s******p
发帖数: 819 | 1 Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
the weekend again.
8/18 Thursday
Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
. Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
house, it's already 9:30pm (which is 11:30pm NYC time). It's quite a trip!
And I was tired. A quick shower and fell asleep without any problem. It was
such a nice long sleep I highly needed for the big race.
8/19 Friday
Departure from Denver at 6am for Leadville. When we passed Eisenhower Tunnel
on I-70, I could really felt that the breathing getting tough and heart
rate going up. With a maximum elevation of 11,158 ft, Eisenhower Tunnel is
the highest vehicular tunnel in North America and the longest tunnel built
under the Interstate program, passes through the Continental Divide.
Leadville was a declining mining town sitting at 11,200ft, but the LT100
races saved the place. You can feel the vibe of the race when you get to the
main street, Harrison Ave. Most building were built during second half of
19th century. A lot of outdoor shops are occupying them now.
By the time we got to the town at 8:15am, whx was already waiting there.
After I checked and weighted in (146lb), carb loading officially started.
Kicked off with a few whole wheat bagels, fitforfun's homemade marinated egg
and some gatorade, which I don't drink even for a long run. Marinated egg
was the hightlight of first round carb loading
Then it's the pre race brief. It's more about motivating runners than the race
details and there was a lot of transitional stuff since the race was sold to
a commercial entity this year. I didn't really need them to motivate me. I
have been preparing and giving up a lot for this race. I have enough
motivation already. But there was still some good points to remember:
1. Pain is weakness leaving the body.
2. You are better than you think you are.
3. Don't worry if you vomit. Eat some more.
4. Finish, and it will hurt for no more than 30 hours. If you quit, the pain
will haunt you forever.
5. We will not quit.
After the briefing, it came second round of carb loading. Chinese restaurant
is indeed everywhere. It's truly amazing to see one in the highest town in
America. It's called Szechuan Taste. The food was expectedly so so. But whx
got to have some white rice, which is his carb loading staple.
While whx was busying preparing for his drop bag. I couldn't held myself and
tried to run around the neighborhood. Just a few hundred feet jog, it felt
like running 7min pace up on the harlem hill in the central park, hard
breathing, fast heart rate. I was a little panic at this point and started
to worry about the race perspective. Altitude is no joke.
Then we headed to our hotel 30 minutes away at Red Cliff, which is exactly
the same name as the famous battle location in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
. And the geographic layout of the town very much resemble my imagination of
Red Cliff. A wonderful choice! The hotel is very nice as well. They have
free homemade cookie at the front desk. I grabbed more than half a dozen to
appetize third round of carb loading.
After settled in, we were off to an American bar for the last meal before
early sleep. I was quite happy with my grill chicken burger. It was so much
better than crappy Chinese food we had earlier. I was so full at this point
and I felt my belly would blow up. Unfortunately whx didn't get his white
rice there.
It's either because of the big meals or the high altitude. I felt asleep
soon after we return to the hotel in spite of that whx and fitforfun was
chatting and organizing. I slept from 6pm all the way till 1am. That was
great for a race starting at 4am. It was only the next day I learnt that
there were two big thunderstorms overnight. Again, big thanks to fitforfun
for giving beds to two of us and slept on the floor instead!
8/20 Saturday
Got up at 2:15am as planned. whx seemed to be a little nervous, shuffling
around arranging his stuff. I was surprisingly calm. Dressed up and put my
things in order. Two cliff bar and a marinated egg as breakfast on our way
to Leadville. Because of the overnight rain, there was a big fog. I was
praying that it won't be raining during the day.
It was pretty cold at the start line, 37 degree plus wind. While whx rushed
to porta john for the second time in the morning, I didn't feel any urge and
hided at the street corner to avoid the wind gust. Got to chat with a grand
slam veteran and he strongly advise me starting slow and not getting too
excited by other runners around me.
4am starting gun fired and we were off to the big day.
(Detailed race report in a separate essay.)
8/21 Sunday
I crossed the finish line exactly at 6am. Didn't really felt sleepy at all.
I went into the medical tent simply because it's much warmer in there and I
can lay down in a sleeping bag for a bit rest. Took a nap for about an hour
and I was up looking for food. The chicken noodle soup was really good and I
finished three cups.
After the food, I felt re-energized and walked around outside the medical tent as the sun came out and it got a bit warmer. The only complaint from my body was actually not from the legs. It was the non-stop hiccups! I guess my lungs was complaining. 26 hours of running in the thin air was tough on the them no less than the legs.
8am, whx still hadn't returned. I started to worry a bit and went out to the
finish line to check out. Only 10 minutes wait, I finally saw whx walking
to the finish line with fitforfun. That's was epic, especially him crippling
and walking with a wood stick in hand.
Helped whx into the medical tent and took off his shoes and socks. That
was brutal. Probably 8 out of 10 nails turned black. Big blisters between toes
and under the foot. Left shin swollen like a big bum. The doctors there wasn
't of much help other than advising him rest and took a few tylenol. He told
us that we were the first two Chinese he ever saw at the race. I wasn't
sure if I should be proud for that.
While whx was resting in the medical tent, I was off to a local hotel for a
shower. I was really craving for some real food after the shower. A big real
cheese burger was preferred but decided on some pizza, which I hadn't eaten
for a very long time.
Then it's the award ceremony. Nothing special except to learn that the woman
winner Lynette Clemons just had a baby three month ago. Truly tough woman.
I was wondering if she breast fed her baby on the course as she mentioned
that the baby was a part of the crew.
The trip from Leadville back to Denver airport was quite a bit of race
itself. There was heavy traffic on I-70. fitforfun was "racing" pretty fast
once we got out of traffic in Denver and I got to the airport about an hour
before the flight took off.
By the time I got home in NYC 1:40am, it just felt surreal. The whole race
already felt like a while ago. There wasn't any pain in my legs, just some
soreness like after a marathon race. Maybe I didn't push hard enough, quite
pitty.
8/22 Monday
I held myself and didn't run to work today. Had one hour 2500 yard recovery
swim druing lunch break and felt fresh. |
t*******n
发帖数: 356 | 2 great, can't wait for the race report! |
m**k
发帖数: 18660 | 3 痛快！
most
Cleveland
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
M**u
发帖数: 10158 | 4 re
most
Cleveland
s
was
Tunnel
the
egg
race
to
I
pain
restaurant
in
whx
and
felt
Kingdoms
of
to
much
point
rushed
and
grand
.
I
hour
I
the
crippling
toes
wasn
told
a
real
eaten
woman
.
fast
hour
quite
recovery
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
R*****s
发帖数: 41236 | |
o*******r
发帖数: 4921 | 6 very encouraging
most
Cleveland
s
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
q*c
发帖数: 1172 | 7 looks like the 6pm-1am sleep really helps! |
g********s
发帖数: 1969 | |
v****a
发帖数: 389 | 9 多谢分享。感觉成功的race有很多相通之处：吃得好、睡得好、start slow、even
splits、无伤痛，最后成绩出色，也不觉得怎么累。
most
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
p***r
发帖数: 4859 | 10 先顶,晚上再慢慢看。 :)
most
Cleveland
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
|
|
y****o
发帖数: 646 | 11 should be proud!!!!!!!!!
cong again!!!!!!!
most
Cleveland
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
t*********t
发帖数: 4766 | 12 Thanks for sharing.
most
Cleveland
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
w*****3
发帖数: 1582 | |
y******n
发帖数: 4527 | 14 ding
most
Cleveland
【在 s******p 的大作中提到】
: Here is an iteration of the race weekend. It might read a bit boring to most
: people. I found writing them down quite intriguing. It's like going over
: the weekend again.
: 8/18 Thursday
: Took an 8 hour flight from NYC to Denver with 3 hour connection at Cleveland
: . Fortunately, the waiting area and restaurant in Cleveland airport are
: quite nice. I was able to relax a bit from the the intensive week at work
: and had a nice burrito dinner. I even thought about checking out the rock
: and roll hall of fame right next to the airport but gave up the idea.
: I left office 12:30pm for the airport. By the time I arrived at fitforfun's
|
M*******o
发帖数: 190 | 15 Enjoy your journey. Thanks. |
l**n
发帖数: 2405 | 16 serendip没有进行高原适应，第二天就直接参加比赛，结果比欢喜还好。
欢喜大概提前半个多月就开始在赛区高原训练，结果反而不如serendip跑的轻松。 |
t********n
发帖数: 611 | 17 哈，真的是参加这个比赛的头两个中国人啊，当然应该自豪啊！
那个刚生宝宝3个月的妈妈太牛了！！！ |
f*******n
发帖数: 5241 | 18 I enjoyed last weekend very much!
Thank you serendip for giving me this opportunity to take part in this
incredible journey. |
