Western States 100-Week 6

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:6,7

D-6 and counting!! This was a great week of fine tuning and altitude acclimatization. I rolled into Estes Park, CO on Monday and was able to get in five awesome runs during the week. I plan to leave for Squaw Valley on Tuesday with my crew (Mom and Dad) and feel that I am ready to go for the 0500 start on Saturday. Anyone interested in following the race can click here to follow the live webcast, my bib number is 262. The webcast should be up and running by Friday.

I started off the week on Tuesday with a 5.1 mile run around Lake Estes and was lucky enough to be accompanied by my son and daughter on their bikes. The lake sits at just under 8000 feet elevation and I could definitely feel the difference, there were a couple of hills but the run was mostly flat. On Wednesday I dropped my three daughters off at The Girls Trail End, Cheley Colorado Camp, where they will spend the next 4 weeks having a great time playing in the Rocky Mountains. After we dropped off the girls, I went for a good 9 mile run to Gem Lake. This had about 3500 feet of elevation gain and 1800 feet elevation loss. I met my dad and son at the lake and then we hiked down together.

Friday we went into the Rocky Mountain National Park and I was dropped off in Moraine Park and ran up to Bierstadt Lake to meet my dad, son, sister and her kids. This was another great hill run with 2500 feet up and 1200 down. The first 4 miles of the run was gentle uphill to Cub Lake, the last 4 was on very steep and rocky trails. After I met up with the crew at the lake we hiked 1.6 miles down a very rocky trail to the parking lot. It is awesome to watch young kids get such a kick out of being in nature, they had a great time an did a super job on a difficult hike.

Saturday was my last long training run and I could not have had a better confidence building run. I was dropped off this time at the Alpine Visitors Center, elevation 11,800 feet and I ran down Old Fall River Road to the Alluvial Fan parking area (10 miles and 3500 foot descent). I had planned on running this at an easy pace that would keep my heart rate low and keep my legs feeling good and I thought that would be at about a 10 minute per mile pace. I got to the bottom in 1 hour 20 minutes which was an 8:05 minute per mile pace and I felt great. I hope to ride that run into next week.

Well the training is done and all that lies ahead is 100 miles of beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain trails. I have come a long way from where I was at this time last year. I think that my training has been more focused, I am in better shape than I was last year. The 100 mile distance is not as big of mystery since I was able to complete that distance last October, however the respect for the distance is greater than ever. So the goal is to focus on crossing the finish line in less than 24 hours. My Faith is stronger than ever, the Lord will define how this race will be run and I will praise Him regardless of the results. I have been put in a position to accomplish a feat that is only possible with His help and for this I will give Him all the glory. Run Strong!

God Bless and Semper Fi,

Huffer

Training for 15-21 June: Weekly Mi (34.3), June Mi (138.3), 2009 Mi (1183.6)

Mon: Cross Country Travel

Tues: 5.1 mi - Lake Estes

Wed: 8.5 mi - Gem Lake Loop

Thurs: 2 mi - Lake Estes

Fri: 8.8 mi - Bierstadt Lake

Sat: 9.9 mi - Old Fall River Road

Sun: Off