Hardrock 2014

This should have been titled "Cody sits in a Hospital bed while missing all of Hardrock".  I am getting ahead of myself though.  I'll start at the beginning...

I have dreamed about this race for 2 years.  Ever since I came here to pace Tim Adams at the Hardrock 100 in 2012.  At that time I 'ran' about 25 miles of the course and fell in love.  Hardrock 100 is one of the most difficult and iconic mountain races in the world.  It is also one of the most scenic.  

(all photos courtesy of Cody...at least his camera)

Here is a picture of mile 15.  Island Lake.  Perhaps the most photographed sections of the race.  Absolutely stunning.  Pictures don't do it justice.  This lake sits at 12,500 feet.

Tim Adams was one of the lucky 140 people chosen by lottery to run the race this year.  I immediately emailed him and volunteered myself and some friends to go out there and pace and crew him for this year's race.  He graciously accepted and plans were made.  In January!  

Fast forward to the week before leaving.  I am feeling awful.  Super tired and my insides hurt when I run.  Something is wrong.  I figure some rest and I will be fine.  So I rest.  But I don't get better.  The day before heading out to Silverton Colorado I visit the Instacare.  Some blood tests confirm my fears.  I have Mono (mononucleosis).  That totally explains why I felt so lousy my last race (Logan Peak).  I had mono.  That explains why my insides hurt so bad as well.  My spleen was probably enlarged (based on the pain when running).  

What do you do?  It's the dream trip we have been planning on doing for 6 months.  Babysitter is coming in a few hours.  Its a chance for Beth and I to go to one of the most beautiful settings and check it all out.  I am unable to back out and away we go.

Let me be clear.  I KNEW I would do NO RUNNING while out there.  Only hiking.  With poles to keep the jarring down.  It was Plan B sure, but it was still going to be cool to HIKE all over the San Juan Mountains.  The doc thought hiking would be fine.  So did I.

DAY 1 - Hike from our Camp (near KT aid station mile 12 of the course) over Grant Swamp Pass, past Island Lake down to Chapman Gulch where Beth and Tim and Azusa (Tim's girlfriend) would be waiting and sightseeing.  Things went beautifully.  We timed our arrival brilliantly.  6.5 miles in 2.5 hours.  

View from Grant Swamp Pass looking at Oscar's Pass

We ate some lunch and continued over the next pass (Oscar's pass) and down to Telluride while Beth, Tim, and Azusa drove around.  Again, we timed things nicely all except for the afternoon thunderstorm that caught us right as we passed over 13,000 feet above the treeline.  That was pretty scary.  We hiked the entire descent and arrived in Telluride tired but happy.  9 more miles in 3.5 hours.  Jon, Beth and I split an overpriced Hotel and enjoyed the warm shower and called it a day. 

Looking back at Grant Swamp Pass from Oscar's

Thunderstorm coming in above treeline

Yep, hail and rain and lightning while on Oscar's Pass

Amazing Views

Rain is finally letting up

DAY 2 - The plan today was to hike from Telluride to just outside of Ouray.  Just a simple mountain pass in the way.  No big deal for Jon and I .  We enjoyed a scenic hike over Mendota Ridge and Virginius Pass to Governor Basin.  9 miles hiked in 3.5 hours.  

Nice Trail heading out of Telluride

Lots of abandoned mines and support buildings

View of Mendota Ridge

View of Telluride from Mendota Ridge

View from Virginius Pass

More abandoned mines

Heading down to Ouray

More abandoned mines

Beth was alone today but had only about an hour or so drive to our meeting place.  We arrived at the meeting place but there was no Beth.  I turned on my phone and got a couple of texts from her.  "So the truck stopped.  I am totally stranded."  Then "Hitchhiked to Ouray.  Sitting in the coffee shop by the chalet.  Tim is on his way.  Hopefully we will still make it up to get you."  

I guess she had quite the eventful morning.  She had to abandon the Truck and find another way to get around.  Hitchhiking worked for her until Tim was able to come pick her up and come find us.  What a trooper. 

Turns out the alternator gave out and eventually the battery died.  We bought a new battery (it was old anyways) and got the truck to the nearest shop (40 min drive) and they were able to rush a new alternator and we were back in business after a soak at the Ouray Hot Springs.  Lets call that a day huh?

DAY 3 - Rest Day.  I was feeling pretty run down but no pain so we went for an easy hike up Bear Canyon near Ouray.  It ended up being 5 miles in about 3 hours.  Beth joined Jon and I for today's hike and we enjoyed taking in the sights.  We ate a picnic and basically went back to camp and rested after a dinner in Silverton.  

That is Beth on the trail

This trail was literally blasted out of the rock by the miners.

Panorama of Silverton

DAY 4 - RACE DAY #1 - The start of the race is at 6am and the runners pass right by our camp at 8am so we were going to go out to the trail to watch and cheer on the runners.  At least that was the plan.  

I awoke at 4am to crazy pain in my insides.  I thought my shoulder and stomach was exploding.  It hurt to breathe and I couldn't move.  After a few hours of pain, Beth and I decided we had better get some medical attention.  We first drove to the starting line of the race and spoke with the race doctor that was on call there.  He poked and probed and determined that my Spleen was way too large.  He made sure to let everyone around feel how large it was.  He said I should go to the ER.  Either Durango or Montrose CO.  Equally far away.  I chose Montrose since it was closer to Ouray where the race would go later in the day.  That would give Beth the ability to go see how Tim was doing if she chose to.  

I was glad I went to the ER.  The pain was intense.  I thought my spleen had ruptured.  Turns out that it did.  The Ultrasound found "fluid" where there shouldn't have been "fluid".  The ultrasound also found a spleen that was way too large.  I wasn't keen on having it cut out so I opted on staying for observation.  Ok, really I had no choice.  I was given an IV and pain meds.  Just tough it out.  And sit or lay down in this bed for at least a day.

I hate hospitals.  

I vowed I wouldn't go back to one due to running.  This doesn't count!  I wasn't running.  I was sleeping.  Ok, I am sure hiking hard and stressing my body was not helping me recover from mono.  

I spent the day on my phone refreshing the twitter feed and the website reporting check-in's to aid stations.  Not the way I intended on spending the day.  

DAY 5 - RACE DAY #2 - Tim and Stuart (another friend I was following) were still going strong.  Yes, the race is that hard that it takes multiple days to finish it.  I spent it donating more blood for samples and re-hydrating with IV and oral fluids.  Why do you always have to count how many mL you pee?  Can't we just say lots and call it good?  They decided I wasn't going to die or anything so they said I can go home now.  Beth had to go back to camp and tear it all down and then come get me.  I stayed glued to the race feed 'watching' everyone finish.  She eventually made it back and since I was all drugged up she then had to drive me to SLC to crash at my parents house.  What a day!  We would stay the night there before finishing the last leg back to Logan.  

I was still in pain, but knew that I would eventually recover and every day it got a bit better.  It is now over a week from the ER visit and I still have pain when I lay on my left side or when I breathe deep.  It will continue to get better and I will continue to NOT RUN...until it heals.

So, what did I do wrong?

I guess you should REST when you get Mono....

I guess you should not HIKE when you get Mono...

I guess sleeping on the ground (camping) probably hurts your spleen...

I guess you can still over-do it without RUNNING.

Blah.  I thought I had found a compromise that was reasonable and could have worked...

I guess I was wrong.

I recommend reading a more entertaining column about what happened during the race to those at the front of the pack - much better than the drivel you just suffered through.

http://www.irunfar.com/2014/07/falling-off-edges-hardrock-2014.html