Bring on the Mountains

I can’t believe the week is finally here. The calendar flies by so quick at times you wonder where it all goes. The past few weeks I’ve done my best to ramp up my running mileage. Most importantly the vertical trail mileage. I know that the sections of Leadville I’ll be pacing are steep and sustained efforts. I don’t know the total elevation, but it’ll be a lot. Not much compared to the amazing feat the ‘true’ athlete will accomplish on Saturday though. I can’t even fathom running or hiking 100 miles over that terrain. My friends say that I’ll want to sign up after pacing. I doubt that. Just the fact that I’ll be running a trail marathon and that is barely over ¼ of the course is enough for me to think I don’t have the ambition to do the full hundred. We will see. There was a time when I swore that I'd never do an Ironman too.

I’ve researched as much as I can. Both about the course and about pacing. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to my athlete a few times. I’ve got my gear pretty much packed and my plan in place. Our goal times and pace are set. Now we wait….

I’ve blogged before about past races about how I hate the taper. This week I’ve done a couple of shorter runs, but mostly I’ve been drinking tons of water and eating complex carbs. I’ve cut out alcohol and coffee. No wonder I’m a bit on edge.

I sit and wait. I have a plan. Variables I can’t control: the weather, how my athlete is feeling, the distance. Variables I can control: my attitude, my nutrition. Just. Keep. Moving….

I’ve got butterflies ready to begin this journey. Most people reading this know that I’m a Christian guy. This means that I believe that God always has a plan for us. He doesn’t always give us an easy path to travel, but he always gets us home. It’s all about the journey, not necessarily the destination. If I can keep that in mind, hopefully I can make my leg of the journey a part of her bigger story. I hope I can help her reach her goal.

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Getting Lost in the Never Summer Mountains

Standing in the early twilight hours of the sunrise at the Gould Community Center I was thankful that I could join the other 285 runners at the starting line. My heart issues a few weeks prior cost me some valuable training time and had me wondering if I’d be able to race. Once I got the green light from the cardiologist to run, I had five solid weekends to get some vert in and a small taper before the Never Summer 100K . It would have to be enough. Never Summer 100K is a 65-mile race in State Forest State Park in Northern Colorado. The course takes you through the Never Summer Mountains and skirts the southern edge of the Medicine Bow Mountain Range. The race has over 13,000 feet of vertical gain and most of it takes place over 10,000 feet above sea level. Simply put, this was one of the hardest 100K races in the country. Elevation Profile of Never Summer 100K I was fortunate to be racing with several other athletes I knew well including my good friend and legendary ultrarun

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For some reason every time I know I have to wake up early the next day, I can’t sleep. I set my alarm the night before for 4:45 AM and went to bed around 10. I woke up just about every hour on the nose and looked at the clock. By the time 4:15AM rolled around, I just laid in bed and waited for my iPhone to tell me it was time to get up. Buzz….It was time to get up. My pre-race plan I rolled out of bed virtually exhausted and put on my battle armor for the day -- shorts, socks, compression, t-shirt, jacket, and my signature trucker hat. I had loaded up my car the night before with all my gear and nutrition so I was good to go. I kissed Julie on the forehead, she wished me luck as I left to go grab some coffee, pick up Chris and carpool to the race. We made it up to Horsetooth about an hour before the race start. Since we carpooled, we were able to park about 100 feet from the start line. This was clutch because outside it was 37 degrees, raining and windy. View close

Quad Rock 50 and the Highway to Hell

I was standing in the midday sun staring into my car. Sweat was dripping down my face and my eyes were heavy when a little devil popped up on my shoulder. “Just stop Tim. You are tired, beat up and it’s hotter than hell out here. Just get a 25 mile finisher time and take a nap in the shade. This was not an “A” race for you anyway” ------------- Rewinding the clock 5 hours, I was ironically shivering from the cold awaiting sunrise as I stood next to 200 other ultrarunners. The sun was just beginning to light up the sky as the race director made his final announcements about the race. Early morning view The Quad Rock 50 would consist of a clockwise, 25-mile loop followed by a reverse run of the same loop. Each lap has three major climbs and about 5,500 feet of vertical gain per lap for a grand total of 50ish miles and 11,000 feet of elevation gain. “Follow the pink flags,” the race director said. This piece of advice would come in handy later in the day as I slogge

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