2019 Leadville Trail 100 Run

In June 2008 – I entered a lottery for my first Ironman. I miraculously got into a very competitive lottery for Ironman Coeur d’Alene but it was all about logging into several browsers at exactly the right time. Once I clicked submit and paid the entry fee, I knew my life was going to change. I knew that I just entered a race that I wasn’t quite sure I could finish. But I was going to train for a year and just keep moving forward. On race day, June 2009 I had a great support team (Mom and Dad) and met Mark and Than, and truly my life has never been the same since crossing that finish line.

Just over 10 years later I entered another lottery. It was another very competitive lottery and no one knows how people are chosen; apparently it is a trademarked secret. I found out yesterday I got into Leadville Trail 100 Run.

I wanted to run Leadville since 2012, the year I moved to Tucson from Colorado. It appeared on goals lists and blog posts – I wanted to train and run Leadville. Back then, I was too afraid to enter the lottery; I was just going to prepare, just put in the miles.

In 2016 after moving back to Colorado I ran the 10K in Leadville. Even while living at 8,000 going to 10,000 for a 10K kicked my butt. My plan was to progress through the distances, in a practical way, but life has a way of sidetracking even those with good intentions. I ended up leaving Colorado and moved back to New Hampshire the next year.

It’s been a wacky couple of years and I haven’t really been able to find my stride in training and racing. But the last six months something has changed and I’m more focused on mountain and trail running. I’m returning to my roots – running and hiking the mountains of New Hampshire. I’m getting stronger and more comfortable spending hours alone in the mountains. I was brave and entered the Leadville Lottery know that my life would change instantly if I got in.

I seriously don’t know how my name got picked. From reading comments from athletes on social media, many have been trying for years.

Maybe the organizers liked all the stuff I bought from their online store: shirts, maps and beanies. I’ve been wearing my Leadville shirt a lot lately to stay motivated to train. Or, maybe it was the license plate magnet I bought when I was in Leadville in 2016 that is on my refrigerator that states the elevation 10,152. Or maybe it’s the Leadville travel mug I use daily. It could be due to the hashtag I’ve been using on social #dreamingofleadville. Maybe it was hanging the map on my wall with the 100 mile race showing and not the side with the 50 mile course, which was my backup plan.

I don’t know why they picked me over the others or if it really was a random drawing. But I’m in. I’m all in. And I’m ready for a transformation. #dreamingofleadville


What Winter Warrior is teaching me

On this day of finding out if I get in to Leadville Run 100 I will write about what I’ve learned from Winter Warrior:

  • Get up early and wear a headlamp to get my miles in
  • If I need to do some in the morning and some in the evening that’s okay, just get all the miles in.

The rules state that I must run or walk OUTSIDE every day in the month of January.

I track my mileage everyday using the STRAVA app on my phone or download Suunto data.

I’m going for Gold:

Bronze = run/walk 1 mile each day
Silver = run/walk 3 miles each day
Gold = run/walk 5 miles each day

All for a Winter Warrior Hat

This is the prize for running/walking/hiking 5 miles everyday in January.

I also got Jeff to sign up and we are a team. Jeff has walked at least one mile every day despite getting a cold on Day 3.

Our team effort looks like this as of today. We are in 76th place.

This is where I am as of this morning:

Save the best for last

I had the best mileage-wise training week this past week. I hit 50 miles, probably for the first time ever. This is good – going into 2019! Now I just need to keep the momentum going.

Today I hiked to Tecumseh with Winnie to start the New England 4,000 footers. I hope to hike them all in 2019. I still have one more summit to finish hiking all the NH 4,000 footer.