I risked a quick glance ahead while sprinting down the mountain trail. Sunlight fell in patches on the forest floor. It was the start of day two on the GORE–TEX TransRockies Run, an annual stage race across Colorado, and I was about to crash.
BAM! From a daze I was jolted back to reality as my toe pounded into a rocky ledge. I fell forward, feet wheeling, head approaching the ground. My foot throbbed. My toe bled inside my shoe. The pain had begun.
Pain can come in a few flavors on the TransRockies Run. The 120-mile race pits teams of two against a large competitive field as well as a course that includes back to back challenging mountain trail runs — some marathon-length and with thousands of feet of elevation gain — for six days straight.
Each day has its stage winner. At the end, all the times are tallied, and the organizers crown an overall winner to the grueling event. This year, I ran with teammate Leon Lutz (partners are required; you run the whole race together), and we experienced a huge range of highs and lows.
Despite some pain, Lutz and I ran our way to a 12th-place finish overall in the men’s open division. We had a cumulative time of just under 24 hours of running through the mountains for the week. Here are a few tips we learned along the way. —Sean McCoy
Train Smart. If you are an elite runner, you know what to do. If you are new to this kind of running my advice is simple: Run a lot of miles and run a lot of hills. I used a basic marathon-training schedule with added hill workouts to prepare for the 2012 race. You will gain 20,000 feet of elevation, at altitude, during the TransRockies. Other mountain races have similar profiles. Be physically prepared or it won’t be fun at all.
Organize Your Gear. A six-day stage race requires the moving of equipment each day to a new camp. (The organizers transport your camping and sleeping gear.) Racers are responsible to get mandatory gear ready before each day’s stage. Short story is, there’s lots of gear, food, clothing, shoes, and other equipment in the mix. Stay organized or you’ll quickly become out of hand.
Fuel for the Run. Running 120 miles as fast as possible requires a lot of calories. I was always hungry. Fortunately, the TransRockies is a well-supported race. There was nearly always food for the taking at aid stations on the trail. The key for me was to constantly eat and drink small snacks for a steady flow of calories and fluids throughout each day.
Taking in about 200 calories an hour — which equals to a gel packet every 30 minutes — is a reasonable goal if you’re a mid-pack runner on this kind of endurance event. (You’ll eat less if you’re more a sprinter.) Some people need more or less than this amont, and you need to experiment and train your body to eat while running before the event starts.
While running, my partner and I relied on a few key foods, including SaltStick electrolyte tablets and various flavors of GU and Honey Stinger gels. We supplemented those with random snack foods such as chips, Cheetos and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at aid stations. We ate huge meals in the evening and small breakfasts each morning before the start. Find a schedule that works for your body and stick with it. You need the right fuel to make it through.
