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 1st 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 28th), 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
1st 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 1st 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:
-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! :)
as we made the slow ascent to the starting line, I was pretty glad I couldn't see the road I would be running... foggy & cool morning temperatures were great, and you could feel the energy in the air!
Getting ready for the horn start! 3 waves, and I was in wave 2... Here's a selection of pictures from the race... I took about a million more, but the mile markers and some of the scenes just don't do it justice.. It is a magnificent race! a Bucket List item! pure beauty at every mile! and the mile markers were funny!
Getting to the halfway point! the brutality of the hills makes you humble! really! you train hard, and for this one you have to train harder! period! But as you can see by my smile, I was having a blast (and hoping for a PR, which is rough in a course like this one!)
Because of my race strategy, I didn't really take many more pictures after mile 16, since I was going towards getting that extra gear engaged the last 10 miles (and the .2)... So the fruit lady, pictured here was at mile 25.... deliciously fresh strawberries... what a treat after so many sports beans!
