Name: Gordon N
Marathon Goal: 5:50
Marathon Result: 77 19/114 GORDON L NEAL 44 COLO SPGS CO 3:29:30 2:17:11 5:46:41
General Summary: I was pleased, but I felt so strong at the summit I thought I would do the downhill faster. Of course the heat didn’t help. Maybe next year.
Things Done Right: Training with the ICers definitely improved my uphill strength.
Things Done Wrong: I need to train more for downhill speed. I also need to put in more time at altitude.
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Charlie Nuttelman
Marathon Goal: 2:50 to top, 1:40 down
Marathon Result: 71 4/8 CHARLIE R NUTTELMAN 24 BOULDER CO 3:17:29 2:26:14 5:43:43
General Summary: Up to Barr camp, I felt extremely well and fresh, and really tried to hold myself back to stay fresh. My split at Barr camp was 1:26, exactly what I had been aiming for, but I soon got dehydrated above Barr and became dizzy. I had to power hike most of the rest of the way, except from the last aid station to the top I just said “I’m going for it” and powered up to the summit in one push, passing about 10 people. I thought the dizziness was caused by lack of food (but I had been downing a gel every 30-45 minutes), so I ate some food up top. I’m sure it was dehydration — usually I bring water with me on training runs and drink plenty and have never had problems — always drink water at aid stations!!! On the down, I continued to be dizzy, so I stopped for a few minutes at the a-frame to get some water and food, but ate too much and stomach cramps set in, and the rest of the trip was ugly.
Things Done Right: Held back until Barr to stay fresh; didn’t overexert.
Things Done Wrong: Didn’t drink enough water (failed to realize that I was dehydrated), ate too much food (stomach cramps)
Comments on Calculator if Used: I really only used the Barr camp split (my times for the earlier splits are usually slightly faster than the calculator). During training, my splits from Barr to summit are usually pretty close to the calculator, although I consistently see a difference in Bot. Pit to A-frame — my times are about a minute faster than the calculator.
Any Other Stuff: A fun race!
Name: Tim Beeson
Ascent Goal: Under 4 hours
Ascent Result: 3:41:11 (DQed — see below)
General Summary: Walk faster more, run faster less
Things Done Right: Really got into power walking a lot more and left the running to places where I could actually run instead of doing the Pikes Peak Shuffle. Also, climbed a lot of fourteeners during the summer and, even though I only did one training run to the top, the altitude wasn’t a factor.
Things Done Wrong: Based on my previous time (4:06 nine years ago) I assumed I was in the first wave. Guess what? Yes, I was in the second wave and was disqualified. (Can you say, “Read the instructions, Bubba!”.) Oh, well, I had a great run and that’s what counts for me.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Great help.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Phyllis Dean
Ascent Goal: This year, sadly, was to finish under 4 hours
Ascent Result: 87 21/104 PHYLLIS A DEAN 38 COLO SPGS CO 3:49:39
General Summary: Disappointed with the race
Things Done Right: didn’t have to wait for van at top
Things Done Wrong: Barr Camp aid station, food at finish, more aid stations, parking!
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff: It seems that the cost of this race and the popularity of this race should supply enough money and or sponsorship to have whole fruit rather then cut up and, to have other foods packaged and not cut up. That is unsanitary and should be unacceptable to all runners. There absolutely needs to be more aid stations with water, and has anyone asked a sponsor for Gu or it’s equivalent? I have ran many races and this is the only race I have walked away feeling like it was poorly sponsored and wondering just what the entry fees were used for??? This is an awesome race and I can’t help but wonder why this race does not have 100’s of sponsors and world class runners racing? Has anyone asked large local businesses in the area to allow runners to park their cars in the parking lots and have buses transport the runners to the start? Similar in idea as the system used in the Garden of the Gods 10 Miler.
Name: Keith J Lonnquist
Ascent Goal: 4:00-4:15
Ascent Result: 425 56/165 KEITH J LONNQUIST 47 COLO SPGS CO 3:52:47
General Summary: I’m happy! Following a self-diagnosis of “overtrained” back in May, I cut my running way, way, way down. I went from my usual 30-40mi/wk to a total of about 15mi in Jun(!), 60 in Jul, and 15 in Aug. That’s the total for each month, not weekly! In spite of that, I was only about 10min slower than on last year’s ascent leg of the marathon. I walked much more this year — and that was a smarter race with my level of conditioning. It’s obvious that the winter & spring’s IC runs had left me in pretty good shape, in spite of cutting back this summer.
Things Done Right: I did much more walking early in the race this year and even went full time walking at the .5 to Barr Camp sign. Again, I think I “ran” smarter due to my limited workouts all summer. I stayed very hydrated.
Things Done Wrong: Probably a bit too fast to the Ws and on to Barr Camp, but what the heck — felt fine...
Comments on Calculator if Used: I think it hit it pretty close again. One or two of my splits are off a couple minutes — did not remember to hit the button. I did no training above Barr Camp this year, so I slowed a bit at altitude, but I did not lose as much time as I had expected. I got to Barr Camp about 15 minutes faster than any of this year’s training runs too — nothing like a race to speed you up.
Splits: Loc Calc-total Me-total Calc-split Me-split Ws 46:47 42:32 46:47 42:32 NN 1:08:12 1:05:48 21:25 21:15 7.8 1:32:25 1:24:30 24:13 20:42 BC 1:58:15 1:50:40 25:50 26:10 AF 2:45:45 2:42:21 47:30 51:40 2 3:09:01 3:06:58 23:17 24:36 1 3:28:48 3:27:29 19:47 20:31 Fin 3:52:47 3:52:47 23:59 25:16
Any Other Stuff: My daughter, Eryn, and son, Kenn, also ran. It was great!
Name: Matt Carpenter
Double Goal: Win both races — no time goals set!
Double Result:
1 1/217 MATT CARPENTER 37 MANITOU SPGS CO 2:16:13
1 1/75 MATT CARPENTER 37 MANITOU SPGS CO 2:24:03 1:29:50 3:53:53
General Summary: Mission accomplished! Amazing how many things you can learn even when you think you have seen it all. However because of the outcome I would not change too much.
Things Done Right:
*Ascent Pre: Great training. Cut way back race week — 4 X 1/4 on Tuesday and
the time check from the start to Ruxton on Thursday were my only “hard” days race week
if you can call that hard. Well hydrated for several days before. Kept my
food simple. Knew my sleep would be restless but did not let that bother me.
Formulated a game plan and for the most part stuck with it. In summary the
last time I did the double I wanted to blow away the competition in the
Ascent and did but I paid for it the next day with a 6th place finish in the
marathon. This year I decided that the time was not as important as the win.
*Ascent During: Did not let Scott Elliott suck me out at his silly pace. He was breathing so hard when I caught him at the gate on Ruxton that I knew his day was done. Stopped and WALKED the aid stations. Elliott was trying to drink and run. He would leave me by a few feet while I was drinking but then after I finished my water I would almost run over him as he was still trying to drink and run. Again, stuck with my plan. Many times I wanted to pass him but just held off until my planned point — the flats on the way to Barr Camp. Energy gels at NN, BC and AF. Stole one of Yvonne’s cool max Incline Club shirts because it did not feel like a cotton day. Had my long sleeve coolmax IC shirt wrapped around me. Although it was not that cold I felt the temp change above AF so put it on to prevent my body from having to adjust.
*Ascent After: GOT OUT OF THERE! No interviews, no talking — nothing! Stuck out my thumb and was home in the shower by 10:30 a.m.! Switched to a liquid diet because I was having problems with food. Yvonne got me a ton of something called “Boost” a nutritional energy drink with 240 cals a pop. Worked great. Gained my lost 4 ponds back fairly fast. Did some easy walking at the awards ceremony that night.
*Marathon Pre: Slept restless but better than the night before because the pressure was off. Too sore (perhaps stiff is a better word) to do much of a warm-up so decided to ride my bike to the race as a warm-up. Again well hydrated.
*Marathon During: Did not let Paul Sullivan suck me out at his silly pace. Ignored Dave Mackey as well. On day two the key is to go by how you feel. Well, OK, that is the key on day one too but on day two we have no choice in the matter. Took a water bottle with me and filled it at each station on the way up. Discovered that I could empty my energy gel into the bottle and within a few steps it would be well mixed and it went down a LOT easier than the gel alone. Had 4 on the way up — IO, NN, BC, AF. Larry M gave me another at the top. I was jazzed to see my day two time from BC to the top within two mins of my day one time BC to the top. Got out of there fast but did take the time to run the new SMOOTH turn around and DID stop to pick up the energy gel which I dropped during the hand-off with Larry. Timed the gap to the 2nd and 3rd place runners which allowed me to relax a bit — at least for a while.
*Marathon After: Got my first IVs. Those things work fast! The IV was an option and not a requirement. However I felt that if I tried to drink any faster I was going to get sick. The med folks explained that the IV goes right to where it is needed. I did not take the O2 they wanted to give me. I knew I was not having an O2 problem and sure enough when they stuck the O2 sat machine on me I was at 95% with a 63 pulse. Bottom line I was just dehydrated. After the first IV I felt good and after the 2nd I was ready to go watch Yvonne break into the top 10:-) YES!!!
Things Done Wrong:
*Ascent Pre: Was not really focused on doing the races so had some down time
for two weeks after the BTMR. Only after reading the story on Elliott did I
commit but even then only to myself. Think things would have gone a little
easier had I been focusing on the double all year long.
*Ascent During: I should have done my normal 2 glasses of water per station not 1. The first station was excusable but after I learned that I lost no time on Elliott I should have relaxed more and taken the extra water! Heck I should have taken two even if I knew I lost a little time because I would have had an easier time on the top. I blew the A-frame station big time. Either they were not ready for me or I was not paying attention. I somehow passed the water and ended up at the Gatorade. Despite warning many people over the years not to drink it I did and I paid! They just make it too darn concentrated in this race. Within minutes I felt things locking up in my gut and I could almost feel the water leaving my body to dilute the Gatorade in my stomach. An amateur mistake that almost cost me! I should have jogged back down and around the switch-back and gotten the water! Finally I should have been keeping a least some track of my time on the way up. A lousy 30 seconds less would have been an age-group record and I was just killing time the final 2 miles because after seeing Elliott 4 mins back with 2 to go I just did not care about anything but finishing. Flip side however: picking up the pace may have been enough to kill my chances on day two. I was really hung up on having to run the next day and just did not want to push it! In hindsight I had plenty of room on day two so this sorta hurts.
* Marathon during. OK — we need to skip all the way to the A-frame where the exact same thing happened again! I just need to get this into my head: the aid station is NOT at the A-frame at switch-back #15 but instead it is at switch-back #11. It comes up fast and the volunteers are not ready. This time I asked a volunteer to bring up a water from around the switch-back while I put some of the gatorsoup in my bottle. I had no concept of where Mackey was however so I got antsy and left before the water got to me. Then of course I had to wait to get water at the basin. At the top while running around the turnaround I was making comments on how nice and smooth it was instead of thinking of my race and getting my water bottle filled. Again this is amateur! This is a race and not a site seeing tour! As a result I had to wait yet again to the basin for more water. Also I should have given Larry about 4 gels. They are light and I was going to need them! Then around the A-frame I was feeling great so decided to cast my water bottle aside after I finished it. I should have kept that bottle with me the whole way because I was going to be needing it as well. Still feeling good I also blew through the Barr Camp aid station without stopping — what was I thinking? Well I was just running scared. After spending most of the race thinking I was not going to make it up, let along down, I suddenly (after seeing the gap to 2nd) realized that this was doable and just started making stupid decisions. As a result I was running on fumes from basically Bob’s road to the end. Oddly I never felt hot but afterwards learning that we hit the mid 90s a lot of my (and others) suffering made sense! That could have been really bad...
*Marathon after: Even at the end I was not done being stupid. I should have tried to jog a little after the race instead of just stopping. This cost me the most as far as my recovery goes. However I just cream puffed out and laid down and as a result made things worse on myself. It has been years since I stopped that fast after a hard effort. A five minute cooldown may have prevented a lot of my problems!
Comments on Calculator if Used: I did not touch the calculator for the races despite of course believing in it 100%. Again I was running for place and not time. However it is interesting to note what I got when I plugged my Marathon Ascent time into the calculator AFTER the race. In fact in some ways this shows the power of the calculator more than when people are adjusting their pace to meet the calc’s splits. Again I was going strictly by effort and here are the results:
Calc Me Ruxton 3:10 2:46 Hydro 9:05 8:53 Ws 28:57 29:13 NN 42:12 43:13 7.8 57:11 57:49 BC 1:13:11 1:13:27 BP 1:23:50 1:23:57 AF 1:42:34 1:42:56 2 1:56:58 1:56:49 1 2:09:13 2:08:52 top 2:24:03 2:24:03
Note the negative splits to the top! The calc said I should have run 1:10:52 for my second half for a 2:24:03 and I ran a 1:10:36 which was right at 3 minutes faster than my BC time. I don’t care what anyone says — this race should be run with negative splits! Of course to do that you must train at altitude AND not go out too hard! As it turned out I was over a minute behind calc splits at No Name but it seemed to pay off later getting to the A frame in the so called “death zone” where I was within seconds. It also helps if you learn how to pick your line and run through, over and around rocks! I did not check my Ascent day only splits since my pace was controlled by Elliott for 1/4 of the race. Suffice it to say we did NOT run negative splits;-)
Any Other Stuff: Way to go Incline Club! Another 10 top 10s and that was with 5 of our top tens from last year not doing the race and another one not finishing the race! We also got another three 11th place finishes!
Name: William (Bill) Parker
Ascent Goal: 4 hours
Ascent Result: 717 145/217 WILLIAM D PARKER 39 COLO SPGS CO 4:25:57
General Summary: Would have liked to have been faster, but, did not train enough this year. 1st time
Things Done Right: Water/food stops were appropriate
Things Done Wrong: Training...need to get out with the Icers more often
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff: Awesome day, great crowd of runners, transportation off the mountain was good.
Name: Bev Zimmermann
Ascent Goal: sub 3:00 (2:58-ish)
Ascent Result: PR by 1 min 12 sec
3 3/104 BEVERLY M ZIMMERMANN 37 MONUMENT CO 2:53:10
General Summary: I was thrilled with the way the race went. My strategy was to run conservatively to Barr Camp and then hit it as hard as I could to the top. I was already 2 minutes ahead at the W’s so I intentionally slowed down to reach French Creek on schedule. I picked up 3 minutes to Barr Camp, but I was still feeling good. After that I ran as hard as I could and had my best splits ever to A-Frame and then to the top. I really mentally focused on those sections and went into “attack” mode, which helped a lot to keep the momentum especially going through the rough sections.
Things Done Right: I concentrated on looking ahead and running as straight a line as possible through the rocks between Barr Camp and A-Frame (and above). I didn’t try to follow the clearest path but the straightest one (even if it meant stepping up over rocks). That helped me immensely by not wasting the energy caused by “weaving” and to keep focused on the trail ahead (instead of at my feet). I also ate 3 GUs (instead of my usual 2) which helped to keep my energy level more constant (I took the extra one sooner, at French Creek instead of waiting until Barr Camp).
Things Done Wrong: I could have used more longer runs and a stronger base. I missed 5 months during the winter/early spring with a stress fracture, so I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my fitness level. Considering that, I was pleasantly surprised to run so well this year and I attribute that to pacing and mental focus.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I did an in-depth analysis using the calculator based on my goal for this year and my previous races. I decided to go out at a 2:50 — 2:54 pace (based on the calculator splits) to Barr Camp, with the assumption that I would probably slow down considerably on the last half. As it turns out, I got to Barr Camp at a 2:47 calculator pace and I was within a minute for each of the splits to A-Frame and the Summit based on my actual time of 2:53. If I had run the bottom half slower I still don’t think I would have run much faster on top. Based on my racing and training times I still can’t run the calculator splits after Barr Camp, but I’m definitely getting closer!
Name: Neal Oseland
Double Goal: 2:59:59 or faster Ascent Saturday/ 5:00 Marathon Sunday
Double Result:
110 20/181 NEAL W OSELAND 32 COLO SPGS CO 3:17:54
50 7/63 NEAL W OSELAND 32 COLO SPGS CO 3:25:41 2:02:37 5:28:18
General Summary: I thought my goals were realistic based on my Incline Club training, BTMR result and track workouts. Obviously, I’m not as fast as I think I am. I ran pretty close to the pace I planned to run and it felt bad the whole way. I maintained it for half the race and then slowed. The marathon was different. I changed my original plan of 5 hours to just going how I feel. I felt good the whole way up and actually enjoyed it unlike Saturday. I cramped some in the heat on the way down, but Tom K. gave me some salt and it worked itself out.
Things Done Right: Great taper-cut back miles but not quality. Hydrated well all week.
Things Done Wrong: Thought I was faster than I really was and set what turned out to be an unrealistic goal.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I used it but it didn’t really come in to play with the races I had.
Any Other Stuff: I’m satisfied that I did the double in a respectable time. Although they weren’t the times I was shooting for, I really don’t think I could have done a whole lot better.
Name: Steve Sargeant
Marathon Goal: 1) Finish, 2) 6:30 RT, 3) 4:00 ascent, 4) top 200 finish
Marathon Result: 157 15/31 STEVE C SARGEANT 29 COLO SPGS CO 3:58:24 2:23:31 6:21:55
General Summary: As soon as I walked out the door of my apartment I knew it was going to be really hot. I was one minute fast at Hydro Street but from there to Bottomless Pit, all of my splits were right on for a 3:45 ascent. I was one minute slow at A-frame and traffic was hard to pass due to a couple of pig-headed jerks who were essentially blocking the trail for themselves. I lost four minutes per mile for each of the last three miles but I think that was about right considering the heat, sun and traffic. I couldn’t believe the traffic. I had friends with food (needed), cola (needed), extra clothes (not needed) and a wet washcloth (needed). The washcloth was heavenly. All the salt was washed away and it really helped me feel fresh as I turned around. Walked down to the Fred Barr sign as my legs started to come around. Running down felt really nice until I got a few rocks in my left shoe. I stopped to take them out and my left quad locked up hard. I managed to get my shoe dumped but it took me a minute to get back to pain free walking. A few more minutes later I was running again. I took two wipeouts between A-frame and Bottomless Pit. No injuries but I ripped the hell outta my gloves. The blast furnace from No-Name down was painful. The last mile was murder. The finish was euphoric.
Things Done Right: Trained with the Incline Club starting last December; stuck to the pace chart within reason; asked questions/read/listened to advice in the forum on Skyrunner.com; ignored all the ‘expert’ advice that was given out going up the W’s; used GU; wore a hat and sunglasses; drank like a thirsty camel before, during and after the race; read the 1999 and 2000 Things Done Right and Things Done Wrong stories.
Things Done Wrong: forgot to put on sunscreen but it didn’t really matter.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Great. I think if it hadn’t been so damn hot, I would have been right on for the whole thing. It is sooo hard to go slow enough early in the race after have done training runs at max speed up the W’s. Walking the W’s for a 3:45-4 hour ascent is almost a must.
Any Other Stuff: My race was a complete success and I know I may have run under 6 hours if the weather was more conducive to quick times. Thank you to the entire Incline Club and especially Matt and Yvonne.
Name: Tom Castle
Ascent Goal: Sub 4 hours
Ascent Result: 734 120/181 THOMAS B CASTLE 30 COLO SPGS CO 4:27:54
General Summary: I put myself on the ICer mailing list because I love the Skyrunner web site and I have every intention of running with the IC next year. Even though I’m not an ICer, I thought I would contribute since my Ascent experience taught me a valuable lesson. Frankly, I blew it. Obviously I was extremely disappointed with my finishing time, but my result was due to the things I did before the gun fired; or rather, due to the things I didn’t do before the start of the race. This was my first Ascent and naturally I had butterflies the days before the race. Saturday morning I was very anxious to get started to see all of those months of training come to fruition and I let my nerves interfere with eating properly before the race. I carried the same number of goo packets as for training days, but I didn’t eat enough breakfast before I started and had to use them in the first few miles. I knew that was a bad sign, but I was hoping the goo would get me to Barr camp. I wasn’t so lucky unfortunately, and my blood/sugar level crashed just after the 7.8 mile sign. My eyes glazed over, my legs got shaky, and I was in a cold sweat within just a few minutes. Another runner lent me a goo packet but the damage was already done. I slowed to a fast walk and stumbled into Barr Camp, but I never really got the energy back. If I can take anything good from the experience, it’s that I’m already fired up for next year’s Ascent, because the first half of my race was perfect and I know I trained properly. I can’t wait to start training with the ICers in three months.
Things Done Right: My training was very good for my target time. I didn’t train with the IC because of scheduling conflicts, but I took some valuable tips from the Skyrunner web site and the weekly emails that lead to much better preparation.
Things Done Wrong: Poor pre-race nutrition.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I’d love to know how close I would have been to the actual finishing time if I hadn’t “bonked.” I wrote the split times down and taped them to my watch for the Ascent. I think the calculator was very accurate with a minor exception of the split to the top of the Ws being a bit faster than the calculator suggested, and then giving the minutes back between Barr and A-Frame. I was 10 minutes under the split time (for a 4 hour target) when I reached the 7.8 mile sign. By the time I stumbled into Barr Camp I was 3 minutes under the split. I walked out of Barr camp with handfuls of food and ate until I felt better, but came to the A-Frame 11 minutes over the split. I cringe at thinking I lost 20 minutes in just a couple of miles, but I know it’s true. Overall, I think the calculator was a very good indicator.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Elizabeth Ahola
Ascent Goal: I started out signing up for the Ascent because I work with a bunch of marathoners who were going to do the PPM or PPA and were egging me on. So I figured why not... I signed up for a 4hr ascent.
Ascent Result: 146 37/121 ELIZABETH C AHOLA 42 COLO SPGS CO 4:08:58
General Summary: Way too crowded. I started in the 2nd Wave of the Ascent and from the start to the finish I was passing people. Most of the time it was a struggle to get past people because they weren’t moving over for you. This was especially true at the beginning going up the W’s. Because of this I couldn’t set a good breathing pattern and run my race. I think the only place where it opened up was at the ridge between French Creek and Barr. Had a backpacker above Bottomless Pit with such a big and wide load you couldn’t get past him and he was upset about moving for everyone — so he didn’t. Then there was a lady going through the 16 Golden Stairs and her legs gave out. She couldn’t move. We all sat there pushing her by the rear end up and out of the way. Passing people above the 1mile marker was hard because they would sway one way and then the other way and they weren’t coherent about moving out of the way. When I reached the top, the clock wasn’t working and it was COLD (~30F with wind chill). Went directly to the Sweat Check and then down.
Things Done Right: In June, my running partner and I were doing 5-6 hr Sunday runs and really tearing down muscle. In July, our Sunday runs were all above 10K and about 4-5 hrs. Starting sometime in July we started working out at the top and getting our muscles use to 14K. During the summer we did the Ascent twice for our Sunday runs. The week of the race was spent doing household things and eating well. I carbo loaded for 2 days before the race and drank plenty. At race time, I took a wind jacket, wore my bicycle gloves for protecting hands when tripping/falling, an empty water bottle that I filled at the water stations, and 4 gues. I was debating about the jacket and water bottle. I’m really happy I brought them. The temp above tree line was ~30F and I preferred to drink out of the water bottle vs. a cup when ever I needed it. When I was approaching a water station, I would open the water bottle and have it ready, fill it up quickly and be on my way with little loss of time. One thing that did happen that had never before, was my right thigh started to cramp a bit above A-Frame. I figured it was from the cold and nursed it along. It held in there.
Things Done Wrong: Not exactly related to the Ascent, but I volunteered for the Marathon at the Summit the next day. I didn’t realize that I would be escorting people from ~.5 miles and up because of health problems and carry so much hose from the Cirque. I didn’t carbo load and rest enough the night before for this.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I wrote my splits on my bib the night before and was ready to ROCK. Unfortunately my trusty watch was not. I woke up to find my Ironman a deadman. I quickly grabbed my daughters and was able to figure out how to set the stopwatch. I was right on at the top of the W’s and then come French Creek — it went on the blink. I knew I had to hit Barr in 2 hours and did. I lost 3-4 minutes going up to A because of people not moving over and the congestion around the water stations. Because the Pace Calculator is darn close, I knew I had a battle in front of me. I did. It helped a lot during practice runs. I think it is a very good guide.
Any Other Stuff: What a week leading up to the Ascent. Tuesday before the race my colleague and running partner came into my office declaring he had a cold. Sure enough I woke up Wednesday with a cold. We picked up our race packets and headed to the health food store for Echinacea. I’ve never taken so much Echinacea/Goldenseal and C in my life. I was lucky that it wasn’t a snotty/congestion cold. On Friday I was 50/50 on calling and withdrawing from the race. I rested as much as I could and carbo loaded. I woke up Saturday with little to no sleep but feeling better — so off I went. I had trained for the altitude and the pain — I was ready — except for that cold.....
To regress, I started training for the Ascent in late March. I wasn’t a runner before then and I wasn’t exactly a couch potato, but I never ran more than a mile before. I learned how to train my body, what size shoes to wear, and what foods to eat. I was becoming a runner come rain/shine and snow. It was a slow start and having sea level business trips didn’t help. I started running with the Incline Club and for being a newbie it was very helpful to me. I met someone at work that ran a bit faster than me and hooked up with him. I still read the Emails I would get from Matt to find out what the club was doing and fit it into my schedule. Matt once wrote and asked why I didn’t sign-in on Sundays. I never wrote back — partly from shame. I’m a terrible club member. Sometimes my partner and I would leave earlier or go on a different run, but I could of emailed and signed in that way. To enhance my guilt about being a ghost club member, one day we were doing a 3-2-1 run from the top and the club was doing trail work after their workout. We must of passed everyone 3-4 times. To ease the guilt I volunteered for the Marathon. On an up note — I’m a runner now, I’ve run my first race, and plan to continue working towards my next goal — PPM. I’d like to do the ascent portion in 3.5 hrs. Good luck to all on meeting their goals.
Name: Matt Von Thun
Ascent Goal:
1) Feel good at the finish (ie, not sick, injured, or exhausted)
2) Time of 2:55
Ascent Result: 17 8/217 MATT S VON THUN 35 COLO SPGS CO 2:44:19
General Summary: This is the first year I truly enjoyed the run from start to finish. I exceeded both my goals.
Things Done Right:
* Good Hydration: In the hour before the race, I drank a full water bottle
of Gatorade. During the run I brought my own bottle of Gatorade with me so
that I could drink Gatorade at the rest stops that only had water. I drank
6 to 8 oz of fluid at each of the split locations on Matt’s calculator.
* Fed Myself: I ate a normal sized breakfast at 5 am the morning of the
race and took Power Gels at No Name, Barr Camp, and A frame.
* Good Pacing: I picked a target pace I knew I could run. (I ran a 2:57
during a training run 3 weeks earlier). During the race I stayed at a
“conversational pace,” and kept verifying my effort was under control by
talking to the volunteers and encouraging other runners. I kept my cadence
consistent throughout the run by singing praise and worship songs in my
head. The “singing” also kept me in good spirts.
* Trained at Altitude: I ran at altitude each Saturday in July. Three times
from Elk Park to the top and once from the start line in Manitou to the top.
* Taper: After my bottom to top “Dry Run” three weeks before the race, I cut
back on my mileage by 25% each week until race day.
Things Done Wrong:
* Playing on an Indoor Soccer Team: I played on an indoor soccer team during
April and May. I pulled or twisted something every week and could only train
at about a 60% effort as I tried to heal for next week’s game. In the final
game of the season I sprained my ankle pretty bad, and had to lay off
running for the month of June.
Comments on Calculator if Used: The calculator helped me to stay slow at the start which definitely pays off later. The last three miles were all more than a minute per mile faster than my goal pace.
Goal Actual Diff
Split Cumulative Split Cumulative
Ruxton 04:00 04:00 03:06 03:06 -0:54
Hydro street 07:00 11:00 06:55 10:01 -0:05
Top of W's 25:00 36:00 22:02 32:03 -2:58
No Name Creek 16:00 52:00 14:47 46:50 -1:13
7.5 Summit 18:00 1:10:00 16:40 1:03:30 -1:20
Barr Camp 19:00 1:29:00 19:25 1:22:55 +0:25
Bottomless Pit 13:00 1:42:00 12:43 1:35:38 -0:17
A-Frame 24:00 2:06:00 24:02 1:59:40 +0:02
2 to go 16:30 2:22:30 15:01 2:14:41 -1:29
1 to go 14:53 2:37:23 13:26 2:28:07 -1:27
Finish 18:01 2:55:24 16:08 2:44:15 -1:53
If I put my finish time into the calculator and compare to my actual splits I get the results below. It was interesting for me to see which sections I ran faster (or slower) than the calculator predicted.
Difference between “Actual Time” and M.C. Calculator
My Time Calc Ahead/Behind Ruxton 03:06.0 03:36.8 00:30.8 Hydro street 06:55.2 06:44.6 -00:10.7 Top of W's 22:02.1 22:40.1 00:38.0 No Name Creek 14:46.9 15:06.8 00:19.9 7.5 Summit 16:40.1 17:05.0 00:25.0 Barr Camp 19:25.3 18:14.5 -01:10.8 Bottomless Pit 12:43.2 12:09.3 -00:33.9 3 to go 24:01.9 22:17.6 -01:44.3 2 to go 15:01.3 15:29.3 00:28.0 1 to go 13:26.0 13:58.2 00:32.2 Finish 16:08.1 16:54.7 00:46.6
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Eryn Lonnquist
Ascent Goal: 5:00
Ascent Result: 258 4/9 ERYN A LONNQUIST 19 COLO SPGS CO 4:35:45
General Summary: Definitely the best race I have ever run- there were good moments (finishing) and bad moments (Bottomless Pit to A Frame) but this was the most amazing race I have ever run. I have been training at about a 5 hr pace on Barr every Sunday, so I figured if I aimed for a 4:45 I would leave enough time for the altitude at the top. Well, I was faster than my splits until Bottomless Pit then I was slower than them until 1 to go (when I was 6 minutes slower than my split), then somehow I finished almost 10 minutes faster than I thought I could. Pushing so hard did have a price though- I did need O2 at the top, but the race is over then, so it was worth the pushing. I started in the 2nd wave, and it was very cool when I got above French Creek and started passing more and more men- wow, that’s never happened before. For once I finish in the top 50% of women! Ha ha ha!
Things Done Right: Trained on Barr Trail!!!!!!!! That helped me immensely. Took Gu’s with, ate one every 30 minutes. I drank water like mad the week before the race, so I was very hydrated to begin with then I drank a lot on the trail.
Things Done Wrong: Next year I will eat more food on the trail, I bonked a bit just above Bottomless Pit. I will also get more miles in next summer, I just did not have enough of a base to do as well as I could.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Wonderful. It kept me on pace and also held me back from pushing too hard at the beginning. I wrote my splits on my arm and that worked perfectly.
Any Other Stuff: Hooray for the volunteers! Thanks so much for the course description, Matt. I did not go above Barr at all this summer, but with the course description I knew of the landmarks and about where I was. It helped a huge amount.
Name: Glenn G.
Marathon Goal: Realistic: 5:59 / Hopeful: 5:49
Marathon Result: 66 13/98 GLEN GRAHM 48 LITTLETON CO 3:18:42 2:21:19 5:40:01
General Summary: Most satisfying and inspiring race I have ever run! To run in the PPM with Matt Carpenter on the same day, the same mountain, to try to get as far up the mountain before you KNOW you will see him coming down first, gave me the most incredible “running rush” I have ever experienced. And the same goes for all of the other elite runners who are right up there at the top...they all inspired me to run harder to the top, Jonathon, Rick H., Paul S., Kees, Brett, Conilee, Yvonne, Steve B. you are my heroes. I know grown men aren’t supposed to have heroes...but I still do...in my heart when I am on the trail...I guess I am just a kid again!
Things Done Right: Hydrated the entire week before. Tapered as hard as that was to do... because my old mindset was “running hard up to the race would somehow make me more prepared and give me an edge in the race”; Trained with IC. Listened. Asked for advice. Acted like a “newbie” because I was one. Used Matt C’s calculator for splits and wrote them on my left- and right-hands (two sets, per above hopeful and realistic) and met or beat them going up and down with the exception of two, which is why I didn’t make 5:30); decided to run my own race based upon my own body; The 1-minute hard, 1-minute easy and learning your body, how to listen to it, and understanding lactic acid thresholds most important training technique I learned from the IC; counting your steps every minute from Jonathon (who learned it from Matt C); watching how Matt C., Rick H., Jonathon, Kees, Yvonne, Larry M. run uphills (yes I wasn’t just screwing off when you all passed me each and every Sun, I was watching and learning from you as you went by); Breathing (I call it the “hidden secret”); Listening to Paul S. and his secrets; time at altitude; I followed my body to a tee; Having been up with the 1st group on May 17, when they made a Bee-line and I turned around at about 12,800 feet and had to come off the mountain, through three-foot snow drifts, without water (I didn’t know they had water at Barr Camp), “taught me a very valuable lesson” early in the season about what it feels like being on that mountain 7 hours and 50 minutes later after having run virtually all the way to A-frame and not being well-hydrated (that day will forever live in infamy in my mind)! This race is like a “Strategy/chess game”; This race is one of I believe only two mountains on the continental U.S. with this much elevation gain. The other is Mt Rainer, I believe, and I don’t think they have a trail let alone a race on it (it starts at sea level which accounts for why it matches the elevation gain of the Peak); There are a lot of local and experienced secrets to running this race that no matter how knowledgeable you are in running you still don’t have clue about how to get up AND DOWN this mountain if you haven’t experienced it before, that’s why I list here under things done right “listen” and be “humble,” others can help you if you let them and ask, and as for the mountain, well plain old respect for mother nature and what it can do on top of the Peak...it can literally kill you; my bro gave me a report after he finally got to the top after I had summitted at 3:20 (46 minutes earlier than my prior PR) and said they had carried at least one runner off on a stretcher after having bashed his head onto a rock; Some of the other runners looked pretty scratched up physically at the finish as well; Slept weak during the week, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to the night before (which was true);
Things Done Wrong: Too hot coming down should have taken my shirt off or something like changing shirts on top, which was the plan, (but I blew away my Ascent time by beating my goal by 46 minutes and missed my bro who had my IC lucky shirt for the Descent portion). I seriously believe this would of cut time off the last third of the downhill (BC to finish) which was one of the two splits I missed. The other was the third split, the W’s (this kind of surprised me, even if it was only by about thirty seconds...but I more than made up for it on all of the other spits going up); Probably could of pushed a little harder in the last third to the finish (downhill), but still had the phobia and respect in my mind for the W’s coming down (for the May 17 bad-experience I had had early in the season); I didn’t kill this race at the finish for never having run it before on a race day (after all it took Matt C I believe from ‘87 to ‘93 to fully get the keys in place for his records; Couldn’t sleep the night before (don’t know what the answer is to this one (last time I used sleep aides and almost missed the BTMR start);
Comments on Calculator if Used: Awesome! I had spent literally hours and some calculus trying to figure up some way to calculate how you skew your a normal runner’s splits for three “additional and new” variables that change on the PPM.
One, altitude (which I was calculating a formulae which calculated the density of Oxygen levels based upon the ratios given in the PPM pre- race material website.
Two, elevation gain. Again I was playing with advanced calculus derivative and anti-derivative equations trying to do this one for both the uphill and the downhill portions of the race. I spent hours on this equation of trying to calculate what would be fair for me to use for my splits. I mean, I was ready to go with these ad-hoc calculations based upon other times of runners my age over prior years races and my very rough calculus derived equations for calculated splits. There I was, all ready for race day with what I thought was something no one else had! Ha! Should of known Matt better for anything that had to do with the Peak and the PPM/Ascent races! I had them printed and ready to go.
And three, the above two factors also calculated for a “downhill” AFTER an Ascent.
Then, about two months later in July I stumbled upon Matt’s calculator on one of his web pages....walla! Now as I progressed throughout the season I could play with the calculator and in a matter of seconds, and revise my splits based upon new goals and targets as my training progressed and I improved throughout the summer. No more “hand-job” (no pigmy jokes alright Jonathon) calculations with my rough formulas. And the rough averages for descents. Again, walla! Especially since I had only experienced the downhill twice. The May 17 disaster and the last IC training run where we did a down to the two-mile-to-go marker and up. (Amazing how the mountain looks so different in reverse! So do times!) Anyway, I rough out what I thought was a realistic goal after an Ascent and adjusted for ‘a-race-day-adrenalin-factor (of about 10 percent)’ and came up with 33-35 minute split for both the Summit-to-A-Frame and the A-frame-to-BC thirds of the downhill, and finally a 55- 1 hour limit for the BC-to-finish third of the downhill. Amazing thing was the end results, where my actual downhill was 140 minutes and my total time was 340 minutes and that it was 70% of the uphill (Matt’s statistic’s say the average is about 60% of your uphill). And you know what, my downhill did suck on the average or when compared to the average...which is to say this is about how I feel when I look at it in retrospect...this is where I could of improved the most and the cause would of been tangible (clothing and temperature) and intangible as in a little more effort at the end on my part if I had not been so afraid of what to expect at the end of this RACE (SINCE THIS WAS MY FIRST MARATHON EVER);
Any Other Stuff: If you want to run the PPM just to say you have done it don’t train with the IC. If you want to run the PPM in a race that you want to remember forever as the most memorable race of your life, definitely run with Matt Carpenter and the IC. They will inspire, and make you want to do your best. I mean. you don’t want to be on the same mountain, no matter what your level of ability is, or “gifts” as I call it, without training hard each week. I mean, when you see how hard these folks work and yet have loads of fun at it...it’s contagious! It’s fun and exciting to say you run with a bunch of “crazy” people about something that if you are a runner, you already love to do. I could not find people, around me, who loved running as much as I did. I mean, just the passion of running for running’s sake, nothing else... Well I have now found them. In fact, these people are “nuts” about trail running! You will never go back to road racing and road running.
Word of Caution: It’s addictive when you see Matt C., and the other runners and friends that you will make with the IC group...coming off that mountain, and when you are in the same race, on the same day, feeling the same pain, at the same moment..that in and of itself will get you up and down the Peak in a better time than you have ever run before. If that doesn’t get you high, (and you claim to love to running) then nothing will...
The entire town gets into this race. It’s my first time and I didn’t have any idea what to expect. I mean, I knew it was big, but when I showed up Friday to pick up my bib and take in the entire atmosphere for the weekend I was awestruck. At the dinner and awards ceremony for the Ascent on Sat the night before my big race, the PPM, they had a video of prior PPM’s races. It was like watching the Bronco vs. Green Bay Super Bowl highlights while trying to eat dinner at home. Talk about getting pumped... Try eating a carbo feast while watching that, and having Matt Carpenter sitting right next to you (after just having won the first leg of what was to be the first ever double on the Peak), being around other ICer’s, while you are chowing down... I felt like I had been to a country fair and two country dances!
Name: Dan Temple
Ascent Goal: 3:15
Ascent Result: 106 23/217 DAN E TEMPLE 39 COLO SPGS CO 3:16:54
General Summary: Had a good race — felt really strong up to A-frame. Wasn’t breathing too hard & was still passing people the whole way.
Things Done Right: Paced myself early, rested the last week, carbed up.
Things Done Wrong: Nothing major. I could have started training earlier (I started at the end of March). Maybe a few more training runs at the top.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Calculator was very close for me. I was a little ahead up to Barr camp & got a little behind above A-frame.
Any Other Stuff: Cut 35:31 off of my time from last year. What a difference training with the club made! Thanks again.
Name: Doug Laufer
Double Goal: unclear; guess 3:10 to 3:30 Saturday, 5:00 to 5:30 Sunday.
Double Result:
104 13/165 DOUG LAUFER 48 PALMER LAKE CO 3:16:42
173 27/98 DOUG LAUFER 48 PALMER LAKE CO 3:29:20 3:02:42 6:32:02
General Summary: Saturday pretty good — 1:34 to Barr Camp, bit weak on top (about 5 minutes slower for top 3 miles than “typical” recent years . Sunday did not think I felt too bad before start, 1:36 to Barr Camp, started to fade at Bottomless Pit, 13 minutes slower for ascent, lost 8 of those minutes in last two miles. Nothing there for downhill — kind of out of it mentally; severe back spasms (a first time experience) had impact on breathing; legs fine, relatively speaking — never really used them on downhill. Sunday a PW by over an hour. Finished with backward run in honor of ass backwards training/performance — that got me “Quote of the Day” in the Gazette, excitement, excitement :-(.
Things Done Right: a few, well placed, quality workouts on Barr and other trails (I think Matt’s minute hard, minute easy for 30 minutes can cover a lot of training deficiencies), a fair amount of time at altitude (a night on top of Evans and a full day just reading/working on top of Peak, both race week seemed to help a lot) , very well rested going into weekend (how can you tell it is a taper when you have been on a 6 month taper?), pretty good pacing early on Saturday.
Things Done Wrong: Training mileage at close to “record” low for the year. No speed, little quality work for about a 6 month period. Not exactly the type of prep one should approach a double with. On Sunday probably too focused on staying close to Saturday’s pace, should have known did not have training in bank for that approach — paid big time for that.
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff: Things done right were right for finessing the Peak when not really prepared. If you have built up base over the years apparently you can get away with doing ascent when not really prepared (I do NOT recommend this approach) It foolish to do double without doing (lots) more “homework.”
Name: Eck Z
Ascent Goal: 3:05 to 3:15
Ascent Result: 81 10/165 ECK ZIMMERMANN 49 MONUMENT CO 3:10:46
General Summary: Tried to take it easy up to NNC Ahead of schedule for a 3:05 at the W’s according to calculator (first time I compared times). Purposefully slowed down, reached NNC at 52:5) — still a little fast, Slowed down again and reached Barr Camp in 133:40 — still at a 3:05 pace. By this time my hamstrings were given me problems as expected. Slowed down a little more — too much this time to keep the 3:05 pace. Left A-frame at 2:14+ , I’m down to about a 3:10 pace. Felt good but a little tight. Reached the top in 3:10.48 still feeling pretty good. I think lack of good training in some respect helped not setting my expectations to high but, I sure could feel the lack of a good base with a mile to go.
Things Done Right: Slowed myself down when ahead of schedule. Drank at least a cup at each water station.
Things Done Wrong: Still to fast at the bottom. Calculator: In general it is a good guide. Where it seems to be off is between Barr and Timberline. The rougher terrain is not well accounted for. I believe the time here is 4-6% to fast.
Name: J.D. VanLancker
Marathon Goal: 6:00
Marathon Result: 237 38/75 JOSEPH D VAN LANCKER 36 COLO SPGS CO 3:57:11 2:55:07 6:52:18
General Summary: hot, blood, twisted ankle, mean lady at entrance/exit to 16 golden stairs, awesome & numerous volunteers, amazing feat by Matt C.
Things Done Right: good self-pacing, good hydration
Things Done Wrong: started behind the Arkansas folks and had to expend much NRG up Ruxton getting by them
Comments on Calculator if Used: n/a
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Tom Kelecy
Double Goal (Ascent): Primary — complete the Ascent towards completing the Double Secondary — Finish the Ascent in around 3 hours or less
Double Result (Ascent): 45 4/165 THOMAS M KELECY 45 MONUMENT CO 3:01:22
General Summary: Planned to go out at a “comfortable” pace, which I did. This came with the cost of running amongst and pass a lot of slower people early on. Once I was above No Name Creek this it became less of a problem. The warmer temperature that day were somewhat offset as I gained altitude. Drank at all of the aid stations and ate 3 GU. Lost a little focus towards the top, but still finished not too far off of my 3 hour goal. Almost got calve cramps after finishing. Got down off of the Peak as soon as I could to prepare for the Marathon the next day (eat, drink, sleep, pee, eat, drink, sleep, pee, etc.).
Things Done Right: The Sunday endurance training with the IC club was key to the preparation, as was the shorter/faster Thursday workouts. Made sure to rest well the week before, but included some very light runs during the week leading up to the race (30 minutes or less; nothing the day before — don’t overdo it!). I think those helped keep me tuned. Thanks to recommendations I read in previous “
Things Done Wrong:” I made sure to drink 1-2 cups of water or Gatorade at every aid station. Also ate 3 GUs on the way up: the first at No Name Creek, the second at Barr Camp, and the third at A-Frame. Had a reasonable goal, and stuck close to my pace, especially early on (started slow, and passed a lot of people). Knowing what is “reasonable” requires you have a good idea of your conditioning and potential. Again, the club workouts provided those.
Things Done Wrong: Missed finishing under 3 hours by just a little over a minute, so I can’t think of too much that went wrong. I stopped looking at my watch the last 2-3 miles to focus on the running. I was ahead of my predicted splits until then, so if I had seen I was starting to fall behind I might have been motivated to push myself a little harder. My calves were on the verge of cramping after finishing the Ascent. Didn’t do any bottom to top ascents in training. I now believe that at least a couple of these are necessary to get the legs (calves in particular) conditioned for that persistent climbing.
Comments on Calculator if Used: It was extremely useful for both planning, as well as during the race. I used the calculator to monitor my pace based on a 3 hour Ascent. My plan was to stay ahead of this, which I did up until the last 2 miles. In all, I stayed within 3-4 minutes of the pace predicted by the calculator - pretty accurate in my case.
Location Split Total My Split My Tot Diff Start 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0.00 Ruxton 0:03:58 0:03:58 0:03:21 0:03:21 -0:37 Hydro St. 0:07:23 0:11:21 0:07:12 0:10:33 -0:48 Top of W's 0:24:50 0:36:11 0:23:57 0:34:30 -1.41 No Name Creek 0:16:34 0:52:45 0:16:08 0:50:38 -2.07 7.8 Summit 0:18:43 1:11:28 0:17:56 1:08:34 -2.52 Barr Camp 0:19:59 1:31:27 0:19:52 1:28:26 -3.01 Bottomless Pit 0:13:19 1:44:46 0:13:24 1:41:50 -2.56 A-frame 0:23:24 2:08:10 0:23:10 2:05:00 -3.10 2 to go 0:18:00 2:26:10 0:20:12 2:25:12 -0:58 1 to go 0:15:18 2:41:28 0:16:32 2:41:44 0:16 Finish 0:18:32 3:00:00 0:19:38 3:01:22 1:22
Any Other Stuff: Though I tried to go out on the Ascent without thinking of having to do the Marathon the next day, it sticks in the back of your mind. I think if I were to focus on only the Ascent, a sub 3 hour time would be achievable. Training and race strategy would need to be appropriately adjusted I feel it IS different if you are planning on doing either the Double or just the Marathon. Doing the Double requires a little more of an “ultra running” mentality in terms of race strategy, training, and mental and physical maintenance.
####
Name: Tom Kelecy
Double Goal (Marathon): Primary — complete the Marathon towards completing the Double
Secondary — Finish the Marathon in around 5 hours or less
Double Result (Marathon): 45 10/98 THOMAS M KELECY 45 MONUMENT CO 3:25:43 1:59:44 5:25:27
General Summary: After completing the Ascent the previous day, I rested, rehydrated, and ate as much as I could (including a lot of salt). My legs recovered fairly well, though the chronic hamstring problem I have battle all year was sore, and so had me a little worried about being able to finish. As a result, I rescoped my goals to just finish the race. I started off even further back, and at a slower pace, than the day before in the Ascent. It seemed more crowded, and warmer. I kept splits at the key points, but did not follow a planned pace, instead choosing to go based on how I felt. The further along I got, the better and stronger I felt. I reached the top in around 3:26 feeling good. I new before starting that I probably wouldn’t be able to make a sub 5 hour finish, but set myself a new goal to try and finish in under 5:30. The run down was a good one for me, I felt very strong, and was able to cut loose after the 16 golden stairs. I had to stop once to re-tie my shoes which I felt were too loose for the long downhill run, and another time to give some salt to a runner who was having problems with leg cramps. The bottom 3-4 miles were a little hellish with the heat, to say the least. I think they should have left the Hydro St. aid station set up for the return. All in all, the ultra-running experience and mentality paid off: patience, good (smart) pacing, mental and physical maintenance: eating and drinking, and convincing yourself that your body will come through for you if you push it a little. Or a lot, as the case might be.
Things Done Right: Got off the mountain as soon as possible after the Ascent the previous day, and started rehydrating right away. As soon as I got home, I sat in a tub filled with cold water and a couple of bags worth of ice. Snacked, rested, ate dinner, rested, snacked again, and rested some more. I made sure to take in enough salt, during the regeneration, knowing it would be hot the next day. As with the Ascent, I drank at least 2 cups of water or Gatorade at each aid station. I also (again) ate 3 GUs on the trip up: the first at No Name Creek, the second at Barr Camp, and the third at A-Frame. Also at some peanut butter and cheese crackers at the top, and two more GUs on the trip down: one below A-frame, and the other at No Name Creek. Resetting of goals “on-the-fly” worked very well in motivating myself to go harder, and helped my finish under 5:30.
Things Done Wrong: Given my pacing plan, and rescoping of my goals, and how things turned out, I can’t think of anything here to be unhappy about.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I did not use splits from the calculator, as I decided to just run based on how I felt. I did, however, again take my splits at all of the key locations. Upon comparing them with the predicted splits from the computer based on my time to the top (2:26), all of my splits for the ascent portion ended up being within 1-2 minutes or less! On the predicted downhill and Marathon finish times however, I ended up being over 10 minutes faster.
Location Split Total My Split My Tot Diff Start 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00 Ruxton 0:04:32 0:04:32 0:03:57 0:03:57 -0:35 Hydro St. 0:08:26 0:12:58 0:07:50 0:11:47 -1:11 Top of W's 0:28:23 0:41:21 0:29:19 0:41:06 -0:15 No Name Creek 0:18:56 1:00:17 0:19:09 1:00:15 -0:2 7.8 Summit 0:21:24 1:21:41 0:19:37 1:19:52 -1:49 Barr Camp 0:22:50 1:44:31 0:23:03 1:42:55 -1:36 Bottomless Pit 0:15:13 1:59:44 0:15:32 1:58:27 -1:17 A-frame 0:26:45 2:26:29 0:27:39 2:26:06 -0:23 2 to go 0:20:34 2:47:03 0:20:55 2:47:01 -0:02 1 to go 0:17:29 3:04:32 0:16:31 3:03:32 -1:00 Finish 0:21:12 3:25:44 0:22:12 3:25:44 0:00 Descent Time 2:09:12 1:59:05 -10:07 Marathon Finish 5:34:56 5:24:49 -10:07
Any Other Stuff: I am happy that I was able to finish the Double. If I combine my Ascent time from the day before (3:01:22), and my actual descent time from the Marathon (1:59:43), I might have finished the Marathon in around 5 hours if that were the only race I had run. This may be my goal for next year, unless I develop an allergic reaction to GU between now and then.
Name: Yvonne Carpenter
Marathon Goal: PPM under 5:30 with the ascent leg under 3:30
Marathon Result: 10 4/33 YVONNE F CARPENTER 36 MANITOU SPGS CO 3:33:35 1:54:56 5:28:31
General Summary:
Things Done Right: Used the calculator, did not carry any water on the way up, but drank a lot and ate a GU (carried my own) at every aid station (2 to 3 glasses of water), grabbed a bottle of Gatorade at the top with MikeF’s wife (thanks!) and drank from it the whole way down refilling with water at BC, did not twist my ankle, did not fall, covered my heels and big toe with moleskin BEFORE the race, did not quit — specially going down when it got hot as hell (the thought crossed my mind several times)
Things Done Wrong: Tried to stay within a 3:15 and 3:30 calculator split range and that proved to be too large of a range, I blew up by the BPSign trying to stick to the 3:15 splits (dumb as a door I guess...) and had the slowest splits EVER for the last 3 miles, did not put moleskin around my little toes (I got blood blisters under my nails!), slowed down too much on the last 6 miles — my pinkie toes were killing me (DaveS will probably be the only one that will completely relate to this and have any sympathy whatsoever :-) I know I am getting none from JonathanC!)
Comments on Calculator if Used: Using a wide split range proved to be dangerous. I would pick a particular split or a much smaller range next time — I should have picked the 3:25-3:30 splits range. I guess I got greedy and was expecting a miracle!
Any Other Stuff: I was surprised that the trail did not feel crowded at all and everyone was very good about letting you pass or moving out of the way on my way down. I only had one hard passing spot when trying to pass BrendaW on the way down half a mile from the top and misjudged her speed — I thought she was going slow because of the guy ahead of her — when he pulled over to let us by I thought she was going to speed up or move over but she did neither and I almost ran her over since I could not stop. Sorry Brenda, I just wanted to go faster than you at that moment and that was a race after all!
Name: Timothy Edwards
Double Goal: Finish as a Doubler with no significant injury. Get off the mountain early enough to catch a plane.
Double Result: Set three new PR’s (for my slowest times ever).
702 143/234 TIMOTHY M EDWARDS 44 WOODLAND PARK CO 4:23:11
314 79/114 TIMOTHY M EDWARDS 44 WOODLAND PARK CO 4:45:13 2:43:18 7:28:31
General Summary: I was LUCKY to attend — was expecting to be away from Colorado on business at race time.
I had been running every day all year until July 4, then lost faith (thinking I would be absent) and stopped training.
On Aug 1, I was given the opportunity to change my travel plans and run America’s Mountain after all.
ASCENT
My legs started cramping early on, then provided severe cramping after mile
10. I entertained some other runners by showing-off a muscle spasm in my
right quad, as if to say “Hey, you think YOU feel bad — look at MY MUSCLE
trying to JUMP OUT of my skin”.
MARATHON
Was happy to be there. Took it easy to prevent injury. The Announcer
pointed me out as a Doubler. Thanks for cheering me on, IC friends on
Ruxton! Felt good to run full pace across the finish line, completing my
third consecutive Double.
Things Done Right: Signed-up early on.
Things Done Wrong: Lost faith, quit running long distances.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Did not use (had no idea what goal to set with ill preparation).
Any Other Stuff: Fully intend to compete as a Doubler in 2002, though I now know how difficult the contest can be with improper physical preparation...
Name: Mat Eastlack
Ascent Goal: 3:10:00
Ascent Result: 93 14/181 MATHEW C EASTLACK 34 COLO SPGS CO 3:12:39
General Summary: Overall, I was happy with my race. I improved my time by 17:00 over last year. I tried to conserve early although I was 2 to 3 minutes ahead of splits all the way to Barr Camp. I felt the best that I ever have to Barr Camp. Lost some time at 2 to go due to calf cramping, but recovered the last 3/4 of a mile and finished strong.
Things Done Right: 1) Ran with Incline Club and learned so much about the mountain and my running. 2) High altitude runs, without them It would have been ugly. 3) Took a Camelback full of Gatorade, ate 1.5 bars and 1.5 gels and drank water at aid stations. 4) Conserved energy early, forced myself to walk some steeps. 5) Wrote down splits, carried them with me. 6) Realistic goal, I wanted to set my goal for 3:00:00, but based on my splits on the Elk Park runs and BTMR I selected a more realistic goal. I would have blown up at a 3:00:00 pace. Next year I’ll go for 3:00:00.
Things Done Wrong: 1) Didn’t start running with ICer’s until late April. 2) If I would have stuck to the splits better, (2 to 3 min. ahead) I think I might have had more energy up top.
Comments on Calculator: The Calculator really helped me to conserve early in the race. It is very hard to control your adrenaline when racing and having the splits written down so I could look at them really helped. I did not do that last year and it made a major difference.
Any Other Stuff: Thanks to all the ICer’s, you are a wacky, fun, and inspirational group.
Name: Michelle Stoll
Marathon Goal: 6:00 - 6:20
Marathon Result: 73 6/17 MICHELLE M STOLL 28 COLO SPGS CO 3:57:21 3:02:08 6:59:29
General Summary: Highly disappointing run for me. The heat didn’t do me in, nor the altitude (though I did have never-before-experienced transitory feelings of dizziness between 2-to-go and the summit). I summitted 20 minutes faster than last year, and felt confident I’d make the harder side of my goal. About 2 miles down my left ankle folded in a sickening manner. Despair! I made my way down to the aid station below A-Frame to get the ankle wrapped. They also gave me some Advil. I continued to walk to about .25 miles from Barr Camp and decided to jog/run the remainder of the course. As miserable and crestfallen as I felt, my new focus was to end the ordeal and get the heck off the mountain!
Things Done Right: Hydrated well on the ascent portion (in fact I ran out of water w/ 8 miles remaining ... oops). Ate more than last year — had 2 GUs on the way up, one at the summit, ate 2 handfuls of grapes at each location that offered them, and ate 2 pieces of Power Bar. After rolling the ankle my race was over so I didn’t eat anything else after that.
Things Done Wrong: Woefully klutzy move on twisting the ankle. Ran a marathon 3 weeks prior (could have done w/o the fatigue and injury). Didn’t train w/ IC _again_ this year — will I ever learn?!
Comments on Calculator if Used: forgot to write split times for a 3:55 ascent on my bib. I did remember that I should have reached BC at 1:59; I was there in 1:56.
Any Other Stuff: Disappointment is a huge motivator. I can’t wait until next year for another chance to make my goal. See you all at next season’s IC workouts!
Name: Diane M. Cahalan
Ascent Goal: 4:40
Ascent Result: 305 73/121 DIANE M CAHALAN 43 COLO SPGS CO 4:48:31
General Summary: Good day, fluid in motion
Things Done Right: Pre-stretching, maintaining cadence and speed throughout all Ascent miles.
Things Done Wrong:
Comments on Calculator if Used: Helped as I printed out goals and pinned to bib for reference during race.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Robin Thompson
Marathon Goal: Originally 8hrs, revised to survival after an injury immobilized me for the month of June.
Marathon Result: 149 29/33 ROBIN L THOMPSON 35 COLO SPGS CO 5:32:16 2:59:05 8:31:21
General Summary: Wow, this is sooo much fun! I had a great time. After realizing I was not going to set a new land speed record, I relaxed and had fun. This was my first marathon and I’m still riding the endorphin wave! I took it easy on the Ascent. It was my slowest by far. I wanted to be certain I had enough in me for the way down. I let loose on the descent & had a blast.
Things Done Right: Paced myself behind some really nice guys from Arkansas on the way up.
Things Done Wrong: Got too intimidated to actual train with the IC this year.
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff: Looking forward to actually training with ICers. Next year I’m going to do more than survive, plus the IC sports bras are super cool.
Name: Fred Wright
Ascent Goal: As close UNDER four hours as possible.
Ascent Result: 552 2/11 FRED R WRIGHT 66 MANITOU SPRING CO 4:05:57
General Summary: Things went great through Bob’s Road, on schedule for 3:50 — 3:55 and feeling good. Lost a bit between Barr C. and A.A., but still feeling good with time in hand. Things fell apart between 2m. to go and the finish, and I was never so pleased to see the “Golden Stairs” sign! Lacking endurance!
Things Done Right: Carrying a Tyvek jacket to put on near the top.
Things Done Wrong: No prior runs from bottom to top. Choosing easier Sunday w/o’s instead of going for the tough ones. Not doing some flat land Intervals in the last three months.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Didn’t use it.
Any Other Stuff: This is my first year as a trail runner, and it was a very positive experience. I’m in awe of the capabilities of my club mates, their encouragement and enthusiasm was great. Roll on November!
Name: Kees Guijt
Ascent Goal: 2:35
Ascent Result: 10 5/217 CORNELIS GUIJT 35 COLO SPGS CO 2:35:53
General Summary: I actually had 2 goals, #1 to win the triple crown, #2 (sorta hoped for) place in top 10, but I was afraid that this year would be a faster race (and it was)
Things Done Right: Listened (...at least most of the time) to some guy who seems to know how to run this mountain any day (or two in a row). Training wise I felt tired ever since the Barr Trail race. I did worry about it, but actually I decreased my training to feel better first. I started to feel better the two weeks leading up to the race, guess that part worked. I also spent much more time high on the mountain, which made me worried about the overall time since I hadn’t run that since 24 June. Patience and confidence are two things you need to do this, and maybe this year I started to learn how to get both. I brought a little bit of water since it is too hard for me to drink 2 cups at an aid station. This way I could drink the second “cup” in between the aid stations and refill at the aid stations. Did a very short warm up and just some walking. Went out what felt like a normal Sunday run (although that was almost exactly at 2:35 pace!). Didn’t worry about being no. 50 or so at the start of the trail. It is good to hear heavy breathing around, or when I was passing people, since that means I wasn’t breathing hard at all! If you get to Barr Camp feeling like “OK when is the race going to start” you are in good shape. Going out slow gives the additional benefit that I pretty much only passed people after the W’s and was never passed except for the final sprint by somebody I had passed around the 16 GS.
Things Done Wrong: Maybe went too slow and had too much left at the end... However, I definitely didn’t want to die, and thought that 2:35 was enough to reach my goal and pushing my own limits. Afterwards I felt like an early season Sunday run, nothing of this sick race feeling. Don’t know if that is wrong or not... I guess it is wrong since I lost the triple crown by a few minutes... However, at this stage and before the race I would have taken a 2:35 any day. There is always room for improvement, who knows.
Comments on Calculator if Used: THE Calculator works!!! Use the splits rather than the overall time, don’t try to make up a minute in a single split, just try to go back to the original pace instead.
Calc Actual
Ruxton 3:25 2:45
Hydro 6:21 6:18
W's 21:20 21:14
No Name 14:10 14:52
7.8 sign 16:00 15:11
Barr camp 17:10 17:42
Bot. Pit 11:20 11:17
A frame 20:00 21:02
2 togo 15:30 16:31
1 togo 13:10 13:07
Top 15:50 15:54
Any Other Stuff: Thanks Yvonne for keeping an eye on Matt, thanks Matt for keeping an eye on us! The training was fun, the company was good, but it was also so good to sleep-in this Sunday morning for the first time in 9 months! It will be good to get going again in November for a snowy run on a cool trail, and may Longs Ranch road be gone!
Name: Valerie Prothe
Ascent Goal: 3:45
Ascent Result: 100 23/104 VALERIE J PROTHE 37 COLO SPGS CO 3:54:04
General Summary: I messed up.
First off, I still didn’t get the whole spitting thing down (sorry Dr. Rocket) and had another ugly incident early in the race that sort of set the mood for the remainder of my trek.
Second, I wore the wrong shoes. My foot fell asleep by Barr Camp... ok, how stupid am I?
Third, it seemed like the trail was more crowded this year and a select few that were jerks about letting one pass. I had to get down right pushy about passing some of my fellow contestants (and after the spitting incident, I wasn’t a very intimidating force). As a result, I spent too much time looking for places to pass and not enough time paying attention to where I was on the trail between splits (i.e. I had only counted 7 switch backs from the bottomless pit sign to the A-Frame...oh, oops) and thus messed up my pacing. I arrived at most of my splits 30-60s too early as I would push thinking I was further down the trail. So, as predicted, by the understanding Mr. Carpenter (who would never make a negative example of me), the last 3 miles were pretty much a death march pour moi. And to add to the fun, by 2 to go, my foot that had fallen asleep at BC had pretty much moved up my entire leg. The right leg’s only purpose now was to keep the symmetry and perhaps to aid in propping me up while the other leg did the work.
I was happy yet sad to see the finish line. Happy it was over, but disappointed with my time. Ah well, my fault.
On the other hand, I did get some comic relief from the fellow hikers (see the “Any Other Stuff” section)
Things Done Right: High altitude training, brought water and gels, drank often and ate 6 gels.
Things Done Wrong: Went out too fast, didn’t train enough on the lower half of Barr Trail, wore wrong shoes, stressed too much about passing.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Have a strong belief in the almighty pace calculator, missed the splits due to the heavy traffic on the trail (arriving too early). I paid dearly on the last 3 miles.
Any Other Stuff: (this is an off color section): (I know this one’s been done, but it’s the first time it’s happened to me...) One gentleman whom I was trying to pass, said he couldn’t move over anymore and I responded, “I’ll be happy with 4 inches.” to which he responded, “Where were you when I was single?!”
Another gentleman asked me about the gel that I was eating (as he had never tried one), and we discussed the consistency, how bad the taste can be, getting it to the back, swallowing quickly, etc....I won’t go into the exact conversation, but I was met with a shrill, “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?” by an astonished woman, nearby, to which I proudly held up my gel packet!
So, since this is the SECOND time I’ve innocently offended others with the gel topic, perhaps it’s time to call in a professional. For next year, I need to ask Dr. Rocket:
What is the politically correct way to describe quickly ingesting a gel due to the bad taste AND not offending any nearby listeners?
Name: Robin Fontenot (Robin F)
Marathon Goal: Finish significantly better than last year (153 37/115 R.E.F. 40 3:42:44 6:08:19)
Marathon Result: 135 37/114 ROBIN E FONTENOT 41 USAFA CO 3:46:38 2:25:36 6:12:14
General Summary: Same shit, different day. I felt much better prepared this year, but the results were virtually identical. I feel that the heat served as the equalizer between the 2 years. I had intended to keep a steady jog from the flats to the peak. I ran too fast on the flats and had no energy to keep jogging around BP. I hiked BP to top. Coming down I flew to BC, but the heat took over on the flats and my progress slowed to a crawl. I recognized the possibility of heat exhaustion and began to think water conservation. Drank at water stations and left my camelback for the distances between. In the end, I am happy to have made it to the finish intact.
Things Done Right: Training. Even though I did not make significant improvement, I feel in better shape than last year. Food and fluid management was much better. Pre-race, I ate and hydrated better the week before. I slowed water intake the day before to cut down on pee breaks during the race. I also did NOT drink coffee the morning of the race, as I had done last year. During the race, I carried 3 gels and 1 peak bar. I paced them well, but ditched the Peak Bar at BC. I wished I had another gel shortly thereafter.
Things Done Wrong: Did not take advantage of the calculator. Hauled ass on the flats on the ascent. I should have kept it moderately paced conserving my energy for later.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I should have used it.
Any Other Stuff: Carried gloves to the top for the trip down. Last year I met the mountain twice on the descent. This year, no abrupt introductions with solid earth.
Name: Jonathan C
Marathon Goal: 2:35-2:40 Ascent / 4:00-4:15 Marathon
Marathon Result: 4 1/31 JONATHAN CAVNER 27 MANITOU SPGS CO 2:39:14 1:31:17 4:10:31
General Summary: I am feeling good about the race. It was a positive experience in tough conditions, and the ascent portion felt much better than last year. Started out with what felt like a very slow pace. 2:55 at Ruxton put me at about 50th + place, and 9:22 at Hydro was good for 25th place. Started passing tons of people when the hill began in earnest. I was surprised to reach the Top of the W’s at 30 minutes flat. This is when I caught Jesse Rickert. I ran with him in the BTMR only to be passed at the end. We stayed together from this point on to the end of the race. I started to notice someone shadowing us at No Name. This person ended up being Senovia (Leo) Torres. He ran with us until the 2 to go sign.
I was even more surprised to hit the 7.8 summit at 1:00 flat and Barr Camp at 17:00 flat. I reached Barr Camp with very little effort and feeling good, but ready for my two cups of Gatorade. (It would be nice if there was another aid station here.) Ran a little harder to A-Frame and was again surprised with an all time record and actually hitting the calculator split of 32 minutes(1:49:14 from start). I have always been slow here.
It seems dehydration caught up with me and my splits slowed from here on. This was probably mostly due to the record high temps. I heard it was 75 degrees on the summit. 2 to go split was 18:04 (2:07:19), 1 to go was 14:14 (2:21:34), and the top was 17:40 for a 2:39:14 ascent. Leo passed Jesse and I at the 2 to go sign. He dashed ahead for a minute and then slowed getting to the summit about a minute before us.
At the turnaround Jesse thanked me for pacing him so well. He was very pleased with the sub-2:40 ascent. At this point he said that if we were together at the bottom he would not pass me, since he drafted off me in this race and the BTMR. The truth is I don’t know if I would have been as fast without him pushing me from behind.
The descent was tough. Above treeline things went well. However somehow I missed the A-Frame aid station on the way down. I swear I never even saw it. I had just taken a GU and was in serious need of some water to wash it down. I lost Jesse behind me here until almost Barr Camp. Turns out he had some quad cramping. I also had some calf during this section. I immediately stopped, worked it out and continued. I was dying of dehydration by the time I got to Barr Camp. I gulped down my two cups and continued. The uphills were torturous on the way back and it seemed I was in a delirium from Barr Camp on. I was so happy to get to the other two aid station, and was completely dismayed when I reached the point where the first aid station had been dismantled. I was in serious need of something liquid. However, we still pushed it in hard to the finish, and Jesse made no attempt to pass. I thought for a second to offer a tie but didn’t act on it.
We ran through the finish one second a part. I immediately walked to a bed and collapsed. 1:31:17 was our descent time good for a 4:10:31 marathon and 4th place.
Things Done Right: Completely committed to my training runs(club runs). My main focus this year was running so I could run my next quality workout HARD. Not pushing the downhills on Sunday was a definite help. (Thanks Matt.)
Took GU and 2 cups of Gatorade at every aid station on the way up.
Ran relatively easy to Barr Camp.
Ran bottom to the top 8 times this year compared to 1 last year. Also did 4 Elk Park to the summit runs compared to 0 last year.
Track workouts on Tuesday helped increase leg speed and lactic acid threshold.
Things Done Wrong: At the second aid station I didn’t finish both cups of Gatorade. On the way down I blew through the aid station between the 1 to go and the 2 to go signs. I just drank a little while running. I somehow missed the A-Frame aid station on the way down. BIG MISTAKE!!
Next year I will have a water bottle at the top waiting for me.
I couldn’t go fast on the way down due to cramping. I’m thinking of Electrolyte tablets for next year.
I felt like I needed more quality work from Barr Camp to the top. (I only had 2 Sundays this year.)
Camping at Barr Camp some would be good to.
Comments on Calculator if Used: It was grrrrrreat! I was right on until treeline, but still had a good race.
Any Other Stuff: A big thank you to the whole Incline Club for their support and friendship.
Special thanks to Matt C. for allowing me to bug him with all my running questions and for all his time giving to the club and the sport. The BTMR website has got to be the best race website ever!
Another BIG THANK YOU to Rick H. for supplying us with water at the track workouts. I remember many times when I was dieing of thirst and I’d just reach in for a cold one. You can always count on Rick.
Thanks to Jesse Rickert for his push during the races and for his great sportsmanship. Best of luck next year!
Thanks to Lindsay R. for her love and support during my first real training season.
Name: Randy Lindsey
Marathon Goal: 3:30/5:30 ascent/finish
Marathon Result: 87 17/98 RANDY LINDSEY 48 COLO SPGS CO 3:25:53 2:25:11 5:51:04
General Summary: Felt great to the summit, if hypoxic. Last half of the descent had stomach problems and painful quads and feet, which slowed me down by 20 minutes or so.
Things Done Right:
* Trained with the Incline Club which gave me a better base than ever
before.
* Hydrated early and often, taking 2 cups of water at every aid station on
the ascent (and most of the descent) and walking or stopping to drink.
Dehydration wasn’t nearly the problem for me that it was for others.
* Trained in intense heat and humidity while in Japan, so at least the heat
of marathon day didn’t bother me (but see Wrong things below).
* Conservative early pace let me maintain even effort to the top. I was
really focused this year, especially above Barr Camp. After holding back to
the No Name water stop, I began passing people from there to the top. Many
who passed me on the lower half came back to me above treeline.
* Positive attitude, encouraging other runners, making jokes (not
universally appreciated, I suppose). This fed back to me in the last half
of the descent when I was feeling bad and others recognized me and
encouraged me.
* Concentrated on lifting my feet over obstacles and never tripped on the
descent. Two people fell while right next to me (none serious)...was I a
jinx? Maybe they were looking at my incline shirt.
Things Done Wrong:
* Too much gel (Carbboom) early on (used 4 up to A-frame), if that caused
the stomach problems. Or else not enough salt? Too much Gatorade? I dunno
but I’d like to find out.
* Spent a month at sea level prior to the race, returning 4 days before the
race, so altitude was more troubling than usual.
* Lost muscle conditioning while traveling, especially in the calves
(ascent) and quads (descent). My quads burned from the moment I turned
around, but got better as I relaxed and let myself stride through rather
than holding back.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Right on! I didn’t consciously pace myself by it, but watched it throughout the ascent. I paced myself primarily by heart rate. But once I settled into a heart rate about 14 beats below tempo runs on the W’s, yet still on a 3:30 ascent pace, I was stoked and maintained that heart rate throughout the ascent. I got a few minutes ahead of the 3:30 pace early on, and it matched closely all the way through. I carried a copy of both the 3:30 and 4:00 ascent splits because I had no idea how I’d perform at altitude after a month at sea level.
Any Other Stuff: I figure I lost 20 minutes on the descent due to the digestive problems. Should have let myself throw up around Barr Camp (entertain the volunteers) and might have been able to resume a decent pace after that. As it was, I let it go about halfway down the W’s and felt much better. Thanks to Mike F. for setting a nice pace up the W’s. It really helped me to follow someone I trusted, and ease my inclination to go out too fast. Enjoyed watching Yvonne C. stalk another woman above Barr Camp for a while, but didn’t stick around to watch her pass (she did, though). Until my stomach kicked in I tried to stay with Tom K. on the descent, which was challenging and definitely got me going faster. I didn’t realize at the time he was on the second leg (3rd leg?) of a double which explains why he was even in sight. Thanks to Dave S. for his smiles and encouragement as we came screaming down the mountain. He tried to take a picture of Tom K. but missed him, so turned and caught me from a distance of about 2 feet closing at 90 mph. I’m sure it’s a great photo. I must say I was impressed by the zombie crowd lower down the mountain, and really glad I was descending. Nobody finished for a full minute ahead of me, so I got full attention from the announcer and the crowd on Ruxton. It felt really good, and I found I could pump up the crowd a little by punching my fist in the air, so hey, why not?
Name: Sue Lloyd
Ascent Goal: 4:00
Ascent Result: 205 17/62 SUSAN E LLOYD 45 LITTLETON CO 4:23:06
General Summary: This was my 9th ascent/marathon experience and it hurt the most. I did what I have known not to do for years; went out too fast.
Things Done Right: Lots of trail running (6-9K ft) and road cycling all summer. sports drink (diluted endurox) in my water bottle, had enough food (even if I couldn’t get it down), wore the right clothes (paper jacket and gloves came in handy near the top), wore my heart rate monitor.
Things Done Wrong: Not enough high altitude training. As mentioned, went out too fast. Even though I had the splits written on my arm I didn’t stick to them. I was minutes ahead at top of Ws, NN and Barr Camp. Then I began to crash (surprise!). Two minutes down at A-frame, TWELVE minutes down at 2 to go (I felt horrible), 20 down at one to go. Had a resurgence of energy in the last mile (or I was just totally out of touch with my body by then) and had a pretty good last mile. I felt so sick during the race that I could only eat 1/2 a gel, a tiny piece of a cliff bar and a couple of ritz bits...not enough.
Comments on Calculator if Used: It’s great! I write my split goals on my arm for easy reference. Now I just need to follow them! Other: I wish I could conquer the stomach demons. Will I ever do this race again? I’m not sure. I have been using it for a training goal for almost 10 years, but feeling so sick has gotten pretty old.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Rick Hessek
Marathon Goal: 4:20
Marathon Result: 6 2/75 RICK M HESSEK 35 COLO SPGS CO 2:50:52 1:40:51 4:31:43
General Summary: Was 5 minutes slower up/overall than last year but not necessarily from the hot day. Ran without seeing anybody from top of the w’s to just above Barr Camp when I passed one person. Would have pushed me harder on the way up if I had someone around my pace.
Things Done Right: Paced myself well from the start. Once I hit the hill at Hydro St. only one person passed me.
Things Done Wrong: Not that I necessarily did anything wrong but my calves started to cramp about 200 feet before the top. Then had cramps on and off all the way down. Was well hydrated I thought because I did carry a hand held water bottle all the way up and down until the cirque aid station. Felt like I wasn’t running downhill smoothly carry the water bottle that’s why I tossed it at the cirque aid station.
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Connilee Walter
Marathon Goal:
1 — 3:10 Ascent
2 — Sub 5 hour Round Trip
3 — Keep all blood and skin intact and NOT be the Incline Club poster child this year (see last year’s file pic — “Incline Club — Yeah, we’re different”)
Marathon Result:
1 — 3:13 Ascent
2 — 5:05 Round Trip
3 — Lost less blood and skin, but still got a write up in the Gazette about
my ‘coffee mug sized blister’
3 1/17 CONNILEE S WALTER 28 COLO SPGS CO 3:13:28 1:51:44 5:05:12
General Summary:
Things Done Right: Trained hard (followed IC protocol for all Thursday and Sunday workouts plus+++), tapered hard (if you don’t believe in a good taper, similar to the one MattC described in his “R” report, you are selling all your hard work in training very very short), raced hard, now it’s recover hard; Built a base from November to June, then raced more and trained less (than last year) from June to August. As a result, I set a PR every workout and race all summer because I was not over-trained and exhausted like last summer. Also did not sustain any injuries (as with last summer); Brought my own gels, gloves, and pace chart, took two cups of water at every aid station (i.e. did not carry a water bottle) — added a cup of Gatorade to that above Barr Camp; Practiced downhill running this year (in short spurts) and tried various things in training to prevent blisters; Focused and worked very hard ALL YEAR — in the end this was what counterbalanced the stupid things I did (see things done wrong) and I still ran a PR; ran a Tuesday track workout that helped my leg speed and recovery; Got sick of KeithG talking trash so I learned to talk trash back and be mentally tough in racing and training; Read and followed my own and other runners’ “R” reports from previous years, there is a lot to be learned; Consistently ran speed/tempo 1-2X/week through the winter with AnneMarie “bad influence” W; Most importantly, ran my own race and finished strong, even after a bad fall at Hydro Street.
Things Done Wrong: LarryM this one’s for you-I spent most of Saturday on top of the Peak watching ICers finish the Ascent. Stayed until my husband finished after the 2:00 cut off time — too much time in thin air the day before the race; Had a stomach virus for two weeks before the race but did not listen to my body and did not try to do anything about it until, you guessed it, Saturday night, too late; I really thought I had the bottom of the foot blister thing figured out. In the BTMR I used duct tape and it kept a blister from forming. In training and then on the Peak I switched to moleskin since it seemed to stick better and not come loose when my foot got sweaty. I was wrong, ended up with a significant blister that still has me hobbling and more importantly it significantly slowed my downhill time, in retrospect it may have been the socks I wore; stopped taking gels or eating after A-frame (on the way up) — my stomach was queasy and I was very afraid of hurling and losing all hydration — of course maybe this was smart as I did not ever throw up and then it REALLY might have been bad.
Comments on Calculator if Used: As usual (for me), I could not hang with the Bottomless Pit to A frame or the 1 mile splits. In general, the calculator is invaluable in training and racing both the BTMR and the Peak.
Any Other Stuff: I am disappointed I did not make my sub 5 hour goal, and embarrassingly, that is largely because of my DOWNHILL time (I was actually second woman to the top of the mountain and then got passed going down). In fact I did not make any of my goals, since I also took a nasty spill above Hydro Street just a mile from the finish. Nonetheless, I was pretty darn close and am glad to have set a PR and taken third.
Name: Gordon Barnett
Ascent Goal: First Ascent attempt to beat 4 hours
Ascent Result: I didn’t really beat my goal... just kinda slapped it =:p
494 70/165 GORDON J BARNETT 46 COLO SPGS CO 3:59:06
General Summary: I heard the horror stories about being in the Second Wave, some of which came true! As Larry M told me after the ascent, “...well at least next year you won’t have to worry about it.”
Things Done Right: Trained consistently with the Incline Club. Worked on strength and endurance, built a solid base. Concentrated on keeping a consistent pace and cadence. Felt strong. Easy breathing, sometimes wondered if I was going hard enough (check the splits and chant the mantra). Hydrated often with diluted Gatorade Propel and water. Carried raisins and Gu. Long sleeve I/C club shirt tied around my waist. I went out easy over the first four miles, the Ws were crowded but I was able to keep a steady pace. Matt’s words were repeated as my mantra, “The best bet here is just to relax and get through it. There is plenty of wider trail up ahead before Barr Camp to do your passing”. Started passing first wave ‘runners’ at Bob’s Road. Had splits for Top of the Ws, No Name, Barr Camp, and A-frame written on my arm using a black Sharpie. Kept a steady 3:40:00 (or slightly better) pace until above A-Frame (2.5 to go).
Things Done Wrong: Waited too long to start eating (Barr Camp 1:49). Took a 3 minute “break” to put on long sleeves, hydrate and eat at A-Frame. Hit what looked like I-25 on a Friday afternoon,
a solid line of walkers inching their way along above tree line. My steady cadence STOPPED! Tried to go around, or pass which proved difficult and energy-zapping over boulders and loose stuff, climbing around people for no real gain. Had one gentleman actually push me as I brushed passed after calling out “on your left” three times to no avail. Next season — now knowing what to expect — I’d like a better effort training above tree line. The aid/water station at A-frame threw me, I wasn’t ready for it as is was below where I was expecting it to be.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I loved the calculator! As I mentioned, I had splits written on my arm, a glance every so often help prove and confirm I was at the right pace. I was at a 3:40:00 pace or better at all splits until just above A-frame.
Any Other Stuff: The Incline Club helped me immensely. Guidance inspiration and insight from Matt and Yvonne C, Fred W, Rick H, Larry M, Tom and Laura K, Glen A, and Steve S was invaluable. Steve S actually didn’t offer any insight, he just kept me smiling on the long runs. The IC club training runs kept me going, the support and camaraderie I discovered with other ICers was what kept me coming back — over 36 weeks and 57 workouts. And... we’ve got the coolest shirts on any trail - anywhere!
Name: Judy Bell
Ascent Goal: 5 hrs and/or finish feeling good
Ascent Result: 406 94/121 JUDY E BELL 41 PARKER CO 5:22:38
General Summary: Felt great all the way up & at the finish. Had a good time at the race, despite being a little disappointed in myself. The race was too crowded, had a hard time getting by people before French Creek & during the last 2 miles, especially when people walk side-by-side.
Things Done Right: Used a HRM, Hammergel, hiked the mtn twice & felt familiar with the mtn, did some altitude training, was well hydrated & rested for race-day.
Things Done Wrong: Started training too late, afraid to push myself on race-day, goal unrealistic?
Comments on Calculator if Used: I was able to accomplish the times in my training, but not on race day.
Any Other Stuff: Congratulations to everyone that did the race!
Name: Milton Lane
Double Goal: First time Double — Ascent less than 6 hrs; Marathon less than 9.5 hrs
Double Result:
1153 163/165 MILTON B LANE 48 LOMA LINDA CA 6:17:56
Marathon — 6:48 to turnaround, missed cutoff
General Summary: Extremely disappointed with results this year. Last year ran 6:08 ascent in marathon even after not running for 1 ½ months before race because of right knee problems. I expected to be around 5:30 on the ascent on the first day, since I had gotten in what I though were some good training the previous two months, with good long back-to-back runs on the weekend and also wouldn’t have to deal with getting out of the way of the 700+ downhill runners. But my legs were not as strong as expected on that first day, even though my chest was strong and responded well to my “turbo breathing” which I use since I don’t train at altitude. I tried to follow the advice of not going out too fast the first half (like my slow speeds would be considered fast). And it seemed to help at the top, with faster times this year the last 4 miles, even with the weak feeling legs, although my overall time was slower this year. The Marathon started out with lead in the legs and no energy for the first mile. Then I felt energized and the legs felt stronger than the day before all the rest of the way up. I was able to run a lot more places than day one. By mile 5 I was only 2 seconds off the pace of the day before and at mile 8 was still only 6 seconds off the day before. At 5 miles to go Matt goes flying by and it is hard to comprehend that he is now 10 miles ahead of me. As more and more runners start coming down it gets slower and slower and I also realize that even though my legs feel stronger my upper body doesn’t have the energy to maintain and push the “turbo breathing”. I get out of sync with having to stop for runners and then my time starts falling beyond a pace to meet the cutoff. I also noticed the Ascent had the feeling of being much more crowded than the Marathon for the first three miles. There is nothing that sucks worse than riding down in the loser van on the second day full of those who didn’t make the cutoff and worn out volunteers to miss out on the incredible feeling of that final run down Ruxton avenue to the finish.
Things Done Right:
1) Good training miles and taper before races.
2) Got a lot of recovery drink down the first 30 min after ascent.
3) 10 hrs of sleep between races including nap.
4) Got several good recovery meals between races.
5) Hot tub plus massage of legs and lower back.
6)Carried water bottle and drank plenty of water and Gatorade at stops and ate grapes.
Things Done Wrong:
1) Thought I could attempt the Double when the year before I barely finished just the marathon.
2) Living and training at about 800 ft. altitude with negligible hills.
3) Didn’t cross train to try to counteract lack of speed training from not being able to push the knee or left shin.
4) Should have changed my strategy on day two and pushed my
self as hard as I could go the first 8 miles during the Marathon since the
last four miles get so bogged down from having to get out of the way of
downhill runners. At my already relative slow speed you can’t go easy at
bottom and also be slowed by downhill runners and still expect to make the
cutoff.
5) Should have warmed up before the marathon to get the lead out
that was in my legs the first mile.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Didn’t use since I hadn’t done altitude training or memorized the course that well. Just went by mileage markers and last years records. It would be interesting to also see another “Calculator” devised around the mileage markers for those of us who only run the course once a year.
Any Other Stuff: I was very proud of my running partner who has held the Iowa Women’s record for Ascent and the Marathon for about 20 years now. She has run the marathon the last three years with two heart defects that nearly killed her on the mountain 4 years ago. She had open heart surgery the following Feb and then ran the marathon again 3 years ago improving her time by 40+ minutes. She still suffers from problems with Tachycardia where the heart races up over 200+ beat a min and stops pumping. She ran the marathon again last year two weeks after having to be taken to the ER to drug her heart into briefly stopping and picking up the correct rhythm again. She takes “Topral” (sic) which acts as a governor for the heart. She trained well all year and got in a final month of good training doing back-to-back runs on the weekend totaling 40 miles without any problems and attempted the Double again this year 15 years after doing it before. She completed the Ascent the first day but was really fighting the “governor” action of her heart which she describes as her legs going real weak when the heart needs to pump more but the drug won’t let it. Then on Marathon morning it really started acting up and she made the wise choice, after some divine prodding the night before to stop after 1 mile rather than risk a disaster since the day was so hot and she had not recovered well after the ascent. It was probably the hardest choice she has ever had to make in her running career and not achieve her goal. Needless to say I really admire her accomplishments the last 4 years probably as much or more than her flat-lander records from yester-year. But we will be back next year to just do the Marathon and try to achieve an official finish in it again.
Name: Mike Foster
Marathon Goal: 5:45
Marathon Result: 109 4/34 MIKE FOSTER 59 WOODLAND PARK CO 3:48:20 2:09:23 5:57:43
General Summary: Felt fine at 3:30 pace to BC. Drank H2O and GA at each station. Choked down a large Power Gel at BC. Started to fade after BC. Legs started cramping with 1 to go. Myra passed me de-fizzed coke at the summit I had energy but my legs were cramping so bad I couldn’t use it. Crawled down the first 1 1/2 miles in agony. When trail evened out I was able to run with even strides and the cramping subsided for the most part. Still ran a 2:09 descent.
Things Done Right: Trained with IC. (thanks guys and gals for the motivation and company!) First full season of running since 1984. Built a base for next year. Training for downhill went well.
Things Done Wrong: (True Confessions) OVER TRAINED. A victim of youthful enthusiasm, I suspect. Ran my best in May and June. Started to have signs of OT early in July and tried to rest a bit. Obviously not enough. Dug myself a hole I couldn’t climb out of. Once you go over the edge it seems like you need a thorough rest and then rebuild. I found out I couldn’t train like I could 18 years ago. Duh!
Any Other Stuff:Really like Matt’s idea of mixing that darn Gu in a water bottle. Will have to experiment with that. Did some research on cramping. Will post some good websites later on the Forum. Suffice it to say, I believe fatigue and improper preparation caused the cramping (worst of my life!) not dehydration or electrolyte imbalance.
Can old dog learn new trick? New season, new age group, lofty goals, high hopes. IC spirit!
Name: Jennie pierce
Ascent Goal: 3:30
Ascent Result: 11 2/65 JENNIE L PIERCE 29 COLO SPGS CO 3:18:15
General Summary: Overall the race went very well. It was a blast and motivates me more for next year!
Things Done Right: I think the biggest things that I did right were: 1) Worked very hard from about February on. 2) Trained consistently with the club. 3) Listened to a lot of good advice through the season and followed it! 4) Did not carry water with me, but stopped at every station, excluding the first one, and drank two glasses of water. 5) Ran my own race!
Things Done Wrong: I wish I would have had my splits down better after Barr Camp. Needed to hydrate a little better the week before, but was afraid I would have to stop and go to the bathroom.
Comments on Calculator if Used: I probably should have used the calculator before the race.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Dave Sorenson
Marathon Goal:
#1 — To finish before the cutoff, not injure myself to the extent that I
won’t be able to run the race next year, and enjoy whatever happens on this
particular race day.
#2 — To beat my best time for the marathon, which is 8:35. That would be
cool.
#3 — To finish before the awards ceremony starts, and be able to watch all
you fast runners get your awards. That would be really cool.
#4 — To have a picture taken of me on the course, where I have both feet
off the ground at the same time. I probably never get airborne like this,
but if I did, it would be really super cool, and match the picture that my
mind has of myself.
Marathon Result:
524 96/98 DAVID A SORENSON 47 COLO SPGS CO 5:59:11 3:54:32 9:53:43
(Hey, at least I met goal #1 ... and it’s really quick to find my name in
the results, working from the bottom.)
General Summary: Things went fine early in the race. I felt comfortable up to A-Frame. But after that, it was a different ballgame. No energy, seemingly no air, in general felt pretty bad and considered bagging it and turning around at several points. I was encouraged by many other runners to keep going, especially Richard B who was also having a bad day. For the top 2 miles, I made numerous rest stops, sitting on a boulder and deciding what to do. For some reason, I kept trudging up to the top, encouraged greatly by the turn-around volunteers for the last several portions.
When I got to the top and sat down on a rock, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to head back down or take a ride in one of those white vans. I know I didn’t look good at all. Some pictures were taken of me at the top, and I’m positive I broke their camera. Larry M talked with me and told me there was no shame in dropping out, and that others had already dropped out. I wasn’t thinking that clearly and my emotions were pretty raw, but I did decide to head back down.
I’m really not sure why I decided to head down, considering how bad I felt. The oranges did give me a boost of energy, maybe that’s why. This is my 5th consecutive Pikes Peak Marathon. I’ll never be fast, but I’d like to string together 20, 25, or 30 of these things. Maybe that’s why I decided to keep going. Probably the real reason I decided to keep going was that I spent 13 hours driving one of those silly white vans the day before, and I wasn’t ready to spend even another minute in another silly white van.
Nothing real spectacular happened on the way down. I still didn’t have a lot of energy and did lots of alternating between walking and running. I did run (if you can call it that) the last 4 miles or so and finished a few minutes before the cutoff. Amazingly enough, there were still people at the finish line, and some of them were not even related to me. Larry M was glad to see me finish. He said if he had been a medical person at the top of the mountain, he would have pulled me out.
Things Done Right: Yikes, this is a tough one. Ahhh, I finished, and I met some really nice 70 year old runners early in the race from Wisconsin.
Things Done Wrong: I cut back on my training too much during the summer months. In the late spring/early summer timeframe, I started to have some problems with plantar fascitis. The only cure I’ve ever found for this in the past is to stop running, but I didn’t want to do that. So I cut back on training, hoping that I could still maintain enough fitness level to do ok at the marathon. Also, in mid July, I managed to use my fantastic klutziness (something I’ve been blessed with since birth) to trip on the stairs and jam one of my toes really bad. I missed several long runs because of this. So basically, I just didn’t maintain a high enough fitness and endurance level during the summer months.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Didn’t use it.
Any Other Stuff: I’ll be back next year. Hey, I can’t help but improve from this year. Thanks for all the encouragement from others!
Name: Pete Tonsits
Marathon Goal: 3:10 - 3:15 Ascent / 5:00 - 5:15 Roundtrip
Marathon Result: 56 11/75 PETER A TONSITS 39 COLO SPGS CO 3:18:57 2:10:45 5:29:42
General Summary: Although I was slightly off my goal pace on the way up, I felt I ran a very smart and conservative uphill. In 2000 I ran a 3:18:44 uphill. As we got started my splits were just slightly slower than last year, in fact every split was slower until the 1 mile to go sign. Instead of getting on a big downer though I just kept telling myself not to worry about the time, as I felt awesome. Really it was probably one of the three best ascents I can ever remember as far as the way I felt. Finally picked up 14 seconds on the middle mile above timberline and 2:13 on the last mile to put me within just 13 seconds of my 2000 race pace. I was feeling great! I can recall few times when everything seemed so crystal clear in my brain at the summit. I was ready to turn and burn. That’s when things got interesting.
I spent the first few switchbacks on the way down just getting comfortable. Just as I was shifting from 3rd to 4th gear an incredible wave of nausea hit me. It became impossible to focus on the race as my attention all turned inward (no pun intended). I had to pull off the trail near the 2 mile to go sign. Once I got going again I felt O.K. and thought that the one stop might not hurt me too bad. Had things pretty well cranked down to A-Frame. Might have made a mistake here when we hit the aid station. I took a cup of the Gatorade, which I never do, but since I thought I was probably at risk for dehydration I thought it might be a good idea. Wrong! Had to pull off the trail again just after Bottomless Pit. Got back on the throttle again into Barr Camp where even though I didn’t want to take water, I forced myself to do so. Then this little game really got old as I had two pull off the trail twice more between Barr Camp and No Name. I also did not refill my water bottle at Barr Camp and the long haul between Barr and No Name really took its toll as far as dehydration goes. I knew I had to drink at No Name and I did so without any further repercussions. Besides fatigue, I actually felt pretty decent between No Name and the finish.
Things Done Right: Even though this was far from one of my best finishes on the peak, it truly was one of the most satisfying. They say you learn things about yourself in these kinds of races, and the old me might have become very discouraged on the Descent and just folded the tent. The new me kept battling through everything that was going on. I figure I lost 2 minutes, conservatively each time that I stopped but by my unofficial count I kept the damage to just 14 lost positions from the summit to the finish. The body (stomach) was weak but the mind was strong. Other things done right: Running my own race, not worrying about where other runners were and not getting caught up in slower than planned splits.
Things Done Wrong: Taking that Gatorade at A-Frame on the way down, not refilling water bottle at Barr Camp.
Any Other Stuff: Figured if I got through 16 Golden Stairs before seeing Connilee, I might have a shot at catching her on the downhill, so I was excited to see her not all that far from the Summit, then I was toast. Next year Connilee, next year.
Name: Bill Ransom
Marathon Goal: Finish the PPM with 3:30 ascent, 5:30 round trip
Marathon Result: 235 45/98 BILL RANSOM 45 COLO SPGS CO 4:16:03 2:35:50 6:51:53
General Summary: Well, what can I say... Things didn’t work out real well. First off, I started getting leg cramps at the top of the W’s and the cramps became progressively worse. (Couldn’t have been the heat ‘cause I’ve spent the last five years running in Phoenix and let me tell you folks, 94 degrees at the finishline ain’t nothin’.) Then my sore toe started killing me at Barr Camp.
Things Done Right: Showed up for the race. Finished the race. Didn’t trip and fall ‘cause I was going so dang S L O W. Those are about the only positives from my pathetic performance.
Things Done Wrong: Leg cramps? What in the heck happened here? Had plenty of water, Gatorade, snacks and gels (since I wasn’t doing a whole lot of running). The toe thing, I understand — it was on borrowed time.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Gave up on the calculator with the arrival of the leg cramps. But, the Ruxton split was dead on.
Any Other Stuff: Well, my podiatrist says I’m grounded for the next couple of months with the bad toe. (Guess I’ll see if I can remember how to bike and swim.) Damn! I’m getting old and stuff’s just crapping out. What’s next? (So that’s how it feels to get old, huh Larry? ...just kidding, Larry!) Maybe I’ll have my toe cloned and replaced during the off season.
Name: Tim A
Marathon Goal:
Marathon Result: 69 16/114 TIMOTHY D ALLISON 40 COLO SPGS CO 3:13:59 2:27:47 5:41:46
General Summary:
Things Done Right: Got out of bed at the right time, met Jack at the top. Stayed well within myself on the ascent portion, so that I passed a fair number at the top two miles. Forced myself to drink 2-3 cups at each water stop, walked the water stops. By walking large portion of the descent, I was fairly fresh the next day. Helped a guy who hurt his ankle badly.
Things Done Wrong: Came down with some weird congestive disorder that left me too nauseous to drink properly, ended up having to sit at Barr Camp for over 10 minutes getting my digestive track in order- watched Yvonne go by. Left town for most of the summer, and so had very few long runs.
Comments on Calculator if Used:
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Howard (H) Brooks
Ascent Goal: Survival with minimal suffering during and after
Ascent Result: 395 77/234 HOWARD BROOKS 42 COLO SPGS CO 3:50:08
General Summary: The Ascent is the most fun race anywhere. This was four years in a row, and I was serious about a PR back in April/May when I actually showed up for some club runs. Life overcame training, and I almost didn’t do the race this year because I knew my time would bite! I did not run more than 50 miles total for two months prior to the race — talk about tapered and rested! Duh.
Things Done Right: Took a quart of Gatorade diluted by 10%, did not stop at rest stations, just poured water over my head, maintained a positive and happy ‘tude.
Things Done Wrong: Rock climbing is a very poor substitute for putting in hours on the trail! Make time for training!!!
Comments on Calculator if Used: Didn’t wear a watch, REALLY listened to my body.
Any Other Stuff: The members of the Incline Club are exceptional athletes! I am glad to know you. What positive energy! What a great leader Matt is (don’t anyone tell him, lest it go to his head).
Name: Kim Geiger
Marathon Goal: 4:00 up, ? down
Marathon Result: 406 91/114 KIM D GEIGER 40 COLO SPGS CO 4:48:53 3:25:13 8:14:06
General Summary: This was lots harder than I anticipated. The downhill was particularly hard because my knees aren’t the best. I had to walk and stop a lot on the downhill because of my knees.
Things Done Right: Had a good time and finished.
Things Done Wrong: I went camping/hiking on Little Bear/Blanca/Ellingwood 10 days before the race. I thought camping at 11500 would help with the race, but I ended up getting a blister the size of a quarter on my heel. Because of that I did almost nothing the week before the race. I also realized I didn’t train enough at higher altitude.
Comments on Calculator if Used: It worked and I was on pace at Barr camp, but lost significant time after that, probably because I never trained above Barr camp.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Laura Kelecy
Marathon Goal: Initially it was 5:30, but then I got caught up in the excitement so it changed to 5:00 or so
Marathon Result: 9 3/33 LAURA I LANDES-KELECY 38 COLO SPGS CO 3:15:52 2:10:58 5:26:50
General Summary: I’m glad I did the marathon. It was a neat experience. It was also harder than I thought it was going to be (not that I didn’t think it was going to be REALLY tough). During training, I was pretty strong on the uphills, never too good at the top 3 miles and I run downhill very conservatively, I’m a chicken, so my goal was a bit ambitious for me. I reached the summit in 3rd, I was 2nd until about 1 1/2 miles to go when Connilee blazed by me, so that was exciting for a while. On the downhill I decided I’d be VERY happy with a top 10 finish and I finished 9th. Whew! (also 3rd in the Triple Crown.) I learned that I’m not good in races in which I need to eat. I ate 2 Gu’s and drank Gatorade at every aid station, but I guess that can only get you so far. Experience is a good teacher. It’s a kick knowing a lot of runners and it helps immensely to hear people cheering for you!
Things Done Right: Did more IC workouts than last year, the Thursday nights really helped mentally and physically. Wore a hat during the race, had a good taper week, ate and drank properly pre-race, enjoyed the journey!
Things Done Wrong: Didn’t train to eat during the race.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Wrote my splits on a piece of paper and pinned it to the pouch on front of my water bottle carrier. Was pretty close to the splits until A frame. Again, I think my 3 hour Ascent goal was too fast.
Any Other Stuff: I went to the Peak Busters meeting the Thursday night before race weekend and it was okay. I was expecting it to be a little more motivational, but I had never been to one so decided to try it once — got some great socks out of the deal. Doing the marathon was an adventure, one I’m glad I had, but will I do it again? I don’t think so. That’s not my strength. I think I’ll concentrate on the Ascent for next year. Congratulations to everyone who ran in either or both races! It is awesome to have such a great group to go through “labor” with.
Name: Mari Shirazi
Ascent Goal: None
Ascent Result: 5 2/82 MARIKO SHIRAZI 33 LOUISIVILLE CO 3:00:44
General Summary: I decided to run the Ascent the week before the race. I had not been running much this summer due to nagging injuries and travel. But I had just returned from an 8-day backpacking trip in Idaho, and felt pretty strong from that, so thought what the heck. Consequently, I had no goals for the race — just figured I’d start and see how I felt and run from there. I did however hope that I could run close to my previous ascent time of 3:10ish (also my ascent time in the marathon).
Things Done Right:
1) Relaxed attitude. I hadn’t really place any pressure
on myself, I just went out to have fun and see how I could do. I think how
this affected my race most was that I let everybody push me in the Main
Street Rush. My legs were not ready for it and normally I would have held
back, but I figured I had nothing to lose, if I went too hard and paid for
it later, so what. And it was really be nice not be stuck behind a lot of
people and have to pass them.
2) Good leg strength from humping a 50 — 60 lb pack around for 8 days (July 31 — Aug 7).
3) No running the week before the race.
4) Did not carry water, drank at all aid stations except the first (because I didn’t want to get stuck behind people).
5) Ate one gu for breakfast before the race and one during the race at French Camp (?). I wonder if one more would have helped around A-frame, but I didn’t feel like eating.
Things Done Wrong:
1) Almost zero time at high altitude this summer.
2) Not much running, probably 20 — 30 miles a week through July, and only once
in the 3 weeks before the race (this was a race, see next item).
3) Ran the “Bridger Ridge Run” Aug 11, in Bozeman Montana. 20 miles, about 5000 ft
ascent, 7000 ft descent. But this wasn’t really all that bad, because parts
of it weren’t runnable anyway due to STEEP grades (up and down) and sketchy
trail conditions (narrow, rocky, no trail in parts).
Comments on Calculator if Used: I haven’t ever used the calculator, but looked at it on my return.
Calc Me Barr Camp 1:31:4 ~ 1:30 2 to go 2:26:4 ~ 2:20 Finish 3:00:44 3:00:44
Evidently, I went too fast from Barr Camp until 2 to go, and too slow from 2 to go to the top. I always get a headache around 2 to go and have to start walking parts.
Any Other Stuff: Next time I would like to try training with the calculator.
Name: Larry M
After an Elk Park run on Sunday the 26th Matt talked me in to writing my R report. Or is that a V report for Volunteer? In short I worked on top of the mountain for two days, about 9 hours on Saturday and 8 more on Sunday.
Saturday: the Ascent. Well it all started off at 4am! Coffee, a lot of it, and off I drive to Manitou to find a parking space. You would think at 4:30 in the morning you’d find one but no way — too many volunteers. Nobody carpools. I finally found one on the bypass road. I then walked down and found the finish line people. It was almost cold this morning so I knew that the top would be as well. After a couple dozen doughnuts we left for the top. We were one of the first vans to get to the gate and it was great to see that the gate was open. Back to sleep — one of the only times I can sleep on the way up. It didn’t last long because at about the 16 mile mark on the hwy we came up on a neon spot in the sky out east. It was unbelievable and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Until now I had believed in UFOs but this changes my mind! Then somebody woke me up and it was the sun coming up though the smoke, yes, smoke, from all the fires in the west. The air had to be really bad for all of the runners and walkers as they came up but I couldn’t stop them now.
Once on top we moved all the finish line gear in place and got most of the poles up but ended up leaving the finish banner down because it was too windy. I got my bucket and shovel and went running down the trail at 6:45 and in less than 3 minutes I hit ICE all over the trail 1-2” deep. I started breaking it up and it seemed much better then. Did the same thing around the Fred Barr sign and even further down but at least the sun was hitting that section. On the run back up I stopped to fill in some rocky areas that were washed out by the Wednesday and Thursday storms. It was close to 9 am, Matt should be coming up the mountain soon so I ran to the finish area and got my job all ready which is basically to sit on the “soft” rocks on top on Pikes Peak for 6.5 hours pushing a button.
It was about time Matt showed up in 2:16:13. All clocks had the same time and it looked like they were all working except for the overhead clock which picked today not to want to work. I was sitting next to Pat L and Bill B who were doing the input to the computer. It didn’t seem like they were having trouble and everything was going OK except for some of the runners kept trying to pass each other after the finish line but Bill G took care of that. After 1739 clicks on the 737 timer and with the time limit expiring we started closing down. Ropes taken down, clock loaded and finish banner about to be taken down but we had one little hold up so it stayed up for 30 more minutes with no timing. Bill G did good this year just writing the number of the people that came up after the cut off. First time in a long time they did that.
Sunday: the Marathon. I got to stay down in Manitou till after the start so I got to see Matt all ready to go for his double. It was much warmer this morning — it was going to be a long hot day! The start went off ok and off I went to the car and up the mountain with a new pass and again there was this blinding sun in my eyes every time I went east. This kept slowing me down but I still got to the top in 49:55! A good time and I beat Matt’s record AND I didn’t roll my car.
When I got out of my car I was expecting it to be cold but it was warm up there too and that is when I knew for sure it was going to be bad for the runners! At 2:24 into the run Matt shows up and what did he do for the first time that I know of? He ran around the turn around! Of course he said something like “hey that’s a nice turnaround” and off he went down the mountain after stopping to pick up his dropped GU. We got off the mountain just in time for the awards. There was a bunch of people on the north east corner that were real loud and all had on INCLINE CLUB SHIRTS! WAY TOO GO INCLINER’S!!!!
PS on the way down a lady had her brakes read at 829! Mine read 139:-)
Name: Brian W. Jones
Marathon Goal: 8:00 Hours
Marathon Result: 488 67/75 BRIAN W JONES 35 DALLAS TX 5:25:28 3:51:30 9:16:58
General Summary: Very, Very upset with my time. Trained very hard for one year in Dallas running what I call a steep hill (1/2 mile Uphill and Down). I was well informed as to what to expect (thanks to all the great articles from Matt Carpenter and the Incline Club). The articles were awesome. I thought it was much harder to run downhill. Legs were worn out. I kept twisting my ankles. Looking forward to next years race.
Things Done Right: Hydrated Well, Well Fueled, Spent 12 hours at the summit 2 days before the race. Watched Matt Carpenter win the Ascent. What an Animal he is!!
Things Done Wrong: Never seen a mountain before. 11% average Incline (My Ass). Try 24%!! Never ran on a trail. Run 5-6 road marathons per year. Should have ran ALOT of Bleachers. Hard to train for Pikes Peak down in Texas. Carried extra shirt for up at the summit. I did not need it.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Worked great. Was on track for 4:30 Ascent until I hit A-Frame, then the wheels fell off.
Any Other Stuff:
Name: Jamie M
Marathon Goal: 4:15 Ascent, < 7 hours roundtrip
Marathon Result: 346 17/34 JAMIE L MC MILLIN 57 COLO SPGS CO 4:20:44 3:23:57 7:44:41
General Summary: Since we moved to the Springs in August of 1999, running the Pikes Peak Marathon has been my primary running goal. It has consumed my life for two plus years. In 2000 I completed my first; this year, my second. Next year? I’m going flat! I swear. Sign me up for the 2002 American Discovery Trail Marathon. Why? While this year, particularly, I had trained to be in the best shape of my life, i.e. life after 16 years of age, the mountain was still much stronger than me. Last year, I OD’d on grapes — threw them all up coming down just past French Creek. This year, I was done in by cold water at A-Frame on the descent. Before that I was on pace for under 7 hours, my goal. After throwing up for the second time, I took a pretty good tumble, and then developed a muscle cramp in my stomach that was so severe that I couldn’t run for those last 6, hot, dusty miles from Barr Camp( -1 mile) to home plate. I was able to brag that I finished with an IV in my arm, just like Matt :-). Anyway, I didn’t want to send this email until I was over the initial “never do it again” feeling that I had last year and again had this year immediately after receiving my finisher medal. I waited until I was sure. Take it to the bank. No more PPM for this dude.
Things Done Right: HRM, IC training, pacing. Felt comfortable until started seeing negative images just before I threw up near summit.
Things Done Wrong: Drank too much cold water a A-Frame on the way down - the aid station guy was bragging on how cold it was and I bought in — it was wonderful. Didn’t sit well at all on weak stomach having been liberated of my gatorade and GU at the Fred Barr sign going up.
Comments on Calculator if Used: Used it as a guideline. Works. Heart rate monitor and ignoring other runners were secret to steady ascent, though.
Any Other Stuff: I am awed by the strength, both mental and physical, displayed by my fellow IC’ers. Good luck next year. I’ll be driving the van again, but none of the other stuff. :-)
Name: Steve B
Marathon Goal:
Marathon Result: 144 21/98 STEVE BREMNER 46 COLO SPGS CO 4:06:44 2:10:19 6:17:03
General Summary: I ran the marathon with Laila my wife of at the time one day! We got married on top of Mt Princeton on Saturday — the final mtn I was able to complete in the adventure race, Nolan’s 14. This is a race across fourteen 14ers in the Sawatch Range. Princeton was number eleven. Four runners finished this year within the 60-hour cutoff for the first time anyone has completed the course. I was with them through two mountains (I was first on top of Massive and 2nd up Elbert) but when I ran out of water an hour before the summit of Elbert I knew I was in trouble. Then though I tried to hydrate before La Plata I ran out of water AGAIN on the way up that mtn. I was desperate and even resorted to asking return climbers for water — no luck. Once you get depleted there is no chance. I halfheartedly went up Huron but had to retreat to Winfield and just plain rest. Next day was a new sunlit day and I was ready to bag more 14ers so I knocked off the next six in 24 hours, took two hours sleep then went up Princeton for the storybook marriage. What a day!
I had told Laila that if I wasn’t injured after Nolans that I would run the marathon with her the following day. My legs felt fine so I had no excuses. I had a great time going up, though Laila had problems in the last three miles. Once we turned around we made good progress though. The last three miles Laila was killing me though. I could barely hang with her as she worked to pass as many women as she could. She wound up 2nd in her age group though she ran half an hour slower than last year.
Things Done Right: We ran together for a wonderful honeymoon.
Things Done Wrong: I have no complaints.
Any Other Stuff: I am just happy to have found a companion for life who would be willing to do this race with me on her honeymoon to boot!!
Name: Brad S
Ascent Goal: 4-5 hours
Ascent Result: 695 45/102 BRAD A SUTTON 50 COLO SPGS CO 4:22:27
General Summary: After living in Colo Spgs for 25 years, I finally did the Ascent. Something I’ve always wanted to do. It took my older brother from Ohio to talk me into doing it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to go for it again next year. We were in the 2nd wave. My brother walked most of the ascent and I spent most of the lower part of the course with him. I was frustrated with the walking pace because I knew I could be going faster. I ran ahead in the middle section and waited for him for about 10 minutes at Barr Camp. We started out walking again and my feet were cramping up from the walking pace. I left him at that point and just kept going. When I hit treeline, I felt great and kept pushing. Whenever there was an opportunity to pass I took it and was suprised that I was still able to jog. When I finished, I felt good. I rested a little then went back down to find my brother and finished his race with him.
Things Done Right: Started training in Feb. slow and easy since I wasn’t anywhere close to having a regular exercise schedule. Used a treadmill to get used to inclines. Eventually worked up to intervals at 15% grade. As spring arrived, I moved outdoors and ran hills. Kept increasing mileage (13 miles by Aug). Starting in June, I went over to Barr Trail every Friday after work and kept increasing distance covered on the trail. My last long training run two weeks before the race took me to tree line. After that I started to taper.
Things Done Wrong: No high altitude training... it would have paid off above tree line. Training by myself... I started to get burned out running to Barr Camp every Fri. It would have been good to have a running partner.
Comments on Calculator if used: I printed the chart which shows splits for different ascent times. I carried it with me and was encouraged to hit the Barr Camp split for a 4 hr ascent time. I feel pretty sure I could have done better than I did.
Any Other Stuff: Any other stuff: Goal for next year... a sub-4hr ascent. Workout with the Incline Club (Thurs are no problem but I can only make about one Sunday run per month). Stay motivated, work to improve.
Name: Lori B
Marathon Goal: Sub 7 hours
Marathon Result: 38 7/24 LORI A BANTEKAS 32 JACKSON WY 4:07:09 2:13:04 6:20:13
General Summary: I write this now 3 months after the race, so possible my memories are rosier that right after the race, but I don't think so. PPM was a completely amazing experience, complete with pain beyond expression and elation that can still make my cry when I think about the race. This was my first marathon and seeing I only like to do trail runs that climb, I felt this was a good choice. I had come to Manitou Springs a few weeks prior to do a training run and felt fantastic the whole way up, so I knew I would enjoy the race. I think naivety is a good thing sometimes. I didn’t know what to be nervous about and didn’t have horror stories from races prior to haunt me. There are about 4 people that I met on the course that helped me through the difficult mental parts of the race, just talking to them and listening to their stories made the race go quickly. I was running with people that were doing doubles, so I couldn’t complain about my pain. I felt good the whole way and was extremely strong on top. I should have run at the top, but wasn’t sure how the bottom would be. I am a downhill runner and it felt good to turn around at the top. Heat at the bottom was insufferable and I really do without any street running at all.
Things Done Right: Set moderate goals for myself, got a great night’s sleep the night before, didn’t listen to too much advice from people which can make one nervous, listened to my heart rate monitor at the bottom of the race and walked when I felt like I should be running. I started using gel and drinking copious amounts of water/Gatorade about 30 minutes into the race and used both continuously throughout. I ate these gummy candies made with organic grape juice and brown rice syrup called Sharkeys that I swear by. They are easy to keep in your pocket and suck on throughout the race. They give you both quick and sustained energy, plus they take the taste of blood out your mouth. Lastly, I remembered to enjoy myself, this is voluntary!!
Things Done Wrong: Although I spent 45 minutes taping my feet and toes, I still lost 3 toenails on the downhill including my big toe, so tape better. Didn’t stay around after the race and relish the finish more.
Comments on Calculator if used: I used the calculator on the ascent and it was helpful, but increased my stress if I wasn’t on my pace, so I then cut back to look at it at the three major points for me - Barr Camp, A frame and summit.
Any Other Stuff: You know, I wasn’t going to run next year and I was just looking at the pictures on the website and I think I might do it again. :)