Josh Fairchilds

A Birthday Challenge for Steve Edwards’ 50th Birthday | By Josh Fairchilds | Oct 29, 2010

Original Plan, to be done on my 37th birthday:
In 12 hours:
50k Mountain Run with five 10,000 foot peaks.
50k on the road bike
50k on the single speed hippie bike
5 glasses of Rye.

Winter can come early up here in Montana, and so 6-36” of snow fell above 8000 feet a week ago, severely hampering my ability to run the peaks. I decided to make the most of it by keeping some running in and adding some early season skiing.

Revised Plan
In 12 hours:
5k Run
50k on the civilized bike
5k Run
50k on the single speed hippie bike
5k Run
5 Mile Backcountry Skin/Ski
5 glasses of Rye

Up at 5:30am drinking coffee and the first glass of Rye. Some folks probably don’t drink Rye for breakfast. What truly horrible lives they must lead. I started the first run with a headlamp. Though there was still half a moon in the clear sky, so I flicked it off pretty quickly. 6:30 – one glass of Rye and one 5k run down. Back home, I had some more coffee and ate a little. Then bundled up and headed out on the civilized bike. 30 degrees and dark. Ok for running. Less fun for bikes. An easy 2 hours, and I was back at the house. Time for another glass of Rye. I stretched for a while, enjoying the Rye, and then busted out the next run. Quick run. Back at the house by 10:30. Two 5ks, the road ride and 2 Ryes down. Packed the mountain bike and skis up and head into the Bangtails for a few hours of hippie biking, running and skiing. At the trailhead, I whipped out the flask and had another drink. The riding this time of year is chilly and beautiful. A few patches of snow here and there, a lot of mud, but other than that everything was perfect – though I was starting to tire. Back at the car at 2:45. Ate a sandwich and headed out for the last 5k.
Went Ok, but I was running slow. Started skiing at 4:00. I officially started at 5:45am, so I needed to have 2 Ryes and get 5 miles of skiing in an hour and 45 minutes. The Rye should be easy. Skiing not so much. Bad early season snow made for bad skinning. I had my 4th glass and hit the trail. By mile 1.5 it was already 5:00 – slow sluggish skinning and I was having stacks of problems with my skins. I wasn’t gonna make it. I kept skiing up and hit 2.5 miles at 5:30. Pulled the skins off and started blasting my way back down the trail. The slushy crud from the afternoon had now frozen, and my early-season legs (with a full 11.75 hours of exercise in them) were screaming. I was seriously in danger of doing some damage. So, I slowed down. Back at the car at 6:05. Damn. My last drink was in the flask, so I sipped it slowly enjoying the twilight in the mountains. A good exercise day. It ain’t a Birthday Pretty Hard.
Happy Birthday Steve! Thanks for all the inspiration.