Ironically, it took not going for a run today to allow me the time to write a race report for last Saturday's outing, which turned out quite well. I headed down to the Grand Junction area on late Friday afternoon with Aaron Baker, who was cool enough to invite me to stay at his parent's house for the weekend. The drive down was stunning as we paralleled the Colorado River and Aaron's company was hilarious, as usual. We fueled up on some delicious Mexican food courtesy of Los Jilberto's and I got a great night sleep in a comfortable bed, rather than sleeping in my truck.
I woke up around 4:30 a.m., early enough to get to the race start area, check in and then run a couple miles on the course to warm up. I returned to the start area, grabbed my vest and water bottles, took a few pictures and jumped into the last quarter of the pack of about 200 runners (both 25 and 50 mile racers). The first mile was on a wide gravel road and I slowly worked my way to mid-pack before the course turned onto single track. I kept the pace very manageable but still found myself moving faster than the people I was running with, so I picked my way past small groups when the trail was wide enough. After passing one small group, I heard someone whine, "Let people know what side you're passing on!" Gee, I thought this was a race. "Right on." I replied. The climb continued on for about a mile before we hit an awesome rolling, technical, slick rock section that went on for 3-4 miles. After cresting the ridge, the views of canyons and the Colorado River below were spectacular. I was still able to pass every now and then but I noticed myself being overly cautious about passing when OW! I rolled my right ankle and heard it make a popping sound. The pain was immediate and I started to consider dropping from the race before I even hit the first aid station. Damn. Not an auspicious beginning. I slowed a bit but kept moving and reassessing whether or not my ankle was OK to continue and finish. As I ran into the first aid station, I decided to keep going and see how things would play out. On the next climb, I felt like the pain would be manageable and was determined to finish. After that, I would only experience an occasional sharp pain when I ran downhill. I decided to just stick to my original plan and run slow, hike all the hills, take some pictures, enjoy the views and concentrate on staying hydrated and nourished.
From there, my run played out really well and I felt good the rest of the morning (with the exception of my ankle and, later, my tender feet). I had started eating gels after the first half hour and continued eating one every 45 minutes as well as drinking water quite often and eating something quickly at each aid station (chips, a banana, M&Ms, etc.). As a result, my energy levels never decreased and I didn't get tired during the race. I maintained a moderate pace that was still fast enough for me to keep catching small groups of runners, pass them, then keep working away until I got to the next group. The beautiful desert rock kept me inspired the entire time. Around the 10 mile mark, I hiked, then ran, for a couple miles with a guy named Rob (Ganger) from the Denver suburb of Englewood and struck up a conversation. It turns out that he will be running all of the ultra-trail races that I'm doing this summer. I enjoyed his company and the pace he was running so it was a pleasant to continue with him for half an hour or so. He was doing the 50 miler, so his pace was a little slower and I passed him in the late teen miles and pressed on by myself. Around the 20 mile mark, I hit another aid station, where I had my water bottle filled for the third time and also had my electrolyte bottle filled. The morning had been pretty cool but it was starting to warm into the high 70s/low 80s, which felt quite warm to me. After that, the course began it's last major climb, about 800 feet back to the top of the Mack Ridge. I was still feeling so good that I reeled in at least 6 more runners before hitting the top. It was clear to me that staying fueled early was really paying dividends at this point in the race. Everyone I passed looked so fatigued and was really struggling. One guy pleaded, "I'm a road runner!" as he slowly hiked up the rocky trail. I couldn't help but feel like I knew something that my contemporaries were not privy to, so I just kept the tempo even. The only issues I had at this point were that my feet were feeling pretty tender from miles of rocky trail that I wasn't quite accustomed to after running on dirt roads and snow all winter. The final descent, perhaps a mile and a half or so and very technical and steep was a little painful and I was glad to get back to the last mile of gravel road as it was just slightly less rough on my feet. As I neared the finish, I didn't really charge to the end like I usually do, but rather casually jogged it in, wondering if I should do the 3 extra miles I had planned on doing before the race started. I did about a half mile and decided I just wanted to stop, relax and enjoy the scene at the start/finish area. I milled about, ate some post-race food and talked it up with some of the other runners. When I saw Rob going back out on his second lap, I ran out to wish him luck and told him I'd be looking for him at a future race. I stayed around for another half hour or so, took some more pictures then decided it was getting too hot out for me and it was time to head out and begin my recovery.
In all, it was another wonderful celebration of running and worth the time and energy to come and run in another beautiful Colorado location. I ended up with a 28.29 mile/5:04:30 total effort and race result of 25.5 miles/4000+' in 4 hours, 22 minutes. In the following days, my quadraceps were very sore but I've recovered nicely and went for a hike/run last night for about 45 minutes. Since Quad Rock is in only 3 weeks, my plan from here is to get some decent 2-3 hour runs in the next two weekends and keep my weekday maintenance runs very modest or just rest altogether. At this point in my training, most of my fitness base is already set, so I don't have anything to gain by running hard, especially so close to doing a 50 miler. Looking ahead, I think Quad Rock is going to be a really tough race, with alot of elevation change (+/- 11,000') and, probably, high temperatures, so it could turn into a death march if I'm not careful!
Showing posts with label Desert RATS Trail Running Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Desert RATS Trail Running Festival. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Week.ly Summary: Apr 2 - Apr 8
4/2 - Off.
4/3 - 7.00 miles. :57:47. Stagecoach. PM. Down to Elk Run Trail on the south shore of the lake. Up tempo running on the rolling, gravel trail.
4/4 - 5.01 miles. :47:14. Howelsen Hill. PM. Short but hard effort run on the quickly-drying trails on Howelsen. I got reminded how steep trails can get especially compared to the flat roads I've been running this winter.
4/5 - 5.67 miles. :57:11. Stagecoach. PM. Easy out and back on trails and dirt roads around Stagecoach. Then did another mile of slow running in Vibram Five Fingers.
4/6 - Rest.
4/7 - 18.33 miles. 3:00:05. Stagecoach. AM. Long lollipop loop run around the lake from the house. Fueled my run with ClifBloks and gels, taking one gel every hour and Bloks every half an hour, roughly. One 22 oz. bottle of water, one 18 oz. bottle of Gatorade. Cold morning had me starting out with a vest over my long sleeve shirt but I warmed up enough to take off the vest, my beanie and gloves by the time I hit the lake (4 miles). The run around the lake was primarily on nice, wide dirt trail, with a couple miles of dirt road and I took an even, comfortable, cruising pace. Felt strong right up to the end. I'm looking forward to getting 31 miles in the desert next weekend.
4/8 - 5.74 miles. 1:13:19. Spring Creek Trail. PM. Early afternoon trail run with Benihana.Great run for me and the dog, I had great tacky footing and he got to wade in the creek several times, which is pretty important if you're a Husky. Easy running on the warm up and cool down miles with only about 1.5 miles of uptempo running in the middle. Beautiful spring day. A little barefoot running in the grass afterwards.
Weekly Total: 41.75 miles
Another solid week. I'm stoked to be: healthy, getting quality miles, plenty of rest, eating well, in love and generally, very happy. I'm really looking forward to heading to Fruita next Friday, not just to go running in the desert but also to just be around other runners and attend my first Desert RATS Trail Running Festival. I guess the race is also known as the Spring Desert Ultra or Fruita 50, if you're doing the big boys' run. Even though I'm only doing the 25 mile race but technically running an ultra that day (with my 6 bonus training miles), I guess I can call the race by that name, too. And even though it is just a training run for me, it's exciting to have the trail running season underway. Next weekend, local trails will also be opening up and, thanks in no small part to our dry winter, be very runnable, at least up to 8,500'. That gives me a full 4 months of running on trails in preparation for RRR. I can't help but think that in that time I might be able to get into good enough shape to run in the front of the Tortoise pack and finish around 24 hours. For my first 100-miler, I really shouldn't be thinking about that, I should just focus on finishing.
4/3 - 7.00 miles. :57:47. Stagecoach. PM. Down to Elk Run Trail on the south shore of the lake. Up tempo running on the rolling, gravel trail.
4/4 - 5.01 miles. :47:14. Howelsen Hill. PM. Short but hard effort run on the quickly-drying trails on Howelsen. I got reminded how steep trails can get especially compared to the flat roads I've been running this winter.
4/5 - 5.67 miles. :57:11. Stagecoach. PM. Easy out and back on trails and dirt roads around Stagecoach. Then did another mile of slow running in Vibram Five Fingers.
4/6 - Rest.
4/7 - 18.33 miles. 3:00:05. Stagecoach. AM. Long lollipop loop run around the lake from the house. Fueled my run with ClifBloks and gels, taking one gel every hour and Bloks every half an hour, roughly. One 22 oz. bottle of water, one 18 oz. bottle of Gatorade. Cold morning had me starting out with a vest over my long sleeve shirt but I warmed up enough to take off the vest, my beanie and gloves by the time I hit the lake (4 miles). The run around the lake was primarily on nice, wide dirt trail, with a couple miles of dirt road and I took an even, comfortable, cruising pace. Felt strong right up to the end. I'm looking forward to getting 31 miles in the desert next weekend.
4/8 - 5.74 miles. 1:13:19. Spring Creek Trail. PM. Early afternoon trail run with Benihana.Great run for me and the dog, I had great tacky footing and he got to wade in the creek several times, which is pretty important if you're a Husky. Easy running on the warm up and cool down miles with only about 1.5 miles of uptempo running in the middle. Beautiful spring day. A little barefoot running in the grass afterwards.
Weekly Total: 41.75 miles
Another solid week. I'm stoked to be: healthy, getting quality miles, plenty of rest, eating well, in love and generally, very happy. I'm really looking forward to heading to Fruita next Friday, not just to go running in the desert but also to just be around other runners and attend my first Desert RATS Trail Running Festival. I guess the race is also known as the Spring Desert Ultra or Fruita 50, if you're doing the big boys' run. Even though I'm only doing the 25 mile race but technically running an ultra that day (with my 6 bonus training miles), I guess I can call the race by that name, too. And even though it is just a training run for me, it's exciting to have the trail running season underway. Next weekend, local trails will also be opening up and, thanks in no small part to our dry winter, be very runnable, at least up to 8,500'. That gives me a full 4 months of running on trails in preparation for RRR. I can't help but think that in that time I might be able to get into good enough shape to run in the front of the Tortoise pack and finish around 24 hours. For my first 100-miler, I really shouldn't be thinking about that, I should just focus on finishing.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Weekly Summary: Mar 26 - Apr 1
3/26 - Rest.
3/27 - 7.18 miles. 1:07.12. Stagecoach. PM.
3/28 - 2.80 miles. 1000'v. 1:00:38. Stagecoach. PM. Snow run up Stagecoach Mountain with Benihana as a farewell to winter. Super punchy and actually pretty brutal conditions. Thrashed my shins up pretty good punching through the spring snow. Which, although deep in spots, won't be around much longer. It's amazing how fast it's all melted. I think it only took a little over a week. If it weren't for snowmaking, I don't think there would be any snow below the gondola. In my few years here, I've certainly never seen anything like it and from what I've gathered, you'd have to go back quite a few years (like a hundred) to find a winter so dry. I'm all good with it as a trail runner but I don't want to see the forests burn this summer because we have no water.
3/29 - Rest.
3/30 - Rest.
3/31 - 12.83 miles. Stagecoach. PM. My GPS battery died about a mile into my run so I had the opportunity to run for a couple of hours by feel instead of checking my pace/distance/time constantly. I found it rather liberating. I ate two Clif Shot gels and a clementine and drank almost a full 21 oz. bottle of water and a little more than half a bottle of Gatorade. It was a fairly warm day, probably in the 60s, and mostly sunny and breezy as I ran on dirt trails and roads around a quickly thawing Stagecoach Reservoir.
4/1 - 14.05 miles. 2:08:31. Stagecoach. AM. Ran the same route as yesterday to measure the loop. Then did a little over a mile on the road and some trail wearing the Vibram Five Fingers. Ate two gels and a clementine (again) and drank about 3/4 of my water bottle and half a bottle of Gatorade.
Weekly Mileage: 36.86
Took an extra day off, did a snow run this week and did back to back long runs on the weekend. Felt good to mix it up and spend a little more time at home. I like that. Looking forward to the Desert RATS race in Fruita in a couple of weeks. It'll be a nice quick getaway and cool running in the desert. I need to make sure I figure out what food I'm going to carry. I'll need to carry 6-8 gels also and two water bottles, one with water and one Gatorade. I'll refill at every aid station. I probably won't carry water on my back unless it's really warm. I'm not going to set a time oriented goal, but rather just run an even, conservative, comfortable pace.
After that, I should be able to start logging a ton of trail mileage through the rest of April and early May in preparation for Quad Rock. I have a feeling it's going to be pretty warm in Fort Collins in mid-May.
Also, I officially registered to run the Silver Rush 50 miler in Leadville in July. It'll be a tune up race for Run Rabbit Run and I think it's far enough out from RRR that I can actually race it. The course is at high altitude (10,000 - 12,000') but is on alot of runnable roads so a smart race could result in a PR. I would be really happy if that PR were under 10-hours. After that, I think I will pass on a couple of races (probably still run Continental Divide) in August in favor of a couple long runs in the Flat Tops and the Zirkels and then start my taper the last week of the month.
3/27 - 7.18 miles. 1:07.12. Stagecoach. PM.
3/28 - 2.80 miles. 1000'v. 1:00:38. Stagecoach. PM. Snow run up Stagecoach Mountain with Benihana as a farewell to winter. Super punchy and actually pretty brutal conditions. Thrashed my shins up pretty good punching through the spring snow. Which, although deep in spots, won't be around much longer. It's amazing how fast it's all melted. I think it only took a little over a week. If it weren't for snowmaking, I don't think there would be any snow below the gondola. In my few years here, I've certainly never seen anything like it and from what I've gathered, you'd have to go back quite a few years (like a hundred) to find a winter so dry. I'm all good with it as a trail runner but I don't want to see the forests burn this summer because we have no water.
3/29 - Rest.
3/30 - Rest.
3/31 - 12.83 miles. Stagecoach. PM. My GPS battery died about a mile into my run so I had the opportunity to run for a couple of hours by feel instead of checking my pace/distance/time constantly. I found it rather liberating. I ate two Clif Shot gels and a clementine and drank almost a full 21 oz. bottle of water and a little more than half a bottle of Gatorade. It was a fairly warm day, probably in the 60s, and mostly sunny and breezy as I ran on dirt trails and roads around a quickly thawing Stagecoach Reservoir.
4/1 - 14.05 miles. 2:08:31. Stagecoach. AM. Ran the same route as yesterday to measure the loop. Then did a little over a mile on the road and some trail wearing the Vibram Five Fingers. Ate two gels and a clementine (again) and drank about 3/4 of my water bottle and half a bottle of Gatorade.
Weekly Mileage: 36.86
Took an extra day off, did a snow run this week and did back to back long runs on the weekend. Felt good to mix it up and spend a little more time at home. I like that. Looking forward to the Desert RATS race in Fruita in a couple of weeks. It'll be a nice quick getaway and cool running in the desert. I need to make sure I figure out what food I'm going to carry. I'll need to carry 6-8 gels also and two water bottles, one with water and one Gatorade. I'll refill at every aid station. I probably won't carry water on my back unless it's really warm. I'm not going to set a time oriented goal, but rather just run an even, conservative, comfortable pace.
After that, I should be able to start logging a ton of trail mileage through the rest of April and early May in preparation for Quad Rock. I have a feeling it's going to be pretty warm in Fort Collins in mid-May.
Also, I officially registered to run the Silver Rush 50 miler in Leadville in July. It'll be a tune up race for Run Rabbit Run and I think it's far enough out from RRR that I can actually race it. The course is at high altitude (10,000 - 12,000') but is on alot of runnable roads so a smart race could result in a PR. I would be really happy if that PR were under 10-hours. After that, I think I will pass on a couple of races (probably still run Continental Divide) in August in favor of a couple long runs in the Flat Tops and the Zirkels and then start my taper the last week of the month.
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