Here is the profile of MT Falcon Park. I run a lollipop route so the last few miles are the same as the first few miles. Although my legs are so trashed by then the best I can run down is at 8:30-9:00 pace.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Mt Falcon
Yesterday was my return to the mountain running I haven’t been up in about 2 months. So I went to my favorite trail (mt falcon) where I spend most of my time running when I do get up to the mountains. The course is tough with about 1700’ of climbing in the first 4 miles (see profile below). These 4 miles feel like a tempo run in slow motion. During this climb I typically average 13:00 pace and a HR of around 160. On flat ground 160 HR would put me at about 7 min miles. Altogether I ran 10.3 mile in just under 2hrs.
Here is the profile of MT Falcon Park. I run a lollipop route so the last few miles are the same as the first few miles. Although my legs are so trashed by then the best I can run down is at 8:30-9:00 pace.
Here is the profile of MT Falcon Park. I run a lollipop route so the last few miles are the same as the first few miles. Although my legs are so trashed by then the best I can run down is at 8:30-9:00 pace.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
2012 RMRR Club 2 mi Race
Our running club has a handicap system were the faster runners start farther in the back. The first person across the line wins regardless of start time. For this 2 mile race my handicap was +7:49 and my proposed finish time was 12:49.
Mile 1 – 6:09 Avg HR 176
I started with one other person, I think about 10 or 15 were still waiting to run after us. This guy looked to only be about 16 and he took off at a crazy pace which I followed. We immediately were catching groups of people in front of us. I passed in at about 0.5 miles and never saw him again. But we had run the first half mile in about 2:55 (where is Olu with his match analogy) I was toast with 75% of the race left to run.
Mile 2 – 6:28 Avg HR 187
I ran the course for my warm up and I knew that the second mile was very muddy. It had been raining for the last few days which was great because half the state was on fire. I expected to run a slower second mile but not this much slower. Basically for me the race was over and I was just coasting into the finish line. Even though I was dying I was still passing tons of people and ended up finishing 14th with a time of 12:37, I beat my proposed handicap time of 12:49 so that was good. Every race your handicap level is adjusted so next time I will have to run faster. Still this small race was a lot of fun.
Post race
After the race I had some snacks and drinks and then I went for a 6 mile run. All I could think about was my future of running and what I wanted to accomplish. For the same effort (training wise) I think I could take a few seconds off my 5K time (or not even get close) or with that same few month train for another marathon farther which sounds like a lot more fun to me. Nearing the end of the run I feel like I came to the conclusion that I have accomplished what I want in distances shorter than 10K. These shorter races just don’t appeal to me like they did before. I am still planning on running the next Club race which is a 5k but treat it more like a hard run from my marathon training.
I am in the blue shorts about to jump that puddle
Mile 1 – 6:09 Avg HR 176
I started with one other person, I think about 10 or 15 were still waiting to run after us. This guy looked to only be about 16 and he took off at a crazy pace which I followed. We immediately were catching groups of people in front of us. I passed in at about 0.5 miles and never saw him again. But we had run the first half mile in about 2:55 (where is Olu with his match analogy) I was toast with 75% of the race left to run.
Mile 2 – 6:28 Avg HR 187
I ran the course for my warm up and I knew that the second mile was very muddy. It had been raining for the last few days which was great because half the state was on fire. I expected to run a slower second mile but not this much slower. Basically for me the race was over and I was just coasting into the finish line. Even though I was dying I was still passing tons of people and ended up finishing 14th with a time of 12:37, I beat my proposed handicap time of 12:49 so that was good. Every race your handicap level is adjusted so next time I will have to run faster. Still this small race was a lot of fun.
Post race
After the race I had some snacks and drinks and then I went for a 6 mile run. All I could think about was my future of running and what I wanted to accomplish. For the same effort (training wise) I think I could take a few seconds off my 5K time (or not even get close) or with that same few month train for another marathon farther which sounds like a lot more fun to me. Nearing the end of the run I feel like I came to the conclusion that I have accomplished what I want in distances shorter than 10K. These shorter races just don’t appeal to me like they did before. I am still planning on running the next Club race which is a 5k but treat it more like a hard run from my marathon training.
I am in the blue shorts about to jump that puddle
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Back Injury Update
So I think my back is finally recovered at least for running
purposes. Doing daily chores my back
still gets tired quickly. Today was my
first run in 9 days since I hurt my back.
I was using the memory of the original injury as my guide. If I got anywhere near that pain level I
would stop and get a ride home. The
first few blocks were tough and my back hurt a lot but not as much as yesterday
when I did the dishes. After the first
mile I said to myself if this gets any worse I am going to call it a day. But I got better as the run went on and I the
rest of the day I felt better than I had since the injury.
While we’re on the subject of injury…
My worst injury: One
day at the end of practice in college I was running my sprints just like every
other day. I heard a loud pop from my
knee and I thought let’s just call it a day.
I realized in the next few steps walking back to the school that
something wasn’t right. My knee popped
loudly with every single step. The next
day I went for a run popping with every step but the overcompensation cased my
other knee to hurt really bad and I never ran at the college level again. The Dr. thought I tore my meniscus but I
wasn’t in all that much pain so I think it was my IT band snapping. I didn’t run for 3 months (mainly because I
was sick of it from the 70+ miles a week) anyways it was fine after some time
off. My knee continued to pop while walking
around campus for the next 2 weeks.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Injury
Saturday I ran 7 miles without any problem. Sunday I went out for a 14 mile run and was
feeling fine in the early miles. I ran
the first 8 in about 1:06 when suddenly my lower back started to feel
funny. I thought to myself better slow
down (mi 9 – 9:30) but my lower back kept getting worse. I thought to myself better start taking walk
breaks (mi 10 – 15:00). I stopped my
watch at 10 miles and then walked very slowly 4 miles back to my house. I spent the rest of Sunday lying down but it
didn’t help and I wasn’t able to sleep very well over night because I woke up
every time I turned over. This morning I
hurt so bad that I went to go see the Dr. He said that I have some strained
muscles and sent me on my way with Vicodin that hasn’t seemed to help.
On the upside the Dr. said that I should be able to run
(short distances) in a couple of days.
He said “Your back will let you know what you can do” which I thought
was cool because most of the time the Dr. says no more running for X weeks
regardless of how you feel.
Monday, May 28, 2012
2012 Sage Burner Race Report
Quick Stats
25K Trail race(actually 16.5 Miles)
2:38:40 (9:37 pace) over challenging Terrain.
Avg HR 162 (Averaged 158 HR in my 3:27 marathon)
17th place overall, 4th in my age group
Mini Vacation Summary
Monday - 25K Race
Monday – 12,300 Summit
Tuesday – 12,000 Summit (twice, once on the way out and once on the way back from the 13,000 ft peak)
Tuesday – 13,200 Summit
25K Trail Race
On Sunday night I drove up to my friends place in Gunnison Colorado. The next morning we got up early and I was very surprised that it was only 27F outside. By the time the race started it had warmed up to about 30F. I striped off all my extra clothes and started the race in shorts and short sleeves. I knew that I would be warm in a mile or two.
I may have started too fast on the first climb. I was quickly in the red zone and spent most of the first downhill recovering. During the first downhill was the only time I was passed in the race. I was still not sure how well I was going to feel since I had run a great marathon just one week ago. I was taking the race more as a fun training run and I was just out having a good time and the views were amazing.
I took it easy till about mile 9 when I took my only gel of the race. I ran the first 9 miles at about 10:00 pace mostly because I wasn’t sure how I would feel on this terrain. But mile 9 was a huge turning point in the race for me because that’s when it became a race and not a training run. It’s a good thing that I felt really good too because starting at mile 9 we had to climb 1,300 ft over the next 3 miles.
I ran the last 3 miles (lots of downhill) as hard as I could and I passed a ton of people. The entire race felt like a long acceleration. Some of the downhill were so steep I was afraid of falling on my face but I was just in mad man mode. My watch said I ran the last 0.5 mile at 7:00 min pace.
Monday after the race
My friend that I was staying with won the race and set a course record. We ate lunch and then went to the next town over Crested Butte to see a movie (Gunnison doesn’t have a movie theater). After the movie we decide to go hike Mt Emmons (12,392 ft), we parked at about 9,000 so we ended up climbing 3,000 ft and adding 6 miles round trip to our day. The hike was really tough on my battered legs. The last bit of this climb was really technical and steep. There were sections about 5 feet tall of vertical rock that we had to climb. In between these verticals it was so steep that I only felt comfortable crawling. The view on top was really awesome view but the wind made really cold. The sections that I thought were scary on the way up were terrifying on the way down. Nearing the car my knees and feet hurt so much, Tim and I had cover 22 miles on foot for the day.
Tuesday
Tim and I were both feeling a little beat up so we called off our original plans of hiking a 14,000ft peak for an easier hike. The easier hike was actually 2 peaks Terrible Mountain at 12,012ft and Fairview Mountain at 13,214ft. Terrible was an easy climb that we had to pass on our way to Fairview. It wasn’t much of a climb except we had to climb it on the way back to the car too. Fairview was an awesome climb and much easier than yesterday’s crazy technical climb. I didn’t feel like I was in danger at any point on this climb. The last few hundred feet looked like we were on a giant pile of rocks, it looked really bizarre. On top was another awesome view of the neighboring mountains. Again the top was so cold that we didn’t stay long. The hike back to the car was pretty painful my quads were shot and I could feel my toes hitting the front of my shoes with every step. This hike ended up being about 5 miles round trip and another 3,000 ft of climbing. Every time I visit Tim we have had similar endurance adventures.
That was my weekend of attempting to keep up with an elite ultra-marathoner. Tim has won some prestigious ultra-marathons including the
Leadville 100. And now time for some pictures.
25K Trail race(actually 16.5 Miles)
2:38:40 (9:37 pace) over challenging Terrain.
Avg HR 162 (Averaged 158 HR in my 3:27 marathon)
17th place overall, 4th in my age group
Mini Vacation Summary
Monday - 25K Race
Monday – 12,300 Summit
Tuesday – 12,000 Summit (twice, once on the way out and once on the way back from the 13,000 ft peak)
Tuesday – 13,200 Summit
25K Trail Race
On Sunday night I drove up to my friends place in Gunnison Colorado. The next morning we got up early and I was very surprised that it was only 27F outside. By the time the race started it had warmed up to about 30F. I striped off all my extra clothes and started the race in shorts and short sleeves. I knew that I would be warm in a mile or two.
I may have started too fast on the first climb. I was quickly in the red zone and spent most of the first downhill recovering. During the first downhill was the only time I was passed in the race. I was still not sure how well I was going to feel since I had run a great marathon just one week ago. I was taking the race more as a fun training run and I was just out having a good time and the views were amazing.
I took it easy till about mile 9 when I took my only gel of the race. I ran the first 9 miles at about 10:00 pace mostly because I wasn’t sure how I would feel on this terrain. But mile 9 was a huge turning point in the race for me because that’s when it became a race and not a training run. It’s a good thing that I felt really good too because starting at mile 9 we had to climb 1,300 ft over the next 3 miles.
I ran the last 3 miles (lots of downhill) as hard as I could and I passed a ton of people. The entire race felt like a long acceleration. Some of the downhill were so steep I was afraid of falling on my face but I was just in mad man mode. My watch said I ran the last 0.5 mile at 7:00 min pace.
Monday after the race
My friend that I was staying with won the race and set a course record. We ate lunch and then went to the next town over Crested Butte to see a movie (Gunnison doesn’t have a movie theater). After the movie we decide to go hike Mt Emmons (12,392 ft), we parked at about 9,000 so we ended up climbing 3,000 ft and adding 6 miles round trip to our day. The hike was really tough on my battered legs. The last bit of this climb was really technical and steep. There were sections about 5 feet tall of vertical rock that we had to climb. In between these verticals it was so steep that I only felt comfortable crawling. The view on top was really awesome view but the wind made really cold. The sections that I thought were scary on the way up were terrifying on the way down. Nearing the car my knees and feet hurt so much, Tim and I had cover 22 miles on foot for the day.
Tuesday
Tim and I were both feeling a little beat up so we called off our original plans of hiking a 14,000ft peak for an easier hike. The easier hike was actually 2 peaks Terrible Mountain at 12,012ft and Fairview Mountain at 13,214ft. Terrible was an easy climb that we had to pass on our way to Fairview. It wasn’t much of a climb except we had to climb it on the way back to the car too. Fairview was an awesome climb and much easier than yesterday’s crazy technical climb. I didn’t feel like I was in danger at any point on this climb. The last few hundred feet looked like we were on a giant pile of rocks, it looked really bizarre. On top was another awesome view of the neighboring mountains. Again the top was so cold that we didn’t stay long. The hike back to the car was pretty painful my quads were shot and I could feel my toes hitting the front of my shoes with every step. This hike ended up being about 5 miles round trip and another 3,000 ft of climbing. Every time I visit Tim we have had similar endurance adventures.
That was my weekend of attempting to keep up with an elite ultra-marathoner. Tim has won some prestigious ultra-marathons including the
Leadville 100. And now time for some pictures.
 |
| Me near the end of the 25K race |
 |
| Tim and I after the race |
 |
| Tim with 12' snow behind him, on Mt Emmons |
 |
| On top of Mt Emmons, Crested Butte in the background |
 |
|
Tim on top of Mt Emmons
|
 |
|
Climbing down the hardest section of Mt Emmons
|
 |
|
Near the top of Fairview. We are headed towards that fire
lookout that you can barely see
|
Top of Fairview
 |
| Top of Fairview |
 |
| Last one of the view from the top of Fairview |
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
2012 Colfax Marathon Race Report
Pre-Race
I woke up at 4am and had my banana, coffee and oatmeal. This race starts earlier than most at 6:00 am
but I was particularly happy because we would be out of the sun an hour
earlier. I had to walk about a mile to
the starting line, I arrived at about 5:30 and spent most of that time waiting
in line for the bathroom. I was unable
to find the bag check so I left my bag under a tree near the start which was
gone when I came back. At the start it
was about 45 F and still dark. The day
before it had rained all day and never hit 50 degrees, today the weather would
be perfect.
0-13.1 miles 1:45:18 – 8:02 pace, Avg HR 150
My plan was to toss out my conservative instincts and start
the marathon off fast. My goal was to go
out at or near 8:00 minute miles (in my head this felt like a suicide
mission). Because it was so crowed at
the start I just went with the flow and ran the first mile in 8:22. I didn’t know till after the race while
analyzing the data that mile 1 was my slowest mile of the day. Once traffic thinned out I settled into a
faster pace near 8:00. My HR was pretty
calm staying in the 140’s for most of the first half of the race. I felt like I was working much harder than my
HR was showing. I clicked off many
miles just under 8:00 pace, I felt really good and I was passing people
nonstop. They had a big clock and banner
at the half way point and I was pretty surprised to see 1:45 (fast enough to be
my second best HM). I thought to myself
maybe I could run 3:30 today. My only
worry was my calf that sort of felt tired or just off, I wasn’t sure. I’ve had a lot of calf problems mostly minor
but I don’t like them feeling weird at all.Shortly after the highs of crossing the 13.1 mark I hit some rough patches in mile 15 and 16 which had a long steady low climb (not steep at all but tough at 8:00 min pace). My HR exploded into the 160’s and my pace slowed back above 8:00/mi. I thought to myself “that’s it my HR going to skyrocket until I slow into the 9:00 -10:00 pace”. I tried to keep that in the back of my mind and I knew that miles 17-20 were mostly downhill (out and back course). Also my family was waiting for me at 20 so I clawed out of my funk and returned to a pace just under 8:00. I hit 20 miles in 2:39 which is my fastest 20 ever in any race or training run. Once again I was feeling really good. My calfs were still my only worry they didn’t feel great but they were still holding.
Mile 21 – 7:50 – 168 HR
Seeing my family and my 20 mile time changed my state of
mind. “I want 3:30 I am ready to hurt” and
hurt I did. I wasn’t the only one either
people around me were starting to break down.
I was passing people like crazy, I looked at my watch and I hadn’t speed
up at all. I can remember a single
person passing me again not even relay runners that had just stared their leg
at the 20 mile mark.
Mile 22 – 7:46 – 172 HR
At mile 21 I was supposed to eat my last gel but my stomach
was starting to feel queasy so instead I went without and only had some water
(couldn’t even look at Gatorade). My
calf continued to feel funny, I hoped it would hold a little longer but I tried
not to think about it now. My calfs have
always been my week link and if anything is going to cramp or get injured it
will be my calf so it’s hard to ignore their complaints.
Mile 23 – 8:02 – 173 HR
Coming off all that downhill was a hard transition now I had
to work for those 8 min miles not just coast and get them for free. Last year in this exact spot my calf started
cramping and I was scared it would happen again. I decided to not worry about pace and just
get through this section. Which was
good because my watch started acting weird so I couldn’t tell how fast I was
running (because of the downtown buildings).
Mile 24 – 7:23 – 174 HR
My Garmin was really going nuts and it was telling me I was
at 8:40 pace. But maybe it wasn’t messed
up, I sped up to try and get my pace under 8:00 and when I came out of the big
buildings my watch corrected itself from 8:00 pace for the current mile to
6:50! And then I hit a huge hill. I went
way into the red zone from going too fast and then climbing up this hill. I spent the rest of this mile recovering at
what I think was about 8:30 pace. On my
overall summary my watch said I max out at 193 HR and I am pretty sure it was during
this hill after running 6:50 for half a mile.
Mile 25 – 7:55 – 174
HR
This mile really hurt, I was still in pain from that hill
but I couldn’t let up. I crossed 24 at
3:10 I knew I could get 3:30 if I just run the last 2.2 in 20 minutes. I tried to do the math but failed to figure
out the pace I needed. For the first
time in the race I was feeling too hot, in reality it was only about 55 F but I
was sweating like crazy.
Mile 26 – 7:33 – 177 HR
12:00 to run 1.2 miles which now I can easily see is 10 min
pace but I failed again to compute the pace needed and just kept pushing. With about a mile to go we entered the park
where we started and I just took off.
This is the first time I ever had a marathon kick. I got some great comments from fellow
marathoners as I passed them “you’re kicking ass” and “finish strong”.
Last 0.2 – 7:20 pace – 186 HR
Crossing the 26 mile marker felt awesome and suddenly the
pain dissipated (runners high). I
continued to speed up as I charged towards the finish line. I have never felt this good coming into the
finish of a marathon it was a wonderful feeling. I would have sprinted but I didn’t trust my
“no pain feelings” I knew my body was really hurting and my calf was near
failure. Wasn’t worth a few more seconds
and I already had a huge PR. I couldn’t
see my family but they could see me finish strong. I usually look like I am about to die at the
finishes.
A Few Fun Stats
- This was my 7th marathon (8 if you count the 50K)
- First time I ran negative splits in a marathon. First half 1:45, Second half 1:42.
- Fastest miles: 7:23 in mile 24 and 7:33 in mile 26
- Slowest mile: 8:22 in mile 1
- Average Pace 7:55, Avg HR 158, Max HR 193 (second highest Max HR for the year)
- Miles between 7:45 – 8:05 = 17, Miles between 7:35 – 8:15 = 23
- This was my 7th marathon (8 if you count the 50K)
- First time I ran negative splits in a marathon. First half 1:45, Second half 1:42.
- Fastest miles: 7:23 in mile 24 and 7:33 in mile 26
- Slowest mile: 8:22 in mile 1
- Average Pace 7:55, Avg HR 158, Max HR 193 (second highest Max HR for the year)
- Miles between 7:45 – 8:05 = 17, Miles between 7:35 – 8:15 = 23
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)