Jemez Mountain 50 mile

It was about time to step it up to a 50 miler, and Jemez seemed like the perfect place. My first trail race 3 years ago was the Jemez mountain half marathon. I was hooked, and inspired by all the 50k and 50 mile runners. I knew someday I wanted to come back and enjoy more of the trails through the rough and rugged Jemez mountains.

I decided early this year that I wanted to run Jemez again, the only question was would it be the 50k or the 50 mile? I really wanted to run the 50k course since I thought it suited me well, but since I felt good after winning the Cedro Peak 45k in April I decided it was the perfect time to jump into the 50 miler.

Coming into the race I was feeling great, no fatigue in my legs which I typically experience in the weeks before a race and I was feeling confident in my ability to survive 50 miles. The Jemez course is well known as one of the toughest 50 mile races in the country, with an actual distance just over 52 miles and 11,300ft of both climbing and descending. It would not be an easy first 50 mile run, but it was just the style of course I love.

We arrived late Friday night in Los Alamos and quickly got to bed for what would be a short nights sleep. I woke up at 2 am, an hour before my alarm, wide awake and ready to go. I tried to get back to sleep, but that was impossible. I finally gave up at 2:45am. I sneaked into the bathroom for some coffee and breakfast, so I would not wake up our 16 month old son. I was chuckling at the ridiculousness of the situation as I sat on the toilet sipping coffee while eating 3 hard boiled eggs, a slice of bread and and a slice of cheese. It was the closest I could come to my favorite pre run meal of scrambled eggs on toast.

I struggled with what to wear. The forecast was calling for rain, but I wasn't sure when it was going to start. Little did I know how crazy the weather would get towards the end of my race. I settled on sending my rain jacket and an extra shirt to the ski lodge in my drop bag. I had arranged to get a ride to the start of the race so my wife and son wouldn't have to get up so early for the 5am start. This worked out great and I was soon standing at the start line ready to run 50 miles.

The start was relaxed and I was feeling pretty calm. We headed off into the darkness at the command of the race director. I was surprised how many people were flying by at what seemed like way too fast for a 50 miler and I soon found out why. After a short stretch of gravel road we hit single track and everyone around me slowed to a walk. I wasn't concerned though as there was plenty of time for passing.

We quickly hit the jeep road through the bottom of the canyon, which allowed the field to spread out. My plan was to keep it easy for at least the first 30 miles and reevaluate. I wanted to finish in one piece and knew that starting out too fast was risky. It was a beautiful morning for running as the surrounding mountains were beginning to wake up, birds were singing and the air was fresh from the previous days rain.

I rolled into the first aid station at mile 5 with 49 minutes on the clock, dropped off my headlamp and cruised on through. I was running with two 16oz bottles filled with Tailwind nutrition, so I didn't need to stop for anything yet.

From here it was some nice rolling single track, with rocky areas mixed in. Around mile 6, I caught up with Jacob who had gotten ahead of the traffic jam near the start. I settled in behind him as I figured our paces would be pretty similar. It was nice to run with a local who knew the course well as he kept me informed along the way.

As we approached the second aid station, I was able to get my bags of Tailwind dumped into my bottles while hiking the steep climb. We arrived at the second aid station 10.4 miles into the race at 1:52, quickly filled my bottles and headed out for the climb up Pajarito mountain. The trail climbs 2800ft in the next 7 miles to the top of Pajarito ski area before plunging down 1500ft to the ski lodge aid station. I felt great on the climb and hit the top 90 minutes after leaving the aid station. The beginning of the descent to the ski lodge was steep, straight down a ski run! I tried to take it super easy as I didn't want to fry my quads early in the race. It was tough to go slow since it was steep, but we soon hit some mountain bike trails which made for a little more gentle downhill grade.

We cruised into the ski lodge aid station, 18.6 miles into the race at 3:40 and quickly grabbed my drop bag. I fumbled around trying to get my bottles refilled and restock my Tailwind supply, which I had divided into pre-measured ziplock bags. Jacob was out before I even opened up my drop bag! Guess I need to work on my drop bag speed.

The 2.8 miles to the Pipeline aid station went quickly, but I couldn't help but wonder how much slower this section would be the second time as we would repeat this section of the course later. We arrived at the Pipeline aid station 21.4 miles into the race with 4:09 on the clock. No need to stop, we just plunged off into the Caldera down Nate's Nemisis. Straight down steep, loose, and rocky nastiness, it was a good time! I had heard about this section and was looking forward to checking it out. At the bottom we decided to stop and empty the rocks and dirt from our shoes, as it wouldn't be fun to have that grinding on our feet for the next 30 miles.

Once down into the Valles Caldera, it was nice smooth jeep roads for the next 3 miles to Valley Grande aid station at mile 25.4. We arrived at 4:40 and paused to top off our bottles. My Tailwind was going down fine and I didn't have any stomach issues yet. We headed down the road until the flags lead us off across the meadow on a faint trail. From here it was a mostly cross country route back up and out of the caldera. Follow the flags up and over dead burned trees, rocks and brush. The climb didn't seem too bad, although it climbed 1000ft in just over a mile, it was nice to hike after a long stretch of runnable trail.

At the saddle a trail appeared once again as we began the 5 mile descent to Pajarito Canyon aid station. I couldn't get into a rhythm and my downhill stride was feeling choppy. This was frustrating because it seemed like a nice cruiseable downhill grade. I tried to relax and slowly began to catch up to Jacob and Michael who had pulled away from me at the top of the descent.

Once we reached the bottom I quickly caught Jacob and Michael, who had slowed to a hike at the beginning of a short climb. I was feeling pretty good so decided to keep on cruising. Michael had pulled away from me after the short climb, but upon arriving at the aid station I found him sitting in a chair. I arrived at Pajarito Canyon aid station 31.4 miles in at 5:59. I was hoping to see my crew here, but I was bummed when they weren't there. Turns out they arrived shortly after I left and just missed me, sounds like it was a rough morning for the crew.

I quickly filled up my bottles with the help of some volunteers, who were kind enough to pour in my Tailwind for me. My hands weren't working as well as they were earlier in the race. I headed out for the 2600ft of climbing over the next 5.5 miles back up to the top of Pajarito Ski area for the second time. I could see Michael coming behind me, but still no sign of Jacob. It was cool running up the narrow canyon and getting encouragement from some rock climbers along the way. I paused to rinse off my face in one of the many cold stream crossings, as the sun was starting to warm things up quite a bit. The climb was kind of a slog the this time, mostly hiking with some short stretches of running. I was starting to pass a few 50k runners now, but I was surprised to not see any 50 mile runners up ahead.

As I was approaching the top of the climb, I noticed a runner ahead that appeared to be a 50 miler, and I was catching him fast. I was surprised to find out it was Scott Jaime, who has done some amazing things in his career, including setting the fastest known time on the 486 mile Colorado trail and placing 3rd at Hardrock 100 last year. It was great to meet him and chat about Pearl Izumi shoes as we were climbing. Although it felt good to pass such an accomplished runner, I'm pretty sure he was just out for an easy stroll trying to get in some solid training for this year's Hardrock 100. I pulled away from him as we were approaching one of the many false summits of Pajarito mountain.

As I began the ski area descent, it was obvious that the beautiful weather was about to end. The skies were getting dark, the wind was picking up and I could see rain over the caldera. I debated whether or not I should grab my rain jacket for the last stretch or continue in my t-shirt, as the temps had been comfortable all day. My legs were hurting at the beginning of the downhill, but quickly began to feel good as I descended. The last mile into the Ski lodge, my legs felt great and I was moving well. I was excited because the remaining 14 miles were mostly downhill and I figured there was a good chance I could break 10 hours.

Rolling into the Ski Lodge I was excited to see my crew for the first time. They were bundled up and out on the deck cheering me in! I arrived at the Ski Lodge for the second time, 38.6 miles in with 7:42 on the clock. This was farther than I had ever previously run and I was feeling great! My wife helped me get my bottles filled and the weather helped me decide that grabbing my rain jacket was a smart idea as it was beginning to rain. I told my son I would race him to the finish, grabbed a smooch and headed off towards Pipeline.

All bundled up waiting for dad to arrive at the ski lodge.

Shortly after leaving the ski lodge, the rain started to pick up. I fumbled around holding my two bottles and pack while trying to get my rain jacket on. It probably would have been easier to stop, but I wanted to keep moving since I knew it would be close if I wanted to break 10 hours. I was surprised how good I felt on the gradual climb to the Pipeline aid station at mile 41.4 and arrived at 8:16. The volunteers were yelling at me to come into the aid station tent and get warm as it was now getting pretty cold and starting to snow, but all I cared about was the finish. I yelled out my race number and kept on trucking.

I was not ready for the pipeline climb out of the aid station. I knew there was a climb, but this was much bigger than I was expecting! I passed a few 50k runners on the climb into the blizzard, which helped motivate me to keep moving. As I was cresting the climb I glanced back to see Diana Finkel behind me near the bottom of the climb. I had been waiting since mile 8 where we passed her, for Diana to come cruising by. She is well known for running smart in tough ultras and sweeping up all the guys who went out too fast. Now I had a little fuel on the fire to keep moving in hopes of staying ahead of her.

This is where the weather got crazy, all out blizzard with 30 mile per hour winds! I was glad I grabbed my jacket, but wishing I would have grabbed my hat and gloves as well. Although my core was dry, I was freezing and could no longer feel my hands. My hope of a fast downhill to the finish disappeared as my body tensed up from the bitter cold winds. Every step began to hurt as my body was too stiff to absorb the downhill running impacts. There were a few brief moments where the winds and rain would calm down and allow me to warm up. I moved well until the winds would kick back up, so I knew it was the cold and not just tired muscles that were causing me to move so slowly. I was bummed that a sub 10 hour finish was now impossible but had already shifted into survival mode. Just wanting to get off that ridge.

I went through the Guaje ridge aid station at mile 45.3 with 9:02 on the clock. I once again just paused to give the volunteers my race number. I was not drinking much due to the cold and didn't need to refill my bottles as I was expecting.

It seemed like the ridge went on forever and I was now passing many other 50k runners who were in just as bad or worse shape. I had nothing to offer for help so kept moving as best I could. I've spent a lot of time in the mountains and back country and don't think I've ever been so concerned with how cold I was getting. I finally dropped into the canyon out of the wind and arrived at the Last Chance Saloon aid station 50.3 miles into the race, with 9:50 on the clock. It looked like a lot of fun, but all I wanted to do was get to the finish and get warm. I had to weave my way through the crowd of runners who were huddled under the tarp trying to get warm, and headed out for the final 2 miles.

I had been dreading the climb out of this aid station all day. It's not really much of a climb, but I wasn't sure how painful it would be after 50 miles of running, I couldn't believe how good I felt on the climb! I ended up running most of it and my legs felt great. The final mile of slight downhill was spent looking over my shoulder, fully expecting somebody to have caught me on that painfully slow descent down Guaje ridge, but there was nobody. I started the final rutted out climb and was still able to move well to the top of the canyon. It felt great coming down the homestretch knowing I was about to finish my first 50 miler. As I crossed the line I was surprised to see my crew standing outside the Posse shack cheering! I was fully expecting them to be huddled inside out of the weather, so that was pretty awesome.

Looking and feeling like a drowned rat at the finish.

I crossed the line after 52 miles and ~11,300 ft of climbing and descending over the rough and rocky Jemez mountains in 10:13:11, good enough for 7th place overall. I was pretty happy with my time considering the craziness that consumed the last 11 miles. I had no idea until the finish that the race had been called off and there would only be 20 finishers in the 50 mile race! Unfortunately I was so cold I had no desire to kick back, relax and enjoy the finish line festivities. My wife said I was functioning like a really slow computer, taking way to long to respond to simple conversation.

Local handmade pottery finishers award.

Despite the crazy weather, it was an amazing day of running. The course was awesome and I wish I would have had a camera to capture the amazing scenery. The race organizers and volunteers did a great job keeping everyone safe, it was a good call ending the race early. It got pretty scary out on the open ridge lines and there was the potential for people to get in serious trouble.

Gear:
Pearl Izumi EM Trail N2 shoes
Injinji Trail 2.0 midweight mini-crew socks
CEP calf compression sleeves
Patagonia Strider Pro shorts
Amphipod Ergo-Lite 16oz bottles
Outdoor Research Helium II Jacket

Nutrition:
~1800 calories Tailwind nutrition
~160oz water

Cedro Peak 45k

On April 12 I ran the Cedro Peak 45k trail ultramarathon outside Tijeras, NM for the second year in a row. Last year when I ran Cedro Peak, I lead the race from the start through ~mile 23 where I was passed and ended up second overall. I knew I wanted to return and run a smarter race. Although leading from the start last year was fun, it wasn't the smartest strategic race for my fitness level.

Nice looking elevation profile!

I was determined to go back and run a better race this year. Training was going well and I was feeling strong with no aches and pains to limit my mileage. All my normal runs were ending up faster than last year and my long runs were finished feeling like I could easily keep going. Pretty much all my weekday runs were done while pushing my son in the stroller, with a trail run or two on the weekends. About a month out from the race, things went downhill fast. I had a low mileage week due to travel, during which I picked up a bad cold and my foot started to hurt badly. So I dialed back the mileage for another week and got in one decent long run before then getting the flu. I didn't realize I had picked up the flu until I was heading up the La Luz trail on what was supposed to be my last big training weekend. I had terrible body aches and no energy, and didn't know if I would make it off the mountain. It ended up being my slowest time and most painful run ever on what is my favorite local training route.

So I was forced into taper mode without getting in much of a final training block. After a few days of no running, I headed out to test the legs and it was bad news. I just felt run down and slow. My runs continued to be a struggle and I was not sure how much the extended taper and sickness had taken out of me. As seems to be a common occurrence in this sport, my hopes of a good race were fading quickly in the weeks leading up to the race. My strategy changed from race hard and go for the win, to run easy and hope for the best.

Race day came and my crew and I were out the door early for the short drive to the start. My wife, son and dog would be joining me and everyone was up early and loaded without a hitch in the plan. We got to the race start, checked in and I headed out with the dog for a jog around the picnic area for a short warm up. It was nice to chat with a few people at the start who I had met last year.

At the start I headed out as planned, at what felt like a really relaxed pace. It helps that the first couple miles are a pretty gradual downhill. My legs were feeling better than in the previous weeks, but still not great. Initially, I was running in second and was happy to let Mike blast off down the trail without giving chase. It was early and the plan for the day was to run steady in hopes of having something left in the tank at the end, for what I expected to be a battle to the finish.

Pecos wishing he could run with me as we hit the trail near the start.

After a couple miles, Brian, who I recognized from last years Sandia Crossing, and another runner, who I didn't recognize, passed me and slowly pulled away. I was still content to let them go and just continue at my own pace. They never got too far ahead as I would catch glimpses of them when we got into the more open areas of the trail.

A rare stretch of smooth trail. Photo: Perky Garcia

I came through the first aid station at 4.5 miles in 35 minutes, compared to 38 minutes last year. I ran right on through as I was carrying two 16oz bottles filled with Tailwind Nutrition, and planned to not use any aid stations.

After the first aid station, there is a 1.5 mile climb to the top of the steepest descent of the race. This is also where things started to get rocky, really rocky! I took it nice and easy on the climb and before long was at the start of the 2 mile rough rocky downhill. Just after starting the descent, I caught and passed the unknown runner ahead. He was running strong but seemed to slow a bit on the more technical terrain. Last year, I had a blast tearing up this descent but paid for it later on in the race, so I stuck with the plan and kept things under control this year. Towards the bottom, I started to close the gap on Brian who was still ahead.

And here come the rocks! Photo: Perky Garcia

 The bottom of the descent marked the lowest point on the course and the beginning of the climb up to the Cedro aid station, ~4 miles away. We were starting to pass quite a few of the 45 mile runners by this point, so it was nice to have some human interaction after running mostly alone since the start of the race. I was slowly gaining on Brian on the climb and finally inched past him on a steep section of jeep road. I was now back in second place.

Steep rocky jeep road climb. Photo: Perky Garcia

Somewhere around here I was told by a 45 mile runner that the first place runner was about 10 minutes ahead! I couldn't believe he was that far ahead, but remained calmed and convinced myself that 10 minutes could be made up quickly on the return trip. As we were getting closer to the aid station, I was told both 3 minutes and 2 minutes to the lead runner. So I was either gaining on him or was getting inaccurate information, hard to say which was true.

I ran into the Cedro aid station at mile 12 about 1:38 into the race, this was a couple minutes faster than last year so I was still ahead of schedule even though I was taking it easy and feeling good. I ran in and dropped my bottle and grabbed a 10oz bottle mixed with Tailwind from my wife for the short out and back section up and over Cedro Peak.

My crew and personal aid station waiting for me at the Cedro aid station.

As I was heading out I gave my wife instructions for a slight modification to my fueling needs in the water bottles for the return. I got a blank stare.... I wasn't sure what the problem was, has I had written instructions the night before and went over them with her. Turns out she misplaced the instructions and had no idea what I needed. It all worked out though and she got it figured out.

Top of Cedro Peak as seen from Cedro aid station.

The climb up and over Cedro Peak is a highlight of the course as there is quite a bit of runner and spectator activity between the aid station and the 45k turnaround. As I approached the turn to go up the peak, I noticed Mike ahead, who was currently in first place on the downhill side of the Peak. I figured this meant he was in fact 5-10 minutes ahead. I got up and over Cedro Peak and back to the confusing intersection to find chaos. Each of the four times I approached this area, I had to redirect runners who were going the wrong way. The trail in this area looped back very near itself, which made it easy to miss the turns and either skip the climb up the peak or end up going the wrong way on the section of trail over Cedro Peak. I was more winded from yelling directions than the running! Since I had previously run the race, I didn't have a problem finding the correct way and I tried getting other runners back on track.

Single track leading off the top of Cedro Peak. Photo: Perky Garcia

After getting some runners back on course, I headed down the service road to the 45k turn around. I kept expecting to see the first place runner coming back. I was getting closer and closer to the turn around and not seeing him. I couldn't figure out where he went and figured he must have missed the turn somewhere. At the turn around, which I hit at about 1:58, still a couple minutes ahead of last year, I asked if the first place 45k runner had come through yet. They said "you're the leader!". What? There was a guy in front of me! He must have gotten off course!

After the turn around it was like a flashback to last year. The second through fourth place runners were right on my tail. All I could think was that this was going to be a replay of last year--running in the lead, only to be passed right before the finish. Only one thing was different, I was running a real comfortable pace this year and I knew I had plenty of gas left in the tank.

I ran back up and over Cedro peak for the second time, once again redirecting confused runners at the intersection and was still feeling good coming back into the Cedro aid station. I ran through the aid station with 2:17 now on the clock. I grabbed my refilled 16oz bottles from my wife and headed back for the finish.

The rocks never end... Photo: Perky Garcia

 Last year, I was running scared at this point and all it did was wear me down. This year I kept calm and just kept it comfortable. I knew it would do no good to push it at this point so continued with my plan. I kept my pace under control for the downhill to the base of the steepest climb of the race at mile 20. The encouragement from the runners still heading out to the turn around was a much appreciated boost.

Heading up the biggest climb of the course. Photo: Perky Garcia

I mostly kept looking forward and avoided looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was closing-in on me. At the base of the climb, there are some long stretches of open where I allowed myself a peak over the shoulder. I saw no one! I couldn't believe no one was catching me after that long stretch of downhill. So I just kept cruising along up the steep, rocky 2 mile climb. Near the top was a mountain biker sitting on the side of the trail. He said I don't see anyone behind you! That was good to hear as this is where I was caught last year.

Getting steep near the top! Photo: Perky Garcia

At the top of the climb, I resisted the urge to pick up the effort. I wanted to keep it easy until I was either caught by another runner or until after the final aid station. I cruised through the last aid station with still no sign of anyone approaching from behind. Once again I was able to go right through the aid station as my Tailwind nutrition was working awesome and I didn't need anything else. I hit the last aid station in 3:25, about two minutes faster than last year.

Now through the last aid station, I started to debate with myself whether or not I should hammer it home or just keep cruising. I settled on cruising and I thought I would maybe pick it up the last three miles. As I approached the last three miles, there was still nobody in sight. I finally gave myself permission to pick up the effort, so I was able to crank out a decent pace on the flats and small downhills. I felt way better than at this point last year and was able to run pretty much all of the climbs to the finish. I covered the last 4.5 miles to the finish in ~40 minutes, 3 minutes faster than last year.

Home stretch into the picnic area.

As I approached the park,  I saw my crew waiting beside the trail. I tried to bust out a final sprint to the finish but I got all choked-up and had to slow it down until I got past them. It's a weird feeling at this point in an ultramarathon, tired, excited, and just generally emotional. I was able to pull it together for the final push into finish line, 1st overall in 4:06:04 after 28 miles and ~4000ft of elevation gain on rough rocky trail.

Cool handmade metal award.

Although the official finish times indicate otherwise, according to my watch data(4:05:25 this year, 4:10:43 last year) I finished a little over 5 minutes faster than last year in what I believe should be a new course record(or very close). Apparently there were some problems with the timing equipment last year and they decided to knock ~10 minutes off every ones finishing time, although my watch and others indicated the actual times were only off by a small amount(~1 minute). I'm a bit bummed that I don't have the "official" course record, but I guess that's not my decision to make.

Overall, I had a great race and ran according to plan. I didn't have any low points and felt great the entire way. My hydration and nutrition intake seemed to be just about right and I didn't have any stomach issues.

Hanging with my crew after the finish.

Besides the confusion near Cedro peak and the timing issue from last year, it was a fun race with tons of great volunteers. The post race food and atmosphere was awesome. Thank you to my wonderful crew, you did an amazing job once again! And thank you to everyone out there who made it a great day on the trails.

Watch Splits:                 2013          2014
Juan Tomas(4.5mi)         38:00         35:36
Cedro(12mi)                  1:41:20     1:37:40
Turnaround(14mi)         2:00:11     1:57:30
Cedro(16mi)                  2:17:58     2:17:15
Juan Tomas(23.5)          3:27:20     3:25:40
Finish(28mi)                  4:10:43     4:05:25

Gear:
Pearl Izumi EM Trail N2 shoes
Drymax socks
Patagonia Strider Pro shorts
Amphipod Ergo-Lite 16oz bottles
Nathan Quickshot 10oz bottle
Suncloud Star sunglasses

Nutrition:
~600 calories Tailwind nutrition
~70oz water

Pikes Peak Ascent

I have been looking forward to the 2013 Pikes Peak Ascent since shortly after crossing the finish line last year. Many things were different about this year and I was excited to see how much faster I could make the grueling climb from downtown Manitou Springs at an elevation of 6,300ft to the finish line at 14,050ft on Pikes Peak.

Due to slower trail half marathon qualification times, my brother and I were forced to start in wave two last year. This meant we would be starting one-half hour after the 700+ wave one runners. This year, based off our Ascent times from last year we would be starting in wave one. Last year, when we started in wave two, it allowed us to have the trail to ourselves almost to Barr Camp but we would end up passing ~500 wave one runners before reaching the summit. This made for slow going on parts of the narrow rocky single track trail. I figured this change alone would be worth a good chunk of time this year. Another thing different this year is that I had run almost double the number of miles as last year. I thought for sure I was set up well to shave off a good chunk of time, but the mountain had something else in mind.

Google Earth view of the course

Coming just three weeks after the Speedgoat 50k, I was a little lost in how to approach the last few weeks of training before the Pikes Peak Ascent. I felt surprisingly good after Speedgoat so the following Saturday, I decided to run the La Luz trail round trip. It ended up being my slowest time in the last three years. Obviously, my legs were not fully recovered yet. So I took it easy the next week and decided to hit Santa Fe Badly as my last tune up run before race day. My legs felt really good and I think I set a new personal record on the climb to the 12,622ft Santa Fe Baldy summit, although my watch died so I wasn't sure exactly. Either way, my legs felt good and I thought I was ready for action.

Brother and I just before the start

We arrived at my brother's house in Colorado Springs late Friday night and were quickly off to bed for a few hours of sleep before the early wake up. Little sleep is not ideal for the night before a race, but life always seems to get in the way. It was nice to have a place to stay just a short drive from the start. In the morning I headed outside to take the dog for a walk before the race and noticed a strange car in the driveway. Didn't think much of it until I noticed my mom sit-up from the reclined passengers seat, then my dad slowly popped up from the reclined drivers seat. They decided to make the 12 hour drive from North Dakota to surprise us and watch the race! They had arrived at 4:30 in the morning and decided to catch a bit of sleep in the driveway so they didn't wake us up. It was quite the surprise and it was the first time they would see my brother and I race.

My training buddy waiting for the action to begin

The rest of the morning went smoothly and we arrived at the starting area to pick up my bib with plenty of time to spare. It was then that my wife noticed I forgot my watch! Luckily my nephew was willing to cruise back to the house and grab it for me. (Thanks Alex, you're a lifesaver!) I have become quite attached to my watch while running as it lets me know how far I've gone, my pace, elevation and all that good stuff. I feel lost without it! He arrived back at the starting area just in time to deliver my watch and we made our final warm-up jog down Manitou Ave.

And we're off!

We lined up a few rows from the front and prepared for the mad dash through town. At the gun, a good number of people took off pretty fast but it wasn't quite as bad as I anticipated. We covered the first mile in 7:54 before the serious climbing began. As soon as we hit the trail, the crowd ahead started to slow down and we passed a lot of people in the steep initial climb called the W's. I felt pretty good during this section and we reached the top of the W's in ~34 minutes, right about on pace for a 2:50 ascent. For registration, I predicted a finish time of 2:45 but knew that would be a tough task. I did however think somewhere in the 2:50-2:55 range was pretty realistic.

After the W's, the crowd started to thin out and there were just a few people to pass and play leapfrog with. This section is deceptively hard as it seems less steep than the W's but it is still hard to get into much of a consistent running rhythm. We reached the next aid station at No Name Creek(8,800ft) in 50:33, 4.3 miles from the start.

All bundled up and enjoying the morning at 14,000ft

From No Name creek to Barr Camp, the trail starts to level out a bit and even has a few short downhill sections. Through here I was still feeling pretty good and tried to keep a nice steady effort. I felt like we were moving well and started pulling away from a few of the people we had been running with since the top of the W's. My legs started to feel the burn of the strong running effort as we got closer to Barr Camp, but I felt like it was a sustainable effort. Barr Camp would be my first water refill, so I added a couple servings of Tailwind powder to my bottle as we approached the aid station in order to minimize time spent at the aid station. The refill went smoothly with minimal time lost. I reached Barr Camp slightly behind my brother but we would leave the aid station together. We arrived at Barr Camp(10,200ft), 7.6 miles into the race with 1:27 on the clock. We were still on pace for ~2:50 finish time, but that would soon change.

Leaving Barr Camp I was feeling pretty good, but soon started to slow down. I wasn't feeling particularly bad, but my brother and a few others started slowly pulling away. This was my first indication that I was not moving as well as I thought anymore. It was hard to get into any sort of rhythm with all the boulders and irregular footing on this section. Approaching A-frame I knew 2:50 was long gone and it was going to be tough to break 3:00. I reached A-frame(11,950ft), 10.2 miles into the race in 2:07. My brother put three minutes on me from Barr Camp to A-frame! Last year I hit A-frame in 2:10, so I knew it was not going to be easy to break 3:00 at this point.

Coming up the switchbacks near the Cirque

"16 Golden stairs" come up behind this rock pile

Shortly after A-frame the trail breaks out of treeline. This is my favorite place to run and despite the lack of oxygen, it managed to put me in a little better mood. I could also see that there were a decent number of people just up ahead that I could work on catching. The first mile above timberline I was able to catch and pass 5 or 6 people and even though it felt like it took forever to catch them, I was surprised when I looked behind me to see I was quickly pulling away after passing. After the initial group of people, it became a little more spread out and I found it difficult to get motivated to keep pushing myself.

Entering the home stretch

Finally caught green shirt guy

My legs were still feeling pretty good, but the thin air made it difficult to maintain a run for more than ~100 yards. Approaching the Cirque at 13,300ft elevation I was catching up to a few more people and tried to push the effort once again. There are a few runnable sections through here and I tried to make the most of them, because I knew I would slow to a crawl at the 16 Golden stairs. After this point it is mostly a blur, I could hear the cheers of encouragement from my family, but only caught a quick glimpse of my wife as I went past her. I was in the zone and trying to move as fast as I could for as long as I could. Since my legs still felt pretty strong this consisted of some short sprints followed by out of breath stumbles, until I could surge ahead once again. I know I managed to pass a few people in the final mile, but don't really know how many.

Almost there, one switchback to go!

In this section I heard someone yell "a minute thirty to break three hours"! I could not believe how fast the time past. It seemed like I had only taken a couple steps when he yelled out "one minute to break three hours"! And the same for "thirty seconds"! Before I knew it the time was gone and I didn't break three hours. It was the most surreal time warp I've ever experienced, I couldn't believe the time could disappear so quickly.

Brother crossing the finish line in 2:56

Crossed the finish line in 3:01

I ended up crossing the finish line near the summit of Pikes Peak at 14,050ft after 13.32 miles and 7,815ft of climbing in 3:01:07, about five minutes behind my brother who crossed the line in 2:56. I was a bit disappointed in my finish time, but I shaved 3 minutes off my time from last year. It was a perfect day to run up the peak! Anytime spent in such a place is a good day, so it's hard to be too upset. I was just really expecting to break 3:00, but I guess the Peak had different plans. This just means I will have to go back and try it again. It was great to have my parents there to watch my brother and I race for the first time! Hopefully they will be able to make the journey to watch us more in the future.
 

We survived another Ascent!

With my parents and brother atop Pikes Peak

Gear:
La Sportiva Vertical K shoes
Smartwool PHD Run Light Micro socks
Garmin 405cx GPS watch
REI Fleet running shorts
CEP calf compression sleeves
Amphipod 20oz handheld bottle
Nathan 10oz Quickshot handheld bottle

Nutrition:
~350 calories Tailwind nutrition
~40 ounces water

Speedgoat 50k

Speedgoat! Wow, where to begin...

This is only my 3rd year of trail running, but I have been dreaming of running the Speedgoat 50k long before I was even a runner. Anyone who knows me well, knows I LOVE the mountains. More specifically, I love to get above timberline where the air is thin and the views are endless. Speedgoat is a 50k mountain race with ~11,500ft of climbing and descending, up and around Snowbird ski area in Utah and is described by many as the toughest 50k in the US. Sounds perfect, sign me up!

After completing my first ultra marathon last November (White Mesa 50k), I was ready to tackle something with a bit more climbing. I convinced my brother that we should run Speedgoat, so as soon as registration opened we were both signed up. Now it was time to train, as the last line of the race information page on the website says "Start training now……cuz’ it’s gonna hurt!"

Great looking elevation profile!

I had big plans for my training, which included long runs with multiple ascents of the La Luz trail and hiking up the Sandia Ski area slopes with my son in the backpack for a little extra weight. Unfortunately all those plans were destroyed when most of the forests in New Mexico were closed down due to the extreme fire danger. So my training was modified to include more flat road running, lower elevation foothills trails and long drives to get in my long run on the weekends. I managed to get in some quality high elevation long runs, but could tell I was not handling the higher altitudes as well as in the past, not being able to get over 7000ft during the week. I noticed that unlike in the past, I felt really solid. No aches and pains like I have usually experienced while increasing the miles before a race. I was feeling pretty confident in my fitness before I started tapering off the miles a couple weeks out from the race. However my taper was terrible, every run was a struggle. Even an easy 3 miler around my neighborhood was a struggle just four days before race day, my legs just felt dead. My confidence was slipping away...

Up bright and early with a smile!

My wife, son and I headed to Snowbird a couple days early to relax and enjoy the mountains. I was excited to get running and climb the mountains surrounding our hotel at Snowbird. But I held back and relaxed in hopes of giving my legs a chance to come back to life. My brother and I both felt like a couple kids on Christmas Eve. After all the planning and training, it was time to see how much suffering Karl Meltzer could dish out on this course!

Taking a nap, waiting for the action!

Race morning went well, my wife and son were a couple troopers getting up and ready at 4 am. We headed to race check in and were all ready to go with plenty of time to spare. We headed out for a nice gentle 10 min jog to get the blood flowing just before the start, as there is not much opportunity to warm up on this course. Lining up at the start amongst some of the best mountain runners in the world was pretty awesome. It was a bit like being out on the field for the start of an NFL game... Not many sports allow average folks to be lined up right next to the pros.

The start/finish at the base of Snowbird

Heading off the start, my plan was to take the first 4000ft climb up to 11,000ft at a comfortable pace. I knew it was going to be a tough race and wanted to make sure I had enough left in the tank for the big climbs towards the end of the race. My legs felt pretty good on the climb, but I noticed immediately on one of the short downhill sections along the way that my ankle was hurting! I hadn't had any ankle pain during training and didn't twist it or anything, so I was baffled by the pain that seemed to come out of nowhere. I was not sure if it would allow me to run all the rocky downhill that was ahead. It continued to hurt on every downhill but didn't seem to get any worse.

And we're off!

Don't waste anytime starting the climb to hidden peak.

Most of the course was run on a mixture of steep rocky service roads and single track, but around mile 6 we got our first taste of the completely off trail sections of the course. It was a blast! Bombing down the mountain through grass, wildflowers, jumping over downed trees and boulders. I was laughing and smiling like a fool, life was good except for my ankle that kept reminding me to keep it under control. It was also in this section where I first witnessed the incredible descending skills of Ruby Muir from New Zealand. I thought I was moving quickly when she came blowing by me like I was standing still, wearing Vibram fivefinger shoes(closer to no shoes...!). Pretty amazing to see!

Approaching the top of Hidden Peak, 11,000ft (mile 8.3)

My brother stayed a couple minutes ahead on the climb, but I could see him most of the way and noticed he was not gaining any ground. I hit the first aid station on Hidden Peak(8.3 miles) at ~1:45, about 20 min behind the leaders. Those boys can fly! At the first aid station I was able to see that despite the cold wind and rain my wife and son were doing great. I dropped off my handheld bottle and grabbed my hydration pack which was filled with ~700 calories worth or tailwind nutrition and off I went.

The descent down Mineral Basin to Larry's Hole aid station(10.2 miles), was relatively uneventful. A nice cruiser section of service road and single track through a wildflower filled high alpine basin. I reached this aid station in about 2:02 and kept moving through since I had a full hydration pack filled with everything I needed.

Shortly after Larry's Hole was a short steep grunt up over Sinner's Pass which lead us to a nasty bowling ball sized rock filled jeep road down Mary Ellen Gulch to the Pacific Mine aid station. On this climb I continued my game of leap frog with both Ruby Muir(3rd place woman) and Stephanie Howe, who would go on to be the women's overall winner. I would usually pass them on the climbs only to be passed shortly after on the descents. This descent was relentless and felt like it would never end, and once again Ruby made me look silly as she flew by right through the loose rocks! We rolled into the Pacific Mine aid station(14.8 miles) around 2:47 into the race.

I checked in and quickly left the aid station after rinsing my head off with a sponge full of cool water. It felt great and for the first time in the race I was ahead of my brother, as he had to stop and fill his bottles. That didn't last long though and we ran the long uphill back up to Larry's Hole mostly together. This climb was rough as it was just a little too steep to run in most parts, but not quite steep enough to feel like hiking was the only way although we climbed ~2400ft in the 3 miles to the top of the climb. Towards the top of the climb, we hit a steep off trail section that really slowed me down. I could tell the legs were starting to tire from all the climbing and the fact I was getting behind on calories. A short steep downhill and a short climb put us back at Larry's Hole aid station(19.4 miles) with about 4:03 on the watch.

We were now to the toughest part of the course as we climbed the mostly off trail route up Mt Baldy to 11,051ft. I ran right through Larry's hole as I still didn't need to refill my pack, this wasn't good because I knew it meant I still wasn't drinking enough or getting enough calories. I was really thirsty but just couldn't seem to drink enough for some reason. The grunt up Baldy was ridiculous, in an awesome way... Just straight up the mountain through the grass, rock and wildflowers. With grades approaching 40% near the top, it was a struggle just to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I watched as my brother slowly pulled away up the mountain.

Coming into Tunnel aid station (mile 22.3)

Once to the top of Mt Baldy it was a fun little rocky descent back down to the Tunnel aid station(22.3miles), which I reached in 4:54. This was a fun stretch as I could now hear my wife and the others cheering us on as we cruised the last switchbacks to the tunnel. That is always good for a little energy boost. I took a big swig of water and grabbed my trekking poles. I gave my son a big zerbert on the cheek, smooched my wife and headed off through the tunnel with my brother who I once again caught at the aid station.

Grinding up Hidden peak. Photo: Derrick Lytle

After getting through the tunnel it was about a 2 mile 1000ft descent down a service road before beginning the final 1500ft climb back up to the summit of Hidden Peak. The poles helped with the steep climb but since I hadn't used them all year in training, my arms quickly tired. It was in this section where Stephanie Howe dropped the hammer and pulled away from us for the final time. It was impressive how quickly she dropped us and was able to hunt down the leader on the final descent. At mile 26 we reached the final aid station on top of the 11,000ft high Hidden Peak, with about 5:42 elapsed. I could only think about water at this point so had my wife dump out the Tailwind she had mixed up for me and filled the bottle with water, after chugging a bit of coke. I ditched my pack and poles and headed out for the final descent.

Arriving at Hidden Peak for the final time (mile 26)

It was here where I finally realized breaking 6:30 was very possible. My original thought was that 7:00 was a realistic finish time, with 6:30 possible and maybe 6:00 if all the stars aligned and I grew wings somewhere along the course. With 5 miles and 3000ft of descent to go, I dropped the hammer down from the peak until I hit the super rocky switchbacks where my ankle once again forced me to slow down. I could see my brother a ways ahead and realized I was catching him pretty quickly. As I came up behind him, I yelled "we can break 6:30 if we keep cranking!" His response was something like "I'm about to go into a bilateral cramp, my legs are toast!" I went past and figured he would hang on for the ride as he seems to have mastered the the ability to push through the pain. I was surprised when I looked back to find I was pulling away at a pretty quick rate, I knew he must have been hurting.

Shortly after that Andy, a local from Salt lake caught me and we chatted for a bit. He was moving well at this point and helped pull me along at a nice pace. I tried to hang on, but couldn't quite keep up and he ended up pulling away from me to finish about two minutes ahead. So after about 32 miles and 11,500 ft of climbing and descending I crossed the finish in 6:22:13, good enough for 22nd overall. My brother finished about four minutes later in 6:28, good enough for 25th overall.

Run details on Strava
 

Coming across the finish line!

Brother coming into the finish

I was pretty happy with my time and ranking, considering the crazy level of talent that was at the front of the pack. Sage Canaday took first in ~5:08 with Anton Krupicka chasing him down in the final descent to finish ~90 seconds behind. They both broke the previous course record set last year by mountain running legend Killian Jornet. It was an amazing day in the Wasatch mountains. Thanks to my amazing wife and son for continuing to support me through these crazy adventures, couldn't ask for a better crew! Also thank you to the Speedgoat, Karl Meltzer for putting on such a great event and laying out an awesome course!

Survived the Speedgoat!

Coolest trophies ever

Women's podium

Men's podium

Gear:
Pearl Izumi Trail N2 shoes
Injinji 2.0 Mid-weight socks
Patagonia Strider Pro shorts
CEP calf compression sleeves
Black Diamond ultra distance z-poles
Ultraspire Surge hydration pack
Amphipod 20oz handheld bottle

Nutrition:
~800 calories Tailwind nutrition - planned for ~1600, so I was way behind
~70 ounces water - way behind on this also
~5oz coke