This year in preparation for mountain season I chose to go to a familiar location and also a very famous place for mountain running. Vail, Colorado has been home to many of the great mountain races in the USA. I have to send a special thank you to Jamie and Andy for allowing me to crash once again this year, they really have been a blessing. If you have ever been to Vail you will immediately notice, its a town filled with $$$. So hotels will empty your wallets so I really appreciate you guys if you are reading! The trip was amazing again, even better than last year. Their dog Boones is quite funny, whenever you come home he is super excited swaying his tail and moving his butt left and right erratically. Another dog was around this year as well named Kona. The first night I bought some bread and accidentally left it on the ground in my room. I came home later only to find they had a bigger dinner than me for the night as they devoured almost the entire bag. Dogs are so smart, they literally held off on eating the bread until we left the house. Upon arriving in Vail I fell into reminders of last years race. I ran well, but the altitude tore me apart. The tough part about racing in Vail is the simple fact that Vail has a base altitude of about 8,150 feet! So for a sea level guy like myself, I had a huge disadvantage toeing up against the likes of Rickey Gates, Simon Gutierrez, and the legendary Matt Carpenter. Carpenter also knows every mountain running course in Colorado so that doesn’t hurt either on top of being a complete animal at high altitude. When I decided to compete in both the 13.7 Vail Pass climb and the 6.5 mile up/down race this year I had to question myself, “Have you gone insane Joe”? Both races started out above 8,000 feet and both tallied up a huge amount of climbing.
The first day I ran the 13.7 miler and that went a little rough nearing the 9,000 foot point. The pack stayed together for quite a while, maybe 8 or 9 miles. The majority of the climbing began above 9,000 feet so around that point is where poor old sea level runners started to hurt. I ran strong and eventually ended up 3rd not too far off of Carpenter. The next day, I woke up feeling tight, tired with aches all over my body. I wasn’t too sure about competing in the 6.5 miles up and down some of Vail‘s most technical trails. To add to the drama, the fresh legs of two star runners showed up featuring Clint Wells and Payton Batliner. If the fans were looking for an exciting race they definitely had the lineup and the lineup definitely gave them their moneys worth.
From the gun the field went out bunched together. The course was a bit different this year featuring a scramble section early on. It was around there that the field started to scatter and where thoughts of dropping out started to be pondered. I couldn’t help but think back to my first trail race and how ugly things got, FAST. So, I almost thought it would be better to save the embarrassment. I realized I couldn’t afford dropping out at this point as I glanced down to see how far we had climbed with a picturesque view of the city of Vail. I figured I would have a long walk down “this damn mountain” so at least if I’m gonna drop out I will wait till we descend and I get a little closer to the finish. I decided to stick through it and found myself running with Mr. Gates with Carpenter putting in work up ahead. I eventually went ahead of Gates and started my challenge of Mr. Carpenter. Little did I know, with the new course changes from last year, there was also a 3rd climb I did not expect. So, though I may have caught up to Matt, I did not run smart. A rookie mistake. He poured the heat on me and gapped me leaving me to settle for 2nd this day. Carpenter later rubbed it in a bit at the awards ceremony wearing a shirt that said, “Old Guys Rule.” Losing to a guy like Matt definitely does not leave you with feelings of disappointment. With a long list of accomplishments in mountain running, especially at altitude he is someone you can‘t be too upset you lost to. Coincidentally, the top 4 from the 13.7 mile race all finished top 4 in the second race as well. I was a bit surprised by everyone’s performances today and I realized one other fact that yes, I think I have gone insane.
I feel like a million bucks. But, I don't feel great just because the weekend was a success. Its much deeper than this. The happiness I reveal meets the eye as nothing more than someone excited about victory. No no, its days like this that make me think back on my life and to remember the many issues and barriers I have had to climb to get to where I am today. When I think back to when a teacher (I won't say his name or what year in school I was in out of respect for him) told me I wouldn't succeed in life because I did bad on a few tests, or when on numerous occasions in life I was sent to the principals office and always in trouble, or when I finished horrible in races and thought I was useless, or when in my first year of college I pondered dropping out, or when I actually quit running because I was so disappointed in my running at one point, or when I was told that I would never make a national team in High School....It makes days like this all the more sweeter!!!
I still remember the day I made my first National team in 2003 for the Pan Am Games. I was so excited and I couldn't help but to think about how big of a frown the person who told me must have right now knowing I just made the USA National team. The whole last lap of that race I had a huge feeling of relief knowing I was gonna do what I was told I wouldn't. After this, I even paid my teacher who told me I wouldn't succeed in life a visit. He hadn't seen me in many years and despite this, he recognized me almost instantly. I had come there to tell him what I had done in life and that I was not going to end up a burger flipper as he had said. However, I didn't get a chance to let him know how much he hurt me and built up a fire in me to push through all the hard times in school and life to assure I was successful. He came up to me and said he was sorry for all the horrid things he had said to me and he wanted me to know he was wrong. By him doing this I felt bad. I felt, geez, I came here to in a sense brag about my accomplishments to make him feel less as a man. In my mind he deserved it because he was a grown man telling a child they would not aspire to be what they wanted to be. At that time in life I thought I would be an NBA star and part time a scientist! hahaha.
After talking to him and on my way walking to the car I realized in life you don't need to concern yourself with negative people who look for your failures in life. When you smile they frown. All that is pointless because in the long run they will mean nothing to your overall goal whether or not they are right or wrong. I realized this and even developed a sense of gratitude towards my teacher of the past because without his words of negativity I do not think I would have made a change in the way I looked at life or in the importance of school. Back then, being a burger flipper was the worst job, you didn't need a college degree nor High School diploma so it was a job thought to be sought by the "failures" in life as my teacher put it. I remember thinking about what he said all summer and thinking there is no way I'm flipping a burger for anyone.
Those days make me laugh, but where would I be without people who waited patiently for me to fall? Who knows, but one thing I do know is I have fallen and gotten back up and I know falling is not something I will never experience again, but I can tell you this, I WILL get back up!
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