Mile 2

Since I officially started training again on Tuesday of this week, it sounded like a great idea to race 10 miles on Saturday!  After a month of being ill with a stomach virus and struggling with related health problems, I was finally starting to feel back to my normal self again.  I had only managed a grand total of 13 miles over 4 runs in the previous 5 weeks.

I got out for 15 miles on Tuesday, and felt surprisingly good.  Wednesday I did a super easy recovery run, then a hard hill workout on the treadmill on Thursday.  That’s it – time to race!

The Colorado Masters Running Association (CMRA) does a great job of putting on low-cost events once a month in the Denver area.  In these tight economic times, being able to pay 10 bucks on race day with no late fees is a real treat.  There are no t-shirts, but those rarely get worn anyway.  They focus their efforts on a quality course, water stations, timing, and results.  There was a great turnout (300?) for the 5 and 10 mile races.  Thanks, CMRA!

This month’s venue was Chatfield State Park.  Close enough for me to run to the start (4.5 miles).  I felt great as I left my house in the 23 degree sunshine.  Glad I had made the call to wear shorts and not tights.  I can’t stand racing in tights if I can help it – too restrictive.  Today I used an old cycling trick and rubbed a thin layer of vaseline on my legs to keep the cold air off my skin.  It seemed to help a bit.

I was surprised at how good my legs felt on the run down to the park, and I was optimistic that I was going to have a good day.  I knew I would be lacking in the speed and endurance department after my layoff, but I was so happy to be outdoors getting a chance to race again.  I needed that!

I found my buddy Jeff before the start and enjoyed talking the usual pre-race runner smack with him, his co-worker Steve, and Steve’s wife Jay.  Jeff was coming off a nice run at the Denver Marathon last month, and Steve was sporting a spiffy Garmin 405 model that I’ve had my eye on for a while.

We were soon packed in at the starting line and waiting for the signal to be given.  The start was very crowded, but I knew there would be plenty of chances for passing as the bulk of the first two miles was on dirt road.  I settled into a comfortably hard pace and started trying to move up a few spots here and there when I could do so without making too much of an effort.

Once the twisty and root filled singletrack started, I found myself at the tail end of about a dozen runners.  It was actually a good situation because I was being pulled along just slightly faster than I would have been running had I been alone.  We kept that up for a couple of miles.  I saw a few trips, but no wipeouts – I heard after the race that there were incidents of a sprained ankle, broken ankle, and a broken nose.  I feel bad for those runners and wish them a quick recovery.  It can be tough running through the woods at top speed with leaf-covered obstacles just waiting to grab your feet and take you down.

I was glad to hit the halfway point still feeling decent and like I had something left in the tank.  I started making a few more passes that definitely took me out of my comfort zone.  Spiking my heart rate to 183, a number that hasn’t been seen for a long time.

Hills, singletrack, sand, and hoof prints were the theme for the last several miles.  It was tough to keep a good pace going through this section, but soon I was on the return trip to the finish line and glad to be done.

Steve finishing strong!

I finished the 10 miles in 1:12:52 and was super happy to be able to run like that after just starting up again.  My hamstrings felt like they were going to snap, but otherwise my legs felt great.  Official results haven’t been posted, but I think I was 29th out of ~180 overall (winner was 1:01), and got 4th in my age group.

Nice award for a $10 race

Now I just had to get my legs going again for the uphill return trip home.  It took me a few minutes to warm up after standing around at the awards ceremony for quite a while.  Other than being a little tired, I felt good on the way home and finished off a nice 19+ mile day.  It’s good to be back!!!!

Today was the polar opposite of yesterday, excepting the pre-dawn wakeup.  I finally made it to the race that inspired me to start running 2 years ago.  What a morning.  Race for the Cure is a BIG deal in Denver, frequently registering the highest number of participants in the whole country.  Today they were estimating 65,000 people took part.  Wow!

I knew I was in for an event like no other when I pulled into the light rail station to find the main lot filled up at 06:00.  I had to detour into the overflow dirt lot.

The trains were packed

I was one of about 3 guys total on the packed, standing room only train.  Wearing my dark ski cap, dark long-sleeve shirt, and black warmup pants I felt like a thug in a sea of pink and white ladies.  A fly in a bowl of creamy pink soup.  Man, did I ever stick out.

I spent some time walking around the start area, and got my shirt ready.  Whew, I finally had some pink on!

For Mom and Merr

Being one of the .0000000001% of the 65,000 people that wanted to ‘race’, I made my way to the starting line about 30 minutes early.

Long jog to the start

It was about a 1/2 mile from the finish area, so I used it as a chance to jog and warm up a little.  I was pretty happy to see that my legs felt relatively decent after the 24 mile day yesterday.

I was about 5 rows back on the right

I didn’t know how much I had left in me, but I wanted to run hard and see what I could do.  The minutes leading up to the start were touching with the singing of the national anthem and talk about the disease we were all there to help fight.  I’ll admit I got a little choked up and my eyes were blurry by the time the 10 second countdown began.

You could probably stitch 6 of these pictures together and still not capture the entire crowd - HUGE!

I took off running hard with a lump in my throat and damp eyes.  Time to focus as I weaved through the people ahead of me to get a clear line.  My body wasn’t thrilled with the speed, but it didn’t shut me down, either.  More of a shoulder shrug – and here we go again…

My plan was to run until it hurt pretty bad, then hold that pace.  I was really wanting to slow down at the halfway point, but I kept thinking of the names on my back and on the backs of everyone around me and felt myself being pushed forward.  It was incredibly inspiring.

A cool feature of the Denver course - the freeway ramp ribbon

Soon the finish was in sight and I gave it everything I had to cross the line running strong.  I finished in 21:06 (6:47 pace).  Not the 6:30s I was hoping to run, but not bad with all the miles in my legs.

After the race I spent some time walking around the vendor expo area and getting lots of goodies for my girls.  Jessica was particularly excited about her bunny ears and wore them all day.

Cute rabbit

The Survivor’s Ceremony wrapped up the day, with a concert and balloons.  It was a special day and I’m glad I was able to take part in it.

The Survivor's Ceremony

I got creative with my Saturday morning schedule and ended up with a good day of training.  I had to drop my son off at his high school at 6am to catch the bus for a cross country meet.  I left my car parked at the school and started running towards home.  I knew there was a race going on today at Waterton Canyon near where I live and wanted to see if I could make it there in time to register.  It was pitch dark, so I had to wait for things to lighten up enough for me to see.  At about 6:30 I was on my way.

The view on my journey to the race

I ran easily and comfortably, taking about 2 hours to do the 12 miles to Waterton.  I got signed up for the race and walked around while I waited for the start.  I got some strange looks as I mingled with the group of road runners wearing my big hydration pack.  Little did they know I was only at the mid-point of my day’s training.

The race was a ‘predict’ event.  Runners are given a handicap based on previous races, and the start times are derived using some sort of formula.  At ‘zero’ hour, the slowest runners (or those coming off injuries, or just looking for a casual run) took off.  At regular intervals after that, incremtally faster runners would start – the fastest runners started last.  In theory, this creates a situation where everyone finishes more or less together.  You are constantly gradually passing people, or getting passed yourself.  It’s good training because it gives you a chance to try and hang with someone who is just a little bit faster than you are – rather than trying to survive when someone flies by you.

Runners waiting for their start times

Never having done a race like this, I didn’t have an established handicap.  They allowed me to select the pace I wanted to run and start at the appointed time.  I chose a 9 minute pace based on my desire for just a good steady training run.  It was strange taking the start with just one other guy.  He pulled ahead fairly quickly, and I settled into a comfortable pace.  Keeping my heart rate in the 140s.

My first couple of splits were fast, so I slowed it down a notch and was a little over for the next few.  I spent a few minutes running with Kerry and his pacer.  Kerry is blind and was tethered to his guide and doing quite well.  I was impressed with his steadiness on the uneven dirt/gravel surface.

Nearing the 5 mile turnaround

Once I hit the turnaround, I took advantage of the nice tailwind and gradual downhill to speed up a bit.  I targeted 155 for my heart rate and was at a good cruising speed.  I ran the final mile in 6:40 to finish off the race in 1:25.

Then I caught my breath for about 30 seconds and continued my run home.  24 miles for the day.