Clark's Leadville 100 Run Plan
Leadville Race Execution Plan
Background:
This all started last June when I qualified for the Western States lottery. I had only passing interest in a 100 but I knew I would put my name into the lottery. Then in January, when I wasn't selected in the WS lottery, @tim cronk messaged me about Leadville run camp and how run camp included a guaranteed race entry. Tim also mentioned that @Gabe Peterson was already signed up for run camp.
Run camp sounded like fun, running 100 miles, not so much. But like so many dumb, challenging and exciting things, I thought about it for a day or two and then messaged back, "sure, I'm in." And I have not regretted that decision for even a second.
The build has been solid and run camp was the highlight. In camp we ran ~70 miles over 4 days, mostly on course, and all at altitude. Run camp did convince me to change my race travel plans, so I came out on Friday night a full week prior to the run. I hope this will help me on race day. It also meant I got to see @Emily Brinkley and @matt limbert kick some Leadville ass during the MTB. So inspiring! There is something truly special about seeing people absolutely bury themselves in a physical challenge.
I'm coming into Leadville feeling fit and lean, knowing that I did everything I could do to prepare for this race.
- Logged more miles and more vertical than ever before.
- Trained on course.
- Mapped out a local route with the same elevation gain/loss as Twin Lakes to Winfield to Twin Lakes and I ran / hiked that multiple times.
- Multiple back to back long run days.
- Multiple fuel and pack tests and modifications.
- Hiking with weights.
- Climbing and descending thousands of flights of stairs.
- Changed my travel plans to get acclimatization time at altitude.
- Mental training, working on my why and my affirmations.
- ~10 lbs lighter than my last ultra and as lean as I've ever been
Now I just need to tune out all of the noise, focus on the task at hand, follow the plan, and get shit done.
Goals:
- Finish
- At/under 28 hours
- Learn something about myself
- Have fun
Affirmations:
- You chose to be here. You’ve done the work to get here. You can do this!
- You’re stronger than you think you are. You can do more than you think you can.
Execution thoughts:
- Start to May Queen - race time 2:15-2:30, time of day 6:15-6:30
- Remember lights
- Will probably be cold so dress appropriately
- Take it easy… Really easy.
- Refill pack at aid station
- Meet crew somewhere at/after May Queen
- Drop off lights to recharge
- Change to a cooler shirt
- Record data in the table (leg time, fluids, calories and sodium)
- May Queen to Twin Lakes - race time 7:35 - 8:00, TOD 11:35 - noon
- Run where it’s easy and power walk where it’s hard
- You’ve done this section, you know what’s in store
- Easy down powerline, save your legs
- Easy down the hill into Twin Lakes, save your legs
- Refill pack at the aid station
- Meet crew somewhere at/after Twin Lakes
- Confirm the expected weather
- Decide on what to wear and what to carry over the pass
- Change shoes
- Pickup poles and quiver
- Consider leaving my phone and headphones for crew to charge.
- Twin Lakes over Hope Pass to Winfield - race time 12:00, TOD 16:00
- How are you feeling?
- What can you try that might make things better?
- Eat something / drink something / change something?
- Leave Twin Lakes 100% confident you’ve done everything that can be done to setup a successful run to Winfield!
- Be steady and keep moving forward
- Winfield over Hope Pass to Twin Lakes - race time 16:00, TOD 20:00
- Don’t sit down in Winfield!
- Grab drop bag with food, battery and Garmin charger
- How are you feeling?
- What can you try that might make things better?
- Eat something / drink something / change something?
- If anything is wrong or broken FIX IT NOW.
- Leave Winfield 100% confident you’ve done everything that can be done to setup a successful return to Twin Lakes!
- You did the work to get here: believe in that work.
- Meet crew again at Twin Lakes
- Pickup phone and headphones if I left them
- Pickup lights
- Make a decision on poles: carry them or leave them.
- Change shoes
- Pickup extra clothes for the night
- Make a decision, do I need to see crew again at May Queen?
- Twin Lakes to May Queen - race time 24:00, TOD 04:00
- Big climbs out of Twin Lakes and up Power Line
- The rest is mostly flat or downhill, try to run these sections
- May Queen to finish - race time 27:30, TOD 07:30
- Keep moving forward with as much purpose as possible
- Remember my one-thing, my why.
- You’re stronger than you think you are. You can do more than you think you can.
- This is a runnable section, see if you can still run!
Nutrition:
- Fluids
- 1-1.5 liters per hour depending on the weather and thirst. I’m planning a mix of NUNN, Skratch and straight water. I have a 2 liter reservoir and a .5 liter soft side bottle. This is more than enough to get me between aid stations so I will only do a complete fill at Twin Lakes Outbound and Winfield.
- Salt
- Carrying base salt with spare tubes in my drop bags and with my crew. Goal 1000mg sodium per hour from the salt, NUNN and Skratch.
- Food
- My goal is 250 calories per hour.
- I prefer solid food for this type of duration, so dates, ppj sandwiches, fig newtons, etc. I’ll supplement that with gels, Skratch, coke and anything else that goes down and stays down.
- This is what I’ve trained with for the last 6 months.
- Caffeine
- Switch to caffeinated gels as necessary but hopefully not before mile 60.
Drop Bags:
- Winfield
- Food
- Salt
- Small battery
- Garmin charging cable
Week of:
- Travel Friday 8/9.
- Pickup rental and drive to Alma
- Hike the back side of Hope on Saturday AM
- Drive to Twin Lakes on Saturday AM to watch the MTB race
- Rest of week in Alma with Tim
- Thursday setup drop bags as necessary
- Thursday night pick up Cath in Denver ~9:20 pm
- Friday athlete briefing and race check in
- Friday healthy dinner and then to bed as early as practical.
Day of:
- Up at 3:00
- Breakfast
- Sunscreen
- Glide
- Clothes
- Lights
- Running vest
- Hat
- Cold weather clothes if needed
- Leave for the start at 3:40?
Packing Lists
Racing Clothes:
- Run gear x3 - shoes, socks, shorts, shirts
- Sun hat and winter hat
- Sunglasses
- Arm sleeves
- Wind breaker
- 1x long sleeve shirt
- Insulating layer (if necessary)
- Lightweight gloves
- Trekking poles
- Run pack
- Pole quiver
- Stryd pod
- Headphones
- Lights (headlight and waist light)
- Spare battery
- Garmin and charger
Misc:
- Glide x2
- Sunscreen
- First aid kit
- Watch chargers
- Stryd charger
- Spare battery (large and small)
- Baby wipes
- TP
Street Clothes:
- Street clothes (highs in the 70’s and lows in the 40’s)
- vest and jacket
- Hat
- Sunglasses
- Shoes
- Large towel / changing wrap
Pre Race Life Goals
- Follow schedule for week-of
- Minimize travel stress
- Limit screen time
- Try to get as much sleep as possible
- Drink lots of water and eat well
CREW CHECKLIST
Start:
- Watch start
- Leave for May Queen so you arrive before the first runner.
May Queen (or other location TBD):
- Take my lights and charge them
- Help me switch shirts
- Take my hat and gloves
- Note elapsed time, calories, fluids and salt consumed in table
- Give me feedback / status on calories, fluids and salt consumption
Twin Lakes (outbound):
- Throughout the day get the hope pass weather report from many people
- Give me the weather report when I arrive
- Help me pack the clothes I’ll need for hope pass
- Help me apply more sunscreen
- Help me change my shoes
- Help me with my poles and quiver
- Note elapsed time, calories, fluids and salt consumed in table
- Give me feedback / status on calories, fluids and salt consumption
- Take my phone and headphones and charge them??
Twin Lakes (inbound):
- Give me fully charged phone and headphones if I left them.
- Give me fully charged lights (headlight and waist light with belt)
- Take the Garmin charger and battery from me
- Give me my hat and gloves.
- Help me change my shirt or give me my long sleeve shirt to carry for later.
- Ask me about additional clothing - “will you be cold?” “do you need another layer?”
- Note elapsed time, calories, fluids and salt consumed in table
- Give me feedback / status on calories, fluids and salt consumption
- Ask me about May Queen - Do you want me at May Queen?
May Queen:
- Note elapsed time, calories, fluids and salt consumed in table
- Give me feedback / status on calories, fluids and salt consumption
Finish:
- Walk/run up 6th with me if you want.
- Note elapsed time, calories, fluids and salt consumed in table
Sunday:
- Have celebratory breakfast with me!
- Get my drop bag(s)!
- Don’t let me forget to get my drop bag(s)!
Comments
@Clark Mitchell love it love it love it. it's cliche, but man it sounds like you've done the work and you have definitely prepped, so now enjoy the ride. There is nothing more you can do, hay is in the barn!
You never mentioned who is crewing for you? Who's the dream team?
Also in your preparations:
Huge congrats on all of this. I will be following the best I can online!!
@Patrick Large Thanks for the encouragement!
My wife is my primary crew. Plus there are a bunch of us out here, so she'll have help and/or moral support from Heather, Stephanie, Bill and Mark.
My approach to hiking with weights was really simple, when I got to the bottom of my main training hill (mile 6), I'd pick up two large rocks, as big as I could manage and I'd carry them to the top of the hill (mile 8). If I was feeling adventurous, I'd do overhead presses while I hiked.
I work on the 22nd floor of a 60 story building and I'm frequently on 57 or 60 for meetings. For much of the build my goal was 40 stories up and 60 stories down each day. Usually the ups were 5-10 floors at a time and the downs were often 22 floors with the occasional 35 floor trip.
I've no firm idea how I lost the weight, I just did. Weight loss is often a mystery to me. It's most likely the combo of eating less and lots of long slow (ish) hiking. I have focused on eating clean for the past 18 months, so I want to believe that helped.
Thanks again for the feedback, questions and encouragement.
I cannot even begin to try and take apart this plan or comment on it. I've done the MTB, I know what that country is, but so do you from your camp. I've ridden with you, I know your determination, I know the planning & training you put into this. I will be shocked if your day doesn't go to plan or if you are unable to tackle any of the unforeseen obstacles that come your way (and they will)
Looking forward to tracking and reading the Race Report, as @tim cronk says "good skill my friend!"
@Clark Mitchell thanks for joining the stupidity of this event, I knew you would "fish on", your bullet points training, preparing, executing are spot on, I have truly enjoyed our journey and learning from each other through R3, Leadville Camp, and the many Ultra discussions we have had. Look forward to standing side by side at 4am Saturday . YOU GOT THIS !
@Clark Mitchell you looked really strong and prepared at the Run Camp. Like I mentioned when we hiked up Columbine together, the key thing is to believe you can run 100 miles. I had doubts my first attempt at a 100 in Leadville, causing me to push when I should have been careful and get injured. But I came out of that experience believing I could run 100. So when I got a slot to the Bear on two weeks notice, I totally believed I could do it. I never once doubted it, even when I was slogging through mud for 20 miles.
Believe you can run 100 miles. You've done the work. Enjoy the trip. The first time crossing the finish is like crossing the finish at 10x Ironmans.
See you Thursday!
@scott dinhofer, Thank you for the encouragement and the confidence, I appreciate it.
@tim cronk, it's been a great journey, and now the fun really begins. Go get that big buckle!
@Gabe Peterson, A while ago you told me that training for a 100 is physically the same as training for a 50 and that the second 50 miles are all in your head. I've taken that to heart and I'm here to get shit done. Thank you.
"...training for a 50 and that the second 50 miles are all in your head..."
So 50% of this race is 90% mental?
If that's the case, you've got this in the bag. Stay tough that second half, and don't forget all that meticulous planning - let it serve you well.
Have a great night. WATCHING.