CF Documentary

In January 2012 Holly and I were interviewed and filmed for an upcoming documentary on individuals with CF (as well as their significant others) who are thriving and accomplishing incredible feats despite dealing with the disease.

After recently checking on the progress of the movie, I discovered it is now in post-production, and the full trailer can be seen here:

http://www.livingxtreme.org/

Additionally, here is the poster for the film. Why does this picture look so familiar?!

Lastly, I've updated my race schedule for 2013. My next blog post will explain why it is so empty... not the best news to share, unfortunately.

Brooks

Streaking!!

The last time I was streaking in 2011, I won Brew 2 Brew in April and ran my marathon PR at the Boston Marathon a couple weeks later. After months of lethargy and lack of ambition, I decided that getting a nice consecutive days running streak going again might be just what the doctor ordered to get in shape and motivated again for my 2013 adventures. (What type of streaking did you THINK I was talking about?!)

That being the case, I write you on Day 64. I have run at least one mile every day this year. My average weekly volume is probably floating between 30 - 40 miles, but I feel like I have good base fitness from the running and the intensity of the runs I have been doing.

I have started to formulate a race plan for 2013 that so far consists of 3 road marathons, a 50 miler, and of course, Leadville in August. It just dawned on me that my first road marathon is only about 8 weeks away so it's time to up the mileage volume and get serious about speed. I don't care which race it happens in, but I want a new marathon PR sometime this year. Ideally it would be under 2:45, but even a minute faster than my current best would be acceptable.

Here are the races planned:

• Colorado Marathon - Ft Collins - May 5th
• Colfax Marathon - Denver - May 19th
• Jemez 50 Miler - Los Alamos, NM - May 25th
• San Francisco Marathon - Mid-June
• Leadville 100 - August

On the tentative list would be the recently resurrected "Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50" aka the MAS 50 in Utah in September. It was my very first 50 miler back in 2008 and I'd love to run it again to see how much I've progressed after 5 years of this crazy long distance running stuff.

My last CF checkup was in late December, and while I wasn't doing ANY running at the time, I'm pleased to report that I had the highest PFT readings (pulmonary function test) that I've had since I was 18. I was at 95% of what a fully healthy individuals lungs should be if they are my same age, height, weight, gender, etc. Not bad at all!

Finally, Holly and I have been married for almost 5 months now, with no talks of divorce so far, so I consider that another victory ;)
JK, babe... I love you.

You should hear from me before May, and I'll keep everyone in the loop if anything exciting happens in the interim.

Brooks

Brew to Brew Road Trip

Time to add another great racing/roadtrip weekend to the books... and honestly, this one was better than most, if not all of my big races to date.

Friday
I was able to finish packing and finally hit the road a little after 8:00 am for the 600 mile drive to Kansas City.

(Fueled up and ready to roll)

Not having planned this trip too well, I forgot about the time change and had to make up an hour in order to pick up friend, pacer, and runner extraordinaire, Andy and his lady-friend Lizzie, at the airport. Needless to say, I was not cool with the 70 mph speed limits and might have gone a little fast at times...

Friday afternoon I got pulled over near Manhattan, KS for...
... no front plate. There was a huge sigh of relief as the cop let me go without even an official written warning. It was shaping up to be a good weekend.

I arrived at the KC airport right on time at 5:30, and increased the size of the wolfpack from 1 to 3. The rest of the evening was super chill and included an easy 4 mile run to break up the stiffness of sitting in the car, as well as some beer and pizza with our host, Shelley. Around 10:00, Matt, the last member of our core group for the race, arrived.

Saturday
Since it's a good idea to keep the time on your feet to a minimum before a big race, Saturday was the day of spectator sports. After a late breakfast and an early lunch, we started the festivities by going to watch Shelley's son, Josh, dominate at peewee soccer.

(Don't let looks fool you. We are all children)

This was followed by packet pickup. We had jokingly said there was going to be a life-size cardboard cutout of my likeness when we walked through the door... and there was! (Just kidding.) I got to meet the race director, Lou Joline, as well as a fellow CF patient who was volunteering with the race. It's really exciting to see more and more healthy individuals around my age with the disease.

Packets in tow, it was time to head to the Royals game (2 hours late) to see if we could still get tickets. The only advantage of showing up super late was the great parking options.

(Our makeshift parking permit that got us into the VIP lot)

We figured it would probably be in the 5th or 6th inning, which made $15 bucks a totally fair price to pay. After buying our tickets and getting inside, we discovered it was actually the 9th inning. Within 2-3 minutes the game was over... apparently the game started an hour earlier than we'd thought.

Thankfully, as we were feeling Royally ripped off (corny, I know) and leaving the stadium we caught wind of a 2nd game, and although minor-league, it was a pick your own seat format so we made our way behind home plate, grabbed some brews, and enjoyed the beautiful day.

After a great homemade pasta dinner, I hit the road for a couple final pre-race miles while the rest of the crew pre-drove the course. I called it a night around 10:00.

Sunday - Race Day
Race morning arrived quickly and my crew and I headed over to the race start at Boulevard Brewery around 5:30 to meet up with Natalee and company.

In possibly the most unorthodox preparation of all time for a runners first ultramarathon, she came into the race prepared with a stubborn disposition, and a longest training run of 8.3 miles under her belt. Fast forward to later that afternoon, and she had succesfully completed 44 long, hot, windy miles through Satan's blast furnace! I'm proud to officially welcome her to the club! With that kind of determination (and maybe some stupidity), it's only a matter of time before she's lined up for a 100 miler... and likely with a longest training run of less than 20 miles.

Anyway, back to the race. The first 5-6 miles are through an industrial district in downtown KC with a very 'rapish' feel to them. Due to the number of turns with underpasses to run under, over, and along, as well as the early morning darkness, Andy offered to pace me through these miles. He and I took the lead right out of the gate and followed a motorcycle escort for the first mile or so.

(Taking the early lead)

It was downright scary how easy a sub-7 minute pace was feeling, and I made it a point to remind myself that 44 miles is a long way and that I wasn't going to feel so hot all day. Regardless, the pace kept picking up through these miles, until I was sustaining miles in the 6:35 range. Through this first stretch, the only thing that had me a little concerned was the fact that it was already in the mid-60's, and the sun wasn't even up yet. It was gonna be a hot one!

For close to 30 miles the race is on paved roads and rural highways, which doesn't afford a lot of room to elaborate on the scenery. Instead, I'll talk about the thoughts and observations that were bouncing around in my head.

1. Excitement. It felt incredible leading the race and gave me a huge surge of adrenalin for the first few hours.



(Nobody as far as the eye can see)



(About a 3 mile lead at this point)

2. I have a newfound hatred for wind. I don't even want to get started on it... so much pent-up anger.
3. Rednecks in trucks trying to veer onto the shoulder to take out runners are plentiful in KS.
4. Fast splits. After about 20 miles, I realized I was going to be close to my marathon PR, despite a relatively moderate exhertion level. I ended up running just under 2:57 at 26.2, despite constant headwinds or hills from miles 20-26. My 50k time was approximately 3:33.
5. This is possibly the worst song to have stuck in your head for hours:

Around the 50k mark there was a river crossing where we got to take a quick breather and a boat ride.

(We're on a boat. Lonely Island would be proud)

Then it was more of the same, except on crushed rock this time, which is like a Vitamix blender for the bottoms of your feet.

(Miles and miles of this crushed rock...)

This is also where the heat started to take a serious toll on me both physically and mentally. Combined with a badly cramping left leg, and sustained 40 mph headwinds, my wheels began to fall off. The course was all on rock or gravel from here to the finish, and also began to get hilly. Walking became the only option on some of the uphills, and around mile 35, my body revolted.

(The calm before the storm)

(Pretty self explanatory)

Until this point I was still hovering around Andy's course record pace (5:11), but it was now time to kiss that goodbye. After a few minutes getting my bearings and trying to get some determination back, Andy and I were soon running again. I had to sit down as we arrived at the last aid station (mile 39-ish) and dump water on my head while trying to figure out why I was feeling so disoriented. I couldn't tell if it was dehydration, or hyponatremia, I just knew my body was hating me.

Hitting the last levy stretch of the run, it was virtually impossible to even WALK at a decent pace due to the constantly increasing wind speeds. About 3 miles from the finish, I started running again.

(The home stretch. 1.5 to go)

With a mile to go Andy directed my attention to a bridge in the distance that signified the end of my suffering for the day. Apparently I was overdue for one more cruel and sadistic joke, and we discovered that the finish line location had been moved about a half mile away from where the race ended in '09, the year Andy won. I had nothing left in the tank mentally or physically, and had to walk for about a minute before finally running it in.

Final time: 5:35.31. 1st overall.
Splits:
20 miles - 2:13
26.2 miles - 2:57
50k - 3:33 (New PR)

Had I been extremely motivated, I could have run 6 more miles JUST for the sake of claiming a huge 50 mile PR, but I'd had my share of being miserable for one day.

http://kctrack.org/uncategorized/44-miles-in-80-degree-heat-piece-of-cake/

Even when taking the Brew to Brew handicap structure into account, this time was good enough for the overall win and Kansas state ultrarunning championship title! Who knew there was such a thing?

(Kansas state champ... from Colorado)

To round out the whole experience, I was invited up to speak on behalf of the CF Foundation at the post race dinner. It was so surreal to have actually won a race to benefit CF, while having the disease myself. This excitement - and the few beers I'd had before going up there -  made it very easy to speak in front of a packed house.

After saying bye to Andy and Lizzie and getting a cat-nap in, the evening was spent with Natalee and Kristen, as well as fellow Colorado racers Dave, Geoff, and Andy. BBQ, beer, and video putt-putt golf kept us entertained, but we were all pretty gassed so we opted to save our big night on the town for Monday.

Monday

Monday was a pretty chill recovery day with the Indianapolis crew that consisted of frequent eating, limping around the Plaza shopping district and spending money, lots of whining from Natalee, meeting and interviewing with the local Mizuno rep, and fellow ultrarunner, Sophia Wharton (who provided me with the awesome shoe choices for the race), a short run, relaxing, more whining, watching the NCAA Basketball championship downtown, and then a little bar hopping. We were even able to teach the art of 'shaky-face' photography to some new people!



(Trained professionals, kids)



(Running long distances affects all differently)



(The seemingly gracious loser of the darts championship....)



(... stabbing me in the neck shortly thereafter)



So just in case you suspected I had a decent maturity level, I hope the above photos and story prove otherwise.

Tuesday

The drive home always seems longer than the initial trip. Amidst fighting off sleepiness, boredom, and extremely stiff legs from driving all day, I had the excitement of getting pulled over by yet another Kansas State Trooper. This time I was speeding, and swerving while playing on my phone. Surely I was overdue for my first Kansas ticket... nope. A written warning and I was on my way. Not trying to press my luck, I finally gave in and did the speed limit the rest of the way home.

1200+ total miles of driving was seriously improved with the addition of great new tunes. I stocked up last week and had 7 new albums to keep me company. Despite 3-4 which got major play-time, I think The Strokes newest takes top honors for being album of the trip. Here's the track that got me through:

Many thanks to my friends both old and new for being there last weekend! It was definitely the people that made this trip so awesome!

Ending the 2010 Season on a High Note

(12/10/10 - Photos to follow this weekend)
I say that not because of how I placed, or how fast I covered the terrain at the 2010 North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championship, San Francisco, CA, Presented by Gore-Tex... (yeah, that's really the half-paragraph long name of the event), but rather because I had tons of fun and a mini-vacation at the same time.

This race was my last scheduled ultra-distance event of 2010 and it couldn't get here quick enough. I'm not gonna lie, I've been mentally checked out of running and training for the last 6 weeks mostly due to the cumulative physical and psychological fatigue of racing 11 ultra-distance events since February. I've been remarkably healthy through all of it - both my lungs and my legs - but that doesn't mean I wasn't run down.

I arrived in San Francisco pretty late on Thursday night after an uneventful trip that required no body scans, pat downs, or cavity searches, so I was a happy camper. By the time I was on the road in my very own rental car for the first time (I felt like I was playing grown-up), it was late enough that I decided to wait until Friday to meet up with my friends and fellow racers, Natalee and Brandon. Thankfully however, it was not too late to experience a $10 sushi feast at a hole in the wall restaurant near my hotel on Lombard St.!

Friday started early since I had to move my vehicle before it risked a 9:00am tow. I relocated my sweet Ford Escape (sarcasm intended) to a spot a few blocks away in a residential neighborhood that resulted in a $55 dollar parking ticket instead. Apparently, you can park there any time imaginable, except between 9 and 11am on the 1st Friday of each month. How convenient... it was there between 8 and 10am on the first Friday of December! That's my kind of luck, but in no way put a damper on the weekend. I figured as long as I found enough free parking over the next 4 days, I'd make up for the $55 dollar hit.

All this occurred while I roamed the streets of downtown SF soaking up the sights, sounds, smells, and buzz of the city (it's amazing how tall I felt after wandering through Chinatown). I eventually made it to the heart of the shopping district and picked up my race packet at the North Face store. After returning from my hilly 2-hour jaunt, I was finally hungry and ready to head down to San Jose to meet Natalee and Brandon for lunch.

After fueling our tanks, talking some trash, and making some friendly wagers on the outcome of the race, Brandon returned to work (business trip for him) and Natalee and I ran pre-race errands and hit the city for the remainder of the afternoon. We all reconvened for dinner in SJ and then went our separate ways to prepare for the looming 2:30am wake up calls which were necessary in order to catch the 3:45am shuttle. By 11:00pm I was finally all prepared for the pain and suffering that was in my near future and caught a quick 3+ hours of sleep.

One downside to running ultra's is how early they normally start. I say this since I'm definitely not a morning person, and feel that there is something inherently wrong with getting up and hitting the road while most individuals are just leaving the bars to head home.

Anyway, I met the rest of the gang shortly thereafter and Brandon and I piled into the bus for a short trip across the bay to the Marin Headlands and the race start. For the first time I can remember, I actually had a normal bowel movement before the race started as opposed to the 3+ I normally endure throughout the course of a 50 mile race. Off to a good start!

At 5:00 we were off into the darkness and it was amazing how fresh I felt and how much fun it was to be running again. I say this because I had done virtually no training over the last 6 weeks since the Deadman Peaks 50 in late October... a slightly longer taper than conventional wisdom recommends, but again, I was primarily doing this race for the experience and to get out of Colorado for a few days. In hindsight, I probably should have run more than a 17 mile long run in preparation for it, but considering I'm alive and well as I write this, I can't complain too much. Ultimately, the main difference I felt was the level of pain I had to endure to get through it. Normally the real meat-and-potatoes fatigue sets in around the 50k mark for me, but this time I was hurting, cramping, and hating life in general around mile 17. It was going to be a classic suffer-fest from there on, so my freshness and excitement were definitely short lived.

By the 9 mile mark we had already covered 2 substantial climbs (you are constantly climbing or descending at this race, with no flat running to speak of) and I was still within sight of the leaders. This falsely had me thinking I was a genius for taking a 6 week hiatus/taper, as I normally can't see the leaders after the first 15 minutes!

I was again shocked at the mile 13+ aid station to discover I was still less than 5 minutes behind the leaders. I still felt pretty awesome at this point but the fact I'd just covered a mountainous half marathon in 1:41 made me nervous. That's freakishly fast for a trail race with lots of climbing and descending and in hindsight was probably a big contributing factor to the bad hamstring cramps that hit me about 4 miles later.

This cramping hit in the middle of the day's longest and highest climb to the top of the beautiful Mt. Tamalpais.

Rain and cold winds were arriving at this point as well, so I was looking forward to grabbing my rain shell and dry socks at the Boot Jack aid station around mile 19. If there is one thing you can count on at 50 and 100 mile events though, it's that you can't count on anything, and this was the case when I discovered my drop bag was MIA. Having endured enough of these sufferfests' by now, I finally realize that getting pissed off and throwing a hissy-fit accomplishes nothing and saps valuable energy and mental strength, so I grabbed some fuel and hit the trail again, rather than having a pity-party with only one guest.

The remaining climb to the turnaround on Mt. Tam was gradual to say the least, but my legs were already toasted, so a lot of walking ensued. This created a new problem in that I needed to run to stay warm in the rain/wind, but really couldn't. With chattering teeth I reached the turnaround and began running again for the long descent through the enchanted forest down to Stinson Beach. On top of warming up from the increased exertion level, I was able to dry out under the thick canopy of Redwood's, but this mental boost was shortlived as I took a tumble and went rolling off the trail. A quick self-diagnostic confirmed that I only had surface wounds, and would unfortunately have to continue. (As twisted as it sounds, I was kind of hoping for a more serious injury that would get me out of running 22 more miles, but again, I just don't have that kind of good fortune very often!)

The remainder of the race was pretty uneventful and included more of the same: Climb, descend, walk, run, drink, GU, salt, aid station, etc. I will say the course was one of the most beautiful I've ever run (with the exception of the Hardrock Hundred), and the ocean views seemed to always sneak up on me right as I needed a pick-me-up. While racing I ran into both Natalee and Brandon at various points and this was another huge boost when I was getting low.

The last real challenge of the day was the slippery mud and complete lack of traction on the hills that resulted from the constant rain. If anything it added to the experience and makes the story and memory that much fonder at this point!

In the end, I finished in 8:48.37 good for 34th place in what was by far the toughest field I've ever gone up against. I have no complaints or regrets about this... if anything, it was awesome enough to make me want to return in 2011 and actually prepare for it next time!

Natalee went on to finish her first marathon that day in 5:42 which is stellar considering the difficult terrain and the fact that she'd never run over 10 miles in training for it!

Brandon finished the 50 miler in 11:36 which was good for a new personal record, and the privilege of buying my ticket to the metal concert we all went to the next night!

After sitting around in the cold and rain until 7:30pm waiting for drop bags to be returned (mine was finally found), we were bussed back to the city. The most adventuresome event of the evening was drinking medicinal alcohol and playing Angry Birds on the iPad.

Sunday was tourist day but Brandon and I looked like locals in the gay community based on how we were both walking!

We hit all the popular spots, including Coit Tower, Lombard St, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghiradelli Square, and finally the DNA Lounge where we had our eardrums destroyed by a bunch of angry foreigners.

I still haven't decided on a firm race schedule for 2011, but the Western States lottery on Saturday wasn't kind to me and this won't be my big event. I'm already registered for the Boston Marathon and the Leadville 100 again, so now I just need to fill in the gaps in between as I kick back and relax for a few weeks. It's time for me to pursue a month's worth of offseason hobbies which now include ice hockey and learning to play guitar!

In honor of an awesome weekend in the Bay area, here's a tune from Geographer, who conveniently are from San Fran and happen to be my current favorite artist... enjoy!

2010 Deadman Peaks Adventure

There's something very appealing to me about taking solo road trips to races without much advance planning. I really thrive off the excitement of the unknown, the time alone with my thoughts, and the fact that I'm almost guaranteed to have a great story in the end. So like a moth to a flame, I gladly embark on these adventures and this past weekend's escapade in Cuba, New Mexico didn't disappoint...

Q: "Where is Cuba?"
A: Dead-smack in the middle of nowhere.

I hit the road late Friday morning to embark on the 6+ hour drive. En route I encountered snow going over La Veta pass in Colorado, sun and blue skies down the Taos, NM corridor, and finally, rain, sleet and cold temperatures in the high desert in, and around Cuba. Other highlights included the purchase of an authentic Mexican poncho in Taos, and my getting lost near Espanola and nearly running out of gas as I approached my destination.

Q: "What is the town like?"
A: A much crappier version of Fruita, CO or Moab, UT.

I arrived in town around 4:30 pm and decided I'd be better off snagging a motel room rather than sleeping in the front seat of my car. This was primarily because of the cold temps, not so much for comfort reasons. Choosing was a breeze as there were only two motels in town and I picked the first one I saw out of convenience. The Frontier Motel had a vacancy... I wonder why?

In addition to the selling points I mention in the video, the room smelled like urine. I didn't dare walk around without socks since the floor was damp for some reason (urine?), and neither did I pull back the covers on the bed. Instead I slept on top in my sleeping bag. This place was so nice, that while laying in bed watching TV, the shroud on the fan fell off bounced off the bed and rolled halfway across the room. It wasn't even on when this happened. No joke:

Q: "Why would you go there?"
A: Good question. For me, to run 50+ miles on the CDT at the 2010 Deadman Peaks Trail Run.

It was chilly in the pre-dawn hours as it had been drizzling all night, thus I was staying warm in my car taking care of my last minute gear checks when I noticed people running. Lots of them. Apparently my watch was off and I missed the race start. What a good way to get things rolling!

Within 1-2 minutes I was in hot pursuit of the headlamps ahead of me, and within a couple miles I was running with the leaders. Since it was overcast the nearly full-moon didn't help illuminate the way so the early pace was slow due to the constant cairn searching with our headlamp beams. Since the entire race was on the Continental Divide Trail the course was marked with fequent rock cairns, painted wooden posts and the RD had placed the occasional orange flag in critical areas.

Until mile 7-ish, I alternated turns leading the group of 4 that had gotten out ahead of the main pack. At this point I regrettably took my obligatory pit stop in the bushes. I say regrettably, not because of the 2 minutes or so the bathroom break cost me, but rather because of the 10 minutes I lost by getting off course as soon as I resumed running.
Since we had been running on the high mesa for a couple of miles on a defined double-track trail, I didn't anticipate the course taking us right of the edge of the cliff, so when the flags pointed that way I chose to keep going straight on the trail. It wasn't until I hadn't seen a trail marker or another runner for 5+ minutes that I decided to backtrack, finally discovering the trail DID go right off the edge of the mesa shelf and down a steep technical descent for several hundred feet.

I was infuriated when I realized I had lost quite a bit of time and a few positions, but I had nobody to blame but myself. After calming down and getting back into stride, I was supremely motivated to play hunter and catch back up to the leaders.

Around mile 17 I finally started catching glimpses of the runner who was currently in 2nd place, named Leif. After about a mile of playing pursuer on the tecnical terrain, I made my pass into what would end up being my final finishing position.

The course took us in, out, and through sandy canyons, slickrock shelves, high-mesa's and chapparal filled clearings on technical terrain. During a steep descent around mile 12, I had my only flirt with disaster when I stubbed my toe on a rock while in full stride. Only wearing 7oz shoes has its advantages, but toe protection is not one of them. Because of the sheer force with which I struck my foot and searing pain that followed, I was led me to believe I might have broken a toe... after the socks and shoes came off, my theory was confirmed.

Anyway, I'm not complaining, as this is all part of the sport. I kept moving as hard and fast as I could without depleting all my reserves, fully expecting to see the race leader Tim Long around the next bend. By the time I reached the mile 21 (more like 23) aid station I discovered I was about 4 minutes behind Tim. This was reassuring as I now knew I had been gaining on him.

Just before arriving at the mile 27 turn-around, I finally crossed paths with Tim for what would be the last time until the finish. His lead was still only 4 minutes so I was now ready to go for the kill and reel him in... or so I thought. I gave the next miles my hardest effort, but in doing so I realized that my legs where quickly turning to lead from the early push to catch up. I began walking the steep ascents at this point. By the time I reached the next aid station, I found out Tim had put 5 minutes on me in as many miles. Still, with only a 9 minute lead and 23 miles to go, I didn't completely rule out the possibily of catching him.

Eventually, around mile 35, my right hamstring began to cramp badly and this remained the standard for the rest of the race. Because of this, I had to begin walking the steeper climbs and just running the flats and downhills. I let my thoughts of winning go away at this point and then focused on CFM, or continuous forward motion. I was determined to hold on to second place if nothing else.

I eventually did reach the finish in 2nd place in 9:26.xx. (54 miles).

It had been overcast, cold, and at times drizzling throughout the day, but within 10 minutes of finishing the floodgates of heaven opened up, and I decided to hit the road rather than risk being murdered at the Frontier Motel for a second consecutive night.

To top it all off, I was pulled over in Walsenburg for having a headlight out, but the officer clearly could tell I was already beat down enough for one day and let me go with a warning. Talk about a long day. In the end, I'd been up since 4:00am, run for 9+ hours, and had driven for 6 more.

So another one is officially in the books and now it's time to get serious about training for San Fran in December!

Brooks

2010 Leadville 100

(8/30/10: All photos have been uploaded... still working on the video.)

19:57.52

Believe it or not, that's not a typo...
With even my most aggressive 2010 race predictions being in the 20:45 to 21:30 time range I'll be the first to admit how shocked I was to break 20 hours!! It honestly hasn't sunk in yet, and will likely be a while before it fully does!

With this past weekend being so eventful, there are obviously lots of pictures, video, and stories that I want to share with everyone, so with no further ado, here's my 2010 Leadville Trail 100:

Pre-Race: Thursday through Saturday Morning:
I got into town on Thursday afternoon and saw a deal I just couldn't pass up, so a little pre-race carbo loading with some new friends, Brandon and Natalee Fuller, was in order!

(How could we say 'no' to an offer this good?)

The rest of Thursday and Friday was relatively uneventful. There was the obligatory pre-race medical check-in and now renowned Ken Chlouber pep-rally, as well as some last minute aid station logistics with my crew. Before we knew it, it was time to attempt to snag a couple hours of restless sleep before the 2 a.m. alarms went off on Saturday.

After getting some fuel in the tank and heading to the race start to check-in, my crew and I joined the throngs of other runners, media, and crews at the coffee house. Here we saw some of the individuals producing the upcoming 'Born to Run' movie, including a bearded Jake Gyllenhaal doing his best to blend in with the crowd. After signing an autograph for him, it was off to the race start.

(Happy runners and crew. This will change soon enough...)

(Side note: I didn't find out about this until 60 miles in, but the first adventure of the day began when the starter decided to fail on my crew's vehicle despite working perfectly until we parked that morning. The kindness and assistance they were shown by members of other crews they'd never met is testament to the general good nature of the ultra community. Two separate teams helped out: One got my friend Katie to the first TWO aid stations and the other drove my other great friend Grant back to our campsite outside of town in order to pick up a backup vehicle... I'm not going to point any fingers, but I can think of a few other sports where you just wouldn't find that kind of commeraderie.)

The Race:
Start to Fish Hatchery

This year, due to the sheer number of runners entered, I decided to be on the very front line for the start. Still not thinking of myself as a fast runner, or a lead pack runner, I was a little nervous and felt slightly out of place when I was still near the front after the first few miles. At about mile 4 I was still running in the presence of greatness... Hal Koerner to my left, Tony Krupicka to my right, but since my bowels had already begun revolting, this forced a pit stop in the bushes that allowed me to fall back in the pack about 15-20 positions which felt like a much more realistic spot for me that early in the race.

For the 8 miles of trail running around Turquoise, I just found a perfect balance for my pace: A fast enough clip so as to not lose any positions and get lost in the sea of headlamps behind me, but easy enough so as to not feel any strain on the leg muscles or go into anaerobic mode. I was also especially careful with my footing this year on the roots/rocks so as to prolong the inevitable foot damage as long as possible. So far, so good. The only concern I had as I hit the pavement with a group of about 4 other runners was how unintentionally fast our pace had been thus far. My friend and eventual 6th place finisher, Harry Harcrow, was with me at this point and he made the comment that we'd gotten there WAY to fast. Since my body was 100% at this point, my rebuttal was simply, 'Burn it while ya got it!'...

2010 Mayqueen Aid Station (13 Miles): 1:48
2009 Mayqueen Aid Station: 1:56 (without a pit stop along the way)

As I mentioned in my pre-race post, one of my main goals this year was to have more efficient aid station transitions, and gain some free time in doing so. This first aid station of the day went much smoother than any in 2009, so I was supremely optimistic heading into the first climb of the day.

As we began the climb up Sugarloaf Pass via the Colorado Trail, I remembered how badly mangled my feet were by the time I reached the Fish Hatchery Aid Station (24 miles) in 2009. After running a quick self-diagnostic of my current condition, I realized that I was still feeling great. It was extremely hard to not run the steeper sections during this part of the race, especially when I began being passed by what seemed like half the field, but my gameplan was still to be smart, save the legs as much as possible, avoid blisters, and hopefully have a little bit left in the tank after mile 60. In all, I probably ran about half of the uphill stretch to the summit of Sugarloaf.

My approach to the free downhill miles was also different this year: Rather than bombing down the Powerlines, I controlled my energy and focused more on running as softly as possible to avoid pounding my quads too early, and paid special attention to my footing so as to avoid the off-camber foot strikes that tear my feet up on the rocks. By doing this, I lost maybe 5 more positions, but more importantly, I felt really, really, really good at Fish Hatchery and didn't need to stop for anything but some fluids, an Ensure, a handful of fresh GU's, and to lose the shirt (compared to last year where the first major blister repairs were performed at this point)! The only real 'disaster' up to this point was that I'd tried to turn my iPod on about 20 miles in, only to realize it was dead. Again, my day was not going bad by any means...

(Photos courtesy of Natalee Fuller)

2010 Fish Hatchery Aid Station (Mile 24): 3:38
2009 Fish Hatchery Aid Station: 3:55

Beginning with the 4 mentally gruelling road miles leading to the Treeline crew access point (mile 28, where Grant also donated his iPod for me to use) is where I began to put a serious gap on my 2009 time, and also began to reel in a lot of the runners who'd passed me on Sugarloaf barely an hour earlier. Rather than walking a majority of the flat or rolling terrain to the Halfmoon II aid station, I was able to run every step this year. (Likewise on the return trip later in the afternoon, but more on that later.)

There was actually a point during the section just before Halfmoon II (mile 32) where I began laughing and grinning from ear to ear over the simple fact that it was a beautiful day, I was listening to awful music (sorry Grant), and felt great despite having already run a 50k... that's a moment I'll fondly replay in my head every time I think about this year's race!

Shortly after Halfmoon II, runners hit the Colorado Trail for the remaining 8 miles before Twin Lakes. Here it becomes increasingly hillier and the climbs become longer, little by little. Before I mention what was so incredible about this stretch for me, I want to offer my theory as to why:

Even though it took some serious force-feeding, all day I had been taking a gel along with some Thermotabs every 20-25 minutes, and I was drinking consistently (about 20oz per hour). In addition to this, I forced an extra gel or two down my food chute at every official aid station, and sometimes even some chips, Coke, or Ensure, if available. I mention this because it clearly led to me having no shortage of glycogen in my legs... I actually had one of the fastest times of the entire field for this stretch.

To put in perspective how well I was able to run these moderate sections of trail: The overall winner Duncan Callahan was only 2 minutes faster on this 8 mile stretch outbound from mile 32-40. Inbound (miles 68-76), on the section from Halfmoon II back to Fish Hatchery, I was actually faster than Duncan by 8 minutes, or a full minute per mile! If you feel like deciphering all the splits, the Excel results can be found on the Leadville 100 website.

Okay, on with the suffer-fest. After an extremely strong, confidence boosting stretch on the Colorado Trail from miles 34-38, I began to have shooting pain in both hamstrings... cramps! All the uphill running was slowly beginning to have a toll, so I decided I'd try to let my legs go completely loose on the downhills in hopes of the cramps working themselves out. I felt like I was feeling the twinges of pain early enough that I could still do something about them, and decided to double my salt intake for the next hour or so, just to see if I could avoid complete leg failure later on!

I arrived at Twin Lakes still feeling halfway decent, and only needed to stop long enough to add 1-2 pieces of Kinesio tape to some toes I'd pre-taped the night before. Still no blisters at this point, just a couple of hot spots.

2010 Twin Lakes Aid Station (Mile 40): 6:13 - 25th Overall
2009 Twin Lakes Aid Station: 7:04

Leaving Twin Lakes I again resumed running, which was foreign to me since I walked this portion last year (having just taken a digger a mile before the aid station). I passed my friend Amelia who was getting some additional footage for her upcoming documentary, 'Why Run?' and as always, seeing a familiar face after suffering for hours totally boosted the morale; even if only for a few minutes.

(TMI side note: Being known for my digestive/bowel issues during ultra's (thanks Cystic Fibrosis), I had a bet with my crew members and friends as to how many times I would have to poo during the race. The predictions ranged from 3 to 8. My guess was clearly the 3, since I'm the one who would have to endure said bowel movements, and I didn't relish the thought of 8... I'm just sayin'! Right before Hope Pass outbound, I took what would officially be my last poo break of the day, bringing the total quantity to 3!! Sooo glad 8 wasn't correct...)

I arrived at the base of Hope along with 2 other runners and immediately assumed I would leave them in my dust. Wrong. One of them turned out to be Jeff Beuche, the eventual 5th place finisher, and for good reason. While the 2nd runner and I stayed together for most of the ascent, Jeff began alternating running and walking and quickly had disappeared. Even when we rose above timberline and could see runners 10-15 minutes ahead of us, Jeff was nowhere to be found. Hats off.

By the Hopeless aid station, and an alpine meadow full of llamas (one of which I thought was a buffalo at first site), I'd finally caught the next pack of runners who had gone out strong early on. After a quick top-off of both bottles I resumed my power hike to the summit and reeled in 2 or 3 of them.

The descending felt awesome after climbing for the past 1:45, so I took advantage of the feeling and ended up bombing the stretch to Winfield in less than 45 minutes. I was about halfway down before I crossed paths with Tony and his pacer, Dakota Jones. This was a confidence booster for two reasons:
1) It's always inspiring to see Tony killing it out there, and I have an unbelievable amount of respect and awe for his abilities.
2) I was stoked to see his lead was at least 4-5 miles shorter than it had been a year before. I remember being somewhat devastated last year when I wasn't even at the Hopeless aid station when he crossed my path bombing back down to Twin Lakes.

I'd just hit the gravel road to Winfield before I crossed paths with Duncan and then proceeded to run all the way in, passing about 4 more runners on the way. At the aid station I stepped on the scale to find my weight within 0.4 lbs of where I'd started (a whopping 140lbs) so the medical staff let me go and I ran to meet my crew for the second foot tending session of the day which was again just the addition of a couple layers of Kinesio tape around some toes. This was probably a 5 minute stop.

2010 Winfield (Halfway!): 8:55 (12:55pm)
2009 Winfield: 10:02

I'd arrived at Winfield in 19th place but appeared to have fallen back to about 22nd or 23rd because of my time in the chair. I'd began yelling for a pacer at the aid station, but surprisingly, despite there being like 5,000,000 people there, not one soul volunteered. So as I ran the 2-3 miles to the trailhead back up Hope I mentally prepared myself to take it on solo.

The climb was slow but uneventful. Being able to see where you're at in relation to other runners is probably the only bright side to an out-and-back course such as Leadville. Anyway, near the top I was pleasantly surprised to run into and then pass a beaten and battered Hal Koerner. Whether or not he'd just run the Canadian Death Race a few weeks prior, I was still psyched to be running with such an elite guy this late in the race. (Hal unfortunately ended up DNF'ing later in the evening at Fish Hatchery).

Three or four switchbacks later, the hardest part of the race was in the books and I would soon be out of the super-heat that had decided to rear its ugly head during this section of climbing.

I was going downhill very conservatively at this point because my feet had finally reached their breaking point. There were numerous hot spots now and it would only take one slip across a sharp rock to rip some toes and initiate a bloody, puss-filled mess in my shoes. About halfway down I ran into my friend Jill who had hiked up in hopes of crossing paths with me. She began running with me and provided a much needed diversion from the pain which was mounting. I'm pretty sure she just heard me whine the entire time since I had 10 1/2 hours worth of complaining to vocalize, and finally had an audience! During this stretch a couple of toes decided to finally tear open, as well. We'd passed a couple runners just before and after the river crossings at the bottom of Hope, but these positions were soon to be lost after our arrival in Twin Lakes #2, once I sat down and assessed the full extent of the foot damage.

-VIDEO OF MILE 60 AID STATION CARNAGE COMING SOON-

(Narration courtesy of Jill Suarez)

2010 Twin Lakes #2: 11:52 (3:52pm) -14th Overall (Yeah, this was news to me, too!)
2009 Twin Lakes #2: 13:32

I'm not going to say I'm happy about a 10 minute pit-stop, but looking back, it was this extra time and foot first-aid that ended up getting me to the finish with no further stops. This alone makes the 10 minutes well worth it.

The feeling of finally having a pacer was incredible. I liked feeling hardcore and all, because of finishing almost 60 solo, BUT hardcore hurts, and I was ready for the suffering to end (or at least be kept to a minimum). Katie and I power-hiked the grueling first climb out of Twin Lakes (doubly so, because of the steepness AND the tender, freshly glued/taped feet) but then proceeded to go to my original plan of running the flats and downhills, and just hiking all terrain with any uphill tendencies!

This worked well enough to pass one runner in the 8 mile stretch back to Halfmoon II. I covered this section slower than any of the guys in the top-10, but was probably 20+ minutes faster than last year, so I really couldn't complain.
How, I don't know, but after leaving this station I proceeded to start running with such renewed energy that I dropped my pacer almost immediately. For the 8 mile stretch back to Fish Hatchery not only did I not walk a single step, but I posted the 3rd fastest split of all runners. To put it into perspective: My split for miles 68-76 was almost identical to my morning split from miles 24-32... don't ask me how.

2010 Fish Hatchery #2: 14:56 (6:56pm) - 9th Overall
2009 Fish Hatchery #2:

After another quick aid station transition (< 3 minutes), I picked up my next pacer, James. James was slated to be my first pacer at Hardrock in July, so it felt good to not disappoint him again this time and actually let him put up with my late-race shenanigans. We were able to resume running immediately out of Fish and made it to the infamous Powerlines before going back to hiking. This stretch to the summit of Sugarloaf was covered within 7 minutes (1:06) of my night-training time 3 weeks prior, which was/is a solid time, but fails to properly acknowledge how badly and quickly the wheels were coming off... about halfway up, I performed a serious 'cat-disco' stomach pump. After puking up everything except for my internal organs, I felt slightly better, but had lost my desire to eat/drink regularly which had been my key to a great race up until this point. So by the time would reach the Colorado Trail again, my 2010 Leadville 100 would quickly become the 2010 Leadville Nighttime Suffer-fest 25k!

2010 Mayqueen #2: 17:13 (9:13pm)- 10th Overall
2009 Mayqueen #2: 20:00

I spent less than a minute at Mayqueen since survival-mode had already set in and I wanted nothing more than to be done at this point. I walked through, fought the urge to puke again, and continued without James knowing he would catch me with ease. When the concept of a sub-20 hour finish first became a long-shot possibility on top of Sugarloaf, we'd decided that he would stay with me until the finish, or until my sub-20 chances were gone, whichever came first. After about 4 miles of running around Turquoise Lake, the latter became my reality...

I began to have intense shooting pain in my right arch that could only mean one thing: Stress fracture(s) and no more running. We made it to the Tabor Boat Ramp (mile 94) and I made the call to drop James off and pick up Grant. My logic was, if I can't run, I might as well have fun and I new Grant was the guy who could make me laugh and stop thinking about nothing but pain.

After about a mile of wandering in the dark we started to pass campsites with cheering spectators. The BIGGEST surprise of this race, or any race, for that matter, came when we followed loud cheers straight into a makeshift aid station, of sorts... at least 6 women were jumping up and down topless and high fiving us as we went through!!! If Grant hadn't been with me to verify these bare breasts were real, I would have sworn I was delirious and hallucinating!

Anyway, after this nice diversion (and our next 20 minute conversation piece), we continued hiking. Soon we were back on the gravel road leading towards downtown Leadville! While running was impossible, we were walking at a 4+ mph pace which was still respectable. Despite this pace, we turned around to see headlamps rapidly gaining on us and as much as I wanted to fight them off, I could not. Grant and I just shut our lamps off in hopes of deceiving our pursuers, and walked under the bright moonlight until they finally blew past around mile 97.

At this point I just wanted to hang on and finish without being passed anymore. I'd become comfortable with the idea of a 20:15 time and lost all motivation to even power-hike. By the time we caught our first glimpse of the lights in town (approx. 1 1/2 miles from the finish) I looked at my watch to see that it was still almost quarter 'til midnight, which meant a sub-10 minute pace would still let me break 20! UNFORTUNATELY, sub-10's are much easier said than done after 98+ miles. After a 100 yard attempt to run up the hill we were on, I again decided it was impossible to run. We resumed walking and it wasn't until we were on the pavement with just under 1 mile to go that I again looked down at my watch and saw the time: 11:52pm. I no longer cared how much it hurt. I was either going to finish in under 20 hours or DIE trying (literally). I handed both water bottles to Grant to lighten my load and began running the final climb of the night.

My heartrate readlined almost immediately and I truly know of nothing to compare the pain to, but I ran with every fiber of energy I had thinking it still might be too little, too late. Cresting the hill I could see the downtown stoplight in the distance. When the pain reached a new high, I just pushed harder. Not knowing if my watch was even accurate, the thought came into my head that maybe 20 hours had already passed and this was all for naught! Regardless, I pushed until the point of near collapse, crossed the finish to the cheers of my crew, and fell to the concrete...

...somehow, I'd just run a 6:50 mile.

2010 Leadville 100: 19:57.52
2009 Leadville 100: 23:21.27

My desire to have a drink before last call was completely gone as I sat in the medical tent trying to process what I'd just accomplished.
Now I'm sitting here a week later, still trying to absorb it... and cannot.

That night, back at our campsite, I was unable to sleep because of violent coughing and vomitting, combined with the adrenalin high I was still experiencing. Not having eaten enough food or salt over the last few miles of the race had pushed me to borderline hyponatremia, but I was able to ingest enough salt tabs while laying in the tent to fight off any serious reprocussions.

Never had I imagined such a strong finish. Despite still not being able to walk without limping, due to the foot injury I incurred during the race, I'm already strategizing and brainstorming as to how I can go sub-19 next year. I've known for a while a screw is loose in my head, and now you do too.

Why I think another major time improvement is feasible:

I've averaged just under 50 miles per week in training in 2010 thus far, which is easily less than half the mileage elite ultra-runners are logging. In 2011 I will make a concerted effort to average at least 75 miles a week as part of my base training, in hopes of shaving one more huge chunk of time at Leadville!

Here's to the 2010 racing season being in the books!

Brooks