Training Log Archive: Grandpa Jameson

Event: Silver Rush 50 Miler (Run)
 

early start and damn i was tired. not sore at all from the bike race but just tired for sure. knew the day would be a grind and I have to be taking in a lot of calories.

From the start i was in the top 15 and had no plans of chasing anybody down. i was going to keep my eye on sandoval and any other Silver King racers (we had different colored race numbers so it was easy).

by mile 5 i knew it was going to be a long fucking day. i felt terrible. I was talking with a few guys while jogging just to take my mind off of how bad i was feeling. i had no climbing legs which was expected but my energy was low. honestly i was really wondering how i was going to finish the thing. at that point i dropped any kind of time goals and they only i wanted to do was win Silver King. I just had to make sure no Silver King dudes passed me. this helped a bit mentally.

Finished the long first climb at 10.8 and finally got to run down hill. I was holding back on the descents more than i normally would just trying to save anything i did have left for the return trip. i think i was probably just out of the 10. I stopped to get rid of breakfast and lost a couple more spots.

i slogged my way up to the Printer Boy aid station at mile 14, refilled, and got going. the energy at the aid station and a bunch of people yelling first SILVER KING gave me a bit of boost and I rolled the descent.

my plan for the rest of the day was to not force running uphill at all and just hike so i could run the flats and descents well and that's just what i did. as i got to the top of the pass before the descent to the stumptown aid station i saw a guy coming up on me and i thought he had silver king number. shit.

i thought my chance of winning was slipping away. he caught me half way down the descent and thankfully he wasn't in silver king. i was so stoked but this gave me a kick in the ass. i got to the half way point in 345. Fi and Maggie's mom were there and this gave me another boost. i stopped to say hi to Fi on the way in and out and then saw maggie coming in, 5 minutes behind me, on the way out. got a kiss from her and kept rolling. i was sure she'd catch me.

on the climb out i ran with a guy from vail that i met at the marathon. he had been ahead of me into the aid but we left together. super cool dude and a good climber. out of nowhere i started to feel good and was stoked for the long hike back up the pass. i ended up dropping him a bit and then smashed the descent.

i just kept hiking anything steep and running the flat and downs really well. I hit the mile 30 aid station and they told me i was 9th. i kept cruising and eating. taking a solid swig of my gel flask every 20' and drinking flasks or roctane and another of water. I got back to the printer boy aid station sill in 9th and feeling really, really good. i knew the last climb of the day was coming up and it was a grind.

it's gradual but it's exposed. it's a grade the would be easy to run fresh but with the last two days it was hard. i ended up running 80% of it though. i caught and dropped a guy on the climb. with a half mile to go the dude from vail, adam, caught me. we chatted for a second and i just tucked in behind him and did my best to hang out because i knew i was going to be able to rip the descent. that last bit is steep and he got away. he ran and i hiked. so he had a good little gap on the me on the descent.

we had 10.8 miles to go and it's mostly down. not steep so you still need to have good legs to run well. the first 1/2 miles are kind of rocky and technical so i just took my time and then once it opened up i let it rip and was feeling great. i was still eating and drinking a lot.

i caught adam about a mile into the descent and just rolled right by with some words of encouragement from both us. super good dude. i was now in 8th. i just kept rolling and couldnt really believe how good i felt this late in the race considering on the way out at this same spot i didn't know how i'd finish. i kept rolling and was pushing. got to the last aid station 8 miles from the finish, refilled, and grabbed some extra gels. a mile later i saw another guy up the road.

i rallied to catch him with 6 miles to go. he was the guy that got third in the leadville marathon. i was able to go right buy and keep rallying all the way to the finish. finished in 7:41 which i didn't there was any chance of 90' into the race. i've never finished and ultra that strong. great feeling.

took in tons of sugar!! i probably have diabetes. i had two of the big GU flasks with 10 x VFuel gels in each plus about 4 x 17oz flasks of roctane. it did the trick.

got the silver king course record by about 10'. that was my secret goal heading in.

Event: Silver Rush 50 Miler (MTB)
 

fun to be back racing bikes. i've only done one bike race each year for the last 3 years and i forget how much i love it mixing it up. did the run up and was in a solid pack the first couple of miles before we started the 8 mile climb. i was just sitting in and the tactics were fun. i had good legs. I figured we were the second pack and the leaders were already off the front.

i was sitting second when and then went to the front around 5 miles and shattered the group... for fun. went from about ~15 to 5. then 3 young guns attacked (eventual top 3) and i wasn't having any of it. my plan was to really stay within myself and ride comfortably hard. i would have had to put in an all out effort to stay with them.

we hit the 7 mile aid station and they told me i was in 4th... overall! i guess we were the front group. so maybe i was pushing a bit too hard. i reigned it in a bit and rode steady to the turn around and just having fun. I think i was in 6th or 7th with plenty of guys not far behind.

up the climb, tons of hike bike, to the pass my teammate jason passed was going super strong and so did one other guy. i have come realize i am horrible hike-a-biker. got to the top and started ripping again. around mile 30 Wesley Sandoval caught me. he's a leadville local and had one Silver King the last two years and is a good mtb'r.

he dropped me and put some solid time into me on a sketchy, loose descent. i thought he may be gone for the day but i reeled him back in on the climb back to the Printer Boy aid station at mile 34.5.

we hit the final 3.5 climb together right after the aid station. we were side by side and i commented on how much he was killing me on the descents. he didn't want to talk. at the base of the climb i put my head down and turned the screws. i ended up dropping him and getting a big gap and also scooping up one other guy. i was now in 7th and ready to rip home.

i ripped the final 10.8 mile descent and was just smiling. It had a been a long time since i had ridden like that and with a ton of confidence. I thought i had a sub 4:20 time in the bag until i got to mile 47 and still had a mile+ to go. they made some minor course changes this year that added a mile.

about .25 to from the finish i come upon sandoval at the top of the climb. he had taken a wrong turn or cut the course and missed the section they added even though it was clearly marked. i told him, he said damn, and i kept going to finish... then he rolls into the finish line and minute behind me and won't look me in the eye. he obviously didn't go back and finish the course. he just jumped in and finished and missed probably 3-5'. so lame. he's on strava and it's obvious. still got him though and exceeded my own expectation.

7th overall and 1st Silver King

heading to leadville around noon! so stoked for this weekend!

C • Course Record 6

easy, pre-race spin on the platte river path.

at the office until 10pm. home and asleep by 1130, up at 630. long day.. but totally worth it. super mellow day today and then up to leadville tomorrow.

at fighting weight.

C • SR 2

mellow jog at waterton with maggie and fi. some brutal wind heading out made it a bit tough but felt great coming back. ready to race.

more really good sleep. banking it. big day of work. back onsite for a 9pm cutover tonight.

warm one... but feeling good. steady effort up the deer creek climb. flipped it at the top and cruised the rest of the time.

huge sleep. i was planning on getting up to run early but it's race week and sleep takes precedence. going to try and bank it around a busy few days before we head up to leadville on Friday.

lunch cruise at deer creek. stoked i bagged getting out early. felt good and never pushing. just thing about racing this weekend. should be super fun and fucking hard.

trainer spin at 7.0 (13k)

great sleep.

super fun afternoon yesterday. we rode (w/ Fi in the chariot) down to Breckenridge Brewery for some beers and food. weekends are rad there outside. food truck and good beers. tons of kids out playing in the huge yard, corn hole, bochi ball. such a good time. Fi played with 3 other kids that were all within a month of her age.

probably about 8-10 miles of riding total. we are definitely going to start doing this more often.

late rollout after hanging out with Fi all morning. just cruising the local trails on the mtb and breaking in my new shoes. got some specialized. so much more comfortable than my giro's. bike is dialed and feels so good.