Yeah, well… I’m married now. ~ Brian Bellamy
Mon 5 July: 00:41, 2.96 miles, Red Plow barefoot
Tues 6 July: 1:00, 6.2 miles, Thorne Lake surges
Wed 7 July: 2:32, 12.65 miles, Casa Trails
Thurs 8 July: 2:06, 7.76 miles, GGCSP hike/run
Sat 10 July: 4:08, 22.69 miles, LT100 Start to Fish Hatchery
Sun 11 July: 7:59, 30.6 miles, LT100 Colorado Trail to Double Hope
Total: 20:44, 82.87 miles, 15,712 vert
Great week of training. Rolled right into the LT100 Camp One: Hello Muddah.
The week started with fairly typical, mellow running. Just logging hours and getting comfortable at a sustainable pace. Nothing really too interesting aside from dodging some weather, getting a little wet at times, and enjoying spending time in the woods. On Thursday, I decided to mix things up a bit and did my run sporting a heavy pack (well, the hiking portion of my run). Then ditched the pack and ran up some terrain that previously had not been runnable by me. Good stuff. I was a bit sore after but it was worth it for sure.
LT100 Camp One: Hello Muddah
Friday I spent the day getting organized for the weekend’s adventure then jammed up to Leadville with Brad and Jess on Saturday to start the first of two planned running weekends on the course. We had a leisurely start and after shuttling a car to Mayqueen, Brad dropped us off at the start.
We headed out in the rain and made quick time back to the campground where we rendezvoused with Brad, saw the weather break, and continued on to Mayqueen with beautiful conditions. I bid my companions fairwell at MQ and continued on to the Fish Hatchery. I really felt great all day and made quick work of Sugarloaf. All told, a successful day on course.
Jess and Brad met me at Fish and shuttled me back to the cabin where I grabbed a shower and some food then jammed into town to get some food for Brad and Jess. There we met up with Sean, who is also running the LT100, had a beer and got psyched for the following day’s adventure… the infamous double crossing of Hope Pass from Twin Lakes to Winfield and back.
Day two started early with a quick pick up of Sean at his hotel and drive over to Twin Lakes. Sean and I headed up the Colorado Trail toward Treeline and I spun around after about an hour ten to meet Jess and Brad in Twin Lakes after 2 hours of running. From there, the three of us made our way across the river to the base of Hope Pass then jammed up the hill. It was another gorgeous day and we jammed up the pass to the Hopeless aid station where Brad and Jess turned around, leaving me to carry on solo to Winfield.
I summited in just under 2 hours (cumulative 4 hours), a mere 5 minutes after a bear apparently did the same (according to a hiker I met on the trail). Then rolled down to the Winfield road. From here, it is the longest 2.5 miles you have ever experienced up to the ghost town of Winfield at just under the 5 hour mark where I dumped rocks out of my shoe, read the historical plaque detailing the mining town’s past and then jammed back down the road to the base of the pass.
The south side of Hope is unbelievably steep and I power hiked the whole section. I summited at about the 6:39 mark then rolled down the north side of the pass and back to Twin Lakes in just under 8 total. That made for a sub-6-hour double crossing which is not too shabby, not too shabby at all.
I headed back to the cabin where I showered, ate dinner then jammed back home to see my lovely Rach. She hooked me up big time with massive amounts of tasty and nutritious food for the weekend. I can’t say enough about how helpful she has been throughout all of this. I honestly could not do this without her.
All in all, this was a confidence-building week and it was great to get out on the course with good friends. I finished up Hello Muddah on Monday (more about that later) and feel like it was very much a success.
Good times, good times.
~stubert.
