Wild West Relay - JP Fitness Forums

emartin10 · 08-01-2007, 12:20 PM

Check out my race for this weekend:

www.wildwestrelay.com

I'm runner #9, so I have 17.2 miles of running to do Friday and Sat. We run as a 12 person relay over 195 miles from Ft. Collins to Steamboat Springs. My first leg is pretty tough, some good climbing. I have the second hardest overall leg, so I should be crying pretty good by Sat. evening. Our team has a professional Ironman in the first van, and he picked us up a Zoot sponsorship! So I'm going to be decked out for the weekend!!!

Our team goes out at about 11am on Friday, so I'd anticipate my first leg is at about 4 or 5pm, my second leg is going to be around 1 or 2am, and my third leg at about 10am on Sat. Woohoo!!!

Wish me luck all, I'll post some cool pics when I'm done!

E

BamaDave · 08-01-2007, 01:00 PM

Have a great time, Eric!! Gotta love those Rocky Mountain elevation profiles. So much for the molehill mountains we run around on here in the Appalachian region.

I'm jealous - I would love to do something like that. Kick ass!!!

vanessa40 · 08-01-2007, 02:26 PM

That looks like so much fun...
Good Luck

Phaedrus49er · 08-01-2007, 06:10 PM

We need to form a team to do races like this, the mud run here this weekend, some of the nationwide Muddy Buddy races. Maybe JP will kick in a sponsorship

UpNorth · 08-02-2007, 06:23 AM

Looks like a fantastic race. Have fun!

twinsavsvikingsfan · 08-02-2007, 06:57 AM

Sounds like a blast, Eric. I look forward to hearing about it.

GG300 · 08-02-2007, 07:31 AM

Looks like a blast exceopt for the whole running up hill part. Kick Ass.

emartin10 · 08-05-2007, 11:18 AM

Well, I made it. I'm in a world of hurt. As one of our team members put it this morning, it feels like I'm dragging around a carcas. I'm at work now, so I'll get a race report up this afternoon. And pictures!

E

BamaDave · 08-05-2007, 01:16 PM

Congrats, Eric! Looking forward to your report. If you're in a world of hurt, you know you ran a good race!

UpNorth · 08-05-2007, 04:06 PM

Congrats! I hope the pictures show some of the massive climbs.

emartin10 · 08-05-2007, 04:12 PM

This was a fantastic race, and if you ever have the opportunity to do a relay type event like this, you absolutely should. It's a great way to meet some new people and really challenge yourself. We met at 10am in Ft. Collins, and met all the folks on our team (6 guys, 6 girls). We had 2 Ironman Finishers, a sub-6 minute miler, 3 10 minute milers, and then me and some buddies who just run when they tell us to. One of our Ironmen (the sub-6 min. miler) works for Zoot, and hooked us up with a Zoot sponsorship. We got shorts, tanks, visors, socks, and hats. He's sending me some of their prototype triathlon shoes (!!!).

Our first van went out at 11am, and our van went up ahead to the van exchange and set up camp. It would be 3 hours before our first leg, so it was all about rest, eating, and getting nervous!

My first leg was pretty freaking tough. I went out a wee-bit fast, and ended up hitting a climb pretty quick. It was a good thing because it checked me up a bit. The last climb there was a freaking bear. My overall time was pretty good considering the profile of the run. First leg: 34:25 (8:00/mi)

My second leg was tough. It started at about 3am on Sat. morning. Our van had to take about a 2 hour detour to skirt the runners on course, since there was virtually no shoulder. We ended up seeing a moose on the detour having dinner, so we were pretty stoked. We got to the next van exchange, and had about 4 hours to kill. I tried to sleep, and was laying down for about 3 hours, but never got any good sleep. So I finally woke up and got a coffee and started getting ready for my leg. My buddy Michael had a BEAST of a climb (2200 ft over 4 miles) to start our van off, and he ran like a man possessed. It was a very impressive run. When the van got to me, I was ready to rock. I laid it all out there. It was a longer run (7.1 miles), but was very surreal. We had headlamps, but I was running through a National Forrest at 3 am, so no buildings, no cars, just me and my van. I told them I wanted to get into a groove, so I told them to drive up 2 miles and wait, and if I needed water, I'd let them know then. I just kept sending them, I was in a groove! About 4 miles in, I started hearing the coyotes, and the moon came out. It was an amazing experience. The runners had to wear little red flashing lights on their backs, so I'd see a red light way ahead of me, and that was my carrot. I'd run my ass off to them. It was my best leg. Second leg: 49.57 (7:02/mile)

My last leg sucked. It was a lot of rolling, and then a really brutal descent down the pass. I went out hard, and caught this girl ahead of me. We chatted for a bit, and then she dropped the hammer on one of the climbs and I couldn't hang. My van was giving me a hard time out the window for the rest of my run. Bastards. A lot of the hills on the profile are much tougher than they look. My quads are screaming today because of that descent, but it was a decent run. Third leg: 41:13 (7:07/mile)

The hardest part of this event was having enough energy for each leg. I should have viewed it as a 17.2 mile race instead of how I did view it, which was 3, 7 mile races. I had no energy at the end, and was having all sorts of GI problems (as was every person out there!). I ended up averaging a 7:18 mile for the whole race, so I'm happy. All I wanted was a shower, and a hot meal and a cold beer. All ended up being glorious. Here's a few pics:

Our Van

My buddy Michael

Beautiful

Brandon and Michael with the Essentials

Michael, Lisa, and me

Race photos to come

E

BamaDave · 08-05-2007, 07:25 PM

Great report, Eric! That would be hard to have to rev up for three race legs spaced apart like that, but sounds like it was a lot of fun. I bet you really laid the hammer down from about 3 to 4.3 on Leg 1 just out of the relief of not going up hill anymore. Those downhill poundings are bad, too. I often hate running steep downhills more than steep uphills, although a gentle downhill slope is unbeatable! I would love to run in one of these, but I bet the Western elevations would slow me down with the oxygen issues. My highest elevation around here is 1170 feet!

emartin10 · 08-05-2007, 07:41 PM

Hahaha, I spent most of my run above 7000' and a good chunck above 9000'. I didn't even think about that! Interesting.

Yeah, once I crested that hill, I just laid it down and ran my ass off for the finish. I'd SOOOO much rather climb than descend, and my knees would agree.

E

twinsavsvikingsfan · 08-06-2007, 05:10 AM

That is awesome, Eric! Have I ever told you guys how much I miss CO?

GG300 · 08-06-2007, 07:20 AM

Great job Eric especially considering the elevations. I can't imagine running at those heights, I believe the highest point in my state is around 1900. Hopefully you are all back to normal by now.

Phaedrus49er · 08-06-2007, 08:01 AM

UpNorth · 08-06-2007, 09:05 AM

That is some jaw-dropping elevations. I'm not sure I would even be able to run 1 mile at 9000 ft much less race 17+ miles worth!

Congrats again! Very impressive.

BamaDave · 08-06-2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UpNorth

That is some jaw-dropping elevations. I'm not sure I would even be able to run 1 mile at 9000 ft much less race 17+ miles worth!

I ran on a vacation out West at elevations around 7000 feet near Yellowstone. I was still able to run long distances, but I did slow down. Or maybe it was hard to tell whether I slowed down, because it was so much cooler, which helped me speed up!