The Denver Marathon has been around for a few years now, but my schedule has never lined up in a way that I could participate.  While I’m not particularly fond of road marathons, and my training hasn’t been geared towards running one, I jumped at the chance to participate in a ‘big city marathon’ in my own city.

Since I have been chewing on the idea of running another 100 miler this fall, I decided to make this in to a training run.  26.2 miles wasn’t quite far enough, though – so I cooked up my own little plan similar to the Boston double I did a few years ago.

I decided to show up early, run the half marathon course on my own, then hop in the marathon just as it was starting.  Since I would have to park a few blocks from the start/finish, everything added together would give me a little over 40 miles on the day.  I hoped to be able to do the total run in under 6 hours, which is just under 9:00 pace and would be a good speed for me to try and dial in for that type of distance.

I was really excited about my plan when I first came up with it.  Then as race day approached, sanity started to prevail and it all just seemed like a really bad idea.  40 miles of pavement?!?  What was I thinking…

I dragged my feet through planning the logistics, and going downtown to pick up my packet.  Once that was all completed, I started to feel a little bit of excitement coming back.  I knew it would be a decent day when the 3:30 wake-up didn’t even feel that bad.

My biggest logistical challenge was finding a place to leave my car for the day.  There wasn’t anywhere (that I knew of) very close to the start/finish area at Civic Center Park.  I had to find one of the public lots scattered around the surrounding area.  I settled on one a few blocks away and got my gear on and was ready to run by 4:45.  The marathon start was at 7:15 and I wanted to be finished with my half-marathon loop before 7:00 so I could drop off my pack, change shoes and get my timing chip on, and jog a few blocks to the start.

My plan was already going sideways when I tried to pay for parking at the electronic kiosk and figured out that it was still charging the evening rate and it would expire at 05:00.  Rather than wait around for 15 minutes so I could pay for a full day starting at 05:01, I decided to get back in the car and try to find another lot.  I ended up finding a better one south of the library, but it put me behind schedule a bit.

I finally headed out a little after 5:00 with my headlamp on and carrying a waist pack with a full bottle and a couple of gels.  It was very cool to be running through the streets downtown in the dark.  My legs felt surprisingly decent and I settled right in to the pace I was looking for.  I had counted on things being pretty quiet, but it turns out I underestimated how much traffic there would be.  Not a ton, but enough that it was always causing me to slow down at every block and run with my head on a swivel the whole time.  That, combined with trying to navigate with the turn-by-turn directions from the race website, made for some slow going in the early miles.  Even though I knew things would be a little tight getting back to the start, I didn’t get in too big of a hurry.  A few wrong turns and some doubling-back, and I was finally on the long straight approach to City Park down 17th.  I could finally put navigation aside for a while and just run.

Things were much quieter out here and I ran in the left lane of the 3 lane one-way street to try and get away from the slope at the side of the road.  I could hear approaching traffic easily enough to get out of the way when I needed to.  Except for one time when I about got waxed by a pickup truck.  I heard the approaching car behind me and deduced that it was in the center lane.  I moved to the left just a little and was pretty shocked when a truck blew past me.  I hadn’t realized there were actually two vehicles approaching.  Stupid of me.

The miles in the park were uneventful and the sky started to ever so slowly brighten on the horizon.  I was able to shut off my lamp once I was out of the park and concentrated on holding a nice easy pace for some long stretches of road.  The volunteers that were setting up the aid stations would consistently do double and triple-takes as I ran past.  I had my bib number pinned to my shorts already, and I think that threw them off for a moment.  I could see their brains trying to work out why someone would be out at mile 10 on the course at that time of the morning.

I rolled through the first 13.1 miles with an average pace of 8:50 (1:55).  Right where I wanted to be.  No reason to push at all while running in the dark avoiding potholes, jumping curbs, etc.

My very loose goal was to complete the overall run in under 6 hours.  Two for the half, and four for the full.

With the time spent navigating and stopping for a bathroom break, I ended up getting back to my car at 7:15.  I still had to change and get things sorted out, before jogging a few more blocks over to the start.  I was a little frustrated I was late, but tried not to stress too much.  I knew that with 15,000 people in the race (they start the half and full together), it would take a long time to get everyone underway.

I used 3:45 as a time estimate when I registered, and that placed me in the 4th corral.  Each corral held approximately 1,000 people.  They used ropes to separate the corrals, and when one would start, they would walk the next one forward to the line and hold it for a minute or two and then release that wave before repeating the process over and over.  Since I was late, my wave was long gone and I hopped in the group that was walking to the line.  It turned out to be the 12th wave, which meant that 10-11,000 people were already on the course ahead of me.

I was right at the front when we got the start and loved running the open road ahead, quickly settling into a nice pace.  Then we rounded a corner and BAM!  Wall-to-wall people as far as the eye could see.  I did my best to hold pace while dodging and weaving my way through the crowd.  I was super careful to not be a jerk about it, though.  It was my own fault for being late, and it wasn’t a real ‘race’ for me anyway.  I wanted to see if I could finish in under 3:30 and did my best to run sub-8:00 pace.  That was tough, especially when I had to come to a complete stop several times.

I felt good, and was mostly just making a game of it all.  After about 4 miles, things finally started to stretch out enough so I could run some longer segments without altering my line (like 20 meters).  I caught up with the 4:30 pace group at mile 5.

When we were in City Park, a guy running the half marathon (different bib color) eased past me and seemed to be holding around a 7:30-7:40 pace so I hung back from him a bit and locked in to that speed.  We traded leads a few times and generally stayed together for the next 5-6 miles until the half and full courses split from each other in Cheesman Park.  That was fun and a most welcome distraction.  I couldn’t get over how packed the road was with people right up to the course split around mile 11.

Then it was crickets.

I think probably 85% of the people in the race were doing the half marathon.  Things got really quiet once the course split and the runners were spread out quite a bit.  My stomach started tightening up here and would kick my butt for the next several miles, making it hard to maintain the pace.  The legs were still  responding ok, and other than some mighty twitchy hamstrings, everything else was doing fine.

The lap of Wash Park was nice, then it was mostly very long, very straight, roads to the finish.  JY hopped out and ran with me for a bit as I went past his house.  That was a great boost to see a friendly face and get to share my little secret of being on mile 34 for the day, and not mile 20 of the marathon.  Even though he’s an ultra-runner, I think it still left him shaking his head a bit.  Ha!

After being slowed by the crowded start, then making up time running with the half-guy, then losing a little time with stomach issues, my average pace was 7:59 from mile 18 through mile 35.  I needed to be under 8:00 to crack 3:30 for the marathon and knew it just wasn’t going to happen.  I struggled to hold 8:30 for the final 5 miles as my legs became a little less than peppy after the last 4-5 hours of pavement running.  I had to drop into grind mode and just get it done.

Chip time for the marathon was 3:35:00.  Total for the day was 40.15 miles, 5:35 (8:21 pace overall).  It was a very good training run and I’m super happy with how everything worked out.  I would definitely do it again given the chance.

After I recovered for a while, I walked around with the camera and got a few shots.

2007 - volunteer
2008 - DNF @ mile 77
2009 - 24:44 - 55
2010 - 27:52 - 180
2011 - 28:23 - 198
2012 - 28:45 - 226

I have a little history with this event.

History has not been kind to me.

For the fifth year in a row I found myself standing at the corner of 6th and Harrison in the cold pre-dawn darkness waiting to start the Leadville Trail 100 mile race. I volunteered at an aid station in 2007 to fulfill a requirement for another 100 miler, and have been running the race ever since. Things have changed quite a bit since then. There were less than 450 starters in my first one, today there were 800 – and entries had been locked out since January. Due to yet another change, I would be running my 3rd different course variation.

Let’s get the excuses out of the way first.

My training for the summer could barely be considered ‘maintenance’ at best. I logged one of the lowest mileage totals out of all the years I have been doing this. My bread-and-butter training for Leadville is multiple long runs of 20+ miles. Some years, I have done 2 or 3 in a week for several weeks at a slow pace. Emphasizing my training philosophy for these things:

Beat the crap out of your body, as gently as possible.

I was only able to get in a single 20+ mile run in each of the May, June, July, and August months. Nowhere near what I would consider necessary, let alone optimal.

May+June+July (20+ milers up to race day)
2008 - 670 miles (3)
2009 - 790 miles (13)
2010 - 929 miles (9)
2011 - 796 miles (7)
2012 - 721 miles (4)

On the bright side, I had been running consistently. I had been doing more regular tempo work and intervals than I had ever done before, and I set a half marathon PR in July. I had some injuries that were firmly in the annoying category (especially my calves), but nothing debilitating. My only goal was a finish, preferably as drama-free as possible. The time didn’t matter, my training didn’t justify any thoughts of going for a certain time.

Despite needing to work Thursday night, I headed up to Brandon’s BBQ and enjoyed a burger, chips, and way too many cookies. It sucked having to work the whole time, but it was great to still get to hang out and talk with a bunch of like-minded people.

For the first time ever, I had my drop bags packed up before I drove to Leadville. That was a huge effort, but very worthwhile as it freed up my Friday afternoon that is normally spent doing last minute packing. Since I don’t utilize a crew, my drop bags are critical to my success and need to be packed very carefully. There isn’t any room for errors like leaving my lights in the wrong place, etc. After I got them dropped off, I was able to spend the rest of the day chilling out up in the hills taking pictures and relaxing in the fresh air.

I lined up towards the back of the group at the start, and wanted my pace to be painfully slow for the 13 miles it would take to get to the first aid station. I had to hold back for a while, but soon settled down and just shuffled along. I figured it would be a day to gradually work my way up through the field.

I arrived at the first aid station (May Queen) in my slowest ever time, 2:30. This is where the plan backfired a little. I got bored, antsy, whatever – and rebounded with my fastest ever split to Fish Hatchery at mile 23. Getting there in 1:59 while passing about 600 people along the way.

I should have either continuted to be patient and hold back, or just run a more consistent pace from the start. While I did get in too much of a hurry there, I was feeling pretty good at this point and felt optimistic about the day ahead.

Running into the Fish Hatchery aid station is always great. A huge crowd of runner’s crews is gathered there – screaming and clapping. Definitely a big boost. It was also the first of about 400 times I would see Rob out on the course taking pics and cheering on friends.

The road section to Pipeline always sucks, but I ran it about as well as I ever have. Getting back onto the dirt, I started to have some intense foot pain and was constantly shifting my stride to compensate. I love the New Balance 110s, but something in the sole of my latest pair aggravates the hell out of my foot and has developed a painful neuroma on the lateral metatarsals of both feet. I finally got some relief when the terrain shifted to a more rolling nature.

I was starting to get a little tired, which is to be expected after getting up at 2:30 and having 30 miles on the legs so far.

Now the trail was climbing up into the aspens and I started pulling out of my slump. I follow a pretty simple nutrition plan – one gel every 30 minutes, and only water to drink (except for a cup of coke at the aid stations once in a while). It keeps things running smooth for the most part, but you still never really know how your body will react every time you take something in during an event like this. Kind of like pulling the handle on a slot machine.

For whatever reason, the routine gel I took in during this section came up triple 7s. I felt so energized! I rode the wave for several miles into Twin Lakes, bombing down the trail, enjoying it while it lasted.

Running from the start to Twin Lakes is pretty much an auto-pilot affair for me as you can see by my arrival times over 4 years:

2009 - 7:37
2010 - 7:42
2011 - 7:37
2012 - 7:42

Another huge crowd awaits your arrival at Twin Lakes. The celebration is short lived as you realize what is coming next. The dreaded ascent over Hope Pass. The dread became reality as the next 20 miles to hit Winfield and come back to Twin lakes would take me over an hour longer to cover than the first 40 miles of the race. Ouch!

Going outbound went well enough. A little slow, but my attitude was good and I was just taking things easy and enjoying myself. The new trail to Winfield went on forever and sucked significant life out of me by the time it was over.

I got there in 11:45 elapsed time, which is about 40 minutes longer than normal. My feet were killing me again and I opted for a shoe change here. Donnie jumped in as my impromptu crew and was a huge help in getting me sorted out and headed back to Hope Pass.

The five hour trip to cover the 10+ miles back to Twin Lakes was almost unbearable. For the 3rd year in a row, the back side of Hope Pass had kicked my backside. As I sat on a rock, cursing myself for signing up for this stupid race again, I thought about what the remaining 40 miles would hold for me after getting to the next aid station. It would be tough. Really tough, to get to the finish. I had been there, done that, and didn’t want to do it again.

I nudged the elephant that was sitting on my chest making it difficult to breathe and started shuffling my way up the mountain again. Hurting. Demoralized. But not yet defeated.

One thing that kept me going was knowing that my good friend Stuart was waiting at Twin Lakes to pace me the last 40 miles of the race. All day my main goal had been to get to him in decent shape and then we’d get it done from there. I couldn’t even accomplish that much.

The fact that he had taken time away from his family on a weekend to spend the night running/walking/crawling 40 miles with me meant a great deal to me. I had to at least try to make it.

I normally run these things without a crew or pacer. I’m a do it yourself kind of guy and have just never really bought into the whole pacer/crew extravaganza, but I could see myself changing my tune after a race like this one.

Stuart hopped in behind me on the trail through the marsh and I was so fried I didn’t even realize it was him. He and Rob got me all taken care of at Twin Lakes and we set out for the long night ahead.

It would end up taking us exactly 12 hours to cover the 40 miles to the finish. Slow going. Even when I thought I was moving well, it baffled me to no end to constantly get passed with such regularity. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I remember, but it sure seemed like a steady stream of people were going by us all night long.

We shared some good laughs, and Stuart’s company out on the trail was nice to have. I especially liked how he could respond and interact with other racers/pacers while letting me conserve my precious oxygen. The weather was fantastic, just a tiny bit on the cold side. I don’t recall any major drama other than my lungs being the main thing that was limiting me. I was just slow and tired.

The powerline climb took a while, but wasn’t as bad as I had feared it might be. Once we got down to Hagerman road I ran the whole thing at a pretty fast pace, showing that I had plenty of leg left – but the lungs were toast.

The May Queen aid station is such a great milestone to reach, the last one of the race – but it’s depressing as well because you still have 13+ miles to go! I moved a little better along the lake when Stu calculated we were going to be cutting things close. I put in several long running stretches and seemed to be able to breathe a bit better, even running many of the hills. Finally passing people, which felt great.

Our MQ split to the finish was 3:21. 30 minutes slower than 2009, but over an hour faster than last year. Hit the line in 28:45 and was very happy to have another finish and to have been able to share the journey with such a good friend.

When I got the big buckle in 2009, I really thought that was going to be the ‘norm’ and that I still had quite a bit of room to improve. It turns out that year has been the exception. While it has been frustrating to endure the past three years of rough finishes, I still made it. That counts for a lot and has given me great experience and confidence. I couldn’t really care less how I stack up against others (for the most part), but I am very competitive with myself. That 2009 guy better watch out, I gunning for him big-time next year!

Stuart wrote an excellent report on our 40 mile jog together.  See that here.

Being primarily a trail/ultra guy, I only race on the road once or twice a year.  I actually quite like it, and wish I could do more, but choose to invest the bulk of my time and effort in running mountainous trails because I like doing that best.  Plus, it would be a crime not to – living in CO and all.

About 2 weeks before a trip to Utah, I started scanning some race calendars and spotted the Hobbler Half Marathon.  Score!  This race would be taking place only a mile from where I would be staying.

I tentatively planned on giving it a go, but didn’t actually register until the evening before the race.  That gave me roughly 10 days to train with any specificity.  My running over the last 2 months has sucked, to put it bluntly.  I stuck with it, though – grinding along from one day to the next knowing that staying consistent and keeping a solid base would be critical for the future.

I ended up doing 3 interval workouts in that 10 day period, with repeats ranging from .5 to 2 miles.  On one of the 2 mile repeats one day, I couldn’t even hold the pace I had previously run for an entire marathon.  Not particularly encouraging to say the least…  I also did 2 x 8 mile tempo runs in the 7:20-7:40 pace range.  The final one was on Wednesday prior to the Saturday race and ended up being a huge confidence boost because I felt great.  Things were finally falling into place.

I’m taking the time to give this background to illustrate that even just a tiny amount of specific training can go a very long way.  Especially when you have a good base to start from.  These workouts were essentially the only ‘fast’ running I’ve done since last September.  Back then I did a similar 2 week focus for a 5K race using my post-Leadville 100 fitness and was able to run a PR.

I have found that it is one thing to be fit, but that alone won’t get you far (I know I’m slow in the larger scheme of things, just trying to illustrate what can be done with this old man’s body).  What really helps is working to improve the neuromuscular coordination that it takes to run at a faster pace, and to be able to do so efficiently. That’s what my limited workouts were targeted at developing (or at least shaking some of the rust loose).

Half marathons have been my most frequently raced non-trail distance, mostly because of the great event put on in Pueblo every December.  Very reasonable price and it has usually fit into my schedule very well.  I’ve enjoyed a nice progression over the past few years with times of  1:41, 1:37, 1:34, 1:31.

Given that background, I thought my A+ goal would be to break 90 minutes for the first time, and to hopefully finish in the top-20 (out of over 700 starters).

The Race

It was a super early wakeup to get to the staging area and loaded on a bus for transport to the start line.  As we rode along in the darkness, I looked up at the sky and saw two planets (Venus & Jupiter) plus a bright star all arranged in a perfect line from top to bottom.  I took this as a good sign!

The race report itself isn’t that long – I ran smart and conservative.  I took in a gel at miles 4 and 8.  I stopped for water at 2 aid stations as it was a hot day and I wanted to make sure and get some fluids in me without spilling everywhere on the run.

I was steadily passed in the early miles before reaching a sort of equilibrium, and then picking people off until the end.  I passed 5 people over the final mile and the next finisher ahead of me was over a minute away so I feel I did everything I could at the end of the race to secure my placing.

I ended up in 19th place overall with a time of 1:29:30.  Barely, but still solidly, meeting both goals.  It was one of my most satisfying race efforts.  I struggled a little over the final two miles, but felt like a machine for the rest.

I’m very happy with my even pacing.  That was my key to success.  My fastest mile was a 6:37, which was only 10 seconds faster than my average over the entire race distance.  I showed some good restraint early and then held pace to the end.  A+

I think I could go a fair bit faster given some more specific training, mostly to work on the quick light efficient stride, but I’ll bask in this one for a while and head back to the 10 min/miles of life on the trails.