The Nick Bare Podcast - Archive - Leadville 100 Ultramarathon Race Recap

Episode Date: August 29, 2021

In today’s episode, Nick provides a recap from the recent Leadville 100 Ultramarathon, a race that was about “more than the miles” and required the contributions of the BPN team.  On August 21 and 22, Nick raced a distance of 100 miles through the Rocky Mountains, joining only about half of the participants in meeting the 30-hour time limit for completion.  With the help of the BPN team, Nick finished the race in 27 hours, 53 minutes, and 5 seconds, having faced 15,600 feet in elevation ascent and descent, high altitudes, and overall both a great and challenging race.  Now, he wants to share with listeners about the details of the race - talking about everything from checkpoints to nutrition strategy, ups and downs, and the role his teammates played in the competition.  Nick’s training began in the spring after he was chosen by lottery to be allowed entry in the race.  This training included not just preparation for mountain terrain, but training for elevation shifts.   The Monday before the race, he and several other BPN workers arrived confident in Leadville ready for more altitude training and trail reconnaissance (for both Nick and his team members who would be shooting film for a documentary expected out in October!).  Nick and his team built out a plan for the race, with each member having a specific role outlined.  Nick’s main role, himself, was to embrace the suck that would come with enduring the race.  On the day of the race, Nick was up at 2:30 am for breakfast, which consisted of a bagel and some BPN products - G1M and electrolytes; his ultimate goal was to build up his sodium and carbs.  He prepared himself mentally, got dressed in carefully chosen clothes, and loaded up about 100fl oz of water in his pockets.  The race had an exhilarating start at 4am, and Nick explains his steps crossing checkpoints, maintaining nutrition levels, making connections with his crew, and beginning to knock out the many miles of the course.  The course had 13 checkpoints over its 50 miles (traveled twice), and Nick had 7 drop bags placed at checkpoints where he would possibly if not certainly be unable to see his crew.  He shares with listeners about the meals he chose to maximize helpful calories and keep his fluid and electrolyte levels high, the short time windows he allotted for stops, and about his plans to handle GI issues and prevent issues with injury or weariness.  Nick also explains how he felt at different points in the race, and how he paced himself. Listeners will hear about Nick’s fall and bloodied hands, decision to refill water at a mountain stream, and shock at finding crew members at a mountain summit checkpoint.  They will also  hear about the toll the high altitude took as the end of the race drew near;  Nick found himself - with fresh shoes, a pacer, and only 38 miles to go - struggling to breathe.  He started to really feel the previous miles, and knew he just needed to get to the end.  He just needed to go one more.  And one more.  And one more.  Through a temperature drop, a bout of uncontrollable shaking, a transition to a new pacer, and

Ladies and gentlemen, today's episode is the recap from the Leadville 100 Ultra Marathon. This past weekend, the BPN team completed the Leadville 100 Ultramarathon in 27 hours, 53 minutes, and 5 seconds. This race makes its way through the Rocky Mountains with 15,000. 600 feet of elevation, ascend and descend, there is a 30-hour time limit on this race, and just about 50% of the people that start it, finish it. In today's episode, I'm going to be discussing the checkpoints, the preparation, my nutrition strategy, how I was feeling throughout the race, and some of the ups and downs that were experienced across my first ultramarathon.

So that being said, let's dive into everything. Leadville 100. You are listening to the Bear Performance Podcast, or we discussed topics on fitness, nutrition, business, and leadership to help you perform at your highest level and go on more. I'm your host, Nick Bear, founder of Bear Performance Nutrition and Prior U.S. Army Infantry Officer. We've scaled our brand through our core pillars of transparency, service, and integrity and now I want to share with you through our experience and our guests, how you can optimize your life. Welcome to the show.

So right now we are four days post-ledville 100 Ultra Marathon. This past weekend, August 21st and August 22nd, I completed the Leadville 100, which is a 100-mile ultramarathon through the Rocky Mountains. It starts in Leadville, Colorado, and there is 15,600 feet of elevation ascend and descend. It was a beast of a run. And I want to do a recap in this podcast talking about the preparation, the race itself, the recovery, and how I'm feeling four days after the race. Now, this is a race that has a 30-hour race. time limit. You have to complete the race within 30 hours. I finished Leadville 100 in 27 hours,

53 minutes, and 5 seconds. It started August 21st at 4 a.m. Mountain time and you had until August 22nd at 10 a.m. Mountain time. And it was quite the experience. It really was. Now, Ledville 100 isn't this ultra marathon you just sign up for like a regular marathon and show up to. There's a few ways to get in. One of those is a lottery system. And that is the way that I was able to run Leadville 100. So essentially, and I've done this the past couple years, you sign up for the race. And when you sign up, your name goes into a lottery or a hat. And on a specific day, the Leadville 100 trail run crew and team, they pull names from

this lottery, they pull names from this hat. And if your name has been selected, well, you get the opportunity to go run in the Rocky Mountains. So I applied months and months and months ago. And I believe it was roughly around maybe March, March, April that I received the email that said you have been selected to run Leadville 100. We will see you in Leadville, Colorado, August 21st. And when I received this email, I was in the middle of a triathlon prep. So I was finishing up, which was supposed to be Ironman, Texas, and then turned into Challenge

Cancun because Iron Man, Texas was canceled. I was in the midst of training for that. And when I finished Challenge Cancun in May, took a week off and then pivoted and transitioned into ultra prep. Now, I knew there were a few things that were going to be variables that would be difficult going into this race. First off, this is my first official ultramarathon that I'm running or was racing. And what was different about this one is one, it wasn't flat. It was very different from Texas. It was in the mountains.

It was in the Rocky Mountains. There was elevation and there was altitude to consider. So we were moving across some pretty rugged terrain. There was a lot of ascending and descending, 15,600 feet total throughout the course. And Leadville sits just above 10,000 feet of elevation. And we reached at its peak, I believe 12,600 feet of elevation. And that was the top of Hopes Pass. So I knew going into this race that the altitude would affect me.

And I knew that the elevation ascend and descend and the gain would also be a factor. I also knew going into it that I could complete it and I could do it. So it started logging miles. I started using the stairmaster to work on some elevation gain. I started doing some more trail running just to get my mind, body, and feet acclimated to running on some sort of rugged technical terrain. I did some night runs to get used to running under a headlamp again. The last time I used a headlamp was probably in the military. So I started doing some night runs.

My longest run in preparation for Leadville was 50 miles. And I also started using a hypoxico altitude training system. So essentially what this is, when you're training, it's a mask you put on your face. It connects to a machine. And there's also an attachment that you can sleep in, which I slept in. And it's this tent that goes over the top of your body. And it creates an environment that is at altitude. You can essentially sit the altitude that you're sleeping at or training at.

So there were times when I was training and sleeping at 12,000 feet of elevation. And I used that hypoxico training system for a few weeks leading into the race. So there were obviously variables that I could consider and train for, but there were also some conditions and environments that I couldn't necessarily replicate. as much as the hypoxico training system helped, as much as using the stairmaster helped, it still didn't replicate training at altitude on the mountains in Colorado. I will say that. But I had a good strategy going into Leadville.

At this point in my training career, my training volume has reached high. levels, my body has become adapted and acclimated to higher volumes of training and it's become pretty durable over the years. I am pretty adverse to injury, risk adverse. You know, I don't get injured too often. And when I do, I typically heal pretty quickly. And my body can handle higher volumes of training just because I have built that up over the years. So, So that's kind of where I was going into Leadville. I was confident. I knew that I could finish it.

I had no doubt in the world. But I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew it was going to be hard. I wanted to do an experience a 100-mile race. I really always had this attraction to Leadville 100. You know, it's a famous race. And I knew it would be challenging. I knew I would take a lot from it.

And I knew at some point I would get into the ultra world. I knew I would. It wasn't a matter of if it was a matter of when. When would I get involved and start doing ultras? And I guess August 21st, 2021 was that day. So trained for months leading up to Leadville. And we took. our entire, not our entire, but a lot of our BPN team.

We took the media department, the marketing department, the creative department, and some support. And half of us got out to Leadville, Colorado the Monday before the race. So we got out there five, six days prior to race day. We flew into Denver, Colorado on Monday. And when we got to Denver, I could feel the elevation, the altitude, pretty much instantly. You can just tell you can't breathe quite as normal as I would be in Texas. In our Airbnb, which was in Leadville, for the two-hour drive from Denver to Leadville.

And we stayed in Leadville that week prior. The intent was just acclimating to altitude. doing some training runs, which I did. I got out there. I did some training runs, got comfortable, explored the area. While acclamation and just getting used to the area, it was one part of the reason we went out there early.

The second was route reconnaissance and planning. And because we decided and wanted to document and film this entire thing, the Leadville 100 documentary will be coming out, I'd say early October. It's going to take about a month for the team to fully edit this video and the shots and tell the story. But we needed to, with the lead of Jordan Utter, our creative director, do route reconnaissance. One, to see where we need to set up shots. Second reason being to build out a logistical plan for the crews that we're going to

be meeting me at certain checkpoints. And then for the third reason, in no particular order, I wanted to see parts of the course. I wanted to see what the checkpoints were going to look like. I wanted to see what the terrain was going to look like. I wanted to see how the train changed from May Queen checkpoint to Twin Lakes. So we got out there on the ground, route reconnaissance, and we built on a plan. And over those five, six days, We're able to build out a very thorough plan for the creative department, for myself to run, and then for the crew. So that when the remainder of the BPN team arrived on Thursday before the race, we ended up moving into a larger Airbnb that Thursday, the rest of the team arrived. We took all of them on a final route reconnaissance, route familiarization.

Show them the checkpoints, showed them the routes, and then we gave them the plan, the plan that we built over the days leading up to that. And the plan was thorough. We had all the checkpoints laid out. I had estimated times or arrivals on those checkpoints, which I was pretty close to. We had what supplies needed to be at each checkpoint in preparation for the next leg of the race, because things change at the checkpoint. It could be I need different clothing going into a leg of the race

based off the time of the day or the elevation. Some of the things that changed, like I needed trekking poles at certain legs of the race as opposed to others because I was going to be climbing. And there were places I was going to strategically change socks and shoes. And I just had this plan built into place. So I knew going into the race, The whole team, the whole BPN team, was super confident in knowing what everyone had to do at what point in the day, at what point in the race, and why.

We built it out like a military operation, essentially. Everything I learned in the military and building operation plans and mission orders, we built it out like that. We had phase lines. We had timelines. We had everyone's job, responsibility, and duties broken down. individually and then as a team we had primary and secondary lines of communication primary secondary routes it was just set up very very well and that was a team effort that was our creative team Jordan Utter taking lead and helping with the

creatives Trey Freeman and Megan Murray taking lead on the marketing plan my wife Steph Preston and Adam Klink and and Wyatt taking lead on crewing checkpoints and then we had a bunch of other support personnel to help with checkpoints to help with pacing Adam clink paced part of it for me and then Michaela utter she was also a pacer for the last 12.5 miles everyone had their specific duty and responsibility and everyone knew what they were supposed to do going to the race and I said that my job was just to embrace some suck. It was my job to feel some pain and some discomfort, but our campaign going into Leadville 100 was more than the miles. And the reason we called it more than the miles is because

we wanted to show, and I think this is why ultramarathons are so powerful. And I've only done one, but I knew going into it that it was going to be like this, from talking to other people and just observing that an ultra marathon is so unique in a sense that in order to do it successfully, you need a team, you need a crew. And everyone's job and responsibility is very, very important. Not just the runner, not just the racer, the support crew, the logistical planning, the driver, in our case, the media and marketing teams. everyone's job is super important.

And I look at an ultramarathon and compare it to life. Where when you look at a life, there's years. There's miles covered. And when you look at it from a really big picture perspective, that's really all you see. You see the years and you see the distance. But it's more than that. It's more than the years. It's more than the distance.

It's more than the miles. There's so much in that that goes in. into the planning, the executing, the reviewing. And when you compare like an ultra marathon to life, that's what it is. There's more to it than what you see from this external perspective. It's more than the miles. It's everything else that is involved and goes into it. And there's so much.

And at the end of the day, when you cross that finish line as a team, It is rewarding not just for the runner, not just for the racer, but for everyone that was involved. And we had that idea going into Leadville and that's what we really wanted to showcase. And just as we expected, that's what it felt like. That's what it truly was. It was more than the miles. You know, our team, the people involved, the family, took so much more away from it than just crossing that finish line. and that's what we hoped was going to happen.

So let's talk about the day of the race. I woke up August 21st for a.m. start time. I woke up around 2.30 a.m. First thing I did is I went out to the kitchen and I prepped myself some breakfast. So I started with two scoops of Jesus. G1M Sport and a scoop of our electrolytes. Now, our electrolytes are launching next month. It's 500 milligrams of sodium per serving with a full electrolyte profile, naturally sweetened,

naturally flavored, no sugar. So I started with two scoops of G1M and a scoop of electrolytes in a bottle. I was slipping on that. And on the side, I had a bagel with, I believe, I put on peanut butter, jelly, and honey. I was primarily focused in just getting carbs in. A lot of carbs in that morning carbs and sodium. And this was, you know, by 245 a.m. probably I consumed this.

So that might have been 120, 130 grams of carbohydrates total that I had with, let's say it was 1,200 milligrams of sodium as well. that early going into the race. And then I got ready. I got dressed. And I kind of just sat and got my mind right. You know, it's different about a race like this. You know it's going to cover almost 30 hours.

And the mindset is kind of different going into that as opposed to a sub three hour marathon. Where with a sub three hour marathon, it's like, all right, I need to get my mind right for these next three hours because I have to hold a 645 paper. or faster. I just have to in order to do it.

With an ultra, the mind is a little different where you have to be more patient. You have to be more conservative. You're thinking of conserving energy and preparing for this long day. Because if you go out too fast,

you're going to burn out. You're going to be done. It's holding back a little bit. Holding back, holding back, holding back, conserving that energy and then making it to the finish line. So the mind going into it is a little different. Not to say that one is less focused than the other. I'd say

one is more patient than the other. And you have to be prepared to be focused for 30 plus hours. And that's where I was that morning. I was prepared to be focused for 30 plus hours going into this race. So I prepped all my gear. Shoes that I was wearing were the Hoka Onei Onei Speed Goats. I really enjoyed those. I loved those. I was wearing Zwift socks. I ended up wearing compression shorts and tracksmith running shorts. The same running shorts that I wore for my sub three hour marathon. I wore to get started, a tank top, like a cut off BPN shirt, a long sleeve. Solomon shirt or jacket. I had running gloves on. I had my BPN go on more running hat, a headlamp, and then I had a Solomon vest that I used the entire time. In that Solomon vest,

I was able to, where I started with, about 100 fluid ounces of water. I had two soft flasks on the front, one on each chest that held about 17 fluid ounces of water. And then the one on my back, I had a bladder in the back that held about 70 fluid ounces of water. The bladder was just water. The soft flasks, each one had two scoops of G1M sport in it. And then I also carried on me some extra salt tabs, some gels, some spring energy gels, some bars, extra batteries, stuff like that. That's how I got started. So we worked our way down to the starting line in downtown Leadville, Colorado.

It started on 6th and Harrison. The energy was high. It was beautiful. It was amazing. I just remember standing in the crowd, getting ready to get started, and the national anthem, this woman started singing it. And it was just like one of the best national anthems I've ever heard. The woman that was singing it was amazing. the experience was great, the energy was high, it was brisk, it was cold, you could see the mountains

in the moonlight and it was just, I knew it was going to be a good day. My plan going out was that I didn't want to go too hard. You know, I talked to some people on the course the day prior at the athlete meeting, and they were telling me they were going to go out into a sub eight-minute mile, sub-seven-minute mile. And in my head, I was like, no, I'm not doing that. Way too fast, way too hard. I'm going to pull back and I want to hug. hover around 11, 12 minute mile pace for those first 12.6 miles and feel it out. And the race

gets started. And it starts going downhill and it goes downhill for a while for a few miles. You go through some trails and you end up at Turquoise Lake and it wraps around Turquoise Lake. The first segment of the race goes to May Queen Checkpoint. May Queen Checkpoint from the starting line is 12.7. miles total. And I remember this 12.6 miles of just feeling like I was in a groove. I just felt I felt solid. I felt effortless. Running trails early morning.

You're running Leadville 100. There's a bunch of racers around you. You're all under headlamps. You're staying on top of nutrition. And I just felt effortless. And I remember rolling into May Queen checkpoint after 12.6 miles feeling good. And I'll tell you, one of my strengths, in endurance is that I always stay on top of my nutrition and I don't balk.

And what happens in races, especially longer races, maybe Ironman triathlons or ultramarathons, is a lot of people fall behind on nutrition. They fall behind on carbohydrate intake. They fall behind on hydration, fluid consumption, and electrolyte consumption. And what happens when you fall behind on nutrition, it's really hard to catch back up. and you're going to balk and your performance is going to suffer. One thing that I always do is I stay on top of my nutrition very, very well. I'm always focused and I know each mile what I'm doing.

I know I'm going to be consuming carbohydrates. I'm going to be consuming fluids. And in those fluids, I need to be consuming some sort of electrolyte. I just have to to fuel my body for a long, long day. So when I rolled into May Queen Checkpoint, I met up with our crew. Our team was there. I had drop bags set up for the checkpoints. So the day prior, I dropped off my drop bags at these checkpoints.

Along the course, along the 50 miles, there were 13 checkpoints. Now, some of those checkpoints were just water and Coca-Cola and some gels and some bars. Some of those checkpoints had access for the crews, so our crew could go there. Some checkpoints just had drop bags. And I dropped off seven drop bags the day prior. Some were for going out because the course is 50 miles out, 50 miles back. I dropped bags for some going out and some going back. And I strategically placed bags where I wouldn't see the crew or I might not be able to see the crew.

I wanted to have redundancies built in. In these drop bags, I had changes of clothes, extra socks, batteries from my headlamps, extra electrolytes, extra electrolytes, extra. extra G1M sport, bars, stingers. I just wanted a wide variety of things, depending on what my body wanted to consume and could consume. Because you have to consider that when you're going into a race that's this long, you're going to have probably some sort of gastrointestinal issues, whether that be you're essentially shitting yourself or vomiting and you're nauseous.

And I saw both of those on the course. So when I reached the crew at May Queen Checkpoint, I had a peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich that the crew prepped. I believe I also had a bar. I retopped off my G&M Sport and Electrolites, retopped off my gels, and I headed back out. Again, staying on the top of nutrition, staying on top of fuel, water, and electrolytes. I knew that was going to be essential and important for the entire.

day. I also at each checkpoint that I met up with the crew had 500 milligrams of extra strength Tylenol and 100 milligrams of caffeine in a tablet. That was just for preventative support. When I started getting sore or if I was hurt, I wanted to have that Tylenol in my system. And then the caffeine just as I was getting tired, keep me awake and keep me strong. So moving to checkpoint two from May Queen was actually. Outward bound. Outward bound was mile marker 23.5. When I reached the crew at mile marker 23.5, I felt strong as hell still. I was riding this high. At this point, sun is up. It's bright. Outward bound as you're entering this field. When you arrive at each checkpoint, you can hear it like a half mile out.

You can hear people cheering and chanting and just going nuts. And the energy is so high. And it's such a an awesome experience to run into. And I identified the crew, met up with the crew. Again, I consumed another peanut butter jelly, banana, honey sandwich. I retopped off my G1M Sport water electrolytes, grabbed some more gels, had a stinger, just trying to get more fuel in, as much fuel as possible. The goal is to consume as much fuel as possible without getting sick.

You have to find that balance. You don't want to eat too much and get sick. You don't want to eat too little and not be able to perform, but you have to get calories in. So from outward bound, you're heading to Twin Lakes, where you're going to meet up with your crew the next time. In between there, you're hitting a few checkpoints. You're hitting pipeline and half pipe.

And when you get to Twin Lakes, Twin Lakes is mile marker 37.9 miles. Now, I want to say that from May Queen or from Leadville, Mile Marker 1 to 37.9, it is not flat. You're going up hills, you're climbing hills, you're running downhills, lots of changes in elevation. This course is not a flat course by any means. It's up and down all over the place the entire time, which is what makes it fun. You're seeing different things. The scenery is always changing. You're being challenged.

You're climbing. You're running. You're falling. I fell multiple times. My hands are all cut up and bloody. My legs are all cut up and bloody. I just fell all over the place. So when I arrived to Twin Lakes at Mile Marker 37.9,

this is where they say the real race starts. From Mile Marker Zero to Twin Lakes at 37.9. that is really just the transportation to the race. Twin Lakes is really worth things to get started because what happens to Twin Lakes is that you're preparing to go up Hope Pass. Now Hope Pass, it's a big climb. It's about 3,000 foot climb in elevation

for like three to four miles. So I meet up with the crew at Twin Lakes. From there, again, top off on all my fuel, electrolytes, everything I need, and I grabbed my trekking pools because I knew I was going to need my trekking pools to get up the mountain that I was about to climb. And I knew going into Hope Pass that it was going to be pretty difficult. I knew it was going to be tough, but it was a lot longer than I expected. So I start climbing.

Start climbing up Hope Pass, and it's just beautiful. I'm walking through the rocky mountains of Colorado on this mountain to the rock. Right to me is this fast flowing stream with waterfalls. You can hear the sounds of nature. I'm just trekking up this hill. And I'm just like, this is an absolutely amazing, amazing experience. Just to be there. So I'm climbing up Hope Pass.

And I'm probably holding at this point, 26, 27, 28 minute per mile paces. Moving slower. Definitely moving slower. not running, just hiking up. And I get at the top of Hope's Pass for the first time because it's out and back. And I remember the views just looking out and the views were unbelievable. I mean, there was a checkpoint at the top of Hope Pass. The summit of Hope Pass was 12,600 feet.

And there was a checkpoint right before the summit. And the way they get everything up to that checkpoint is with Lombe, because there's no access for for trucks or vehicles there's no roads they pack these llamas days before leadville these llamas carry up all the gear to this checkpoint and the llamas and the man who owns these llamas stays up at hope pass checkpoint until after the race is over the llamas get packed up with all the gear and they walk back down the mountain that's how they support that checkpoint i remember getting the top of hope pass and just seeing these views and just being absolutely blown away.

And then I had a run down the other side of Hope Pass. It was steep. We were traversing back and forth and it was fast and we were just moving. We were booking. And at this point, people start to spread out a little bit. Like in the beginning of the race, you're seeing a lot of people. And then with every five miles, you see less people. and less people and less people.

So I run down Hope Pass, and when you reach Hope Pass, it's 43.5 miles, the checkpoint, which is right under the summit. And then from there, you run down, you go to Winfield. Winfield is the 50-mile turnaround point. There's a checkpoint there.

When I got to Winfield, I had a drop bag there. And in that drop bag, I consumed a bunch of fuel. I had some bobo bars, some field bars. I had some peanut butter, like a squeezable peanut butter, some stingers, some gels topped off on G1M Sport and electrolytes there. And I turned around and I headed back out. What happened when I ran into Winfield, though,

and we actually have this on camera because I carried a GoPro for this. When I ran into Winfield, I turned my GoPro on to film me going into this turnaround. and because I was looking down the GoPro lens, I lost my footing and I fell. And when I fell, I didn't think anything of it. I could tell that I scratched myself up. And when I rolled into the checkpoint, a gentleman came up to me and he handed me some water and some fuel. And I noticed my fingers were just dripping blood everywhere.

So the medic came over, taped me up. My hands are all kinds of messed up right now just because I fell in wind field. but my energy was so high. I was still in the zone that I didn't even think about it. So I turned around, I stayed in Winfield for about maybe six minutes. When I arrived at each checkpoint that my crew had been at, I told them I didn't want to stay at a checkpoint more than 10 minutes. So as soon as I rolled in, someone started a stopwatch,

and I ended up rolling out of each checkpoint around six or seven minutes. I never really stayed over 10 minutes at a checkpoint. Maybe one of the ones in the back half, but I didn't want to stay at checkpoints for a long period of time. One, I didn't want to waste time. Two, I didn't want to get stiff just sitting around, stiff and sore. So turn around at Winfield after maybe six, seven minutes. Head right back out to Hope Pass.

Climmed Hope Pass for the second time. This climb was definitely more difficult and more tough than the first time. I ended up running out of water at this point. So I found a free flowing fast stream running down this mountain, took my flask out of my soft flasks and filled it up with cold spring water and it was like the best water I've ever had in my entire life. It was cold, it was fresh, it was refreshing. It was absolutely amazing. So I top off my water at a few checkpoints or not a few checkpoints, but a few streams heading up Hope Pass. and when I get to the Hope Pass

Summit again, this time I see what looked like a guy with a camera and as I got closer I realized it was Jordan Utter and Tyler McCain both creatives for BPN

they ended up hiking up Hope Pass to get shots from the top there. I was absolutely mind-blown. They hiked up like four miles and 3,000 feet with their cameras and got to the summit, again, mind-blown by the views. And what's crazy is there were so many changes in climate and weather throughout this race.

In the morning, it started brisk. In the middle of the day, it got really hot and warm. When I got to the top of Hope Pass for the second time, it was cold and hailing on me. We got this on camera. It was hailing on us. And then I got back down into Twin Lakes, and it was nice. and the evening it was freezing. It was like low 40s

and it just changed so much. But get to the top of Hope Pass second time. And at this point we're probably like mile 57-58. And at the top of Hope Pass, it's pretty much a down hill for four or five miles

back into Twin Lakes. So I'm running down this mountain at an all-time high because I'm like, man, the climbs are done. I just finished Hope Pass twice. It's all downhill from here. Let's just cruise and cook it. So from the top of Hope Pass, I just ran down into Twin Lakes. And I met back up with the crew.

And at this point, it was Mile Marker 62.5. And I rolled into the checkpoint. And what was so amazing was there were a lot of VPN supporters customers, family, team, fans, everywhere. They were chanting going more. And it was just like this energy I can't explain, this energy I can't harness. Like I would love to experience that every single day on my life. It was so cool just running to that checkpoint and seeing all the BPN support.

And I linked up with our crew. My baby brother Preston had a cheeseburger there waiting for me that he cooked on some charcoal at the checkpoint. And at this point, I changed the, out socks and shoes for the I change out shoes for the first time because leaving twin lakes going up hop pass you cross a stream so your socks and your shoes are soaked when you come back across hop pass into twin lakes again you have to cross that stream again so your shoes and socks are soaked so when I crossed that stream I got the twin lakes this is the first time I changed my shoes again same pair, same color, Hoka Onione, speed goats. So I had fresh shoes for those last 38 miles.

And also, this is the first time you can pick up a pacer. So I had a plan that Adam Klink was going to pace me for about 25 miles to May Queen checkpoint. And then from May Queen checkpoint to the finish line, Michaela Utter was going to finish pacing me into the finish line. So at this point I pick up Adam Klink, mile marker 62.5. We topped off on fuel. We changed down. Throughout the race at checkpoints, I was also putting on some like lubrication around where my vest was on my back. I go my latts.

I was starting to chafe a little bit. And then in my crotch, I was chafing. So I was throwing some stuff there. And that worked pretty well. But as soon as we headed out, I started feeling a little. little different. We started doing this climb. There was a lot of climbing still, those last 38 miles, lots of climbing going up for three to four miles and coming down. And what started affecting me at this point, 38 miles out, is I started having trouble breathing. I think it was a combination of

just being exhausted and tired, but primarily I think it was the altitude and drastic massive changes in elevation over those previous couple miles. Going up, ho-passed twice, and I couldn't get a deep breath. I almost felt like I was breathing through a straw where I was almost wheezing going up some of these climbs, and I just could not catch a deep breath. And this slowed our pace down a lot. I felt this and I experienced this for the last 38 miles of the run, where I had to really slow things down just to be able to control my breathing, to be able to breathe in general.

And me and Klink made some pretty big climbs throughout these 25 miles. We were together. And one of the things I wanted to point out is along the course, I mean, from mile marker, I'd say 35 and up, I saw people along the course throwing up. Lots of runners had nausea, lots of runners. had gastrointestinal issues. And I didn't experience really any of that. I had a little bit of GI distress at one point, but it went away.

I never had to throw up. I never felt nauseous. My stomach held up very well. It wasn't hurting me really at all, which was very surprising for the amount of food and fuel and electrolytes and salt that I was consuming. I was very happy with that, that I had very little GI distress, no vomiting. at all in the course. And I saw a lot of people throwing up throughout the course.

I was super, super fortunate for that. But those last 38 miles, I'd say the first 62, I want to say we're easy. They were comfortable. I was cruising pretty good for those first 62 miles. And then when I started having trouble breathing, and I linked up with clink,

this is where the race really started to shift and change. Yeah, you start to start. going to some dark places. And the race also shifts because it starts getting dark again. So you're under your headlamp. And when you're under your headlamp and you're running in the dark and you're moving in the dark, things just feel different. They feel different.

They feel tighter. They feel closer. Almost claustrophobic-ish. And things start to get dark in a figurative and realistic actual sense. where you're feeling the pain. You're feeling the 70 plus miles you're at so far in that race. As much as it sucks, as much as it hurts, you know you just got to get to the finish line. You know you just have to get there.

We started with like 650 runners and I believe about 50% of the people finish that race. And I remember me and Kling, we went from Twin Lakes. to outward bound and we rolled into outward bound kind of banged up we just made some big climbs

but we were still feeling strong but at outward bound when we rolled in and at this point we have 23.5 miles left what really got us here was the temperature dropped pretty significantly so we rolled into outward bound topped off on fuel

changed some things out and we both started shaking uncontrollably, just so cold. So we added a few more layers on top, and we left that checkpoint as fast as possible running out because we wanted to increase our body temperature. A fear for a lot of people is there's altitude sickness, there's hypothermia, like there's these different things can affect ultramarathon.

So much can go wrong in 100 miles, and it's staying on top of it, and preventing it as much as possible. So I knew when we reached outward bound, 23.5 miles down, and we started shaking uncontrollably, we had to layer up and get out of that checkpoint as fast as possible, and we had to increase our body temperature. And that's what we did.

We started running and jogging until we weren't shaking any longer, and we were good. We were out of that. And then we started climbing again. We started climbing to May Queen checkpoint. And this climb was big. It was long. We were going under power line. It took a toll on us. It was probably four miles of climbing pretty steep up. And at this point, we were running any of it. We're just trekking up this. And you always know when you're going up, there's going to be a down. And when you're on the down, there's going to be another up. So we get to the top of the climb heading towards May Queen. And we have a downhill run. And we reached May Queen. And with 12. miles left. At this point, we're around mile 88. Klingk switched out and Michaela switched in to be my pacer. This was the darkest part of Leadville for me. This is where I was really feeling everything.

But at the same time in your head, you're like, man, Nick, you got 12.6 miles left. That ain't nothing. You got a half marathon left. You're there, man. You're there. You put in the work. Now you just got to roll into that finish line. And that's what feels good is like you get to this point in the race where you've done these big climbs. You've put your body through some hell and you're feeling like absolute garbage. But you're also at the same point saying, holy shit, dude, you got 12.6 miles left. Let's fucking go. Let's roll into that finish line.

Let's finish this thing off. And that's how it was where your energy is not like that. you're not chanting saying, here we go, baby, let's do this. But you're quiet and deliberate and focused in your head saying, I got 12.6 miles left. Let's fucking go. Go one more. That's like the go one more mindset.

If there was one moment in my life that could pinpoint what go one more means, it's that right there. It's leaving May Queen checkpoint. at Mile Marker around 88 with 12.6 miles left heading back into downtown Leadville to finish off Leadville 100. That is go one more right there. And it was awesome. And his last 12.6 miles, Michaela and I, we trekked into the finish line. And we didn't see really anyone.

Maybe we saw one other runner that entire time slowly throughout the rate. like I said, you see less and less and less people. And we rule into downtown Leadville. You crest the hill. And as you're cresting the hill, you're about a half mile loud. You're at the top of what is Leadville, Colorado. And you can see the finish line. And you can see the people and you can hear the chance.

And you can hear the cowbells. And you can hear just people going. crazy and you make your way down the hill to the base of the walls that are built up leading into the finish line and what happened was the bpn team members that were there came alongside of me and we ran into the finish line together crossing leadville 100 and 27 hours 53 minutes, five seconds, 100 miles in the Rocky Mountains of Leadville, Colorado, with 15,600 feet of elevation, ascend, and descend. And it felt so amazing.

It felt great. It was last 10 miles of the race. I was thinking about this moment. And I was thinking about what I wanted when I crossed that finish line. In my head, I was thinking, you know what, Nick? you should get a burrito. You should get a burrito. Go sit your ass on the couch in that Airbnb.

Our Airbnb was about a block and a half from the start and finish line. It was great, great location. And just soak it in. And that's kind of what happened. Steph said, what do you want? I said, can someone please get me a burrito? I would love a burrito right now. So someone went and got a burrito, met us back of the house.

I got to the house, took my shoes and socks off. my toes look like they were just battered with a baseball bat. They're all black and blue. They're bloody. They're oozing. I'm sitting on that couch. I'm coughing some stuff up. At this point, my body's kind of going to some sort of shutdown shock where I was coughing up a bunch of flam.

My throat was killing me. I'm laying on this couch, let my feet just relax. And this burrito gets dropped on my chest. I was like, this is it. This is the burrito I've been waiting for and I can't wait to dig in. I took the tinfoil off the top of this burrito. I took a bite and it instantly sent my body into shock where the first thing that popped in my head was I'm about to puke my brains out.

Say, I need to stand up. So I bring myself to stand up. I'm walking like I'm 110 years old at this point, hunched over, making my way to the bathroom. Everything starts to black out kind of. Everything starts to, like, I'm seeing black dots. I think I'm going to fall over. And I make it to the toilet, and I drive heave in the toilet a few times.

And then I got off the toilet, sat back on the toilet, let everything unload that was in my intestinal track for the last 30-plus hours. Hop straight into the shower, and then I passed out. home the bed for about six hours after that. And when I woke up, Steph, my wife said, is there anything that can get you? I said, can I please have my burrito again? I just wanted that burrito. And she said, your brother ate it.

Preston ate my burrito. The burrito I was waiting for. But man, what an experience. Since finishing the race, this is a. the hardest my body's ever been hit physically from something like this. I had the question asked, what was hard at Ranger School or Ledville 100? It's hard to compare the two because I was in a Ranger School for four and a half months. And there was never one specific day that it was this physically demanding, but it was four and a half months of it, right? So it's hard to compare

apples and oranges because Leadville was 30 hours of just beating your body down but Ranger School was four and a half months of a little less suck on a daily basis but more suck overall

that's the best way to put that some of the things that my body experienced after finishing the race my legs my back my feet were absolutely wrecked I could barely walk those first two days.

Toonails were missing. When I rolled into Twin Lakes the second time at Mile Marker 62.5, I ripped my pinky toe toenail off because it was hanging off. Toes are still pretty black and blue and banged up. Other than that, my central nervous system probably took the biggest hit it's ever, ever had. where that night, my first two nights after Leadville, I couldn't sleep at all. The first night I slept, maybe like an hour and a half total, second night, maybe like two and a half hours total, just could not sleep.

My body did not want to let me sleep. So my whoop score told me I had a 2% recovery the day after finishing Leadville 100. And each day has gotten a little bit better where my legs feel great right now. Like my joints, my knees, they don't hurt at all. My feet still hurt, but that's about it. I can walk fine now. Central nervous system is still pretty taxed. Where, you know, kind of just immensely fuzzy two nights ago, for example, the first night

we got back to Texas, I slept good, but I woke up absolutely drenched in sweat. It's like crazy night sweats. Yeah, that's even using the chili pad. I had my bed set at 59 degrees, fair enough height, and I still just sweated through the sheets. And each day, my body's recovered a little bit more and a little bit more. Yesterday I got a massage done, full body massage. I've been using the sauna every day.

I've been using compression boots every day. Stay on top of nutrition, hydration, electrolyte consumption. Meeting with a chiropractor, got adjusted this morning. So everything I can do to improve and increase recovery because your body takes a massive hit, you want to improve recovery, one, to get back into training again. I miss training, obviously, even though it's just been a couple days. Get back into training, but also you have a compromised immune system. You got to recover as fast as possible or as efficiently as possible to get your immune system back to where it was before the race.

mental clarity to get your mental clarity and mental performance back to where it was before the race. So it's just taking the proper precautions afterwards to recover as effectively and as efficiently as possible. Not necessarily as fast as possible, but I'd say, yeah, as effectively and as efficiently as he possibly can. What I took away is an ultramarathon, especially a 100-mile ultramarathon in the Rocky Mountains that above 10,000 feet of elevation, does a number to the body. And as much as it does the body, it is also awesome to see how effective the body is at performing, rebounding,

and coming back to normal. It's crazy to see how powerful the human body is and what it's capable of, especially when you put your mind towards it and to it. So that was Ledville 100. that was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life right like i would say of all the things that i've trained for and done ledville was amazing not just because of the course and where it was and the views and the scenery and the accomplishment and crossing the finish line but because of what it did for the bpn team and family it brought us together on another level the campaign

it speaks volumes more than the miles. Leadville 100 for me and the team was more than the miles that was run and raced. It was the camaraderie built, the relationships fostered, the teamwork that had to come together, the leaders that stood up and stood out. It was one of those things that you look back and you will always remember not just for the event, but the people involved, the support, the things you accomplish as a team, not as individuals, it's more than the miles. And when you go one more together and you focus on more than the miles, the outcome is

truly rewarding. Truly rewarding. So that is the Leadville 100 recap. Finished in 27 hours, 53 minutes, five seconds. Let's see what is next. We'll see you guys in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Bear Performance Podcast. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to leave a review on iTunes or share it with a friend.

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