Thanks

Just wanted to pen a quick note to say thank you to everyone who has asked about the race and who pledged money to support Coffee Kids. People have been so nice and I appreciate it, as the race was a hard pill to swallow.

Altogether, the pledges amounted to $714.41, and I know a lot of people who pledged have given more. I know Coffee Kids appreciates it, and though we'll never see it, the people they help are the most grateful- and it's the fruits of their labor that we enjoy every day at the DoubleShot.

I'll continue to update this blog with current Coffee Illuminati info (about coffees and whatnot) and will post upcoming events.

The next event will be a coffee/cigar night, in which there won't be as much "tasting" the coffee as there will be socializing, hanging out, enjoying a nice evening, and a little discussion about coffee. I'll let you know.

Wrap-up

Wow. My thoughts are duplicitous about the race. I'm still trying to sort out what happened. Sometimes it's hard to know.
The Leadville 100 is a very difficult race. Generally only around 45% of the starters finish. This year, 186 out of 561 entrants finished the race. That's only 33%.
I'm sure the weather had a lot to do with it. It honestly was miserable. I recorded some audio during the (short) race, and will put it together as a "jogcast" on the AA Cafe podcast, and I'm sure you'll hear it in my voice. There just wasn't anything fun about it. Lightning, snow, rain, sleet, muddy trails, cold wind...
But all that feels like an excuse to me. I know that slowed me down a bit from my usual pace. But I wasn't really able to eat much during the first part of the race. I couldn't seem to swallow food- no appetite. And eventually that was going to come back to bite me.
We discussed it afterward- what caused me to crash around mile 30? I've never crashed that early in a race. It's possible I got hyponatremia. I know I was well-hydrated, even though Brad kept telling me I wasn't drinking very much. But maybe I was over-hydrated and it washed too many of the electrolytes out of my system. That can cause brain swelling and other problems. Seems very possible that's what was going on. Because at one point I thought, maybe I have cerebral edema. Then I decided the fact that I considered that means I don't have it. But definitely I had some problem where anytime I would exert any effort I would instantly blow up. And that lasted at least 30 minutes. 30 minutes that I didn't have to spare.
It's common to go through tough times during a long race like that. Even the best runners go through it. Sometimes it takes an hour to come out of that tunnel. But unfortunately for me, this time I didn't have that time in the bank. By the time I recovered and felt good again, I was pushing the time cut-offs so tight that it was virtually impossible for me to stay in front of them.

I feel bad because I didn't get very far. And my legs aren't really sore.
But so be it.

For now, I'm saying that was my last 100. I enjoy running 50 mile ultras a lot more because I can finish in the daylight, drink a beer and go to sleep at night. For some people, running a 100 miles is in them. For me, it's a struggle. So, at least for now, I plan to get back in the gym, start running fast again (anything over 9 miles is for suckers!), and get on my mountain bike. I want to be strong and fast. Besides, isn't 50 miles far enough? (The obvious answer is no, but let's pretend it is for now.)

Thank you all for the support. A lot of people have given me physical help, encouragement, and motivation, and I truly appreciate all of you.

I also appreciate everyone who pledged money on the race for Coffee Kids. I'll contact each of you in the next couple days and let you know how you can donate your pledge money. Even though I wasn't pleased with my performance, some good still came of it.
Thanks for that. Stay tuned and I'll report how much money we raised for Coffee Kids.

The End

Well, it was a tough day. Storms blew in every time I climbed a pass. And I think aside from that, I just had an off day. Was running some behind because I couldn't climb as fast as usual and the weather was ridiculous. I'm sure I'll elaborate more later.
But around mile 30 I blew up. Had to sit down a couple times because I was light-headed and whatnot. I came out of it, but a half hour had passed and I was pushing cutoff times too closely. Climbed pretty strong off Half Moon road over the pass toward Twin Lakes. Started looking like I was going to miss the cutoff there-- and the recurring lightning, rain, hail, and sleet were not helping.
Then at the top of the pass, I ran into my friend Robin Saens. She had altitude sickness and had been vomiting all day. So I walked down into Twin Lakes with her, and we definitely missed the cutoff.
I felt really bad because of all the good work my crew has done. But I can't control the weather. And sometimes I have an off day.
Thanks a ton to Matt for updating the blog.
And especially to my team:
Jason Westenburg the crew chief
Jason Goodnight my first pacer that didn't get to run (but helped immensely)
Brad Messner my second pacer (see above note)
Brad's dad Jerry (moral support)
Marvin Lee (out running now because he was so excited to run the course)
I'm sorry to let you all down. Thanks for all your help.

Brian, signing off.

Fish Hatchery

Brian is through the next checkpoint, with a time of 2 hours, 52 minutes. He arrived at the Fish Hatchery at 9:31 AM. He said that he is about 20 minutes behind where he would like to be.

The weather has improved greatly, although there's still plenty of snow on the peaks, where the temperature is around 20 degrees. Brian is in a fantastic mood, smiling and responsive. He ate a whole meatloaf sandwich and some chips.

The next real checkpoint is Half Moon at 30.5 miles, but there's no crew access there. Jason and the others are waiting to meet him at a semi check point called Tree Line right now. The next real checkpoint after that is Twin Lakes, which is right before he'll start climbing Hope Pass for the first time.

That's all for now, keep cheering.

May Queen

Brian has successfully made it to the first, 13.5 mile checkpoint, named May Queen. His traveling time was 2 hours, 38 minutes and he arrived at 6:39 AM.

According to Jason, the weather is wretched. Freezing rain coming down and more ahead along the path. Brian was completely soaked coming into the checkpoint and they did a full change of clothes. Despite the weather, he was still in good spirits, although still trying to get into a rhythm. This is pretty normal for him, up until 15 miles or so.

He's heading to the first elevation spike of the race, Sugarloaf Pass, which is about 1,000 feet higher than the starting elevation. I'll check back in when they're at the next checkpoint, at 23.5 miles.

They're off!

Hi everybody,

Just talked to Jason and they have started the race. Jason said that Brian got a good night's sleep and was in good shape, but a little nervous.

Weather is currently about 38 degrees where they are, with spotty rain. There's rain and snow in the forecast, so keep your fingers crossed that it stays clear. Jason said the precipitation is very sporadic.

That's all I know for now, I'll update as soon as I get the next call.

-Matt

Weather

Forecast for Leadville on Saturday:
High 55
Low 31
Scattered Thunderstorms

4.5 Days to Leadville

It's getting close. I'm a little nervous. More nervous about my health going into the race than anything right now.
I played my little visualization game and put myself into the race for about an hour a couple days ago. It's all too easy to see myself in pain again. I hope I can overcome.

I'm currently in Crested Butte. I'm supposed to be resting and acclimating. Instead I climbed Mt. Gothic today (12,589 feet). It's a mountain that has always loomed over my campsite here and I've always wanted to climb it, so today I did. It was partly an accident-- "I'll just go up to that next ridge"... "I'll just see what it looks like on that saddle." Next thing I knew I was on the summit push. I didn't actually summit because I shouldn't have gone as far as I did (not enough water, no food, no rain gear, no fleece), but I hit a false summit, maybe 200 feet below the summit and across a knife ridge. I'm pretty tired and I can definitely feel the altitude, but I promise to rest the next couple days and hopefully this will help me acclimate faster and not hurt on Saturday.

Good news for all of you who couldn't come to Leadville for the race. Our good friend (and Coffee Illuminati member) Matt is going to update this blog throughout the race. My crew chief, Jason, will call Matt whenever I go through an aid station and Matt will blog what time I made it, my condition, and whatever other miscellaneous details arise. Thanks to Matt for doing this. Hopefully it will be a restless night for him.

Leadville 100 starts Saturday August 16 at 4am (that's 5am in Tulsa) and the finish line cutoff time is Sunday the 17th at 10am. There is a cutoff time for each aid station during the race, so the pressure is on the whole time.

So check in whenever you get a chance on Saturday and Sunday to see how I'm doing.

Acclimatization

I've decided to go to Colorado early.  I'm flying there on Sunday.  This will be the first time I will have gotten there more than one day before the 100, so I hope I acclimate some and hope it makes the whole thing just slightly less difficult (to breathe) than it would be otherwise.  Every little bit helps.

How am I feeling?  I've been battling pain that's working it's way up my back, into my neck and into my jaw.  But April over at Glo Salon across the street from the DoubleShot has been working on it, and I think it's getting better.  Other than that, I don't know.  I feel ok.  Someone asked me yesterday if I can finish the 100.  That's the question.  Can I finish?  If I knew that, there might be no reason to go do it.  I think I can, but it depends on a lot of different factors.  Our bodies really weren't made to do this sort of thing.  Some of the factors are physiological and I have very little control over them- how will I feel that day and how will my body respond to the effort?  A lot of the other factors are managing an ultimately losing battle; prolonging the inevitable.  How long can I hold off a complete system breakdown?  It's impossible to eat enough food during the race, and it's very difficult to digest food while running.  All I can hope for is to take in enough calories and protein that my body doesn't break down too much of its own fat and muscle fiber for energy- putting me in a state of ketosis and taking away parts of my engine.  Lots of other factors like hydration, electrolytes, NSAIDs, caffeine, and taking care of my feet and other parts of my body that will be rubbing together constantly...  Most of it is an educated guess.  And then there is my mind.  Keeping my mind in the race, confident, and going forward is another thing altogether, without which I can't go another step.  

I'm planning to record my thoughts periodically throughout the race and edit them down into a Leadville 100 "jogcast" on the AA Cafe podcast when I get back.  Finish or not, you'll hear the ups and downs, highs and lows, crazy thoughts, rational concerns, and general thoughts that occupy my mind throughout a 100 mile foot race in the Rocky Mountains.  

Can I do it?  There's only one way to find out.

Thanks again for all the pledges.  There's still time to pledge, if you haven't yet.  Tell your friends and their parents.

I appreciate all the support.

Leadville Course Profiles

Thought I'd post this illustration.  It's a little hard to make out, but I think you'll get the drift.  I stacked the course profiles on top of each other from the Silver Rush 50, which I just completed, and the Leadville 100, which is August 16.  The black line, which is considerably higher for most of the race, is the 50.  It goes up to 12,000 feet a few times.  The red line, which is lower except for the huge climb up Hope Pass (12,600 feet), is the first 50 miles of the LT100.  At the end of it, I turn around and re-trace my path.  

Hopefully this illustration tells me that the first half of the hundred will be considerably easier than the Silver Rush, and since the elevations are a lot lower, maybe I won't get altitude sickness.  

Also, I'm planning to go out a few days early to try and acclimatize.

Haven't seen any new pledges recently, so tell your friends.  I want to feel compelled to keep going, and raising more money for Coffee Kids is the thing that will do it.