co. pics 2015

difficult pre-race training in conifer, co.

 

pics from race

heizer trial four hour recovery hike

north fork 50k trip report

rolled out thurs. w/tapp, whisk, and dierk.  set up camp and picked up packets on friday at pine valley park, co.  race morning was warm but nice.


 this is a killer course for a flatlander, 4700 ft of climb in 32 miles.  starts with a 2 mile climb up buck trail, you get some nice buttery flow in the burn areas, but interspersed with some steady ups.  i felt super strong, running conservatively.  the day heated up and tried to balance the fluid/electrolyte thing, tough to do in heat w/ no humidity.  chatted with some folks and rolled, enjoyed the scenery.

 felt really great going into the aid station at 24 miles, probably on sub 8:00 pace or even better.   ran into dierk, his son and girlfriend at that aid station, BUT, right after that is a climb.  i got smacked hard about a 1/2 mile into that, maybe let the highs get too high from 20-24 on the sweet downhill.  sucked down what water i had and slugged out the four miles into the last aid station--wasn't pretty for me, at least the trail was beautiful.  heat was brutal by this time and the last section is downhill but exposed.  i chose not to push hard to speed recovery, coasted and ran when i could, mostly hiked, sub 9:00 was the goal at this point.  finally hit the bottom and rolled across in 8:57, maybe not a seemingly fast time, but was super pumped for first official mountain ultra finish, and considering the altitude, heat, and climbing, this was actually a good number for me.

tapp killed it at 7:07, dierk was just a beast on the day before his 61st bday at 8:46, alex and dani knocking out their first official ultra finish in the same time, and whisk giving a brave performance in the heat (he'll be back).  postrace was feet in the river, tapp kind enough to bring my fat butt a beer and a burger, chilling out, then dinner of a massive trout filet with friends that evening.  killer.  only thing better would have been family there to share.

rest of trip was awesome: relaxed in manitou with some ipas, four hour "recovery" hike up heizer trail in cascade, hung out and soaked up the mountain vibes.  already looking at next year--bring on quad rock, this race again (fitty??), silver rush--something in the mountains.  ah, yeah.