Running in the Rockies

Ran 5 on Boulder Canyon path. Suppose to be an easy, pre-race run but found myself pushing it downhill on the way back. Sometimes it just feels good to run fast.

Mile 1 9:50, slight uphill

Mile 2 10:02, uphill

Mile 3 9:27, uphill & downhill

Mile 4 8:28 downhill

Mile 5 8:28 downhill

Avg pace: 9:15

Stretched for 1/2 hour afterwards by the creek..

Left the house without the garmin, so drove ~mile back to grab it.. Made it to Georgetown Lake, picked up the bib and hopped on the bus that took us to Loveland ski area parking lot- also the start of the race. We were the first bus to arrive and ~an hour before the start. Took advantage of the lack of lines for the port-o-pots and then stretched for the remainder of the time near the creek. The start was actually up the two-track dirt road just west and off the dirt parking area. The starting area was grouped into 'fast', 'medium', and I assume 'slow'- although I didn't walk back to find out. Since I usually always finish in the top 1/3 or top 1/2 of all runners, I always place myself in the middle of the pack or between the 9 and 10 min pacers. I am going to assume that many people run this race as their first 1/2 and therefore do not know their pace- because it was really frustrating to finally make it to the starting line only to find that even though there is sufficient space to begin running- people are still walking. Maybe it's too much to ask, but it would certainly be nice for races with tight starting areas to make more of an effort to corral runners into what they believe will be their average pace.. at any rate- finally start running!

Mile 1: 9:24- the first mile was very difficult to maintain any sort of legitimate pace due to the tight nature of the course and joggers/walkers stopping in the middle of the road-etc. I may try to start nearer the front of the pack next year if I decide to run this race again. 

Mile 2: 8:41- crowd is starting to tapper out and starting to get into a nice pace. Almost rolled my ankle twice during mile 2 by stepping off the gravel road to pass groups running 4-5 across.. at any rate, the gravel road was nicely graded, but the sides were very loose and made passing a delicate operation.

Mile 3: 8:43, Mile 4: 8:39, Mile 5: 8:24

Mile 6: 9:16, I think I may have walked a bit at the aid station where I took some gatorade. Been running with the hand-held water bottle.. it's okay, but I think it makes my arm positions vary and might be adding to upper body and neck tightness after long runs.. however- I would rather deal with that than add to the waste of all those paper cups! Ack- I hate seeing the amount of trash generated from races. Slight uphill here as well, many people walking it. Starting to get a bit warm and I think the course moved onto the asphalt frontage road- less shade during this section of the race.

Mile 7:8:24- back on the downhill, feeling pretty good- was wondering here if I should start to push the pace, but decided to run conservatively since I didn't know how steep the course would get and if my knees could handle it- while my lungs may perfer going down- it seems like my knees prefer going up.

Mile 8: 8:51, Mile 9: 8:30

Mile 10: 9:02, fairly flat with slight uphill at the end of this mile- lots of people starting to walk, I felt really strong- but again didn't push it. Really wanted to get back into the shade though- despite lathering on sunscreen, I was feeling like my arms and legs were getting burned.

Mile 11: 8:17, Mile 12: 8:15- two very steep miles on paved bike path just off I-70. These two miles were probably the most painful for me despite being the fastest. They blew my quads and the balls of both feet were screaming. I was really wanting some flat ground and maybe an uphill.

Mile 13: 10:05 finally got that flat section with some very slight uphills and to top it off- a mostly dirt road! However, I think I really did blow the legs on the last two miles- my lungs felt great and the breathing was under control, but I just didn't have any push left. However, no one passed me and I passed numerous people that were walking the uphill sections, so that made me feel a bit stronger. Average pace for the entire race was 8:42- not too bad, but not as fast as I had hoped.

Overall, I think perhaps I ran too conservatively early on, then pushed the downhill a bit more than I should have and didn't anything left for the last mile.. immediately felt like I could run another 4-5 miles after the race, but opted to drive home and help the sig. other lay the concrete footers for our new deck. Set a PR-but definitely not a legitimate one..

The blogging thing isn't working so well for me. Finding it hard to remember to log in and summarize my work outs  and runs in the evening and usually don't have time during the day. I am going to attempt to be better starting today! 

Actually today was my first day back in almost 2 weeks. I pulled or tore a lower back muscle trying to move a futon frame in order to extract my cat for a vet appointment. He took one look at the cat carrier and took off under the futon.. I would have been more mad- but he's so cute. Anyways, it was the worst back pain I have ever had.. probably means I need more core work. Was pretty much immobile for 4 days and took it easy for another week or so. My usual PT can't see me until the end of next week. I'd say it's about 80% right now.. I still can't do leg lifts for core work or stretch in the same way before pulling the muscle, but walking and running is feeling okay. The run felt uber slow today and I am sure it was (Garmin was dead since I haven't used it in so long).  I was also running with the pup- I've decided we need to go to some sort of training together because he refuses to accept the idea that he can run beside me (he wants to run in front of me and cut me off every 5 steps, in addition to pulling and marking every other tree he passes). Anyways- I'm at my limits of what I know about dog training, I think we need a professional.

AM: ~7 miles in probably ~10 min pace.. some of the uphill miles were likely even slower. Probably need to re-evaluate the marathon schedule for the fall/winter. sigh.

AM: Lifted weights, core work

P.M. Easy 4, ~9:20 pace

Unintended day off. Hectic work day and then had to wait for the delivery of new fridge, washer, and dryer.. very exciting! Should have run in late PM- but hanging out and watching a movie w/ sig. other was much more enticing.. 

AM: 4.3 miles, ~11:02 avg pace

AM: Hamstring, glutes, hip, & calf exercises, core work, weights- upper body & arms

 My easy runs consist of running the roads and trails near my house (also at ~8,600'). It feels like most long days are actually easier than the short days because I try to find a flat(er) place to run.. but still at ~8,500'. I probably should run on the plains a couple times a week to see if I can get my legs to turn over a bit faster and get a better pace going. Although, I prefer hills and less oxygen over heat..and the plains are always ~10 degrees hotter than where I live in the mountains. It's often not a very difficult decision to make.

Wow.. I'm amazed (i.e., very depressed) at what ~ a month off of serious training will do to me! I needn't say much more:

3.4 miles on trail near my house ( Avg elevation ~8,700'/ gain-loss ~570') at ~11:55 pace. Last month on a relatively good 'easy' day, I did that run at about 11 flat pace and kept the heart rate at a more reasonable level on uphill sections. What worries me more than the significantly slower pace is the fact that I turned my ankle twice and stumbled more than a few times.. something that I should not be doing on a trail that I know as well as the back of my hand. I've been seriously slacking on the weights and ankle strengthening exercises and I think this was a good wake-up call.

 Alternatively, I could just be having an off week, been sleeping more than I should and still feeling fatigued. The stress of the dissertation is also climbing.. I need to hand it in ~2 weeks sooner than I thought and the data analysis section of the last chapter is still not done.. Unless things turn around significantly with the pace of the progress, it will become increasingly difficult to squeeze in those 2-3 hour training runs. Really need to make it happen though- on both fronts!

5 miles in 10:58 pace. Avg. elevation ~8,500'; gain/loss ~740'. Ran the usual 5 mile loop near my house w/ Loki pup. It was drizzling the whole time, which was refreshing. 

 Worked ~25-30 hours over the last two days. Anxiety is kicking in big time.. definitely feeling the stress of the dissertation..  need more hours in the day.

4 on trails near home in ~11:55 avg pace. Average elevation ~8,500'; gain/loss 585/690'. 

Still slower than I'd prefer and working really hard to maintain pace. Heart rate still pretty high on uphill sections. No ankle mishaps though.. 

~7 miles in ~10:19 avg. pace. Average elevation 8,500' gain/loss 356/622'. Last time I ran this route I did ~9 in ~9:54 avg pace. Ack. I did run later than usual and it was pretty hot. Excuses, excuses.. 

Easy ~4 up Boulder Canyon in ~9:22 avg pace. Felt pretty sluggish at the start, got moving just about the time I turned around. Probably the result of being up since 3 am. I laid awake stressing about work from 1-2:30, finally got up around 3 after realizing that trying to sleep was obviously not happening and I might as well be productive. Have to attend a wedding this weekend and am finding it hard to get into a happier/less stressed out mind frame.. hopefully I get my data analysis finished today. I'm also hopping to find a couple hours each day to do some long runs.. will see if that happens.

Still here and running some. Pretty hard to find the time to blog on a daily basis. T-minus 13 days until I have to turn in the dissertation. Sent Ch. 3 (the only chapter that has not been published) to the advisers last night.. hopefully the revisions won't be too difficult. Now to formatting the dissertation and writing a proposal so that I can be gainfully employed next year.. 

 As a 'reward' for finishing the chapter last night, I did 10 miles this morning.. slow, but not as slow as I thought they would be. Only been able to manage 3-4 every day or (shamefully) every other day, for the last couple weeks. 

10 in ~10 min/mile pace

Still watching the fire (fourmile fire in Boulder) closely. Winds are suppose to pick up this evening, hopefully they don't force it to move in a more southwesterly direction (of course, it's going to be terrible destruction moving in any direction). As long as I can get up the canyon to grab the valuables (aka, Penn and Loki- our cat and pup).. I suppose everything else will be okay. So sad..

~10 miles in ~9:55 avg pace. Avg elevation 8,500'.

Been awhile since I've logged any miles on here. But since I turned in my dissertation last Wednesday, things should get back to 'normal' or at least hopefully I will have a bit more time to run/work-out/ and log the training. I set a new record for myself last Tuesday/Wednesday- I was up for ~43 hours working to put the final touches on the dissertation. Needless to say, I pretty much crashed afterwards and am just now feeling normal again. Now all I need to do is; 1) make any revisions to the dissertation that my committee may give me, 2) put together a ~45 min defense talk, 3) fly to hawaii and defend successively (Oct. 20), 4) go through the exit interviews, 5) complete any final revisions to the manuscript after the defense, and 6) turn in the dissertation to the graduate divsion by Nov. 5. Seems doable.. fingers crossed- I'm so ready to be done.

I think I may have to adjust the training significantly. I've been running, but haven't managed to get as many long runs in as I would have liked too-  but I am still thinking I would like to try to run the CIM on Dec. 5th. I think it's possible if I am smart about training in the weeks left and can stay healthy and injury free. Training at ~8,000' should count for something right? And as long as my legs are strong and fit, I think I should be able to complete a marathon near sea level even if my cardio fitness isn't quite what it could be. Albeit, I'm not hoping for any PR's at this point and I will be happy if I can have fun running it and finish.  We'll see how it goes. Thinking about putting the bike back on the trainer this evening so I can log some extra cardio time without adding stress on the knees (or at least, less stress on the knees).

Forgot the watch again today, but it felt somewhat liberating running without it. I did ~3 miles at recovery pace and then stretched by Boulder Creek. Very pleasant.

I realized that when I fly back to Hawaii to defend in a few weeks that I may have time for a race while I am there and I found that there is a 30 K the weekend following my defense. So- I was thinking it would be a nice 'test', since the CIM is also a slightly rolling, sea level course. Then I remembered how hot and humid it is in hawaii... so much so, that in fact they are starting the race at 5am. Getting up this early shouldn't be a problem since I'll still probably be on CO time (4-5 hours later than HST), but I'm more worried about the temp and humidity. Unless the trade winds return, it could be 80 F by 8 am.. yuck. Therefore, I decided that maybe I should try to do a couple runs later in the day to better prepare myself for ~18 miles at ~70-80 degrees (instead of the nice 50-60 F at 6-7 am in the mountains). So I had planned on running yesterday after lunch.. However, after walking back from lunch, I wussed out- it was near 90 in the blazing sun. oh-well.. perhaps I will work my way up in temperatures by running later and later in the day.

7 miles at ~9:34 average pace on boulder creek path. Stretched near the creek afterwards. Nice temperatures even at 10:30 am.

 On the soap box: What is the deal with these double-wide strollers? First off, are they really necessary? When I was growing up- we had these little fold up things that probably weighed 2-3 pounds (these new SUV type strollers look really heavy) and they were completely sufficient for the purpose of getting from point A to point B. Albeit, perhaps there are better designs now days for dirt trails and more comfortable seats for the kiddos- but still, a double wide? I'm pretty sure that alternating which kid gets the 'front seat' on different walks is a great lesson in sharing. Furthermore, some of these kids are big enough that they could easily be walking alongside their parents- it's no wonder we have such an obesity problem in the states. But, assuming a double-wide SUV style stroller is necessary, why does everyone else have to accommodate? I was forced off the trail at least three times due to these SUV's simply because the 'driver' refused to move over. sheesh. I know it's not all parents/people- but it certainly seems like selfishness is on the rise and common courtesy is on the decline.

 Second thing I noticed on my run that was a little disturbing: Some parents (maybe ~50%) whom were out with their kiddos (in both non-SUV and SUV strollers) were yapping on their cell phones, while the kids sort of sat there listlessly in a daze (or, even worse, had some sort of an ipod/gaming thing they were glued to). None of my business really (except when people yap loud enough on the phone that they can be heard for at least 400 m away), but maybe talking to the kids might be nice? I don't have kids and don't plan on having them, but it just seems like good parenting to interact with them.. I don't know, maybe that's not recommended anymore.

I guess this is why I enjoy running alone on trails and mountain roads.. you see less people that may depress you about the state of humanity. Sigh. Off soap box.

~3 miles in ~10 min avg pace with the hubby.

 He's not fond of my 3 mile loop (lots of tough hills) and he wanted to do his usually 2 mile loop (only slightly less hilly), but I convinced him he could do 3. I also made him wear my heart rate monitor and as I suspected, his max heart rate was ~20 beats per minute lower than mine and his average heart rate was ~30 bpm lower, despite the fact that I run significantly more miles per week than he does (he hasn't run in weeks and has never run longer than 3). Although, he's one of those lean guys that has great blood pressure, cholesterol, and a low heart rate, even though he doesn't work out all that much (but we eat relatively well- not that it would probably matter for him.. lucky guy).  I'm not sure if I should be concerned about my seemingly high heart rates during my workouts or not...I don't feel pain and although sometimes my breathing becomes very rapid (when climbing steep hills), usually I feel fine for the most part or even feel like I could give more effort. Hmmm... I guess I'll just keep track of it and see where the fitness goes over the next 6 months or so.

13.04 in 10:36 avg pace.

 Ran along Boulder Creek Path and attemped to keep my heart rate between 140-150 bpm. This was a LOT harder to do than I thought it would be. Every few steps I'd look at my watch and realize my heart rate had crept back up and I'd tell myself to slow down. On the way back it was even more difficult because there is a very slight elevation gain as the path approaches the flatirons and boulder canyon. It was painfully slow, I think I approached a 12 minute mile during some sections. Ugh.  I'm not sure I could do all my runs following the heart rate method or not. I suppose it's good to do a few runs a week attempting to keep it lower, but I think that will only be possible to do if I run down in Boulder. The ~8,500' and hills make it very difficult for me to keep any type of consistent heart rate on my normal routes.

 But, when not concentrating on trying to run slower, it was nice to look around and take in the scenery, I saw many prairie dogs and even a fox. The temps weren't bad either and I got a little time to stretch afterwards by the creek. Everything else felt great.

3.4 trail run in ~11 min avg pace. 

I think I may have bruised the ball of my right foot yesterday running on the concrete for 13. I usually do longer runs on the roads because the concrete is so unforgiving for me. It was either that, or the fact that I wore 'nice' shoes to work after my run.. with smallish heels. I'm not good at walking in heels.. so maybe it was wearing those that bruised my foot. Not really sure. It's not too bad, slightly tender. But I thought it was a good enough reason for a trail run. We've been watching our friend's dogs for a few weeks and will have them until Oct. 15th or so (they are in africa-so jealous), so I took them, plus my pup, and we headed out to the trails near our house. My pup did his usually- take off at mach 5, until just out of sight and then come racing back when I called him- so much energy! The other two move more at their own pace.. and get side tracked by smells, sticks, squirrels, etc. But we all managed to stay together pretty well.

 About half way through our excursion, we found a leg of an elk or very large deer laid over the trail. It was much larger than a normal deer leg, and had a much deeper brown colored fur. Looked pretty 'fresh' still had some skin on it. The pups of course were overly interested, but luckily I got them to leave it after yelling at them each a few times. Yuck. It could have been road kill and something carried it back to the trails (a dirt road where people drive WAY too fast isn't too far away and I've sadly seen many creatures killed as they attempt a crossing), or it could have been a mountain lion or beer. Made me realize that it's probably not a good season to go out running alone in the early morning or late afternoon.. at least not in the woods- too many creatures trying to gather 'food' for the winter. I'd rather not be dinner for someone just yet.

 Anyways, around mile 3, I realized that the older of the pups (~9-10 yrs old) was breathing very fast and somewhat shallow.. he's a bit overweight and although I know his people take him out running pretty regularly, I didn't want to push him. I would feel terrible if something happened to him. So we stopped for a short rest and then just continued on home. I think maybe walks with the pups is in order for the next week or so. After we got home, it took him almost an hour to stop panting so heavily..but now he's sleeping soundly (they all are), so I think he's probably okay. Poor old guy. But an inspiration nonetheless. I hope that I am as happy as he is and still willing to give that solid of an effort in my older years.

Garmin was dead so I ran without a watch- it was a great run. I'm sure I ran too fast, but I felt great- so I just went with it. Nice and cool as well- gorgeous fall day. About 7 miles in I'm guessing 9:30 avg pace. 

Hiked ~3.4 miles with the pups and hubby. Nice cool autumn day, the last of the aspen are turning and starting to fall- the trail looked golden from all the leaves. Very pretty. The pups had a great time and no one seemed to get too tired. 

Later, we went to collect firewood in the national forest. The USFS is incredibly civilized when it comes to allowing citizens to cut down and collect dead trees for firewood- a permit for a cord is only 20$! There have been more and more trees killed from the pine bark and ips beetles in our area, so taking down the dead or infected trees is actually fire mitigation (in addition to helping lessen the spread of beetles)- and we get firewood for pretty cheap.  I hope more people take advantage of this and help protect the mountain communities.

At any rate- I think we took down about 5 big trees (bases ~15-22" in diameter and 50-70' tall?) and cut them into ~4-5' logs and then carried them on our shoulders down a pretty steep slope to our truck. They probably weighed anywhere from 20- 80 lbs and maybe 2-3 at 90-100 lbs- I struggled with the really heavy ones this year. Once we unloaded them in our driveway, we had to carry them around the back of the house to our cutting and chopping area. We spent about 4-5 hours on the wood and I got about an hour of actual chopping in. The only thing that was sore was my shoulders- they are pretty bruised from carrying the logs. Now we only need to repeat this about 7-8 more times and we'll be ready for winter!

15.16 miles in ~10:30 pace. Min elevation ~8,400'/max elevation ~9,200'. 

I ran the ~course of the Joe Colton 15 M race and the hubby rode his bike with me. It was very windy (gusts of ~20-30 mph maybe a few 40's in the open areas), and chilly- it starting snowing/sleeting on us near the small town of Tolland (~mile 5) and continued to do so for the rest of the run. My legs felt like icicles until mile 4 or so- and then I started to warm up. I need to get warmer running clothes, I think shorts were okay for this run, but I don't know if I could run in shorts in much colder/windier weather. It was an awesome run though- I LOVE running when it's cold, I felt much faster and stronger the entire run and I felt like I was killing my last time that I did this run.. turns out I did (~11:15 avg pace compared to 10:30 this time around). But it's not only the time that made me feel so much better about this run- it was also the fact that I felt so well. I finished strong (there are two hills in the last mile that I ran hard up and the last time I think I had to walk one of them). Furthermore,  I was immediately ready for food after the run, whereas the last time- I felt sick to my stomach for the rest of the day and could not really eat anything. The last time I ran that route- it was in June and very hot, I don't remember the temperature- but hot. I'm thinking maybe I should enter more fall/winter/ early spring races- I really dislike the heat.

 No soreness on Sunday or Monday (I'm entering this on Monday). Feeling great!

8 miles in ~9:40 avg pace.

13.1 in 8:48 avg pace.

I'm writing this entry significantly after the fact, so I will try to summarize the main points. Overall, I will probably not be running another rock n' roll event. There are some philosophical reasons as well as logistical reasons.

First off, there was a LOT of crap in the participant bags and not a lot of useful stuff, like for example, a map of runners and spectators. It's a big race and I was surprised that they did not include such a map. Now, I know there were maps available online, but I wasn't on top of things, and well, I thought one would likely be provided. Anyways- lots of crap(trying to get you to buy stuff)  in the bag, mostly stuff that got thrown away because it couldn't be recycled. Sigh.

Okay next;  the start and finish was not well marked and therefore difficult to find. There were no well marked signs and given that it was ~15,000 runners + spectators means that it was crowded and difficult to figure out where things were located.

Finally found my corral and got in. The race started pretty much on time- which was nice. But there were lots of people that did not find their corrals and just started jumping in wherever. Okay- I guess that is fine.

Got running after about 5 minutes of waiting (I guess they decided to hold up some corrals and start in waves because it was so packed). The first two miles were very crowded. Hard to get into a pace with so many different paces and people around. Frustrated. I think we passed the first band somewhere in mile 2ish and I realized that most people actually had ipods on and weren't even listening to the bands. Comical. However- I have a small rant about ipods and headphones in general in big races. When it's very crowded and everyone is wearing headphones- I think people can't hear who is around them and end up inadvertently cutting off runners. OR maybe they are just really rude.. I don't know. But I'm thinking maybe not allowing headphones in big races would be a good thing. I can't say how many times I was cut off in this race while running in a very straight line at a consistent pace by runners wearing headphones and not paying attention to anyone around them. Grrr.

Anyways.. the splits:

Mile 1: 9:06
Mile 2: 9:17
Mile 3: 9:28 (the people that started out WAY too fast start clogging up the road here)
Mile 4: 8:54 (ahhh, space! That's more like it)
Mile 5: 9:01
Mile 6: 8:49
Mile 7: 8:51
Mile 8: 8:41
Mile 9: 8:47
Mile 10: 8:50
Mile 11: 8:56
Mile 12: 8:37
Mile 13: 8:16
Mile .27 (from Garmin): 7:22

My garmin was in the heart rate mode, so I couldn't see my splits and I kept missing them at the mile marks from the watch. Since I had started back so far- I wasn't able to calculate on the fly what my pace was from the official clocks when I passed them either- so I was largely running off of what felt right and my heart rate. Towards the end (mile 11,12,13) my heart rate was inching higher and higher and pretty much through the roof down the straight to the finish. I felt like I was going a lot slower than I was, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had finished under 2 hours and judging by my splits afterwards, I probably need to try to start out a bit faster (or get into a faster starting corral).

So- I'll leave my philosophical perspective mostly out and I will just say that I wasn't very impressed with the Rock n' Roll event. It felt like they were just there to sell something. I've done other big events.. Bolder Boulder, Chicago Marathon for example, and they didn't have this feel- so I don't think it's the size- but the organizer. If this event is typical of the other RnR events, the fact that they are actively taking over a lot of the more locally organized events, may not be a good thing. In the next year, I am going to actively seek out the low- environmental impact or zero-waste events and give them my entry fee instead.

7.59 miles in ~9:50 avg pace.

 First run in Honolulu and attempted to run for 75 mins keeping heart rate between 150-160. (avg heart rate for the run was 158). Felt weird to be back in Honolulu. I had forgotten how hot and humid it is even at 5am! Was pleasant to see so many runners out in the darkness though. I ran to Waikiki and watched the sunrise. The ocean is always gorgeous.
 

8 miles in ~9:14 avg pace. 

Felt great and ready for my dissertation defense! Went over my talk in my head during the run. It was more challenging than I thought it would be, but really help me to solidify the main points on each slide. I think it helped to go over the talk and concentrate on what was visually on each slide, it's main points, and what the transition was to the next slide. I recommend it for anyone giving a big talk. 

6.09 miles in ~10 min avg pace.

Heart rate very low today (resting ~50, normally ~68 to 70) and ankles and lower legs very swollen. Swelling started the previous evening at dinner. Not sure what the cause was.. maybe successful defense? Running seemed to make the swelling decrease significantly. Maybe coming down from elevation (~8,500')  to sea level had some affect on my circulation? Or perhaps increased pressure made it harder for my heart to pump effectively? I have no idea- but the swelling was significant, you could not see one vein in either foot/ankle. Weird.  

~4.16 in 9:22 avg pace.

4th run in Honolulu (on 4th day in town). Lower legs and ankles still swollen (swelling from undetermined cause started on Wednedsay evening, 2nd day in town). Very low resting heart rate and it was difficult to get it above 130 during the run.

19.3 in ~10:08 avg pace

Long run on Oahu. First part of the run was pretty awesome because it was dark. However, about when I turned around at mile 10, the sun came up and I knew I was toast. It got hot very quickly and the pace fell off significantly. I just do not deal well with the heat. Only had 1 hand-held amphipod and it was gone near mile 16 and no gels. It was brutal. I'm proud I finished because every mile I would make a deal with myself that if I just made it one more mile, I could call my friend and have her pick me up. It was bad.

However, after finishing, I felt okay- definitely dehydrated and low on calories, but after I ate a prana bar and had some more water and orange juice- I felt even better and ready for breakfast. Very little soreness that day or the next- few blisters probably because my skin just wasn't used to sweating that much. Overall, A for effort :)

5 mi on Boulder Canyon Trail in ~9:11 avg pace

4 mi trail in ~11:44 avg pace.

17 miles in ~10:23 avg pace

3 mile loop w/ pup and then dropped him off and went out for 14. Felt pretty good with the new shoes. Right knee was slightly uncomfortable on steep downhills, but not bad.  

Usual 5 mi loop in ~10 avg pace

9 miles in ~9:54 avg pace.

5 mi trail run in ~11:27 avg pace.

14 in ~9:40 pace.

Felt great on this run. Been experimenting with gels and hydration. Bought a Nathan hydration pack and it's working pretty well. As it gets lighter from the water being used, it seems to want to ride up significantly, especially when I am running faster. So that is annoying, but maybe I need to tighten it more and wear it lower. I took ~1/2 a gu (no caffiene) at mile 6 and ~1/4 at mile 10. Seemed to work ok with the stomach. I've never actually taken any gu during a race- but I'm wondering if taking small amounts may help my energy levels. I suppose they can't hurt- unless they upset my stomach. I'm also not sure about caffiene vs. no caffiene. I don't drink coffee before I run- so I suppose one with a little (1x) might be okay, but the 2x kind of scares me. 

~10 miles in 9:30 avg pace

 It's been awhile and the short summary is that I successfully defended my dissertation on 10/20/2010. It's been a long haul and although cliche; it's been real and it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun. I'm glad it's over.

However, instead of taking any time off, I immediately returned from Hawaii and prepped for a conference the following week where I gave a poster on my current research. This week, I've spent the majority of my time in the lab running samples for my boss. So, I haven't had a whole lot of time to post but am going to try to ex post facto update the blog over the next few days.

I ran with the pup today. I think it may be the longest run I've done with him and I was very proud of how well he did. He's slowly learning that he doesn't always have to run directly in front of me. It was pretty cold this morning and the roads were still snowy/icy. All was fine until we got to the local high school, which happened to be about the time for the start of the school day and there was a nonstop line of cars, trucks, and buses. So, it's icy and I'm struggling to keep myself and the pup (who is running off the road, with myself between him and the cars) in patches of relatively ice-free pavement/dirt and still well away from the cars. Well long story short, no one was even remotely considerate this morning. No one slowed down or moved over at all, despite the obvious icy roads.

Well, the pup doesn't deal well with cars, he gets freaked out and spazzes all over the place- often cutting me off in the process. So, as expected, at some point a really loud, fast moving bus that was nearly over on the shoulder goes roaring by and he jumps over into the ditch, dragging me down with him. Luckily  I did not bite it, but my knee was jerked and there was a pop (after all was said and done.. I think it is okay, but will ice and stretch more than usual over the next few days). Now, what I wanted to do was turn around, chase the bus down and yell all the profanities I could think of at the bus driver as well as at all the other cars that were being inconsiderate and not sharing the road this morning. But no- I took my frustration out on the pup and yelled at him and then proceeded to pull on his leash and harness all the way home. I've never laid a hand on him and whenever I see anyone hitting an animal (or child) I feel very sick - but I was definitely rougher than usual with him. Usually, since the last mile home is a serious uphill climb, our routine consists of me letting him have more leash and he gets to set the pace and check his pee mail and poo packages, but not today- I was really mad.

And then, when we were almost home, I realized how inconsiderate I was being. I was being more inconsiderate to my pup than all those people that passed us this morning had been to us. I felt especially guilty after he looked up at me a few times and seemed to ask  'am I being good now?.. I'm so sorry' with those sweet eyes. I was scared of the bus too and really frustrated with all the people that were being jerks, but I should not have taken my frustration out on him. Maybe I should have chased the buses and cars down.. although, I doubt it would have done any good. 

In summary, I seem to continuously see acts of selfishness and inconsideration in the general population- so shame on them. However, a big shame on me for being even more inconsiderate to my pup. He is getting an extra long, slow walk this evening where he can stop every 5 feet if he wants too.  

Snow!

Usual 5 mile route w/ pup in ~10:54 ave pace. Definitely some ice under the snow, which made the downhills slower than usual.

Bought some new socks and they are a bit too small- I'm always between the size ranges (4-6 and 7-9 at ~6.5) so I generally go with the smaller sizes because I hate socks that are too large. But, this time I went with some saucony socks and because they are on the small side, they slip down some during my runs. This resulted in a section of the skin on my heel being ripped off during my run today. I didn't realize this until I got home and saw that my sock and shoe were bloodied. Awesome. Will have to remember not to wear these new socks with these particular shoes.

~6 in 10:12 avg pace. Usual 3 mi loop x 2.

Cold this morning- which meant I was happy. Starting to think that maybe I should get some puppy shoes for my pup and maybe a wind-proof jacket of sorts for him. He is a shorter haired dog- so I worry that sometimes the temps are in the lower limit for him.. of course, he is running so that should help some. Usually when it's too cold he starts picking up his paws in a funny kind of way and gives me the look of 'Dang! It's cold out! Could you please carry me home?'- which he hasn't done yet this year.

May try to squeeze in a shorter run in the lower elevation, relatively flat terrain today during/after work. Will have to see how fast I can run my samples..

20 mile in 9:50 avg pace.

Wanted to get a long run in at ~5,500' instead of the usually 8,500' and above. Decided on the back roads near the Boulder Reservoir. Wore the new Nathan hydration belt and worked pretty well. Didn't take any gu, and felt good until ~ mile 17, then fatigue set in a bit. Managed to get the 20 miler done, but it wasn't a great run by any means. I was hoping to average ~9:30 pace at lower elevation. 

The usual 5 mile loop in ~10:42 pace. No soreness from the 20 miler two days ago.

A.M. 8 miles in 9:27 pace.

P.M. 20 mins on bike

12 miles in 10:18 avg pace.

Ran down Magnolia rd 6 miles and then turned around and headed back. Wanted to get a longer run in that had a fairly easy first half and harder second half. Most of my runs consist of an uphill out and a downhill on the way back, which makes the second half of my long run feel really easy. Magnolia rd definitely has some nice rollers, so it wasn't exactly easy on the way out- but the way back was much harder. Satisfied with the effort even if it is an overall slow pace. Good road to train on.

The usual 5 mile loop in ~10:38 pace.

9 in ~9:29 pace

The usual 3 mile loop in ~9:53 avg pace

8 miles in 9:29 avg pace

3 miles on Boulder Canyon trail. 8:55 avg pace. Did a few strides.. felt good to get the legs moving.

3 miles on Boulder Canyon trail in ~8:37 avg pace. Strides and a 1/2 mile at MP. Was feeling nervous about marathon.

I am entering this race report nearly 3 weeks after the fact, so I doubt I will remember specifics- but that's probably for the best as I tend to write lengthy reports. I highly recommend the California International Marathon. It was well organized, a good number of participants, and a nice course. I will likely be back.

Pre-race: We took the train from Denver to Sacramento (highly recommend!). The route is stunningly beautiful. Arrived in Sacramento ~hour ahead of schedule and we were picked up and shuttled to the expo and hotel (conveniently very close to each other) by my brother in law. We bailed on dinner with the family and opted for an early dinner and early bedtime. We decided on a thai restuarant within walking distance of our hotel and I had an amazing pumpkin curry. I actually ate a bit too much and was overly stuffed afterwards. I did some stretching, put together my gear, and we flipped channels a bit (we don't have a television, so it's always somewhat of a culture shock when we see how TV has 'evolved' in our viewing absence). I got to bed around 8:30, with the alarm set for 4:15am. I did not sleep well- I think it was nerves and the fact that I had eaten too much at dinner.

 Race morning: Took the shuttle to the start. It was much farther away than I thought it would be (that was scary). I ate a Kind bar and drank some energy/electrolyte drink. Got to the start and went to find the Po'P's and there were a MILLION.. okay, maybe not a million, but a LOT. It was so awesome. There was a line of port o'pots probably a quarter mile long.. so I stood in line behind 1 other person (sweet!), did the business and then went to stretch in the vicinity of the Po'P's just in case the lines started to get really long- but they never did. About 15 minutes before the start I decided to get rid of my sweat bag. It was very warm (maybe 60's?)- much warmer than what I was actually expecting, so I ditched the gloves, hats, and long sleeved shirt. I dropped the bag, ate a fruit leather- raspberry, and started to walk along with the mass of people to the start. I meandered about until I got to the 4:30 finishing group.. I wasn't sure where I wanted to start exactly, I had average paces in my head and a plan based on 10 km distances but I never really thought about where to start. I decided the 4:30 group wouldn't be running faster than I wanted to go- so maybe they would keep me from going out too fast. Anyways, I decided to hang out there. Then.. I had to pee. Great. There was NO way I could get back to the P o'P's with the hundreds of people behind me. Ugh. I decided that I would just start the run and stop at the first set of Po'P's that I saw. Got the garmin ready, tightened the hydration belt, checked the shoes, gave myself a good head to toe check and I was ready.

 Race:

Race-Plan: Because I train at ~8,500' or above over hilly terrain- I wasn't sure what my pace should be for this marathon. I tried to research expected gains in racing from training at elevation (specifically high elevation above 7,500') but couldn't find much detailed information (e.g., if you usually average 10 min miles for 20 miles at 8,500' feet, you could expect to run 9:40 average with the same exertion at sea level). This is probably because it is highly dependent on the athlete. So, I decided to start uber-conservatively and run the  marathon as if it was a progression run. Here is what I had decided on:

1-6, no faster than 9:50 pace

7-12, no faster than 9:40 pace

13-18, no faster than 9:30 pace

19-24, no faster than 9:20 pace

24-26.2 sub 9:20 pace

Miles 1-6: Started out with the 4:30 group and ran with them for the first mile before I realized that maybe they were a bit slower than I wanted to be running (~10:11 pace), but I concentrated on not running faster than 9:50. The first miles were uneventful, still had to pee something fierce but every Po'P station had a line at least 6 people long.. ugh. I suffered through thinking that either I could ignore it or it would go away. Unfortunately, I think the hydration belt was making the issue worse.

Mile 1: 10:11

Mile 2:  9:53

Mile 3: 9:36

Mile 4: 9:50

Mile 5: 9:46

Mile 6: 9:51

Miles 7-12: I decided somewhere in the first 6 miles to start taking my hydration on the odd mile numbers so that I could concentrate on getting through the aid stations rather quickly (usually the even miles) and I could drink at my leisure instead of worry about being tripped or trampled. I followed this for the rest of the race- and it worked well for me. I also took 1/3 of my first gu's at mile 6 or so. I basically started taking 1/4 to 1/3 of a gu every 3 or 4 miles for the rest of the race (placing it back into the belt for continued consumption). I think I only had two gu's total. Was feeling great and was pretty pleased with my pace thus far, even though it was feeling really slow. The goal for 7-12 was no faster than 9:40 pace and I stuck to the plan pretty well.

Mile 7: 9:39

Mile 8: 9:42

Mile 9: 9:41

Mile 10: 9:32 (too fast!)

Mile 11: 9:35

Mile 12: 9:38

Miles 13-18: I remember going through the half and thinking 'really? 13 already?'. That was a nice feeling. I still had to pee, but the lines were not getting any shorter, so I continued the mental game of ignoring it. However, the hydration belt was starting to feel like it was bruising my lower stomach.. not really painful, but irritating. But overall, still cruising along and feeling good. No, I am going to say great.. I was feeling good at the start, but nervous. After the half, I started to smile more and I had a lot more confidence.. I was actually running another marathon and I felt awesome! The goal for 13-18 was no faster than 9:30 pace.

Mile 13: 9:44 (oops- I think maybe I was running with someone here and didn't realize they were running a bit slower than I wanted to be running, maybe I lost concentration a bit too)

Mile 14: 9:37

Mile 15: 9:38

Mile 16: 9:32

Mile 17: 9:28

Mile 18: 9:27

Miles 19-24: Miles 17, 18 and 19 were all fairly easy and I was starting to feel like I was actually having to hold back a bit. I knew I still had a 10 km after 20 miles, but I was starting to feel like I really wanted to run fast (well at least faster). So, I made a deal with myself near mile 17- I said okay, 3 more miles near 9:20 pace, hit the 20 mile marker, re-assess, and if all systems go- then go. Just shy of mile 19 I saw the 4:15 pace group and made it my goal to catch them before the 20 mile marker. I slowly reeled them in and managed to pass the pacers for that group just before the marker. That was a boost. I was feeling really really good at mile 20. When I ran Chicago back in 2001, the last 6 miles were the fastest of the entire race and I felt great finishing. I was trying to do the stats in my head to try to figure out if I could beat my last marathon time of 4:05, it was fuzzy math since I didn't have my splits in my head, nor did I know how far off I was from the official time clock since I had started pretty far back in the pack. So, I just decided to drop it in gear and run. So, I sort of threw the plan for 19-24 (no faster than 9:20 pace ) out the window.

Mile 19: 9:24

Mile 20: 9:18

Mile 21: 9:21

Mile 22: 9:01

Mile 23: 9:05

Mile 24: 9:08

Miles 25- 26.2: Last two miles! I was actually feeling sad that it was about to be over. I was also feeling a bit guilty that I was having such a blast and passing people left and right when others were not looking so good. Yep, I started out WAY too slow. Oh-well.. I decided there would be more marathons in my near future. I started to look for the hubby who said he would be cheering near the finish. I didn't actually see him until just after mile 26 and he got a fuzzy video of me running through the frame (he was not looking through the camera and I guess he didn't expect me to be running as quickly as I was- he later said "you looked like you were just finishing a little jaunt, while others were finishing a death march"). I smiled and waved for the camera and again picked it up a notch as I neared the finish. Just before the first turn (there are two short left turns before the chute), I started a sprint and passed a few more people. I think I heard a spectator say ' Wow, she's got some speed!' , and I remember thinking 'hahaha.. not really'. But as I was sprinting hard down towards the finishing chute, I saw that there was this little old lady wheezing and running as hard as she could in front of me and I just couldn't pass her in the last 20 feet of the race (I thought that would be so uncool of me), so I slowed down and finished right behind her.. I hope I am still running at her age.

Mile 25: 8:51

Mile 26: 8:39

Mile .26 (by garmin): 8:17 ( my sprint was actually a ~5:10 pace sprint over ~200 m- I guess I may still have a little speed in these fat old legs!)

Stats from Garmin:

Total elapsed time: 4:09:32

Average moving pace for marathon: 9:27 

Average heart rate: 155

*Heart rate was really low for me until maybe the last two miles. It was no where near my usual heart rate during training runs at home.

 Post-race: I was sad to be done. I grabbed some water and walked to get my sweat bag. I had no problems walking and I remembered thinking that I could easily have run another 10 miles.. I felt great- definitely still had to pee though. I got my bag and found the hubby and we quickly walked up to the hotel room, where I showered and the hubby called his brother to come and pick us up. When we got to the in-laws, I had some coffee (excellent), more water, and many hours later some vino (also excellent). I stretched numerous times even though my legs felt fine (like 100%). My hips and stomach were a bit sore/ bruised from the hydration belt- but that was pretty much the only soreness I had. It was a great day.

4.6 miles in ~9:41 avg pace.

My plan after the marathon was not to run for two weeks. However, I had basically no soreness what-so-ever the week after the marathon, so sticking to this plan was somewhat difficult. Two days after the marathon (and still no stiffness or soreness to speak of), I decided that maybe a week off would be sufficient. We were on vacation anyways, so it sort of made sense. We spent a few days with family in Sacramento and then borrowed their truck and drove over to Napa Valley. The valley is really very pretty. We stayed in Calistoga at the Calistoga Inn, which had a great deal during the off-season. The quaint turn of the century inn had a nice restaurant and a bar downstairs- so we mostly walked around town, sampled some of the local cuisine, and retired early to read in bed (it was delightful). We then drove over to the coast and stopped in Mendocino. Since I'm somewhat obsessed with Victorian era anything, we stayed at the Mendocino Hotel and it was gorgeous. We again did a whole lot of nothing, walked along the headlands, walked around town, sampled the local cuisine, and hung out in the beautiful Victorian bar downstairs (stained glass ceiling, beautiful solid wood bar, and tall plush velvet chairs). I also had the best martini ever at this bar. It was perfect, just a whiff of vermouth

However, I was feeling a bit cooped up and decided that Saturday would be the day to start running again. Not exactly a week, but close. Plus, the headlands were so beautiful that I felt I would be missing out on a life experience if I did not run in them. So, I ran and it felt good!

3.3 miles in ~10:24 avg pace

I had planned a longer run for the morning, but we were in San Francisco for the week for the annual American Geophysical Union meeting. I did not investigate any routes prior to jogging out the hotel doors at o'dark hundred (6am), and needless to say this was a bit of an 'oops' on my part. I've stayed in San Fran numerous times (usually for the AGU meeting), but I still don't have a clear map of the city laid out in my head, or at least I usually don't on the first day. I love San Francisco, but like most big cities there are certain parts that I wouldn't say are dangerous, but a bit sketchy. Anyways, I started out heading a certain direction, but would inevitably decide that maybe that was looking a bit sketchy, so I would turn, run on that road for awhile, then turn again. I finally realized that since I didn't have a clear map of the city in my head, I couldn't keep doing this or else I would get seriously lost (or into a section of town that I did not care to be in). So, I finally took a street that headed back to Union square and finished up a little over 3 miles. While it was nice to see the city and kind of fun to run willy-nilly around, I went directly to the concierge and asked if they had any good running route suggestions or possibly even a map. They did- they are a nice 5 mile or longer route that followed the embarcadero.. excellent.

 Also, running in a city with stop lights that seemed to stop me at every block was annoying and the Garmin was having a very difficult time locating in the city.

5 miles in ~ 9:08 avg pace.

 The garmin was still having a difficult time locating, but the run in San Francisco this morning was much more pleasant once I hit the embarcadero (section near the piers and without stop lights- yay!). It was a nice run on a somewhat foggy morning. 

~5.35 in 9:00 avg pace in San Francisco

Another nice morning run along the embarcadero.

I gave my poster this morning and basically talked to colleagues and researchers for 4 hours straight. I got some really good feedback on some recent research that I've been doing, met a couple new people, and made a few good networking connections. I'm not a big fan of the schmoozing at conferences, but I guess it's somewhat necessary, especially if you are looking for a post-doc (like me!). After the poster session we met up with friends for lunch and decided to bail on the rest of the conference for the day. We tried to go thrift store shopping but everything was way over priced and not really all that exciting. I think I'm spoiled living near Boulder- you can find essentially brand new stuff at the stores for reasonable prices.

I decided to take a nap before dinner because I had a bit of a headache and was feeling like maybe a sore throat was coming on, although I also thought it might just be from all the talking I did at my poster session. I never take naps, but I was out cold for at least an hour. The hubby had to actually wake me up when it was time to meet our friends and his brothers for dinner (one of his brothers is also a geologist and in town for the meeting and the other one from sacramento came over for the evening). A late night of socializing ensued.

Arrived back in CO with a nasty chest and head cold on Saturday night. Didn't do much but laundry and cleaning on Sunday, went to face the hundreds of emails and to-do items at work on Monday, but crashed later that evening. I was sick. Stayed home sick today and tried to sleep in, but the cough wouldn't allow that. 

Did a little work and then attempted a short 2 mile run with the pup. Not acclimated at all and coughing up a lung, it was probably silly of me to even attempt it, but I felt guilty that the pup hadn't gotten much exercise while we were gone (our friend house/puppy/kitty sat for us, but he said he didn't get him out very much). Anyways, we started out on one of our favorite trails and immediately the pup took off. However, he only went 50 meters and then stopped suddenly and lifted his paw up- turned around and looked at me as if to say 'ouch'.  He turned around and started to trot again, but was limping pretty badly. Yesterday, when we were out playing fetch, he stumbled at one point and when he brought the stick back he lifted his paw and gave me the 'i hurt myself look', but he wasn't limping last night and seemed okay. I didn't want to push him and since I wasn't feeling well, we turned around and headed home. I took him in to the vet and it looks like he's jammed his toe. Probably not broken, but it's definitely black and blue and he acted like it really hurt when the vet was handling that part of his paw. So- he's on some doggie IBUprofen and under orders to take it easy for a couple weeks (no running, no playing fetch, and probably no rough-housing with his puppy friends).

 I rode the bike for an hour after we got home. It was probably for the best. I kept the tissue beside me and blew my nose every 5 mins. Ugh. Being sick is no fun, but at least I made it through finishing the dissertation, two conferences, and a marathon before getting sick.

4 miles in 9:07 avg pace on Boulder Canyon trail. 

Feeling much better today. Attempted to work on my form a bit. I have a very lazy form, my knees don't come up very high and I have almost no kick- in most pictures it almost looks like I am speed walking.. pathetic and ugly! I think I have a much different form when I sprint though, it's almost like I have two modes.. fast or slow and they have totally different running forms. My dad says that when I was young I always used my 'sprinters' form even when I ran longer distances, but this changed when I got into high school. He swears that once I started being coached by the high school coach that my whole running form changed and I didn't stand as tall, I slouched a bit more, I didn't used the full range of leg motion- i.e., the speed walking form. He said it was like I just started to run conservatively all the time. I don't know if this is true or not- but I've definitely noticed that I don't have good form and that I would probably benefit from some improvement in technique.

The usual 3 mile loop in ~10:33 avg pace.

Ran with the hubby this afternoon. He did really well and almost ran the entire loop. He mentally breaks down on one of the really long steep uphills at the end of the run and sometimes stops to walk for a bit.  My lungs are getting better, only had a few coughing fits last night and they felt okay on the run. The roads are super icy with only the south facing sections relatively free of ice. Wore the Kahtoola microspikes and didn't have any trouble.

The usual 3 mile loop x2 in 10:44 avg pace.

Beautiful crisp morning for a run. Enjoyed watching the mountains turn from pink to white in a crystal clear sky. I didn't see one car or any other people and enjoyed the company of singing birds and a lone fox.  The roads are still icy, so I wore the microspikes and the crunch, crunch, crunch sound was very satisfying. Excellent way to start a holiday.

12.10 mi in 9:06 avg pace.

Avg heart rate 166.

Starting to feel a little more acclimated. Outside and back of right knee was feeling odd during some sections of the run this afternoon. After I finished the run and was walking back to my office, there was definitely some pain and I was almost limping. It's still a bit painful to apply pressure on the outer sections of the knee- I think ice, stretching, and foam rolling are in order for the evening. If I can't get this sorted in the next few days, I suppose I should call the PT again. Sigh.

No running today. Right knee is still not happy and actually more tender to the touch today than it was yesterday. More ice, stretching, and foam roller.

Usual 3 mile loop x2 in probably ~10:40 pace (left my garmin charger and USB connector at work.. big oops for the upcoming weekend).

It's FINALLY snowing here.. I can only hope we get the ~14" they were predicting. It's been the driest December in awhile and we will really need the water come spring. Now, hopefully it doesn't warm up and melt away before I can get some turns in. 

 I wore the microspikes and had no problems with the knee. I stretched and foam rolled when I got home. So far, so good.