Colonel's 100 mile Boot Camp

Aug. 12-15, I hosted the first annual 100 mile Boot Camp on my home turf in the mountains around Sisters, OR. Two Montrailian studs attended: Ashley Nordell and Matt Hart. Ashley is training to defend her title at Angeles Crest, while Matt is looking to tackle his first century at the Grand Teton 100.

Day 1: Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon in Bend. Ashley cruised to a 3:42:42, 2nd girl, 16th overall, out of 360 finishers. I ran 3:11:54 for 2nd overall. Matt was making the drive down from Seattle, so he was excused for the day.
Mileage: 28
Elevation: 2,500' gain/descent

Day 2: the grandaddy of adventure runs in central Oregon, 42 miles around the 3 Sisters. But Ashley and Matt are training for hilly 100s, so I decided we should climb the South Sister for bonus miles and elevation. This turned out to be a heck of a day. It was great for the first 19 miles, to the top of the South. Then descending on a lesser used "climber's route", we literally crawled down. It took a bit over 3 hours to go about 2 miles. Yes, slower than Hardrock cut-off pace. On the descent, Matt thought he could fly, but instead, crashed down hard on a big rock and used his head to break the fall. After the blood clotted, he seemed relatively fine, so we continued (as if there was anything else we could have done).

We finally got back on real trail and then raced the sun for the next 5 hours. I specifically told Ashley and Matt they didn't need to bring flashlights. I brought my Petzl e+lite just in case. Sure enough, 8:45 came and Ashley commented that I should probably turn on my light. So I did, and she and I traded off running with it behind the other, while Matt used his night vision and ran ahead.

Finally we arrived back at the trailhead at 9:30. High-5s and knuckles all around...for a few seconds, until Ashley noticed her rear window smashed out, and Matt noticed his wallet, Bighorn duffle, Montrail hoodie, Arc'Teryx jacket and pants, some Hammer supplement, bottles, nuun, and other miscellaneous stuff were gone. We weren't pleased. After 14 1/2 hours of adventure running, this wasn't how we wanted to finish the day.

A late night police report was made, food was consumed, showers were taken, and rest was very welcome.
Mileage: 45
Elevation: 10,200' gain/descent

Day 3: After more calls to insurance companies, window places, and credit card companies, we decided to go to Bend for a run. Rod Bien recommended a great 16 miler in the Tumalo Falls area. It was great to be running on tame trails for the whole run. With 1.3 miles to go, Matt decided to run fast. I followed, while Ashley decided to let the boys play their lame boy games. We averaged sub-6 those last 1.3; fun times!

Ashley had to leave a day early so she could get her window fixed. After she left, Matt and I walked to Bronco Billy's for burgers and fries. Mmmmm...but not as good as Billy's Burgers in Jackson.
Mileage: 16
Elevation: 2,100' gain/descent

Day 4: Matt and I decided to keep it flat, so I suggested the McKenzie River Trail, where I'll be running the McKenzie River 50k Invitational in a few weeks. After scaling a cement wall and getting through a few miles of technical volcanic rocky trail, we enjoyed smooth sailing on a gentle downhill trail next to the river. Matt decided to do so tempo running the last 1/2 hour, so I just tucked in and let him pull me along. He's a great pacer, er, I mean safety escort. At the end, Matt wanted to sit in the river, which sounded a lot better than it felt. I only lasted a couple minutes, while he toughed it out for 10 minutes. A true 100 mile boot camper.
Mileage: 21
Elevation: minimal gain, 1,500' descent

100 mile Boot Camp was tough, fun, and had great campers. Ashley and Matt showed that they are both fit, strong, and ready to tackle their upcoming 100s. I look forward to next year's camp.

Total Mileages:
Ashley: 28 + 45 + 16 + 0 = 89
Matt: 0 + 45 + 16 + 21 = 82
Colonel: 28 + 45 + 16 + 21 = 110

Colonel