Monday, June 16, 2014

2014 Leadville Trail Marathon Report

Saturday marked my fifth Leadville Trail Marathon. It seems like yesterday when, one Saturday in early July 2010, I lined up in front of the Sixth Street Gym full of excitement as I was about to take on my first Leadville race.

The scene on Saturday morning was exciting. The marathon kicks off of the annual Leadville Race Series, which includes the always-competitive Leadman and Leadwoman competition. I can't possibly describe the excitement I felt as I drove into town for the race, knowing I'd not only run an awesome race but also camp out at 10,000 feet above sea level.

One might look at my result on Saturday and mistake it for a "bad race," especially given my time last year of 4:19 (which placed me 12th overall). Here's how the numbers on Saturday shook out:
  • 5:04:51
  • 55th overall out of 434 finishers
  • 6th 40-49 male out of 104
The plan going into Saturday was an 80% effort. That's what my coach and I both determined would be the soundest approach. An 80% effort would allow me to train through the race and also do something productive the next day in Leadville (like run up Powerline/Sugarloaf Pass and back, which I did). At my age, I can't afford to "race" every race; I need to pick my battles. So, this was about a long run at elevation. As my coach often says to me, "keep your eyes on the prize (August)!"

On the week, I got to 80.1 miles and logged almost 12,000 feet of vertical. So, it was a good week and the Leadville Trail Marathon and my Powerline/Sugarloaf Pass adventure the next day helped get me there.

A few thoughts on the race itself. First off, because of the deep snowpack up in the mountains (Ball Mountain reportedly has six feet of snow on it), we ran a modified course.This modified course was harder than the standard route and threw in an extra 800 feet of climbing, to bring the total on the day to about 6,300 feet. My climbing was solid; where I suffered the most (no surprise) was running downhill. I also felt the effects of the altitude at times. There was a nasty climb from mile 20 to mile 21 that got to me a bit more mentally than physically. Still, because this was an 80% effort, I didn't worry too much and instead focused on good practice at elevation. I even helped a few other runners out, giving them Salt Sticks.

My fuel of choice was VFuel gels, water and Coca-Cola. Except for a few swigs of Coke, I was entirely self-supported. Looking back on it, I probably should have had more aid station fare, but I really wanted to test out VFuel. So far, so good.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well I did on the Powerline/Sugarloaf Pass climb and descent the next day. This is a critical section of the return trip during the 100-miler and it can break you (not even joking there; this section can destroy runners). So, it was good for me to hit this section while up in Leadville. I had hoped to summit Mount Elbert but I didn't want to tangle with the snow, so Powerline it was.

In summary, LifeTime Fitness did a nice job with the race. It was well-organized and the modified course was a great fix.

My next race is the North Fork 50K in two weeks. That will be more a race effort.

8 comments:

  1. Good to hear the VFuel is working for you! Excellent training weekend at altitude.

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  2. Thoughts on how this course stacked up against the typical course? It seems that it was slower but the distance and the vertical happened to be the same? (but perhaps the vertical was steeper sections)

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    1. GZ: I thought the modified course was harder than the standard course. The "middle" section of the modified course had more climbing, so it was a bit slower. I'm one of those runners who likes to know the course I'm racing so it kind of threw me for a loop. When I don't know the course, I tend to get conservative and go slower, so it was very hard for me to even entertain the thought of racing on Saturday.

      Wyatt

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  3. Did you happen to get a GPS distance/elevation profile of the revised course? I forgot my GPS that day, but compared to last year I thought the course not only gained a little more, but was maybe a little longer. Another runner said Mosquito Pass measured just shy of 14 miles. Any insight? Thanks.

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    1. I distinctly remember hitting the turnaround at the top of Mosquito and seeing 13.7 miles on my GPS. At that time, I thought, well, I guess we're going 27+ miles today (which is fine--more miles, more fun). Remarkably, my watch read 26.15 miles when I finished. I thought we ran the same route back but maybe we did an abbreviated version on the return trip and I didn't notice? By my estimation, this year's snow course had about 600-800 additional feet of vertical gain and was significantly harder. My time this year was 45 minutes slower. Granted, I didn't have my best day but 45 minutes is a lot.

      Wyatt

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    2. Thanks. I wish they'd post this year's course and profile on the website - would love to see how the return was shorter. And I agree re: harder, but I liked the new course and was able to shave some time off last year's results. See you at LT100 . . . as you pass me going downhill from HP as I am just starting my climb.

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  4. Good luck Saturday at North Fork. I'm hoping you win.
    Anonymous reader.

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    1. Thanks! A win on Saturday is very likely not going to happen (read: zero chance) as there will be some fast runners on the course. There was a time in my running "career" when I gunned for wins in certain races (100-milers), but these days my primary goal is to be in optimal shape for Leadville. The goal on Saturday is a solid effort to see where my racing fitness is and what I need to do in July to be ready for the Leadville.

      Wyatt

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