Despite a departure postponed by a good 6 hours, I managed to make good time getting to Aspen by 7PM on Friday despite taking the long route (the pass I planned to take was getting snow, so I opted to go around instead). My runner friend I stayed with all weekend was busy making us a steak, salad, and pasta dinner. Perfect pre-race food, in other words. She'd had opted not to run the race this year, so I had my own support crew/car and cheering section (at the finish line).
The race itself went far better than I could have ever hoped. The course itself is 13.3 miles. It starts out for 1.5 miles and 1000 vertical feet up a ski hill access road. From there, it traverses the ski hills from Snowmass Villiage to Aspen. Despite the first few miles, the race ends up 400 feet lower than it starts, so there is a great deal of downhill. While I wasn't as strong on the uphill this year as I had been last year when I ran the same race, I had practiced running downhill this summer, and so ended up doing much better on that section. The aptly-named "Golden Leaf Half" mostly winds through aspen groves, which at this time of year at 9000 feet are a bright gold. I came in at 1:53:20, 2.5 minutes slower than last year, for 47th place and 7th place in my age group (19-29).
And I can't tell you how nice it was to have somebody waiting at the finish. My friend had dropped me off at the start, gone for her own run, and was waiting right at the finish chute. I had absolutely nothing left by the end, and one person I had wanted to beat passed me in the last mile, ending one place ahead of me. Oddly enough, a friend of mine from Boulder came in 8 seconds and 1 place behind me. Suffice to say, I basically collapsed through the finish chute. But it was an excellent race for me.
The rest of the weekend was alternately fun, relaxing, and stressful. Since I was in Aspen, and I didn't want my legs to tighten up after the race, my friend and I went for an easy hike a few hours after the race. I realized after we were a ways in that, though I had been careful to charge my camera's battery before I left, I forgot to put it back in the camera. The only pics I have are from the drive back, where I used my somewhat nicer, larger camera. After the hike, we chilled out for about 4 hours (of Discovery Channel) before heading out for a prime rib dinner and a relaxing night at a pub.
On Sunday I set myself up in a coffee shop and worked on my research for my Masters Thesis.
At about 4, we took a short run from the house where I was staying, up to an aspen-filled valley. I again regretted the missing battery for my camera. It would have made some excellent pictures. But it was the perfect "shakeout" run for the day after a race.
This morning I drove back to Boulder via Independence Pass. This was the route I'd planned to take Friday when the weather did not cooperate. It shaves about 40 miles off the overall trip, bud doesn't save all that much time, since it's a twisting, switchback-filled road up to the continental divide and back down again. I do have some pictures (that help show why Lance Armstrong has been training in Aspen while prepping for his return to the Tour next July. No, I didn't see him) and I'll post those as soon as I get them onto my computer.
Any way, I'm back in Boulder, sore after some significant mileage this weekend, but feeling a lot better about pretty much everything than I was when I left. A good race will do that.
And I've caught an entirely different kind of running bug from any I've had before. There may be evidence of that later in this blog.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sombrero
I ran the Sombrero Trail Run for the first time yesterday. On Friday I was optimistic about my chances of doing well. I went out for my normal 3-mile pre-race loop, and had to hold myself back from going too fast or too far. Meeting some friends that afternoon, I was very optimistic about the next morning.
Yesterday morning, I woke up, felt ok, and took off for Estes Park. I think one of my problems might have been the coffee I got on the way there (it was supposed to be an hour and fifteen minute drive, but it took slightly over 45 minutes total). In any case, I got to the course, picked up my number, and went out for a short warm up.
Let's just say I did not feel good. My legs felt more like deadweight than anything. By the time I got to the starting line and did some striders in order to warm up my fast twitch muscles, I felt like crap.
So I made a decision: rather than blow my legs out and try to make a race of it at the Sombrero, I decided to treat it as a training run, and hope my legs felt significantly better for the Golden Leaf half in two weeks.
For those who don't know, the Sombrero is a very odd distance (4.5 miles). It has a total of 900+ feet of elevation gain in that distance with a net gain of 200 or so feet. It's rocky, it's hard, and most people walk a significant portion of the hills. Were I to try and make a race out of it, I would blow out my quads entirely, with no guarantee of complete recovery by the time the Golden Leaf rolled around. I think I made the right decision given the situation.
In any case, I made a passable run of it, coming in at around 43 minutes or so. I didn't compete in my age group, and one woman beat me, but I did what I wanted to (hit between 42 and 43 minutes).
While not successful as a race, it was successful as a run. And, more importantly, it helped me catch the racing bug again.
Yesterday morning, I woke up, felt ok, and took off for Estes Park. I think one of my problems might have been the coffee I got on the way there (it was supposed to be an hour and fifteen minute drive, but it took slightly over 45 minutes total). In any case, I got to the course, picked up my number, and went out for a short warm up.
Let's just say I did not feel good. My legs felt more like deadweight than anything. By the time I got to the starting line and did some striders in order to warm up my fast twitch muscles, I felt like crap.
So I made a decision: rather than blow my legs out and try to make a race of it at the Sombrero, I decided to treat it as a training run, and hope my legs felt significantly better for the Golden Leaf half in two weeks.
For those who don't know, the Sombrero is a very odd distance (4.5 miles). It has a total of 900+ feet of elevation gain in that distance with a net gain of 200 or so feet. It's rocky, it's hard, and most people walk a significant portion of the hills. Were I to try and make a race out of it, I would blow out my quads entirely, with no guarantee of complete recovery by the time the Golden Leaf rolled around. I think I made the right decision given the situation.
In any case, I made a passable run of it, coming in at around 43 minutes or so. I didn't compete in my age group, and one woman beat me, but I did what I wanted to (hit between 42 and 43 minutes).
While not successful as a race, it was successful as a run. And, more importantly, it helped me catch the racing bug again.
Mesa Plus
I did end up doing the Mesa Trail last Saturday. My brother is town, so I took off a little earlier than usual and headed out on the full trail.
I've done pieces of this one before, but never the whole thing at once. In particular, I had never done the approach into Eldorado Springs before. So when I crested the ridge and looked at the broad, dirt road of a trail heading down, down, down into the canyon, awe at the view vied with despair at the downhill to come.
I was maybe 6 miles into the run at this point, not yet an hour of running, and most people might wonder at feeling despair at a downhill. However, it was a mile and a half of downhill which I would have to come back up on the way back to Chautauqua. Out and back runs make you dread the downhills as much as you do the uphill.
In any case, at 1:07, I reached the car park at the Eldorado Springs trailhead, and after a brief pause at the outhouse, I tapped the lap button on my watch and headed back towards Boulder and my car.
By the 11 or 12 mile mark, I was somewhat the worse for ware, no longer as adept at avoiding obstacles on the trail in front of my feet. Despite all that, I managed to pick up my heels and sprint down to my car at Chautauqua. The final time on my watch: 2:12. I took two minutes off my time on the way out, on the way back. That deduction despite the fact that the way back is in fact a net uphill.
I had hoped for a time of 2 hours or so for about 13 miles. While I didn't quite make that time, looking later I found that the full trail is in fact more than a half marathon. It is in fact a bit over 14 miles round trip. So I didn't quite make my goal pace, but it was a decent effort.
It took me a while to recover from that one.
As a side note, these are the records for Boulder Trails.
I've done pieces of this one before, but never the whole thing at once. In particular, I had never done the approach into Eldorado Springs before. So when I crested the ridge and looked at the broad, dirt road of a trail heading down, down, down into the canyon, awe at the view vied with despair at the downhill to come.
I was maybe 6 miles into the run at this point, not yet an hour of running, and most people might wonder at feeling despair at a downhill. However, it was a mile and a half of downhill which I would have to come back up on the way back to Chautauqua. Out and back runs make you dread the downhills as much as you do the uphill.
In any case, at 1:07, I reached the car park at the Eldorado Springs trailhead, and after a brief pause at the outhouse, I tapped the lap button on my watch and headed back towards Boulder and my car.
By the 11 or 12 mile mark, I was somewhat the worse for ware, no longer as adept at avoiding obstacles on the trail in front of my feet. Despite all that, I managed to pick up my heels and sprint down to my car at Chautauqua. The final time on my watch: 2:12. I took two minutes off my time on the way out, on the way back. That deduction despite the fact that the way back is in fact a net uphill.
I had hoped for a time of 2 hours or so for about 13 miles. While I didn't quite make that time, looking later I found that the full trail is in fact more than a half marathon. It is in fact a bit over 14 miles round trip. So I didn't quite make my goal pace, but it was a decent effort.
It took me a while to recover from that one.
As a side note, these are the records for Boulder Trails.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Upcoming Races
Looks like I'll be running in at least two races this month. Yesterday I signed up for the Sombrero Ranch Roundup. While it's only a 4.5 mile race, the time you get there is used directly as a qualifier for the Bolder Boulder. That should give you some idea of the difficulty of the race. According to my friend Jessica, who won her age group there last year, it's a good idea to get out quickly, because it quickly becomes single track where it's difficult to pass. In that sense, it sounds a little like the Golden Leaf (the second race I'm running this month).
It seems that recently my legs, and my mind, have gone through a bit of a re-emergence. I've finally been able to run consistently again for the past week or so. Given how much trouble I'd had with running over the summer, it's a welcome relief. Granted, I don't exactly expect to do all that well in my races this month, but it does bode well for being able to a half in, say, early November this year. At least, that's what I hope to do.
My goal for this week is to run the whole Mesa trail, as a bit of a sounding out of my legs for the Golden Leaf. Mesa is between 12 and 13 miles, and consistently either going uphill or down, so I think it should be a good indication of how my legs might be feeling during my half in Aspen. Here's hoping it goes well.
And I finally bought a water belt, which also carries my camera, so pictures will soon be on their way.
It seems that recently my legs, and my mind, have gone through a bit of a re-emergence. I've finally been able to run consistently again for the past week or so. Given how much trouble I'd had with running over the summer, it's a welcome relief. Granted, I don't exactly expect to do all that well in my races this month, but it does bode well for being able to a half in, say, early November this year. At least, that's what I hope to do.
My goal for this week is to run the whole Mesa trail, as a bit of a sounding out of my legs for the Golden Leaf. Mesa is between 12 and 13 miles, and consistently either going uphill or down, so I think it should be a good indication of how my legs might be feeling during my half in Aspen. Here's hoping it goes well.
And I finally bought a water belt, which also carries my camera, so pictures will soon be on their way.
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