| Driven Athlete Nick Lewis: Memphis’ Running Wunderkind |
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| Written by Terie Box | |
| Monday, 08 February 2010 | |
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At only 24 years old, 5’3” tall, and weighing in at a mere 110 pounds, Nick Lewis used to be easy to overlook when sizing up the competition at the front of a footrace, but don’t be fooled by this ultra-runner’s sleight frame and quiet demeanor. In 2009 he took the long-distance running community by storm, and it’s only the beginning for Nick, who let us in on his plans for the future, and what it was like to race an amazing 100 miles in the Leadville Trail 100.
In Just One Year: SwampStomper 25k (Jan ‘09): 1st - 1:56 (course record) Sylamore 50k (Feb ‘09): 3rd - 4:29 (broken big toe at mile 26 with a 12 minute lead) Ouachita 50 miler (Apr ‘09): 1st - 8:11 Full Moon Midnight 50k (July ‘09): 1st - 3:47 (course record) Leadville 100 miler (Aug ‘09): 2nd Overall - 17 hours, 44 minutes, 26 seconds USATF National Trail Marathon (Nov ‘09): 7th – 3:00:50 And believe it or not, 2009 was the first time Nick had ever run a 25k, a marathon, a 50k, a 50-miler, or a 100-mile race. He has just announced his intention to race for the Pearl Izumi-Smith team in 2010. Occupation: Salesman at Rogue Valley Runners in Ashland, Oregon, and Breakaway Running in Memphis for almost five years. Right now, I am pretty content with just running to live and living to run. I have bounced around the idea of going to law school to study environmental law someday, but we’ll see. I would also be happy owning my own running store and, having worked for a few different people and obtained first-hand how-to experience, I feel pretty confident that I now have enough familiarity to do so. (To you investors out there reading this, yes, that was a shameful plug of self-promotion.) How it all started...I grew up in northern Michigan, playing soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, and skiing/snowboarding, so running fit in well with everything I was doing. I was born in the Upper Peninsula, making me a “Yooper,” but in the summer between 8th and 9th grade my parents made the move to Gaylord, Michigan, in the Lower Peninsula. I really got things going in middle school cross-country in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. My 8th grade year, Coach Martin had me doing some longer runs with the high school girls team…to you middle school running coaches out there, this is a great way to get young boys into the sport. By then, I had put all other sports on the back burner, except running. When you are my size, no matter how fast or strong you are, coaches outside of track and cross-country don’t give you the time of day. I like being small and I think people tend to write me off as being incapable of performing well due to size. Between physical ‘disadvantage’ and an ever-growing passion for running, I started devoting more of my time to the sport. I continued to run throughout high school and college and was fortunate to have great coaches along the way. I still talk to most of them on a fairly regular basis and they all think I am absolutely insane, so things haven’t really changed. I kindly remind them that they are responsible for my addiction to running. One thing they all had in common was the mutual recognition of the fact that I am no speedster. I tried to fake it in high school and college with very little success, and we all agree on the fact that the longer the race is, the better off I am. After college, I thought I would give a marathon on the road a shot but had injury problems. So I took some time off and started getting myself back into the game by running a lot (more) on trail. Billy Simpson talked me into running the Swampstomper 25k and I was actually waitlisted (it was full), but ended up getting in because a few people decided not to run. I hopped in not really knowing what to do in a ~16 mile race and ended up winning and breaking the course record. From there I started focusing on going longer each time, running the Sylamore 50k, Ouachita 50 miler, dropping back down to the Full Moon Midnight 50k to get some night running experience, and then the Leadville 100 mile race. Midsummer I began to start to worry a little bit about the altitude at Leadville and the consequences of not being properly acclimated. So, I left Memphis at the beginning of August to get in a solid three weeks of altitude and hill training before the race. The immediate impact the two had on me was a huge eye opener. I learned two things the first week. First, I acclimate to high altitude rather quickly. Second, I am a horribly inefficient steep uphill and downhill runner. After my second week, however, I noticed an incredible amount of improvement in climbing and descending the steep stuff. I felt that I had reached a completely new level of strength in my running efficiency and that my aerobic ability increased significantly. After the race unfolded the way it did, I knew I had to get out of Memphis if I wanted to maintain that level of fitness and efficiency because, except for the Auction Street bridge, there really are not any hills in Memphis. So, on September 19th when my phone rang and an offer to work and train with the guys at Rogue Valley Runners in Ashland, Oregon, was put on the table, I knew I had to take it. It was a tough decision, because I have formed a lot of really close friendships over the five years I lived in Memphis, but I knew deep down that if I was going to take this ultrarunning thing seriously, I had to go for it. Nick’s Leadville Trail 100 Race I knew I had a 50/50 shot of being able to run under 18 hours. It would either go really well or end really, really badly. I also knew that at some point during the race I would basically be run over by a train. I feel like accepting those conditions was a good first step in starting the race. Being able to persevere through the rough times and hoping for the best, but planning for the worst, meant my approach to the race was a bit more relaxed. I experienced a lot of ‘firsts’ during this grand adventure. To kick that off in a big way was a 4a.m. start time. ‘Waking up’ at 2a.m., I was in good spirits and not feeling all that groggy. I went over the last minute details with a group of my friends from Memphis and another friend who drove down from Vail. They were my crew, there to help with moral support, topped off water bottles, a gel flask, salt caps, Sports Legs pills, and ibuprofen when or if I needed it. Their patience was huge; they actually seemed to have a good time getting to know the crews of other runners and had a front-row seat to the day’s events as they unfolded. The race started and dominoes began falling. I went out ‘conservatively,’ but was hitting the aid stations well ahead of schedule. At first I worried about how much faster I was going and what toll it would take on me later in the race, but I quickly decided it was too late to worry about it and that I just needed to go with the flow and hope for the best. That is, until I hit the 50 mile turnaround in Winfield in 7 hours, 59 minutes. I was starting to feel hot and overheated not long after the halfway point. My body just shut down and it took a lot of convincing myself that it would all go away and that dropping out was still not an option. It was further complicated by the fact that I did not have a pacer to run with at that point. Pacers are a huge asset in ultrarunning when it comes to having someone to talk to in order to work out of a ‘dark spot.’ So that was rough, but when I hit the 60-mile point in Twin Lakes, Billy Simpson and my crew were there and, even though I had started to bounce back, they helped me refocus. I was fluctuating between third and fourth place pretty consistently from mile 25 on, so I switched to focusing on finishing in that area. From there things started getting hectic – and really quickly. By the Fish Hatchery aid station (mile 76), the guy in the lead was walking and about to drop out of the race with severe cramping, the guy in second was fading, and the guy in third was looking iffy. I had moved into third and winning was looking more and more realistic. So, Billy paced me over Sugarloaf Mountain, from miles 76 to 86, the last really brutal part of the race that I knew was going to be a make-or-break section. When we ran through the tent at the final aid station, I passed Duncan Callahan – the guy that won Leadville in 2008 – and moved into second place. From there, I was basically on a death march with Karl Meltzer trying to make up whatever ground I could on Timmy Parr (who was about 28 minutes ahead of me at the last aid station). The finish of a 100-mile race is unlike anything I have ever experienced. So many things were going on; it was overwhelming. This sudden burst of energy and adrenaline happens, the emotional roller coaster you have been on since the start of the race is in warp mode, and your mind is all over the place. The finish was chaotic. A police car was waiting at the top of the Boulevard (a dirt road, roughly 3 of the last 4 miles of the race) to escort me down Harrison Avenue to the finish. I couldn’t see anything except flashing lights and the occasional onlooker from the side of the street. I remember hearing ‘Your runner-up from Memphis, Tennessee…Nick Lewis’ and the police cruiser turned down the road a block from the finish and I could see everything. It was crazy. I was ecstatic, depressed, exhausted, and confused - all at once. Things from there are kind of hazy. I remember seeing Billy and getting a fist bump from Karl. I remember sitting down in the medical tent. It was a great feeling, sitting down. I remember talking to Tony Krupicka and his girlfriend Jocelyn Jenks. It was sad to hear what happened to him during the race; he should have won and had a good shot at breaking the course record, but his legs shorted out. Ultrarunning can take people who are otherwise immortal and reduce them to rubble. Everyone has had a really, really bad experience, it seems. I guess that aspect is partially what I find so humbling and challenging at the same time. The day will come; it’s a ‘when,’ not ‘if,’ type of thing. His most challenging race to date: The U.S. Track and Field National Trail Marathon Championship was tough. A combination of having my first really bad race and being a bit under-trained. Having arrived in Ashland, Oregon, not even three weeks before, I was running too hard and the amount of climbing and descending took its toll. My left knee was giving me a lot of problems so I didn’t run a step the week-and-a-half before the race. Not 10 feet, zip, zero. It was stupid to race, but I thought if I could hold it together I would have a shot at doing pretty well. The gun went off and I had a decent start. The first 8.5-ish miles are all uphill, climbing from right around 2,000 feet above sea level to over 5,000 feet. When we hit the first mile in 6:11, my body went ‘uh-oh.’ By mile five, I was throwing up uncontrollably. It could have been a million different things, but I think it was trying to hammer uphill that rattled my stomach. I fought with it the entire race. I would hit a 5:37 mile and follow it up with a 7:27 because I was puking everywhere. Finally, I threw in the towel on trying to run under 6 minute pace and just tempo ran it. It was a good learning experience and I was able to run with Greg McMillan, the coach of McMillan Elite out of Flagstaff, Arizona, for a while. After the race he thanked me for helping him out of a “rut” in his race. I ended up finishing 7th overall in 3 hours, 50 seconds, which I was happy with. It was my first marathon and it was a brutal one, so I am content with things ending up the way they did. Nick’s goals for future competition: For 2010, I want to run three 100-mile races and finish them all. I applied for the Western States 100 and got in, so I am focusing the most on that race for the upcoming year. It is going to be the most loaded 100-mile race ever. My boss, Hal Koerner, who has won it the last two years, is racing again, along with a slew of other really fast guys. It will be interesting to see who is left standing; hopefully I am somewhere in the mix of things. Potentially, my 2010 will look like this: Sylamore 50K, Coyote Two Moon 100-miler (or 100K),Chuckanut 50K, Jemez 50 miler or Bishop High Sierra 100K, Western States 100-miler, Siskiyou Outback 50K, The Bear 100-miler, North Face 50-miler or Mount Masochist 50-miler. I am also really excited to be heading back to Colorado twice this summer. The first to help crew and pace Billy at Hardrock, and the second time to pace and crew my girlfriend Meghan at Leadville. I love Colorado and am looking forward to getting some more mileage under me in the Rockies. An average training week during Leadville training: I got made fun of for some of my unorthodox training leading up to Leadville, but in Memphis you can only be so creative. One day I ran 31 miles, and 22.5 of those miles were in Overton Park. All on the gravel gerbil path. Another day I went to Shelby Farms and ran the Blue/White/Yellow out-and-back, hit the Tour de Wolf, then ran around Plough Park on the Rhodes XC course, around Patriot Lake, and out-and-back on the Blue/White/Yellow again. According to my running log it was 105 with the heat index that day. Back-to-back long runs were the biggest trend in my training. My highest mileage week from April through the race was 158 miles. My lowest was 81 miles. Mileage isn’t really what I was shooting for the most; time spent on my feet was the critical aspect. Two weeks before Leadville I hiked from town to the Mayqueen aid station (13.5 miles), then ran up and over Sugarloaf and back (21 miles), and then hiked back to town (13.5 miles). Looking back, it was pretty stupid, but it was also a huge confidence boost because I knew how long it would take me to walk the last 13.5 miles of the race, if it came down to it. Favorite racing gear...Shoes: Brooks Cascadias and the New Balance MT100s. Socks: Swiftwick Olefin Ones. Shorts: Brooks Infinitis – their holster pockets are very resourceful. Shirt: Brooks Ez-T or Podium Half zip. Jacket: Brooks LSD – 3 ounces of unnoticeable protection from mountain weather shifts. Hydration: Nathan Quickdraw Elite bottle holder with an Ultimate Direction bottle and some Blueberry/Pomegranate GuBrew. I have also been sampling the new Jet Blackberry Gu for them. Watch for it, it’s good stuff. Favorite pre-race meal...Beer and pizza. Yes, it is unconventional, but it works. That has been my pre-race meal for all of my 2009 races except Leadville, where I cooked chicken parmesan with spaghetti for the Memphis crew, but the beer element was still there. I view it as carbo-loading and a sleep aid. When a 100-mile race starts at 4a.m., there is no way you are going to sleep well, but I slept like a baby. I would like to see the chicken parmesan dinner the night before Leadville become tradition and I know a few guys that will not fight my Bob Crocker cooking skills. Nutritional requirements when running a race like Leadville...The obvious element here is energy gel. A lot of energy gel. More than you could possibly imagine. So much gel I still cringe a little bit when I smell Espresso Hammer gel. Another somewhat obvious element are salt pills, specifically S! Caps. The other brands that try to make salt pills, I have found, are simply inadequate. S! Caps have some potassium and a lot more sodium than their competitors. Not only are they important to help counteract sodium loss through sweat, but they also help settle your stomach if you start having issues. My ‘secret weapon,’ if you will, are Sports Legs pills. A lot of cyclists use them, but I have not really heard of runners using them before. The pills help metabolize lactic acid before it starts to buildup, thus reducing the amount of fatigue over time. I still swear that taking these pills religiously throughout the race is the main reason I could walk almost normally the day after the race. The tough part with nutrition ‘plans’ during events like this is that they vary significantly from person to person. Billy Simpson and Steve Kirk bestowed upon me the knowledge of eating “on the clock.” What that meant, I really had no idea, but after running a few 150+ mile weeks in the summer getting ready for Leadville, I was able to figure out my time schedule. I found that I needed to consume something every 30 minutes, but still listen to my body. The problem with listening to your body, however, is that after running for 10 hours, if you are thirsty - it’s too late; if you are hungry - it’s too late, and if you notice cramping and need an S! Cap - it’s too late. Anticipating what will happen is key. So, my in-race nutrition plan looked like this: On the ½ hour: Consume one gel and one S!Cap On the hour: Consume one gel and one Sports Legs Every 60 minutes: consume one 22 ounce bottle of GuBrew (specifically the Blueberry/Pomegranate because it also has a good bit of sodium and it tastes good, even after 14 hours). Favorite post-run meal: My post-race food depends on how I feel. Sometimes I cannot fathom eating anything right away, other times I see pizza and go into a trance. Right now, I’m really into smoothies. My favorite: cut up a green apple and a banana. Throw them in a blender with two handfuls of spinach, two cups of frozen berries, and a cup of water. It looks nasty, but it is incredible. Injuries: I had a few stress fractures in college, and a head-on collision with a biker on the yellow trail in 2008 is actually how I started trail running - I was on my way to running fast at St. Jude but ended up with 6 staples in my head and bruised my meniscus. It took forever to recover so I was running on trails a lot and here I am. If you’re the biker that hit me: the hospital bill was brutal, but I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for you! Advice for Memphians training for extreme distance running races: Having fun doing what you’re doing is the most important element to running. If you’re heading out the door to run, whether it’s for four miles or four hours, and you find yourself hating life, forget it. You have to love what you’re doing and the environment you’re doing it in. It’s a great way to get away from reality, get rid of some steam, experience solitude, stay active and enjoy life. If it isn’t enjoyable, find something that you love to do and let that enrich your life. Some people love collecting coins. I love running, but it isn’t for everyone - and neither are coins. Nick’s personal motto: Ten out of ten people do not make it out of life alive…it’s an unfortunate scientific fact. Some people say I am a pessimist by making such a statement, but I view it as living optimistically. I guess it is a happy medium between living with my head in the clouds and knowing that someday, in the future, I will no longer be able to run, enjoy nature, be alone out on the trails, etc. It’s an approach to life that serves as a constant reminder to never pass up an opportunity that comes knocking, and not be afraid to take a risk every once in a while. I could have been fired from all of my jobs by taking a month off to run Leadville, but I went anyway because I knew that if I was going to be taken seriously and make all of the miles I put in worthwhile, that’s what needed to be done (thank you all, again, for not firing me!). As far as a personal hero…that’s tough, I have a lot. Too many to list and not leave someone out, so I’ll leave it at ‘you know who you are.’ I will, however, give credit where credit is overdue - my coaches along the way. Jim Martin, Dave Wenzel, Jeff Kalember and Robert Shankman – without them I would not have been as passionate about running as I am now. They were all patient enough to put up with me and tapped into the negligible amount of natural ability I possess and help me figure out the ways of the world. |
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