2014 Run Through Time Marathon

Salida, Colorado
4:48:29 (8 minute course PR)

In Colorado this is the earliest marathon of the season, the next opportunity is late April. I have decided to make this my early season fitness test. I love this race, the views are amazing the people are laid back. This was my 16th marathon and my second on this course. I have become a much more laid back runner I don’t worry about my training, taper, dinner breakfast or anything. I just love to go out and run.

First climb 0 – 7 miles
The race started on the road and I stayed calm and tucked into the middle of the pack. It’s a long climb and I am not very fast on the uphill. It was about 30F and I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and shorts. I knew it would warm up once the sun came out. Running a trail race is weird in the beginning it’s like everyone is trying to hold out and not walk for as long as possible. Not me I know how I like to run trails and my strategy include lots of walking mixed with running.

Big Climb 8 – 13
At mile 8 we left the single track and started up the dirt road. Even with my short walk breaks I had passed a lot of people. I remember how bad I felt on this road last year, this year was different I felt relaxed and fine. I cruised up the 5 miles of dirt road (2,400ft vertical) with out to much trouble. At the top I was so happy that I was not only 5 minutes ahead of last year’s time but it felt so much easier this time.

At the Top 14-20
It was a nice relief to finally not be running uphill. Once at the top the course rolled up and down but the down side was now it was mostly over snow and ice. I almost fell a few times and I pasted a few people with some battle wounds. After passing the aid station at mile 13 the crowds thinned out and for a few miles I didn’t see another soul. It was amazing to be out away from people and civilization at the same time a little scary. I thought I lost the course but then rejoined a small group. Mile 19 and 20 were step down and in some places to steep to run. My legs got very tired and I actually looked forward to some climbing.

Downhill to the Finish 21 -26.2
Actually this section starts off with a huge hill of about 300’ over a half mile. After that the rest of the race was huge down hills with the occasional short ups. Once we dropped in elevation the snow disappeared and we were back on dirt. Everything hurt and eventually it was hard to keep pace even on the downhill. I stopped to catch my breath and take a few pictures and then I was off again. The finish is very low key you run across the bridge into the finish with 10’s of people cheering you on and there are no metals. I love everything about this race.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/462445017

Last year I ran 4:56 which translated to a 3:31 road marathon 2 months later. So I am hoping that my 8 minutes faster will translated to 8 minutes faster in May and a new PR! At the same time this was a training weekend. Sunday I went out for a 12 mile trail run making the weekend 38 miles of trail running.


Not my worst race picture, I think this is mile 3
 

Mile 4ish 
 

Nice view of the snow capped 14,000ft peak (Mt Shavano) 
 

Here is the dirt road, doesn’t look like much but it never ends 
 

Mile 15 – highest spot and lots of snow and ice 
 

Mile 18 - This is looking away from town, the mountains seemed to stretch on forever without any signs of civilization 
 

Also near mile 18 going down hill 
 

This course had it all mud, dirt, pavement, snow, ice and even sand 
 

This is about 100ft later and now its steep downhill on sand 
 

Almost back to town (mile 23) 
 

Mile 24. It was hard to watch the trail with the awesome views 
 

We weren’t done yet and the town disappeared below the hill 
 

This might be my new favorite trail picture. Mile 25 the finish is just over the hill 
 

Cold weekend of running

Well I didn’t learn my lesson from yesterday (20 miles at 10F). I set of for a frosty 8 mile trail run on fresh snow in 7F temps. Surprisingly it felt much warmer than yesterday’s windy run. The trail run was tough with 1,600 ft of climbing, my legs were mush from yesterday’s 20 miler. Swimming in the pool tomorrow is going to feel so awesome.

Snowy Bergan Peak

Today I ran with my trail group up the side of an icy mountain, nearly every step was on snow and ice. It was slow going up and slow going up and also back down our 10 mile trip took 2:30 (15 min pace). We started at around 7600ft and climbed up to 9600ft. To add to the torment I ran 15 miles yesterday so my legs were absolute crud today.

Crazy trail group wont back down

I don’t think we are getting snow like out east but it’s still snow here. My crazy trail group runs no matter the weather. Today it was 3F snowing and the wind chill was -10F. We only managed 3.5 miles before seeking shelter in the cars.

Goodbye 2013

I love digging into my running data and at the end of the year I spend a lot of time compiling various stats, reflecting on the year and thinking about what I want to accomplish next year.   Here are some of my 2013 Stats:

Totals

Total Miles – 2,050 which is about 500 short of last year but on the upside this was the 3^rd year in a row over 2k.

Days run – 231, I am kinda disappointed with this one I should be running more often.  Worse is how many Saturday/Sundays I missed over the year. 

Runs beyond 20 miles:  18 the last few years I have been averaging 12 really long runs per year.

Races

03/09/2013 Run Through Time - 26.2 - 4:56:44 (AKA – Snowathlon) 
05/19/2013 Colfax – 26.2 - 3:31:30 
06/02/2013 Deadwood – 26.2 - 3:37:27 
08/18/2013 Pikes Peak – 26.2 - 7:03:03 
08/24/2013 Ram Run – 3.1 -  0:22:13 
09/29/2013 Bear Chase – 52 - 10:00:33 
10/21/2013 Denver – 26.2 - 3:41:19

Marathons:   5 marathons are now the most I have completed in a year. My best was 5 minutes slower than last year.  3 Marathons were Sub 4hrs before this year I only had 3 sub 4hr marathons.

Ultra Marathon: 52 miles in 10 hrs.  Longest run for me, last year my longest race was 31.5

5k: Slowest 5k in years but it was the weekend after a 7hr marathon

Current Streaks (both were in jeopardy this last month)

46 months of 100+ miles

36 months with a long run beyond 15 miles

Overall

It’s been a great year and I have really grown as a runner.  I finally feel like a real ultra-marathoner now, 50k just doesn’t seem harder than a marathon.   I surprised myself a few times this year when I had good performances shortly after long races.  I am looking forward to building on this momentum and doing some amazing things in 2014.

Weekend out with the Mile High Track Club

Saturday: Ran with the running club. I decided to not run 18 with the guys because I don’t even have a race on my calendar. I ended up doing 10 miles around 8:05 pace with some other people (made some more friends).

Sunday: Today was my return to the trails. It’s been about 2 months or more since my last trail run. Bad news is that soon the trails will be runnable with too much snow on them. Today we ran about 8 miles @ 11:55 pace on slightly snowy trails.




That’s me in the front rockin my shorts in the snow. I think it was in the mid 30’s for the entire run, my hands get cold but my legs are usually fine.

2013 Denver Rock n’ Roll Marathon

26.2 miles – 3:41:19 (8:27 pace)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/393284743 


Pre Race 
The Denver marathon has been my proving ground for years. Back in 2009 this was where I ran my first marathon in a time of 5:19 that I am still upset about. Every year since I have run either the full or the half, this race is my yearly benchmark to compare the years. I plan on continuing to run this race every year and I sign up for it super early to save money. This year I signed up before I set my goals for the year and that is why I ended up running it 3 weeks after my first 50 mile race. Expectations were low, I told everyone that I would take it easy and run somewhere around 4hrs. 


First 10 miles 1:24:51 (8:29 pace) 
The early miles went perfectly to plan just enjoy the race. I ran what ever felt comfortable, I had my watch but I wasn’t checking times or pace. I have run the half or the full for 5 years in a row now but this was the first time I was soaking in the course, marathon atmosphere and the beautiful fall weather. I read every marathon sign, joked with other runners, jammed to the live music and laughed at all the crazy costumes. I knew I was running about 8:30 pace but I didn’t have a clue what kind of a finish time that would be I only knew that 9:09 was 4hrs, usually I study up on pace times. In the back of my head I only had one concern my feet, which started to hurt around mile 4 or 5. The last few months I have been having foot pain on some of my longer runs and a lot during and after that 50 miler. I am not talking about the bottom of my feet, which were also sore. This is pain feels like is coming from the tops of my feet. I got to see my wife and kids at mile 6 and then again at mile 8. They were eating breakfast in the grass and not ready for me so I went way off course to give them hugs and high fives (not the first time I have gone to them). 

11-20, 10 miles 1:25:12 (8:31 pace) 
Mile 11 was tough because of a short but steep hill. Normally this hill would have been cake but at 8:30 pace it was the first time I felt out of breath in the race. Luckily my parents, brother and niece were at the top of this hill cheering me on. At mile 12 we split off from the half marathon crowd it seemed like for every 10 HM runners 1 runner went down the full marathon route. The race contained 15,000 runners and only about 3,500 were running the marathon. With so few people I was able to relax even more, the fall colors were just amazing. My feet continued to hurt but they never really got any worse than a mild discomfort. Nearing mile 20 realized how easily I had coasted through first part of this race. I saw my training buddy around this time and he was happy to see how well I was doing so close to that 50 miler. He said “Allen you are doing great, go get em’ and finish strong”. I think this is about when I decided I had enough fun and now it was time to race. 

Last 10K, 6.2 miles 51:16 (8:16 pace) 
Running through the park I started passing tons of many people. I had only slightly picked up my pace but at the same time people around me started dropping like flies. A few of the people that I passed chased me down and suddenly I was leading my very own pace group. I was the expert on the course and marathoning. I was asking how people felt and letting them know what was around the next corner. Our group continued to run low 8:20’s for the final few miles passing people like crazy. We lost a few people in our group along the way and near the end we were down 3 strong runners. They kept saying “don’t let us hold you back if you need to go then go”. I told them about my day and my crazy year of races, they were both running their first marathon and very impressed that I was even running this race. I asked them if they felt good and that we should start our kick even though a big hill was right in front of us. We ended up running mile 26 in 7:59 even with the big hill. At the top of the hill we took about 2 minutes to recover before I said “it’s all downhill from here lets go now”. I left the group behind and ran the last .42 miles @ 5:57 pace!!! (.42 mi because I ended up with 26.42 mi). At the finish line I waited for my mini pace group to finish. They both said that because of my kick they also pushed themselves to have awesome finishes. 

Post Race: 
Even with the hard effort over the last 10K I felt great at the finish line and then at home the rest of the day. My foot pain never really got worse or better from about mile 4 mark. Monday at school I didn’t really feel sore except in my back a little. 

This wasn’t the first time I collected runners and formed a pace group in fact it seems to be happing more and more often. I set out to have a fun day and I did just that but even better I helped make some others day a little better.