Nolans 41
It was early February and things
seemed honky dory. We had the perfect
season going, zero to 60 and it just kept right on snowing. 350” from November 20th until
February 6th. Pow was
plentiful, turns were deep, and life was how its suppose to be. But then I felt it. A shudder.
A glitch in matrix. Disturbance
in the force. Well, okay. I had seen a news report of a “bad virus” wreaking
havoc in China and that it was expected to become a pandemic. And then an atmospheric river hit. 6.5” of water in 60 hours and with a lot of
wind. We were interlodged for 53
hours(not allowed to go outside). That
was bizarre. But no biggie. Back to life.
But the snow stopped. And the
rumors grew. We are a large ski lodge
that has guests from all over the world crammed into tight quarters. I was worried about an outbreak. Finally, there were rumors of closing, I was
relieved. We were getting derailed in
slow motion. As someone who has
struggled with anxiety in the past, I knew I needed to be proactive to ensure I
stayed sane. So it soon became, “this is
what it is, this is what I can do _____ ?”
I realized we were going to shut
down, and potentially be locked in the canyon, or worse, out on the
streets. I decided to start planning to
hike the Arizona Trail with my girlfriend Kym.
Later that night, the ski resort closed, then the hotel closed. We were not kicked out, but advised to try to
get “home” to family, summer jobs, whatever (most employees are on a break
before or after college, or do a seasonal job elsewhere). But this is my home. I furiously planned. Brought the backpack down to the gym, put 40,
50, 60lbs in, and started walking uphill on the treadmill. Computer out/Phone, planning resupply,
downloading maps/guthook, calling businesses to confirm resupply and
hours. It was such a pleasant space, out
of the spray zone of the shit flying off the blades of the fan. I cleared it with my boss, we were close to
leaving. But the situation was getting
really bad. “This isn’t responsible” “We
don’t need to do this” “No need to risk
getting stuck” “or risking infecting people in small AZ towns” …so we stayed. I started getting down and depressed. But I had just shown myself the perfect
example of how to handle this situation.
It seemed to finally start snowing
again, and so I was going to go all out skiing.
That would be my shit free zone.
One morning, I was breaking trail up the gulch in the peaceful bliss that
is the dance of flurries in the headlamp field in the dark. All of a sudden, my phone was blowing
up. SLC had just had a 5.7mag
earthquake. Boss called worried about
the lodge, girlfriend called to make sure I wasn’t buried in an avalanche,
amber alerts. Wow. “Is the world ending?” Id better hurry up to
the top and ski this before the world ends.
Haha. But seriously. Life is short. You might only get this one shot, or not at
all. But you need to do everything all
out, be ready for any opportunity that might come your way, and take the leap
of faith to grasp the chance. I’ve always been a hard worker, but it was
like a cold plunge waking me up again.
Eventually, everyone in SLC was
laid off, and became a backcountry skier.
There were people everywhere. I
no longer felt safe skiing because of the crowd. So I shifted to running. Back when the new year calendar came out, I
looked ahead. The full moon was opposite
the summer solstice, and Colorado was having a pretty good snow year. And so I thought, “not a good year for
Nolans” or at least late June idealness.
But it stayed on my list of goals, Nolans <44hours. See when I set goals, I might look at the
record for reference, but I don’t compare myself to others. I only want to know the best I can do. And so I went through the route in my
head. I could get 15 minutes here and 20
minutes there. My final calculation; I
thought just under 44 hours was possible for me. That is how I came up with that number. I knew this was a big ask. And so I knew I needed to do everything. Out touring one day, I had talked to my friend
Caroline about her experience using the Hypoxico. She mentioned I could try it sometime, if I
really wanted to. And I joked, maybe
sometime if I only can fly out and do Nolans or something.
Life
was going on in the bizarro coronaverse.
I was training hard, for what? I did not know. Our Lodge had gone forward and gotten the
small business loan(against my advice/wishes).
My head was hurting trying to teach the dishwashers how to sheetrock, mud,
paint, chaulk, etc. We were “stuck” here
having to work. I had wanted to take 5-6
months off this summer, hang out with my girlfriend, and explore around Idaho
and Montana. Now we were confined to a
heavenly alternative. I complain, but it
really wasn’t that bad, just not what I wanted.
You know the feeling, like getting Cherry Garcia because they didn’t
have Half-Baked. But I was getting that
canyon fever. I needed to get out. I needed some fresh beauty. And so I begged my boss. I was granted one week. My opportunity. I was ready.
I called Caroline, barrowed the Hypoxico for 24 days. Sleeping at 15K every night, I wasn’t going
feel weak running at 14k. I was training
hard, but I stepped that up to another level.
Laps up the Emmas. A 30 degree
loose rock and dirt slope. Almost a
perfect copy of the Nolans terrain.
Nothing like doing 7k vert, stretching in a 180degree sauna, Ice bath,
and then going work; digging up the lawn and hauling rocks all day. Then I would quick shower and jump in the
Hypoxico. Sometimes I would read, but a
lot of times I would look through my old photos and compare them to topo’s and
routes on Gaia. Watch peoples youtube
videos of nolans, or training, or sometimes just inspiring mountain
routes. I was all in. Eat Nolans, drink Nolans, breathe Nolans, run
Nolans. Nolan Nolans. It was all I
thought about.
Getting
on into June, they had extended the loan.
This meant I might be able to play with my dates more. I was watching the SNOTEL’s and asking
everyone in CO for beta on the Sawatch.
Then they extended the loan again.
Can I maybe just take more time?
Sort of. I’m not sure if my boss
ever said I could, but I mentioned I might not make it back exactly when I
said… as I was walking out the door. My
friend Teresa said I could borrow her car for two plus weeks, whatever I
need. So nice. I couldn’t believe how well the pieces were
falling into place. I left after work on
a Thursday and made a beeline for Independence pass.
Scouting and Training
Day 1: Getting there
at midnight and trying to get up by 6 was very tiring. But I headed up Echo canyon on my way to Bull
Hill and then on to Elbert. But it
started snowing hard when I reached 13k and so I bailed back down fast. It was
the right move and I know that climb well, not a big deal to do it another
time. Over to La Plata, I wanted to keep
the mojo rising. I ran up and back down
with the clouds behaving the entire time.
A successful day one.
Day 2: Over to
Halfmoon, I ran from camp, 3 extra miles, up NW Elbert, down W Elbert, seeing
both options again, then up Massive down to the CT, and back to the car. 30 miles, 10.5k vert.
Day 3: I wanted Back
to Back big days. It was up
Belford. Over to Oxford. Down to Pine creek. Back up Oxford. Belford. East ridge of Missouri. I ran into John D heading up Missouri. He said it wasn’t bad but as I could see,
still a lot of snow up “shit-pile” gully on Huron. I was feeling pretty content and slightly
tired, so I decided to climb up to the upper basin on Huron then bail back down
Cloyses. 24 miles 11.5K vert. Wanted more, but got to be satisfied.
Day 4: Decided to
take an easier day. I was heading up
Columbia when I stumbled upon a woman with a fast looking pack hiking up. I asked her if she was doing the “nolans
alternative to the CDT” as people do(Hannah Green, Sam Carroll) No, she was just fastpacking Nolans as
scouting to do it in a week or so.
Awesome I thought. Your name?
Sarah. Well Goodluck, I carried on.
Columbia, Harvard and down Frenchmens.
But I ran into Sarah again. I
give her my number and we thought maybe we could exchange shuttle rides for our
attempts. It was longer on the CT than I
remember and I finished with 22 miles 7.3k Vert. But I took it easy… That’s a good recovery
day to me.
Day 5: Had me a good
ole struggle bus up Hughes to Yale. I
was stuffed up and tired(didn’t sleep well) so I headed back down to have a true easy day. 9 miles, 4.6K vert.
Day 6: The CT section
up Maxwell to Princeton, down until I found the trail in Grouse (avy debris
changed things and I wanted to see it), back up and down to the car. 20 miles, 9k vert.
Day 7: From Browns, 7 miles on CT, Shavano, Tabeguache, but
something wasn’t feeling right. So I
descended down a route I wanted to try and back out Browns skipping
Antero. 20 miles, 6.6k vert. Not ideal, but I can afford a bad day.
Day 8: Yale East
ridge just to make sure Hughes is the right choice, the airplane descent and
back CT. 18 miles, 7.4K vert. Back on track. Just waiting on weather.
Day 9: Up Antero road, over to base of Tabeguache, double
checking creek crossing, up towards Antero, but bail because tired and lack of
mojo. I’m done/over scouting and getting
anxious. 16 miles, 5.6K vert.
Day 10: One more time
up the East ridge of Missouri for good measure and up Huron fully this
time. Felt really good about the climb
up Huron. Felt good running down to
car. Lets do this! No serious, weather, lets do this.
Day 11: The forecast
looked like it was coming my way for two day (Wednesday and Thursday) I woke up to confirmation. Finally.
Easy 3 miles on CT, trigger point, and stretch well. Mental prep gear/timing. I’m Ready.
Day 12: Easy four on CT, stretch well, trigger points, and a
good stretch. Lets do this. Time to pig out and pass out.
Nolans 41:00:33
First time I did Nolans, I could not stomach anything So I made sure I had food I could eat easily Still only ate 5,400 calories |
I’ve
done this before, no problem. All of
it. Eat a big meal around 3pm, pass out
food coma, wake up at 11:30pm to start the day early. There were a lot of people up at the trail
head, curious. I got ready, relieved
myself, and one last rehearsal. “Dude,
last time you barely ate anything, you’re carrying too much food” Ditch the gummy worms, a pop tart, and a clif bar.“Yeah, 7200 Kals is way more appropriate” Okay, lets do this. Shit its 12:01. Oh well, lets get over there and start
fast. Its 12:02, I’m here at the Shavano
Trail 12:03. Gotdammit. 12:03 at Shavano trailhead, starting at 12:0
shoot my watch gps, better get that ready.
Ah eff it, lets go. The nice
thing about FKT’s is you can start whenever you want. And if you’re an idiot, you can be late to
your own start. Haha. Good start.
Pa'lante Joey pack Puffy, Rain Jacket, Emergency bivy Headlamp/batteries, power bank Camelback 3L bladder |
I got
into a rhythm on the climb and suddenly, I drifted to the back of my head. I was on auto pilot, just watching my body
go. FLOW. Yes, no greater experience in the world, …or
human mind? It is almost
effortless. And you seem to see moves
seconds before they happen. I was in the
tunnel of the headlamp. “I need to turn
right in five feet.” I looked up, and
sure enough there was the steep pitch to the summit that I wanted to take. I wasn’t flying, but I wasn’t trying. The summit came in 1:36(Elapsed time and
going forward). It was a crisp breeze,
and the tip of my nose and cheeks were frozen.
I was wide awake in the middle of the night on a 14,000 ft peak, a
strangely normal place for me to be.
2:00 top of Tabeguache. Oh we’re
doing this. I nailed the line I wanted
down Tabeguache. “WOW, I really know
this. I got this!” There were a crazy amount of cairns in the
pine forest before the creek. Baffles
me. But I was able to take one out with
my pole without skipping a beat. Then I
ninja kicked another in stride.
YeeHaw. We’re having fun! Step on a rock, scoop up some water, step on
another rock, across the creek and we are on our way up Antero.
I was
feeling strong and seemingly cruising along.
There was a light flicker.
There’s people on Antero, at 3 in the morning, dafuk? It was Scott, who I met going up Antero a few
days ago. Crazy place. I got to the summit, 3:57. Well I gained a few minutes on Alex Nichols
split and I didn’t feel like pushing hard, niiiice. I was using Nichols splits as reference,
because he went the same direction and in a similar time I was hoping for. I started flying down. Downhill has always been something I seem
pretty good at. But I was just hauling,
no missteps, no mistakes, not always graceful, but forward and fast. I scooped up water as I crossed the
creek. My left foot slipped off the rock
I was standing on and got half wet. I
have debated dipping the right in to even out the weight. “DUDE, you going to go backwards to get your
foot wet? Yeah, you’re right. JESUS,
just run!” The key to self talk is to
kind of be a dick. I laughed about
it. Down across the bridge in Alpine and
headed up the street. I walked for a
second to take my puffy off. My watch
said 5:20. Wait what? I looked up the splits on my phone, 5:39 is
what Nichols said. Holy. And we have
Princeton now, one of my favorites. This
is awesome.
Cruising,
but trying to not try to hard. Water
from the creek. I drink straight for 10
minutes picking my way up the forest.
The water hits me like a cold breeze.
A huge smile on my face as I reach the open treeless climb. I power up.
I’m doing this!?! Reach the
saddle and the sun warms my front. This
is my day for sure. Scramble up.
Princeton 7:38. Beautiful view. I’m whipping out my phone every summit, quick
little video, and trying to upload quick on insta. I find it comical to be looking at phone,
trying to upload, and starting to scramble down. Princeton is one where I immediately start
descending, and I backseat driver’ed myself.
Phone still out, I’m getting on a loose side hill, “You might want to
buckle up there bud” I throw the phone
in the pocket. It was game on. The sloppy loose talus and scree makes for a
full on descent. But I get to the bottom
without much of note. Grassy tundra
running leads to a faint trail. Some
more water and I’m just going to enjoy the 6 miles of actual running on the
route. “Yale is the biggest climb you
know? Yeah, it’s also my favorite. You
said that about Princeton. Yeah, I have
lots of favorites. That doesn’t make any
sense”
Through
Avalanche 10:12. It was cool in the
forest. Grab some water. I really like Hughes. I pop out in the upper basin. Just the steep headwall and the ridge
across. I’m on top 12:32. Damn, I’m
flying. I am now 55 minutes ahead of
Nichols split. “What are you on? All about that flow, Joe” I started down and over to the airplane
gully. I started feeling a bit fried in
the mid afternoon sun and heat. Just
keep trucking. But my foot slipped. I was slow to recover. Stretch out and down to my knee. “That didn’t feel good. Don’t do that again.” Well not long after it happened again. “WAKE UP Joe!” I finally got to the spring. I knew I needed a slap in the face. I filled my bladder full and started
chugging. I was getting my edge back as
I started up the steep Columbia climb. I
didn’t feel strong, but I felt unstoppable.
I just kept moving. Just an
incredible low gear. Crawling up the
mountain side. The ridge rolled over and
became a much tolerable grade. After
about 2 minutes, I started getting that spring back. My energy.
It was almost flat and I started running. “DUDE! This is incredible.” I hustled to the summit. 16:05. I was feeling some kind of sumtin. I recited a Yannis Kouros quote about what an
Ultramarathon really is. “Ultramarathon
is not going past 26 miles. Its going
past the physical to the mental. And
then going past the mental to the spiritual” Not sure about my spirit, but I
was feeling something.
Those
last three summits were long. I skirted
over and got on top of Harvard YO.
17:47. Man, this is such a beautiful place. I’ve gotten to see so much of it today. Summit seven.
Half way sort of. Hellz. Yeah, yeah, keep going. My gaiters, which, had worked just fine the
entire time in CO, were getting trashed.
They were ripped and the Velcro was flopping in the wind. Oh well.
I cruised the scree. There were a
lot of rocks in my shoes. But I had an
idea. Ill get to the creek, take my
shoes and socks of and walk across bare foot.
Really wasting no extra time, keeping my shoes and socks dry, and
washing of my feet. I sat down on the
other side for the first time all day.
Ooooo, sitting feels too nice.
Shoes, socks on, flipped gaiter inside out, seems to work, gotta
go. I had filled my camelback full and
here came the strategy. I know when then
sun sets I get sleepy, so I drank all my water, so I had to go pee pee. Probably drank straight until about two
liters were gone. Then I sipped most of
the rest of the way up Oxford. I felt
awake and strong again. Beautiful sunset
from the top 20:33. And I started getting my run on. I stopped saved Strava on my phone and quick
started a new one. I was terrified I
would accidentally close and lose it. I
knew I had good service from Oxford to Missouri, so it would probably upload
and people could see my progress thus far.
Plus, phone Strava was just back up for my watch. Speaking of which, I
plugged my phone into my power bank. It
was still at 57%, so potentially my phone could have lasted the entire
way. Not worth the gamble though. I chased some Grouse down the trail for a few
minutes. I figured they wanted to run
with me, or they would have just gotten off the trail. Oh Hey, Belford 21:12. Ah, what a Rush.
Jogging
down the trail elated. “I feel so
good.” One of my favorites ahead,
again? Fully in the dark now. Time to party yo. I had done the East ridge of Missouri twice
in the last ten days and it wasn’t even a question for me. Really shortens Belford to Missouri. And then you get the sweetest scree slide I
have ever found. I picked my way
carefully but quickly. Scramble across
to the summit. 22:21. Damn, ten 14ers in under 24 hours. Ill take it!
Right off the summit through a narrow rocky gully. The she opens up. The most beautiful hard dirt with just enough
loose on top. I shove my foot down,
slide 20 feet. As I start to decelerate,
I shove the other foot down, another 20 feet.
Oh don’t forget to move five feet over to the left. And now back. I know this way too well. I get near the roll at the bottom and pause
to look back up. 1,000 feet down in 10
minutes, I’ll take it. Again, way to
comfortable, in the dark, on a 30-35 degree slope, sliding, loosely in
control. I guess I’m crazy. Gaiters again, empty shoes. I want Huron.
In reality its not a hard peak.
But it’s the middle of the night.
It’s a loose pile of poo. But we
became friends the other day. We’ll
see.
I
climbed up pretty fast, but I wanted to eat something and it was too steep to
breathe and swallow. I sat on a
log. Well that was a good minute
break. GO. In the upper basin, the full moon illuminated
everything. It was so sublime. I decided to sit on a boulder and eat another
clifbar. I love this shit. All alone, in the middle of the night,
feeling so small and insignificant. But
yet at the same time strong and self-reliant.
You can’t touch me, I’m in my home.
To me, home is a lot more likely a feeling, the space in someone’s arms,
an old familiar view, or even just a mood.
I miss Kym. I love that
girl. She is my rock. I want to stop right now and drive up to Montana
to be with her, asap. Okay, enough
sentimental crap. I wipe a lone tear
from my cheek, and start tearing up the climb.
I get pretty high up easily enough.
But now I can’t seem to find anything that doesn’t slide back downhill
when I touch it. This rock looks good
and big. Nope. This rock is solid. Whoa whoa whoa no. Okay, we got this. Regrouped.
Make it another ten feet alright.
Nope, nope, shit, fuck. And I’m kneeling on the dirt. I stopped sliding backwards, but that was way
too much energy to go a foot downhill.
Finally, I struggle up and make it.
At the saddle, I let out an all out roar. Wasn’t pretty, but wasn’t that bad. Still just “shit pile gully” to me. Huron 25:34 I just cruised down the trail, it
felt effortless and smooth. Almost like
noodling pow. I started to get hot in
the trees, but I hit the road and a cool breeze. I just kept running. I didn’t quite realize at the time, but my
headlamp started to dim. But it just
decreased my field of vision. I was
watching these legs running down the road.
I didn’t feel anything. I had
become, comfortably numb. This just went
on for the four miles down through Winfield, and up the La Plata road. Eventually the uphill snapped me out of it and
I walked a little bit. Wow, I just
watched myself run four miles? Crazy.
But why is it so difficult to see.
I put my phone flashlight on, its ten times brighter than my
headlamp. Change batteries. Ah much better.
Why so serious? Massive 39:28 |
I climb up the trail. Before the ridge, the trail disappeared into
a snow field. So I climb the loose
headwall cutting the corner. Up on the
ridge I notice my eye is blurry in the early morning twilight. I figure my contact is just dry. I shift it around to see if some tears will clear
it. But that hurts owe. Whats going
on. I pull my contact out. The eye still hurts. I look out without my contract and its way
more blurry than its suppose to be. I
try to dribble some water in to clean it.
No luck. Ugh. I put my contact in before I lose it or it
dries out. It burns. Suck it up.
Owe. Contacts in, but its blurry
as shit. I close my right eye. Vision is fine. Open right, blurry. Okay, eye patch. I skew my headband to cover my right
eye. It actually totally worked. The right eye wasn’t that painful and I could
see. So I started to walk. But I kept tripping. Its like my vision is off by a foot to the
right. I can’t do this. So blurry we hike on. I lost my rhythm, but quickly made it to the
top because it was cold and I wanted to get warm again after fartin around. La Plata 30:20. I had the legs and I wanted to bomb the
descent but I kept tripping a little here and there. The sun was exactly to my side, crossing my
already blurry eye and half blinding me.
When I reached the saddle and turned down into the shadow, I could
finally see again. I bombed. Still missing a foot every now and
again. I ate shit three times. One of them I fell on my arm pretty bad. No time for pain, gotta keep moving (It
actually still hurts, a week later, with some bruising running the length of my
forearm) Through the trailhead and down the road. Its less than two miles, but it seemed like
forever, with cars buzzing me the entire way.
Kind of makes me think of taking the Ellingwood ridge, just to avoid the
road… but that would be crazy? I grab
water from the creek and drank way too much right away. But it woke me up again and I was
powering. Maybe I can go sub 40
hours. Just keep moving. “You’re going up one of your favorites!” Don’t
step wrong. Oh what’s that? Crap. I need to take a crap. That’s what happens when you drink a whole
lot fast. I throw down my pack, grab TP,
and run off the trail. I might go
minimalist, but I still haven’t figured how not to carry TP. That business done, now for the real business.
I was cooked. But I look good right? |
I get up near Bull Hill and start
traversing towards Elbert. I’ll be there
in like 20 minutes. Crushing. 20 minutes later, ok, now I’ll be there in 20
minutes. Finally up on the ridge. Geez, I forgot how long this ridge is. Another 20 minutes. “Man, I’m terrible at this. I shouldn’t even be out here” “WHAT?” Elbert
35:26. “You’re killing it. You totally
belong out here” It’s amazing how quickly your confidence can leave you. I bomb down.
“One more. Your favorite! One
more? Shit!” I take an extra 30 seconds
crossing the creek, I kneel down and really cool off my legs. There are so many people. They are all carrying on their day hike
activities. Everything is just
normal. Meanwhile, over here in my head
a rock concerts going on. A spectacle to
behold. Stop what your doing and come
see. Yeah, no one cares. Just get this over with. I felt pretty good, but I was definitely past
some threshold. My lungs ached, it was
hard to focus my vision, and my head felt wobbly. But I just kept going. One foot in front of the other. It was probably a fine pace, but my minds
clock had slowed down. It seemed like
forever, I looked up. “What? I’m not even
halfway.” “Just keep going” Another
couple hours of mind time passed. I
looked up. “Still about a quarter left?”
“I’m not going to make it” “This is taking forever, I’m going to lose so much
time I won’t get the record” “Keep going!” One foot in front the other. “Oh,
there’s the ridge” The trail flattens for a second. Instinctively, I begin to jog. “Wait, I’m running? Niiice” I couldn’t
believe it. I scrambled across the false
summits fairly fast. I can’t believe I’m
the same person who was just crawling up the hill. There it is, Massive. 39:28. I’m standing in the sun, and I see these like
white bugs flying around in the sky. “What
are those?” Haha, its snow. You think I’d know what snow is. So cool.
So so cool. Photo op over, lets go. I was terrified about the downhill. My legs were cooked and so stiff. But I told myself, just start moving, you’ll
start to feel better, and gain momentum from there. Sure enough, first minute awkward limping
down. Second minute, moving semi freely. Five minutes and I’m running. Let finish this. I find the Highline trail, its easy trail
running now. Flying, I’ll be done in no
time. But the trail seems to get longer
every time I do it. I look at my
watch. I think I hit the CT at 40:33,
Just 2.5 miles more I believe. Okay,
just keep it under 10 minute miles and we finish well before 41 hours. I feel like I’m running five minute
miles. “I got this, piece of cake.” “Where’s the creek? Gotta hit that before the
nature road.” 40:53, “the creek is ways
from the road right?” “Shit, I’m not gonna make it. I mean, just finish as fast as you can, who
cares” Finally, creek, road (closer than I thought) 40:58. “Go, Go, Go” Single track. I got it.
Sign. Stop watch. Empty parking lot(they were doing
construction and had it closed off) I
sit on the sign. I look at my watch, 41:00. Oh sweet, nice round number. I pull out my phone, oh shoot, stop strava. I take a selfy, using the sign as a crutch. Then I collapse on the grass. Very awake and half asleep. I shuffle through my pack. Fill my bladder, put on my puffy and just
drink water while laying there. Sarah
came and picked me up, to take me back to my car. I wasn’t going to keep going. Between my eye and absolutely laying it out
there, there was no way in hell I was napping and then adding another 35 miles. We pulled into the Shell to meet up with
Andrew Hamilton and Andrea Sansone. I guess they
had been out there the last few days hiking themselves and wanted to say
hi. Andrew was super stoked for me and
was asking me questions about the trek.
He probably is one of the few people who can really understand all the
things I’m telling him. I was thinking, “This
is the coolest sport! People are just
stoked for others and are curious about the crazy shit. Phenomenal”
I get this bacterial eating at my foot if it stays wet/sweaty for more than ~15 hours straight |
I slept at the trail head, and was
woken up by the hoards of people trying to bag a 14er or two at five in the
morning. Oh yeah, its Friday. I snoozed.
It took me all day to drive to Leadville. Id drive for 30 minutes and feel like I was
falling asleep. Pull over and nap. I eventually got to safeway and grabbed some
food I could eat while laying down. Finally
get to pig out. I didn’t eat anything from
the finish until 2pm the next day, guess that’s just normal for me. But I did not feel hungry either. I also finished with 1,800 calories still in
my pack. So I ate 5,400 calories for two
days. Getting some food in my belly, I felt great. “Hey Sarah, want to hike Holy Cross tomorrow?” “I mean, I might not make it more than a mile,
but Imma gonna try!” So we hiked Holy Cross. Sarah, TJ, and I. I actually felt really good, like riding a
high. But every now and then I would
notice how fatigued I actually was. We
bailed 600 feet from the top because of lightning, but I didn’t care at
all. I was just proud of myself to even
be out there trying. And I got to have a
great conversation with two great people.
It continued like that. I would
have a ton of energy and think, “Okay back to normal” then the eyes just got
heavy and I needed to lay down. Took me
the better part of two days to drive the eight hours back home. This week has been very much a similar pattern
with the energy periods lasting longer each day and the crashes not so
hard. But finishing this up on Friday, I
feel rested enough. Time to adventure,
never stop!
Holy Cross with Sarah and TJ |
Appendicitis
I’m not going to go too crazy into details here, maybe
another day. But I figured I would put
together somethings I think were absolutely crucial for success.
-Intermittent Fasting: I’ve been doing this since 2013. I’ve stepped it up over the years and tweaked
it out. But basically I have a 4-8 hour feeding
window in the afternoon and then I don’t eat until the next afternoon. Which, usually means I run 3,4,5 hours in the
AM without food or water. This helps
with fat utilization, comfort in starvation, cellular autophagy, and glycemic
variability.
-Mushroom madness: I’ve
struggled with Lyme for the past few years.
Finally, I read a book about fixing Lyme this spring. It detailed out a bunch of herbs that were suppose
to help. I used Reshi, Cordyceps, Cats
Claw, and Hawthorne. Using these for the
last 6 weeks, has made me feel like my old self again. I can go hard and recover. No more of those days waking up with all my
joints stiff, or a stiff neck. I really
believe this have made a huge diffence.
-Hot/Cold Contrast therapy:
I stretch everyday in the 180degree dry sauna. I believe I get deeper stretches because of
the heat. I then jump in the 55 degree
pool and try to stay in as long as I can.
Sometimes I do two or three reps.
The heat helps activate Heat Shock Proteins. The cold helps to activate Brown adipose
tissue(helps you use more fat in the future), also I think it helps promote
relaxation, glycemic control, and accelerates recovery.
-Hypoxico: Sleeping
at 15K for 24 days was enough to make me feel stronger than I ever felt running
at 14K.
-Plant based diet: Everyone
has an opinion. It works for me. I’m not perfect, I eat ice cream, and eggs
whenever I feel like it. Sometimes, its
back to back days. Other times, not for
a month or two.
-Studying the Topo’s and comparing to old photos. I really felt like I knew which line I wanted
to take the entire way.
-Scouting: Seeing each line and knowing exactly where I was
the whole time, really eased any stress that might occur when you are wondering
if you are in the wrong place/going the wrong way.
-Gaiters: Keep the rocks out, until they rip
-Poles: Wouldn’t do without.
Especially because I have a strong upper body, might as well put it to
work.
-Gloves: Made me a lot more confident descending and
throwing my hand down in the rocks
-Compression legs and top:
Compression helps with blood flow.
Sun protection. Bushwack
protection. I like just throwing myself
through trees and willows. It adds enough
protection that I am not bleeding everywhere.
Though, branches can still hurt.
Zone 1 &2 Training: I actually always do this, but I barely
did any high intensity. But I did a lot
of crawling up steep slopes using poles.
I had this incredible low gear that felt like walking, but was 2,500ft
an hour up a steep slope.
-Power To Weight Ratio:
Everything in training kind of leads to this, but I also thought about
it and tried to create it. I gained
some fat for the quarantine fifteen. I was up to 180 from 165-170. Then I dropped it all through training and
got to 160. It’s a big deal. And people know this; they say, “you went unsupported?
But all that extra weight” I carried 2-3
pounds… less than the weight I lost.
♥️♥️♥️
ReplyDeleteOk, all at once now..."sweet baby JC, you freakin' crushed out there!"
ReplyDeleteQuite a show you put on for all of us to marvel at and enjoy.
Glad we got to share a few minutes on the side of Missouri one afternoon.
Oh, and forgot to mention, I saw on iRunFar that you're originally from Albany. I lived in Lake George before coming to CO. Adirondack 46er :)
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