Running in the Rockies

Colfax 1/2 Marathon

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20102011
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Location:

CO,

Member Since:

Jun 02, 2010

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

PRs

5k (2009): ~30

10k (2010): ~55

1/2 marathon (2011): ~1:54

Marathon (2001): ~4:05

Marathons

Chicago Marathon (2001): 4:05

California International Marathon (2010): 4:09

Short-Term Running Goals:

Primary goal is consistency in training, secondary goal is to get faster.

5k: sub 25 mins

10k: sub 49 mins

1/2 marathon: sub 1:45

marathon: 3:50

Tentative 2011 race schedule:

May 15, Colfax 1/2- Denver; 1:54:03

June 4, Golden Gate Dirty Thirty- 12mi, Black Hawk; 2:50:06

Late June- Early August: Running hiatus due to geology field camp

August 21,  Heart and Sole 10k- Boulder; 55:30

September 5, Boulder 1/2 Marathon; 2:02ish

September 25, Bear Chase 1/2, Lakewood

October 9, Denver Rock n'Roll 1/2

October 21, Scream Scram 5k- Denver

November 12, Turkey Trot 10k- Longmont

November 19, Panicking Poultry 5k- Boulder

November 24, CU Turkey Trot 5k - Boulder

December 4, CIM- Sacramento



 

 



Long-Term Running Goals:

I would like to qualify for Boston and complete a 100 mile race someday. I hope to run consistently for the rest of my life.

Personal:

Geologist, backcountry skier and hiker, cyclist, occasional rock climber, and yogi. I enjoy traveling, cooking, knitting, reading, music (learning the guitar and piano- and listening to a wide variety), and working on our house. 1 significant other, 2 dogs, 1 cat.


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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Asics GT-2150 Lifetime Miles: 289.93
Asics Kayano Red Lifetime Miles: 393.13
Saucony Progrid Mirage Lifetime Miles: 32.10
Asics Gel Cumulus 12 Lifetime Miles: 317.95
La Sportiva- Fireblade Lifetime Miles: 112.07
Runs With L Pup Lifetime Miles: 590.86
Runs With B Pup Lifetime Miles: 180.08
Brooks Cascadia 6 Lifetime Miles: 106.69
Race: Colfax 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:54:00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
13.100.0013.10

Not sure why I decided to run colfax half again this year. I forgot about the 6am start and the 'need to be parked by 4:45am'. Ugh. Left the house at 3:30 am and drove on the very slushy canyon road down to Denver (it snowed 5-6" up at our place on Saturday night). Arrive without too much issue and parked. They changed the set up of the course a bit this year and it is terribly dark at 4:30am in City Park. They didn't have great signage directing runners to the start or to the port-o-potties. I saw lines of people just waiting to use the standard park restrooms, likely because they didn't know where the POP's where. It was a chilly morning, temps probably in the upper 30's, low 40's with some drizzle. I opted for tights, long sleeves mid weight shirt with a light weight t-shirt over it + gloves and running cap. Brought along the hand held amphipod water bottle with First Endurance EFS and a Gu (no caffeine) (only drank 1/2 the EFS and ate less than 1/2 gu).

Ran 5 mins of warm up to get to POP's, then over to start. Stretched a bit on the starting line. Probably could have warmed up a bit more. 

 They used corrals this year and placed runners w.r.t. anticipated finish time. I'd say about only about 1/2 the people in my corral were actually suppose to be there. Many were from slower corrals (supposedly not allowed, but no one was checking). Of course, one of my biggest pet peeves in these larger races is 1) people that run with ear phones (because 9/10 times they have no idea they are cutting people off left and right) and 2) slower runners and/or walkers that start in positions that do not in any way represent where they will finish in the pack or even what their paces are. Anyways, I digress, somewhat... The start was pretty long and it took a while for the pack to thin out enough to even run. As expected, within the first mile people were walking and breathing so heavily that it sounded like they would pass out. It just seems to me that if you are going to walk in the first mile, you should be in one of the last, if not the last starting corral. I have no idea why people do this, it can't be fun or good for motivation. I guess my goal should be to get faster and try to legitimately be located in the first few starting corrals. I bet the faster runners do not have these sorts of difficulties to deal with.

 I didn't have time to really think about a plan for this race. I had intended to do that this past week, but never found the time. So, as usual, I decided to start slow and try to get progressively faster throughout the nice, flat course, with significantly more oxygen than I typically have available.

The breakdown from the garmin:

Mile 1: 9:37- really packed, not able to even run at some points.

Mile 2: 8:58

Mile 3: 8:59

Mile 4: 9:08- slight hill

Mile 5: 8:53

Mile 6: 8:54

Mile 7: 8:45

Mile 8: 8:31

Mile 9: 8:37

Mile 10: 8:31

Mile 11: 8:19

Mile 12: 7:55

Mile 13: 7:51

Forgot to turn off watch after I crossed the finish line, so I have no idea what my ending pace was. I felt strong on the very last stretch and the last few data points from the garmin were 6:55- 6:35 pace and it didn't feel like a sprint, just a strong finish.

Total (from garmin) time: 1:54:04

Ave pace (from garmin): 8:38

Started raining just as I finished and my hands were freezing by that point. I grabbed a banana and some water and headed to the car to change. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor, and I'm thinking that for the next race I may wear my watch, but set it into a mode so that I cannot see my pace. I'm thinking maybe I should try to race more by feel and see how that goes. I was running pretty easy (I doubt my heart rate was above 150) until about Mile 10, so I think if I adjust my race strategy and mind set, I'm probably capable of a sub 1:50 right now on a relatively flat course at lower elevation (5,000-6,000').

 

Ended up meeting an old friend for brunch down town after the race and it was great to catch up with him after ~5 years! ( I am just terrible at staying in touch.. really need to be better at that).

 

*I just looked back at my stats from this race last year and I ran a ~2:03, so I guess almost a 9 minute better time for this course is a good start to the season. Especially since I've only really been training for the last month after taking care of the IT band/ knee issues this winter.

Asics Gel Cumulus 12 Miles: 13.10
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
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