Well, it is all a bit of a whirlwind but here is a quick overview of my first run in Leadville (or at elevation, really)

I signed up for the 50 mile run after having to cancel some local events to see if there was any way of me trying the 100, and just to have a good US mountain run if nothing else. I flew in after work Friday night to Denver, slept near the airport and then drove to Leadville on Saturday. Saw Lace-up (and Jo) in town, picked up my packet and walked around, including watching the MTB race for a bit. Got some good local pizza and met another couple runners who were exceptionally nice. Felt ok and tried to get a few hours of sleep).

Race day:

Walked from town to the start area (about 1.5 miles) and arrived just after 5am to drop off my drop bag and just chill out. Debated whether to run the initial sledding hill (slowly, I told myself) just to see how I was feeling.

Skip to the start, where I felt good running the hill but felt like %$#%^ for a few miles after that. I took a quick-ish nature break to quell my stomach woes and then tried to run at a moderate effort. I was running slowly but could not breathe well at all, and just suffered for the first seven mostly uphill miles until the first real aid station. Lace came in and looked good. He took off, I went to tend to my stomach again and felt like digging a hole for myself.

A little after that aid station the trail got steeper, and I finally took a cue from others and began hiking. Note that I am not an efficient hiker, and I would hike more in each aid station segment of this "run" than I have in any of my other runs, total. Oh well, not much you can do when even hiking puts you out of breath on occasion.

I was in decent spirits into the 13.5 mile mark, and the views were awesome. The trail went from great mountain trail to jeep road, but was nice all around, and the rocks and some roots made for some challenging descending if you wanted to keep going quickly. My headache kept getting worse but I kept smiling, the photographers kept laughing and saying "still smiling"

There are a few very steep pitches on the way to the turnaround, and I could barely keep moving, and my headache kept getting worse. Still, I smiled when I saw Lace crushing it on the way back from the turn around as I was still headed inbound. I took a long break at the halfway point and spoke to the medical staff about their views on the headache and a bit of vision issues. No need to do something stupid here, but i really wanted to continue on if I could. They said there was plenty of medical staff on course, and that I could give it a go, so I filled up my hydration pack, got food and took off. I ran for a while, but then was reduced to hiking (or death marching) up back up the steep roads to the summit where my inner demons kept telling me a nap would be great. I then got some good downhill running in, and carried it over a few rollers and back towards the 30 mile point (Rock Garden). I was a bit nauseous and then saw someone dropping due to nausea. I grabbed some coke, filled-up my pack and took off.

Here the sun changed to hail for a while (small, but still ouch inducing) and was passing a number of people until the trudge into the half marathon to go point began. I tried alternating running and hiking, but still was too oxygen deprived to do much. It went ok, and i did the same on the long 3-mile grind after the aid station to the 10 mile to go point, which signals it is mostly downhill (key word being mostly).

With all the rocks on the steepish descent starting out, I ran, jumped, dodged, and splashed my way to 7 miles to go, feeling the best I had all day. I ran right through the aid station and had delusions of feeling great to the finish, but it got warm for a bit and the uphill sections continued to take their toll. I ran with a few folks for 2-3 miles and then pushed ahead as it got a bit more technical for a bit. I ran out of water about 3 miles from the finish, but I felt ok. I was running even most of the uphills, if slowly, and passing a decent number of folks.

There are a few cruel uphill sections as you approach the finish (you can see the finish area but then head up a climb and loop up and around for a bit). A kid on a mountain bike said i was going to reel in another runner, but that was not my goal. It turns out I had met him the day before, and yelled that he better not let me catch him. He picked up his pace and I followed at a safe distance (just enough to keep pushing him). Then, instead of heading down the sledding hill to finish, you run around down a technical section that looked like a blast on the MTB the day before. I jumped some rocks, and then sprinted the last 100 yards or so to finish immediately behind the other runner.

Final time, 10:07, 9:27 moving.

We then joked around and I recovered a bit before getting a ride back to town since the thunderstorms had made it to Leadville and it was dumping.

After getting my sons t-shirts and some dinner, I napped and then woke up a little after midnight to drive to Denver, catch a 6am flight to San Francisco and head to work. Time for a nap.

Bottom line: Running at altitude is hard ....

Thanks for sharing - just reading about running at that altitude without acclimating makes me nauseous.

Congrats.  Sounds like a well earned finish and a heck of a day.  I am equally amazed at your ability to travel and not have to take time off of work.  Really great that you were able to force it into your schedule like that.  That is a weekend worth remembering.

 

What'd you think of Leadville?

Leadville seems like a great town, beautiful country and some Western culture. Still a bit raw, so quite unlike most ski areas in CO or Europe I have been to. For example, Telluride comes to mind as a Leadville with a ski mountain, so a bit more of a tourist destination with the money and amenities that come with it.

Congrats! Glad you were able to handle the altitude and finish strong. Good job!

Way to push through and still finish with a good time, congrats!

Nice Job! Yes, running at altitude is often not "running" at all when it comes to uphill grades. That just gives you a good excuse to slow down and take in the awesome views. Seems like you handled the altitude quite well! So are you going back for the 100 next year?

For a flatlander (not that SF is flat!), running well at altitude is a combination of 2 factors : 1) Excellent aerobic capacity, and 2) Dumb luck.  Some people take to it like it's no big deal, other (equally fit) people cramp, vomit and pass out.

I live/train at 6500-ish feet and above, so I'm lucky to have a bit of an edge.  But I have found that at altitude I do run into trouble sometimes.  In particular, I notice a thing with my vision.  I call it "tingle-vision" : it's like half of the pixels in my retina just fire at random.  So even though things aren't going dark, I have a very hard time actually making anything out.

The best explanation I've heard for this is that at elevation you become dehydrated very easily and your blood looses extra water to your body.  Since your blood is now more viscous, it has a harder time flowing through tiny capillaries like those in your eye.  Two remedies for this are : 1) Take an NSAID like Ibuprofen which thins out your blood, and/or 2) Drink more water !

Although conventional wisdom seems to say that adaptation to elevation is short-lived, I've found that I've done much, much better this summer (with very little time at altitude) than last (when I spent tons of time up high and bonked super hard in the Pike's Peak  Ascent.) So I can't help but feel there's some cummulative advantage.

So I'd say don't be too discouraged with this first attempt at altitude. You've gained some very valuable experience and training that will make any subsequent attempts that much better.  When I do mountain runs, I am always in awe of people who come from low altitude (aka the "non-cheaters"), both the ones who zip to the finish line as well as the pukers!

If you do decide to give it another go, my only other advice would be : learn to respect the power-hike.  Especially at the beginning.

Anyway, all this sage wisdom aside, you did a heck of a lot better than I could have !  That's a great time for a very challenging debut race at altitude!

Nice job! Altitude can really kick your butt. That takes some real determination pushing through with altitude sickness.