Run that ye may Obtain

After the Fast Running Blog get-together at Scott Ensign’s house last night, we slept in his basement.  Allie came over at 6 a.m. and we all drove to the race start together.  Had a little mix-up with Scott’s neighbor whom we thought was going to give us a ride, so after waiting for him for a bit we ended up just going up in Allie’s car and parking quickly so we could pick up our race bibs and get somewhat of a warm-up.  I jogged around for about 5 minutes, did a couple of strides, and visited a tree (since the porta-pot lines were too long.)  Lined up on the start line with Paul, Allie, Scott and others.  Temp was pretty chilly since the sun was still behind the mountain but once we got running I warmed up pretty quickly.

Mile 1- 5:53 Legs were resisting the pace a bit.  Some tightness in my hips and quads.

Mile 2- 5:56 Still trying to get moving.

Mile 3- 5:50 Slight downhill helps.

Mile 4- 5:44 Okay, now the legs are submitting to my will (after that 5k warm-up).

Mile 5- 5:30 Quite a bit of dowhnill, some headwind.  I followed a guy in a blue jersey and imagined a pony tail on him to motivate me to race him. Then I looked down at his legs and the hairy poof just made it really hard to imagine him female.

Mile 6- 5:38 Still some headwind and downhill.

Mile 7- 5:50 First half of this mile was downhill, second half was pretty steep uphill

Mile 8- 5:52 Still pushing up the steep hill.  Crested the hill and had a half mile of flat brought my pace back down.

Mile 9- 5:30 Gradual downhill, one intersection with no officer directing traffic.  I was lucky there were no cars because I ran a red light.

Final .3- 5:18 pace Little more downhill and a sprint to the finish.

After I finished I drank a couple of cups of Gatorade and jogged up to run Allie and Ruth in.  Aaron was taking pictures of everyone and Scott’s wife, Karen was helping keep an eye on our kids (who kept raiding the post-race food and gatorade).  FRB-ers did really well!! Lots of PRs and overall/age group wins.  After chatting with bloggers (Paul, Jon, Cody, Scott, Allie, Ruth, Dave) for a bit Aaron left with Cody to go mountain running and Karen watched my kids so I could do a little cool down with Allie and Ruth.  I am very pleased with the race.  That was my first time racing 15K; it is such a fun distance to race!  Its just long enough to really get into a groove and feel good without getting too fatigued.  I didn’t need any liquid or gu in the race so there were no distractions and no tummy/bowel problems.  Super fun race!

The kids were enjoying themselves at the playground nearby while we waited for the awards/raffle.  After all the runners finished we sat down and listened to the awards.  Milliseconds timing group had a little confusion since they had not gotten the finish line pad down until after the first 6-8 runners had already finished so they were asking us our finish times (its a good thing most runners time themselves).  They gave fireworks to the kids and a nice pottery bowl trophy to the overall/age group placers plus lots of raffle prizes.  Just after Scott was complaining that he never wins anything in those raffles he was proven wrong when they called his name and gave him a free backpack.

After that I gave Allie and Dave S. a ride back to their car up the canyon at the race start and went back to Scott’s house to shower and get our stuff while we waited for Aaron.  Karen made some yummy sausages and hot dogs for lunch and we hung out for a couple more hours until Aaron returned and we left for our family get-togethers.

We had such a fun time in Cache Valley and are really grateful for Scott and Karen Ensign’s kind hospitality and generosity in hosting us for the night, feeding us and helping with our kids.  It was really fun to get to know lots of bloggers better and race as a way of celebrating our Freedom and this great Country in which we live.

I have never been a high-mileage chick.  In high school I ran ran a 2:10 800M and 5:05 1600M with 25-30 miles a week in training.  My ability to race well on low mileage was one of the biggest reasons why my college Cross Country Coach, Patrick Shane was excited about my potential. He knew I hadn’t been over-trained or burned out and I could run fast on, well basically talent.   Even in college he didn’t feel the need to have me doing mass mileage.  I mostly hovered around the 45-50 miles per week range, hitting 55 miles per week maybe 3 times in four years while training for my specialty, the 3,000M Steeplechase.  Now that I’m training for a little bit longer of a race (only 24 miles longer, no big deal) I’ve gradually been building up my weekly mileage and today’s run concludes my first 70 mile week ever!  I have to admit that 70 miles did make me feel a bit more tired throughout the week but luckily I was able to sneak in a few naps and get pretty good sleep at night, which helped a lot.  My left achilles is feeling better than it has in weeks and my right shin was a little tight earlier in the week but after self-massaging it every day and trying to loosen up that calf, its actually feeling quite a bit better too.  I’m very pleased with how well it has responded to self massage and daily icing.

So for today’s workout, I met Running Republic at Tom Watson Park for some intervals around Boulder Res.

20 min warm up, stretching, strides

6X45second quick stride hills (5:15-5:40 pace, started off slower and got faster as I warmed up)

2.5 minutes easy

10 minutes at controlled tempo pace (6:00 pace)

3 minutes easy

3X3 minutes at 10k effort (6:17 pace; first one was uphill and I’m starting to overheat in the sun after the 10 minute tempo, 5:36 pace back down the hill, 5:53 pace on pretty flat mild uphill on the last one)

As soon as the intervals were over we were all super hot and the reservoir was right there calling our names so we jogged on over and took a swim.  Everyone had their shoes off and was at least waist deep in the lake, most of us fully submerged which felt SOOO nice.

Then we did a 12 minute cool down which felt great with the slight breeze and wet running clothes.

When I got back to my car I drank my 24 oz water bottle within seconds.  I also stopped at a gas station on the drive home to get another 30 oz of liquid.  Nothing like a good quench after a hot run.

Took a pleasant nap after Church while the girls napped and Aaron played board games with Abe.  Then we all went for a bike ride down to a small lake about a mile from our house.  Our five year old, Abe was riding pretty fast but says he’s still not quite ready for us to take his training wheels off.  Then he decided he wanted to put his bike in my trailer and run with his sister, Breanne.  They ran around the lake trails and of course baby Ali just HAD to get out and join them too.  They were all still pretty pumped up about their first race yesterday and just loved running around the trails.  Breanne ran about 1.3 miles and Abe ran about a mile and biked another couple miles.  Ali ran about a half mile.  She kept resisting my suggestions to get back in the bike seat even after it started to rain a bit and Abe and Breanne had left us and gone ahead with Aaron so I just biked slowly next to her while she ran up the hill in the warm rain.  Its so fun to see our kids get excited about running and enjoy doing it together as a family.

Enjoyed camping in the canyon where todays race was held (apparently also a very busy train route).  When the 3rd train of the night woke us up around 4:30 a.m., Aaron just got up and went running.  The kids slept another couple of hours and at 6:30 a.m. we all woke up and ate breakfast.  Aaron got back 30 minutes later and we hiked around a little bit to warm up (the temp was still in the low 40s) and broke camp.  Drove the 7 miles down the canyon to the race start and I got out to get my race bib and shirt.  Saw Tony (my teammate), made a potty stop, and ran a 1 mile warm-up. Stretched for a few minutes, did one stride, and chatted with Nuta (whom I’ve now raced three times and am well aware of her speed).  I asked her if she was doing the 10 mile or the 15 mile and she said 15 (I knew from last year’s results that she had won the 10 mile course in 6:12 pace).  She asked if I had run it before and I said no, so she told me a bit about the course, warning me about the tough final two miles before the turn around and wishing me luck.  She said she has done quite a few training runs on that road because it is great for altitude training on a hilly but smooth road.  After running the race, I can attest to the fact that it is very challenging course and could be strengthening if run often.

The race started around 9 a.m. and I felt pretty comfortable with Nuta for a couple of miles.

Mile 1 – 6:19 Little bit rolling, net uphill though

Mile 2 – 6:31 Little more uphill

My heart rate started to go up and my respiratory rate was obviously faster than Nuta’s so I decided I’d better be smart and not kill myself in the first quarter of the race.  Slowly let Nuta go.  After all, I had a lot of climbing to do and I’m not exactly “hill trained.”

Mile 3 – 6:37 more climbing

Mile 4 – 6:44 still climbing, took a gu at the aid station right before mile 5

Mile 5 – 6:37 seems to be a theme here…climbing, climbing, climbing

Mile 6- 6:23 little less climbing

Mile 7 – 7:30 serious climbing (200 ft gain in this mile) respiratory rate shot through the roof

Mile 8 – 6:33 the mild climb equalled itself out because 7.5 mile point was the turn-around.  Nuta had a solid minute on me at the turn-around but I still wanted to give a good effort in catching her and I knew I had a steep downhill mile ahead of me so I tried to use the momentum to see if I could reel her in a bit.

Mile 9 – 5:37 (200 ft drop) At the end of this mile my legs were really throbbing from the pace change and hammering down the hill.  Nuta seemed to be just as far ahead of me, if not farther and I decided again to just run my own race and not kill myself to try and catch her.  I could have decided to run beyond my pain threshold and blow my quads out trying to catch her and then probably still fallen short.

Mile 10 – 6:11 What goes up must come down and I’m really appreciating the downhill at this point.  Took another gu at mile 10 aid station.

Mile 11 - 6:10 more down

Mile 12 - 6:26 starting to feel pretty fatigued here.  My quads were pretty much screaming at me and my head was starting to feel a little dizzy with the heat and sun, so I pulled back on the throttle a bit.

Mile 13 - 6:23 ran by the river and enjoyed the cool air coming off the water totally unaware of anyone else around me and just enjoying the beauty of the canyon

Mile 14 - 6:18 just keep moving forward.  Tired though.

Mile 15 - 6:30 rolling but net downhill.  I’m completely spent. Apparently I went out a little too fast because this mile was faster going up the hill than coming back down at the end.  Oh well.  I’m just glad to be finished.

Total time – 1:36:53 (6:30 AP) with around 800 ft elevation gain/loss

Saw Bean and Dianne (more teammates) at the finish.  Dianne had run the 10 miler and Bean is injured but came up to hike around and cheer.  Tony came in around 1:50 and we whined together about the intense 7th mile heartbreak hill.

Nuta finished about 2 minutes ahead of me, so she had put another minute on me on the downhill. Overall I was very pleased with my effort considering my lack of hill training.  It was also the longest run I have done in a couple of months, so I’m pretty happy with how my body held up.

About 15 minutes after I finished, Aaron and I grabbed the kids and did the family fun run together (1 mile).  Aaron ran with Abe and Breanne and I walked, ran with, and carried Ali.  Ali and I actually turned around at the quarter mile check-point just as Abe passed us at his 3/4 mile check-point.  We did our half mile in about the same time as Breanne and Aaron finished their 1 mile.  Abe ran the whole way and finished strong.

Breanne ran with Aaron and kept telling him how much fun she was having and how cool it was to run her first “race.”  The kids all got little finisher’s medals and toy prizes, which they loved.  We ate some post-race grub and stayed for the awards ceremony (I got a $25 gift card to Boulder Running Company and a Timex watch).  Fun day!

7 miles in 7:30 pace

The prarie dog near mile four perched up on his mound and gave me an enthusiastic wave as if to say “top of the morning to you!”  Finally after a year of running past his home three or four mornings a week he’s decided to be neighborly.

Around mile six I saw an older gentleman who’s sharp white and black facial hair and jaw line suddenly reminded me of my Dad.  My heart sank as I started wishing I could go hiking with my Dad, see him cheering for me at the end of a race, or just sit down and chat with him.  The last time I was able to do any of those things was three years ago before he passed away.  At least I still have lots of good memories and thoughts of him.  I miss him.

Finished 2nd place female in the Citizen’s race with a time of 35:50.  This is my 10K PR!!  Well, actually I may have run faster than that in a Deseret News 10K back in high school or college but that doesn’t count since that race is super downhill.  The Bolder Boulder is much more legit.  The finish is actually higher elevation than the start.  Not to mention the whole thing is over a Mile High elevation.

Picked up the babysitter at 5:50 a.m. (what a Saint she was to wake up so early on her holiday).  Drove to Boulder and parked at Scott Carpenter Park in between the Start and Finish lines.  Jogged 2 miles with Aaron and wiggled our way through the crowds to the start.  Didn’t have time or space to run strides but stretched out a little as we waited 5 minutes for the start.  The race went out fast since the first three quarters of a mile is downhill.  I had to restrain myself to not go faster because I really wanted to run even splits (the most efficient way to run).

Mile 1 in 5:42

I had no idea how many women were ahead of me at this point but I assumed it was a good handful and I didn’t really care either because I was just running my race at my pace.

Mile 2 in 5:46

Felt pretty good, starting to get into a rhythm running with all men around me. Passed one gal that obviously went out too fast.

Mile 3 in 5:54

Some elevation gain in this mile.  Just trying to keep my effort even.  Passed another woman.

Mile 4 in 5:43

Coach D caught me near the beginning of this mile and seeing him motivated me to keep pushing forward.  Passed another woman somewhere in here.  The elevation went up some and down some. The elevation profile for this course is pretty much never flat.

Mile 5 in 5:41

Caught another woman just as we reached the highest point of the course but she did her best to stick to my tail.  I visualized this mile in my head last night as I was falling to sleep because I really wanted to push through this part and knew the downhill could help me, so it ended up being my fastest mile at 5:41.

Mile 6 in 5:52

The girl I caught is still hanging on to me for dear life and at one point someone yelled to us, “Good Job!  You’re the 2nd and 3rd women!”  I was pleasantly surprised because I didn’t know we were that high up.  The 1st place woman was nowhere in sight, but I just kept pushing to the finish giving it all I had.

Final .2 in 1:12 (6:00 pace)

Just trying to hang on at this point.  One last steep hill up to the stadium pretty much wipes out my legs and a dying sprint to the finish on the track is all I have left.  Whew!

Found out that the leader came through in 35:12 and 3rd place was 36:02, all three of us local Coloradoans!  Touched base with Coach D (35:20, 1st in AG) and Jeff (35:37) while I waited for Aaron.  I’m super happy with that time considering it is a PR for me and it was a challenging course at altitude.  I gave it all I had and feel really grateful that it went so well.  Aaron had a great race too, finishing under 40 minutes with basically no road training for this race (and running in his VFF sprints!)  We saw Scott afterwards too, and Aaron took this pic on his cell phone.  Now I’m looking forward to the team BBQ this evening at the De Reuck’s to share race stories and hear how all the RRBs did.  Good times!

A.M. 8.5 miles in 7:38 pace

Legs feeling pretty good.  Aaron and I went on a fun date in Boulder last night.  Went to dinner at The Mediterranean (highly recommended delicious restaurant) and hiked Mt. Sanitas (nice little 3 mile loop).  Mt. Sanitas is a pretty rocky climb for the first mile up and second mile down, then we ended up running the last mile or so down the smooth (but pretty steep) path. Super fun date; way better than the boring old dinner and a movie idea.

10 miles in 7:31 pace

Met the group at East Boulder Community park

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

4X45 seconds in 5:25, 5:19, 5:32, 5:27 pace w/ 75 seconds recovery jog between each

4X2 minutes in 5:45, 5:58, 5:27, 5:33 pace (first two were slight uphill, second two slight downhill) w/ 90 seconds recovery jog between each

2X4 minutes in 6:16, 5:47 pace (first was slight uphill, second was slight downhill) w/ 2 min. recovery jog between each

4X60 seconds in 5:25, 5:13, 5:42, 5:11 pace (every other slight up or downhill) w/ 60 second jog in between

20 minute cool down

Colleen lead the group again today and she did the workout in full effort with us instead of taking it easy.  Dang she is fast!  I stayed somewhat close to her on the 45 second intervals but I was a good 20-40 strides behind on the longer intervals.  Simon, the tri coach who brings his tri group to workout sometimes was there too.  He is coming back from injury and this was his first interval workout in a few months.  It was fun to watch him kill himself to stay with Colleen.  I guess he was being a gentleman to run ahead and open the gates for the group but surely he pushing it so hard so as to not let a woman beat him too.  It was funny, near the end of the intervals he started walking on the recovery jogs and Colleen reminded him that he should be jogging.  He was obviously spent.

I felt pretty good.  The speed is coming back.

9.5 miles in 7:12 pace

Got my run in first thing because I always feel the best right when I wake up.  20 minute warm-up, stretching, strides.

7 X 1000M repeats in 3:41, 3:39, 3:44, 3:40, 3:40, 3:47, 3:44 (5:50-6:03 min/mile pace)

The cool down was all uphill back to my hotel at the resort and I was about ready to stop my watch and walk up the final half mile of 12% grade slope when Aaron came to offer me a ride after he had finished his mountain run.  I gladly accepted.

We did some Yoga X (I only made it through about 15 minutes before I decided to just roll out on the foam roller and relax).  Then we took a little nap and afterwards drove 30 minutes to Gunnison for some SWEET mountain biking.  Biked for an hour and a half or so.  I was pretty tired near the end, as you can see in the video.  Its always the last run of the day when things like this happen.