Leadville's Hope Pass

Hope Pass: Training Run Movie

So, I've been a Colorado resident for 3 whole weeks...and I thought it was time to get familiar with what this place really has to offer endurance athletes. I headed up to Leadville for a short training run with my fellow "Boulder Trail Runners."

The plan was to climb "Hope Pass," which tops out at about 12,700', run down the other side and then climb up and over again and return to the cars. Sound easy enough...until I had to face the fact that my sea-level lungs were not prepared for such an adventure:

(Internal Conversations...."Is my Garmin reading right? It says we "ran" a mere 12 miles in 4 1/2 hours? WhaT would they say at The Run Down? Why are my hands swelling? Where did this pounding headache come from? Blood!? )&#)*$!@ SNOW?")

After reaching the summit, we rested for about 5 minutes and ran down the south side. What had taken us an hour to ascend took less than half that time to descend. We then headed back up the south side toward the summit again.

Climbing back up and over the summit was more difficult this time. The altitude started to make me feel tired. I developed a pounding headache and my peripheral vision started to look funky... Ultrarunning rules.

I eventually completed the training run and survived my first real taste of Colorado ultrarunning...After today, I realize that this place is more beautiful than I ever imagined.