One of my favorite races. This will be my 3rd year to run, I've done the marathon ('14) and last year the double. This year I'll sign up for the ascent.

Registration opens Saturday. Who is in?

one day. its on my list, but i forget that i have to run a stupid road marathon to qualify since they don't allow ultras.

actually, they finally changed the qualification standards.

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To qualify, you must have completed a marathon or longer in under 6:00:00.

Any full marathon (or longer) run in the past 2 years (Jan 1st, 2015+) may be used. Splits from longer races, triathlons, ultras, etc, may be used if they are explicitly listed on the race results page. You can use either your "Gun" or "Chip" time.

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still, not happening this year. I'm not doing any long distance training over the summer. After the trans-zion run, i'm backing off the mileage and doing a bunch of cross training during the hot months.

I'm signing up for the Ascent. It will be my first time but I should be ready after spending a summer running in RMNP.

I don't like road running either, so I am planning to use my Brazos Bend Half Marathon time that I ran with my 8-year old as my qualifying time. I'll barely squeak in

I'll be doing the Ascent again in 2018 but already signed up for too many expensive races the past couple months. Need to redeem myself there though. Luckily now I have some trails nearby that match the pitch pretty well (just not the high altitude).

Also, if you like races like that, check out the Leadville Heavy Half or Marathon in June.

Not this year. Still plan to do it sooner rather than later

On the to-do list for me as well, just not sure when. Have fond memories of Pike's Peak with summer trips from our family's place in Cuchara.

How do you train for that?

I ran the Mt Washington Road Race a number of years back. I didn't have to deal with the same elevation, but I knew that even running as many hills as I could, it wasn't going to train me for a 7+ mile uphill run that gains 5500+ft, so I just trained like I normally did and then did the race.

I can tell you that race was HARD. It maxes out at 25%+ grade, and averages 12%.

Pikes Peak has got to be harder with it being a longer race and on trail.

So, I don't know the veracity of this, but someone told me about a coworker that did the marathon. That friend said the guy trained by running up and down the stairs in his office building. I don't know if that's true or not, but that sounds like a solid way to train. My freind says the guy said that next time he would run up 2 or 3 stairs at a time though.

Makes sense to me, but does it make sense?

stairs can definitely help train for hills. But at that point, I'd just go find a stairmaster at a gym so that you can do a constant push uphill and not have to stop and run back down the stairs. you'll need the downhill training too, but not sure I'd want to be running downstairs, seems like a recipe to bust your face.

Training for the double was a challenge. My mindset going into Pikes is a little different than how I attack most races. My goal is usually just to finish. During the week, I usually ran hill repeats at least once, road long run on Saturday, and Sunday 2-3 hrs on the treadmill with inclines varying from 0-15%. It's practically impossible to simulate altitude running in Dallas. Even with that, I walked/fast hiked probably 60-70% of the climb up. I didn't really train for downhill running, except for the downhill running on hill repeats.

I'm starting to lean towards 2018 as well. I've hiked the Barr trail a few times. Still wrapping my head around running it.

You really can't. Most people don't run the whole way or even most of the way. I'd say probably only the upper 5-10% run the whole way.

Agreed. When we hiked the trail, it usually took 5.5-7 hrs depending on who all was in our group. If we'd don it for time, I think we could have done the hike in 5. But that was when I was living at altitude and in the mountains all day

I've not run Pikes Peak before, but I've run a lot in Rocky Mountain National Park which as similar elevations (7500' up to 14,000+').

Some good strategies for hill work have been discussed already. I agree on the Stairmaster so that you can get a feel for the seemingly non-stop uphill and overall fatigue. Going up and then down stairs gives you a chance to switch out muscles and "rest" as you switch from downhill to uphill, which isn't as helpful.

Hills are only half the battle and the elevation is a huge challenge for us who spend a lot of time at sea level. It's hard to train for elevation, so about the best you can do is make sure you know how it feels to run at elevation. Last year, a few friends and I ran Grand Canyon R2R (2500' - 8000'). Some of them had never run at elevation and found the elevation to be a big challenge... it's tough when you can't get enough air to keep your pace.

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Going up and then down stairs gives you a chance to switch out muscles and "rest" as you switch from downhill to uphill, which isn't as helpful.

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Not when you're climbing 40-50 stories at a time.

Also, i've heard that you should arrive and then run. The first day there is the best until like day 5 or 6.

Unthought Known said:

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Not when you're climbing 40-50 stories at a time.

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while, i think that's certainly better than 3 or 4 or even 10 stories at a time, i'd argue that it still won't give you as good of training effect as a stairmaster.

Unthought Known said:

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Also, i've heard that you should arrive and then run. The first day there is the best until like day 5 or 6.

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if you can't get there ~1.5-2 weeks before, its best to arrive as close to the race as possible.

I forgot I wrote a recap of my race last year.

Race recap

The more and more I think about it, the more and more I think about doing the Ascent and the Marathon. Not as a double, but in back to back years. My knees are to a point where they can probably handle the downhill better than ever

Registration just opened 10 minutes ago and I'm signed up for the Ascent.

Wow! $172.10 is the most I've ever paid for a half-marathon registration.

I'm jealous. I just can't make it work this year with time off of work.

Same weekend as CG games prelims.

In for the Ascent. I'm not usually a fan of repeating races but I could see myself doing this race forever.

Did the Ascent last year and finished in 6:05.

Trained by running to the top of Mt Bonnell in Austin in the heat of the day. Did it a handful of times and definetely wasn't in the best of shape for the Ascent.

Couple things:

After the first mile, once you hit the W's, your moving at everyone else's speed for the first hour or so. I would suggest not trying to pass too often as I saw lots of people burn out that way.

My sister and I averaged 2.5 miles an hour for the first 10 miles. Really was a good pace. Lots of energy at the bar camp station. Once we passed the 10 mile cut off we sat down and rested for about 15 min before heading out over the tree line.

Make sure you're drinking enough water! I didn't pee a single time during the race. I did the first 10 miles in 4 hours, but the last 3 took 2 hours. I was redlining hard because I was so dehydrated. I honestly don't think I peed until I was off the mountain.

Have fun! I wanted to go again this year and try for the full, but foot surgery put a kink into a lot of my plans.

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To qualify, you must have completed a marathon or longer in under 6:00:00.

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seems like a low standard for qualifying to run up a ****ing mountain

I don't know exactly why they have the standard where they do but I imagine they just don't want someone to sign up for their first marathon or half at Pikes.

Unthought Known said:

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Same weekend as CG games prelims.

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That's why there are 2 weekends.

Less than 2 months to go. My last two trips to Pikes, I opted to do more hill training outside because I didn't want to run inside on the treadmill. This go round I've spent a lot of time inside, doing slow steep miles, hopefully, it works out. I'm really hoping to be under 3:30 for the ascent.

The training that you've been putting in, especially those treadmill incline runs, has been quite impressive. I'm sure you'll crush it.

I'm signed up for the Ascent but I'm still trying to determine a goal time for me as it will be my first time running the Ascent.

Last weekend, I ran the Leadville Heavy Half (15.5 mile out-and-back, 3700' gain, elevation ranging from 10,200 - 13,200 ft) in a little over 3:30. This was my first race since coming off of a bad case of Achilles tendonitis, so I could have pushed harder but ran conservative. I'm not sure how to translate that over to the Ascent with 2x the gain and 2x the uphill but no downhill.

I was thinking about running in the Barr Trail Mountain Race in a few weeks to get a better feel of the trail. I'd imagine it will be smoother than most of what I get into here in RMNP?

Good luck to everyone this weekend!

Back in Dallas.

The altitude beat me up more than any of the previous years. After getting over treeline my fingers started swelling and turning a bit purple. My legs felt ok but I was struggling to breathe. I finished the ascent in 3:49, about 20 minutes slower than I'd hoped. I trained harder for this years race in terms of climbing than any of my previous attempts at Pikes but my time wasn't that much faster.

Congrats on the race! Obviously you need to incorporate a hyperbaric chamber into your training plans for next yer.