Road to Leadman: Leadville Trail Marathon Race Plan

Gabe Peterson

Race Plan: Leadville Trail Marathon

Goals:

This is the first race in the Leadman competition.  It is considered pound-for-pound the toughest race in the series.  I’ve been up at high altitude such as Mt Whitney (the highest point in the contiguous US), and it has never had a significant effect upon me.  However, this will be my first time trying to run above 12,000ft.  My goals are modest:

• Use this race to assess the effect of high altitudes upon me.  Once the snow melts in Utah, I can get up to over 10,000ft for training.  Now everything above 8,000ft is snow covered.
• Don’t fuck up the rest of the Leadman.  I’ve studied past results.  One trend I noted is that athletes who do well in the Trail Marathon usually struggle in the later events, such as the Trail Run 100.  There is an 8.5 hour cutoff, so I don’t need to try to be a hero.
• Have fun!  How many people get to do this kind of cool shit?

Gear Checklist:

There are no drop bags allowed for this race.  That simplifies things in that I don’t have to plan what to put in drop bags.  However, it means I must carry everything I need and there will be no contingency of backup gear along the way.

Running Gear

·        Hoka Challenger 3 trail running shoes and socks

·        EN hat (to protect head at 13,000ft) and running sunglasses

·        Aftershokz headphones

·        Northdface BTN running shorts

·        Salomon running jersey

·        Race belt with S-tabs, basic first aid, sunscreen stick, and Advil in pocket

·        Garmin Fenix 3 and HR strap

Running Vest

·        4 Gu Salted Caramels and Gu Chomps in front pockets

·        2 soft flasks with 17oz of Tailwind Nutrition

·        2 soft flasks with Tailwind powder but no water in right and left zipper pockets – I’ll fill these with water at aid stations

·        Phone in left zipper pocket with music playlist ready to go

·        Light weight running jacket in back pocket if there is a risk of rain, or wear it at start if cold

Race Morning:

·        Wake up by 6:30AM

·        Eat + coffee up

·        Apply sunscreen

·        Depart by 7:15AM to get to race start by 7:30AM

·        Drink sports drink on the walk

·        Vega pre-workout supplement 15 minutes before start to get pumped up

·        Start the race at 8:00AM

Race:

Strategy

My strategy is simple and summarized in the below graphic.  I’ll go conservative early, avoiding blowing up on the 2,000+ ft climbs.  I’ll keep my HR in the MAF region of 142 or less with short spikes up to 150 until mile 20.  Then it’s balls out.Nutrition Plan

I'll rely primarily on the nutrition that I'll carry.  But if something looks good at an aid station, I'll go for it.

Target: Consume about 250 calories per hour.

Nutrition	Frequency	Calories / hour	Total calories
2-3 oz of Tailwind	Every 1 mile	~200	1200
Gu gel with caffeine to stay alert	Every 1-2 hours	50-100	300
Gu Chomps	As desired	~50	300
S-tab salt pills.  Take one if hands start feeling chalky.	As needed	0	0

Closing Thoughts:

I’ve been dreaming of and planning for the Leadman for the last six months.  I’m super excited to start the series!

Dave Gardner

Best of luck! I've enjoyed following your journey for the last 6 months, super excited for your first race of the series. Solid race plan, I really like the graphic you included that shows your different effort levels throughout 

Gabe Peterson

Thanks @Dave Gardner!