Held in the historical mining town of Leadville Colorado, The Silver Rush 50-mile race has both running and biking events. I don’t own a mountain bike, so I bet you can guess how I made my way through the course. Yep, on my own two feet.
Leadville is also home to the tallest airport in North America, which means it’s pretty high in the sky, right around 10,000 feet depending on what part of the town you’re in. Therefore, the challenge of this race wasn’t just the distance–almost two full marathons–but also the elevation. The lowest point on the course was almost twice the elevation of Boulder, which can create some fun and exciting elements for running ultras, including but not limited to: dehydration, dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and fat fingers.
Having only spent two training runs for a total of about eight hours at elevations close to 10,000 feet in the month leading up to the race, I was certainly uncertain about how my body would respond to the altitude. I know how it has responded in previous years of gradually acclimating over a few weeks or a month, but would it be the same for this race? Spoiler alert: NOPE.
I usually set a few goals/expectations for each race I run. My coaches suggested this race as the perfect training run for the Leadville 100, just six weeks later. No, the 50-mile course is not the same as the 100, but the gradient of the trail as well as the altitude of the area is nearly identical. I was pretty nervous at the thought of attempting a 50-mile race just six weeks before the longest race of my life, but I knew my coaches were making this suggestion from years of training and coaching experience. And, I trust them, so I went ahead and registered. All of this being said, I didn’t know what my expectations or goals were besides finishing this race in one piece. How long would it take? How would I feel? Are my legs strong enough?
Only time would tell!
I was lucky to have two days off work completely before the race, thanks to the 4th of July holiday. I drove up to Leadville the day before, picked up my goodies, and had a pretty quiet evening before the race at my Airbnb. I was nervous, really nervous, but I wasn’t sure why. I felt too nervous to socialize much, but it also could have been due to fatigue. I was slightly headache-y on Friday, but I told myself to focus on other things, hydrate, and try not to stress. I set my alarm for 4:12 am.
(Q.U.E.E.N. by Janelle Monae plays)
I wake up feeling really good and super ready to just do this thing. I had some bacon and eggs, made coffee, and got changed. I got to the starting line just after 5 am and nabbed one of the last parking spots there. Lucky!
The race starts in a very exciting and entertaining way, with a 200m dash up a sledding hill. The first male and female up the hill receive a token that will grant them entry to this year’s Leadville 100 or next year’s race, so long as they finish the 50-mile race before the final cutoff time of 14 hours. I can only dream about what it’s like to sprint fast, let alone run up hills so steep, so I sat back and relaxed up the hill. Even so, my lungs were pounding when I got to the top.
The first few miles were a nice, runnable grade and there was even some downhill to help warm up the legs. As with any race, it’s soooo easy to start out too fast and pay for it later. That’s even more so the case for running at elevation, so I was pretty cautious with effort level. I listened to other people’s conversations, thought about friends and family who wished me well, and just tried to enjoy the early miles.
I rolled into the first aid station in 1.5 hours, which was “faster” than I expected, and I was feeling pretty great. I ate a spring energy and a salt tab and kept moving. The next part of the course, let’s call it Sherman, was completely split, 3.5 uphill and 3.5 downhill. You guessed it, an out-and-back section. Did I mention that the whole course is also and out-and-back course? That meant we would run this section twice in order to cross the finish line. The first time through wasn’t so bad. We saw the leaders blazing down, and I kept fantasizing that the turnaround point was close. Nope.
We kept running and power hiking, and eventually I saw some friends and knew I was getting closer. I tried to eat some more, and this time I chose almond butter. From the first bite, I knew it was a mistake. It totally clumped up in my mouth, and I thought I was going to choke. I opened the packet though, and I didn’t want to waste it, so I forced it down with some water and vowed not to put myself through that again.
I saw some happy runners, and that definitely meant we were close! I get to the turnaround totally ready to blast off downhill, but I noticed a bit of tightness in my lower back and abs. Hmmmm…weird. Maybe it would go away once I got into my stride. Not so much, but I was able to run through it all the way down to the next aid station. I was looking for oranges and something watery to quench my insatiable thirst, but alas, all they had were bananas. It was okay, because the next aid station was 4 miles away.
Little did I realize that the next 4 miles were actually a part of the infamously difficult marathon course. The 50-mile course was changed a bit and included 1,000 feet of extra special, bonus vert for us masochists, including these 4 miles from the marathon course. Olympian marathon runner Kara Goucher called this course, “by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done” so that gives you an idea…We jogged for a little bit, crossed a service road, and then up, up, and away we went. I was still somewhat jogging the uphills at this point, but that stopped once we got to the 10% grade.
At first, it wasn’t so bad. I power hiked my way through, passed a few people, and kept going. Then, out of nowhere, it felt like someone punched me in the gut and I could no longer breathe but wanted to vomit at the same time. Blehhhh! I tried hiking through it but eventually stood for a second on the side of the trail to catch my breath. Yep, here’s the altitude giving me a great big slap in the face. “Hey girl!”
What felt like a never-ending hill kept going and going, and getting steeper and steeper as we went up. I kept thinking, man, we’ve got to be getting close. Then we’d turn a corner, and I thought, “please god, let this be the end!” It wasn’t, and I definitely wasn’t the only one tired of this hill and the nausea that it came with it.
You get the idea. So when I arrived at the next aid station and saw salted watermelon, my heart jumped for joy. YESSSSS! Perfect. Exactly what I wanted before I even knew I wanted it. I ate a bunch of it, filled my hydration pack, and then headed out. The volunteer staff said the next bit was “mostly downhill” and we were do happy to hear that. Off we went!
5 minutes later, we were (unpleasantly) greeted by some more uphill. Alright, fine. Here we go again. It was a slog, but luckily, the uphill here wasn’t nearly as steep as the one we’d just climbed up. A few miles in, we saw the lead runner headed back in. That means he’d already made it to the turn around and had basically ran a 31 miles in the time it took us to run 20 miles. Too fast, not fair!
We kept going and were rewarded with not only downhill, which at 12,000 feet feels like flat trails, but also beautiful views of the 14ers around the area, Mt Massive and Mt Elbert, I think.
My stomach and lower back were still giving me a bit of trouble and preventing me from really opening up my stride downhill. No idea what was going on. Did I eat something bad the day before? Am I not drinking enough water? Am I drinking too much? Hmmm…
The next aid station was the official halfway point and turnaround. It was definitely a long 7 miles to get there, and I had one other feeling in my gut. It was the dread of doing all of this again in reverse. Ah well, best not to think about the future in ultras, just stay present and think about the now.
I continued on, the clouds rolled in, and just as I made it to the aid station at 24.9 miles, grabbed my drop back, put on my rain jacket, and used the port-a-potty, which was out of toilet paper. Good thing I wasn’t trying to get rid of some extra fluids/waste, right? I was hoping a proper trip to the john would help my stomach release a bit, but no luck.
I didn’t eat much else besides watermelon at this aid station, and once I got back on the course, I tried to force down some of my epic bar. It’s bacon, come on! That’s gonna go down easy, I thought. Nope. Mouth was too dry, and I couldn’t really chew it without feeling like I was going to puke it up. The issues I was having with nausea and not being able to eat were definitely foreign territory for me in ultras. This has never happened before, and I was unsure how it would affect my remaining miles in the race.
I am glad I grabbed a jacket because it started hailing on us. Yep, hail is essentially the precipitation at 12,000 feet. Not rain. It felt refreshing in some ways, but I was a little chilly, so I was glad to have my jacket. It lasted maybe 30 minutes, so I eventually shedded that extra layer and just carried it in my pack.
Time-wise, I was actually in great shape. Those feelings of doubt I was having about finishing were no more, and while I still knew I had a long way to go, I was more confident in myself and my legs. I tried to force down another spring energy, because, ya know, you need calories to run. Bleh. It’s never been so hard to swallow something that is essentially baby food, but at least I had something more in me. Even though, my stomach wasn’t cooperating, I was about 1.5-2 hours ahead of the cut-off times, and I was moving and running pretty well, and I knew if I could just get back to the aid station before the giant hill on the way out that I would bomb down it and make up even more time.
After a couple hours of power hiking and running sections, I finally made it to the magical salted watermelon aid station. Aaah yes. They also had coke this time through, so I took a couple shots of it and headed out. By this time, I’d completely given up on the spring energy gels and any other forms of calories. Just water, salted watermelon, and coke. Please and Thank You.
Here comes that downhill, boom boom! I got my hat on backwards, shades on, music blasting, and so ready to run. Down I go! I am a much stronger downhill runner than uphill, that I know. Little did I expect, almost everyone I passed was barely running or walking the downhill. I’m like whaaaaaat? These are essentially ‘free’ miles. Gotta run those baby! My legs were obviously feeling pretty great, pure elation at real downhill, so I don’t mean to come across as if I don’t understand that others may not have been feeling so great. In fact, some of them were puking…
The downhill did come to an end, and I power hiked my way to the next aid station, which was the second to last one of the race at 37-ish miles. I ran into it looking and feeling pretty good considering all the circumstances of the day. I was unexpectedly greeted by a woman I’d seen earlier in the day at the same aid station. She saw me and said, “There she is–my favorite female runner in this race!” Thanks random stranger, your words mean a lot to me. I have a lot more running to do, but we should be friends! Hah!
Temperatures during the day weren’t anything crazy, and it was actually pretty ideal running weather in the mid-60s. It’s just, when you’re at 12,000 feet, like 2 inches from the sun, you feel the heat, even if the temperatures aren’t that high. I shed my tank top here, and doused myself with water and sunscreen here. Ate some more watermelon, drank some more coke and headed off for…you guessed it, that super fun and easy Sherman out-and-back section of the course! Sarcasm is an essential ingredient in my blog posts, if you haven’t caught on yet.
So, I knew this part would likely be the toughest stretch of the day. Not physically, but definitely mentally. My coaches always say that ultra running isn’t as much about running as it is about mental strength. Sure, you have to know how to run and train as a runner, but it’s moments like this that you have to find something within you to keep you moving and motivated for the big picture and prize! My music, random chats, and knowing once we got to the top, it would all basically be downhill from there. Those were the things that got me through this stretch.
My mouth was beginning to feel incredibly dry, as if I had spent a day in the desert without water. I’d take a sip from my hydration straw, swallow, and then my mouth was instantly dry again. It’s like water had no effect. I tried drinking Nuun, too. Same thing. Hmmm….
People around me were tired and parched too. We were all in the same boat of suffering in that moment, but the turnaround was near. I knew it was this time around, because I’d done it just 5 hours earlier. It was finally within sight, and I let out a big “Hell Yeah!” The male runner next to me said nothing…lol.
I took off as “fast” as I could. I use quotes there because, while my legs felt pretty good and strong, the lower back and core stiffness kept my from really letting loose. In fact, I could only run for a couple of minutes at a time, and then was so out of breath that I had to stop running downhill. “Hey girl, remember me?” – Altitude.
I was moving much faster now then I was on the uphill, of course, and I knew the final aid station was only getting closer and closer. I told myself not to try to predict how far away from it I was, but to just keep moving and drinking as much as I could. Before I knew it, I saw the turn that meant this out-and-back section was over. DONE. I never had to run it again, unless I chose to. YESSS!
The volunteer staff told me I was looking good, and their energy was definitely contagious. I powered through all the way to the aid station. I didn’t eat anything there, just drank some more coke. My teeth felt so gross, and I was thinking I should have packed a toothbrush. I never drink Coke, unless I need a good pick me up in a race, so yeah, my teeth were not used to all that sugar. Neither is my body, but it was responding well (as well as possible?) to it, so I just rolled with it.
There were about 8 miles until the finish. Woo hoo! I was so close, and luckily had mostly downhill waiting for me. I passed so many people (men) in this last section, and that is a true testament to the training I’ve done in the last few months. My coaches really did a great job putting together training plans with enough variety and course-specific runs to get me to mile 43 still ready to run. Addie especially encouraged me to do this race as a training run, and for so many miles in this race, I was so thankful she did. 🙂
Okay, I got to a point with about 2 miles left before I got passed, and it was by a woman, so I didn’t care. My body was crashing hard. Running 30 miles on just watermelon and Coke was coming back to get me. I wasn’t sick, just completely depleted of energy. The finish line was so close though. I wanted to just power through. I thought of eating something else just to get me to the finish, but the nausea was still there.
Alright, let’s do this. We were officially within earshot, so I knew the finish was close. But wait, there’s still a mile. You can physically see and hear the finish line, but must do this mile-long jaunt around the finish line before you cross that line. Okay, fine. Not ideal for us who have just run 49 miles and 7,900 feet of vert. But okay, let’s finish strong, I told myself. I ran where I could and just focused on how far I’d come and how much of a relief it would be to finish in daylight.
I then saw a woman in front of me that was about 5 miles ahead of me at the previous aid station. I’d caught up to her, and I took heart in that. Okay, I can now see the final hill I have to run down and straight through to the finish. Aww yeah!
I hear everyone cheering as I approach and I even get a teeny bit cocky and gesture with my fingers to make more noise. Hah. Then I sprint through the finish with my fingers pointed out. I spent the last 10 miles thinking about the pose I would finish with…I knew there would be photographers at the finish, so I wanted something fun for memories. This may be shallow, call me on it. I don’t care.
I was finally done, woo hoo! I think the first words I said as they put the finisher’s medal around my neck was, “That was so fucking hard!” So there ya go, 5-word summary of the race. Hah.
My stomach was still a wreck after I’d stopped running. I tried to eat the pulled pork sand and other foods at the finish, and my tummy wasn’t having it. Beer tasted alright for the first couple sips, but I decided in that moment that I had to drive home to lower altitude and see if that made a difference and didn’t even drink half of said beer. I debated staying in my car and did bring a sleeping bag just in case I got tired on the road. Nope, no problems at all driving home. Traffic was pretty great too. I had lots of hunger when I got back home at 10 pm, so I inhaled some soup and crackers when I got home. Huzzah!
With this race and my experience running 50 miles at altitude, there is definitely a lot to takeaway in the final 6 (now 5 as I type this) weeks leading up to the biggest and longest race of my life, the Leadville 100.
- I am definitely more confident in my legs at altitude and just want to spend the remaining weeks like I’ve spent the last 5 months, training and eating well.
- On top of this, knowing how my body reacts to running up and down at 12,000 feet is only going to help me prepare for even more miles through the sky. I am not sure if I can do anything to prevent the nausea, but I definitely know I have to eat more to finish the 100.
- Crew! The importance of crew is huge in an ultra. I didn’t know a single person in the aid stations, and only saw my friends running the race for a couple of seconds over the course of 12 hours. It was pretty damn lonely out there, and I can’t wait for my crew to be there next time, just for the energy I receive from seeing friendly faces.
Speaking of friends, my super rad friend and massage therapist Julie took me out for this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G brunch on Sunday, after my appetite was back in full form. It was the beeeeeeest.
natari 