October: Chasing Numbers

In case you didn’t already know this, I’m a very competitive person – surprise!  I have found that while I enjoy just running for the sake of being outside and keeping myself sane, racing generally motivates me and I love (though I rarely speak to) being around like-minded running obsessed freaks soles. I enjoy running for more reasons than I can explain, but part of what I love is pushing myself and learning what my body’s and mind’s limits are. Races are at the core of helping me define this….I have probably raced over 500 races (which includes my high school and college racing career).  How do you take the racer out of the runner who’s taught herself over the course of 37 years that there’s no bigger high than crossing that start line of a race?  You can’t, not really.  But I am learning some valuable lessons....

  - October 6^th I ran the Blue Sky Trail Marathon on the outskirts of Ft. Collins in Horsetooth Reservoir.  It was a beautiful Colorado bluebird sky morning as a total of 161 of us toed the line on this deceptively challenging course.

If you’re waiting for the part where I landed on the podium and smacked down a stellar race time, well, you’ll be waiting a long time.  This was not that race.  I could write out a handful of excuses why, but it just wasn’t in my heart to beat the crap out of my body on the trails.  I realized early on, when I saw a woman there whom I beat by over a half hour in Leadville take off and leave me in the dust, pretty much all my vertical uphill training I did for Leadville is a distant memory.  Being an active participant of Racers Anonymous for the past 37 years, it took me a solid 6 miles of stressing over my watch’s dismal display that I needed to take the damn thing off and just enjoy being back out in nature and not an have an existential meltdown by not meeting some irrational number I set upon myself – which was unrealistic in the first place since this race had about 3500’ of elevation gain and was more in the lines of 28 miles.  At mile 6, I decided it was time to turn the watch off and instead look for an endorphin bath, not an ag win!

The course was an eclectic mix of challenging terrain  But wow was it gorgeous!  I found a guy who I felt was “slow” but decided slow was what I needed if I wanted to finish strong, and I let him dictate our pace for about 9 miles - I stuck to him like glue. 

I'm sure he has now has a restraining order against me

We rarely spoke, but he was clearly aware of his pacing purpose; around mile 18 he told me he I was pushing him too hard and it was time to cut him loose. Argh!

For the next demanding few miles, I tiptoed over and around vertically slanted red sandstone, just trying to remain upright.  It was relentless, and taxing - but that's what I loved most about it.  At mile 22, as the rock outcrops abated and more dirt emerged, it was time to pick up the pace a bit - if I couldn't have a decent finish time, at least I was going to finish strong.  I started passing people a little here and there, which is hard to do in a very small race like this, but I was legitimately now in race mode and determined to run hard through the end.  At mile 25.5, it was apparent that this was not a "true" marathon distance race, despite what RD Nick Clark told us at the start (due to biblical rains we had the weeks prior, the course was re-rerouted adding 400' more climbing and lessened in length to now "about" 26.2 miles (love trail races), and I was nowhere near the finish. I slowed a tad because, truthfully, my overzealous past 4 miles left me cooked, but I marched on - and finished satisfied with my day. 

Time: 5:31

Distance: 18.11 miles

Vertical: 3429'

Overall: 101/161

AG (40-99): 11/18

- October 20th I embarked on my 4th Denver Rock and Roll Half Marathon. The half marathon is my favorite road race distance; the strategy of learning the perfect cocktail to hold onto that threshold of pain for that distance excites me.  And scares the crap out of me.  I've killed a half marathon (or 20) by going out too fast at the start, thinking I had it in me when I didn't.  This could be one if I wasn't careful.

I really didn't have any wild expectations for this race.  I had wishful thoughts when I registered in the spring that I could knock out a good race here considering I was killing most of my races back then.  But after Pikes Peak Marathon my running took a nosedive - or at least my desire to want it did (Leadville training completely consumed me and left me empty after....but more on that in another post).  I'm still running and loosely training for California International Marathon in 6 weeks, but I gave up the notion I could run this race "fast" and just prayed I could somehow squeak out a sub-1:50 - even if it was just barely.

I wanted to line up with the 1:50 pacer and let him do the work (the guy in the blue shirt from Blue Sky was nowhere to be found), but they were in the wave behind me, and good lord I wasn't going to move back a wave-  gasp.  So I just ran.  I know that sounds too simple, but that's all I really thought about - run, run your guts out, run hard, "careful" be damned.  I felt my effort more in the lines of a 10k, but I didn't really care.  Wasn't racing about learning what I had in me?  I had my fun at Blue Sky, now it was war.  The hills almost paralyzed me, but I trudged upward and was surprising happy when I reached the top of them all at mile 12 with tons of energy to spare.  I ran the last mile (1.33, actually) the fastest yet (7:35) and landed across the finish far better - and happier - than I hoped a mere 1 hour and 47 minutes earlier.

Time: 1:47:27

Distance: 13.33 miles

Female: 220/5722

AG (50-59): 4/295  (I'm kinda in awe over this one!)

- I've been running the vast majority of my longer runs on my treadmill for CIM, like 20 miles long.  I know that sounds gruelingly poke-your-eyes-out-with-the-nearest-sharp-object boring, but it's a mental challenge for me.  If I can stay on this damn thing for 3 hours then surely I have the strength to run 4 hours on the road at CIM.  Plus, it's teaching me to feel my pace effort without looking at my watch 5 billion times in a second. I just punch in the pace and pray I don't fall off.  I love the simplicity of it....bonus: I'm getting caught up on reading.  And if Emz can run 100% of her training on a treadmill and still land 8th overall at the hellacious Javelina 100 milers in 20-hours, then yeah, I can suck it up once a week for my measly 3 hours runs on the thing.  It is making me stronger, mentally.

- I have been getting outdoors, too.....

Last week I hooked up with Steve from Happy Trails for a little 17 mile jaunt around the Air Force Academy trails.  My legs were a bit trashed from the 17 hard marathon paced miles I did 2 days prior (on my treadmill :)), and I was slower than my normal trail turtle self, but Steve was gracious enough to wait for me (frequently) and the miles clicked by so fast.  That guy has a heart of gold and never once did he complain about my sloth-like pace (I almost chocked when he told me his MAF pace...um, mine's a good 2-minutes/mile slower!) and I deeply appreciated the company.  It's a rare treat when I get to run with someone, especially someone so kind and whose wife is dear to my heart. 

Steve waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting...

This past Monday, Ryan had a college visit with the track team coach at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction (it's all becoming so real - they're leaving me!  But he had a promising visit - yay).  Steve and Kathleen sent me a detailed map of some trails nearby the college, all color coded for the girl who can get lost on an 400m track.  Ryan and I dumped off Brendan and his friend on some trails 3 hours away for their 3-day backpacking adventure (that, in itself, is worthy of an entire blog post) and headed out on the trails.  

It was super windy when we arrived to the trail head; Ryan and I stood around contemplating whether we should go to the hotel and bag it or take on the wind.  Thankfully, the wind won.  

The desert trails, nestled on the eastern banks of the Colorado Plateau, are simply stunning as the Colorado River snakes it's way along the iron-enriched red sandstone, leaving some breathtaking cliffs.

I swear, Ryan smiled or laughed the entire time.  He was so lost in time and didn't care one iota about his pace nor the fact his coach had him doing x-amount of distance, which he clearly wasn't adhering to.  Time didn't matter here; Ryan was completely immersed in this adventuresome day and deemed it, "an awesome day." And me, I was just so happy to have him here, with me, doing what we both love so much - running. Together.  It's not lost on me that times spent with him like this are numbered, so I soaked up every drop and logged my mileage that day as "a lot" in the 3 hours we played on the trails.  

Ryan climbing up as some mountain bike was coming down (carrying his bike, thankfully)

omg, scared shitless of the 1000' drop below

Yeah, racing means a lot to me, but running doesn't always need to be about chasing those elusive numbers - sometimes it's just about being connected. I am pleased with my two races this month but I wouldn't trade those memories on the trails non racing for any race PR or glorious finish line time.  Running is the best therapy I've ever had...it gives me the awareness of strength and gives me the confidence to face the rest of my day, my week....and my heavy year ahead.

- October Numbers:

Total mileage: 241.15 

(that's a PR for the year, btw!  Thank you!)

Thank you for all your caring comments on my last post.  It's really hard for me to make big girl decisions that vastly affect the lives of my little ones - even if they are basically "adults."  It's hard stuff, but we're plugging away - together.

Run strong, my friends!

Denver RnR Weekend by the numbers

1 Healthy Slice blogger friend who came to spend the weekend with me and run the Rock and Roll Half.
3 days (or at least 3 partial days) we got to hang out. :)
2 bloggers Marcia and I got to meet up with over the weekend: One at the oh so blah expo where we shared some laughs with the oh so fun Kathy.

The other was the lovely Terzah, who brought her twins to my son's cross country meet.

Myself, Marcia, Terzah and Terzah's adorable daughter
 (her son is lost somewhere :))

3 hearty souls up bright and early ready to tear up the Rock and Roll course (or in 2 cases: slog through the course)

Marcia, dorky me, and my friend Ann and a crapola pic of the
capital in the background

18ish times Marcia told me she felt like she couldn't get any air running.
18ish times I told sea-leveler Marcia she was running at 6000'.
4,567 times Marcia and I complained to one another about how much fitness we've lost, unwanted weight gained, and paces that are just plain sad in our old age the last year.
2 new names Marcia and I deemed ourselves: Thelma and Louise.
9 times we said, "These hills suck!" Impressive since there were only really 6.  Okay, 5!
3 minute potty break Marcia had to take mid-race. And 3 minutes I, devoted friend, waited for her.
1 cranky foot (mine).
.25 last mile where we actually ran "fast" and felt our old selves revived.
1+1 pretty blah shirt and medal (which look eerily similar to the San Diego RnR shirt and medal!!). 

1 new mom who came downtown to cheer us on.

Tara!!  

2 slices of post-race pizza eaten from my favorite downtown restaurant.
1 monster-sized cupcake consumed after pizza.  (And I wonder why I can't run well??).  At least it wasn't 3 at once...like someone we know...

 

This new mom apparently needs to get out more!

8:30pm when Marcia and I called it a night after the race. I really know how to be an awesome hostess, eh?

8 gazillion tribillion golden aspen leaves we saw on Sunday.

0 gallons of gas "Thelma" realized she had left while on our high country leaf hunting adventure.
11 miles to nearest gas station.
36 times Thelma may have said a swear word.
1 lake hike aborted in search of fuel.
2 sets of muscles not needed to push the car - we made it!
74 dollars spent on gas. That's a new PR!  
1 new trail found to hike!!!

1 time Thelma almost fell off the trail and landed 800' below.
1 time Louise slipped and almost pulled a hamstring.
1 train spotted.

2 chicken sandwiches devoured in Georgetown.
0 desserts consumed (at least, not immediately after lunch anyway).
1 Incredibly fun weekend!

Foot update:
My foot issue seems to be slightly better.  I can turn my foot inwards and my ankle is no longer screaming, at least.  I had a pretty decent run today....so I'll continue to keep doing my PT exercises and hope the progress continues then next week I'll head to PT one ore time before Chicago.  I have succumbed to the fact I will be walking a vast majority of Chicago.  It's not what I wanted, of course, but I'm at peace with this.  There'll be other marathons.  I think.

Until next time....

Run Strong, my friends!

I am completely stunned! Denver RnR 1/2

1:52:09


I still get a little bit of a chill just thinking about it!

I'm really, really tired and still need to make some lunches for my kids - you know, 'cause 16-year old's left to their own devices will pack garbage for lunch - so I'll keep this pretty short (hahaha, right!).

My time, my effort: I truly am shocked, I had no idea I had it in me.  Be it the incredibly cool weather for the race (38 at start time, 48 at the end); the high mileage I have been logging the past 5 weeks; the huge cut-back week I had prior to the race; the fact that I love road racing and it's been about a year and a half since I last ran one and was just so excited to be there; or maybe I just don't know my own speed yet, but when I crossed the finish line, I was absolutely shocked.

Whatever it is, I've been patient; God is finally saying yes.

I had no expectations, no goals, no anything swimming in my head other than I had hoped I could run around 2-hours.  I even debated lining up with the 2-hour pace group but they were a couple corrals back (it helps to lie and submit some sort of "in my wildest dreams" predicted time to land you in a higher wave) and this race is so big I just didn't want to start so far back and have to claw my way forward.  So I popped in my corral, which happened to be near the 1:40 pacer (yeah, hahah, in another life, but not this one.  Yet) and thought I'd just bide my time until the 2-hour group came up on me and pray like mad I could hang with them.

I ran Garmin-less.  My Garmin is on the disabled list - the battery is toast and it holds a charge for about 10 minutes.  I've spent countless hours with Garmin on the phone about this and thought it was a software problem but apparently it's not and I haven't invested in the $79 replacement charge (plus shipping) yet.  Non-Garmin racing is my pretty standard protocol, I really don't like to race with the thing; the race tends to become one where I am constantly obsessing about my pace and I look at the thing 4000x in a mile.  Still, since I have no idea of my pace right now, I wanted to wear it so I didn't kill myself at the start, like I notoriously do.  But I had no choice so I wore my old, reliable Nike watch and I just took splits at each mile marker (and I have to admit, the races I have not worn my Garmin are the races I have run my best).

The course isn't very difficult, at least if you're done a little hill work - which I haven't.  Or done some speedwork - which I haven't.  But the hills tend to come at the end of the race (though I'm swearing the hill at mile 3 is grossly misrepresented in this profile chart!!) so it is probably a good idea to conserve a little at the start.  At least for me - which I didn't.

Off I go.  I missed the first mile marker so when I hit the 2nd marker in 18 minutes, I thought I was doing fine....but really, that first mile was one big cluster mob and it had to be around  a 10 min/mile, so really, mile 2 was pretty quick.   I march on.  When I got to mile 5, I was steadily hitting an 8:30ish pace and I honestly couldn't believe I wasn't dying.  I didn't feel fantastic, but I also didn't feel bad and all I kept thinking was: this is a race, it is suppose to be tough.  Miles 7-9 were the most mentally challenging, it's along this section that you can actually see other runners, in front and behind you, and I just got a little overwhelmed at how fast I was running this thing.  I just told myself that this was really a test race to see where my fitness level was and when I hit the wall, at least it'd give me an indication of where my weaknesses are and where I need to focus the training.

But the wall never happened!!!   Not really.  I felt I slowed from mile 9-10, I was tired here and it was a gradual uphill, but my watch said this was my fastest split at a 8:01.  HUH?  Mile 10.5 you enter Cheeseman Park and it's one big hill and then levels out a bit and then one final climb in the race to mile 11.5.  I felt incredibly strong here for some reason and when I exited the park, I knew the uphills were behind me and I thought to myself that I only had a little over a mile left, this would be tough, but tough is what I love.  My heel was doing great.  My hamstring was doing great.  The biggest problem I had was that my left forefoot (my "good" foot), I am developing one big callous from my new foot striking position (I presume) and that callous was really bugging me (anyone know how to get this thing removed?).  I just couldn't get over the fact that I was consistently hitting paces in the 8s!  I mean, I haven't run anything under a 9:30 for the most part in my training and honestly did not believe it was in me.

Up until mile 12, I really was not paying attention to where I was with my over-all time.  I would concentrate on being strong, listen to my music, watch those around me, and when the mile marker came up, I would glace at my watch, hit the lap button, then look at my split, and onward I'd go.  So when mile 12's pace clock showed a 1:43 and I knew I just had 1.1 miles left, I think I got the biggest smile on my face - I knew I could get a sub 1:55.

I can't even express - honestly - how stunned I was when I crossed the finish and stopped my watch and saw a 1:52:09.  Yes, in a past life this time probably would have had me jumping off a cliff, but not in this post-injury-from-hell life.

There aren't enough exclamation marks to use here how good I felt!!!

I wandered around to find the sweat-bag check; I was absolutely freezing from being so soaked with sweat, water, Cytomax and the chill of the 48 degrees (according to one volunteer).  After I got my bag, I found my friend and client, Dave (who did an amazing PR of 1:46 - yay, Dave) and then ventured to the beer garden where I met my friends and ran into the one and only Nora!!

She ran an awesome race, too, and we shivered together as we talked for awhile.  She's such an incredible person!  She was waiting for her husband to finish running the full marathon (on a very bad ankle - yikes) so we chatted awhile until my friends wanted to leave to get some real food (thanks, Nora!! :)).

What a perfect way to end the day: with friends, having a beer, eating good food, and celebrating the race, a race which in my wildest dreams, never thought was in me!!!

So the race is done and I move forward soaking in all that I learned from it.  If I am able to walk today (that's a big IF), I will enter week 7 of my marathon training program, feeling a little energized from today's race (duh!) and excited that this guy is going to help me hone in on my nutrition so I can get my weight back down to ideal racing weight and start feeding my body with the proper foods to fuel my running more efficiently.

I'm pretty pumped to see where this journey is going to take me.  I can't wait!

Lunches are calling....

Run strong, my friends!


And THANK YOU, to all, for your awesome support and encouragement this past year and a half, I can't tell you how many times I thought about the blog when I was running; it's been one extremely long and difficult test of patience, I couldn't wait to finally share some news with y'all.