LT 100 Final Preparations (including Lubrication Report)

Friday afternoon, before the pre-game meal we shared with Tim and his crew, my crew did a walk-through of our race plan.  We all gathered in the wood-paneled living room, turned down the record player (a vintage hi-fi turntable on which we continuously blasted Bolero and The William Tell Overture, after having determined that none of the other classic 1940's LPs were suitably motivational ("Burl Ives' Ballads and Folksongs") and walked through the race.

Friday Crew Meeting
(Matt, Molly and I)

We spent about an hour working through the final logistics -- my expected timing for each section, who would get picked up when and what gear/food I would need at each aid station.  It was very elementary stuff, but I'm glad we walked through it because it seemed to eliminate or at least reduce any ambiguity or confusion about expectations during the race.

I went to bed pretty early Friday night, but sleep was impossible.  Between the excitement/nervousness and the raging thunderstorm that rocked Leadville throughout that night, I didn't sleep a wink.  The storm was almost comical, it was so violent.   Just when I thought it couldn't get louder or closer or angrier, a lightening bolt would strike directly above the house and light up the bedroom through the windows.  The associated thunder would immediately crackle loud enough to shake ground under the house, literally.  It felt biblical, like the Leadville gods were displeased with our audacity to challenge their mountains.  On a practical level, all I could think about was how we were ever going to make it through the next night, which was forecast to have similar weather.

I got out of bed at 2 AM Saturday morning to get ready for the 4 AM start.  Getting up that early really helped reduce the morning's stress because I had plenty of time to take care of everything without rushing.  Sticking to my normal routine, I had a banana, some oatmeal, a cup of coffee and some coconut water.  I taped both my heels and achilles (using Kinesio and KT tape over benzoin tincture), hoping that the tape would provide more than just psychosomatic relief.  Then before I got dressed, I lubed all my sensitive spots -- Glide for my armpits, Hydropel for my toes and feet and Bag Balm for a couple unmentionable areas.

Heel Taping and Injinji Toe Socks

Regarding the efficacy of the taping, while I don't think my results are necessarily conclusive, I can report that I had almost no heel/achilles pain the entire race -- maybe an intermittent 1 or a 2 on the discomfort scale.  And three days later, my heels still feel better than they have in months.  I have no explanation for this.

Likewise, I think my lubing worked as well.  No armpit chaffing -- not that this was ever a big problem for me in the past, but occasionally during training runs of over 30 miles or so I would get some minor irritation where my triceps would come in contact with my latissimus dorsi near the back of my armpits.  I think this problem progressively resolved itself as the muscles in my upper body slowly atrophied and withered away over this past year.  I lubed it up anyway, just to be safe.

The Bag Balm worked wonderfully too.  I had absolutely no irritation in any of my unmentionable areas.  I reapplied the stuff just one time at around mile 60 after a particularly eventful nature break and never thought about it again.

The Hydropel worked great on my toes and feet.  After the initial application that morning, I reapplied the Hydropel only once when I changed my wet socks/shoes at Twin Lakes after the second river crossing.   At the end of the race, I was somewhat surprised to discover that I had no blisters at all.  I barely had any hot spots.  There were a couple spots where my feet were a bit wrinkled and pale from long-term moisture exposure, and the tip of my left big toe was numb for a day or so after the race, but that's it.  I don't know what kept my feet so healthy, but I suspect the following factors played a part:  proper hydration/electrolyte balance to minimize swelling, good comfortable shoes, Injinji toe socks, Hydropel and gaiters.

By the time I was done taping, lubing and getting dressed, the whole crew was up and ready to go.  The energy was unique -- in the air there was a palpable mix of anticipation and excitement that was somewhat muted by a crusty-eyed exhaustion caused by the early morning wake up and the stormy sleepless night.

When we arrived at the starting line on 6th St., just a few blocks away from the house, the crowd was small but growing.  The fire truck was there as usual, as was the grand stand (where the mayor would announce the start) and the big "START" banner.  I knew the opposite side of that banner said "FINISH," and it seemed to me at that moment that 100 miles was a long way to travel to get back to where I started.

We took some hero pictures, met up with Tim and his crew,  and at 4:00 AM sharp, Ken Chlouber fired his shotgun sending us all into the darkness down 6th Street to start our adventure.

Ready to go, more or less

Denise -- fired up and ready to go,
even though she had about 12 hours
to wait until her run over Hope Pass

The only picture in existence of Molly
smiling before 4 AM

Matt and Shannon with matching Rally 'Staches --
which became the theme of our adventure

Me, Charles Bybee (26:49 finisher) and Tim

TO BE CONTINUED...