Leadville 2012 Race Report
I suppose I should record this for posterity's sake. At the very least I will look back at this the next time I run a race or run Leadville and will have something to obsess over along with looking at splits for every aid station over and over.
Leadville 2012 has come and gone. The final, official result was a DNF at Half-Pipe outbound, missing the cut off by around twenty minutes.
The result was rather disappointing but going into it I knew there would be many struggles. I had injured my foot a few weeks back, some sort of plantar fasciitis issues as well as some runner's knee issues. I had been in physical therapy for the month before the race trying to deal with these minor annoyances to little avail. I had cut back my running as well trying to rest and recover prior going into the race.
Then there were the well publicized last minute changes to the course. The only change that affected me was the change from Fish Hatchery to Half-Pipe. They changed the layout and it wound up adding distance, by my GPS it was at least an additional mile. This wouldn't be a big deal except I was fighting cutoffs from the beginning.
From the start to Mayqueen I was pushing it. And yet I was slow. The first section to Tabor was covered in about 1:20 which was about five minutes slower than last year. The congo line around the lake was slow, but I was already struggling at that point feeling tired. The foot and knee had been hurting from the beginning. I came into Mayqueen at 2:42 which was three minutes slower than last year and still really too slow. Right as I hit the campground I started puking. I did manage to run while puking and earn the admiration and cheers of bystanders for my multitasking skills.
The section up Sugarloaf was terrible. I couldn't stop throwing up. I estimated that for the whole race I threw up in excess of fifty times. This is not normal. It is also not good. I was wasted. I was wasted going up hill. The time was terrible, I barely made the cutoff at Fish.
I ran/walked a bit from Fish to Powerline, but the pain was getting worse and the puking was staying consistent. Once again the crew was great, it was awesome to have teh wifey out and about with them, but it was disappointing throughout to have trained for so long and to put up a poor result.
I came into Half-Pipe and sat down with a bunch of other folks who were cut. Game over, race over, I had been limping for most of the last ten miles so my appendages were happy to have a break.
The most important thing to say about the whole experience was that we had great friends and family with us and they made it fun. I never would have made it to the starting line without teh wifey and the encouragement of my family. Thanks to all.
Leadville 2012 has come and gone. The final, official result was a DNF at Half-Pipe outbound, missing the cut off by around twenty minutes.
The result was rather disappointing but going into it I knew there would be many struggles. I had injured my foot a few weeks back, some sort of plantar fasciitis issues as well as some runner's knee issues. I had been in physical therapy for the month before the race trying to deal with these minor annoyances to little avail. I had cut back my running as well trying to rest and recover prior going into the race.
Then there were the well publicized last minute changes to the course. The only change that affected me was the change from Fish Hatchery to Half-Pipe. They changed the layout and it wound up adding distance, by my GPS it was at least an additional mile. This wouldn't be a big deal except I was fighting cutoffs from the beginning.
From the start to Mayqueen I was pushing it. And yet I was slow. The first section to Tabor was covered in about 1:20 which was about five minutes slower than last year. The congo line around the lake was slow, but I was already struggling at that point feeling tired. The foot and knee had been hurting from the beginning. I came into Mayqueen at 2:42 which was three minutes slower than last year and still really too slow. Right as I hit the campground I started puking. I did manage to run while puking and earn the admiration and cheers of bystanders for my multitasking skills.
The section up Sugarloaf was terrible. I couldn't stop throwing up. I estimated that for the whole race I threw up in excess of fifty times. This is not normal. It is also not good. I was wasted. I was wasted going up hill. The time was terrible, I barely made the cutoff at Fish.
I ran/walked a bit from Fish to Powerline, but the pain was getting worse and the puking was staying consistent. Once again the crew was great, it was awesome to have teh wifey out and about with them, but it was disappointing throughout to have trained for so long and to put up a poor result.
I came into Half-Pipe and sat down with a bunch of other folks who were cut. Game over, race over, I had been limping for most of the last ten miles so my appendages were happy to have a break.
The most important thing to say about the whole experience was that we had great friends and family with us and they made it fun. I never would have made it to the starting line without teh wifey and the encouragement of my family. Thanks to all.
Comments
Does it get any better than that???