Running in the Rockies

Bit disappointed with my overall time on this race. I figured since it was nearly in my backyard and I run trails and hills almost every other day- I could easily finish around 2:30 (12:30 pace). However, this was not the case today. I ended up walking the uphills much earlier than I thought I would and I think I did okay on the downhills (although, definitely not as fast as some people- I really wish I knew how to fly like some of these runners.. wow, they can move!). The other issue that arose was around mile 3-4 my toes started to go numb. Then when I started the big uphill to Windy Peak, I realized that both feet were cramping up near the balls of my feet and first three toes. I'm hurting pretty bad at this point and was feeling depressed about the fact that I was walking and it was getting pretty hot so I kept telling myself that I was being a wimp and I should just suck it up. Well the cramping/numbness continued throughout the remainder of the race- alternating between numbness on the downhills and cramping on the uphills. I've been pretty good about hydration lately and eating well, and I had first endurance EFS drink in my bottles so I knew my salt should be good (and I felt hydrated, not over drinking or under drinking). I've run in these shoes for almost a month now and never had this problem. However, the trail was much steeper on the incline and decline than what I am used to, so perhaps it was just all the pounding. I also felt like my breathing was way out of control when I tried to run up the steep sections. I purposefully switched my garmin so that I couldn't see my heart rate (knowing it would be really high for most of the race). And I was pretty bummed that I felt the need to walk so early and so often. I was wondering if mentally I was slacking off when I saw other people walk. I don't know. At any rate, here's the stats from the garmin:

mile 1: 10:59

mile 2: 9:57

mile 3: 17:25

mile 4: 19:03

mile 5: 9:24

mile 6: 9:56

mile 7: 21:18

mile 8: 21:05

mile 9: 15:01

mile 10: 10:22

mile 11: 16:23

mile 12: 9:38

Total: 2:50:06, Avg pace: 14:10. Avg heart rate: 170, Max heart rate: 183. Min elevation: 7,616'; Max elevation: 9,126'; 3,110' gain/loss.

 The after race was pretty nice. I got the opportunity to meet Stacy from the blog and that was awesome! So glad we got the chance to meet face to face and chat for a bit. Definitely the highlight of the race for me. I grabbed a bit of food, soaked my feet in the river, and bought a new Nathan hydration backpack (proceeds went to a local group that works to get youths out into the mountains- what a great cause!). The waist belt did not work all that well on the fast downhills. I actually lost a gu and feel terrible about littering. I didn't know it fell out until much later.  Oops. I also purchased some compression sleeves for my calves. I've never tried them before and I thought- 'what the heck..' We'll see if they make any difference. I stuck around for the awards and giveaways at the end. As usual though they didn't do the name drawings until almost 2:15, and by that time most people had left. So- like many events, they just started handing stuff out and it was a total cluster! I don't like to be near these situations, makes me feel a little nauseated.. maybe that makes me weird. My hubby came back to pick me up around 3 and we went and grabbed a burger at one of the local bars in town. I was SO hungry- they didn't have much GF food, so I survived on 1/2 gu and small chicken salad for the better part of the day. I do not eat red meat (or any meat) all that often, but the burger (sans bun) was SO delicious. I even had bacon on it.. shameful, I know.

 After I downloaded the data from the garmin, I did not feel as bad about my time. My average heart rate was 170 and that is pretty high for me. It was definitely a tough course and I felt like I worked pretty hard. I do think I can run more sections of the course though and so I'm determined to run a rematch sometime in the near future. Additionally, the numbness/cramping in the toes did turn out to be real. They were numb the rest of the day on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and now it is Tuesday and while they are getting better, the numbness feeling is definitely still there. Weird and annoying to say the least.