If you’re lucky enough to be in the mountains, you’re lucky enough!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Last Minute Race ... and a PR at that!

After a couple weeks of feeling a little blah on runs, I decided to hop in at the last minute to the Pikes Peak Road Runners Winter Series III race.  Kathleen had to work, so it was just me heading north on I-25 for this event.  The Winter Series is a progressive short/long series where each gets longer for both.  So yesterday's race was a 5 mi / 10 mi and I jumped in on the 10 miler.  Most of the series is on dirt or at least dirt roads, and this race was on the Santa Fe Trail between Monument and Palmer Lake Colorado.  The PPRR nickname for this race is the Wind Tunnel - great.  This trail is very open, and sure enough we had wind.   This is also long, flat (for Colorado), and pretty straight - a course for the Gazelles, not necessarily for a trail runner.  But I figured running with the speed demons every once and a while might help my overall leg speed, so why not?  It's not like I do many races so a little winter fitness test won't hurt anyone.  So I joined up with 533 other runners to hit the trail.
 
The sun was luring all the runners in the hour before race time.  Here is the view as I was walking to the staging area.  All of these races have walk-up race day registration available for last minute schlubs (like me) to hop in!  It was sunny with only a slight breeze when I arrived but that would change.  I also got to meet Ace, fellow Colorado blogger, for the first time before the race, which was very cool. 
  

The staging area was at the Baptist Road Trailhead on the Santa Fe Trail at about 6800'.  This is about an 8 foot wide multi-use trail that is dirt with crushed granite surface.  The race headed north to the 5 mile turn around at approximately 7200'.  With all the rollers, the Garmin calculated 834' accumulated climb - pretty flat for 10 miles of Colorado running.  Except for the last mile, there was no snow on the trail due to our non-snowy season so far.  Reports are that in past years, the northern end of the long course involved post-holing shin deep snow.  SO sorry I missed out....

So, as for the race, obviously I had not planned specifically for it, so when I decided to have at it, my goal was pretty simple - top my fastest 10 mile race time, not blow up, and hopefully not cramp (which has been a nemesis of almost every race I have run or biked.)  I ran out of S-Caps! so I was a wee bit nervous on the cramp part.  So in the hour before race time i sipped on some NUUN and it seemed to help.  I had brief thoughts of hanging with the aforementioned gazelles but that evaporated quickly after exiting the start corral. 

First Half:  As mentioned, the weather changed.  We got a stiff, cold wind from the northeast and clouds rolled in right before the start.  So I had to start somewhat sensible as we were climbing and fighting the wind for the out portion.  I felt pretty good and generally ran pretty smoothly in the 7:40 - 8 pace range on the way out.  I was glad I wore my Sporthill 3SP jersey - no wind coming through that puppy!  I found some folks who were in my capability range and tried to watch my pace.  I tend to get brain freeze on these straight/flat type runs - before you know it you are lulled into a slower pace but you perceive your effort as being the same.  At least for me it works that way.  Last mile on the out, hit some chunky packed snow sections, which blew up the pacing a bit as everyone was jockeying for the "good" line.  Hit the turn (5.05 mi) at 39:49 / 7:53 pace - Crap, I got some work to do!

Second Half:  Ah, the tailwind - every runner/cyclist's dream on the Santa Fe trail is that the festering wind in your face when heading north will not switch directions when you head back to the south (trust me it happens).  Jackpot - we got the tailwind.  So descent + tailwind = sort of happy.  I started to calculate pace/time/speed/wind shear/leg explosion combinations in my head as to what it would take to hit my goal.  My "secret" goal was to finish in the 1:15:xx area.  Had some work cut out for that.  Plus my pace buddies on the way out were really notching it down when we hit the turn.  I started to talk to myself a bit - telling myself this could take some time in the "hurt locker" to get it done.  Or the "pain cave" - whichever works for you.  Kept the second half sub-7:20's which is pretty speedy for me at this point.  The last couple miles were not fun.  First, it spit a few snow flurries - that was just an insult, but I tried to ignore it.  But I hit low 7's, high 6's for some brief periods and that was all the gas I had.  Stopped the clock at 1:15:53 - new 10 mile PR by 5:50, so that was pretty solid.  10.11 miles on the Garmin, which put me at 7:30 pace overall and I feel satisfied with that.  UPDATE: Forgot to look at the official results, but here are the numbers: 38th overall, 35th male, 6th in 40-44 age group.  For those who like to geek on the numbers, here they are:
 

(Photo courtesy Tom Dewane)
This just in - an action shot!  (And probably the only dork with a hydration pack.)
 
Steve and Ace - chillin' at the finish!
What, did someone say donuts?  Nothing like Hostess Chocolate donuts and coffee at the finish - mmmm.  I ran over to the truck and quickly got the sweaty clothing swapped out for Windstopper and a warm hat and hung out at the finish area for a while to watch some people come in.   It was a good race, probably not totally my style or speed, but that's OK.  Even got a photo with Ace at the finish, but forgot to get a Happy Trails waiver so I will post it later if he doesn't mind.  I'll also post a pic of me in the race when they come up on PPRR's website.
  
Post-race fueling - My sweetie brought this home to me from our favorite bakery - Boonzaaijer's Dutch Bakery.  A delicious fruit tart - yummy.  While I don't photograph food as well as Tina, you get the "picture".  Happy Trails everyone!

Shoes - Brooks Ravenna

13 comments:

Julie said...

Way to rock it Steve!! Excellent!! Woo hoo for PRs:) Not to shabby for a last minute add on race!! I enjoyed reading your race report and am glad that it was such a positive experience for you!! Oh, and how sweet of your beautiful wife Kathleen to bring you something from your favorite bakery:) Congrats!!

Unknown said...

Steve, that's soooo very cool!! Quick splits, I'm sure you're pleased and thanks for taking pictures of the dessert/breakfast. I agree, Tina is a pro at sweet-photography but you did a nice job too! So how was ACE? I wish you had taken a picture of him. I just imagine him as this man with a little rubber Yoda head. He seems so nice!
Great job once again, nice post!

Jill said...

Excellent job on the PR there! How come I woke up to 5" of snow and it looks nice and snow-less there??!!!?? That fruit pastry looks incredible - yummy! I'm going to go to that bakery as soon as Lent is over and I can devour sugar again :). Congrats!!!

HappyTrails said...

Julie - Kathleen is awesome! ;-)

Meg - Ace DOES NOT look like Yoda! He is a good bit taller than me.

Jill - That was Saturday - before the snow!! And if you got to Boonzaaijers plan on extra runs for many days...

footfeathers said...

Sounds like the competitive juices are beginning to flow in Mr. Humble Steve...
Great run!
TL

Ace said...

Excellent run Mr. Trails! And its even more notable when you consider that you waited a LONG time to catch me at the finish! Thanks again, and great to meet you!

p.s. I wish I had a Yoda head, that would be cool... :)

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

So this is what trail running husbands do when the better half is at work on Saturdays and your bored in Colorado Springs. I usually just take the kids to a movie in Vegas. :)

Seriously it looks like a fun last minute thing. I have a few runs I have uncovered in the Vegas area. Low key events I might just wake up and do on a whim. Got to get the mileage in any way for the day. Why not do it with others.

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Your comment about my photos humbled me! : ) Your dessert pic is great. I can't post awesome mountain pics so I have to stick with cookies! ; ) Congrats on jumping into the race at the last minute and getting a PR!

Maureen Lisa said...

Good job!!!

I also sent you a little award in my blog post today!

NY Wolve said...

That is a great race. I love running in Colorado, but I only do it in summer. For a flatlander like me, the elevation is a real crusher. I saw you have sporttracks, and if you do, the Elevation Correction plugin is critical, particularly in Colorado! Cheers!

Julie said...

Hi Steve and Kathleen,
I just tagged you so you need to to my blog and check it out:)

Happy Wednesday!!

Julie said...

Hi Guy's,
Well here is the deal, someone gave me the sunshine award. It is the flower picture at the top of my blog. It is a symbol of sending warmth and happiness to other bloggers:) Someone gave it to me and asked me to send it to other bloggers who brighten my day. So silly, that means you are now holding the Sunshine Award. Copy the picture, put it in your blog and send it on to some of your favorite blogger friends:)

Tara said...

Wow, congrats on the race AND the PR Steve!

I love meeting fellow bloggers and there are so many of them out here in Colorado. I'll have to check out Ace's blog.

Yay for doughnuts at the end huh?

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