Hope Pass Humbler

Thursday night, Matt (my pacer from Twin Lakes to May Queen) flew in to Denver so he could get in some high-altitude training before the race on August 20th.  Denise (my pacer over Hope Pass) and I picked Matt up at DIA, and we all drove up to Leadville to stay at Charles Bybee's house Thursday night.  There were seven of us total staying there (Charles, his pacer Jurney, Adam, and Carol), and we were all planning on running/hiking the section of the LT100 course from Twin Lakes over Hope Pass to Winfield and back, which I figured would be hard enough to be a good workout, but short enough to fit into my taper.  The more ambitious of the group (that is, everyone besides me, Matt and Denise) planned on continuing past Twin Lakes to Half Moon after crossing the pass.

Neither Matt nor Denise had run at such high elevation before, so they wanted some running experience up in the thin air before race day.  They both did great with the elevation, and I'm sure they erased any apprehension they might have had about pacing me at altitude.  Denise got to see the entire section that she'll be running/pacing, and she did it twice without really breathing too hard.  She had some hamstring cramping-type issues that made the second climb a little annoying, but the cramps must have gone away because after the second summit she flew down the mountain on the final four-mile descent like a cross between a mountain goat and a race horse.  She quickly disappeared ahead of us down the trail, and Matt and I didn't catch her until we reached the bottom of the mountain.

Reading my mind, she assured me she wouldn't ditch me during the race.

Matt and Denise near Hopeless Aid Station 

Second climb over Hope Pass

Although Matt didn't get to run on any of the sections that he'll be pacing during the race, the Hope Pass double crossing gave him a good flavor of the nature of the LT100 course.  The fact that he never stopped talking the entire time is a good indication that he is aerobically prepared for the race.  Typical scene:  I am wheezing my way up a particularly steep section of the climb, and Matt is casually chatting away about the subtle variations between various sects of Buddhism, the origins of Led Zeppelin or the wisdom of Beavis' over-caffeinated alter-ego Cornholio.  Denise and I glance at each other, silently asking, "When does he breathe!?!"  In fact, other runners on the trail were amazed to find out Matt was from sea-level when they saw how effortlessly he rambled up the mountain.

Matt running up the final stretch 

12,600' without breaking stride

Catching my breath on the Pass

The fun part about running from Twin Lakes outbound is that you get to wade through a half dozen shallow ponds and then do a river crossing at Lake Creek, which was running fast, thigh-deep and obviously a bit chilly.  I might have forgotten to mention all these water crossings to Matt and Denise because they seemed somewhat surprised when five minutes into our seven-hour day we were wading through icy water.  Denise tried to keep her shoes dry by removing them for every water crossing, but eventually she accepted her wet fate and just plowed on through the water, shoes and all.

Shoeless Joe still with dry shoes in the morning

"Man, these are brand new shoes!"

I don't think anybody really enjoyed all that cold water so early in the run.  Interestingly, what was icy torture early in the morning became a siren's call to our tired feet and legs later that afternoon.  Both Matt and Denise said the main thought that motivated them onward and upward on the second climb was the sweet anticipation of soaking in the icy river again.  And when we got back to the river, they did just that.  We must have hung out in the river for twenty minutes until every submerged inch of our bodies was marvelously numb.

Not sure what's happening here...

... or here. 

The fine line between pleasure and pain

Ahhhh...

After the run we had a big lunch at The Grill in Leadville then drove back down to Denver.  Overall, it was a great day for all of us.  I'm looking forward to running with them again in less than two weeks.