Adventures of a Leadville 100 Pacer

I have never been to Leadville.  I heard the stories from many of my friends.  The race has haunted one friend in particular, Rich Wessels (aka The Matrix for clarity if my references bounce back and forth).  He was going to make another go at the 100 mile run known as the Leadville Trail 100.  Basically, I think you have 30 hours to drag yourself over mountain terrain and there are cut offs that must be adhered to or you are pulled from the competition.  Matrix asked a few of us who run together to crew and pace him this year.  Me, John Winstead (aka PoJo) and Joe were going to handle the pacing duties.  We have a friend in Vail named Ladislov who would be running as well so we were helping him during the race too.

The Matrix is a very good trail runner.  He is fast and strong.  His previous attempts had nothing to do with the physical ability to finish the race.  The issue had always been nutrition, keeping enough calories in your system to get you to the finish.  Running 100 miles is as much an eating competition as it is the actual running.

My journey this year was busy before the race.  On August 6, Joe and me did the River Cities Triathlon in Shreveport.  I was in Galveston the next weekend to run a 10k night race on the beach with my daughter on August 12.  Drove home on the 13^th and boarded a plane for Philadelphia.  I made a tour of law schools with my son and my wife for the next four days.  We were in Philly, New York City, Washington DC and Charlottesville.  We boarded a plan home on Thursday evening.  The next morning I had a 6:55am flight to Denver on the 18^th with Joe and Rich’s wife Holly.

Leadville Pre-Race

We drove from Denver to Leadville on Friday morning.  When the plane landed, we made a quick stop at a Wal-Mart to get some supplies.  Water for sure, since dehydration at altitude is an issue.  We also got some snacks and a few cheap camping chairs.  The drive from Denver is really nice.  You start at about a mile high and Leadville is at 10k feet  so you are about two miles up.  We found the house Rich rented and unloaded.  At that altitude in the mountains, the sun is just searing when you are in it.  The temp is only 70 but the sun just burns right through you.  Joe and Ladislov took me on a ride to a few of the aid stations we would be using in the first part of the race.  May Queen was the first aid station.  It was about 13.5 miles from the start and the trail left town and then circled around Turquoise Lake.  We agreed to a meeting spot coming through the aid station.  Parking was going to be a zoo with limited access to the aid station.  Next stop was the Power Line climb and we went by the Fish Hatchery.  I guess that used to be an aid station but wasn’t any longer.  I was going to take the Matrix up the Power Line climb so we went to take a look at it.  The climb is crazy.  It’s actually four climbs to the top.  We went about halfway up the first climb.  By my Garmin, it was about 150 feet and I was not feeling good.  Probably altitude issues for me with no acclimation.  I’m fairly sure it is at least 1000 feet over the top.  This was a little scary.  

Rich was going to be at 76+ miles in so I figured we wouldn’t be moving fast but is was a very hard climb.  I didn’t want to let him down.  From there, we went to the Outward Bound aid station which was only a few miles away.  Outward Bound is 24 miles from the start and was in this big open field with lots of parking.  After Outward Bound the next crew location was Half Pipe and it was only 3-4 miles from OB.  We could crew at Half Pipe.  The gravel road to the gravel pit was a good crewing spot with lots of parking.  Rich wanted us as far down the road as possible to minimize the distance to the next aid station where we could crew at Twin Lakes.  This was mile 40.  After checking out aid stations we went back to town and ate a late lunch/early dinner at Tennessee Pass.  The food was really good there.  We went back to the house and went through a detail plan for what was required at all of the aid stations.  

Ladislov has a van that is basically a mobile house.  Joe and Ladislov dropped it off in Twin Lakes next to the course.  We would use that as a base camp at Twin Lakes since we wouldn’t see anyone between mile 40 and 60.  PoJo was going to meet Rich at Winfield on the other side of Hope Pass and pace him back down to us.  I had a splitting headache and laid down to take a nap that lasted until the race started at 4am.

Race Day Start:

Leadville Start Video

I think we were all up and moving at 3am.  It was cold.  Mid 30s outside.  I failed in my packing for milling around in the dark.  I packed for running more than sitting.  The house Rich rented was literally around the corner from the start line.  We walked over at 3:30am, took some pictures and said our good lucks and good byes.  I have a video of the start which was really cool.  Once the race train left the station, we loaded up the vehicles and drove to May Queen.

May Queen:

Seemed like it took a while to get to May Queen with all the traffic, but we finally found a place to park.  The chart Rich gave us said he would arrive at about 6:20am.  We tried to sleep in the van for about 30-45 minutes.  After a quick nap, we gathered the bags, camping chairs and cooler for what seemed like a mile hike up a hill and around the corner to the aid station.  I went up to the farthest point they would let spectators go to grab Rich and bring him to our stuff.  He showed up on time and we reloaded him per instructions from the day before.  He looked good.  Hike the gear back to the cars and move along to Outward Bound.  At least the sun was coming up, it was so cold outside my fingers felt like they were going to fall off.  It had to be in the low 30s.  I ran in these gloves at Bandera in sleet and I was really warm.  The cold air in the mountains seems to penetrate the cold to your bones.

Outward Bound:

  By the time we arrived at Outward bound, the sun was up and that was great.  Joe grabbed the camping chairs and set up a location right before the aid station on the chute off of the road.  When it was about 15 minutes prior to the ETA, I walked up the road for maybe half a mile to talk to him on the way in.  If he needed to deviate off of plan for some reason, I would call ahead and let them know.  I think he showed up about 8:50am which was an hour+ ahead of the cutoff.  I ran up the road with him to check on things. He was moving good.  Running up that little hill had me winded but he was doing well.  We got him in and out in less than 2 minutes.

Alternate Crew Zone Before Half Pipe:

It was only 3 or 4 miles to the alternate crew zone before the Half Pipe aid station.  He was there within a half hour of us parking at the gravel pit.  He sat in the chair and we reloaded him.  He was eating and still looked really good.  He put on his hot weather gear and was off within a few minutes.  We didn’t have to carry stuff very far at this aid station so that was a plus.  We waited for Ladislov to come through before we moved on the Twin Lakes since we had plenty of time.

Twin Lakes:

Twin Lakes is a mess.  Unless you get there before the race starts, there is no way to get close to the aid station at all.  The race route goes through the town and there is nowhere to park except on the side of the road.  Imagine the support teams for hundreds of runners descending on this one location.  The race had shuttle buses to transport gear and people to the aid station because it was at least a mile from town where we parked.  We walked to the shuttle stop with all of our stuff and boarded.  We would need to make at least two trips but were going to figure it out later.  Once in Twin Lakes, finding a base camp near the aid station was a priority.  We walked to the Ladislov van but it was parked on the side of the road and was too hot to sit in.  There was a parking lot next to the van with trees as shade next to the trail before the runners ran to the mountain to go over Hope pass.  Holly was going back to town to get us some subway sandwiches and some other stuff so she took the shuttle back to the van, drove down to town, and dropped the rest of our gear.  There was no place to park on the side of the road but there was a little gas station with a coned off area so people could buy gas.  The name of the station was Pass Gas which was kind of funny.  Holly went there, pulled off the road and I was going to quickly grab the remaining gear so she could drive back to town.  When she pulled in, someone from the gas station walked out and started in on us about no parking allowed.  I had seen several people do this without issue.  I told her we would only be unloading a few bags and then moving along so we wouldn’t block the two lane highway.  Apparently, she said something about me being from Texas and muttered to herself back to the store.  I was wearing Texas flag shorts so I can confirm the Colorado attitude towards Texans is still alive and well.  Rich came through the aid station at 11:50am which was a solid two hours before the cutoff.  He looked great and said he was doing well.  For 40 miles of running, I couldn’t imagine it going any better at this point.  Looking back, we asked him to eat something and he kind of balked at that but nobody thought anything of it since he looked good.  He changed shoes for the river crossings before heading up the mountain and took off.  After 30 minutes or so, Joe took off to the aid station to look for Ladislov.  He called me and asked if I wanted to swap with him around 1pm so I headed up there.  Cut off was 2pm so this was getting serious.  The runners come down this steep embankment before hitting the aid station.  It is dicey for some of the people coming down there.  One of the volunteers handing out cold bandanas saw my Grasslands shirt (Grasslands is a trail race in Decatur Texas) and told me he was the race director at Grasslands for that year.  We talked for a little bit while people were coming in.  I asked him if that was the storm year with rain, sleet, thunder, lightning, and the calf being born next to the trail.  He confirmed that was the year.   A very memorable race because Joe, Rich and me raced that year.  It’s still a running joke between us.  Rich declared there was a hole in the weather and we would get the race in without a problem.  Any time we have bad weather for a race, we ask Rich if there is a hole.  While standing there, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he could get my picture for the current race director for Grasslands.  

He introduced himself as John Studebaker.  I told him I knew exactly who he was.  He is really fast and was the reason I finished fourth at many a trail race in Texas.  He was also in Shreveport for the race I did a few weeks earlier.  He rode a mountain bike with an aero helmet during the race and was only a few seconds behind me.  He said he passed two guys with disk wheels during that race.  Imagine the sense of defeat to be passed by a guy on a mountain bike in a road race.  30-40 minutes before the cut off, Ladislov came through the aid station and he did not look good.  We took him to his van and he turned on a shower head on the outside of the van and let water run over him for a few minutes.  I had to help him over to our set up in the shade.  He threw up a few times and did not look good.  He laid down in the gravel and I poured water on his head.  He asked me what time it was and I said 1:30pm.  He said to get him up at 1:40pm.  Joe and I reloaded his vest with cold drinks and nutrition.  At 1:40pm, I helped him up, he grabbed his trekking poles and headed down the trail.  He wanted me to walk with him a little bit to drink some water and then off he went.  There were a lot of people in the shade where we were.  Many began to ask us if he was really going to keep going.  They were shocked he got up and started down the trail.  Joe told everyone he is incredible, could still possibly finish the whole race and began telling stories about him to everyone.  He has a big heart and is a very tough guy.  Now we were probably in for 6-8 hour wait.  PoJo was meeting Rich at the top of the mountain.  No cell service up there so we were blind to what was going on until someone came back.  A storm was building on the mountain and we had to move everything to the van.  

Rich later told us they had sleet on the mountain.  It got real cold and the wind started blowing at least 30mph in Twin Lakes.  We had a few drops of rain and the storm moved along.  The van was strategically placed and was an excellent shelter from the storm.  Joe and me holed up in the van for a while and tried to take a nap.  Both of us had a headache so he went over to Pass Gas and got some Advil.  We started to get conflicting information about when Rich went over Hope pass.  It appeared he was about an hour behind when he should have been there.  I sent a few messages out to friends but the race doesn’t do a good job of updating their web site when you get into the remote regions.  We eventually heard Rich made the cut off in Winfield and left 20 minutes before the cut off.  He had given back the 2 hour cushion.  As the sun set behind the mountain, it got really cold again so we put our cold weather gear back on.  We eventually heard Ladislov did not make the cut off at Hope pass.  It was 5 miles away but straight up the mountain.  There are no roads to Hope pass so no matter how poorly you are doing, you have to walk your way out to Twin Lakes.  The cut off back to Twin Lakes was 10:00pm.  We relocated our location to the aid station so if Rich came back, he could walk through the aid station, check in for the cut off and then stop to get supplies before the next leg.  At 7:45pm, we started to get worried about Ladislov.  John’s wife, Wendi, drove back to Twin Lakes and told us Rich was not doing well and just made the cut off in Winfield.  Since we hadn’t seen or heard from Ladislov in 6 hours, Joe and me decided to walk the trail and see if we could find him out there.  We walked about 1.5 miles to a river crossing and didn’t see him so we started walking back with our headlamps on.  We decided to take a short cut to the road when Joe received a text that the Matrix and PoJo were back at Twin Lakes.  They hitched a ride after a failed attempt to start back over Hope pass.  Apparently, they were only able to muster 36 minute mile and decided to call it.  Ladislov had a friend helping to crew him and he started down the trail after Joe and me.  Mandar found Ladislov.  We must have just missed him.  We decided to do a little running on the road.  Flat or down hill was ok but any hill was really hard to run.  The altitude is no joke.  We saw Rich on the way to the van with Holly.  Me and Joe gave him a hug and told him we were proud of him.  He ended up getting sick to his stomach again and that took him down.  When we got back to the aid station, PoJo and Wendi were there.  Ladislov and Mandar showed up next so the whole band was back together.  We moved all of the gear down to the road and loaded up the van to head back to town.  I texted our coach, Jeff Bennett, and let him know what happened.  He was still trying to figure out how to get him back up and going.  I finally had to tell him it was over.

Post Race:

We arrived back at the house and I decided to look for an earlier flight on Sunday.  I was on the 7:30pm back to Dallas.  Joe and me took showers and went to find something to eat.  At this point, it was about 11pm.  Everything was closed except a few bars.  We walked past an Irish Pub and checked with the bar tender to see if they had a kitchen open.  They did.  We walked in to some thrash metal playing on the juke box.  We ordered a steak and garlic fries.  It was incredible.  We were so hungry.  On the walk back to the house, we saw a finisher come in.  His time was around 19 hours.  At that time of night, his mom and dad were the only people there.  It was cool to see someone finish.  Especially in 19 hours.  That’s an insane time.  Joe thought we should take our pacing bibs and run up power line but I didn’t really have an interest anymore.

Thoughts:

Crewing is tough work.  By my Garmin, we covered at least 12 miles on the ground carrying gear around.  Plus, we did another 3 miles on the search and rescue mission.  There was a good line from one of the runners we ran into.  He asked what we were doing on the trail and we told we were on a rescue mission.  He said it was better than a recovery mission.  There is really no way to adequately put this race into words.  I have heard about it but until you are there and see the terrain. There is really no way to comprehend what has to be done to complete this.  The Matrix ran his tail off through the summer heat doing 100s of miles each month to get ready.  If anything made me cry a little, it was how hard he worked and the only thing stopping him was a flakey stomach.  It was a really cool experience and I was really happy to be there with my running compadres.  I love these guys.  We run together a lot and it was great to be there with them.  There will be better days.  Joe finished this race in 2014, so he knew the lay of land and could give me some great insight on the actual course.  Good times but hoped for a better outcome.  I will continue to do what some people think are crazy things.  In life, you can work to buy stuff or do stuff.  I like doing stuff, sometimes really insane, crazy stuff.  Money can't buy that and the experiences are priceless.  At the airport in Denver on the way home, a fruit fly flew in my beer before Joe and me headed back to Dallas.  How did the fly know I was from Texas?

Ironman Boulder - Race Day

It's finally here.  When I started this journey over three years ago, I never really thought of doing an Ironman.  I really wanted to get myself off the couch and feel better.  My arthritis was eating me alive from the inside out and I needed to lose some weight and get active.  As things progressed, so did my quest to find my limitations.  The motto of Ironman is "Anything Is Possible".  I would test this theory on this day.  It had been close to 14 months since my fateful registration day last year when Jeff convinced me I could do this and he would help.  I remember wanting to throw up in the bathroom after I formally paid my entry fee.

A couple days before the race, my running buddy Joe sent me a quote to think about:

"Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: 'What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?'"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I have a habit at times about worrying about things that have happened to me in previous races, especially in the water.  None of that is really relevant.  Joe also sent me a story about an ultra runner who had overcome a very painful race, did not quit and finished despite his body turning on him.  These words and story would help on this long anticipated day.  My coach, Jeff Bennett, gave me some hand written advice to get me through this day as well.  I etched this in my mind.

Pre-Race:
I slept ok.  Not great but better than expected.  I woke up at 3am to take a shower.  I like to shave and get clean before heading to a race.  I drank one of my Ensure drinks before getting in the shower.  Jeff told me I needed calories before race time.  I usually have a real hard time with solid food so I decided to go with Ensure as my primary calorie source.  After my shower, I ate a honey stinger bar and that went down well.  I took another Ensure and a bottle of Skratch to drink before the swim.  We parked in a garage close to the finish line.  I had to drop my special needs bags (one for the bike and one for the run) in a park near the Ironman Village.  We then boarded buses to Boulder Reservoir.  Everyone had to go via bus.  No other transportation would be allowed.  Ironman had school buses running non-stop back and forth to the reservoir.  We finally boarded a bus and headed out. I aired my tires one more time and put my GPS tracking device (shout out to myathletelive.com) on the aero bars on my bike.  A quick trip to the port-a-potty and then I headed back to the family.  My stomach was really nervous.  I did drink the bottle of Skratch Labs but did not attempt to drink my second Ensure.  I meant to take a Shark Salt before getting in the water but forgot to do that as well.  This would haunt me later.  The swim set up was a little different.  In an Ironman race, it is common to have everyone start together at the same time.  This was the largest Ironman race ever attempted and I heard close to 2500 athletes showed up to race.  There were approximately 2900 registered.  You will need to imagine a two lane boat ramp.  There were volunteers holding signs with swim times on them.  Each athlete was to self seed themselves by expected finish.  I figured to go 90 minutes and jumped in with the 1:16-1:30 group.  My group was near the back.  After the pros (6:20am), the national anthem and then the cannon shot for the age groupers at 6:30am, we started moving down the ramp into the water.  A timing mat was set up close to the water and your time did not start until you crossed the mat.  The walk up the ramp to get in line and the walk down to the water was painful.  The asphalt was rough like chip seal and there was little rocks and debris that really beat up the feet.  It took around 15 minutes to reach the timing mat.  My goggles were fogging up so I was constantly battling that problem on the way down.  There was very little conversation among the field.  Most of my other races are littered with mindless chatter.  Today was an exception.  I don't know if it was fear or concentration.  You could feel the electricity and excitement as we worked our way to the water.  I felt calm and at peace on the way down.  There really wasn't a whole lot I could do to change the outcome at this point.  It was time to go.

Swim:  1:32:41
I did not get a chance to warm up in the water before the race.  I think the reported water temp was 74.6 degrees.  The air temp at 6:30am was in the low 60s.  The water felt really cold when I wondered in from the boat ramp.  I decided to stay right away from the buoys at the start and get adjusted to the water temp before swimming hard.  I breast stroked for about 10 yards.  Filled my wet suit with some water and got my face adjusted to the water.  After a few minutes, I started swimming.  I intentionally did not try to find the last buoy on the first leg of the swim.  We were swimming a counter clockwise triangle.  We basically swam to the farthest points of the lake along the dam.  I forgot to change my watch from lap swim to open water swim so my GPS did not track my course.  I am really bummed about that.  Since I breathe to my right, I did not see the buoys as I swam.  I don't particularly swim straight as a general rule.  I know in a swim of this distance, I will add a few hundred yards going off course.  There were people to my right so I trusted they were sighting for me.  I really don't think I verged too far off course at any point.  I did pull up and look after 15 minutes to see if I could find the red turn buoy.  It was a long way to the first turn.  They had lots of buoys in the water, which is great for staying on course.  The early part of the swim was crowded but not crazy.  I bumped a few people and they bumped me.  Rubbing is racing when it comes to the open water swim.  I never felt tired or uncomfortable to the first buoy.  It just seemed like the turn would never come.  Once it did, there was a huge log jam at the buoy.  Seems like a turn buoy is like a stop sign for some people and things get really jammed up.  I stayed about 10 meters wide of the turn and tried to sight a line to the next turn.  It was going to be a long swim to the next turn.  The spacing was good on the second leg and I was finding some clean water to swim in.  All of the sudden, my left hand smacked something.  It was someone next to me.  I don't know where they came from.  The middle finger on my left hand smacked something hard on his hand.  I dislocated my finger.  After a few strokes, the pain was not subsiding.  I grabbed my finger and put it back in joint.  Instant relief and I continued on.  The second leg had me feeling twinges of cramping in both of my calves.  This is not uncommon in training swims as well.  I was really trying not to involve my legs too much because of my previous cramping issues.  I instantly remembered failing to take my shark salt before swimming.  Damn it.  I managed to stave off full on cramps in the second leg.  The third leg was the drive for home.  I could see the beach after rounding the buoy but it was really far away and never seemed to get closer.  My left calf finally succumbed to a cramp and crippled me with an estimated 800 yards to go.  I could not find a paddle board, jet ski, or boat so I had to try and stretch this out in the water.  After a minute, the cramp went away and I was able to continue swimming.  I could feel the knot in my calf the rest of the way.  This was not good for the rest of my race.  As I neared the shore, the noise from the crowd, the sound of the music, and the PA guy grew louder.  Despite the few setbacks, my swim was actually really good.  No panic, no choking feeling from my wet suit, and I managed to swim the entire distance without taking a rest.  I was very happy to reach swim exit.  I made it in 1:32:41.  I took a nice conservative approach and felt good about the swim.

T1:  12:23
The bike gear bags were in a chute to the right of the swim exit and were numbered in sections.  We picked up our gear bags and went into the changing tent.  I had decided to change into my K-Swiss bike kit.  The bike shorts are very comfortable and I wanted as much comfort as possible while staring down a 112 mile bike ride.  Since my goals were not necessarily time oriented, I wasn't going to jeopardize finishing because of some stupid time saving move.  The changing tent was nasty and smelled of wet grass and mud.  My bag had my bike kit, arm coolers, bike shoes, helmet, socks and a little nutrition in there before I took off.  I had to put my goggles, swim cap, ear plugs, and wet suit back into the bag.  I put a small towel in the gear bag to help dry off a little bit.  My body was wet and I had one hell of a time pulling the jersey on.  I had a volunteer kid who was helping me with everything.  He grabbed me a water and helped get everything on.  What a rough job for that kid.  I finally had everything on and thought I had everything stowed back in my bag.  It was time to go.  I thanked my volunteer and dropped my bag outside the changing tent.  It was a long walk to my bike.  I was near the bike out.  When I got to my bike, I put my GPS chip on and took off to the mount line.  I was in T1 for 12:23.  Not bad for a change out of my wet suit and jammers into my bike kit.

Bike:  7:20:16
I mounted my bike and was looking around for my family.  I had not seen them yet since the race started.  I pedaled a few hundred yards and saw them on the side of the road leading to the exit of the reservoir.  I stopped for a second and then started the 112 mile ride.  There was a lot of climbing in the first 10 miles.  I was fresh and felt ready to go.  The weather was sunny but still cool at 8:30am.  I tried to drink as much as possible to get ahead of my hydration.  Gels or chews every 30 minutes during the ride.  It was hard to hold back and not work hard at first.  I was in conservation mode in the early stages.  There is a little turn off of 36 to St. Vrain.  It is all downhill to the turn around and is really fast.  I may have touched 40mph in that section.  Bad news was the climb back out.  There were a few steep sections but I handled them well.  Back on 36 it was time to head into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  Most of the climbs were long grinding climbs and the downhill sections were the same.  Somewhere close to 40 miles in, I reached for my Shark Salts.  I had been taking one salt every hour.  I put them in gum container with a flip top.  I was going down a long downhill at about 30 mph.  When I opened the flip top, all of my shark salt flew out the top.  There is a lot of things that my mind was evaluating in a few seconds.  This is bad.  Can I make it without the shark salt?  Will they have salt on the route?  Ultimately, I had to have my shark salt.  It's what I train with and it's an awesome product.  I turned around and climbed the hill looking for my little white shark salts.  I didn't know if they would be visible.  There was a steady stream of bikes coming down the hill when I saw a little white cloud appear under a wheel up the road.  That would be my shark salt.  I pulled over and waited for gaps in the parade and grabbed as many as possible.  I was able to retrieve at least 18 which was good enough to finish the race.  Shortly after, we exited the canyons and entered the rolling prairie.  The special needs station was at mile 55 and I was looking forward to getting there.  The heat was starting to come up.  Without a cloud in the sky, the sun was intense.  A volunteer grabbed my bag and handed it to me.  I fumbled with it for a few minutes and decided to find a tree and sit down to eat.  Good decision.  Ultimately, taking 5-10 minutes to power through the food I packed was a good thing.  I ate a honey and peanut butter sandwich, pineapple, chocolate, and reloaded all of my nutrition for the second half of the bike.  I was successful in eating and drinking everything I had at the special needs station.  The wind had shifted to the S/SE and that was the direction we were headed for the next 30 miles.  The term false flat must have been coined in Colorado.  Roads look flat but they are really low grade up hill climbs for several miles.  At this point, it was nearing 90 degrees with a slight head wind.  I heard that many people registered 100 degrees off of their Garmin during the afternoon.  People who went out too fast and were behind in their nutrition were starting to fall by the way side.  For whatever reason, it was hard.  Maybe it was the altitude, I don't know.  I trained many 100 mile rides in Dallas in scorching heat.  I'm not sure why the first 80 here were such a problem.  We definitely did more climbing than I could simulate in Dallas.  At 80 miles the road direction headed west back to Boulder.  I was feeling cooked and expected the wind to help me.  It did not and it was mentally defeating.  I began to feel like I wasn't going to make it.  There was an aid station at 90 miles and I just wanted to make it there.  I was drinking at least a bottle and a half of Skratch between the aid stations.  Aid stations are spaced every 15 miles.  There was absolutely no shade in the prairie and no where to hide from the sun.  I pulled in at 90 and reloaded my speedfill and one water bottle.  They had cold water which was great.  Mentally, it was about taking things in 5 mile chunks.  The reservoir was going to be visible at 100 miles.  There was some serious carnage setting in on the side of the road.  People were laying down on the side of the road, resting, or paramedics were working with people.  The numbers were escalating as the miles clicked by.  At 100 miles, the course turned and headed up a hill affectionately known as the three bitches.  It was a steep uphill that flattens some only to see another steep uphill and repeats a third time.  After the third hill, there is lower grade climb to the top before turning right.  I remember a guy standing on the top of the hill cheering everyone on saying this was the end of the hill and it was downhill into Boulder.  These hills on 57th were the last big obstacle on the way to the finish.  My legs were wasted and I just hung on to town.  Once I entered Boulder, people were cheering again, cars were honking and it was mental boost of energy to reach the transition area.  The dismount line was a welcome sight.  I got off the bike and started walking back to the transition area when I saw Patty, Lance and Meghan.  It was very good to see them.  They asked how it went because everyone coming in was really tapped out.  I don't remember what we talked about but I'm fairly certain my condition not being very good was a topic of conversation.  It was a hard 112 mile ride for me and I had no idea how running 26.2 miles was going to happen.

T2:  17:55
 I was not feeling an overwhelming sense of confidence heading into T2.  A nice volunteer took my bike from me prior to walking on the track and I made sure everything I needed was on me.  I left my bike shoes on as I crossed the track to pick up my run bag and headed to the changing tent.  A lot of people must have cycled barefoot and left their shoes clipped in to their pedals.  The black track must have been blistering hot if you had bare feet.  I'm glad I left my shoes on.  When I entered the changing tent, it looked more like a MASH unit than a race transition.  People were passed out all over the place.  Ice and water were being rushed to and from tapped out athletes.  It was a mess.  You really had to be there to believe it.  Total carnage.  I was at the back half of the pack and this is my first Ironman.  I wanted to finish.  I am as competitive as anyone you will meet but this race for me wasn't about setting some pace that no one will remember.  I'm not going to Kona.  The people in that tent are what this race is really  all about.  The people who put their heart and soul into something for the accomplishment.  I looked around and decided in comparison, I didn't look that bad.  I got my run gear on and decided to see what I had in the tank.  Considering I stopped to talk to the family on the way in, changed into my running clothes and had the sun tan lotion volunteers lather me up, I don't think my transition was too bad.  Like I said, I was not trying to qualify for anything except a medal.  My T2 time was 17:55.

Run:  6:54:50
After getting sun tan lotion, I entered the Boulder Creek Path to start the run.  The trail was lined on both sides for at least a couple of miles with screaming spectators and ringing cowbells.  I had my name on my bib and people I didn't know were encouraging me.  It was really nice start to the run.  I had decided early on to try and run at least half the marathon in some form.  When I left T2, my wife told me not to worry, I had plenty of time and not to push too hard if I didn't feel well.  I was trying to do the math in my head and just gave up.  I ran slowly for the first half mile and started to feel dizzy.  I walked for a little while and then started a two minute run, two minute walk routine that I kept up for four or five miles.  I started walking with a guy on his second lap named Doug.  We ran a little when we felt like it.  The dizziness was so bad I decided to go completely conservative and walk until the symptoms subsided.  The turnaround at the east end of the course was between 6-7 miles in.  There is no shade so I just kept power walking.  My family was on the other side of the creek and were cheering for me.  My son yelled over and said my friend Rich wanted to tell me I am an Apache Helicopter.  Inside joke but made me feel better because I knew Rich and Joe were with me in spirit following me with my GPS tracker.  Just before entering the parking lot aid station at Foothills and Pearl, I looked to my right.  I stopped and said "Hey, your Craig Alexander!".  He said something like "That's right mate, how ya doin".  I asked him if I could shake his hand and he said absolutely.  I told him I wished like hell I had his legs.  He told me mine looked good and I would be ok.  Unfortunately, he has no idea what my 51 year old legs felt like.  That was cool unless it was a hallucination.  I carried on and entered the trail section where the crowd was thick again.  Felt really good to hear the roar of the crowd.  It makes the pain subside for a few minutes.  I was drinking and eating at every aid station.  I drank some Skratch in the fuel belt I was wearing.  I even drank some of that nasty Ironman Perform.  I drenched myself with water and ice whenever possible.  I couldn't shake the dizziness problem.  I was perfectly able to run but I really worried my body was having some sort of issue that would make me blow up and not finish.  I kept it conservative and moved as quickly as possible.  My first encounter with special needs was a no go.  I asked if I could catch them on the return and I was told yes.  I just didn't really want anything at that point.  The steady climb up to the turnaround in Boulder Canyon seemed much longer than my training run a few days earlier.  I remember seeing some hippy woman walking down the course topless.  She was getting jeers from the crowd and it was really funny at the time.  Boulder, you never know what your going to see.  On my return back to special needs, I was feeling ok but not great.  It was daunting knowing another 13 miles was still left to go.  I really didn't know if this was going to work out.  I opened my special needs bag and the only thing in there I wanted was the pineapple cubes.  I left the rest.  I worked my way through the thinning crowd and ate my pineapple.  The sun was going down.  The trudge up to the southern turnaround was lonely.  Only good thing was the chicken broth at the aid stations once the sun went down.  It was delicious.  There were not many people left on the course.  I was really starting to lose focus.  When I got back to the fork in the trail to head to the Pearl St. turnaround, I had trouble keeping my thoughts together.  I asked a police officer if I was going the right way.  He didn't know.  I asked another guy if this was right.  He didn't know, he was from Seattle.  Finally, some runners were coming along and confirmed I was going the right way.  If I had made a wrong turn, I think the race would have been over for me.  Once I made it past the aid station at Foothills and Pearl, I saw my family again.  They were a little more concerned.  My wife told me to suck it up and get moving.  She said I was slowing down and I needed to get going.  Confusing because I thought there was plenty of time.  They walked with me until the turnaround and came back towards the car.  I asked my son if he could just make sure I didn't go off course and he did that for me until close to the end.  It was a complete gut check for the last six miles.  I have run a ton of miles with Rich and Joe as my son reminded me.  I could remember running a 10k with Joe one day that was the most miserable run I have ever endured because of the wind chill on a very cold winter day.  We have run in the heat and humidity at Northshore and Pilot Knoll together.  We made sure each other were ok and motivated each other to keep going.  We ran Grasslands in a torrential storm, high winds, lightning strikes and hail.  We have been through a lot together.  At some point, it wasn't about me anymore.  I kept saying, do not quit on those guys.  Do not quit on those guys.  They are going to do Leadville in a few weeks.  If I can't do this, how are they going to feel.  At some point, motivation from any source is a good thing.  I thought about stopping a few times but my son would not allow that.  Whenever I saw him, he would make me keep moving.  The last turnaround in Boulder Canyon was awesome.  The volunteer manning that station was yelling like a drill sergeant about how this was the best turnaround because it was the last turnaround.  I love that guy.  He was great.  I remember hitting mile 25 and blowing through the last aid station.  I had no interest in anything at the last aid station.  At this point, I felt like it was going to happen if my legs could just hold it together.  They hurt like hell.  The best part was seeing the cones separating the finish lane vs. the lane for lap two.  I was going to the finish.  The volunteer there pointed me to the right which was away from the finish.  I still haven't grasped the concept of going away from the finish but getting to the finish.  I was a little lost and she came running after me to make sure I was ok.  I could hear the crowds and the voice of Mike Reilly in the distance.  This time they were calling me.  The bad thing about a course with loops is you can hear the ultimate destination but the call isn't always for you.  So close yet so far away.  This time it was calling my name.  For some reason, once I looped around and ended up on Arapahoe there were about 20 feet of cones that sent me to the left before I could head to 13th St. towards the finish line.  A volunteer was standing there and I asked her why I had to go over there.  It didn't make any damn sense.  I was promised at the last turnaround that there were no more turnarounds.  Poor thing just kind of looked at me and said come over here.  Going down Arapahoe, 13th St. was in sight.  It was the end.  At 11pm mountain time, some 16 hours after the start, the finishing chute came into view.  The people had lined the railing and were going nuts.  The closer you got, the louder it got.  Suddenly, I had no pain.  I didn't feel anything except an obligation to run this out.  The people lining the barriers had their hands out for a high five.  It was the greatest sports moment in my life at that point.  To the left, I saw my wife and kids and felt the tears come.  I ran over there and gave them a hug.  I was going to make it.  At the edge of the lights was Mike Reilly.  Everything was like a dream, a very good dream.  The light amongst the darkness.  Kind of retrospective of this entire journey.  At that moment, I felt a little sad for people who finish during the day.  This was so much cooler.  Reilly told me the most important words that can possibly be said at that moment. "Lance McCaskey from Coppell, Texas.  You Are An Ironman!"  He gave me a high five and a big smile on the way by.  You really feel he knows what you have gone through and really makes it feel special.  What a great guy.  The noise was deafening, the crowd was amazing, for once in my life I had a small taste of what it feels like to do something great in front of a big crowd.  For over a year I have been toiling away at 5:00am almost every day working my ass off to get ready for this one moment.  I am not the fastest nor am I close to being the best.  I will not go to Kona and I don't really care.  I am an Ironman for life.  The moment did not disappoint.  I can see why people want to bottle that moment or have another taste.  It is truly magic.  For anyone who thinks they want to do this, they should.  In the end, it is way worth it.  Two years ago at Ironman Austin 70.3, I bought a chrome Ironman logo for my truck.  I wasn't really an Ironman so I didn't feel like I could actually put it on my truck.  It has been sitting in a drawer for two years.  It will sit no more.  The posts on facebook and the texts from family and friends were awesome.  I didn't realize that many people were following along.  There are tons of people to thank.  Of course my great wife and kids have been through this with me from the get go.  I was so glad to have them there.  Just to see them on the course was huge.  The amazing Goat Trail Endurance Racing crew.  My Enduroshark friends and Shelby Nixon.  My coach Jeff Bennett and many others.  Family and friends make all the difference.  It is a solitary sport but it is far from something you do alone in the process of preparing for the event.  In the end, the spirit of many can fuel you through the pain of the day.  Ironman is right.  Anything Is Possible.

16:18:05

 

Video of the Finish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39qur0nfnHs

 

 

 

I'm Done.  The End.

8.2.14 Last Rest Day

The family is all here and it's finally race day tomorrow.  Late Thursday night, I pulled a muscle in my back that wraps to my hip opening the hotel room door.  I didn't do anything yesterday or today except rest.  It's not healed but much better than it was on Thursday.  I loaded some extra strength Tylenol as a last resort that I will carry with me.  Dropped my bike, bike gear bag and run gear bag today at the designated locations.  Time to rest until tomorrow.  Whatever is going to happen will happen now.  It's nice to get messages of encouragement from home.  Doug (aka The Ghost), sent Jeff and me a message today.  I wish I could ride like that dude.  It will be a long day.  All I want is to hear, "Lance McCaskey, you are an Ironman" in the finishing chute.

7.31.14 Packet Pick Up Today

It's my anniversary for my wife and I.  I missed her this morning but she is coming tonight.  I met Jeff at the rez this morning. Ironman set up a little 750 yard loop.  We did a couple of loops before they closed the course.  We did a 3.5 mile run on the trail before going to packet pick up.  Ironman set up outside and the ground was soaking wet.  Not a good combination.  Good to get there early to buy a tri kit before the popular sizes disappeared.  Ironman gave us a cool backpack.  My bike was at Tribike Transport but they didn't open until 1pm.  I walked to the Pearl Street Mall to grab something to eat and tripped across Apolo Ohno outside the Newton shoe store.  I had my picture made with him and wished him luck at Kona.  It's not everyday you get a brush with Olympic greatness.  After lunch, I picked up my bike and rode for about an hour.  I did a big climb up Baseline Rd.  The elevation here was most notable today on the bike.  I really have to manage the climbs for the race.  Good day today.  Weather was nice and I was able to do a little bit of everything.  At this point, I just want to race.  My body is not happy with the short workouts.

7.30.14 Rained Out

Basically, a terrible day in Boulder.  The high today was 62 and it rained all day.  This created problems on a few fronts.  If Boulder Creek floods, the run course could be in trouble and the reservoir can have issues with bacteria.  I ended up going to the Boulder Rec Center and swam for an hour.  I rested the remainder of the day watched TV.  Jeff made it to Boulder later in the day and we are swimming at the rez tomorrow.

7.29.14 Boulder Creek Trail Run

The last week of taper is very light on the workout side.  Today was a 30 minute easy run.  I decided to drive to Boulder this morning and run the western section of the trail.  When I arrived downtown, the Boulder High School parking lot was blocked off by Ironman.  It looked like the circus had arrived in town.  Looks like the expo will predominately be held outside in a big open field next to the high school.  I don't know what they are going to do when everyone converges on Boulder race morning.  Well, I had to park on the street and ended up paying $1.25 for parking.  The weather is supposed to get bad today and for the next few days so it was important to get this in early.  Once I took off running to the west, I immediately felt more winded.  At first, I thought it was due to the 3-4 day aclimation downturn.  However, I quickly realized the grade was going up.  It was gradual at first and then is really noticeable for the two miles to the turnaround.  The course actual enters the foothills of the mountains.  I missed the turnaround point and ran an extra half mile or so into the mountains.  I'm glad the turnaround was further downhill.  Going back down was really fast.  I wasn't trying to go fast and still averaged below 10 minute pace for the run.  4.26 miles in 41 minutes.  The long grinding hill will be a problem on the run.  It will hit immediately on the run and again at about mile 13.  I will need a plan for how to handle that section of the run.  Good day overall.  The weather still hasn't moved in yet but it looks bad over the mountains.  My company bought a company headquartered in downtown Denver so I went to lunch with them today.  It's good to have something to do until everyone gets here.

7.28.14 Boulder Reservoir Swim

My plan was a short 10-20 minute swim at the reservoir to get familiar with the lake.  I drove over to the lake and arrived around 8:30am.  I was told the swimming area was not going to be open until 11:00am.  I took the opportunity to drive most of the 112 mile bike course.  The first half actually enters the edge of some of the mountains so there is some elevation to be had there.  The second half is mostly rolling hills.  Pacing and patience will be the order of the day on the ride.  When I made it back to the reservoir, it was almost 11:00am and I was good to go.  The water is cool.  I was told by the lifeguard it was 76 degrees.  It felt good with the wetsuit on.  The swimming area was probably 60-70 yards wide and I just did laps.  They are going to have a 750 yard course set up on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week in the morning.  The weather is supposed to get bad for the next three days and I felt good so I went a little over an hour cover 1.6 miles.  The wet suit was great and I didn't have any issues breathing.  I met some people from Canada and a few of them were having problems.  I feel much better about the swim after today.  After swimming, I ate some lunch and then went to Skratch Labs to get some nutrition.  They were really nice to me and I picked up some pineapple sticks and some everyday Skratch.  Good guys over there.  I drove up to Nederland in the mountains and walked around a little bit.  It is really pretty up there.  It was probably 8500'-9000'.  I could feel the effects of the altitude.  I really like Boulder a lot and I am getting excited about the race now.