Back of the pack

Old news by now, perhaps, but I got my second finish at the Leadville Trail 100 last weekend, in 28 hours, 59 minutes and 45 seconds. That’s a touch better than my 2006 finish, which was 29 hours, 18 minutes and 49 seconds.

I wrote an account of my experience for our great local paper, the Lawrence Journal-World. You can read it here — Gary’s LT100 story. But wait until you finish reading this entry, please!

I had a great time, and I have a bunch of things to blog about coming out of the race. But the most important thing, to me, is to say “thank you” in writing to everyone who helped me to the finish. Because it’s a fact, without help, I wouldn’t have made it.

I’ll start by saying “thank you” to my spouse, the Big K. It was actually her idea that we go to Leadville this year. In the end, she couldn’t go because she had to stay home with our new puppy Lambchop. But if it wasn’t for Karen, “Hawk who walks,” I’d have been home reading the results like everyone else.

And knowing she was home with Lambchop and our other dogs also gave me the security I needed to concentrate on the race.

I’ve never finished a hundred-miler without a pacer, so I owe a big debt to Mark “Bobby Hawk” Allen, of Leadville. He didn’t just get me over what I consider to be the toughest part of the race, Sugarloaf Inbound, and to the finish line. He crewed for me at Fish Hatch outbound, and Twin Lakes out and in. And he waited for me at Treeline inbound, though we missed each other. Mark, brother, you are the greatest!

Darin “Lincoln Hawk” Schniedewind stepped up to get me from Twin Lakes to Fish Hatch inbound after his own runner, Rick Mayo, bonked at Winfield. Some sort of fluke… Rick is a veteran hundred miler, and Western States alumnus.

But no sense letting a top pacer go to waste. Darin took me 16 rugged miles from right after dark into the early hours of the morning, enduring a lot of bad jokes in the meantime– “two cannibals are eating a clown. One of them says, ‘does this taste funny to you?’”

He and Mark both kept me running, eating and drinking, which are the big three when it comes to finishing.

When I rolled into the halfway point at Winfield, with barely an hour before cutoff, way behind my schedule, I could’ve been in trouble. That’s because I was already starting to get fuzzy mentally. You’ve got to be sharp in the aid stations when you have no crew — my usual crew, Karen was at home with the puppy. You have to know exactly what to do and do it fast and get out.

I would’ve been there 20 or 30 minutes that I couldn’t afford, and would likely have left without eating right and stocking my pack with crucial items… all things that could very likely have finished the race for me down the line. That didn’t happen, thanks to three angels — Karen “Sparkling Hawk” Lambert, Julie “Sunday Hawk” Toft and Deb “Kettle Hawk” Johnson. Wasn’t expecting their help, but they took me in hand. Sat me down and made me eat, Deb and Julie systematically went through my pack replacing what was supposed to be in there.

Karen refilled my camelback bladder which didn’t fit my Ultimate Directions pack. I have never been able to refill that thing without getting water in the pack, which then leaks out all over by backside and legs. Karen did it. She and Willie sell the things at their store, the Great Plains Running Company, so she knows hows.

I left Winfield 55 minutes before cutoff fed, watered, restocked, and best of all — dry, thanks to that fabulous crew that I wasn’t even expecting. And the emotional boost I got from their support helped get me up and over Hope Pass. I hope I’m not sexist by commenting on their looks, btw — they all three look like gorgeous Hollywood actresses!

Karen found me at Treeline outbound, as well, btw, when I was almost out of water, and it was hot and shadeless. She didn’t just give me water. She gave me Perrier! Well, that’s how they do in Hollywood.

Mark and I had a little mixup in the communications — he was expecting to crew me at Treeline inbound, but somehow we missed each other, and Darin and I got to Fish Hatch while Mark was still at Treeline with my gear. Mark tracked us down and everything worked out perfectly. But in the moments at Fish Hatch without him, while Darin went to refill my pack, up popped Ben Reeves, from Colorado Springs. He played a big part in keeping my friend Nick “Colo Hawk” Lang in the race.

When I mentioned that I’d wanted to change my socks, but that Mark had all my gear — Ben immediately gave me the fresh socks he had just put on. Didn’t just give them to me — took off my shoes for me, put them on me, and put my shoes back on. Believe me, it would’ve taken me an hour to do it, at that point, 75 miles in.

We weren’t sure if it would be warm or cold up on top of Sugarloaf, 11,200 feet, our next port of call. So Ben gave Darin and extra shirt to carry for me, in case it got chilly and I needed an extra layer. I never did need the shirt, but just having it meant a lot — especially since I didn’t have to carry it.

I think the fresh socks played a big part in limiting the blisters. The socks are washed, and I will get them and the shirt back to you with interest, Ben. THANKS!

Those are my main thank you’s. But I owe others as well. Thanks to all the Hawks who cheered me in at the finish — Tony and Angel Clark, Debbie Webster, Stacy, Kyle and Ryder Amos. Especially Kyle, who yelled for me to do my trademark “Rocky” theme as I came in. That was responsible for me sprinting, instead of shambling in, resulting in my coming in under 29 hours by 15 seconds! Whew. 28ers club by the skin of my teeth, thanks to Kyle.

Of course, I must thank RD Merilee O’Neil and LT100 President Ken Chlouber, and all their fantastic volunteers. I hope those volunteers know that they look better than the Beatles to runners coming in from a long hard stretch.

And I want to thank pacers Debbie “Wheat Hawk” Webster and Christy “Hawk Mama” Craig for getting our friend Coleen “Lil Big Hawk” Voeks into the finish line with just 15 minutes left before race end. It was close, but you did it.

When I got home, I wrote my race account for our local newspaper — an opportunity made for me by reporter, runner, spouse and mom extroardinaire Sarah “Scoop Hawk” Henning of the Lawrence Journal-World. Thank you Sarah, you are fabulous!

And speaking of fabulous, thanks to Sandra Halverstadt Freelance Photography for the great finishing photo, which she got me instantly on request, before I even had a chance to pay her for it. Please visit her website for photos of all the Leadville finishes, and some of the most magnificent mountain photography you’ve ever seen!

I think I covered everything. I should thank you, too, as well for reading all this… blogs are supposed to be short.

40 days to the Heartland 100!

More later,

gary

Falling further behind in everything. Spending time in the evenings with Lambchop, our new puppy is keeping me from blogging, getting packed for Leadville, and getting to bed at a decent hour.

Here’s a couple shots I got last Thursday. She’s already bigger, and getting gangly. She’s growing like the blob.

You can perhaps see why it’s hard to get away from her. Last night, she finally seduced Sophie Jones the disapproving schnauzer mix to begin tentatively playing with her. Tonight, the play was all-out and unreserved. Sophie got so excited to finally have a real playmate after years of grumpy old Cubby Bear that she ran sprint laps around the living room while Lambchop looked on in astonishment.

Was afraid if I got my camera, they’d quit playing. Also had to hang on to Cubby Bear who does not approve of other dogs roughhousing.

Had a few accidents, but overall, making progress. All accidents have been on paper lately, except for one a few minutes ago on the hard tile in the basement.

As far as my training — had a lovely rest day Friday. Went for a relaxed 20 on the North Shore Trails at Clinton Lake, Saturday morning with Angie “Sky Hawk” Shellito, Jim “Family Hawk” Beiter, and Levi “Smilin’ Hawk” Bowles. Got pretty hot and humid, and we slammed the water. Also found plenty of seed ticks and chiggers.

Coming back on the red trail, Jim wasn’t feeling well — overheated, we thought — so he jumped in the lake to cool off. Looked so good that I joined him, then Levi and Angie took the plunge as well. Jim and Angie took these shots with Angie’s camera phone. I’m wearing my new “Lawrence Trail Hawks” tech shirt, but it’s kind of hard to see.

It was a definite run highlight, and may become a Saturday morning tradition as long as the heat holds out.

The wash made Jim feel better, but after about a mile on the blue trail, he was hurting again, and told us to go ahead. We ran in the last three miles. Levi felt spunky and dashed on ahead of me and Angie for the last mile. With about a half mile to go, we met Sandy “Crafty Hawk” Beiter on the way out, come to get her man.

Angie and I got in, just in time to see Levi heading back out to go after Jim. I still felt good, but A. was pooped. I grabbed my little lunch-box cooler, which had ice, a water bottle and a cold cherry coke, and headed out after Levi.

I found Jim, Sandy and Levi resting at the little picnic table at the foot of the hill about a quarter mile from the parking lot. We hung out and blabbed while Jim recovered, drank some water and coke. Then we all hiked back in, Angie waiting for us.

Jim seemed like he was ok, so I headed home.

Sunday, another lovely rest day. Actually got to sleep in. Bliss. Got up around 6 a.m. to take Lambchop out, then went back to bed till almost 11. First chance to sleep in, which I love, in about three weeks. Wanted to get packed for Leadville, but between dogs and little niece Gracie, 4, visiting from Texas, got zero point zero accomplished on the packing front.

Also managed to miss Kristi Mayo’s 30th b-day party, and a cool night run at Wyco that Shane’s been planning. Life is a river… I feel lately like I’m shooting the rapids.

Today, planned to do 4.5 miles on the elliptical, but missed — too much on the plate at work. Got to get a bunch of stuff done before heading to Colorado on Friday. At least I got the blog updated.

Whew! 11 days to Leadville!

More later.

gary

Up way too late as a result of playing with dogs. Lambchop needed big play, and Cubby and Sophie needed attention and reassurance so they wouldn’t be too jealous. Lambchop provokes Cubby into chasing her down. When he catches her, she just flops down and looks scared and helpless. As soon as he’s satisfied she’s learned the lesson, he turns away, and she leaps up and provokes him again. Cubby is 14 years, Lambchop about 10 weeks.

Took some pics of her today, but too sleepy to post. Will do tomorrow or this weekend. Got niece-in-law Christin with daughter Gracie coming in Friday for a week. Gracie is 4 — will flip when she meets Lambchop.

Cubby and Sophie feel about Gracie the same way they feel about Lambchop — jealous and annoyed. They’re getting used to Lambie slowly but surely. They don’t see Gracie often enough to get acclimated.

Workouts — got 7 miles even in one hour on the elliptical today, rolling hills, level 16. Hit 6 miles in 51:34, did the rest in reverse as usual. 60 push-ups, 40 crunches, back exercises.

Yesterday went out for the Wednesday nighter with Nick “Colo Hawk” Lang, Steve “Silver Hawk” Lang, Laurie “Pixie Hawk” Euler, Levi “Smilin’ Hawk” Bowles, Renee “Super Duper Hawk” Babin, and Jim “Family Hawk” Beiter. Felt crummy, so turned back at the 2-mile mark and ran in with Laurie, who, coming back from being ill, had planned on 4 only.

On the way back, I saw what looked like a snake on a tree trunk, and stopped in my tracks with a yell. Laurie and I both laughed to see that it was only a vine. Took another step and yelled again to see a real snake — a big black one — right where I was about to step. It didn’t care for all the noise, and slithered off.

About a half mile from the end, we encountered two young ladies, Emma and Sarah, walking a chihuahua named Tico. They asked Laurie and I how we could run on these trails, which got us blabbing away. The gals got an earful. We were about to leave when one of them mentioned it was their goal to do the entire 23-mile loop. That immediately punched our buttons again, and they got repeated exhortations to come out for the Women-only run.

Renee got back a little after we did. I think she did about five miles or so. Wasn’t too hot, but was humid. Coming back early, I managed to get home and to sleep at a reasonable time — about 9:30 pm, and felt rested all day. So much for that. 11 pm now. Back to zombie-ville tomorrow. Well, goodnight all and have a nice dream.

15 days to Leadville!

More later,

gary

Karen and I knew Sophie Jones the schnauzer mix and Cubby Bear the black chow mix wouldn’t tolerate a new adult dog in our home, but we thought a puppy might come in under the radar. Unfortunately, the Lawrence Shelter didn’t have any puppies.

So Karen located just what we always wanted — a Pyrenees/border collie mix puppy — at the Cherokee County Shelter in Talequah, Okla. We drove down and got her — named her “Lambchop,” for no good reason, and headed back to Lawrence.

Lambchop rode on some towels in the back seat, first with Karen, then with me. She didn’t like the ride, and threw up. Repeatedly. Evidently, she’d been well-fed at the shelter! We also discovered she was crawling with fleas, poor little thing.

We stopped often to let her out. At one stop, while we were getting the puppy barf out of the car at a small roadside parking area, a state trooper pulled up to see if we were ok.

Finally we got home. Our next-door-neighbors, Lynn and Bruce, let us use their back yard — neutral territory — to introduce Cubby and Sophie to their new pack-member. I brought them out of the house one-at-a-time to meet Lambchop. Cubby was friendly, and wagged his powder puff of a chow’s tail as they touched noses.

Sophie was completely uninterested in Lambchop. She’d seen rabbits run off into Lynn and Bruce’s backyard many times, and was much more interested in sniffing for bunnies than meeting and greeting. She’s always been that way, even at the dog park.

While I took Sophie and Cubby for a walk, Lambchop got a bath. Didn’t like it, and barked at Karen. She wriggled away and hid under the bathroom sink, from which safe place she yipped defiantly at the Big K.

Lambchop was beautiful and fluffy and white after her bath, but still had some fleas, alas. Fortunately, we had a vet appointment for her the next morning. Dr. Kraft pronounced her basically sound, and started her on Frontline for the fleas. It began working almost immediately, much to the relief of all. Lamby has some other small problems — a minor skin infection on her tummy, and a yeast infection in her ears.

Got it all addressed, and got little girl home to begin socialization and house training in earnest. There were a few accidents, but those were “teachable moments,” as the President says, and well worth the small amounts of poop and piddle produced.

Karen stayed home with her again today, and there were NO accidents.

Cubby Bear remains mostly good-natured, but growls a little when Lambchop gets in his space. She’s used to her rough-and-tumble litter mates, and doesn’t quite understand these old fogey dogs. Sophie is even worse. When Lambchop tries to get Sophie to play, Sophie growls and runs away.

There’s no overt aggression on the part of the big dogs, so I believe they will settle down eventually. This is much the way it was at first between Sophie when we first got her, and another dog we had — a border collie mix named Daisy Plumpkins, who has since died. Plumpies was never too fond of the upstart Sophie — now it’s Sophie’s turn to be the jealous old grump.

Karen and I are lavishing extra attention on Sophie and Cubby, which seems to help.

For now the dogs aren’t together too much. Lambchop is mainly baby-gated in the kitchen during the day, with excursions into the backyard for play and business. Just got back from such an episode. She made poop and piddle and was richly praised for the production.

She figured out how to climb up and over the lower 26″ baby gate, so I had to jerry-rig it a little to make it higher. Lambie will be alone tomorrow while Karen and I are at work. I’ll come home at lunch to take her out — my guess is I’ll find she’s figured out how to get past the new baby gate configuration. I expect to walk into a scene of chaos and destruction with little puppy poops all over the place. Well, we’ll see.

If she seems to have gotten the house training by this weekend, which is possible, we might let her out of the kitchen, and show her how to use the dog doors. I know the Big K will be trepidatious about letting the puppy run with the big dogs, but it has to be done eventually. For now, all is proceeding smoothly.

Lambchop is a typical puppy. Scampers about, tries to chew everything, is astounded at leaves and bugs, and is completely delighted to see everyone and everything. Loves to play tug-o-war. Walks on the leash beter than our two horrible big dogs. Does NOT like to be left alone and yips and yowls to break your heart. Will try to get out the door first tomorrow, so I don’t have to be the one leaving her alone!

For MY training — yesterday ran the Shoreline Shuffle course in the mid-90-degree heat. Nice, but our recent spell of cool weather has de-acclimated me! Took about 51 minutes to do the course. I think it’s a little longer than 5k, but doubt it’s 4 miles.

Today, did 3.46 miles on the elliptical, level 16, rolling hills. Hit 3 miles at 25:57. Tuesdays are always tough, because we have a recurring meeting every Tuesday right at workout time. So mileage is sometimes reduced on Tuesdays. Got 60 push ups, 40 crunches, and the back exercises.

17 days to Leadville!

more later!

gary

What a weekend!

So action-packed, it spilled over into Monday.

Started with having friends from Las Vegas, Dawn and Brian, over for dinner. Had a great time. Brian’s a talented ultrarunner, but a knee injury — displaced kneecap — has kept him from any runs longer than 90 minutes since he won the 50K at LunarTrek last year.

Got up 4 hours later, and met Danny “Study Hawk” Miller at the zero mile marker on the levee. Danny kindly went one 16-mile leg with me on what turned out to be a 41-mile long-run on the levee, and nearby hilly dirt roads. Right after I got done, the Big K and I headed over to the Nick “Colo Hawk” Lang and Laurie “Pixie Hawk” housewarming party, to help break in their new rental home. I made gin and tonics for all who asked.

Bright and early next morning, Sunday, the Big K and I were on the road in her white Honda CRV. Our destination — Talequah, Okla., and the Cherokee County Humane Association. The Big K had located there what appeared to be a litter of 9- or 10-week-old Great Pyrenees/Border Collie pups. We always loved border collies, and always wanted a Great Pyrenees, so the mix was irresistible.

Got there a little after one. The place was in the hills, way rural, and there were a lot of dogs. They all looked well-cared for, and the staff was clearly devoted to them. Garron, the director, let the Big K and I into the enclosure with the pups we’d come for. We were instantly mobbed by puppies, one of the all-time great experiences.

We picked out a little female, who seemed a bit less wild than the rest. I named her “Lambchop,” since that was the first thing that came into my head when I saw her. Seemed to fit, I don’t know why, and Karen concurred, even though she thought of some better names like “Cleo,” short for “Cleopatra.” the Big K’s reasoning was that Lambchop’s eyes look like they have the same kind of mascara Cleopatra was famous for.

We would’ve liked an adult dog, and one from our local Lawrence Shelter. But we tried bringing an adult dog in once before — Jeannie — who was a terrific 18-month-old shepherd mix. Cubby Bear and Sophie Jones wouldn’t allow it though. Cubby is a black chow mix, and Sophie is a schnauzer mix.

We had to return Jeannie, which broke my heart. Fortunately, there was an application that had just come in for her as we were taking her home. So Jeannie found a good home as soon as we brought her back.

Getting late now, so I’ll have to finish this narrative on the morrow.

18 days to Leadville.

More later,

Gary