Pikes Peak

Several years ago, a couple of my nephews and one of their fiances hiked to the top of Pikes Peak, and I've wanted to do the trip myself. Since then, I've become an ultrarunner and was interested in doing the Pikes Peak marathon. Being in the best shape of my life, I decided that this year would be the year that I would try the trail since I was going to be in the area for a family reunion.

Initially, I was going to just do the ascent and ride the Cog Railway back down. Then, I decided that I really wanted an up/down adventure and was going to do the Crags Campground route since it's shorter. In the end, I ascended and descended on Barr Trail, 24 miles round trip.

I'm a flatlander living in Omaha. I run a lot, and am just coming off a 72 hour event 2 months ago, and a 50 mile trail race last month, so a 24 mile run is not a big deal for me. However, I don't have steep hills to train on, and really didn't have a chance to do much stair climbing leading up to this.

I arrived at the Hydro Street parking lot around 415 am on a Friday morning. There was already a very large group (about 30 young men) that had been dropped off, and as soon as I pulled in, another group of about 12 cars pulled in. It was a nice crisp clear morning, lots of moonlight, very little wind, temperature of 55 degrees. I paid the $5 parking fee and was ready to go around 4:35. I wore a tech shirt, a pair of running shorts, Hoka Bondi B shoes, wore a Camelbak marathoner hydration vest, had a hat, a headlamp, sunglasses, and trekking poles. For water, I had 70oz in the Camelbak, and also carried two 16oz bottles of water. I carried 4 Hammer gels, 4 Clif Bars, and 4 Honey Stinger waffles.

And so it begins. I was immediately behind the group of young men, and was able to pass when I could. I was power hiking the switchbacks, and the guys were generally walking slower. Up and up I went, actually not having a lot of problems. Yes, my heart rate was up, but I made a point to never allow myself to get into oxygen debt and said that I would slow down if needed. Stopped for a couple of pics of the city below at mile 1 and 2. By about mile 2.5, I saw my first view of the actual peak. It was pretty cool, and good motivation of where I'd be in a few hours. Once I got out of the switchbacks, I was able to run most of the way up to Barr Camp, arriving there in 2 hours and 4 minutes. I stopped to snap a picture and to let my wife and family know I was OK, and continued on, really only resting at Barr Camp for about 5 minutes.

Shortly after Barr Camp, the climb got noticeably harder for me, and I was starting to get just a little dizzy. At that point, I slowed down just a bit and stopped running, and also changed my breathing to deeper longer breaths trying to maximize oxygen intake. And I continued up. Hitting the A frame shelter at treeline about one hour 5 minutes after Barr Camp. At this point, when I looked up toward the peak, or down the mountain, a little bit of vertigo would set it, but as long as looked ahead of down on the trail in front of me, I was OK.

A Frame to summit took one hour and 39 minutes, and I hit the summit at 4 hours and 49 minutes since I began, with virtually no running after Barr Camp. The Cog train had arrived about 15 minutes prior to my arrival. I hit the summit feeling pretty good, no major aches or pains. As I climbed the 16 golden stairs, I did drain the 70 oz Cambelback, but had not touched either of the water bottles. On the ascent, I had 1 gel, 2 Clif bars, and 1 waffle. Up on top, it was a beautiful day. Winds were less than 10 mph, it was still sunny, and maybe 45 degrees, not sure, never did see a thermometer.

I spent only 20 minutes on the top. Long enough to get the obligatory summit picture in front of the sign, emptied my 2 water bottles into my Camelbak, refilled the water bottles from the tap in the bathroom. I thought about getting a donut, but they looked really bad, kind of rancid actually, and I decided it wasn't a smart choice. When I walked back outside, the chilled air made me feel a little nauseous. I sat down, quickly ate a gel, and emptied my shoes since they had a couple of small rocks. Also, I noticed that clouds were quickly swirling up the east side of the peak, it was like someone flipped a switch. I saw that and decided to immediately begin to head back down.

The descent back below tree line wasn't that bad. I was moving along, and running when I could once I got past the boulders. I noticed that I was stumbling over the small rocks though, almost tripped a couple of times, and really decided to just slow down a bit. The lack of oxygen was getting to me, and I was worried about being caught above tree line with the developing clouds. Once I hit the tree line A frame shelter, the stumbling became a little more pronounced with the increased number of roots. I had also stopped once to clean out my shoes again before hitting the A Frame, and immediately my thighs and hamstrings started to cramp. As long as I was moving, I was OK, but if I stopped, my legs would start to cramp again. By the time I hit Barr Camp, I had turned both ankles a few times, nothing serious thankfully, but enough to make me say a few more swear words outloud and to be very thankful that nothing was hurt. By this time, there were also significantly more people coming up the trail, which I always pulled off to the side to let them pass. Coming down, I had another waffle, a Clif bar and one more gel I did not really stop at all on the rest of the descent, just kept moving, occasionally turning my ankles all the way down though. Any one of those could have been serious, but I got lucky every time.

I arrived back at the parking lot about 8 hours and 32 minutes after I had started. Ascent time was 4:49, 20 minutes on top, and descent time of 3:23. Felt pretty good when I was done. Was partly sunny and hot when I finished, about 80 degrees, and could not see the peak since it was obscured with clouds. Overall was tired, but not completely bagged at all. No blisters (I taped my feet and used Blistershield in my socks). No chafing. And overall just pleased with the day.

I did use Black Diamond trekking poles, which I thought helped immensely. They helped push me up the mountain on the ascent, and really helped me from completely falling on the descent. I had though about doing the actual race next year, but you can't use poles in the race. I'm not sure I would want to do this ascent/descent without the poles.

24 miles. 15000' elevation ascent and descent, a flatlander with no specific hill training. Fun stuff!

                          Ascent     Descent
Trailhead to Barr Camp   2:04:19     1:32:15
Barr Camp to A Frame     1:05:38     0:46:45
A Frame to Summit        1:39:23     1:04:33
Time on Summit                 0:19:51

Totals                   5:09:11     3:23:33 8:32:44

Ready or Not

I haven't written anything on here in awhile.  Yet life goes on and I'm still running.  More than ever.  In the previous 2 months, I've had arguably the best training cycle of my life, reaching a new lifetime peak mileage of 325 miles in 30 days.  I ran my first 50 mile trail race.  And I've been healthy!  No problems, and training was going very well.  On Facebook, I mentioned that I was trying to find my edge, but without falling off the cliff.  Unfortunately, I think I found my edge a couple of weeks ago.

During the 50 mile trail race in mid April, I ran the first 34 miles with a pair of trail shoes that are slightly tight in the toe box.  And then I switched shoes, and used a Superfeet insert that did not have a cork metatarsal pad (used because of my Morton's Neuroma). Near the end of the race, I felt a twinge of pain in between my 3rd/4th toes, but thought it was just because I was nearing the end of a 50 mile very hard effort on the trail.

The following weekend, I made a significant push for one bigger weekend, running 15 miles on Saturday, then 15 on Monday, and 25 on Tuesday.  That was apparently my edge, because on Wednesday May 1st, my foot was on fire.  The Morton's Neuroma pain was there between the toes, and the ball of my foot was incredibly tender.  It really came on without any notice.  Tuesday I was fine, Wednesday, I was a gimp.

I immediately called my podiatrist on Thursday to get in for an appointment for the following week.  In the meantime, various folks on the Internet recommended stuffing a piece of cotton between my toes to help alleviate the pressure. Well, that apparently worked.  I eased down to let my foot rest, and by last Tuesday, the pain was mostly gone and I was running again.  I had the doctor put some new metatarsal pads on new Superfeet inserts, and we both decided that a cortisone shot was not necessary (I had one before two years ago). 

However, fast forward a few more days, and the ball of my foot is still tender to walk on.  Enough that I feel it with every step.  I don't have any pain between the toes, but the ball of my foot hurts.  This could even be a case of Metatarsalgia as well. And I question how the upcoming 3 Days at the Fair will go.  I'll be on my feet for 64 hours (well, with breaks of course).  And I really don't know how it will turn out.  I'm nervous.  I'm angry that I've come this far, with the ideal training cycle, only to come up lame a couple of weeks before the race.  Was this my edge?

Lucky Bucket 7k Trail Race

I ran this race mainly because it was cheap, and the perks seemed good.  Entry was only $35, which included a tech shirt, a couple of free beers, a free brewery tour, and a fun after party.  Not that I especially enjoy shorter races, but I also knew that a lot of my GOATz friends would be running it too, not to mention that it would be on the trails at Mahoney State Park.  I know they exist, but really haven't been on them. It turned out to be about 0.4 miles short.  Yeah, I know trail races are usually "around" the expected distance, but this was really short.  I did run really well though, 114th out of 1047 runners, 90th out of 505 males, so I was happy with that. 

And my foot felt Ok.  The ball hurt a little, but it was manageable. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  Perhaps a little breezy, but sunny skies.  The Lucky Bucket beer was good, and I bought a grilled hamburger, the smell was just too much to resist.  All in all, it was a worthwhile event.

Indiana Trail 50

This was my first official 50 mile race, although I've run 50 miles twice before as part of the North Coast 24 hour Endurance runs.  Training leading up to this has been ideal, and I've hit a new 30-day PR in the process.  Leading up to this race, which was held at the Chain O Lakes State Park near Albion, Indiana, the area received 5 to 7 inches of rain, so a lot of the course was flooded.  This resulted in 48 ankle-to-knee deep water crossings on the 3 lap course, but otherwise, the weather was perfect.  Starting temp in the mid 30s, finish temp in the mid 40s, with sunny skies.  Lots of mud too, but tough courses make tough runners.  Really, this race was a near-perfect execution for me, although I did end up tying my shoes too tight on the last lap to prevent them from being sucked off in the mud, which gave me a case of extensor tendititis on my left foot.  Live and learn.  Because of the water and mud, I also tried 2Toms Sportshield for the first time ever, coating my feet before the race.  It's a silicone-based lubricant that worked extremely well.  My feet were constantly soaked in water, yet I had absolutely no chafing or blisters, period!  Overall, an awesome race, finish time 10:23:26!  Finished 24th out of 77. 

Run for the Bridges Half Marathon

Fun race in Wilderness Park.  Set a new half PR here, on a pancake flat course. Last year, I thought was having a heart attack at the end of this marathon because it was 90 degrees that day. Much colder this year, downright chilly!

Land Between the Lakes Trail Marathon

Wow, this was a really fun race on a really cool trail.  Awesome weather, definitely glad I made the trip.  New PR for a trail marathon too.  Yay!  My 25th state on a quest to run a marathon or ultra in all 50 states.

Livestrong Austin Marathon

What a wonderful race, running in memory of my mom and dad who have both died from Cancer.  Great town, wonderful race, great finish time for me.

Psycho Wycho Run Toto Run 10 Mile Race

I just signed up for this 10 mile race to get the new medal, which included a spinning tornado.  The course, which I've run before, ended up being extremely muddy.  Oh well, it was only 10 miles. And a fun race with several of GOATz runners.