Ralston Creek Half. A new PR, a difficult course

Here’s a recap of my wonderfully hard race on Sunday 2/10/13.  It is important to me to write the account of this particular one because I achieved a PR and because the course wasn’t a PR friendly one (uphill the 1^st 6 miles and then a mountain climb at mile 7).

I’ve been training with a coach (Maureen Roben) since November as it became clear to me that as an injury prone individual and if left to my own devices AKA planning my own training sessions, I tend to over train; and let’s face it, as runners we get driven by the adrenaline and our successes in running, and well, once you’re out there you may feel the need to overdo; I know I do!

Working with Maureen, I’ve been heading to the track religiously all throughout winter, and well, some days have been bitter cold (and a few others with ice patches), but the opportunity of an organized track workout at a beautifully maintained track is pretty cool in the city.  For the rest of the week, she has a calendar planned for me, so I have specific mileage and instructions as how to run those miles, and also crosstrain.

I had my calendar of races planned and she suggested I ran a race in February, to check things out for my next big race (Which is Big Sur on April 28^th), so I found the Ralston Creek Half and decided it could be a good one.

Now, picking a race to run in February in Denver may sound insane, because it kinda is.. weather is unpredictable here and it truly is a gamble if it will be sunny or snowy or the worst for running a race (in my opinion) ICY!  But we’ve had such a dry winter I took the gamble.

Fast forward to race week…

It hasn’t snowed for probably a month and there it is.. all over the weather calendar, snow due Saturday and Sunday.  I wanted to scream! I was so excited about the race and there it was… there was no way I was running at race speeds with snow and possibly ice patches on the road.

Still, I remained hopeful all week, went to track on Wednesday and kept “praying to the racing gods” that weather conditions would be fair come race day since it had been so warm during the week (low 50s).

There was just a bit of snow coming down on Saturday night, but it looked more like dust, so I remained calm and figured there was still a chance.  Race didn’t start until 9:45am and the 1^st wave started at 9am so the chances of ice patches felt somehow diminished (at least in my mind).

Woke up at 6:30am and looked up and there was nothing! No snow on the ground, no snow coming down! That was a good omen for sure, although temperatures were low (about 21 degrees at that time).

Arrived at the race area at 9:15am and it was so cold! 

It read 27 degrees, but it felt colder, and of course, you always get the potential double edge sword of becoming too hot if too many layers are worn, so I prepped for my “long run” situation and dealt with the discomfort of the weather.  At this point I should say, I dislike cold A LOT, but I had my “race day game face” on, and stayed mentally focused.

My focus was to PR, my dream, to become a sub 2hr half marathoner!

I had been so close in 2012 when I ran the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, UT, with a finishing time of 2hrs 05min 11 sec. But a ridiculous head wind the last 3 miles made it impossible to get to my dream.

But back to the race on Sunday!

9:45am came around quickly and there I was, surrounded with my fellow runners, the amazing community of people crazy enough to leave their warm beds on a Sunday to chase a dream, and to find themselves!

Off I go, playlist ready, hit Start on my Garmin, and get going!

I always look around me, and see who’s surrounding me. If you are one of those people, please comment about it, because I zoom in to 3-4 people and check their pace to see if I can sort of “tag along”, this is very important to me, because I prefer to play the negative split game very well, and don’t want to tire myself unnecessarily the first few miles of the race. So I found this older gentleman, with both knees covered in bandages and a headband that had the perfect pace for me (about 9:37min/mile) so I started drafting, since he was super steady.  I also noticed a younger guy fly pass me at mile 1, and I made a mental note of that as well. Of course, like in every race, people pass you, or you pass them until you get that rhythm.  At mile 2 I had my 1^st pack of sport beans, and they were really hard, because of the cold weather.

The first few miles went by quickly, and even though my pace was steady at around 9:30+/- my heart rate would not go down below 175, which was worrying me a little since I know that every time I run at that pace my HR never goes below 166, but I figured since I was racing, and getting close to mile 3, I should keep at it since pace seemed steady, and I was feeling good despite the higher HR, just a bit heavier breathing; and that gentleman I was “following” was still fairly close to me, so I was on track!

Mile 4 comes around and the bandaged knee guy started getting faster.. what?! But he was my “pacer!” I thought to myself, so I quickly looked around and found another person to “tag along with”.

Now, please don’t assume I wasn’t running my race, because I was very much involved on my pace, but I’ve noticed that this impromptu pacing system also keeps me motivated, since I don’t want to fall too far behind whomever I’m following.

This other guy was super tall and his pace was also about 9:30min/mi so I tried to stay close to him since bandaged knee guy was at a considerable distance (but I could still see him). All of the sudden I started getting a bit slower at around mile 5 or so, so I tried to pick up and take my nutrition again.

Next thing you know, in typical Colorado fashion, there’s a mountain in front of us, and I see all runners heading towards it.. OH CRAP! I had no idea we had to go up a mountain (I looked at the map, but wasn’t familiar with the area and there was no elevation profile), I freaked out a bit because I had just flown by mile 6 on swift small rolling hills and I was going fast for a minute there, so seeing the mountain approaching mile 7, and knowing I still had half a race more to go was a bit scary; I wanted to have fuel in the tank for the last 5k.

Elevation profile from my Garmin

Denver, far away in the distance as I begin to climb

I get to the mountain and my HR is still up there at 175 steady, but the incline was so brutal I started walking for a moment.  It’s worth mentioning that the second guy I was following passed me at this point when he caught up to me (I passed him on those quick rolling hills), and he kept running the up hill… I kept looking up, and up there in the distance was bandaged knee guy going strong while I kept making my slow ascent.. I started running again after about 30secs walking and soon after I took another pause to avoid spiking my HR at that point, second pacer kept going strong as well…

I learned running the SF marathon course, which is super challenging, that there’s no need for me to kill myself on those hills so steep if I can make up that time with my speed at a flatter area or downhill, it is all about conserving energy to conquer the last and hardest miles on a race!

As I made my slow ascent I took an opportunity to take a few pictures while hoping my HR would slow down a bit, and it went down to 168… so I was in the clear, anything below 170 still feels like I’m good!

Finally, the top of the hill!! 

Almost mile 8, so I took my nutrition again, and of course, everything that goes up, must come down.. so there it was… the ol’ mighty downhill right in front of me, so I went for it! Time for the negative splits to shine.  My playlist (as I had planned) had switched from steady and confident pace to, come on let’s do this pace right on time, so officially marked the next mile at 8:50min/mi, and was feeling like a champ.  At this point I passed my second pacer, never to be seen again. This solidified my theory of energy conservation on the uphill once again!.  Bandaged knee guy was closer, but not within reach yet, and my pace kept getting faster.. fast forward to mile 10. I kept pushing, the HR was up there, but at this point is a race against the clock, and my dream of crossing the finish line before the 2hr mark is very present.  Finally get by bandaged knee guy and pass him, didn’t see him again, and kept going strong!

At mile 11 I’m trying not to look at the time, only my HR, but took a peek and thought I had a fighting chance, so I started doing math to figure it out, that would require me to reach “puking induced” speeds which I didn’t think I was capable of at this point… the MENTAL GAME began, and the “machine talk” began.   I always tell myself my body is a machine, and the machine is strong, the components rock and I’m capable of anything! So here I am, huffing and puffing and who do I see?? The youngster from mile 1 that flew pass me… moving much slower than when I first saw him, and that gave me a boost of energy! I could finish strong!

The last mile hurt! Everything hurt! My lungs felt on fire, I wanted to throw up and just walk to the end, but as my body was trying to betray me, Pantera and Lamb of God were rocking in my ears some fast tunes that were supposed to make me go faster, so I kept trying harder and harder.  Just typing this I feel tired, it truly was an all out effort at that point and it took everything in me not to stop.

Mile 12.45 comes around.. so little left, and the 2hr mark had passed. I’m not going to lie, I felt defeated for a moment, again, my dream was not to be, but then I realized I could still have a new PR, if I kept going, just a bit longer!

Crossed the finish line barely able to breathe, and received my medal.

Finish time: 2hrs 04min 03 sec.

A PR! By a minute. On a non-PR friendly course!  

I was out of it for a bit, legs shaking, lugs burning and semi dizzy from the adrenaline rush.

I wasn’t sure at the moment how much of a PR was going to be, since I needed to recheck the results from that other race before assuming anything, but I was feeling good about my effort.

Stayed for a little bit while eating a clementine and orange, and gathered enough energy to get in my car, eat the Gluten Free muffin I had waiting for me, and drive away.

Stopped by the recovery club Fuelary in Denver for a much needed ice bath session and to use the normatec compression boots to boost that lactic acid from the legs, and after that, I slowly began to analyze the race and how everything went.

Data uploaded and wow!, that WAS a tough course, no wonder my HR was up there the whole time.  

Seeing the data on paper made me truly appreciate what I had done, and from that point on, I’ve been ecstatic.  It was a great prelude for what Big Sur has in store for me this year, and of course, for the San Francisco Marathon course as well.

I’m very happy with my performance this weekend. I had a smart race, where nutrition, pace, music, and even weather were perfect!

I’m taking this week to recover with some crosstraining and a flat and easy 10 mile long run this weekend and I’m back at it on the mile increase until Big Sur.

Feeling strong and confident about what lays ahead! And I’m very happy I made the decision to hire a coach to be my guide to success.  But let’s not forget! The effort will always be all yours! No effort, no success!

Cheers!

PS:

I always wonder about people's "combos".  The running clothes, shoes, nutrition...

Mine is:

- Shoes: Saucony Cortana

-Mizuno and Brooks keep me warm with excellent fabrics

-Headwear makes amazing hats, which show my SF Marathon Colours proudly!

-NUUN is the only electrolyte drink I use, even during non-training occasions

-Sports Beans is what I use for nutrition.  I like them because they're not hard on my stomach, and even at mile 18, I still feel I can chew them!

Happy and Tired!!

One last thing:
Mentioning people I passed during the race, in NO way means I am discounting their effort, quite the contrary!  We are all under race conditions, and to me it's friendly competition!
We are all unique and have our own pace, and race strategy; and that's why I love running! :)