Finish Line Video of Transrockies 2008

6 days
106 miles
19,170 feet of elevation gain

all video courtesy of marit fischer (see the whole set here)


Team Montrail Sean Meissner & Matt Hart finish the 2008 Transrockies


Team Montrail's Matt Hart "We didn't do it."


The Winners! Team Nike/Rogue Valley Eric Skaggs & Max King


My favorite brits take 3rd! Mark & Duncan


Track Stars from Cali - the Fluffy Bunnies had 3rd overall locked until they got lost on stage 5


We battled with Team Salt Stick but in the end they came out on top

Recovery & Reflection

the start of the transrockies 2008

well i'm sitting here in beaver creek, colorado with my buddy andrew price, his wife rachel and their two boys fletcher and bode (thank you guys so much!). my body was up at 5am because for the last 6 days of the transrockies that is exactly what we've had to do. no fighting it, i just got up and had some coffee. i just saw marit and sean off. they are headed over to the sheridan to get max and eric for the denver airport trip. it's kind of hitting me this is all coming to an end.

my overall energy is ok, body feels great. my lower calfs are sore from trying to run the low angle gradual dirt road climbs that make up the transrockies staged race. other than that i feel great.. surprisingly. no other muscles soreness or issues. the two niggles i started the race with are gone, non issues. weird.

rachel just asked me "so do you think you'll come back and do this race next year?". i'm not sure. i think i need a few days to reflect. the organization of the event was truly top notch. i'm disappointed with our 7th or 9th overall placement (the overall results still haven't been posted). but remove that bit and i had a great time. i was able suffer in some of the most beautiful terrain with a great person and true friend sean meissner. i met a lot of amazing people and made so many new friends from all over the world that i cherish this experience. it's just the competitive athlete in me that wants to file this one away as a "bad idea". looking back at my own blog and posted photos of the event it's obvious that is ridiculous.

10th mtn division, fletch and me

Jeanie & Erin

Team Erin baker breakfast cookies

Lesley, hubby Keith, Meissner, Mehgan

Day 6

We finished 7th today I think, possibly 7th overall, we'll see. Eric &
max won again and took the overall of course.

Vail Camp

I forgot to mention our boys Eric Scaggs & Max King won again today.. by just 20secs over the Brit Saab Salomon team. They now have just a 4-5 min GC lead. Not even close to enough to feel comfy, there will be see hard racing tomorrow. Congrats again fellas!

Day 5

Today from the gun I didn't have it. 10 mile climb to 11,700ft from
red cliff.. Sean lead out the second pack. I tried to hold on. The day
before I only ate 1 gel and drank just 1/4 a bottle. I've been feeling
off. After over an hour sean reminded me to eat. I couldn't. I felt
gross, bloated & tired. Yesterday after 1hr I felt great and pulled
the group up the steep climb, today... Nothing there. "I have no pride
dude, push me, tow me I don't care.". Sean towed me with our mandatory
rain pants tied together the last 45 min up vail pass. Once the first
climb was over I felt better. Couple more climbs and it was 7 miles of
downhill road. We passes 3rd & 4th overall on the way down. They were
dealing with there own blow ups and walking. I started to really
hammer and Sean hung on then blew in the last few miles.

We were 7th today in 3hrs 50min for the 23 miles with 4,500ft of gain.

We got beat today and passed in the GC by the two teams we've been
slightly ahead of all week. We should be in 5th overall, but we are in
7th. It's a bummer and I feel like it's my fault for giving up all
that time on the big climb. We are behind them by just 3 and 4
something mins. Tomorrow I have to go to the pain dojo and get my 5
mins back.

Day 4

Today was 14.23 miles with 3009ft of gain. Eggs, a banana, mass quantities of peanut butter, 4 pankakes and more syrup than I've probably had in my entire life total were almost the end of my race and our chances. The run was basically 3,000ft up, 3,000ft down. Just shy of the top I felt good and lead the charge with salt stick chasing hard. We ran ok on the way down, but I feel like we should have hammered with a bit more gusto. The final 2.5 of slightly downhill road we burnt with sub 6 min miles, and some great teamwork.

We finished 8th in 2hrs 15min. I think we are in 7th place overall now. Our boys Eric & Max won the day again and put some more time in on saab Salomon. Congrats again guy!

24 miles with 4,500ft of gain tomorrow.

Chillin' Post Race

3rd Place & Meissner

Mark, Duncan (Team Heathens) & Meissner

Day 4 Red Cliff Camp

Sean touches his toes for the first time

Chillin'

Last team to finish day 3

9hrs 29mins we all came out to cheer for them. It was pretty neat.

Transrockies Day 3

Sean and Meghan (of crooked trails).

I forgot to mention yesterday that Sean crossed the finishline with a
full face of blood. Aparently ""it happens at altitude".

Meghan says Sean "pukes in the woods a lot".

My Favorite British Team

Erin in the morning!

Bryon Powell in the morning

Day 2 Men's Open Podium

The fast guys. Unfortunately Saab Salomon lied about cutting course today (middle two). They said they only cut on the way up. Even though Tony saw them cut "at least three switchbacks" on the way down. Probably gaing 5-10 min. So they won the stage by 1 min over nike rogue valley (eric skaggs/max king)- who are now the overall race leaders. Congrats guys!

Sean and I are now 9th overall after coming in 11th today. We are 33mins off Eric & Max & 20ish off podium (3rd). We start with 5 sucky road miles tomorrow, but it's a 24 mile day. If Seans legs recover we might be able to make some time. With 3 out of the 4 days left being longer (24, 14, 21, 23miles) I am hopeful. Either way this has been a great & wildly fun experience.

My Streaks finally arrived

Thank you Marit & Chris for making this happen.

Tony's Coffee shop - post day 2

Leadville camp

Transrockies Day 2

Meissner is not a morning person.

Correction: day 1 we placed 9th.

Day 2
Today we got crushed. The short fast Mtn runners ruled the day.
The Course: 10 miles with 3,100ft of gain. We climbed up and over hope pass (12,700ft) into twin lakes.

First two miles climbed just 400ft all dirt road. I went out hot, sean showed his dislike for my pace by not running it. We passed cp1 at mile 2 in around 14min (7min pace). We were prob in 15th place. Then the climb started. Within minutes Anita Ortiz passed us towing her teammate. 1min later we passed then back. Her teammate on the side of the trail on all fours. Its two miles & 3,000ft to the top of hope pass. We ran the few runnable sections. At about 11,000ft Sean really starts to suffer. I rAn and hiked behind pushing him at the waist adv race style. It seemed to really help and we passed two teams. I then looked at my altimeter and said "just 600ft to the top, I need you to suffer for me Meissner. This is the toughest part of the course". All i can ask is that my teammate pushes himself to his limit for me. It hurts. It takes courage to go to that dark painful place. Sean did that today. He suffered immensely. Thanks Meissner. You are a great teammate man.

Anton Krupicka was at the pass to cheer us on. Seemed fitting. Sean gave me so much on the way up that he had nothing on the way down. It was 4 miles of awesome downhill simgletrack. But his legs were "wobblie". The further down we got the faster he moved but it was a casual last 4 miles, nowhere near race pace.

We finished in 1hr 57min. Our buddies eric skaggs and max king were first to hope pass but a course cutting salamon UK team beat them to the finish by just 1min. They claim they didn't know the rule. Even after Eric told them to stop doing it on the up. The rules are clear, 2hour penalty. That would take them out of contention. Too bad really.

Day 1 Category Winners

Wearing there leader jerseys.

TransRockies - Day One

I ran into Adam chase before the race today. Michelle Barton and Adam won the mixed category last year. He told me about the 2:09 marathoner and just how serious the competition was in the men's open race. Because today's stage does not suit our strengths as runners, I told myself (but not Sean) that top 10 would be good. Adam said the same and he knows the competition better than me.

We started a bit hot. Both of us breathing pretty hard. We started at 8,000 and ran most of the race at 8,700 ft. We settled onto a just over threshold pace and ran in 6th for a bit. Before the first and only control at mile 7, a couple teams passed us. We hung just behind them through the control. I surged ahead to get in and out fast (Sean thought I was surging for the camera). We dropped nuun tabs, grabbed a gel and were gone. I looked back and couldn't see 9th place. Up until then we ran the dirt road side by side. For the last 6 miles, I sat right behind Sean, basically drafting him. He was setting the pace and I was just holding on. I told myself I just needed to suffer for at most another 45 mins. So I stared at the Mountain Hardwear bolt on the back of his Montrail jersey and got to suffering.

We finished in 8th overall in 1hr 34 mins.

WTF?! Sean and I struggled to get all out gear in the 3 "official" race bags. That's three total for us two. Bryon used his own massive bags, and way more than his alotted 1.5 - that's some bullshit!

Walking to the start in downtown Buena Vista.

After the race, we just arrived at tent village.

On the Road & CCC 100

TR Update
i arrived late last night in denver. long 8hr+ drive from slc. had to stop and nap. that is the beauty of the eurovan, i can pop the top and get some rest pretty easily.

i was supposed to have three pairs of streaks waiting for me here in denver. a bit of an address snafu and i have no shoes and a race that starts in just over 24hrs. i also left my nathan handhelds and krissy vest in the where's karl rv. they were supposed to be shipped to me in slc but didn't make it in time, so no handhelds or vest either.

but i'm here. i'm healthy. i have one pair of pretty old streaks i can wear. sean is bringing me some of his extra handhelds. i know it will all work out.

i keep getting asked about the competition. it will be fierce. if these guys don't win it then one of them got hurt or eaten by a mtn lion.

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Cascade Crest 100 Miler

i just got from justin angle that seattle guy tom ederer just won the cascade crest 100 miler! whoa, this is HUGE! justin is tom's coach. wow. great work justing in getting him there so fit and ready for his first 100 miler. congrats tom! so stoked for you man.

word on the street - "gifford was struggling with bad belly. aaron heidt dropped. phill shaw 2nd".

with the cascade crest being the premier 100 miler in the seattle area i made sure nuun was a sponsor of the race... so it's at every aid station and the winners get some great free product.

Transrockies On The Horizon

my buddy, canadian endurance superstar gary robbins (who just won the stormy 100 miler!) just wrote this in an email to me - "It's all about being broke as a joke, and loving life! Never been so poor...and so damn happy!!"

my response: "true dat." spend that money!

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i just figured i'd add a few pics of what i wake up to here in driggs. the 5am workouts that had been going on for over an hour before i even got out of bed. i'm recovering for a race, so i swallowed the guilt of not joining them. faster than you zahan (who runs for la sportiva) and tougher than you lisa were up doing their circuit workouts. love it!

---

i have a severe calf strain and a 6 day race in 5 days.

about 5 days into the maine section of the appalachian trail i started to get a slight pain in my calf. it grew a bit every day. it hurt. lots of pains come and go when you run 300 miles at a whack. so i ran through it. i should have been icing legs/feet/calfs every night but there never seemed to be enough time or energy. it ended up being the only consistent issue i had. since getting off the trail i wake up every morning and test the calf. i have been expecting it to turn a corner and make some strides of progress towards healing. 7 days later.. still hurts. every day the reading on the pain scale seemed about the same.

i'm super picky about my massage therapists. ellen parker in seattle has spoiled me. my therapists have to be athletes, they have to have vast experience working with athletes and they have to be strong. i like to get worked over, like my buddy chad did in high school when he didn't pay his bookie. i don't get a massage to relex. i can do that on my own. i get a massage to realign my muscle fibers and to work the toxins out of them. it should hurt!

since i got back to driggs and the batchen household, lisa has insisted that she break the table out. last night it happened. she hurt me.. bookie style. today my calf hurts much less.. this woman is gifted. now i have hope.

until today i was running scenarios of whether i could race. when i spoke with my teammate for the transrockies sean meissner i didn't mention my true concern. i was getting worried. now i'm pretty sure it will be all healed up by the time we line up in buena vista, colorado on august 25th for the transrockies.

"Wicked Scocha" - 12 Peaks Run

"12 peaks" is a classic pacific northwest ultra run that i had never actually done in it's entirety until today. the 4:50am wakeup call sucked, but it was a great day out there... and it was a wicked scocha too 95+ degrees. justin and i ran the whole thing in 6:33, with tom and bill joining us for a one way trip 3:07. justin would have been sub 6hrs without us acting as anchors. if you are racing justin angle any time soon, ah... good luck.
this run is perfect training for transrockies. at 35 miles and 10,000 feet of gain, it's longer with move vert than any single day of the transrockies. my hip injury is still there, but it's feeling much better and i ended this run without any real issues with it. very exciting!

here is how the transrockies will break down: (looks like i've got some speed work to do!)
day 1: 18 miles 2,737 ft of gain
day 2: 16 miles 4,579 ft of gain
day 3: 25 miles 3,335 ft of gain
day 4: 14 miles 3,016 ft of gain
day 5: 23 miles 4,966 ft of gain
day 6: 19 miles 4,947 ft of gain

115 total miles



gear: montrail streaks (they were perfect!) w/teko ecopoly socks (no blisters as usual). with the recent sun i decided to test the rudy project ekynox. they were once again amazing for the varying light exposure of running in and out of the trees.

Exciting News and Disappointing Reality

"You only ever grow as a person when you spend time outside your comfort zone"- Percy Cerutty

the real reason i was in salt lake last week was for a job interview. i'd made the final cut of interviews to be a guide/trip leader for backroads. they do 7-14 day cycling, hiking, kayaking and multisport trips in the most amazing locations all over the world. if it's worth spending time there, chances are backroads can guide you through your most amazing week of exploration ever. one browse through their website is enough to understand why it would be cool to guide for this organization. they are the '#1 active travel company' in the business. the trips aren't cheap and service is paramount.

i was super excited to get the call friday that i got the job.. but there was a caveat. i could not have my august to remember where i planned to run the appalachian trip with karl meltzer and the transrockies run with fellow montrail ultrarunner sean meissner. if i took all of august off, they would have to hire another guide to fill in since it's there busiest month. which means they would prefer to just hire another guide and i'd have to reapply next year... deal breaker.

how could i give these things up? i had just been in slc with karl discussing some logistics of the appalachian trail assualt. it kind of broke my heart. i first got them to give me an end date. it was aug 23rd. this meant i could still run the transrockies ultra with meissner. then i talked to karl and he was totally cool about it, and said i could meet him later in the adventure.

so after some time thinking about it and runnin scenarios in my head i decided to take the job. i will meet up with karl later on down the trail. i am sacrificing now because the job just seems like a great fit for me and will at the very least be an amazing experience. having worked for one of the best companies in the world at microsoft i was impressed with my visit to backroads offices in salt lake, and even more by the current employees.

it's seasonal employment and could be the perfect compliment to my life as athlete/coach and it will undoubtedly put me in some great locations to train! the bummer is i won't know until june 3rd where exactly i'll be. i have knowledge of the yellowstone/grand teton park area and the san juan islands so as a first year guide i'll most likely end up in one of those two places... cool with me. but i'm crossing my fingers for the yellowstone/grand teton spot as i'd be living in jackson hole - a place near and dear to my heart. plus lisa and jay batchen live there! (as a side note check out the interviews on endurance planet with jay and lisa).

so, i am heading to slc for 2.5 weeks of training on may 15th. june 4th i start guiding! things are about to get interesting.

An August To Remember

a few days ago had a great chat with montrail ultrarunner sean meissner. during this conversation he says "hey, i know it's very close to the plain 100 miler but what about you and me running the transrockies ultra?". without looking at my calendar or much thought i said "hells yeah". i had followed this race last year. it's 125+ miles in 5 days through the colorado rockies with over 25,000 feet of climbing, sleeping in the woods in makeshift camps at night... bad ass and adventurous (watch the video). not even 24hrs went by when i received the confirmation email that montrail was sending sean and i! i'm beside myself excited right now! but then i pulled out the calendar.. oh boy, it's going to be one crazy august and september ~ i hope i can hold it together!

the plan:

• aug 5th - appalachian trail: starting on mount katahdin i'm running 47 miles a day for 6 days with karl meltzer in his attempt to break the appalachian trail speed record. i'll be joining him for the entire 281 mile section through maine.

just two weeks to recover

• aug 25-30 - transrockies ultra: 125+ miles through the colorado rockies.

just two weeks to recover

• sept 13-14 - plain 100 miler - a tough tough 100 miler in washington