I met Kirk in the early morning and we carpooled up to Frisco to tackle the Salomon Equinox.  This is a fairly unique race in that you run by time instead of from a traditional start line to finish line.  I was doing the 12 hour solo race – the one completing the most laps in that time period would win.  There were 17 people in that event, in addition to teams running it as a relay.  A 6 hour team/solo race was taking place on the same course.

Most timed running events are on much smaller course making it easier to squeeze in laps as time gets tight towards the end.  This course was 6.6 miles, and there was a rule in place stating that only laps completed before time was up would count.  That made for a bit of a strategic challenge, as you didn’t want to kill yourself and come up short, but you didn’t want to leave time on the table, either.

The race started with a large group as the 6 mile, 12 mile, 6 hour, and 12 hour races all took off at the same time.  It made for a fairly crowded first lap.  After the second lap, things thinned out dramatically and I spent the next 8 hours or so in no-mans-land running basically alone.

The course was more of a challenge than I was expecting.  I thought it was going to follow the shoreline of Lake Dillon, but it ended up staying away from the shoreline and running along/over a ridgeline.  There was plenty of singletrack, some of it quite rocky and rooty.  A bit of dirt road, and a descent on wood chips left over from trees that had been ground up after dying from the bark beetle infestation.

Some nice singletrack

I ended up doing a lot of math in my head during the race trying to figure out the best pace that I could sustain and still use up all of the 12 hours.  Kirk executed a good plan pushing hard to finish his last lap with only 3 minutes to spare for an excellent 2nd place in the 6 hour solo.

I got to know the course very well as the day wore on, and had a few intermediate points that I used for splits to keep my overall laps on track.  This helped me stay pretty consistent for the most part.

I really struggled on the 4th lap and thought I was going to bag the rest of the day.  It was bad.  My asthma symptoms were terrible and my mouth kept watering profusely like it does right before you throw up.  Not fun.  My new shoes were making my feet miserable, I was running all alone in slow 6 mile circles.  Things were bleak.

I stopped for 10 minutes after the 4th lap, changed shoes and socks to the tried and true combination I should have used in the first place, got refuled and hydrated, then set out for my remaining laps.  I slowly started feeling better and was able to put in some ok running after that.  My last lap was an adventure with the weather turning bad in a hurry.  I had my lights with me, but was trying to finish the lap before having to turn them on.  It was getting pretty dark, but I knew the course so well by then that I still didn’t use the lights.  The temperature dropped by several degrees and a huge wind and stinging rain set in.  Lightning and thunder were all around – I was running faster than I had been for quite a while!

I finished my 8th lap, with 1:16 left on the clock – barely enough time for me to try and get another lap in.  It wasn’t meant to be as the race director shut us down on account of the lightning.  It was just as well, I was happy to be done!  I shivered uncontrollably for about 20 minutes – even after drying off and changing into warm clothes.

I ‘won’ a pair of Salomon XT Wings so that was really a nice surprise.  I ended up in 5th place – 8 laps, 52.8 miles, 5,000′ of climbing, 10:44.  It was strange to come up on Jeff (the 4th place runner) with only a quarter of a mile to go after running totally alone for most of the day.  My competetive instincts started to kick in, and I knew with the loud wind and darkness I could sprint right by and he would never hear me coming, but that wouldn’t be cool.  He earned the place with a good, solid run.  I was perfectly content to just follow him in to the finish.

…or in my case, the Leadville Trail 77.

Cold and wet 4:00am start

I’ve put off this report for a long time.  I guess I’ve been struggling with what to write about it.  I quit at mile 77 and am not happy about that.  There is a long list of reasons, and some of them are actually pretty good.  In the end, I didn’t finish and that’s that.  I don’t feel like going into all the details.

The good news is that I’m back in the groove and have completed a very good block of training in preparation for my next race.  Last week I ran 21 miles on Monday, biked 20 on Tues, ran a fast 8 on Wed, pushed super hard on a group trail run Thursday (HR averaged 170 for 1:10!!), rode another 20 on Friday, ran 30 on Saturday, and 6 more on Sunday.  It was a tough week, but I’ve missed doing those longer training runs and it felt good to go long again.  I seem to fare better when I can condition myself to run in the 20-30 range.

Back to Leadville – what a cold and rainy weekend.  I drove up on Thursday, and had a hard time sleeping (in my tent) that night and the next due to all of the thunder and rain.  The early start was tough.  I got up at 2:30 after several hours of tossing and turning.  I was anxious to get running.

The first 13 miles to aid station #1 were pretty uneventful.  I was running conservatively, but wasn’t happy to see 2:28 on my watch.  I wanted to run easily and hit 2:20 or so.  Oh, well.  I went through a small slump on the next climb, but then started running more strongly and cruised up and over the top.  On the descent I got my first indication of trouble as my quads pretty much bailed on me, along with hurting badly all the time.  It felt like I was getting punched in the thigh with every step.  Not sure what happened there, usually my quads are my strongest asset.  I got a little adrenaline rush as lightning hit the power lines above my head (which were already crackling super loud in the rain) and a huge blue flash lit everything up.  Yikes!

I ran a lot on some roads.  I ran a lot on some trails.  I crossed a river in a thunderstorm, got hailed on climbing a mountain.  Then, things finally clicked on the descent off Hope Pass and I felt amazingly good for an hour or so.

The view helped my mood - wow!!! (Photo by Patrick McCartney)

I hit the 50 mile turnaround in Winfield in 11:45.  My son and I volunteered there last year.  It was a strange feeling to come running through there as a participant one year later.

I climbed like a glacier going uphill coming back over Hope Pass and was glad to get to Twin Lakes with plenty of time to spare before dark.  I almost left my flashlight in my bag there because one of the volunteers was asking me questions and I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been to what I was doing.  So glad that I called time out and went through my bag one last time before leaving.

I made it to mile 77 at the Fish Hatchery aid station, and still had 9 hours to do the last 23 miles.  Plenty of time, but my legs were gone.  In the Bear 100 last year I limped the last 15 miles with a rolled ankle, taking 7 hours to do it in the rain and snow.  I had no interest in repeating that kind of struggle.  I let a good finish become more important than getting a finish.  I’m not overly thrilled with that decision in hindsight, but also can’t argue with how I’ve bounced back and have been able to continue training without requiring an extended rehab period.

Live and learn.

Non-existent quads, a grouchy stomach, and some biblical weather had me pulling the plug at mile 80. Long way to go to end up with a DNF, especially with 9 hours in hand over the cutoff. I had been struggling since mile 15 (knew I was in for a long day at that point), but still moving pretty well. On the flat paved stretch leading into Fish Hatchery AS I could no longer move fast enough to stay warm in the frigid weather. For the previous 20 miles the only way I could run was to engage my calf muscles to pull my heels up and then lean forward. I knew it would just be foolish for me to even attempt Sugarloaf Pass in that state, and didn’t want to put responsibility for my safety on that remote section of the course into someone else’s hands. Especially if it would impact another racer or pacer. I exhibited a rare bit of common-sense and withdrew from the race.

I may write up more of a detailed report later.  For now, I saw some beautiful sights and had a good experience. The people were great and I enjoyed meeting friends on the trail. Time for some rest!