Hello!
Reid here, checking in after the John Colter Run.
In the summer we focus a lot on building our base fitness and efficiency with a lot of hours and controlled threshold L3 intensity. Although there is still lots of time before we are on snow, in the late summer we still keep our hours relatively high, but begin to focus on higher intensity to boost our Vo2 Max. This means we are incorporating a few L4 interval workouts and race efforts this time of year. The John Colter Run this past weekend was a perfect time to do a higher intensity race effort while doing a very fun race! For those who don’t know the John Colter Run is a re-enactment based off a local Montana legend:
John Colter was discharged from the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1806 to pursue trapping opportunities throughout Missouri River country and the greater Yellowstone area. In the fall of 1808, Colter and his partner at the time, John Potts, were trapping beaver in the Three Forks area. This area was inhabited by Blackfeet Indians. Potts and Colter avoided the Blackfeet by trapping at night and concealing themselves during the day. Potts and Colter were discovered by the Blackfeet one morning. Potts attempted to flee downriver in their canoe and was wounded. Instead of returning to shore, Potts shot and killed one of the Blackfeet and was killed in return. Colter (who had not attempted to escape) was stripped naked, taken 300- 400 yards out into a field, and told to save himself if he could. So Colter ran. After several miles, Colter had outdistanced all but one of the Blackfeet who carried with him a spear. The Indian had almost caught up to Colter when Colter stopped suddenly, turned around, and spread his arms. This was a surprise, causing his pursuer to fall while attempting to throw the spear. The spear broke in the ground and Colter seized the pointed end, killing the Indian with it. Colter continued running to the Madison River where he hid under a pile of driftwood while the Blackfeet continued their hunt for him. After dark, Colter slipped down river and began his journey toward safety. Exhausted, cold, and naked, Colter limped into Fort Lisa seven days later, 250 miles away on the Big Horn River. (www.windrinkers.org)
The race course was a bit different than most trail runs. The course was not on any recreational trails, and it is just marked for the race once a year, which made it quite rugged. The course started out on a road then went up a few steep climbs while running through the fields of Montana where there are lots of cacti and rattlesnakes! Towards the end of the run was the most unique part where we went through two river crossings, about waist deep, and the finish line was after the second crossing. Four of the BSF Pro athletes raced, as well as our coach Andy. Simon got first, I was second, Logan third, and Andy fourth. Hannah also got second for the girls. Another very fun part of this race was the fact that someone dressed as John Colter started a few hundred feet ahead of the finish line and the first person to catch him won 12 free meals from a local restaurant in Bozeman. This means that I went out very hard at the start to catch him and after the first couple miles, when we got to the hill, Simon flew by me, and I was unable to run with him haha. At least I got some free meals out of it though!
We are now heading into our last big volume week before our camp in Park City with the US Ski Team, so watch out for some fun and informational blogs from that camp coming up!
Until next time,
Reid
