Sunday, June 17, 2012

Journey to Leadville - Byrne - June 17, 2012

62 days until the 2012 Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run...

A little delayed on the blog. Friday morning Rick and I went on a fairly easy run - starting slow for the first 3 miles and then kicking it in pretty good for the last half of the run. Details can be seen below - basically we ran down to the river and back in Bettendorf.

http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/104004235 - Friday morning run with Rick Fountain 6.7 miles.

Friday night we had some people over who are coming to Leadville (or who are family members of those who are coming to Leadville). I thought it would be a good idea to get people together to brief them on what to expect in Leadville and how they can best help us. We had a fun time and I think it was a great session. We talked about the route, brainstormed on supplies to have along, and started working through some coordination about when people are coming out, transportation to Leadville, lodging, and roles people would play. We weren't able to have everyone tonight due to schedule conflicts but I was delighted that my sister Debi, Rick Fountain (his wife Jeannie and daughters Ashley and Kayla), Gordon Staley (his wife Teresa and kids Allison and Keaton), Mike Cavins (his wife Jen and boys John and Matthew), Larry Ratigan (his wife Kris and kids Sydney (sp?) and Nick), Doug Himmelman, Jay Gates, and Tom Waterman. It was good to sit down and map some of the logistics out - I'm so grateful for everyone's willingness to help Rick and I and am very excited for this race!

On Saturday morning we did our 4:30 am run again - Curt Johnston, Rick Fountain and I headed out on the first leg - approximately 9 miles. Pretty balmy to start out - 72 degrees and humid. On the way back we met a little breeze into our faces and it felt good.

http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/104004905 - 9 miles - 1 hr 26 minutes

Emily Bucy, John O'Brien, Jen Hart, Jane Wheeler, Curt Johnston, and Rick Fountain - John Byrne photographer
I must apologize for the lousy, blurry picture. Either my lens is clouded or the camera in my phone is just getting old - oh well.

This was the group that went out on the 2nd leg of our run - we went a little over 8 miles. Part way into the run the rain started to lightly fall. It gradually became stronger but it felt really good and kept us cool. For quite a bit of this segment I ran with Emily and Jen. I'd like to say we had great conversation but it was me who stole most of the air time. They made the mistake of asking me a few questions about Leadville and before you know it, we were back to the finish - they didn't have much of a chance to get in any words!

http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/104005287 - 8.15 miles - 1 hr 20 minutes

This coming week we are going to take it fairly easy - running stairs on Tuesday and a 7 mile run on Thursday morning leading up to our 24 hour run from Saturday, June 23rd at 7 am - Sunday, June 24th at 7 am. I will be posting a schedule of our proposed routes and times at the Bettendorf High School track (we will be starting and ending there). Rick and I would love to have you stop by and run some with us or to say hello. It is going to be a VERY long day/night but it is something we need to do in preparation for August. 

Until my next post, have a great day!  DIG DEEP!

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