The Boredale Hause ascent was pretty mild from what I remember. But very scenic.

Looking back over the climb. The descent into the 5th checkpoint was pretty steep but not terrible. I was still moving a little slower going down than up. This was the first stop where I could meet my awesome crew, ie.. Sarah and Malachi.

Unfortunately Malachi was sleeping, and too my dismay the local pub was still closed. I think it was around 10am what gives? Anyway Sarah came through with a bean burrito and she found me a can of Tetley, which was amazingly awesome. We said our goodbyes and off I went to climb a small hill that lead to this!

The way up to Grisedale Hause.

The lake up top Grisedale Tarn?

Looking back from around the lake. Doesn’t get much better than this.

Then came the descent and the pain. Ouch this was a long steep descent with a lot of hobbling and cussing.

I think it took me twice as long getting down this thing.

At the bottom was the 70k aid stop, I tried to regroup a bit and did my knee maintenance again. Oddly enough everything else was feeling great, I wasn’t even tired which was kind of surprising. Maybe not too surprising as I was only walking so keeping the calories and water balanced was easy.

Up and over to Borrowdale. Also know as the boggy nightmare.

This was a difficult section for me, the descent wasn’t challenging but the terrain was a wet sloppy mess and the instability of the trail was bothering my knee. It was over after a few kilometers and then there was another steep descent that felt like it took forever. Actually it did take forever I think about 20 people overtook me here.

The falls outside the 8th checkpoint, this was the first stop that had Coke which was fantastic. I think the other ones had already run out of their supply by time I got there. Most people did a shoe drop here to get into dry shoes after the mess earlier. I didn’t and ended up paying a bit with a couple of blisters on my toes from the friction.

The final climb up Stake Pass! This one was a tough climb and an even tougher descent for me. It was also getting a little colder and windy.

And the descent, there is a pub down there somewhere. That and seeing the family was my main motivation to limp down this thing.

Ahh the boys and a delicious pint of ale. Sarah brought me a can of monster and another burrito. I was fueled up and ready to go! Too bad I had this gnarly limp going on. I kept walking for another kilometer or two and I started chatting with this fellow. After a bit he said goodbye and started running. I decided that maybe I should try running again. I think the caffeine and sugar from the monster drink was kicking in and the knee wasn’t bothering me quite as much. Well I ended up running in the last 10k which was mostly this nice gradual downhill. It was nice to be running again.

And the finish. The timing says 21:14, I don’t know if its the time or the elapsed time, it doesn’t really matter.

I have to say this race really exceeded my expectations even as high as they were. I would even call it a bucket list race. It’s not too often in a race that you are rewarded by a huge amount of single track trails, extreme climbs and beautiful vistas at almost every turn. There was some road running but it was very limited. Plus I had the most kick ass crew, and it was her first time driving on the left side of the road. Success!

Grand Trail des Lacs et Chateaux 105k… or 25k

This one will be quick, I had been looking forward to this race for a while. It was scheduled for an early 4:00am start time and we were bussed from the finish line to the start line about 40 minutes away in Butgenbach Belgium. It was dark for the first 90 minutes of the race but circled the first lake of the race on a very smooth dirt path. I was going pretty slow initially and I had a rough and short night of sleep. The 40 min bus ride didn’t help as I fell back asleep 5 minutes before we arrived, waking up twice in one morning is a bitch. Initially I knew that it would be a tough race but didn’t realize what that would mean till later.

There race was initially said to have 3,330M elevation gain but that was adjusted the week before to 2,100M and the first 20k was virtually flat. Once we hit our first downhill things started taking a turn for the worst and my IT band was progressively getting more painful. This issue started on a run about two weeks ago and as typical for this injury, doesn’t get started until after a couple of hours of running. The first aid stop was at 20k and I filled up with water and grabbed some snacks and kept moving. I was trying to figure out how to manage the rest of the race since walking was the only way I could get any relief.

Once we hit the section with the castle there began some steep descents which forced me to a snails pace. The downs were taking me twice as long as going up. Around 25k the sweeper caught up to me and talked for a little bit. After we walked together for another kilometer he ended up kicking me off the course as I was going too slow. And that’s pretty much the DNF race report.

Right now I am not sure what to do next. I am not really sure how to fix this IT issue quickly. I looked up some treatment options and will try to work some specific lifting and stretching in, but I am not really sure its a strength issue. Shit, well hopefully I can get in a good race in England later this month. This one was a confidence drainer.

Getting a good night of sleep is much more important than I thought. Also eating a big breakfast is important. The next race starts at midnight so I am not sure how to work that…

BeMC