Journey to Leadville - Byrne - June 25, 2012

*************FINAL VERSION**************

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

I can't believe this! I just discovered another 13 laps that I did not account for which brings our total to 103.28 miles - AWESOME :o)
 

...... and 16 sets of stairs - 24 hours - Saturday, June 23rd 7:07 am - Sunday, June 24th 7:07 am! A pretty good day :o)
Please be patient with me - this entry is going to take a while to write. I have much to say and a bunch of pictures to import from our 24 hour run - it might take me a few days to get this one completed. I'll keep adding to it for awhile so you can keep checking back - I'll post "FINAL VERSION" at the top of this when it is completed.  More to come soon!

I've recalculated our distance a number of times - funny how it took my brain a few days to start thinking straight. We ran 245 laps around the track. This is an accurate statement as we were careful about how we counted laps and how we recorded them. We carried a mini cross with a string looped around it and changed fingers each lap - 10 laps for me and 10 laps for Rick. Every 20 laps we took a refreshment break and recorded the run. Until this afternoon I based our mileage on the inside lane (#1). While we did run on lane 1, we often ran in lanes 2, 3, and 4 to give each other and our guests the inside lane. Conservatively I estimate that we 'averaged' Lane 2 which would raise our 61.25 miles to 62.48 miles (assuming a 408 meter distance). Our off-track mileage, according to the maps on MapMyFitness measured 37.55 miles. So.... adding them up puts us at 100.03 miles! Plus we ran 16 sets of stairs in our 24 hours.  I'd like to think that we ran even farther than this but it's time to stop calculating and enjoy the success of our training run!

Our good friend Gordon Staley produced this video containing pictures from some of the training we have been doing over the last few months - pretty cool!  Thanks Gordon!

I arrived at the track around 6:25 a.m. John O'Brien had already logged 10 miles - starting at 4:45 am. Matt Carroll, a friend and colleague of mine who works in the Communications Department at St. Ambrose, was there with a video camera. He shot some video of us running and interviewed me before we started running. Rick showed up around 6:40 and we unloaded all the supplies he brought. The interview went past 7:00 am so we actually didn't start until 7:07 am. Gordon Staley and Julie Soucinek also showed up early - showering us with food and beverage. We got off to a great start! Our plan was to run 3 or 4 laps for every one we walked but since Matt was still filming, we thought we'd keep running for awhile. After 20 laps, we did 8 sets of stairs.

For the most part we followed a pattern for the remainder of the 24 hr run while we were on the track. Walk 4 laps, run 3 laps, walk 1 lap, run 3 laps, walk 1 lap, run 3 laps, walk 1 lap, run 3 laps, walk 1 lap. Refuel - walking while we ate and drank, starting into our next 4 lap walk. Often we would drink on our walking laps.

Lynn Hawbaker, Lori French, and Michelle Dunlavy joined us for some running too and Michelle did a set of 8 stairs with us after our second set of 20 laps. We were able to get another 13 laps in before it was time to head out on our first 'off-track' run.

John O'Brien's wife showed up with his 2 little girls - that was fun to see them. Rick's wife Jeanie also came with his girls Ashley and Kayla. Actually the entire Fountain family showed up several times throughout the day, sometimes with boys Tristan and Tylar and a couple cousins in tow (Faith and Carter). Christine Eden, one of my students from St. Ambrose who is also a captain on the cross country and track teams, ran 10 miles with us. I tried to coerce her into running more with us :o) Erol Melik and Doug Himmelman showed up as well as Dave Jessen. Most people walked around the track when it was time for us to walk and some people ran with us. It was so great having everyone there! John DeDoncker showed up and ran some with us after having run in the 'Run 4 the Hills' fundraiser run for the Friends of the Bettendorf Parks and Recreation. He shared some of his wisdom with Rick on preparing for Leadville - as he successfully finished in Quad City record time in 2011.

I'm experimenting by posting a 'Google Earth' flyover of the first 'off track' run we had from 10 am - 1 pm on Saturday, June 24th (see below). Rick Fountain, John O'Brien and I headed out north and east of Bettendorf. Total run was about 15.1 miles. We were lucky weather wise all day and night - hardly saw the sun at all - hidden behind the clouds - it was really nice.We did get low on water near the turnaround point and stopped by a farmhouse hoping to replenish our water supply. We met up with a very kind farmer's wife who gave us a generous supply of good ol' well water. I loved it, I think Rick liked it, and John O'Brien didn't care much for it. We ran quite a bit of the route, usually working in some walking 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up the hills.

When we arrived back at the track, we started in on our 20 lap pattern. We decided to discontinue doing the steps. We'll be sure to get more of those in Leadville :o) Some of my former students, Ann and Spencer Hill and Luke Ebener joined us - it was a blast. Ironically we started talking about Spencer looking for a new job and Rick mentioned that there was an opening at Grainger, where he works. Hopefully it will work out for him. My friends Gordon and Julie Schneider showed up to run a bit with us and Tom Waterman joined us for the first of a couple stints with us. Tom advised us to try drinking some Coca Cola in the middle of the night for the caffeine. At first I was not at all interested but I agreed to try it and I am glad I did. It did not bubble in my stomach like I thought it would, it tasted good, and I think the caffeine helped keep me awake. Rick seemed to like it too.

A photographer from the QC Times also showed up to take some photos of us running around the track. I believe there will be an article to follow not only on our training run and on Leadville, but more importantly, on raising money to help out a 10 year old girl, Charly Erpelding, who is suffering from cancer. We are running for Charly and are honored to raise money to help defray expenses her family is incurring.  I"ll make sure to include more about this in a later post.

I was pleasantly surprised when Joan showed up with my former roommate from college, Kevin Schmidt. I knew Kevin was stopping through but didn't think he was going to stay as long as he did. He saw his Godson and my son Thomas play basketball and came down to the track afterwards to walk and run some laps with me. I'm so glad he stopped by. 

My sister Debi showed up with some great chicken sandwiches and started running and walking with us for what seemed like quite a bit of the rest of the 24 hour time period. I wish I had kept track of how far she went because I swear it was more than 20 miles (she had already done 4 before coming over to the track). Moreover she worked a 24 hour shift as a nurse prior to coming to see us - grabbing only about 2 hours of sleep! It's funny how when you start to think that you are doing something difficult, you look around and soon see that someone is doing something even more difficult - way to go Deb! I'm so excited to have her come out to Leadville this year - it is going to be SO fun - she is an amazing sister and a spectacularly kind and generous person. 

Michelle Russell, Ms. Live Uncommon, came by to and ran a ton with us and snapped some photos. It is always great to talk to Michelle - she is so kind, supportive, and positive - I really like being around her. While she was concerned we wouldn't have enough people visit us as they day went on to keep our spirits up, we were flattered and amazed at how many people took time out of their day to come visit us, run with us, walk with us, bring us food, and take care of us. I have the perfect prescription for loneliness and low self esteem - go run 100 miles! People will flock to you and make you feel like the most valuable people on the face of the earth.

The next 'off track' segment (see below) was a 13.4 mile run from 3-6 pm. Rick and I went south on 18th St. and turned on Middle Road until we hit the bike path. From there we took the bike path into Davenport, making it all the way past Marquette St. Jay Gates ran this segment with us and Julie Soucinek came along for the bike ride. It was killing her not to run but she was pretty good about following doctor's orders - resting her legs from stress fractures. Heading west on the bike path was probably one of the low points for me on this day - calves were hurting from fatigue, stomach was feeling full and bloated - yuck! On the return route I felt much better and felt like at times we were making fairly good time. Upon our return we only had one hour at the track before heading out again.



When we returned to the track I decided to change socks and shoes and rip the duct tape off my toes. My feet began to feel warmer as they day wore on. Part of the reason for this, I believe, was that I wrapped my toes in solid strips of duct tape. I probably also wrapped them a little too tight. I did not get any blistering but my toes did start to heat up and it was uncomfortable. I did not use gauze on my feet but I will for Leadville for sure. Note for Leadville - use a breathable gauze and if I need to use duct tape I will use thin strips instead of 1.5" wide strips. I also put on some thicker socks that had arch supports and changed into size 14 shoes. While I had some cushion at the front of my toes, the tape, thick socks and smaller shoes made the next hour's run fairly uncomfortable. Before heading out I ripped off the tape, changed into thinner socks and put my size 15's back on. I love my size 15 shoes that are wider near the balls of my feet. I feel a little like Bozo the clown but they are comfortable. I'm going to order another pair for Leadville. Good lessons learned.

Our last 'off track' segment was a 9 mile run heading north on 18th St, west on 56th St, and north on Utica Ridge Rd out into the country. The run on the way out was perhaps my lowest point of the entire run. My stomach felt bloated and miserable. As a result I did not want to eat and I did not want to run. We must have walked at least 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile because of me. Rick looked really good and strong but in a training run like this, the weakest link sets the pace so we walked for a bit. The good news was that we had surpassed the half way point but I wasn't feeling like celebrating. It was wonderful having great company along for this part of the day. Dave Jessen, Doug Himmelman, and Carter Himmelman led and followed us on their bikes, encouraging us, joking with us, and keeping our spirits up. Debi Elmer and Jody Himmelman ran a good section of this with us.



Our friend John DeDoncker provided some incentive for us - promising a well supplied cooler near his condominium that we would pass on the way out. Even though it was a camouflage cooler, we found it! It was full of water and gatorades of many colors - much, much appreciated! The refreshment was great but like many things on this day, what we really appreciated the most was the generosity and thoughtfulness others expressed to us by going out of their way to take care of us - heartwarming and inspiring!

The original plan was to run this segment from 8 - 11 pm. I revised it to 7 - 10 pm in an attempt to get back into town before darkness hit. As the day progressed with overcast weather I wondered whether darkness would set in any earlier and asked Rick if he was okay cutting our run from 7 - 10 pm to 7 - 9 pm. Rick agreed that this made sense so we turned around at 8 pm. If the run out was a low point, the return was probably the highest or second highest point of the entire day. It felt like we were cruising back at a very strong pace. The food finally seemed to settle in my stomach and my energy returned.We made it back from our 9 mile run a few minutes before 8 pm and were ready to tackle the track again.


Enjoy some pictures from the 24 hour run! Not in order though....

Rick Fountain, Mark Theuerkauf, Larry Ratigan, John O'Brien - Sunday am - a beautiful rainbow in front!

John Byrne, Rick Fountain, Doug Himmelman following on the bike - Saturday pm

John Byrne and Rick Fountain coming back from I-80 past Crow Valley Golf course - Dave Jessen photographer - Saturday pm

Tom Waterman, Dave Jessen, John Byrne, Rick Fountain - Sunday am

John and Rick - Sunday am

Tom Waterman, Dave Jessen, Larry Ratigan, John Byrne, Rick Fountain - Sunday am

Jeanie Fountain, Tom Waterman, Dave Jessen, John Byrne, Rick Fountain, Lucy, Larry Ratigan, Mark Theuerkauf - Sunday am

Tom Waterman, Dave Jessen, Rick Fountain, John Byrne, Larry Ratigan, Mark Theuerkauf - Sunday

John Byrne and Tom Waterman - Sunday am

Rick Fountain and Larry Ratigan - Sunday am

Walking a lap - Tom Waterman, Larry Ratigan, John O'Brien, John Byrne, Mark Theuerkauf, Rick Fountain - Sunday am

Larry Ratigan, John O'Brien, Tom Waterman, Mark Theuerkauf, John Byrne, Rick Fountain - Sunday am

Turn your computer sideways! Larry Ratigan, Tom Waterman, John O'Brien, John Byrne, Mark Theuerkauf, Rick Fountain - Sunday am

Larry Ratigan, John Byrne, Rick Fountain - Sunday am - pushing hard to the end!

The crew at the end - Julie Soucinek, Mark Theuerkauf, Larry Ratigan, John O'Brien, Jay Gates, John Byrne, Doug Himmelman, Rick Fountain, Gordon Staley, Jeanie Fountain, Tom Waterman, Debi Elmer, and Lucy the dog

Rick and John - glad to be finished!

Rick and Jeanie, John and sister Debi Elmer

Rick and John after the run!

Anne Hill, Luke Ebener, Spencer Hill, Rick Fountain, Michelle Russell, John Byrne- Saturday afternoon

Rick getting some deserved rest with Lucy - Jeanie Fountain photographer - Sunday morning

Ann Hill, Luke Ebener, Spencer Hill, Rick Fountain, Michelle Russell, Rick Fountain, John Byrne - Saturday afternoon

John, Rick, Larry Ratigan, and Mark Theuerkauf - early Sunday morning

Rick and John thanking many members of 'our crew' after finishing! What great support!!!

John, Rick, Rick's daughters Ashley and Kayla

It wasn't dark when we returned from our run north of town but the sun was starting to fall on the horizon. We were planning to go 'off track' one more time from 1 am - 4 am but decided that we would stay at the track for the remainder of our run. While 10 hours seemed like a long time to be running around a track, it wasn't that bad. Plus there were a number of advantages to staying at our home base.

1 - the boom box was playing music all night
2 - our food and drink was available whenever we wanted it - no worries about running short
3 - restrooms - I believe we took advantage of this!
4 - not having to carry the camelback full of water
5 - not having to carry water/gatorade bottles
6 - not having to worry about mishaps that could occur late at night out on the town
7 - easier to follow a disciplined schedule of alternating jogging/walking (note how I didn't use the word 'run' - at some point I'm not sure it was appropriate to use 'run'!)
8 - we ate more soup which was on a hot plate by the track - wouldn't have been able to have this if we had went off track

It was a SMART decision to stay at the track for the duration of the run. I am glad we worked in a few 'off-track' runs earlier because it helped break up the monotony and it gave us some up and down running.

One of the battles I struggled with during the 24 hour run was simultaneously supplying my body with nutrition, staying hydrated, and not feeling like my stomach was bloated. I believed the sandwiches were good for me and felt like the energy moved to my legs within 30-40 minutes after I ate them but they were so hard to eat. Eventually I figured out that 1/2 sandwiches did the trick as opposed to full sandwiches and washing them down with soup made them go down much smoother. I am glad to report Rick didn't seem to have any problems eating.

After dark we must have been joined by 30-40 students from Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley! A number of them came at the request of Michelle Russell (thank you Michelle!) - friends of the Live Uncommon movement - a great organization   www.liveuncommon.org    Many of the remaining visitors came at the request of Coach Freking and Coach Fern from the Bettendorf football program. These guys were working hard at the track around 8 am when we were out there and took the time to come see us around 10 pm that night - very cool!  Again, people making us feel special and important - keeping our spirits up when the going became tough.

After my wife Joan took the kids to see "Puss and Boots" at the movie in the park, they stopped down to see us - it was great to see them. Katie, Joe, and Michael ran some laps with us - that was great. Joe had a chance to talk to the high school track girls. 

Jay Gates, Curt Johnston, and Debi Elmer were with us for quite a bit of the dark, peaceful night. Jay completed the marathon distance he planned on, Curt hit a new life time high of 30 miles, and Deb steadily kept running with us. Later on her husband Scott joined us for numerous walks around the track - it was great to see him as well.

During the entire 24 hour run, I would venture to say that Rick and I were alone for at most 20 minutes around 2:00 am - 2:20 am. It blew us away to think that so many people wanted to come hang out with us, run with us, ride with us, walk with us, and nourish us. They provided tremendous inspiration to us and kept us going better and more than we probably could have on our own.

The night continued to press on and we began counting how many hours we had left. Some quick calculations led me to believe that we might get 92-94 miles in - I'm glad I was wrong! There were times when I literally fell like I was about to fall asleep, usually during our walking laps when I could hardly stay in my own lane. Fortunately there was a watering hose at the football field used to cool off the players. We turned this hose on a number of times to spray our faces, heads, chest and back. The water was cool and refreshing and woke us up every time.

Eventually the sun rose around 4:45 am and the track quickly became visible. Typically the morning light energizes us but it didn't feel as magical today - I suppose because we were dog tired from running 22 hours straight. The daylight brought out a new force of support - some repeat visitors from before and some people joining us for the first time. John O'Brien rejoined us so he could complete his goal of running 44 miles - way to go John! I think it is safe to say that we performed fairly consistently during the night. As we were joined by others, the western sky showed a beautiful rainbow and the runners gave us added inspiration. You can see people in the pictures but we were joined by Dave Jessen, Tom Waterman, Larry Ratigan, John O'Brien, Mark Theuerkauf, Julie Soucinek, Gordon Staley, Debi Elmer, Doug Himmelman, Jay Gates, Jeanie Fountain, and Lucy (Rick's dog) for most of the final stretch.

Remarkably our last 30 minutes may have been our fastest 30 minutes!  Strange as it sounds, it may have had something to do with the adrenalin from finishing a long run and having people being with us. With about 16 minutes left, I wondered if we could complete our final set of 20 laps. I asked Rick if he wanted to try and as always, he said 'Yes' - so we went for it. I didn't have a Garmin but was told that we were running the last couple miles at about an 8:00 minute mile pace. While that seems a little fast, we were booking it and our pacers kept us going strong. What a way to finish!  It felt great to be done but it was especially gratifying to know that we could have kept going :o)

Until now I thought that this was the second longest distance I had ever run - I was wrong - it was the farthest! At Leadville in 2005 I only ran 100 miles - this time I surpassed it! Not by much but it felt good. Of course the altitude and terrain are more difficult than Colorado. On the other hand I did not feel this good when I finished Leadville the first time.

There were many things I learned from this run and I will incorporate this knowledge into our run in August.

Hydrate well for at least a week, not just 3 days prior to the race.
Eat 1/2 sandwiches at a time vs. full sandwiches
Eat soup with sandwiches (every time!) to wash them down easier
Wear size 15 shoes for Leadville - size 14 is too small
We can complete Leadville without sitting down - we probably sat less than 3 minutes - only to change shoes
tape toes more lightly
don't suffocate toes with tape - leave some air for breathing room
drink coca cola after the half way point - Winfield
make sure pacers know they need to remind us to take Advil, eat, and drink (sometimes we forgot)
make sure to vaseline all over to prevent chaffing
don't wear thick socks

there may be other things too which I'll try to make note of later but this is what stands out at this time.

for some tracking purposes this is what I have recorded - distances, stairs and times

7:07 - 10:00 am               33 laps (8.25 miles and 16 sets of stairs)
10:00 am - 1:00 pm         15.1 mile run east and north of town
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm           25 laps (6.25 miles)
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm           13.39 mile run west on bike path
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm           13 laps (3.25 miles)
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm           9.06 mile run north of town
9:00 pm - 10:10 pm         20 laps (5 miles) - 70 minutes
10:10 pm - 11:30 pm       20 laps (5 miles) - 80 minutes
11:30 pm - 12:55 am       20 laps (5 miles) - 85 minutes
12:55 am - 2:15 am         20 laps (5 miles) - 80 minutes
2:15 am - 3:34 am           20 laps (5 miles) - 79 minutes
3:34 am - 4:53 am           20 laps (5 miles) - 79 minutes
4:53 am - 6:09 am           20 laps (5 miles) - 76 minutes
6:09 am - 7:07 am           20 laps (5 miles) - 58 minutes  - COOL!!!!! - not bad for the last 5 miles!


Upon reflection, the most significant thing about this 24 hour run had little to do with us pounding our feet on the earth for 24 hours.Thinking about how so many people were willing to come be with us, support us, and help us achieve this goal was nothing short of heartwarming. Friends kept bringing us food, drink, supplies in addition to asking what else they could do and coming out all hours of the day and night. It made us feel so important and valuable. We kept hearing over and over how we were so inspiring to others when the reality from our perspective was how much others were inspiring to us and kept us pushing forward and being strong.

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