2012 in Review

28 Friday Dec 2012

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steve and edTime to look back on a good year of running.  I ended 2011 with a steroid shot to fix my arthritis and had great expectations.  And then I finally resolved my persistent plantar fasciitis in the early spring time frame and gained even more confidence.  But then something snapped in my left foot that left me wondering if 2012 would be a bust.

I did have to stop running for about six weeks to heal but still had some memorable experiences.  Ironically, I lost weight while not running by reducing my alcohol intake.  I was so happy with this that I’ve maintained this relative abstinence; the result being that I am ending the year at 175 pounds.  There was about a week after my two marathons that I was under 170.

My plan for the year was to run a bunch of trail events and I only did two of those – the 25 mile Collegiate Peaks Trail Run in April and the 17 mile Imogene Pass Run in September.  I ran both of these with my buddy Rob and enjoyed them both.  I would like to run the CPTR again – I love the Collegiates.  This was my second IPR and I wouldn’t mind making a tradition out of it.  Both this year as well as my first time in 2010 served to get me into shape for a marathon.  It helps that it’s held at the end of summer when there is enough daylight to support running longer distances.  These two trail runs were satisfying enough that I’m not disappointed I didn’t run more of them.  In fact, the registration cost of organized events is steep enough that I might run less in 2013.

In total, I ran 10 organized events in 2012.  In order, I began in February with the Austin Half, then March with the Moab Half, followed closely by the Boulder Half, then the CPTR in April and the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day.  I took a break to recover from my injured foot over the summer but returned to form in September with the IPR and Denver Marathon, and the Boulder Marathon in October.  I expected this to complete the year but squeezed in two 5Ks on December 1st with the Colder Bolder and Prospect Rudolph Dash 5Ks in the same day.

I could consider that only 9 events if I bundle the two 5Ks.  Regardless, that’s more than enough organized races.  I like running the occasional race for various reasons – to recognize and celebrate my fitness or to enjoy an event with friends.  Not to mention they provide content for my running blog.  But they do cost real money.  I would estimate 10 races come close to $500.  And perhaps half that again paying for race photos which I like for the blog.

Normally I would be planning the next year at this point but I don’t have a good feel yet for what I want to do.  Ideally I will focus on trail runs.  I’d like to kick the year off with the Moab Half because it’s fun to run with my neighborhood friends but I missed the registration deadline so I’m not sure.  The Boulder Half is usually the following weekend so it’s a bit of an expense to run those back-to-back.  I do know I’m kicking off 2013 with the Austin 3M Half Marathon on January 13th – which is only 2 weeks from now.  I might have to make a decision on the Denver vs Boulder marathons this coming year as they are spaced close together.  I suspect I will run less events overall but am keen to prioritize the CPTR and IPR over anything else.

I could see myself only running 5 organized events for financial austerity if nothing else.  I’ve published this picture of my brother and me taken this Christmas Eve because another goal is to get that boy working out again.  So the start of the year will be measured by my success at coaching.  He won’t be ready for the 3M Half but I’d rather rely on him to drive me to that event anyway.

The Greenbelt

26 Wednesday Dec 2012

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Barton CreekI can’t remember the last decade I ran the Barton Creek Greenbelt in Austin.  Maybe the early ’90s.  I usually look forward to running on Lady Bird Lake downtown but this trailhead off Loop 360 is only a couple more minutes south down Mopac.  Before I moved to Colorado in 1989, I would run this trail several times a week.

That’s back when I was young and fast and I probably wasn’t huffing and grunting as hard as I am in this video.  I filmed this with my iPhone on my favorite stretch along a bluff.  I was happy to see the iron safety chain still there attached to the cliff wall.  I was concerned they might have installed some wimpy safety rail considering the drop on the creek side of the trail.  This is simply the coolest damned inner city trail in the country.  It starts downtown at Zilker Park.  This trailhead is about 3.5 miles upstream to the south near the Barton Creek Mall, and I run it further west to the end which is about another 3.5 or 4 miles.  If you click on the pic to enlarge the photo of the trail map, my description is from right to left.  I started in the middle at the “you are here” designation.

The bluff in the video where the trail dangles ten feet or so above the creek is in the first mile.  I captured the video though on the return.  The trail crosses the creek at Twin Falls about two miles in.  I’d forgotten exactly where that was though and crossed at different spots on the outbound and return legs – because the creek was dry at this point and I could cross almost anywhere.  There is still water upstream near Sculpture Falls.  The turn-around has another trailhead access via Scottish Woods Trail which is a short road that intersects with Loop 360 a few miles west of Barton Creek Mall.  I got in a 7.25 mile run which was my old route from back in the day.  If you ever have an opportunity to run in Austin, run the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

Training in Texas

22 Saturday Dec 2012

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colder bolder 5Flew into Austin yesterday for the holidays.  I’ll remain here through much of January.  Previous plans to snow shoe and exercise in other winter sports are now shelved until I return.  Which is fine.  I can keep running.  While some nagging aches and pains continue to linger, I don’t have any injuries that would require me to lay off for the winter.  I got in a slow and easy 13 miles on the Brushy Creek Regional Trail this morning.  A fine start.

And so you know, this is my last photo from the recent Colder Bolder 5K.  Off next to ride the North Pole Flyer – an Austin Polar Express train ride that launches out of Cedar Park.  Dinner at Chuy’s afterward and perhaps a visit to the Zilker Park Christmas lights.  Same game plan as last year.

Mayan Apocalypse

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

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colder bolder 1This coming Friday marks the advent of the Mayan Apocalypse.  I don’t personally believe in any end-of-the-world scenarios, but it will in fact be the start of winter.  That’s dramatic enough for me.  The Colorado Front Range doesn’t experience the extreme cold common in the Midwest (I was born in Iowa) but it does get a few cold waves.  So I intend to winter in Austin.  Boarding a plane Friday, and assuming no massive tectonic plate shift happens below, I’ll land 1000 miles south.  I’ll ride out the apocalypse there for the next 4 weeks.  This means I’ll be able to continue my running in relative warmth.  I should mention that as I write this it’s currently 10° outside.

I find it ironic this week, with the pending doomsday, that I’ve read more Facebook posts defending 2nd Amendment rights than discussing the horror of Sandy Hook.  I’ve entered some of the discussions – fortunately civil debates.  So tired of some of the recent election passion.  Of course the odds are more likely I’ll die driving in a blizzard than any other scenario.  I nearly did wreck my car on I70 driving in a blizzard through Kansas last Christmas.  Relieved to be flying this year.  Karen found tickets on Southwest for $250 round trip.  Can’t beat that.  Although, actually I did.  I decided to delay my return to late January and saved another $65.  Of course, SWA has no change fees.  This is why we love Southwest.

Because I won’t be in Austin during February with this change of plans, I won’t be running the Austin Marathon.  I’m not too disappointed because I hadn’t yet registered and was considering signing up for the half again knowing I won’t be in shape enough in the winter to run a strong full marathon.  Tried that in 2011 and didn’t fair so well.  Maybe I’ll find a cool run in Central Texas while I’m there.

Zero Wind Day

14 Friday Dec 2012

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colder boulder 3About time Colorado cools off to winter status.  Although the only reason it was cold enough in this pic to wear tights for this year’s Colder Bolder 5K was that it was early morning.  I love it when I get a race pic with both feet in the air.  It’s right up there with getting a pic that doesn’t show a double chin.  Click on the pic to enlarge it if you need to in order to see both feet are indeed off the ground.  But then you might also notice the double chin.  I downloaded five race pics – all capture a double chin.  Still, race pics with both feet in the air is like flying in your dreams.  Like unicorns in North Korea.  They are magical.

Those massive California rains turned into snow over Colorado and this week felt like winter.  At least at the start of the week it did; we’re back above freezing now.  I used the cold as an excuse not to run.  I actually don’t mind the cold, especially when the sun is shining, but I balk when the cold is combined with strong wind.  I used being busy at work as an excuse this week too.  Emphasis on the word excuse since I think I just didn’t feel like running this week.  I don’t think I’m burned out.  Maybe I just shifted my focus to preparing for the holidays.  Those Christmas cards don’t sign and mail themselves.  The holidays present additional tasks.  Apparently I sacrificed my running.  That’s okay.  No upcoming races to condition for, and friends and family in Texas will be disappointed if I don’t show up with my traditional paunch.  To wit, I’ve been eating more Christmas cookies than Santa this week.  Nothing goes better with coffee than Danish butter cookies – except maybe Gadget Girl’s coffee cake but that’s hard to say since she only talks about it.  I’ve yet to have any.

colder boulder 4With Fridays off this month though, I was able to get in a nice run today.  I returned to Heil Valley Ranch – the southern trail head near the Greenbriar restaurant – to run the Wapiti Trail.  I didn’t get out to the trail head until noonish.  Hearing the news of the Sandy Hook shooting sort of slowed me down for the day.  I spent the morning watching CNBC as I finished up the Christmas cards.

I wasn’t surprised to discover no snow or ice on the trail.  I’d be fine either way but what I really appreciated was that there was absolutely zero wind.  I wore a light fleece shell over two t-shirts and found myself quickly rolling up the sleeves.  And shortly after I began to carry my fleece cap in my hand. I brought gloves but left them in the car.  With the temperature around 50° or so, this was ideal running weather.  Almost unbelievable to have a day at this time of year with zero wind.

I probably ran close to ten miles – at least eight.  I didn’t time it but the Wapiti Trail adds up to five miles up and down, plus I ran the Turkey Trail Loop and a mile on Picture Rock.  Funny thing about not running for seven days.  My body began to hurt after a few days off.  My knees and especially my feet and ankles were just as weak and sore from not running as from running.  Some sort of reverse growing pain process kicks in after a few days. As my muscle tension relaxed, my ankles became as weak as when I increase my distance.  I have to be very deliberate when I get out of bed and hold the hand rail as I descend the stairs in the morning.  There’s a bit of pain associated with this but mostly just weakness.  Stability comes after a few steps.  It’s an interesting thought that it can hurt as much to fall out of shape as to gain the initial conditioning.  Bodies in motion want to stay in motion.  I ran slow to recognize my legs lost some stamina, but my breathing was fine.  You can’t lose a year’s worth of aerobic capacity in one lax week.

colder boulder 2Fairly relaxing day overall.  I didn’t have any stressful work issues arise over email so it really was a vacation day.  Fantastic run really but this school shooting has me at a loss for words right now.  We have a Christmas party to go to later tonight.  Hoping that’s a pick-me-up.  I don’t normally use this blog as a soapbox but will go on record to share my belief in the need for gun control.  I’m not a gun owner but respect the rights of sportsmen and believe we need to support the U.S. Constitution.  But be pragmatic.  Guns don’t kill people but they are for killing.  Semi-automatic weapons aid killing to an unacceptable degree in a society of 300 million citizens.  I support gun control.

Molybdenum

08 Saturday Dec 2012

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Henderson TrailheadI drove up to Empire at 5am this morning.  There’s a number of access points to the Continental Divide Trail off Henderson Road.  I met Rob near the Big Bend picnic site where he camped overnight.  Henderson Road leads of course to the Henderson Molybdenum Mine.  The Henderson trail head leads from the mine up one mile where it connects with the CDT.

Rob said he heard truck traffic all night long, along with the roar of the mine itself.  Business for Molybdenum must be good.  This mineral is mostly used for strengthening steel and making other super alloys.  But it even has biological and chemical uses and occurs naturally in tooth enamel.

We continued to hear the mine for miles, until we reached treeline.  The wind turbines hum non-stop serving as a beacon to the trail head.  Even the trail head and trail are named for a past mine engineer – Henderson.  The mine dominates everything until treeline when the focus shifts to some of the area passes and peaks that are accessible by day hikes.

The day began cold and snowy so I geared up relatively heavy with a sweatshirt and ski jacket.  I only had one of my long gaters, having been confused thinking my two short gaters connected by their velcro was the second long gater.  I decided to wear the single long half-pair.  With my boots and snow pants, gaters weren’t critical.  Based on my post-hike assessment, I would say the boots were critical.  I don’t have hiking boots – I always hike in trail shoes which allow for running.  These are snow boots which I brought along because I expected to snow shoe.  They work fine in snow shoes but not for hiking.  Their traction is horrible and my feet slip inside them causing blisters – especially when hiking up a steep slope.  Wearing ankle-high socks didn’t help as they slipped under my heel.  I was able to stop this by pulling my tights down over the sock rather than the other way around.  And this mitigated the blistering.

Henderson THThe weather was actually quite nice in the trees.  No wind at all.  And suffice it to say there wasn’t sufficient snow to snow shoe.  Considering the time of year, Colorado is on track for a real drought next year.  The ski resorts are likely feeling it now.  Hopefully the spring will bring heavy snows.  I guess it’s not even winter yet, not for another week or two.  But still, it’s December and the mountains are way behind in expected snowfall.  I don’t expect to get up here again until January.  I can’t imagine not being able to snow shoe by then.

After the first mile of hiking, the connector trail hit the CDT at a T intersection.  Click on the picture of Rob up top and you’ll be able to read the signs.  We intended to turn south toward Jones Pass to complete the section that lines up with where we ended our last hike.  But the hiking was so slow with poorly adapted boots (Rob wasn’t wearing optimal shoes either) and wicked ice spots covered by the fresh snow.  The signs said 6 miles to Jones Pass and 4 miles to Berthoud Pass.  Add in the one mile connector trail and we had a choice of 14 miles or 10 miles round trip.  We selected the 4 mile route to Berthoud and turned north.

ridgeWhile snow shoes were not possible, I can’t imagine this trail being accessible without trekking poles.  There was just enough snow, and especially the hidden ice, that poles are required.  They were almost needed to withstand the wind.  Most of the hike follows a ridge along the Continental Divide where the views are unbelievable, but so is the wind.  Sometimes the trail would follow the side of the ridge protected from the cold mistral, but it also would pass from side to side and we had moments exposed to gale force blasts.  My face appears a bit windburned this morning.

cloudsWe didn’t make it all the way to Berthoud Pass as we were concerned about returning before we lost the sun.  Although the clouds were so thick at times the sky appeared to be near dusk at noon.  I was comfortable warmth-wise with my gear selection but wish I would have added a balaclava to my Christmas REI wishlist.  This is something I could use to guard my face from the wind.  We stopped after four hours of hiking for what would mark our turn-around and ate lunch on the wind-protected side of the ridge.  I inhaled my store-bought sandwiches.  Wish I’d taken the time to have made my own sandwiches at home.  I make the world’s best sandwiches.  Well, at least this world’s best sandwiches.  I’ve never been to Lamuella and don’t see it listed on Urban Spoon.

Mountain BuzzLeading on the way back, I discovered some ice by taking a 20 foot fall down a frozen waterfall.  My bottom is still sore and bruised.  I never panicked while sliding down the hill, but did have to roll a couple of times when faced with large rocks aimed between my legs.

We found ourselves once again eating at the Mountainbuzz Cafe & Pizzeria in Georgetown.  This place has some incredibly satisfying pizza, paninis and calzones.  And beer.  Rob is pictured here showing me his bruised elbow from a fall he took on the ice on the trek up.  Given the holiday schedule, we won’t likely make it back up to the high country until January.  Should be enough snow pack for snow shoeing by then.  And hopefully I’ll have a balaclava.

La Bruja

02 Sunday Dec 2012

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iStock_blonde runnerIn the Rudolph Dash while running down Sunset, Chris and I uttered breathless irritation over the fact we were trailing a pack of kids.  Ever determined to beat age, I surged away from Chris and yelled back over my shoulder that I was going to take them.  That might not sound too tough considering they were about middle school age – not even teenagers – but from my perspective it was bold talk from a one-eyed fat man.  They still had 20 to 30 yards on me and there was no guarantee I wouldn’t seize up trying to overtake them.

I flew by the pack of kids with the graceful stride of experience.  That is until I caught up with their leader, this little blonde girl with braided pigtails.  Within half a step of gaining even with her, she surged.  I couldn’t believe it.  And when I caught up to her the second time she surged again.  Unbelievable!  This little bruja refused to yield to my overwhelming experience.  But I was ready for her this second time and held her pace.  I was close to failing to her tactics when she finally relented and fell to the rear.  Whew!  She almost had me.

But I was spent from that exercise and couldn’t fend off Chris as he passed me a quarter mile later.  I quipped to Chris as he ran by that I had paced him.  Smack talk in vain from a fallen fighter.  My smooth surge had stalled, my legs heavy with lactic acid – cursed by my blonde encounter.  If you race locally, beware the bruja.

Competition and Pedicures

02 Sunday Dec 2012

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woman athlete in position ready to runThe effect of competition was apparent on the performance of my two 5Ks yesterday.  I finally found the race results from the Colder Boulder and was surprised to learn I ran faster in the Rudolph Dash.  I ran 23:10 in the first race compared to 22:21 in the second run.  Clearly this was due to my efforts to keep up with my neighbors.

The run didn’t feel as strong because my legs felt so heavy, but I did loosen up half way along the course and must have run stronger the final mile.  The two neighbors I ran with are Keith Jaggers and Chris Price.  Keith lead us through the wind on the first mile to where we were all sufficiently winded.  I credit myself with pushing the second mile – certainly once we hit Sunset – finally catching Triolo who had been  flying from the start like a bat out of hell.  And then Chris brought us home with his 22:11.

I probably shouldn’t be too surprised by this.  It actually makes me happy to think I could recover enough from the morning race to do this well in the afternoon.  And I shouldn’t downplay the benefits of the men’s pedicure at noon.  This is my secret recovery technique that I highly recommend.  I went with Ellie who got flowers painted on her toe nails while I received a foot and calf massage.  Competition and pampering – that’s the secret to top performance.

Winter Running Land

01 Saturday Dec 2012

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The Colder Bolder sent me a post card invite to run a 5K this morning in a heat with other runners who finished with my 50 minute time from the spring Bolder Boulder 10K.  I doubted I could compete at a faster 5K pace but I didn’t have anything else planned for December and the concept sounded interesting.  I signed up for the invitational. The top three finishers win a penguin trophy.

The starting temperature was around 50° so it wasn’t that cold.  I parked down at the Tewnty-Ninth Street Mall and there were no gear bag options so I had to commit to my clothing selection.  I over-dressed slightly but it wasn’t a critical error because the tights and hat were light enough to wear in the summer.  And my shell could be tied around my waist – which is what I ended up doing.

This run is across the CU campus with the pre-race setup site and finish line located in the fieldhouse.  I took some video of the fieldhouse and also of the starting wave and more of the leaders as they passed Norlin Library.  The first wave began at 8am with subsequent waves following every ten minutes.  Mine would be at 8:50.  I refilled my coffee from the fieldhouse and drank some water with it for a bit while stretching, then began jogging for a warmup about 15 minutes before my heat was scheduled to start.  I can’t remember the last time I warmed up this well for an event.  There isn’t much reason for it in longer runs so I start out cold.  But I was concerned about being able to run the first mile faster and prepping with a mile jog is the way to do that.

The trick was to be able to start out fast without going into oxygen debt.  Adding to the challenge was the first 200 yards are downhill.  I think I managed well enough.  I did start off faster than I ever would in a 10K or longer event but I never felt overly fatigued.  The warmup worked.

I felt strong in this run.  I felt like I ran fast – I even suspect I might have run the 3rd mile the fastest.  The two mile point was near the UMC and a few feet later a coed was walking down from the steps that lead from the Broadway crosswalk.  She was oblivious and walking on a path across the course that put her on a sure collision with me.  Maybe she thought I would slow down because I was running uphill but I wasn’t about to yield.  I put on a Heisman move prepared to block her progress with my left arm.  She braked.  I don’t remember if we actually touched but it was that close.  I lost zero momentum and started to pass other runners.  I put on a speedy kick which I rarely do.  Felt good.  I wish I knew my time and had the formal race results to report here but I don’t see them posted yet.

I didn’t catch my finish time and didn’t wait around afterward preferring instead to cool down by walking back to my car.  This was a super satisfying run.  Without knowing my pace I do know that I pushed myself.  I was proud of myself for pushing up the inclines and passing people in the second half of the run.  I accomplished my goal of running at least what I thought was fast.

Once home I did some errands and then Ellie and I went for pedicures.  I know, a 3 mile run probably doesn’t justify such indulgence but I needed to recover for the next 5K.  The Rudolph Dash 5K was set to run though my neighborhood at 3:30.  I didn’t know about this event when I committed to the Colder Boulder but felt obligated since it was in my backyard.  I wasn’t interested in running it too hard since I was happy with my Colder Boulder performance.  So I had a beer and snacks just before the run at Dave’s house while watching the start to the Georgia-Alabama game.  But then I ran into some friends at the start to this second run.

I ran into Chris Triolo, a work colleague who also lives in the neighborhood.  I knew he runs about my pace but I wasn’t concerned about competing with him.  My belly felt too full.  But then as I lined up to start, I ran into Chris Price, Keith and Kelly.  These are the guys who I sometimes train with and have beat me in various runs over the last year.  Now I was even more aware of how heavy my legs felt from the day’s earlier run.

I followed Keith off the line as the race began.  It felt too fast and I let him go for about a minute but then decided I didn’t want to drop too far behind so sprinted back after him.  I kept up with him to Plateau Road where we encountered the coolest thing – absolutely stunning horses galloping across the field to chase us.  That was awesome.  The heaviness from the earlier run began to subside and I was able to maintain the pace with Chris and Keith west on Plateau.  Kelly was running with his kids and Triolo was running a bit ahead but not out of reach.

I began to loosen up and feel good on Sunset.  Chris and I were chatting about wanting to catch the little kids who were running ahead of us and this is where we finally passed most of them.  I passed the rest of the little tykes on Pike.  About the time I caught up to Triolo, Price passed me.  I thought I was going to catch him on my kick but discovered we had to go around another block before turning for the finish and I lost steam.  Bummer because Chris passed the guy who took first in my age division on his kick.  I was a few seconds behind and got second.

I’m extremely surprised to learn from the race results that I ran a 7:12 pace.  That was my estimate of how I ran in the morning.  I feel like I ran faster in the first run but maybe not.  This race gave me some competition from friends.  I have to believe that’s what motivated me because before I saw them I was planning on a leisurely jog.  And I know that whenever I can pass a friend in a race, an angel gets their wings.

I didn’t think I would do any running events in December but the campus run seemed cool and I couldn’t ignore a run in my neighborhood.  My legs are dead to the world now as I’m sitting here watching Texas lose to Kansas St., but I’m satisfied.  Really curious to see my pace from the Boulder run if they ever post the race results.  The second run felt slower, but I did loosen up about halfway and was able to run that competitively as well.  At this pace, I shouldn’t have to worry about winter weight gain.

Pain is Good

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

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No idea why I am thinking about this now.  I was in a group conversation several months back that started out about how drugs have hurt people and I started to contribute to the discussion with a spin on dealing with reality.  I put it in terms of pain management.  I realized I was going to start talking about my sister who had drug issues and has now passed away and so I sort of clammed up and withdrew my contribution to the discussion because I wasn’t drunk enough to open up and talk about it.  I guess because I left the thought open ended, it has stayed with me and I want to close it.  Not the thoughts about my sister but the notion of dealing with pain.  This is a running blog.

I’m as big a whiny wimp as anyone – trust me.  But I’m good with pain.  To a degree.  I’m not referring to the levels of pain associated with torture and such.  I’m talking about pain that is there to reinforce that fact that you are alive.  Pain is the perfect feedback loop on your running.  Pain and fatigue establish a barrier that you can actually feel to understand your pace in a run or intensity of training.  If you’re not sore after a workout, you should understand you are maintaining a plateau more than improving.  And you couldn’t ask for a more clear signal than pain in a race to monitor your progress.

I think this thought came to me because I’m planning to run a couple of 5Ks this Saturday and I’m thinking of pushing them hard.  I haven’t run a 5K road race in over 20 years and I’m curious if I can handle a hard pace for 20 minutes.  Clearly I’m used to running a pace that I know I can maintain over one to four hours.  Much longer on some of my high altitude hikes.  But I’m not going to run that slow for 3 miles!

Working against me is experience.  I don’t have any recent experience at running faster.  I haven’t trained for a 5K.  But I think I know the tricks because I do have knowledge from past experience.  I can’t start out so fast that I immediately go into oxygen debt.  I’ll know I’m in oxygen debt by the heavy pain that consumes my legs.  And it’s possible that despite knowing better to start out too fast, I might anyway.  The pain will be my signal to slow down.  You can recover from oxygen debt.  The human body is nothing if not anti-fragile.  It learns from experience and recovers from sickness as well as workouts – sometimes even with future immunity.  You can recover more effectively from the build-up of lactic acid the quicker you notice it occurring.  So if I’m overly excited and launch off the starting line like a rocket, I’ll slow down.  But I’ll monitor the pain and when I feel it subside I’ll begin to push myself again.

It will be much more efficient overall to warm up with a slow pace and gradually increase my speed, but in either case it’s a matter of being tuned in to the pain feedback.  Again, this isn’t tortuous pain.  It’s manageable.  And it’s a tool.  It’s fair for any coach to say it’s mental because at this level it really is.  Like the line in the movie The Matrix, “There is no spoon.”  Low-level pain can pass for numbness with the right focus.  If I listen carefully to my body, I’ll be able to maintain a pace that is just below the threshold of oxygen debt.  I think I can maybe do this for a 5K based on my ability to do it in a marathon.  At least I hope so because I’m fixin’ to run the Colder Boulder 5K and the Prospect Rudolph Dash 5K this Saturday.  I want to run well and it’s too late to start training for speed now.

La Cueva

24 Saturday Nov 2012

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Finally found the desert trails in Carlsbad.  I had to up my game on searching the Internet.  I discovered a defunct Cavern City Running Club web site that lead me to hints of 15 to 20 miles of mountain bike trails on the south side of town.  A few expert searches later I discovered La Cueva Trail.  If you can find yourself to the intersection of Lea Street and Standpipe Road, the trail head is about 3 miles south on Standpipe.  After 2 miles, you’ll pass through a 15 MPH S-curve.  You’ll cross over a cattle guard after another .8 miles and then see a dirt road to your right after another .2 miles.  Take this dirt road.  You’ll pass some boulders lined up on your right after a tenth of a mile which is half way to the trail head.  Parking is on the left before the road splits in a Y.

There are three trail signs.  To the far right is La Cueva.  Left of this is a trail sign oddly named Back To Truck.  Left of this is the right branch of the road and further left is another sign for La Cueva.  Apparently it’s a 20 mile loop.  I suspect most runners/bikers start out taking the right branch.  They say if you want to avoid the crowds at Disney World, branch left at the entrance and move clockwise through the park.  Ever the contrarian, or perhaps because I’m left-handed, I took the left trail loop.

This is a rugged trail.  The surface is more rock than dirt and difficult to follow in places.  There are spots lined with rocks and the occasional cairn but I lost the trail numerous times.  At one point I crossed a creek and found myself following false trails that linked up various oil wells.  After meandering for ten minutes I turned back to the creek and saw where I made my error.  I should never have crossed the creek bed.  From then on I paid more attention to the infrequent strips of yellow or pink tape in tree branches.  Even when I turned around though I lost the trail several times near the creek because there were so many variants.  Generally upon losing sight of the path, the best decision was to simply run straight ahead until the trail presented itself again.  And it helped to keep my head up to look for tape and the path on the horizon.  This lead to missing the aggressive Ocotillo thorns splayed out across the trail immediately in front of me.

I suspect Ocotillo is Apache for blood thirsty savage plant.  I highly advise wearing gaiters on this trail to protect your shins and ankles.  I left behind my share of DNA on La Cueva.  Although I was more concerned about snagging the thin material of my North Face shell.  It was 42° with a bit of a breeze when I started out but warmed up quickly and I tied the jacket around my waist.  I didn’t see any rips in my shell afterward but did pull out a few thorns that left micro holes.  Click on the pic to get a better view of some of the skin damage to my shin.

I was never worried after losing the trail because it seemed easy enough to find again.  The scariest moment was when I found myself running directly into a raging bull.  We played chicken for about two seconds before he mercifully veered off the trail.  I was very close to jumping into the Ocotillo bushes.  Overall, this was a fairly satisfying run.  I got in nearly 8 miles in 75 minutes.  I think I could have run faster had I been more familiar with the trail.  I plan to return and next time will run the loop counter clockwise.

The Flume

23 Friday Nov 2012

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Started Thanksgiving day out with a 9 mile run along the Pecos River in Carlsbad, New Mexico.  My iPhone app tracked 13 miles at a 5 minute pace.  So much for accuracy.  I probably ran an 8:30 minute pace over the course of three loops.  Felt good after driving for 11 hours the day before.  Later in the day I emailed Karen some links to Garmin GPS watches as ideas for a Christmas gift.

I discovered this urban riverside run when I visited my sister-in-law Laura and her husband Chad for Thanksgiving last year.  It’s very pleasant with people fishing and geese vying for control of the sidewalk.  For some reason I forgot that it is completely paved.  I’d prefer a trail.  Since everyone drives at least 5 miles under the speed limit in this town, I was able to gaze into the undeveloped desert on my drive back.  It occurred to me that there must be more than a few running trails in this area.

I drive right past the flume on the way back home.  It looks like an abandoned cement bridge to nowhere.  Over 100 years ago, Ripley’s listed it as the largest cement structure in the world.  There has to be some trail associated with this monolith.  I queried it later in the day and learned that it launches the start of a 6.4 mile, 5-foot wide asphalt recreational trail that is located along the Carlsbad Irrigation District Canal and runs the entire length of the city.  Okay, asphalt is not a trail but this looks interesting.  An out and back will make for a 12.8 mile run.

So on Friday I parked back behind the hospital at the flume to run the Carlsbad Irrigation Canal.  I wouldn’t describe this path as scenic or extraordinary in any way, but it is a hike and bike path and serves this purpose well.  It begins by meandering through hardscrabble neighborhoods with $50,000 pickup trucks sitting in front of $30,000 houses and pitbulls tethered to dirt yards.  These dismal abodes eventually yield to a more rural setting equally unattractive along the southern edge of town.  I turned around about a mile short of the end because I wasn’t sure it continued and because I was ready.  I ran back on the other side of the canal which was mostly dirt and gravel.  I actually preferred this as it more resembled a trail and would be easier on my knees.  Total time was 80 minutes and I’m guessing I ran close to an 8 minute mile pace for nearly ten miles.

Given what I know of Carlsbad to date, I recommend this running route.  The river downtown is more scenic but it’s all cement sidewalk.  This might not be much of a running town but I suspect the real runners know where the trails are.  I did research online and just couldn’t fund much.  There is the Ocotillo Trail near the university campus, but it is only 1 mile in length.  There is Brantley Lake State Park 12 miles north of town, but I am not certain it provides any good trails.  I’d have to drive there to know for sure.  A bit disappointing I can’t find more online.  Still, I intend to discover a trail for my next visit.  This high altitude desert simply has to have some trails.  If you are familiar with the area, please provide ideas via comments.

Seasonal Slowdown

17 Saturday Nov 2012

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Can you believe the size of this sign?  I suspect most college track teams don’t even have a sign.  Only in Texas.  I connected with my old team on Facebook recently.  Only see one team member – Michael (Tap) Tapscott – on this page from my years.    That guy was such a bad ass 800 meter runner.  I haven’t found any of my cross country buddies at this FB page although I am friends with one of them already.  Apparently ’80s runners don’t live big digital lives.  Considering what little running I’ve been doing the last two weeks, virtual running by finding past teammates online might be all I do this winter.

You might gain an extra hour of sleep when daylight savings ends, but I swear you lose hours to the darkness in the days after.  I only had time to run once all week.  I hope to make up for it this weekend.  Ran seven today and will run at least ten tomorrow.  I’ll somehow squeeze it all in between dropping off Jack at the dog groomers, getting my own haircut, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, servicing the cars, holiday decorating.  Today was a day of a thousand errands.  Tomorrow will be more of the same but I’ll get my run in for sure.  Today’s run was the quintessential fall scamper on the LoBo Trail.

The wind blew from the east with a nose of burning leaves.  Not sure what farmers roast this time of year, but the air smelled seasonal.  My thoughts drifted to Thanksgiving next week with family in Carlsbad.  Laura will have her house crafted beautifully for the holidays.  Chad will cook an unending feast with the focused fervor of Daniel Craig in the opening scenes of a Bond film.  I’ll contribute the wine.  Carlsbad has a nice running loop around the river downtown that I intend to run Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  I’ll get back on track next week.

Mountain Buzz

11 Sunday Nov 2012

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Rob and I met up at the Mountain Buzz Cafe & Pizzeria Friday night in Georgetown, exit 228, to camp out and hike the CDT nearby on Saturday.  We returned from our last outing with each other’s sleeping bag, so first order of business was the exchange.  I knew I had Robs’ but did he remember mine?  We’re good friends and all but I wasn’t giving Rob his bag unless he had mine.  Funny thing was we both brought not only each other’s bag but an extra one just in case.  I ended up using my extra bag for additional cushion in my tent.

I can’t say enough about how awesome this little pizza place is in Georgetown.  I think the name alludes to their coffee.  Hard to say considering we’re a “green” state.  The menu is mostly pizza, but also calzones and paninis.  And they have a few beers.  We drank a couple of IPAs.  Actually, Rob had to wait for me about 30 minutes and who knows how many beers he had.  He was able to talk with Paul, the guy in the pic, as well as other patrons.  He met some kayakers chasing the last fast running water before it dries up or freezes.  The flat screen was playing my new favorite show – American Pickers.  What’s the odds of a restaurant or bar playing the History Channel?  Before leaving, I ordered a calzone to go to eat on the trail the next day.

After dinner, we drove up I-70 7 miles and setup camp at the Bakersfield exit 221.  Our trail would launch from here Saturday but we were close enough to the other trailhead that we didn’t plan to shuffle cars until morning.  I took my time setting up my tent, preferring to drink more IPAs while sitting in my camp chair.  It was dark of course but the sky was clear and we enjoyed some great stars.  The camp conversation was deep.  I learned the first time Rob got drunk drinking beer was with Miller High Life.  Mine was PBR.

We called it a night around 10pm expecting a half foot or so of snow overnight.  I went to sleep in my Under Armour to keep warm.  The wind hit us like a freight train some time after midnight but the trees sheltered us.  The snow didn’t begin to fall in earnest until we woke up at 4:30am.  Rob brewed some trail head coffee and we shuffled a car 3 miles west to exit 218.  The plan was to start with a 4 mile run on the trail between our camp site and this Herman Gulch Trailhead.  The trail runs along the south side of I-70 and is actually paved.  I think it continues to the Loveland ski area.  We began running at 6:10am expecting to need our headlamps but it was easy enough to see in the morning twilight.

This was a good warmup and helped us to determine the gear we would need to wear for the hike.  Once we reached the car I took off some heavy cotton and dressed in layers of light gear.  I wore snow pants along with my knee-high gaiters.  I left my big snow jacket behind risking a lighter wind jacket.  I don’t know the temperature but guessing it was around 32° and there wasn’t much wind – especially in the woods.  We almost canceled this trip because of the weather reports but the day turned out to be great for hiking.  It snowed non-stop but it wasn’t cold.  In fact, we planned on snow shoeing but there wasn’t near enough snow for that.  We did use our trekking poles and they were very much needed.

The trail was hard to spot at times and Rob did pull out his GPS after we lost the trail in the snow.  It was slow going due to ice under the fresh fallen snow.  This is a popular trail close to Denver with easy interstate access, so we ran into a number of other hikers.  One big group had turned around and warned us about the ice.  We managed though using our trekking poles and got in a 6 hour hike covering 10 to 12 miles.  Rob did crash hard on some ice on the way back but lived.  I bet he’s feeling that fall now though.

Rob demonstrated how to keep your fingers warm by swinging your arms in a windmill fashion.  It’s always good to learn a new trick.  Watch the video.  This works well.  We did occasionally have some strong wind when hiking ridges so we alternated gear a few times.  I had plenty of options of light gear in my back pack.  The sun came out by the end of the day – which for us was around noon.  I ate my calzone in the trees below Herman Lake which we got in with a side trip on the return.  This was an out and back hike.  I award Mountain Buzz with a puerco pibil for that calzone.  Some of the best hiking food I’ve ever had.

We planned to snow shoe and that didn’t happen, but it was a great day for using trekking poles.  I can’t imagine not using them for this hike.  My arms are sore still – this was very much a full-body workout.  More so to guard from falling on ice than post-holing.  Besides safety, the poles helped us to maintain a healthy pace.  I suspect we will continue hiking segments of the CDT throughout the winter.  And snow shoes are definitely in our future.

All Day Long

03 Saturday Nov 2012

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This pic was within the first couple of miles.  I know because my sleeves are still down for warmth.  I wasn’t actually listening to a playlist yet, not until about 7 or 8 miles.  Had the ear buds in though to be ready.  I held a few conversations on this run.  Running a nine minute pace, I was never winded.  This was all a matter of enjoying the fall colors.

I recall when I was a kid, running competitively, how nervous I would be lining up for a race.  My stomach would feel sick up until the starting gun fired.  My body knew the ordeal it was about to go through and it would be on edge.  Now, I line up casual.  Rarely any nerves.  And even for marathons, the only thought going through my mind is that I can’t believe my life is so perfect that I get four hours to go for a run.  Sweet.

Ran twelve miles this morning on LoBo Trail.  I ran slow and could have run all day long.  Ran so slow I’m really glad I didn’t time it.  But it was 50° and sunny.  Another beautiful day in Colorado.  Ran in my bronco colors – blue shorts and orange long sleeve t-shirt.  It was such great weather I planted bulbs after putting away the Halloween decorations.  Still cool enough though that I have a skillet of chili simmering now.  Using up my garden tomatoes.

Barefoot in the Park

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

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With no more big runs planned, you might think I’d run out of content.  A runner can always talk about their shoes.  I only had time today for 4 miles and it occurred to me I could revisit my attempt at training in minimalist running flats.  Earlier attempts ended with something broken in my left foot last spring, but I know what I’m doing this time around.

I won’t train barefoot on 15 mile trail runs this winter.  I expect to be mostly running 3 and 4 miles which is the sort of distance that should be safe and allow me to adapt to barefoot running.  So I pulled these down from my gear wall and slapped them on.  You guys all have a gear wall in your basement too, right?  Well, I love how these Merrell Trail Gloves fit and feel.  It’s just amazing how they force my stride to strike the ground on the balls of my feet.

Truth be told, I’ve been limping a tad this evening, but I don’t think I overdid it.  One might argue that I’m typically limping after most runs.  Generally not the short runs.  This will take some practice but that’s the plan this winter.  I’ll work these into my regimen.  With no upcoming events, the potential impact from injury is low.

Post Season Plans

28 Sunday Oct 2012

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Two marathons, back-to-back, and two photos crossing the finish line with both feet in the air.  Tells me I finished the season with a little skip in my step.  Great metaphor for my year as I began injured but finished healthy and in decent running shape.  This might have been my most productive season ever in terms of road races – The Austin Half, Moab Half, Boulder Spring Half, Collegiate Peaks 25 mile trail run, Bolder Boulder 10K, Imogene Pass Run, Denver Marathon and the Boulder Marathon.  I also discovered 3 neighbors to not only run with but who beat me in some of those runs listed above.  Next year’s Moab Half will be competitive with those guys.  Win or lose, I now have a cool running hat none of them have.  Click on the pic and check out that orange hat.

At Jen & Kelly’s Halloween party last night, Keith asked me what big event we should plan on next year.  I responded I didn’t think I was ready just yet to make plans.  I don’t have any idea for next year except for the spring.  I plan to repeat what I did this year.  However, if I’m in shape, I’ll run the full Austin Marathon in February instead of the half.  Follow that up with the Moab Half in March, the CPTR in early May and end my spring season with the Bolder Boulder.

My winter training will be with the goal of beating my neighbors in those events.  I’m currently healthy and strong.  I’ll shorten my runs during the week after daylight savings time ends next weekend.  But I’ll try to do weights and work out my core.  That’s as important as running distance.  I expect to have some good long runs on weekends (ran two 12 milers this weekend) along with snow shoeing.  My spring results will stem from how dedicated I am with my winter maintenance program.

Return to LoBo Trail

27 Saturday Oct 2012

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I realize the knee high compression socks make me appear like a school girl, but they are actually in fashion for runners so I don’t look out of place in that venue.  At least I don’t wear short racing shorts.  And I don’t tuck in my shirt for the same reason I don’t wear a belt with shorts.  That’s for old men and golfers.  Speaking of old men, the Boulder Marathon marks the first time for me since I returned to running road races that no one 60 or older beat me.  It is one thing for a 70 yr old to beat me in the IPR when he lives and trains with the other mountain goats at that elevation, but another thing entirely to be out kicked at the end of a 10K in Boulder by a septuagenarian.

I found myself talking to Chris last night at the Burlington Elementary Fall Ball about what age division is the easiest – relatively.  My thought is that the two 30 year old age divisions are the least competitive.  Not by number of participants, but by how competitive their times are.  Said another way – these guys are the biggest slackers.  Most likely their focus is on family and careers.  Still, thirty year olds are the relative slow guys.

I’m prepared to slow down.  The 2012 season is over for me.  Had a great run today on the LoBo Trail but overdressed a tad.  I said this to a runner who passed by in the other direction around the 2 mile mark.  He was wearing leg tights and a jacket.  Shortly after I removed my top layer – a Broncos orange long-sleeved t-shirt – and laid it on the ground at the LoBo singage near the Ogallala Road crossing.  I also ran the furthest I ever have on this trail.  I’ve done ten miles before so know where the five mile turn around is.  I suspect today I ran to the six mile turn around for a twelve mile run.  The course winds into Niwot housing developments and is spectacular.  The trail is nearly invisible under the broad leaves from Cottonwood trees.  The path under the canopy of Cottonwood dripped with melting snow so hard it was like running behind a waterfall.  Or like dining at the Rainforest Cafe.  Metaphors depend on your personal experience.

I began scanning the trail for a meaningful turn-around as I trotted past a smaller dirt path branch off to the right via some open source bridge across the creek.  Looked like it just continued along in the same direction on the other side of the creek.  Would have been more interesting than this pedestrian trail but I ran past it before having that thought.  A quarter mile later I determined to turn back at a spot I thought I could remember because some nice homes came up close to the trail at this point.  As I reached it I discovered the other end of the dirt path crossing the creek again.  This time I took it.  Perfect because I already know where it comes back out now.  And it changed up the scenery by changing my running surface with a narrow, slightly muddy trail.

I could have kept going I felt so good but that was an awesome spot to turn back around.  I maintained a slow stride the entire run.  I collected my shirt at Ogallala Road and tied it around my waist for the last couple of miles.  I think now for the winter I will plan to run nice, long slow routes on weekends just like this out my backdoor.

Muscle Cramps

26 Friday Oct 2012

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Based on my experience cramping in the Denver Marathon – where I felt like Rambo being electrocuted against a bed frame of steel mattress coils – my biggest concern in the Boulder Marathon was avoiding cramps.  Initially I had one strategy, I planned to drink as much electrolytes as possible at the aid stations.  The Boulder Marathon course has 10 aid stations and because you run by some of them twice, they are spaced about every two miles.  Some are closer as you pass the 10 aid stations 16 times.

They were all stocked with Gatorade Endurance Formula along with water.  Several had GU Gels and bananas and oranges.  I drank the Gatorade electrolytes at nearly every aid station.  I didn’t begin skipping any until after 13 miles.  I figure I drank a total of 1000 grams of sodium from this during the event.  The plan I blogged about earlier was to drink twice that, but I would have needed to stop at each aid station to swallow so much liquid.  And it’s too much liquid.  I also ate two gel packs – which I never do because they suck.  These weren’t bad though.  They were vanilla bean flavored.  And of course I washed them down immediately with water.  I also had a few plain waters.

I would say this plan was successful in that I didn’t cramp, except it wasn’t the most controlled scientific experiment because I also wore compression socks.  I can’t say for certain that compression socks do anything positive per claims, but I can tell you they feel good.  Or at least my calves feel good wearing them.  I’m a fan.  In the Denver Marathon, I also suffered a cramp in my hamstring at mile 22.  I never felt a twinge of cramping in my hamstring Sunday, and of course the socks stopped below my knee.  So it’s plausible the electrolytes contributed in this case.

Coincidentally, I found myself chatting with a high school boy running his first marathon somewhere during the final 10K.  I noticed him pass by me a bit earlier but now he was stopping at regular intervals to stretch.  He told me his legs were cramping.  I advised him to drink a couple of cups of Gatorade at the aid stations – which I saw him do at the next one.  I don’t know but hopefully this helped him.  In our discussion, he was actually well versed in runner’s nutrition and the need for sodium.

My feet did cramp a few hours later as I was getting a massage, but I was in the right place for that to be properly managed.  My arches did not cramp during the middle of the night, so I consider the massage successful.  As of Monday, I had one nagging knot on the inside of the top of my left leg, but most of the pain was gone by Tuesday.  I would have run Tuesday but didn’t have time so I finally ran for the first time on Wednesday in the cold rain that preceded the snow.  Actually pretty decent running weather and I got in 8 miles.  Felt great.

There’s a part of me that is still disappointed I ran 10 minutes slower than four weeks earlier in the Denver Marathon.  But I accomplished some of my goals.  I avoided cramps.  My core felt stronger and for a longer period.  Boulder was a much tougher course than Denver.  Denver is largely flat but Boulder is nonstop rolling hills.  Based on how weak my pace is the final 10K of marathons, I clearly have more to learn.  I know that I’ve yet to train properly for a marathon.  I don’t put in enough miles.  But I sort of suspect nutrition is still a big component of my 4th quarter decline in pace.  I don’t have any commitments yet but I expect to sign up for the Austin Marathon in February.  That will be my next test.

Boulder Marathon

21 Sunday Oct 2012

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beerIt doesn’t get any better than this.  I ran the Boulder Marathon this morning in unbelievably beautiful weather.  I can’t say yet how I did but will likely have the results before I publish this.  I would guess close to 4 hours.  Definitely a little slower than the Denver Marathon 4 weeks ago.  But probably not too far off.  I ran fairly aggressive the first half, but feel like I slowed down in the second half more so than at Denver.  We’ll see soon enough.

It was still dark as I parked around 6:15am.  I walked around the place and took a wiz in one of the zero-wait port-a-potties.  The gear bag truck wasn’t setup yet so I walked back to the car and waited inside until 6:45.  I walked back out ready to go.  I didn’t need gloves and discovered that before leaving so wore a pair of shorts without pockets.  Actually, it has a rear pocket which I used for my car key.  I usually insist on pockets for all my running shorts but I didn’t really need them.  I didn’t need gloves and I could keep my wallet in the car since it was so close to everything.  I clipped a shuffle to my waist band and listened to my playlist for much of the middle 20 kilometers.

I started off a bit slow but felt like I picked it up to have run a decent 10K.  I’m not seeing any splits at this RaceRite results site.  I didn’t wear a watch and there were absolutely no splits displayed throughout the run.  I couldn’t even find the clock at the end.  I don’t need to know my time, if it were critical to me I’d wear a watch.  But I did expect splits to be timed for me.  The results site seems hosed.  I don’t trust it.  They show split 1 without saying where it is.  You’d guess 10K but it seems like maybe 7 miles.  And this shows I took 2nd in my age group but I’m fairly certain I didn’t.  So far I’m not very happy with Boulder-based RaceRite for timing.  I do trust my final chip time – 3:58.  Feels like what I ran.

The first 10K is uphill.  No heartbreak hills but consistently a slope up to Nelson Road by the Antennae towers.  It follows Nelson for about 2 miles – from 8 to 10.  I found my stride here and feel like I ran that second 10K at an 8 minute per mile pace.  That’s stupid of course because it’s too fast for me.  My legs began to feel heavy right after 13 miles for the second half.  I had it in my mind that I would qualify for Boston if I could hold an 8 minute pace.  I can’t.  Not at altitude.  I did however give it a shot.

The race info made a big deal out of this course being fast and relatively flat.  I would say that’s true for the half marathon course, but I discovered runners walking the hill at 10 miles.  Seems to me you have to make note of any hills that make a number of runners walk.  There were other significant hills in the second half – all the way to the end.  I found myself walking part of a couple of them in the last 10K.  This run has hills.

I did enjoy running too fast for myself the second 10K.  My core felt strong but my legs ultimately fatigued.  I didn’t really feel my core begin to give until around 20 miles.  My stomach might have felt strong until 22 miles, but my upper legs were hurting.  The pain made me think I stressed them with weights and leg raises this week. More likely the pain was from running too fast, too early.  After the turn-around at 17 miles on Oxford Road, I went from trying to maintain my speed to trying to maintain forward momentum.  I walked a couple of times to let my heart rest going up some hills.  And also because I noticed my running pace wasn’t catching runners ahead of me whom were walking.  Something to always consider when running up a hill.

I can tell you that Oxford Road is hands down one of the prettiest dirt-packed roads ever.  I kept expecting to see a covered wooden bridge around every corner.  Every road north of the Boulder Res was glorious in its display of vivid colors from the fall foliage.  And the little farms and ranches tucked away north of Boulder are idyllic.  I had to weed my way through some goats on the road at one point on Oxford.  While hillier than I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed this course.

My legs really slowed down the last 3 miles, but seeing the water at the Boulder Res was great inspiration for continuing my forward motion.  The hill at 26 miles, while long, is not as tough as I expected.  Possibly because I was running so slow.  The little hill right in front of the finish line felt tougher.  I didn’t run today quite like I had imagined I would but I’m happy with my overall time.  I did a great job of drinking electrolytes at the aid stations.  This event has outstanding aid stations stocked with both water and Gatorade.  And many served GU gels and fruit.  Still perplexed as to why they didn’t have pace clocks.

Linda and KathyI gorged on oranges and bananas immediately after crossing the finish line.  Not the smartest thing as I vomited a couple minutes later.  But that actually made my stomach feel much better so I proceeded to the beer line.  I sat with a couple of nice women who ran the 5 mile event – Linda and Kathy.  I took their pic and then Kathy took some pics of me.  I only had the energy for one beer so I went home soon after that beverage.

I scheduled myself a massage earlier in the week for 2:30pm.  Brilliant call.  Shannon Dunlap at Massage Envy took care of me by working out the lactic acid.  I could actually walk almost normal upon leaving.  No injuries from this run.  Apparently my right nipple chaffed a bit from the blood I see in the pic, but it didn’t hurt in the shower.  Feet and knees feel good.  This marks the end of my running season.  I finished big with the IPR, Denver Marathon, and now this.  My focus will turn to winter maintenance.

Beer Run

20 Saturday Oct 2012

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The Boulder Marathon is just a 26.2 mile beer run.  Not only do they serve free beer afterward, they give you this beer pint glass along with the swag bag they gift you with your race packet.  Nice.  This adds to my collection of two other pint glasses from having run their spring half marathons the last two years.

If I understand correctly, you should be able to follow my pace at this site to get real time results at the half marathon point and 20 mile mark.  I really like how the Denver and Austin Marathons allow you to sign up for a messaging service that will text splits to your friends, but then that cost $5 and this is free.  The run kicks off at 7am Sunday so I expect to hit the half way point sometime around 8:45am and to cross the 20 mile mark sometime between 9:45am and Monday.

My daily run on the LoBo Trail takes me nearby this race course.  The trees are gorgeous with their fall colors.  Should make for some really good photos.  I’m a bit concerned in that I intend to wear knee-high compression socks and they might make me look like a school girl.  I’ll just have to crop out my legs from the pictures before posting them online.  I picked up a pair using the $10 coupon from my swag bag and wore them yesterday.  They really did make my legs feel better.  This was my first decent run since catching a cold.  My hope is that the compression socks will help keep my calves from cramping.  I’ll followup in my post run blog on how they work out.

Anxious

15 Monday Oct 2012

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Twenty meters past the 26 mile marker, the camera caught me with both feet off the pavement.  You can tell by looking at the shoe shadows.  I don’t bother with much of a kick in these long runs.  What’s the point?  But it’s good to see I have at least a little hop in my step.  About 5 minutes later I was laying flat on the pavement with cramps in both legs.  It was a great run up until I stopped.

Hoping the Boulder Marathon is as good a run as the Denver Marathon.  I’m a tad bit nervous because I didn’t train as hard as I wanted.  I won’t decide upfront how hard I intend to push myself.  I’ll make that call after I’ve warmed up a couple of miles.  As an amateur, I get to make those decisions.  If you’ve ever run a marathon, or multiple marathons, then you know how dicey they can be.  Almost regardless of conditioning, anything can happen with such a long distance.

I would love to feel strong throughout the run, but I am mostly interested in how my core will feel after 18 – 20 miles.  I did increase my core conditioning exercises.  Not sure if I’ve been at it long enough to show results, but this will certainly be a test.  Not saying I’ll pick up my pace if I’m strong at 20, but I might to celebrate that my stomach isn’t melting at this point.  This isn’t the wall per se, even though it’s at about when runners hit the wall.  But it’s similar.  My experience is that my overall body feels fine but my stride begins to shorten considerably as I lose strength in my lower abdomen and upper legs between 18 and 20 miles.  I can continue running feeling comfortable, but noticeably slower.  Makes the final 10K progress like a dolly zoom.

This Sunday will be my last marathon of the year, my end of season trifecta.  I survive this, then I can wind down.  I’ll move my runs to the middle of the day once daylight savings time ends.  As part of that, I’ll reduce the distance to 3 or 4 miles – something I can run during a lunch hour.  If I’m dedicated, I’ll work out on weights this winter.  I probably need that more than running.  Lastly, I expect to continue the mountain hiking – or snowshoeing – throughout the winter.  But I need to get through this marathon first.

Gore Range Trail

14 Sunday Oct 2012

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Fall in the mountains means snow.  I drove through some freezing rain and snow on my way up to meet Rob in Silverthorne Friday evening.  I think the place we met – the Dam Brewery – is actually in Dillon, but what’s the difference.  It’s the massive Summit County Sprawl.  This area offers everything to the outdoorsman and it’s making the transition to ski season.  We hiked through this area, mostly Breckenridge-Frisco-Copper, last summer doing the Colorado Trail.  We returned to hike part of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT).  We mistakenly thought a section of the Gore Range Trail makes up the CDT.  It doesn’t, at least not anymore.  But what the hell.  It was on some CDT map at some point in time so we’re including it in our mutli-year quest to hike the entire CDT.

We stealth camped at a CT trail head in Copper, same place we camped before hiking through Copper Mountain as part of the CT last summer.  As you turn off I70 onto Hwy 91 at Wheeler Junction, you drive past the traffic light that would take you into Copper Mountain and turn left a few yards down the road into an overflow parking lot.  Toward the back of this lot is a CT trailhead that would take you up over the Ten Mile Range into Breckenridge.  After the brew pub dinner we dropped off Rob’s car at the Mesa Cortina Trailhead in Silverthorne, then we setup camp here and relaxed in our camping chairs star gazing through gaps in the low cloud cover.

I slept great, despite regular sweeps by the Copper Mountain snow plow patrol with colored lights that looked like lasers streaming through my tent.  We woke around 5:30am to snow covering our tents and maybe a half inch on the ground, but seemingly warm.  There was no wind.  We broke down camp and sipped coffee while discussing whether to start from here or drive a little closer.  We ended up parking near the intersection at the gas station.  It opens at 7am and has a surprisingly cozy coffee shop and bakery attached to its east side.  We enjoyed a civilized breakfast and hit the trail at 7:30.

The trail begins on the northwest corner of the Interstate and Hwy 91 intersection.  This is my first outing this season where I needed to wear winter gear.  I mostly wore what I would refer to as transitional gear – spring and fall types of garments.  My pants are thin quick-dry material.  I had knee-high gaiters to protect my legs and feet from the snow but honestly it didn’t occur to me to wear snow pants.  I will next time but these thin hiking pants worked out perfectly combined with the gaiters.  I also wore a ski jacket but carried that more often than not and was comfortable with 3 layers of shirts and a wind breaker.  We found ourselves removing layers within minutes and only needed the heavy coats when crossing some of the passes.  Eventually I removed all but one shirt and my shell.

Hiking this direction, the trail heads up first to Uneva Pass.  Visibility was poor and the wind at the pass made the light snowfall feel blizzard-like.  The snow fell steadily most of the day but we could still make out the trail for this first hump.  The pass was just above treeline and the wind was only an issue when either above treeline or crossing open meadows.  Much of the hike was through trees.

Half way to Eccles Pass, the second big hump, we had the opportunity to bail out by taking the North Ten Mile Trail down to Frisco.  We considered this as an option if the weather became dangerous.  The trail was becoming deeper in snow as we progressed but Rob’s trail reading skills are expert.  Still, coming down from the third hump at Red Buffalo Pass we lost the trail.  We continued high on the ridge for a bit and then headed straight down into the creek drainage.  The Mesa Cortina Trail is supposed to lead us out along the South Willow Creek.  Sure enough, we ran back into the trail within a few minutes of bushwhacking.

The snow began to thin out fairly quickly now that we were headed down.  The visibility never cleared but it did stop snowing at some point.  There were a number of small lakes – none of them frozen over yet.  We met our only other hiker on this final segment.  He appeared to be a Chinese national based on his accent.  Nevertheless, he was sporting a rifle and hunting for Elk.  Not sure how he intended to carry any game out by himself.

The final segment was scared from a Bark Beetle infestation.  Massive amounts of downed trees.  The ones left standing looked pretty sad.  You can see some of the dead brown in this picture, especially if you click on it to enlarge the photo.  As we neared the trail head in Silverthorne, we began to see views of Dillon Lake and the Summit sprawl.  This would be a great area to own a little condo.  Incredible access.

Rob and I returned to the Dam Brewery to recover from our ten hour, twenty mile hike.  The place is good enough for a return, and we knew they had the beer and menu our bodies were looking for.  We ordered a pitcher of the velvety McLuhr’s Irish Stout.  Ten hours was a longer day than we anticipated, but the snow slowed down our progress.  I suspect trekking poles saved this from being a twelve hour hike.  Haven’t used those in some time and they were a huge help today.  We intend to continue hiking segments of the CDT, but expect to need snow shoes next time around.  Certainly snow pants.

Feed a Cold

08 Monday Oct 2012

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Starve a fever and feed a cold.  Okay, but can you run with a cold?  With only two weeks remaining before my next marathon I sort of want to know.  Several top search results speak to a rule of thumb termed the “neck rule”.  You can run with symptoms above the neck line like sinuses and a sore throat, but not with symptoms below the neck like a chest cold, fever, aches and pains or hacking cough.  I’m in the coughing stage.  I’m not sure if my cough counts as a proper hack and this advice was from the Internet, so I ran a few miles this afternoon to test the waters.  I might have had a small fever over the weekend but that’s gone now along with the achiness.  I don’t think I overdid it; I was simply looking to break a sweat.

I didn’t expect to sweat as much as in this picture of me running the final mile of the Denver Marathon, it’s so cool out with this fall weather that three miles wasn’t enough to work up much of anything.  It was enough though to make me regret not running for the last 4 days.  The color from the leaves and feel of the crisp air – it makes me want to play some football.  I’m getting up to the Continental Divide Saturday for that 20 mile hike I missed due to this cold.  I don’t care that I got a second letter from the HOA about staining my front porch.  Screw ’em.  The weekend is mine.  I pay enough in HOA dues that they should be staining the porch for me.

Of course the real reason I got out there is I saw Keith finish up his run.  He had a nice one.  So I got in a few myself and it was glorious.  Autumn in Colorado.  Nothing beats this.  I’ll take it easy again tomorrow and then increase my distance Wednesday if I’m feeling recovered.  Thursday is a night game on ESPN for the Buffs.  I’ll be going with my buddy Jed. Might be tight but I’ll squeeze in another short run if I have time.  Not sure what I’ll have time for on Friday because I’ll be driving up to camp out with Rob in Silverthorne for that 20 mile hike on Saturday.

Weekend Warrior

06 Saturday Oct 2012

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No big run or massive hike this weekend.  I had planned a 20 mile hike on the Continental Divide Trail.  Instead I’m sitting on the couch multi-tasking between college football, facebook, and re-installing apps on my iPhone because my Apple ID changed earlier this year.  Never change your Apple ID.  I’m not even sure how I did that.  Having a cold sucks but I did just watch Stanford play Arizona and I’m now watching Texas play West Virginia.  Got my MacBook Pro on my lap, iPhone in one hand and remote in the other.  Also eating a bowl of Texas chili Karen just made using my tomatoes and Serrano peppers from the garden.  Good thing since it’s snowed the last two mornings in a row.  It’s fall in Colorado.

Since I can’t run, I’ve been reviewing my race results from all the marathons and half marathons I’ve run over the last couple of years.  The Denver Marathon in 2010 and 2012.  The Austin Marathon in 2011.  The Austin Half Marathon in 2012.  The Moab Half in 2011 and 2012.  And the Boulder Half in 2011 and 2012.  That might seem egocentric, but there are few things more narcissistic than sports.  Except maybe blogging.  But sports is also all about statistics, so I don’t think it’s out of line to review my race results.  I did find something strange.

I ran the half in both Denver Marathons in 1:45.  13.1 miles in two marathons within 9 seconds of each other.  But wait, there’s more.  I’ve never run that fast in a half marathon.  Out of 5 half marathons, I’ve never run faster than 1:48.  What’s with that?  Thinking about it, I don’t think I ever tried racing those half marathons.  I might have treated them more like every day runs.  Either that, or I ran a screamin’ fast pace on those two marathons.  I’m sort of impressed with myself right now in a vain, self-absorbed, couch-potato sort of way.  And what’s with this Austin guy from W. Virginia?  He’s tearing Texas up!