8/2/12
I can’t figure out why I’m crying. Is it because I am about to leave my hometown
for a very, very long time? Or is it b/c
I just said goodbye to my closest friends and family? Or b/c all of the above and I am listening to
Tom Waits first album, Closing Time. I
am wearing shades. I am alone except for
the dog and the truck. I am about to
drive eighteen plus hours. After the tears
and after the Tom Waits, I begin to feel better.
Illinois.
Iowa.
Nebraska.
Rest area.
Nap.
Back on the road in 1 hour 15 minutes.
Drive for another two and a half hours.
Rest area.
This time, four hour snooze.
Let Rox out.
Brush teeth.
Drive into Denver
and stop and the same Denny’s that I once ate at w/ Her. Four years ago.
I even think one of the same people is working there. Four years later.
I drive to Idaho Springs and get a room. I have been rushing around for months now
trying to get everything organized and in order to move and make a clean break
w/ no stress. My mind free from
obstruction. No enemies. Just love and good karma. I have been successful. Now I need to pull over and get a room and
take a night off b/f getting to work tomorrow.
As soon as training begins, I am putting 100% of my time and effort into
the Leadville 100 that is less than three weeks away. One nights vacation won’t hurt me b/f living
in the woods and training diligently to run a hundred mile mountain race. I will be soaking my foot and Achilles in
cold mountain streams twice a day and stretching and doing pushups and planks
and deep knee squats and not having too much beer and slowly taking myself off
caffeine and getting my mind right and getting myself ready to suffer for 24-30
hours.
8/4/12 10:18pm 12,800 feet
Roxy and I climbed Mt. Evans
today at 14,284 feet. Wanted to take it
easy on day one so we started at Summit
Lake which is at
12,800. It still took a few hours. Altitude was a factor but I can’t
complain. All the time I’ve put in
running this year helped a lot. I was
able to run some but it was mostly a hike.
Ran some on the way down as well.
On the way down, we saw over sixty mountain goats and one big horn
sheep. It was a pretty awesome day of trying
to acclimate. Camping up here at Summit Lake
will help. I always sleep great up here
too. It’s cold at night. I have four thick layers on top and I’m in
the sleeping bag and under a blanket. I
read Haruki Murakami until it got dark.
Then I put the headlamp on and got in the back and read some more…
8/5/12 7:47pm 12,800 feet
At 0700 hours, we hiked up from Summit Lake
today and negotiated the sawtooth ridge from Evans to Bierstadt. Bagged Bierstadt and then traversed back to
bag Evans again. Spent some time on the
summit. There was a family from Iowa that couldn’t
believe I hiked and ran up. Shoot man,
this was an easy one compared to most.
They waited for me down at the parking lot just to see that I made it
back safely. I couldn’t believe it! They took my picture. Kind of funny.
I ate some food and then drove back down the harrowing shelf
roads into town. Killed time in Idaho
Springs for the day. Not much to
do. Wanted to check out the Indian Hot Springs
b/c I thought maybe I could kill a few hours there. They said they’d let me tour the place b/f
paying for a day pass. They have a hot
spring pool and a men’s and women’s “cave”.
They told me to go down and check it out. I think the cave was some sort of gay haven
for dudes. I opened the door and saw more
penis than I’ve ever seen in one place.
There was steam. It was
dark. There were dudes in towels and there
were dudes naked. Every eye shot to me
to see who was coming in. Dudes laying
around. I felt dirty and I think they
did too. I bolted the hell out of
there.
Went to a brewery.
One of the waitresses told me she gets off work at 8:00. That doesn’t happen to me much, so I probably
should have stuck around. I didn’t. Some other guys asked me if I knew of any
good camping and I told them the only camping I knew of. It’s at 12,800 feet. It’s cold.
It’s 22 miles out of town. But I
told them that they will never see beautiful camping like that again. They looked hesitant. They just needed a place to crash btwn Phish
concerts.
So, here I am. Same
cold spot as last night. 22 miles out of
town. The only person on Mt. Evans. 12,800 feet.
A zillion stars. A shooting star
every 10 seconds. Massive headache
tonight though. Typing and driving seem
to make it worse, so I’m checking out.
Later.
8/6/12 7:44pm 11,300 feet
Drove into Boulder
today and checked the city out for the first time. Got lost for a few hours. As much time as I’ve spent in Colorado, I hadn’t been through Boulder.
It reminded me of Madison. I met a possible roommate today. He seems normal. Student, avid tv watcher etc. The rent for a bedroom in downtown Boulder is the same as my
entire mortgage payment back home. But I
don’t get a workout room, yoga classes, pool and whirlpool back home. There is a dog park across the way from the
apartment. I don’t know about perfect
but the place seemed alright to me. I’ll
sleep on it a couple nights…
Made the drive over to Grays and Torreys peaks. It’s raining now, so Roxy and I are camped
out in the truck. Hoping to climb them
both tomorrow. Depends on the weather,
depends on how my Achilles feels etc. etc.
I am camped in the same spot that Her and I once camped. That was not a good couple days, from what I
remember. I’m still trying to exorcise
those demons. I am parked in the exact
same spot. The spot where I accidentally
left my boots under the truck four years ago.
I checked, they’re not here. It’s
the exact spot where, when Tabor came up and joined us, we had a raging bonfire
and talked into the night. And then
early in the morning, we dug into the nine mile hike and the thirty-six hundred
feet of elevation gain and decent.
That’s what I’m hoping for tomorrow.
But I just heard thunder…
8/7/12
Started at 11,300 feet where I had camped for the
night. This was some beautiful camping,
even in the rain! I was glad the skies were clear when I pushed out of the
truck this morning at 6 am. Ate a little and Roxy and I took off. I ran what I
could, power hiked the rest. Made it to
the top of Grays (14,270) in an hour and a half. I was the first one on the
peak this morning. A plane literally buzzed me. I know they saw me, because
they were so close, I could see them looking at me. We took off and went for
Torreys (14,267) and made it there in a half hour. Took some video and pictures
and then ran the entire descent down. No lie, it felt great! I shaved about
three hours off my previous time on these two peaks. Stopped and talked w/ lots
of hikers and just felt like I was on FIRE! 3,600 feet of elevation gain and
descent.
Drove into Idaho Springs and got a room. Did the laundry, filled the water bottles,
tried replenishing the 10,000 calories I burned this morning at the
Tommyknocker Brewery.
8/8/12 8:37pm Mile high city
Woke up and leisurely loaded up the truck. Went to breakfast at the same spot Her and I
did, four years ago. Different people
working there. I wonder what She’s doing
this morning. Colorado just makes me think of Her more
than ever. But I know that She doesn’t
have time for me anymore. And I don’t
blame Her…
I mostly just drive around all day. Drive to Boulder.
Drive to Denver. Potential roommate calls and says I can fill
out paperwork w/ Boulders Apartment if I want.
I rush to Boulder
during rush hour traffic. Fill out a
rental application. They tell me it’s
all up in the air d/t the little spec on my criminal record. We all have a past. Sometimes mine comes back to haunt me. It humbles me. I feel bad.
I feel silly. I feel
embarrassed. I get a six pack of beer
and listen to Beck. “When I wake up,
someone will sweep up my lazy bones…”
8/9/12 mile high
Wake up in a hotel room and since checkout time isn’t until
noon, I know I’m going to milk it out until noon. Watch tv, do a little exercising etc. Then I am pretty much just waiting around all
day for my 3pm interview w/ Boulder Running Company. I sit outside a Starbucks w/ Roxy and look
online for apartments. I make about a
million calls. No luck. I interview.
The woman who interviews me asks you if I’d like to join the trail
runners tonight. I have nothing better
to do so I say I’d be delighted to. More
waiting. I wander over to a park and
watch some crossfitters exercising. Roxy
and I meet the run group at 5:30. We run
about six miles, nice and easy pace. My
Achilles bothers me some. It kind
depresses me but I try not to let it get me TOO down. The redrock trails were amazing! We have a
beer afterwards in the parking lot.
There is a North Face rep there demo-ing some shoes and raffling off
some stuff. I win a stellar half zip. I was kind of half hoping someone would ask
me my situation and offer me a couch to sleep on but no such luck. I drive to Idaho Springs and eat at the
brewery. Again, I’m kind of half hoping
a female bartender will ask me my situation and offer me a warm bed to sleep
in. No such luck. I did have some interesting conversations w/
a waitress and a married woman who just dropped her husband off at an
airport. Beautiful woman. It’s dark out. I take my leftovers out to the truck for Roxy
and she plows them down. I drive out of
town to Echo Lake and camp w/out paying, knowing I’ll have to be at 5 am to be
out of there b/f the rangers catch me.
I’m tired. I wake up a few times
when I hear various noises but mainly I sleep like a log.
8/10/12 7,524 feet
I’m starting to worry about not being able to find a place
to live. I go to a Starbucks and use their
internet service and jot down a zillion numbers of people that have been
looking for roommates in Boulder
w/in the last few months. That kills a
few hours. I look at the people who come
in and out of the coffee shop. The
people who have jobs and agendas. They
have nice vehicles, professional jobs, wives and husbands. This life is foreign to me. I take Roxy for a long walk and then we hang
out at a park. We run 2.15 miles to
shake the dust off. Achilles hurts. It depresses me intensely. I wonder if I’ll be able to run
Leadville. I’ve never DNF’d
anything. We make the drive to Frisco,
then Breckenridge. We drive to the
McCullough spill flume where I’ve camped several times. Rox and I scope it out and set up camp. It’s 3pm.
I have nothing to do. No phone
reception. I’m tired. I read.
I eat. We have a fire. We go to bed early.
8/11/12 10,850 feet
I wake up and head into Breckenridge. When my phone reception comes back, I realize
my friends and pacers that are here to help me through the Leadville 100 are in
town and ready to meet up! We meet at
the 7/11 and head to breakfast. Hugs all
around and they are as excited as I am to be in Colorado.
They are both avid runners and in good shape but have no experience w/
altitude or mountains and as good of shape as they’re in, this is going to be a
new ball of yarn for them. But they are
anxious and eager and the best pacers in the world and are here to run and
acclimate ASAP and they want to get out in some mountains TODAY! We opt for Quandary peak
as their first teener. We claim a camp
spot and start gearing up for the days climb.
We are definitely getting a late start but as long as we keep an eye on
the skies, we should be good. We climb
up to treeline and we are not the only ones that got a late start on this fine
Saturday. Marty and Jessica have a
little trepidation and wonder if they’ll be able to make it. They were at sea level yesterday, so this is
no joke. They are both tough as nails
and fight through altitude sickness and doubt to top out at 14,000 plus
feet. It’s cold and windy on top so we
snap pictures for documented proof and then head down. As soon as we are coming down, they are
feeling better and in fact feeling GREAT b/c they made it. I couldn’t be more proud and I know I have
the best pacers around.
We camp. We have a
fire. We have a beer. We have some laughs. It’s good to have some friends here to enjoy
Life w/ again…
8/12/12
I want a double / Marty says.
Double shot of espresso? / I ask.
No, a double 14er.
That is when I know I have the best pacers and crew in the
entire world.
We head to Grays and Torreys. Again, a late start but the skies look
stellar. We head up and they already
feel better than the day b/f. They march
gamely on. We make both peaks and they
are loving life. We head into town to a
brewery afterwards for burgers and beer.
And this is how the next week goes.
There are more 14ers. There are
more breweries. There is camping and
living outside for days at a time. I
have a couple of job interviews. I find
an apartment. I find a part time
job. I worry incessantly about my Achilles
and wonder if I’ll be able to complete the Leadville 100. Hell, I wonder if I’ll make it ten miles into
the race. I have no idea. There are hotels and a shower every other day
or so. There is music. There is laughter. There is training. The rest of your crew arrives the day b/f the race. And then…there is Leadville…
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