San Juan Solstice 50 mile run

Jason was registered to do the San Juan Solstice 50 miler run on Sat June 23 in Lake City, Colorado.  Early last week we were not quite sure if we would go or not.  Jason's right knee has been an issue recently and overall we've all been feeling quite tired.  Also, it's been extremely hot around here which has made for sleepless nights and fires all over the state.

But, after experimenting with some tape jobs, we decided to go for it.  Thurs night after work we drove from Boulder to Breckenridge and stayed with our wonderful friend Angela and her two dogs Porter and Skye.  Rachel repeated 'Porter! Skye! Angela! Yeah!' over and over again for the 2 hour drive up.  She had a bit of a cold but we managed to sleep pretty well, enjoying the cooler mountain temperatures.

I apologize ahead of time for the inaccuracies in times and distances during the run description below.  For a more detailed account of the race, Jason will have to write his own blog later.  Also, Jason Schlarb and Maggie Schlarb have their own blogs with other details if you'd like to search them.

Friday we drove from Breckenridge to Lake City, stopping in Gunnison for lunch and a playground stop.  We arrived mid-afternoon to set up our tent and find our friends before checking in for the race dinner.

We met our 'Doppelganger' family in town.  Jason Schlarb, an elite ultra runner, American, aged 34 and his wife Maggie Schlarb, 29 year old Canadian, and their 18 month old son Felix.  Maggie and I met at a Mommy group in Boulder and have been close friends.  However, in May they moved out of Boulder and started a year long family trip around North America (and later New Zealand) in a camper van (and later biking).  So Maggie, Meggan, Jason, Jason, Felix, and Rachel all had dinner together.  Later that evening, Jason Schlarb's friend Tony (aka Bird Dog) joined us at the campsite.  He was a dedicated cheering fan, and had an alligator costume ready to bring a smile to runners' faces during the run.

Jason Schlarb's goal of the day was to win the race and set a new course record of 7:58.  Jason Oliver's goals were to 1) finish 2) have a good time and 3) finish under 12 hours.  My goal for Jason was to be safe.  This would be Jason's most difficult race to date, with huge climbs, big elevation, technical descents, and unpredictable weather.  Concerns included heat, possible lightning, snow (previous years have included major white out blizzards on the ridge), bears, getting lost, and mountain lions.  Never mind exhaustion from running so far and a sore knee.

We decided the Dads (Jason and Jason) would leave in their own car at 4am for the race start at 5am.  We would wait at the first viewing aid station - our campground - at mile 17.  It was expected that Jason Schlarb would be near the lead, and Maggie had to make sure to meet him and give him the appropriate water bottles and clothes before he left.  He came through in a close 3rd place at about 7:45am, approximately 15 min later than expected, and starting to get hot in the sun.  Jason Oliver came through with the rest of the pack also about 15 min after their expected time.

We packed up our stuff and jumped in the car with the kids and headed to the next view point.  Unfortunately, we wouldn't see runners again until mile 40, at a place called Slumgullion.  We parked and played with the kids and waited for Jason Schlarb to show up.  I hiked up the trail with Rachel a while so she could fall asleep, and enjoyed the crazy rocky steep trail and the beautiful Aspen and views around.

Jason came through just after 11:30am, about 15 min behind the course record pace, in the lead by at least 40 min!  He was very focused and looking strong, but needed to really zoom through the last 10 miles if he was going to beat the record.  It seemed the win was in the bag.

We went into town to watch Jason Schlarb finish and let the kids play, knowing we'd have lots of time before Jason Oliver made it to mile 40.  In town, the kids played in a bouncy castle and at the playground and we waited for news on the Dads.  Jason Schlarb ended up winning the race by a landslide, finishing in 8:13:00, tying for the second fastest time ever.  He looked great at the end and had work to do with reporters, sponsors and interviews while Maggie and I played with the kids and had lunch.

Looking up at the ride from town, we couldn't see anything.  Smoke now covered everything in sight and all of town was starting to become covered in ashes.  Another large fire erupted overnight near Durango, and the smoke was blowing all through the valley.  The race headquarters kept reporting drop outs all over the place as people struggled in the heat and smoke.  Jason Oliver had hoped to be at mile 30 by about 12noon, but had not checked in by 12:30pm.  That was not too surprising, given the events of the day.  We stayed in town at the playground and enjoyed watching people finish.  He still had not checked in at 1:30pm, which became concerning.

Being the wife and supporter of an ultra-runner is challenging in many ways.  The hardest thing is to wonder where in the bush your husband may be when he is not on schedule.  Was he hurt?  Lost?  In pain?  Suffering?  In danger?  I was scared.  As I was voicing my concern to Maggie and getting all teary, Rachel decided to go down a slide head first and slam into the ground with her face.  Comforting her brought me back to my senses, and I realized that Jason was very likely safe but just not having a great race.

This particular race was designed so that runners had a huge amount of climbing between mile 17, up to mile 30, and then down toward mile 40.  This section goes up along the Continental Divide and along the CDT and Colorado Trail.  There are aid stations but no easy way in and out.  This means nowhere for spectators to watch and not many options for runners who drop out to get out.  Runners dropping out at mile 30 must wait for ATV rides to get out or walk out, sometimes taking several hours.

I felt much better when I checked again at 2:30pm and learned that Jason had checked in at mile 30 at 1:48pm.  He had not dropped out and was continuing forward.  So we drove out to Slumgullion at mile 40 and assumed we would be lucky to be there before 4:15pm.  I prepared myself to see him limping or sick or bleeding since I knew he was struggling.  He came in at 4:10pm, looking ok, but hugged me and said he was done.

I hate to describe his race for him, but I will say that he was heart broken.  His knee was sore.  He couldn't eat and felt sick.  He felt tired.  He said it was time to stop because he was not having any fun, and he knew that if he continued it would take a long time and he would likely injure his knee and ruin his summer.  I know he was really disappointed, and needed some taking care of... but I was really just glad to see him and glad that he was ok.  We both knew his training has not been great, and that this race was perhaps a bit more than he was prepared for this time.  I'm sure he could have completed the race with an official time, but it might have cost him.

We still have plenty of adventuring left to do this summer!  And he plans to do another 50 miler in September, so he wants to get strong for that.  He will have to do this race again another year, so we will enjoy going down to this gorgeous part of the state another time.

Sat night we had dinner with our friends, fell asleep in our tent.  I woke with a sore throat and headache.  We packed up the car, attended the awards breakfast, and drove away.  We went through Leadville and East on I-70, which was packed with cars.  Several other roads in the state are closed due to wild fires, and there were accidents and construction on the interstate that slowed us down for a few extra hours.

Click here for pictures

Finally we made it home, bathed and cleaned up, did laundry, and tried to sleep in our little sauna of a house.  Now it's time to work and pack up for our next great adventure... perhaps our most challenging family experience to date!  It will involve mountains, backpacking, car rides, and hopefully check off at least 4 goals published in Oliver family blogs this year... stay tuned!!!

Brainard Lake Rec Area

Last week we spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do for the weekend. Some weeks we have ideas cemented in place far in advance and know we are headed to a certain location. This was not the case last week. Our friend Kristen was coming to Denver for a work course, and arriving a few days early to hang out  with us in Boulder. Due to the big High Park fire near Fort Collins, the entire Front Range was quite smoky throughout the week, and we weren't sure which way the fire would move or which areas might be impacted by blowing smoke.

Friday we went for a long (18 miles/30km) family bike ride. In the future I will ask more questions when Meggan says we're going for a "fun family bike ride." That is a long way to tow a Chariot with Rachel inside! We did explore a new park in north Boulder we had never visited before. Saturday we rode our bikes downtown to the Farmer's Market and visited Pearl street with Kristen. I was super tired and feeling sluggish all week. Finally we decided that due to fire uncertainty we shouldn't camp. Instead we would monitor the fire and head up for a day hike on Sunday to Isabelle Glacier.

What a beautiful area!  Alpine lakes and mountains all around.  We had a terrific time hiking up toward the lake, and then decided we would go a little further.  Kristen took a turn carrying Rachel around the lake after we had a nice break for lunch in the wind.  Meggan and Kristen then hiked up to the glacier while Rachel and I played in a waterfall and then did some rounds of sliding down a snow patch.  Rachel and I made it back to the car just a few minutes before Meggan and Kristen, and then we all drove home together for a Sunday night dinner.

For pictures of the hike, click here

Mt Sherman

After some debate about whether we had the energy, we packed up the car Friday and drove to Fairplay, CO.  Our plan was to camp Fri night near the base of Mt. Sherman and hike the trail Saturday to do another 14'er, and drive home Saturday afternoon.

PICTURES - click here and see the second half of this album

Fri night we successfully found a campsite at Four Mile Creek and opted to try out Rachel's new sleeping bag. We were given this bag as a hand-me-down from friends, and we are thrilled to say that it was awesome!  Rachel slept on her own mat in her own bag all night long.  She did not even wake up when we left the tent at midnight to go use the facilities!  She slept from about 8pm until 5:30am, which would be a good night even at home.  

Part of the success may have come from these facts: 1) it wasn't that cold at night 2) the campsite was at 10,000ft which always makes people sleepy 3) Jason slept beside her and I (Meggan) was on the further side of the tent 4) Jason did the whole night time routine while I fell asleep.  

So 5:30am Sat morning we woke up, had breakfast, packed our packs, and drove out of the campsite by about 6:20am.  We were determined to get an early start to avoid any afternoon thunderstorms - something Colorado has had a lot of recently and something that the local 14,000+ft mountains are known for.

 

We left the car parked at the trail head (approx. 12,000ft) and started hiking in the cool shade and strong breeze.  The hike starts straight up along an old mining road, through some old mines.  The wind took our breath away as we kept hiking up and up.  Our guidebook suggested the total trip was 9 miles and might take 8 hours, but we were not exactly clear on what the starting point would be according to the book.  Before long it seemed that we were crossing a small snow field to ascend to the ridge.  On top of the ridge, we could see a few other hikers ahead, mountains to the West, and lots more wind ahead.  

The last mile to the summit is the real challenge of this one, as it gets steeper and, today, it was W-I-N-D-Y.  Rachel fell asleep for about a mile or so, but was woken up by the wind and wanted snacks frequently.  The wind just below the summit was anxiety-provoking for all of us, and we decided to take Rachel's cuddly Nunu blanket away from her and put it in the pack to prevent it from blowing away.  This caused her to start screaming, which only heightened the anxiety.  By the time we reached the summit, we were tired and decided that hiking with a screaming child in the wind was not much fun.  We attached Nunu back to Rachel's area of the pack with a beaner clip, and then sat down at a small wind block to have a snack and try to calm down and warm up.  Other hikers were relaxed and happy to hang out at the summit, but we were not sure if Rachel's upset was entirely about Nunu and thought it best to get her back down.

We made a decision on top of the mountain that we will be doing the next big hikes we do without Rachel.  We were not at any safety risk today, and we know that we CAN do these kind of things with Rachel.  Typically, she enjoys the outings for the most part.  But it's really not as much fun with Rachel as it would be without her and we would love to be able to relax and take our time and enjoy the views without worry.  Plus, although Rachel giggles, sings songs, cheers on other hikers and dogs, loves seeing animals and pointing out nature, we think she'd probably enjoy herself more at a playground or at home.

I tried to don Rachel in the backpack for the way down, but only made it 15 feet before I returned the pack to my mountain goat of a husband.  Rachel's pack is quite high, so the wind blows it and makes you feel off balance.  We made it down through the wind quite quickly and with no problems, enjoying the view of all the mountains around under a clear blue sky.  Many other hikers were on their way up, including several children and teenagers.  

Below the ridge we enjoyed sliding down a snow patch, and then I was able to take the backpack for the remainder of the descent.  Rachel fell asleep almost right away, and was still asleep when we returned to the car.  The whole trip, up and down with all our breaks, was just under 4 hours.  Stats from our Garmin to be uploaded still.  It was not the prettiest or most relaxing hike in the world, but it was a fun adventure and we were happy to check a new mountain off our list.

On the way home we drove through Alma for lunch, Breckenridge for a playground stop, and then successfully home with a sleeping girl to our Boulder home.  It was 92 degrees in our house when we got home, and we do not have air conditioning.  Hello summer!!!

Boulder Stroke & Stride Race #1

This post is about my (Meggan's) athletic goals.  I'm a little late on my New Year's Resolutions this year.  It's taken me a while to get settled into being able to work and move away from the lifestyle of only being a mom and nothing else.  So here are some of my goals, even if I'm about 6 months late in writing them out:
1) hike 3 mountains over 14,000ft
2) go to 5 new states
3) take Rachel on a backpacking trip of at least 2 nights and 3 days
4) complete a half marathon in less than 2:30
5) complete an Olympic distance triathlon
6) do a ski touring hut trip in the winter of 2012/2013
7) leave the continent and travel somewhere international before I turn 34 years old

So... in working on goal #5, I decided to sign up for the Boulder Stroke & Stride series.  This is a Thursday night event for 10 weeks throughout the summer in Boulder.  There is a lake swim followed by a 5km run.  The swim can either be 750m or 1500m.  Until recently, I hadn't been in the pool in almost two years - since I was pregnant.  I got back in the pool on May 28th and swam 4*200m and it was HARD!  I swam a couple more times in the pool and then went to the lake last Friday.

Now, open water swimming isn't something that I have found very easy.  I have done three events before: Terrace 2007 and two Oliver triathlons of 750m each.  Each time I have freaked out.  People around you splash and kick, the water is cold, it's impossible to breathe or see or relax.  Even when I did my sprint tri in 2010 and had been training and knew I could easily swim that far, I ended up breast stroking almost the whole way out of fear.

So when I went to the lake last Friday and went into panic mode again, I became really scared for this first Thursday event.  I couldn't figure out how to breathe in the water at all.  I was so discouraged.

Enter super husband.  We got a sitter on Sunday and Jason came to the lake with me.  He helped me with tips on my wet suit, splashing, waves, and other crazy swimmers in my way.  He also got a sitter for Thurs night and decided he would come do the event beside me, to help me.  (Of course he hasn't swam at all since Ironman 2010, but he's super human.)

So today I worked all day at work, then raced off to drop Rachel off at the sitter so we could make it to the start.  We had a quick warm up and started.  There were about 200 athletes racing in the different events.  I was really happy because I stayed calm and tried to find my own space and go slowly.  Jason swam beside me.  I did not panic.  I managed to breathe and keep my face in the water most of the time.  I definitely took breaks to catch my breath, and I definitely have not trained properly to do it well (yet).  But it felt okay.  Possibly even good.  Not too scary.  Jason kept smiling at me and telling me I was doing well.  And before I knew it, we were nearing the beach again.  I got out and could breathe just fine.  I think it took us about 17 min to swim, which is slow by swimming standards but a lot faster than drowning.

Then we ran to the grass area, transitioned to our running stuff, and 4 min later we started off on the run.  Jason had already ran high elevation mountains for 2.5 hours today.  I have not ran at all in at least 2 or 3 weeks.  5km seemed like a long way for me! I tried to push it for the last mile and am a bit embarrassed to say it took me almost 29 minutes to run it... but I did it.  I was so thankful for Jason's support.

I plan to do 5 more of them this summer in preparation for other events, and if I'm really courageous I might even try one night of the 1500m swim.  But first I have to get in the pool some more, and find some time to run again.

Thanks for your support!!

Quandary Peak

As most of you know, Jason is crazy.  (At least in terms of exercise, running, and mountains.)  On Thursday he drove up to Breckenridge, ran up Quandary Peak, and drove back down to town in time to pick up Rachel from daycare.  He ran up in 1 hour 23 min, relaxed at the top in the sunshine for 20 min watching mountain goats, and then ran down in about 30 min.

For those of you who may not know, hiking a "14er" is a big deal in Colorado.  There are 54 peaks over 14,000 ft in Colorado, and many people exist to summit all of them.  There are countless books, tshirts, stickers, etc on the topic and people will all know how many they have climbed.  Jason has climbed 8, including his Pikes Peak races, and several training runs on Quandary.  Rachel and I (Meggan) - 0 summits.

So our guide book says Quandary Peak is 14,265 feet.  The rating is 'moderate' (the lowest rating in the book, since "there are no easy fourteeners").  Elevation gain 3,300 feet.  Round trip distance 6 miles. Estimated round trip time is 6 hours.

We decided this would be the perfect mountain to be the first 14er for Rachel and I.  Friday afternoon we drove up to Breckenridge and stayed with our friend Angela and her dogs.  Rachel had a bit of a head cold and slept terribly on Friday night.  We haven't had as much luck with our travel crib lately and Rachel ended up in our bed for the last half of the night.  

Despite the fact that Jason can make these things look easy, I was quite nervous.  The last time I was at an altitude this high was in Peru in 2006 and I remember each step being a challenge.  Could we safely do this with Rachel?  Would she be ok at that altitude?  If not, could she tell us she did not feel well in time to safely descend?  I was comforted by the fact that 1) Jason had just done this and we knew the trail was snow free with a good weather forecast and 2) Jason was strong enough to take Rachel up and down easily without stressing out his own body.

Sat morning we left the house at 7am and arrived at the trail head along with 25 other cars of people on a Saturday keen to bag a 14er.  We ended up donning nearly matching outfits (oops!) and packed plenty of water, snacks, and extra layers as weather on any high mountain can change so fast.

Rachel kept saying 'hiking!' and 'mountains!' and 'snow!' as we hiked along, and greeted all the other hikers as we went.  The first 2 miles passed quite well, and then we started to climb rocky terrain and ascend more steeply.  Rachel wanted to walk, but could not, and wanted to stop to snack every few feet.  I needed to go slow and take frequent rest breaks, but overall we felt like we made good progress.

Rachel fell asleep as the real climbing began, and we started to pass some people.  The wind picked up a little and as we approached the summit, we could see some clouds starting to thicken.  The real challenge was in trying to make as much progress as we could while Rachel was still happy, and hope we could keep her asleep until the summit.  At the summit, we planned to have lunch, let Rachel get out and play, and relax a little in the sun before heading down.

Just as we were reaching the summit, the clouds were starting to look threatening.  Just as we took our pictures and let Rachel out to play, we saw lightning behind Mount Democrat, another 14er just a few miles away. At this sight, about 20 people resting at the summit packed up and headed down.  We signed the peak registry, grabbed a snack, and started down.  

Thunder sounds and lightning seemed to surround us as we started our descent.  The first line of the storm had already passed and lit up a huge portion of Pacific Peak, just to our north. Jason, still carrying Rachel in the backpack, started to make his way down quickly, aiming for the safety of the treeline.  I told Jason to go ahead and go as quickly as possible while staying safe.  He then proceeded to run past everyone else on the mountain, who were quite shocked to be passed by a man running by on rocky terrain with a large baby carrier on his back.  Rachel happily said hello to each hiker they passed and pointed out the mountains, lakes, marmots, chipmunks, and pikas around.  I fell behind them by quite a bit, although I was doing my best to make it down the mountain as fast as I could.  My hope was that we could all get to the tree line before before the rain hit.  I was not keen on hiking quickly down wet, slippery rock or getting hit by lightning.

At one point while descending, another guy running down passed by me.  This conversation followed:
Meggan: "Hey - do me a favor? If you catch up to a man carrying a baby in his backpack, can you please tell him his wife is doing just fine."
Guy: "That guy? With the baby on his back?  I'll never catch that guy!"

Some (stupid) people were still heading up the mountain, but mostly there was a train of 40+ people turning and heading down.  Several groups turned around and did not make it to the summit that day.  In fact, we were one of the last groups to do so before the sudden change in weather.

I made it to treeline without any issues, passing most people, in time to see Jason and Rachel waiting and playing.  Rachel hiked a few minutes here, since she had been stuck in the backpack for so many hours at this point.  

The rain came down lightly as we put Rachel back in and headed down the last mile to the car.  Safely back at the car, we changed clothes, ate food, drank water, watched the storm get thicker around us, and drove into town for some soup.  

Really, in the end, I think we were quite safe.  Certainly others all around us were just fine and did not descend at nearly the speed we did.  But having a crazy fit mountain runner of a Dad was a good thing for Rachel and I, as our family was able to get down to safety quickly when the weather turned.  Rachel also did a great job all day, and seemed to honestly enjoy the whole adventure, giggling with each step.

Now we have our first '14er' sticker on our car, that says 'Quandary Peak'... a mountain that the whole family has climbed.  

What sticker will we go for next?!