Leadville 100 Trail Run

Two months ago, I signed up for the biggest physical challenge of my life thus far, The Leadville Trail 100-mile Trail Run.

How I got here:

I did not just decide on a whim to sign up for the second oldest 100 mile race in the USA (well, kind of, but more on that later)

When I moved to Colorado over five years ago, my identity as a distance runner was close to zero. At the time, I was doing a lot of yoga, handstands, partner acrobatics, and strength work. I joined a Crossfit gym in Boulder and, within a year of joining, was asked by one of my friends if I wanted to join him and some others on a double crossing of the Grand Canyon (rim to rim to rim) 50 miles and over 12k of vertical gain and loss. They planned to do it in 3 months, and I said, yes, let’s go! More on that experience here.

At the time, I was completely unaware of how to train correctly for long ultra-marathon distances. I figured that the more time I could spend on my feet, running up and down mountains, the better. This is mostly true, but I left out a key component and will dive more into below: Heart rate.

About a month into training for the r2r2r I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for Bryce Canyon 50-mile race 3 weeks after. I decided that I would be putting in 3 months of training, and if I could handle the Grand Canyon then Bryce would be possible, especially because it was an official race with aid stations, support, etc.

Oh boy was I wrong. Because, I did not quite yet understand the benefits of “going slow” and zone 1 and 2 heart rate training, every training run I did I treated like the Olympic Weightlifting I was accustomed to, go hard and hold on.

During the Bryce Canyon race, this led to shin splints at mile 23/50 and a terrible mental and physical bonk. I was racing against the “grim reaper” aka the time cut-offs, that determine if the race staff will take you off the course for being too slow. I finished with 7 minutes to spare, came in third to last, and didn’t care at all. I made it.

This was 2019. After those two experiences of blowing my body up and running with an average hr of 170 during those 15+ hour endeavors, I figured that sport wasn’t for me, and I got back into weightlifting, mountain biking, strongman, climbing etc.

No run-specific training until…

Fast forward to Oct. 2022.

I started wrapping my head around different bodily energy systems and how training each of them would be beneficial and fun.

To keep it simple, our body has two main systems for producing energy while exercising. Aerobic and Anaerobic.

The aerobic system primarily operates during low to moderate-intensity activities that are sustained for a longer duration. The aerobic system utilizes carbohydrates and fats as fuel sources to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the body's primary energy currency. This system is highly efficient in producing ATP but has a slower rate of energy production compared to the anaerobic system.

Examples of aerobic activities are anything that is perceived by the athlete as long, slow, and low intensity.

• Running

• Swimming

• Biking

• Endurance Events

• Hiking

• Etc.

The anaerobic energy system operates in the absence of oxygen or when oxygen availability is limited. It provides quick bursts of energy for high-intensity activities but is less efficient in producing ATP compared to the aerobic system.

Examples of anaerobic activities are anything that is perceived as short, quick, all-out energy.

• Sprinting

• Weightlifting

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT)

• Jumping

In October, I came to the realization that I was an aerobic infant, I had never properly trained that system. I had always been interested in getting my 40 yard dash time down to 4.5 seconds or lifting max weight but never long, slow, low-intensity bouts of exercise.

I read that you need at least three months to see benefits from aerobic work regarding running, and I decided to commit for 3 months and then reevaluate.

My goal was never to let my heart rate exceed 153 beats per min, thus releasing lactate into my bloodstream and defeating the purpose of my training.

My first run was a 4.5 mile trail loop by my house, and my average pace was 15 minutes per mile with an average heart rate of 140 and max of 153.

This was my first significant piece of humble pie as I thought of myself as fit, athletic, and strong.

I have close friends legitimately running twice as fast as me with a lower heart rate.

This was a great lesson in the damaging effects of comparison. (not helpful)

I quickly doubled down on the aerobic baby mindset, which meant that I had NEVER done this training before, so how could I expect to compare myself to others who had been training this way for decades. I adopted a beginner's mindset or Shoshin from Zen Buddhism and committed to an attitude of openness and eagerness.

Shosin is required for almost every new endeavor it requires an honest look at yourself and your experiences and treating them as if you're experiencing them as a beginner for the first time.

I told myself, let’s see what happens at the end of 3 months and go from there.

Plan for the 3 months:

100% of running would be below 153 HR, and I would run 5-6 days out of the week if my body would let me.

It did for the most part, and I think because I have spent over a decade strength training, my body could handle the impact, and let’s face it, there was not a ton of impact because I was not running too fast.

1.5 months in, my paces started to improve. I ran an 11 min mile pace at the same heart rate for that same 4.5 mile loop!

It was fun to see the improvement with seemingly every run. I decided to sign up for a 50k at the end of November in Arizona and then another one a week later that I ran with my partner, Kelly. (she also adopted this heart rate run focus.)

After three months and those two races, I felt accomplished. I could ‘almost’ run a 10-minute mile average below 153 and really started to believe in the benefits of this training.

It changed my idea of going for a run as a punishment from high school and college athletics to something I could enjoy at my own pace.

That being said, I took a few weeks off around the holidays and then started missing the weight room.

I took a 90-degree turn with training and became interested in the old-school strongman lifts, specifically the Bent Press and Two Hands Anyhow.

I trained those lifts for the first 4 weeks of the new year and found success in the Two Hands Anyhow, setting the Modern World Record, lifting 300 lb barbell overhead with 1 hand and then bending over to pick up a 75 lb kettlebell and lifting that overhead for a 375 total, you can watch that HERE.

During this time, Kelly and I were contemplating doing another race. We had a great time doing the Moab 50k together and enjoyed all the time we got to train, be outside and connect.

In early Feb, we signed up for the Zion 100k (62 miles) on April 15th. This would be the farthest that either of us had ever run before, and it was an exciting and daunting challenge. We kept thinking about the finish line at Moab 50k and imagined turning around and doing it all again :/. (not helpful)

We bought a $40 training plan for a 100k run on the app TrainingPeaks and committed to the training schedule.

We committed to running the race together and used it to deepen our relationship and have fun. We made a YouTube video from that race and our experience. Watch it HERE.

During our training, I kept falling harder for running, which still sounds strange to me even as I write it today.

In that training program, I was introduced to a new method for setting my heart rate zones and finding my aerobic threshold.

Here is the formula:

Wear a heart rate chest strap (watches alone are not accurate enough)

Warm up EASY for 10 min.

Run at the hardest, consistent pace you can maintain for 30 minutes.

Take the average heart rate for that 30 minutes. That is your anaerobic threshold. This is the pace you can maintain for 30-60 minutes.

Multiply that number by .88 and .8

That is the range of your zone 2, aka your aerobic threshold. Anything above this number, your body starts to release more lactate into your blood than it can clear out, and over time (a few hours), your legs will feel like concrete blocks.

My anaerobic threshold was 182, and my aerobic zone 2 is 160-145.

I would now focus on keeping my zone 2 runs in that range.

I was hungry to keep pushing myself in the running and aerobic arena, and I started researching what other races were coming up.

Insert: Leadville Trail 100

I first heard about Leadville when I was in college in New York and read the book, “Born to Run” I remember it being difficult to wrap my mind around someone running 100 miles up, over, and through mountains. I struggled to run a 10k, and it never even seemed conceivable that I could do that in the future. It was too far at the time.

But it was a lot closer now…

Looking up some races, I saw that the Leadville race started Aug 18th. It was now mid-March, and I knew the Zion 100k would be excellent training for it.

I didn’t know this at the time, but Leadville is extremely popular.

Leadville is such a popular race for it's history and unique altitude challenge. The majority of the race takes place at over 10,000 ft where there is roughly 35% less oxygen than at sea level. Runners say it's like breathing through a straw. On top of the altitude, you have 100 miles to run with aggressive time cutoffs along the way. There is a combined gain/ loss of over 30,000 feet, and you must do a double crossing of Hope Pass over 12,500 ft above sea level in the middle of the race.

Thousands of people enter a lottery yearly with a 30% acceptance rate for about 800 slots.

The lottery happened in Jan, and I missed out. However, after some more research, I found out that I could secure my spot with a charity bib. I would commit to raising money for the LT100 Foundation, which gives back to the community that gives so much to the runners every summer.

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Leadville 100 Trail Run Background/ History