Maroon Bells & Leadville Packing

Looking down at Snowmass Lake from the 10 mile mark

Last weekend, I drove out to Aspen for a weekend of camping and running fun with some great friends, and plans for a final long run before Leadville around the Maroon Bells 4 Passes Loop. With a handful of last-minute cancellations by friends who were planning on watching children and wonder-dog Vera, Kristel and I made the call that running the whole 28 mile loop would have us out on the trails for an unfairly long time to the friend who was dog/child-sitting for us all morning. Instead, we abbreviated our run to a 20 mile out-and-back over Buckskin Pass, u-turning on a part of the trail overlooking Snowmass Lake.

On the ascent up Buckskin Pass from the TH (CCW direction)

The route is absolutely gorgeous! High mountain passes, sparkling lakes, thin oxygenless air. Pretty much a perfect day on the trails. I felt horrible the entire time we were running. Headachey, light-headed. Legs had no lift at all. Chest felt tight and breathing was labored. Basically, one of the crappier runs I've had. I attributed it all at first to altitude - we were hovering between 9580 ft and 12,500 ft at the summit of Buckskin Pass. However, it took another week before I started to feel normal again, so I probably was just fighting off some kind of a bug.

Snowmass Lak

I'm now less than 5 days out from Pb100 - yikes!!! I spent the past couple of days over the weekend figuring out what is going to go into my drop bags, what I'm going to eat and drink during the race, and then actually packing it all up. Let me tell you, that's been pretty stressful - like nightmare-inducing panics that I'll have forgotten to pack warm enough clothes or energy gels or something else. But some extensive list-making and stressed-out conversations with my 100-miler-veteran friends, and I feel a whole lot better about the whole thing.

Little Vera, bringing back the 80s

The dietitian in me has demanded extensive thoughts on the food aspect of running 100 miles. Although I typically eat a diet pretty heavy in vegetables, whole foods, whole grains, limited bread products, and limited processed "junk foods," running an ultra is a whole other ball game. Starting today, I'll be cutting out all dairy leading up to the race (I'm a mild lactard and don't want any risk of lactose-related GI issues). Over the course of the week, I'll also be transitioning from my usual diet to a lower-fiber diet (no kale salads on Friday for me!). 100 miles is brand new distance to me, and I'm going to have to figure out how to eat consistently for almost 30 hours straight. Luckily, I pretty much eat non-stop anyway. But in this case, I'll have to not only find a way to eat a little bit consistently throughout the race, but to also consume foods that will deliver glucose straight to my muscles while sitting easily in my stomach, requiring minimal digestive energy, and being neutral enough that I won't be repulsed by the food after a few hours of consistent consumption. I'll be aiming to consume between 100-200 kcals per hour, likely more on the front end and less towards the end.

So the line-up looks as such (and reads like every 8 year old's dream diet, except maybe the coffee, Vfuel, and broth):

• Gel flasks of Vfuel - about 50 kcals per hour 
• Crust-less Nutella sandwiches on white bread
• Vfuel oat balls (see below for the recipe)
• Coca cola 
• Starbucks Via instant coffee with vanilla vfuel 
• Lemon-lime Skratch
• Boiled potatoes
• Potato chips
• M&Ms and Snickers, as needed
• S-caps (for electrolytes)

But of course that's just a general plan. And I really have no idea how it will go. However, the oatballs are delicious right now, and below is the recipe:

VFuel Oatballs

2.5 C dry oatmeal

2/3 C Vfuel (pick your favorite flavor)

1/3 C honey

1.5 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 C almond butter

1/2 C chocolate chips

Mix together, cover and refrigerate for an hour. Form into balls and store in the fridge or freezer until ready for consumption.