Lake Perry Rocks 50k

Two weeks ago, I got an email from Dad: This is a long shot, but would you want to take a crack at a 50k next weekend? It's in Kansas...

Dad, you're crazy... Let's do it.

So it began.

Thursday after class, the whole family was waiting for me, I grabbed my stuff from my dorm room and we were on our way. There was a lot of driving ahead of us, from Leadville to Topeka is more than 650 miles, but we were shooting for Burlington that night. I was strange for me to be somewhere without mountains. For a long time, Pikes Peak peeked over the horizon, but eventually we lost sight of that too. We got to Burlington after sunset, got some pizza and went to sleep.

Friday we drove all the way across Kansas (pretty much) and arrived at the hotel mid afternoon and had time to swim in the pool before dinner, K(ansas)FC.  Getting the various gels and other supplies ready for the race was when it really hit me, looks like I'm actually going through with this. Watched some baseball, went to sleep.

Saturday dawned cool and crisp as we went to register and pick up our shirts, I felt pretty cool pinning my yellow (for the 50k) bib number onto my shorts, then sat back and tried not to fidget to much waiting for the 8:00 start.

T minus 10 minutes, still trying not to fidget. Photo: Kevin Gray

Dad moved up to the front, and I scooted further back. I wasn't in any rush, I planned to finish in about eight hours. We started down a short section of road that turned onto single track almost immediately and here I was worrying about starting too fast. The 50k wasn't very large, but it started with the half marathon, so the fist couple miles were more of a group hike.

Coming from Leadville, elevation 10,200 ft, running at ~900 ft was easy on the lungs, but the trail was not any more forgiving to my feet. The course is 99.9% single track through thick (at least to me) forest, very rocky with roots and vegetation everywhere. Now, I'm pretty familiar with rocks, rocks I can handle, but the fallen leaves made the downhills downright treacherous. Not only were the rocks hidden, but the leaves made the trail very slick. Tripping and stumbling were the theme for the day, especially later in the race.

Less than five miles in, still feeling good. Photo: Kevin Gray

The race was in two 15 mile loops, and there were aid stations or water jugs every 2.5 miles or so. I was set to take a GU or Shotblocks every half hour, and this ended up being how I kept track of time, because the stopwatch on my watch doesn't count more than an hour, it just rolls over. So if I wanted to know how long I had been running, I would count the empty wrappers in my pocket.

Had to run up the hill so that the photographer didn't get me walking. Photo: Kevin Gray

The back half of the first loop was fairly uneventful, walk up the hills, jog down. I was still feeling good, not worn out yet.

Rolling in to the main aid station at mile 13. Photo: Kristy West

After going through the main aid the first time, there was a short loop, and then through it again at mile 15.

And back out. Photo: Kristy West

At this point I was feeling awesome, power(walk)ing up the hills and cruising back down. I was half an hour ahead of schedule for my goal time of eight hours. I had finally caught up to some other 50k runners, the first I had seen since the start, and managed to stay ahead of them for another ten miles. A few hours later I was feeling less enthusiastic. My legs were very tired, and my brain was trying to take a nap on the job. I found myself trying to run up hills that I knew I shouldn't be, and would have to stop and tell myself to save it for the downhill. The terrain didn't help much in this respect either. Every time I would build myself up for anther stretch of running I would take two or three steps and trip. It became a cycle of run three steps, stumble five, run three, stumble five. At one point I was hiking up a hill at top speed (not very fast at this point) and tripped, but I was going so slow that I just kind of sinking rather than falling. I found myself doubled over, my nose about two inches from the ground, clutching a tiny beanpole of a tree growing next to the trail. Not my proudest moment.

Finally, the trail started to flatten out again, I knew I was close to the main aid station. I shuffled a little faster, and made it back to the main aid station. The finish was close, I could smell it. I ran the small loop as fast as I could, re-energized by the thought of finishing. I came off the single track with my head up and started up the hill to the finish. Where, of course, my family was waiting, just enough to get through the end.

Smile for the camera! Photo: Chris Boyack

I finished in 7:33, half an hour faster than goal and only half an hour off my marathon time. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Took a quick shower and we drove back home.

In summary, an awesome day with an awesome Dad.

Mount Elbert Summit

After my first week of classes here at CMC, Dad came up to visit for Labor Day weekend, but we couldn't simply visit. No, we were going to attempt to summit the highest peak in Colorado, Mount Elbert. Elbert comes in as the second highest peak in the continental United States at 14,440 feet above sea level.

I was still sleeping soundly when Dad called me, it's amazing how well you sleep when the roommate is out of town. After a hurried breakfast of Cliff Bar and Gatorade, we were on our way. The day started out mostly clear, with a few small clouds in the sky. By the time we got to the trail head, the parking lot was full to the point of spilling over, so we parked in the nearby overflow lot for the Mt Massive trail head. Chug the rest of the Gatorade, and off we go!

We followed the green route from the North.

The first bit of the rout follows the Colorado trail on the feet of the mountain, and then the Mt Elbert trail splits off, and the real climbing begins. After a little bit too aggressive start on the hill, we took a quick break and moved out again, at a better pace, we still had miles to go. Not too long after, we hit treeline, and the view opened up.

Looking Northeast, back towards Leadville.

From there, the climb was one long grunt up to the summit ridge. It was tough, but Dad and I both agreed that it was the best climb we had done all summer, out of ten summits. The view from the top, as always, was incredible.

I can see my house from here!

Summit bear approved.

It was chilly up top, but not too cold for my traditional snack of summit bears (known at lower elevations as gummy bears). We busted out the jackets, and snapped some pictures, but didn't stay long, there was some weather moving in.

Photo credit: Chris Boyack (thanks Dad)

Those clouds look pretty soggy. Time to R-U-N-N-O-F-T!

On the way down, the weather caught up with us, and we got hailed on, but that passed fairly quickly. It was warm and sunny again by the time we reached treeline again. I stopped for a snack, and when I opened my bag of beef jerky, I noticed that I was being watched very intently by a pair of camp jays. If you have ever opened a noisy bag near a dog, it was that kind of look. When I held a small bit in my palm, they were more than happy to land on my hand and take the food. I was able to do this a number of times, so that Dad could get just the right picture.

Jays behind, we kept trucking down the trail. Where the Elbert trail met the Colorado trail, we passed a large group of backpackers, but we were soon surprised to find that they were right behind us, and moving fast. We let them go past, and them Dad said they must know something that we don't. So we followed them closely at a very good pace for almost the rest of the way down, and sure enough, the skies opened and proceeded to rain cats and dogs. A quick stop so Dad could put his camera away, and we ran the rest of the way back to the car, but not without first getting thoroughly soaked.

All in all a very successful day, we went in to town and got a late lunch at High Mountain Pies, the best pizza in Leadville.

Stats for the day:
Start time 8:30 ish
Summit time 11:30
Elevation gain 4700'
9 miles

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, Not Yet Weary Are Our Feet.

My name is Malcolm Boyack, and I made this blog because on the not so rare occasion that I go out and do something, I don't get to tell anyone the awesome stories that I come back with. This is my place to tell those stories.

By way of introduction, I am a student at Colorado Mountain College, in beautiful Leadville, Colorado. I came to CMC for the Natural Resource Management program, which emphasizes sustainability and good stewardship of the third rock from the sun, locally known as Earth. I have lived in Colorado for most of my life, we moved from Utah when I was young. Since then I have gained a love for the outdoors through weeks spent camping, backpacking, biking hiking, and trail running. Most of my posts here will be to the tune of how awesome the above activities are.

Now an explanation of the title. The phrase "not yet weary are our feet" comes from a poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, a walking song written by Bilbo Baggins.

Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
     Tree and flower and leaf and grass,
     Let them pass! Let them pass!
     Hill and water under sky,
     Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the paths that run
Towards the moon or to the sun.
     Apple, thorn, and sloe,
     Let them go! Let them go!
     Sand and stone and pool and dell,
     Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through the shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back to home and bed.
     Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
     Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
     Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
     And then to bed! And then to bed!

 I love the sense of adventure that this walking song conveys, the joy of seeing what no one else has seen, stepping where no one else has stepped, and then to come home to a good meal and a soft bed.

So, thank you for coming, I hope you enjoy your time here.