Team Atehena – TransRockies Run 2008

From Rumon

Wow. 

Though I consider myself a halfway articulate fella, today’s route leaves adjectives wanting.  Simply put, the climb from Vicksburg, up and over Hope Pass and down into Twin Lakes was some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen.  But more on that in a bit – we have some catching up to do.

Day 1- Buena Vista to Numbers (kayak launch on the Arkansas River)
Distance: 12 miles, 4947 feet
Climbing: 1103 feet

For the first day of racing, the organizers were kind enough to serve up a mellow half(ish) marathon over flat(ish) terrain.  It was an opportunity for sponsored athletes and Euro-dogs to break out their racing flats and gun for the first leader’s jerseys of the race.  Of course, we didn’t see a whole lot of that shaking out past around 13 seconds into the stage.  In fact, as Aviva remarked at around 3 miles, 80 teams in this race and we were running all alone.  It was great – just like one of our training runs. 

Except for that thing about the elevation.

Ah yes, and the blistering (to we Victorians) heat.

Suffice to say, we suffered a little out there, but were very happy with the way we ran.  We were even happier with the surroundings.  Though the dirt road we traveled was itself less than spectacular, the views of the Arkansas River and the surrounding landscape features kept us more than entertained.  Good thing, as a little distraction from our elevated heart rates was very welcome.  Altitude is a killer!  Through our training, we have become adapted to our “all-day pace”, the pace we can run comfortably for hours at a time without distress.  Even though we dialed that back a notch, we were both running at heart rates more like marathon pace.  Humbling to say the least, as you shuffle along with your heart in your throat.  (Now, before my darling mother flies down here with that observation and promptly has me admitted to hospital, let me assure her that though my HR was a little high, it was completely stable – good news.)  We ran a fairly even pace throughout the stage, did an adequate job of eating and drinking along the route and crossed the finish line unscathed.

After soaking the legs in the Arkansas (bliss!), we grabbed some food and loaded into a shuttle to our campsite.  Now, here’s where our tale goes off the rails a little.  One of the food items we picked up was a tin of tuna (provided by one of the race sponsors) – protein seemed like a grand idea, but the fishy packaging was perhaps a little less than perfect for this guy who has chronic stomach issues after long events.  Aviva, too, felt a little queazy, so the ride to the campsite was less than ideal.  Once there, we found a tent and I promptly sacked out, holding my gut and wishing for sleep.  No such luck.  However, there were Tums to be had and I was soon able to get vertical.  In that aspect, though, I was met with a ripper headache (altitude? heat?), so the evening was devoted to rehydrating and slow movement.  Aviva got her stomach in order quickly and, no surprise, was the better of the two of us in no time (and, at this, thanks a ton, Wendy, for the vote of confidence!  Give a poor, fragile guy’s ego a break! ).  The catering was again pretty stellar, the slide show and video tons of fun and the night rounded out with a hot cup of Clif chocolate recovery drink at the Salomon tent (gotta GET some of that stuff!).

Last, we were pretty chuffed to hear that we’d been given a touchy-feely paragraph on the event’s front page – you can check it out at the bottom of this page.

Day 2 – Vicksburg to Twin Lakes (near Leadville)
Distance: 10 miles, 1039 feet
Climbing: 3098 feet (max. elevation: 12538 feet)

Short and sweet.  Or short and hellish.  Depended on who you were and the outlook you ascribed to today.  For us, we made a couple of mistakes, but it ended up being a day of breakthroughs and senses of accomplishment – today was a crux stage, and we’re both here to talk about it.  Here’s how it unfolded…

Not well to begin with, as it turned out.  At our 5:45 alarm, Aviva was less than keen to unfold herself from her sleeping bag – she’d basically just fallen asleep from a mostly restless night.  A quick hug and a little compassion was all I could offer though, as breakfast was in 15 and the buses rolled out shortly after that (we had a short transfer to our start at Vicksburg).  Vives cowboyed up though and we were soon packed and down at the trough for another impressive spread.  Maybe not completely subjectively impressive though, given Vives soon had a nasty stitch going followed by waves of nausea.  Not good.  Trooper that she is though, we clambered on the bus for the transfer.  Aviva communed with her iPod gods, trying to find gastronomic solace in the lyrics of some random terrible top-40 artist or other (whoops, sorry, this blog’s about running, not musical taste, or lack thereof).  I caught up with Adam Chase, running with Michelle Barton for Running Times Magazine and in 3rd place in the mixed competition after the first day.  With today’s climb looming, I hoped a little of his aerobic capacity might cross the aisle in my direction.  (Spoiler: nope.)

Given how Vives was feeling, it wasn’t surprising that we didn’t have a stellar start to the day.  The first two miles was gradually inclining from the 9,700′ start to the turn-off to the steep climb up Sheep Gulch (part of the Continenal Divide Trail, CDT*), but it wasn’t doing us any favours.  We dialed it back trying to find comfort for Aviva’s stomach, but it never came. 

So, upwards.  The first 1500′ of vertical was pretty challenging.  Not a lot of conversation going on.  Aviva, though, kept a great, steady pace at her comfort level.  And the sky got closer at a surprising rate.  We both marveled at the biogeography: thick conifers at 10,000′, a poplar stand around 11,000′.  I called out to Vives each time we reached the elevation of one of the climbs she’s done in the Lake O’Hara region.  “That’d be the top of Lefroy” (at the top end of the poplar stand).  “Consider yourself standing on top of Hungabee” (the highest mount in the O’Hara region – here, still just leaving the tree line).

Once we were out of the treeline, the sun seemed to warm-up Aviva’s outlook and flush some of the stomach nastiness.  Though the altitude made it feel like we each had 80-lb. yetis on our backs, we started to roll, passing a couple of teams.  (Here, I have to mention how amazing all the “competitors” are while out on course.  I put competitors in quotation marks, because at our place in the bunch it feels much less like a competition and more like a collegial group hike done with intervals between couples.  Such a cool, positive vibe.)  It didn’t hurt that the views were breathtaking and the alpine wildflowers were out in force.  Before we knew it we were ascending the last couple of switchback ramps and onto the windy saddle.  We got a couple of classic cheezy photos and started the 3,500′, 5-mile descent into Twin Lakes. 

And here’s where things went a little sideways again.  Remember Aviva’s sore gut?  Not so good for getting in the calories.  At around 2-hours at the top of the climb, she’d only been able to get in a single gel.  She tried and succeeded to get a couple more in on the way down, but it wasn’t enough.  Combine her nutritional state with the fact Vives led and hammered the descent (so impressed – all the Mt. Work sessions paid dividends) and you can guess what’s coming: bonkers.  We made it to the bottom of the descent, but the last mile-and-a-half of stream crossings and meadows to the finish was a bit of a challenge. 

But here’s where the breakthrough came: we got through it.  A little bit of positive talk and some recollection of the hard training miles that came before today and Aviva latched on (not literally – we have a “no tow” policy for this race) and turned it over into the finish line, just short of 3:04 after we started. 

Once again soaking our legs in a conveniently located creek (need to hook one of these up for the Blenkinsop Valley for post-workout back home), we had a chance to reflect on the day.  Though today was the shortest stage of the race, given the 3,000′ ramp over such a short distance, it was also very much a crux.  And, though we made a couple of nutritional errors and had some consequent challenges along the way, truth be told…for us, our team stormed today.  Even though we weren’t feeling fantastic, we still bettered our predictions for the climb and literally flew on the way down, passing another couple of amazingly friendly, encouraging teams along the way. 

Aviva’s pretty concerned about tomorrow’s stage, a bit of a monster at nearly 40 km, but I think today was, quite rightly, a confidence instiller.

I say “think”, because I’m alone here at the Provin’ Ground Cafe in Leadville (site of the (in)famous Leadville 100, elevation in the post title) while she tries to catch up on the missed hours sleep back in tent city.  Hopefully she’s getting the rest she deserves.

For me, today couldn’t have been better.  I was very happy to be able to give my heart a bit of a rest on the climb.  And, though Vives put the gears to me on the down, overall today was mellow for my ticker – more good news.  What’s more, whatever random malady was making my head pound yesterday seems to have vacated my cranium.  All in all, I’m pretty happy with how my body is performing and adapting to the altitude given the relative lack of training in the lead-up.  Tomorrow will definitely be a test, but we’ll just stick to our steady all-day pace and get there a mile at a time.

Not sure our connectivity at our next overnight – hopefully we’ll be able to at least throw a quick update to the blog.  Thank you so much for all the comments (apart from yours, Simms!) – they’re coming through my BB, so we’re able to pick them up before and after the stages and they certainly go a long way to lightening our feet and putting smiles on our faces.

All our best from the town of rare air…

*The CDT is a part actual, part notional trail spanning the spine of the continent, along the Rockies from Canada to Mexico.  “Notional” because, though the dream of the CDT has been alive since the 60s, the entire length has not yet been established.  The Continental Divide Trail Alliance, partnered with the TRR, is working towards fulfilling the dream.  As part of their entry, competitors in the TRR had the option of contributing $100 to the CDTA – over two thirds took them up; combined with generous corporate donation from Gore and Salomon, the total contributed to date from the TRR is nearly $25k.