Justin's Race Across the Sky: Leadville 100: Race Report: Greenland 50K

This weekend I had a great time running my first 50 K (31 miles) in Larkspur, CO, which is about halfway between Denver and Colorado Springs. The course was laid out as 4 loops through the Greenland open space, which sits right next to a bunch of farms right next to I-25. Out in the distance, you could see Colorado’s most famous 14er, Pikes Peak (14,110 ft), snowcapped above all the other mountains. The race is dubbed “Colorado’s fastest 50 K”, which does not translate to “easiest” by any means. It is a fast course because of the relatively low elevation gain and fast downhill sections. If you have been following my training, you already have an idea of the types of runs I’ve been doing leading up to this race, so here is a breakdown of the race from one day out until one day after.

24 hours before race day: Time to pack and think about everything I will need for the race. Typically, I can run for about an hour and a half without any food and a bottle of water, but since I’m not Kilian Jornet, there is no way I could finish this race without adequate nutrition. The three big things I will need are carbs to feed my muscles, water to stay hydrated, and electrolytes to restore the salt I’ll lose through sweat. The tricky part about race nutrition is that everybody is different in their needs throughout a race. The same basic formula holds true, but the amount you sweat, how efficiently you use carbs, and how well your body tolerates certain foods is all dependent on the person. It’s important to experiment with different foods on your long runs to see what works best for you so you are not struggling on race day because of poor preparation. For example, some ultrmarathoners operate at their best only fueled by gels for 50 miles or more. I’ve found that I need some semblance of solid food in order to keep moving for long periods and not have stomach problems. Since I don’t want to carry any more than I have to, I looked at what the two aid stations on the course would have in supply and brought along only the things I would need in addition. According to the race information, the aid stations would have water and HEED, an electrolyte drink. Electrolytes: check. They would also have a supply of Hammer Nutrition Gel packets along with pretzels and M&Ms. Carbs: check. I would not have to carry much food, since there would be enough at the aid stations, so I chose to bring along a water bottle, a honey stinger waffle (solid food) and caffeinated gels for the last lap to give me a little extra boost.

Once the food situation was figured out, I arranged everything else to make sure I would be good to go. Next in line was clothing. Weather in Colorado can change drastically in a 6-hour period, so I like to bring along clothes for every kind of weather and make a last second decision about what I will wear. The temperature was predicted to be about 34-45 degrees and sunny throughout the morning. Race attire would include shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses and hat to keep the sweat out of my face, along with a backup pair of under armor pants and light jacket just in case. Clothes: check. Last order of business is iPod playlist, which has everything from country to hip-hop to dubstep so it doesn’t become too monotonous. With everything good to go, I cooked up a pasta dinner with some chicken and headed off to bed.

Beginning of the playlist

Note the hat is already caked with salt from previous runs

Race day: They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially on race day. I started off with peanut butter and jelly with some sliced up bananas and a big ol cup of coffee, then headed out for an hour drive to the race start. I checked in, tied my bib on, warmed up a little and the gun went off at 7am. BAM. I knew I wanted to take the first lap easy. I was aiming for a 10 min/mile average, which would finish me around 5 hours and 10 minutes. Since I had 4 laps and 31 miles to run, I had to be patient and not spring out ahead of myself if I felt too strong. The first half of the loop was a gradual uphill, followed by a relatively flat section. I fell in to a nice pace behind a couple of guys and we ran in a group for a while. 3.5 miles in, we hit the first aid station, which I went right past. I was still feeling good from my dinner and breakfast that I didn’t need to fuel up yet. The next section was a steep, but runnable uphill for about 3 miles. I moved pretty easily up this part, keeping stock of my pace and how hard I was breathing. The final stretch of the loop was all downhill until the turnaround and start of the next loop. The downhill is a great place to make up time lost on the uphill and a chance to use different muscle groups and get a little bit of a rest. At the turnaround was aid station number two at mile 8, time for some nutrients. Although I wasn’t too hungry yet, I’ve found it’s much better to eat early and be safe than eat when it’s too late. I slammed about 6 oz of electrolyte drink as fast as I could, grabbed a gel packet and got right back on the trail.

Lap 2+3: I ate the gel packet on the run up the gradual uphill section and kept moving on through the flats to the next aid station. Time for another gel and 6 oz more of electrolytes. I made it up the next hill and down towards the turnaround feeling good, 16 miles done and half way to the finish. At this point my body was working a little harder from the miles, so I grabbed 12 oz of electrolyte drink, another gel and some twizzlers. I could tell I was starting to slow down, but I was still ahead of my 10 min/mile pace, so as long as I didn’t slow too much, I could still make it. At the next aid station (mile 19.5) I took down 12 oz more of electrolytes and grabbed two gels, then hoofed it up the hill. Through this section I got down both gel packets and the waffle I packed in my pocket, just to make sure I wouldn’t bonk and hit “the wall”. By the time I got to the turnaround (mile 24), I knew my nutrition plan was working, but my joints and muscles were having different plans for me.

Lap 4: At the aid station, all the joints below by belly button were aching and my legs muscles were tightening, each taking a turn to tell me how much they were hurting. I had a feeling this might happen, so I had to focus and just keep moving forward, ignoring the aches and moans from my lower body. The head controls everything else and it was still functioning well. At this point, I was thinking in primal mode. What do I need to finish this race? Pretzels? Yes. Handful of chips? Yes. M&Ms? No. Electrolyes? Yes. Off I go, lap 4. I was still on track for my goal pace, so I had to keep moving forward. Relentless forward progress. On the way out to the last aid station, I ate the pack of caffeinated gels. Ultimately, the 10 min/mile pace I had been maintaining was not sustainable after 25 miles, so I was forced into a slower pace and had to walk some parts of the hills to keep moving. At the final aid station, I only grabbed some electrolyte drink and kept moving. If I stopped for more then 30 seconds the pain and swelling would come back and I would be in a world of pain again. I trudged up the hill and settled into a nice jog on the downhill until the finish.

Final time: 5:28:38

Distance: 31 mi

Elevation Gain: 2,200 ft

Each mile split divided by laps

Elevation profile of entire race

After the race I drank some Recoverite, which is full of electrolytes and amino acids to accelerate recovery time from races like this. Although my muscles did stiffen up, I stretched and iced them for a while and I’m feeling much better now. Looking back on the race, I was happy that I was able to eat and hydrate adequately and did not have any energy problems. Since this was the longest race I have done, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got closer to the later stages, but I felt that I was prepared. The one thing I really took away was recognition of the limitations of my own body. I tried to maintain a pace that was a bit ambitious for this course for me and it ended up taking a toll in the last few miles. However, it was a great learning experience to see how far I could go on a pace that was comfortable. I will have many more training runs that will be 30 miles long, so I will be able to experiment a little more with my strategy in the longer distances. As a last word, I want to say thank you to the American Brain Tumor Association for the t-shirt that I ran in and to everybody who has donated so far. This journey has been a lot of fun and I’m really excited for some more big runs this Spring and Summer.