Week in Review (April 24 - April 30)

Tuesday (5,482 steps) - It was randomly cold and snowy again. We decided to skip our run. Again. Did nothing.
Wednesday (17,253 steps) - Runners Roost Boulder! Barely got to the store in time, between a Rockies game and a lane closure on Park. Lower road section went fine, then my feet went numb after starting the Skunk ascent. Struggled a LOT during this run. However, had a super speed mile on the way down, so that was fun.

Went to Under the Sun with the guys for a bit, but didn't eat or have a drink.
Thursday (11,226 steps) - Barre with Sienna. Belmar run club! I ran "fast" with Annette. Only did a small loop because I was tired.

And Zach and I both wore amazing cat shirts

Friday (7,571 steps) - A had a half day and I told her that her friend could spend the night. We stayed up until about 10 watching Goonies (my choice) and The Notebook (their choice).
Saturday (29,435 steps) - Westminster Trail half marathon! We stuck around for food/chatting, then headed back to the house around 11:30. A's friend got picked up around 1:45. We ran errands, then did nothing the rest of the day.

Sunday (55,074 steps) - Up EARLY so that I could get in my last long run of this training cycle. I used the Strava route builder for the first time and came up with a 25ish mile loop (about 80% of which I had run before). The forecast was approximately nine million degrees, so starting at 6:30 was a good call.

It was blissfully overcast for the first hour or so, but then the sun came out and it started to get warm. I managed to run into Denise around mile 6, and we talked for 5-6 minutes. Heading down towards a newish trail head, I spied... a bathroom! Hurray! The rest of the day was a bit rough. I thought I had brought enough water, but I really hadn't.

At least I had mapped the route to have all the shaded areas towards the end. About mile 18 was when I really started to struggle. I had about 6 ounces of water left, and knew that I was probably 7 miles from the car, with a decent amount of climbing to go. I had ventured up into Eldorado Canyon for the first time, and the highlight was definitely the elderly couple having lunch that offered me some grapes. So sweet!! Finally, I could see the tunnel under highway 93, only it was at LEAST a mile further than I thought. I managed to clock 26 miles, I was so thirsty I didn't even care enough for the extra .2. Immediately headed to the gas station and got a 32 ounce diet coke that I finished before I even got home. A and I went to Torchy's for lunch, then spent the rest of the day... doing nothing.

Monday (16,134 steps) - New Terrain! There were actually some "slower" people there, so I was able to keep in a pack with a half dozen other people, so that was nice. Made the group shot again! Stuck around long enough to have a beer before heading home.

Stats:

• 142,175 steps
• 51.6 miles run - and officially tapering!
• 2 barre classes!

Westminster Trail half marathon (race recap)

Saturday, April 28
Westminster, CO
Half marathon #180
Weather - hot, sunny

Even though I have resigned from being an ERS ambassador, I really wanted to run this one. For the last 5 years the course has been on Big Dry Creek - NOT EXCITING. This year, ERS got permission to run around Standley Lake - my backyard! A's friend had spent the night, but with the race start being only 2 miles from our door, we didn't have to leave until 7 am.

We arrived at Wayne Carl Middle School less than 10 minutes later (yes, even though we could run there in two miles, it's probably 4-5 miles driving because of the lake/neighborhood). There was already almost no parking left, and until the race started I watched people frustrated and annoyed that there wasn't more parking. But who shows up to a race with three distances 15 minutes before gun time and expects to be able to park right at the start?

Anne had the Roost tent set up, so we left our stuff there, made the rounds saying hi to people and picked up our bibs. I love that ERS listened to our suggestions and made shirts an add on, versus just giving it to us in our bags. Literally just a bib. Love not getting all the junk! Got into the bathroom line, then decided to run back to the car to grab my aftershockz in case I wanted music later. We saw our buddy Ross, who took about a half hour early start.

The race started right on time, at 8. It was already super sunny and H O T, and I knew there was no shade at all on the course. This was going to be a long day. Annette and I ran together for about the first 2-3 miles. First we ran north and then west. This was perfect, as there is very little climbing on this section and I hoped that it would give my legs a chance to warm up.

First aid station was manned by none other than Michelle and Scott, great to see familiar faces at aid stations!

Then I knew we had the LONG climb up - and I DIDN'T HAVE TO WALK. Hurray!! We were on the lower trail section near the water, then onto the new Rocky Mountain Greenway connector.

Another aid station at the bridge by Kipling, then onto the section I was really looking forward to. Every time I have run out here I have run the single track nearest the road. I hadn't ever really been on the trails closer to the water on the south side. It was in this section that I saw A!! She looked happy (and fast) and was a few people ahead of Tom, who was supposed to be pacing her. Right at their turnaround I saw the "hill" we would have to go up later. Ugh.

There was actually a LOT more climbing than I expected on this course, over 700'! I was heading up one of the climbs and saw Becki already heading back from doing the lollipop loop. That section was where I finally started making some ground on passing people. Some nice single track on the way back, hit the aid station, then it was time to go up the hill (ugh!) and head back. Running along the lake was nice, and not technical.

Passed the aid station near Kipling, then headed back to the next little loop we would have to do. We had a very small section of pavement, and then looped on some overgrown trails, and then back up to the aid station. Thankfully, the course was going to measure a bit short, so I gave it everything I had and ran to the finish, one of my fastest times in ages (and on trail!)

Official Time - 2:19:36
Garmin Time - 2:19:39
Garmin Distance - 12.76 miles
Elevation Gain - 735'
Mile 1 - 10:47
Mile 2 - 10:13
Mile 3 - 10:57
Mile 4 - 11:04
Mile 5 - 11:30
Mile 6 - 11:21
Mile 7 - 11:50
Mile 8 - 11:14
Mile 9 - 10:56
Mile 10 - 10:03
Mile 11 - 10:30
Mile 12 - 10:57
Mile 12.76 - 10:54

A, meanwhile, ran the "10K" in 52:07 (her watch measured 5.82 miles). She took first in her age group (by quite a bit), and was NINTH FEMALE OVERALL. She is still starting out a bit too fast, but she is getting better. Thankfully, her friend got a picture on the podium since awards happened while I was still out running.

Lots of Roosters out today, although a few left long before this was taken

ERS folks ambassadors (and me and A)

Thoughts:

• Man oh man, is this course so much better! I mentioned to Jeff that the course was a little short, and he indicated that was due to some rerouting from overgrown trails that were on google maps, but not there in reality. 
• Three distances, with the half starting first, and then 10 minutes between the 10K and 5K. Mid to back of the pack joined up with the slower 5K runners, although this was on a very wide section, so congestion was not an issue.
• FREEEE race pictures. Free! And they're really good, AND there is actually one of meee this time :)
• Post race party was awesome like always! Plenty of food & drinks.
• This was a great time, and it was awesome to see everyone. A bit sad that I'm not running all the races this year, but looking forward to some new adventures this summer.

Week in Review (April 25 - May 1)

Tuesday (13,600 steps) - Staff appreciation lunch for work. Delicious Mexican food and it was actually kind of a fun time. Briefly was able to walk around the science fair with A before heading to gymnastics. The kids did a great job with their projects!

Wednesday (21,107 steps) - Barre sculpt. I had remembered from the one class I took months ago that it was VERY squat/lunge heavy, but wow, I must have blocked out just HOW hard it was. Sweating buckets 15 minutes into it.

Denver run club after work. A brisk and windy 4.7 miles with Mo - her longest training run since last summer!

Thursday (14,803 steps) - Belmar run club. Mo, Colfax and I did another run/walk of just over 3 miles. Rocko's after.

Friday (9,184 steps) - Nothing.
Saturday (31,707 steps) - Westminster Trail half marathon.

FREEZING when I finally got done so we went home to shower before treating ourselves to brunch at Torchy's. Nothing else.

Sunday (17,649 steps) - Barre with a new-to-me instructor that I did NOT like. A and I had decided to go to the History museum, NOT knowing that it was a free day. Holy cow was it packed! (It was especially annoying since we had a free pass anyway). We went to the new Vikings exhibit and sadly, I was a little unimpressed (especially since they charge extra for these special exhibits).

"Trails" and Ales out of Green Mountain Brewery. Due to all the moisture we had to move the run off the trails to Bear Creek trail - I'd never been over there so it was nice. Mostly walked but did run some flats/downhills.

Had a dark IPA (which I didn't think I would like, but it turned out to be fine). Home LATE.
Monday (10,927 steps) - Nada.

Stats:

• 118,977 steps
• 24.1 miles run
• 2 barre classes (but one was sculpt and that should get bonus points!)

Westminster Trail half marathon (race recap)

Saturday, April 29
Westminster, CO
Half Marathon #162
Weather - Cold, windy, snowy

While the 10 day forecast always had snow in the forecast I was optimistic that the weather-people would be wrong. Fair to think that... they have been wrong a LOT lately. However, the snow started falling right on cue as I was getting home Friday night.

The Westminster trail race start only being about 10 minutes from our house we didn't need to get up until about 6:30 - and even then, we were parked with about 50 minutes until the start. Picking up our packets was very quick. As an ambassador/season pass holder, all my stuff was pre-packed and ready with no wait. A only had to wait a few minutes for her stuff.

We sat in the car until about 10 minutes until my race was supposed to start (and even then, I only got out of the car so I could use the bathroom). Met up with Francesca, Lisa and Becky and lined up towards the back. A's race started 10 minutes after ours did and she saw us off.

Kristen and I started together and although I felt super crappy and tired, the first hour ticked by with conversation. We (and by we, I mean I) had to take quite a few walk breaks, especially within the first two miles. It was about 30 degrees and lightly snowing. Not the worst I've ever run in, but certainly not ideal. Kristen dropped me around the 5 mile mark, which was fine, I was running pretty poorly. I did start to feel better after the second aid station around mile 5.5 and ran fairly decently through the turnaround. 

By the way back the wind had picked up and the moisture had made the trails really muddy. Like super muddy. I was having some cramping and was very glad that the city has put in a permanent port-o-potty that I would hit around mile 10. Shortly before arriving there I saw a giant coyote running across the trail. He seemed to be enjoying the weather. I felt much better after stopping and ran... ok until about mile 11.

The small loop around the lake was crazy muddy and slick. A bulk of that section I couldn't even run, and at one point I almost lost my shoe!! The wind really picked up the last mile and the snow became the weird pellet snow that stung my face. I did not enjoy the last part of the race.

I was a tad disappointed to have finished a little slower than last year, although keeping mind I did use the bathroom this year AND trail conditions were much worse. So, meh. Probably a pretty comparable run. (Comparing my mile splits from this year to last year, I actually ran a much stronger second half this time, even though I did have to stop).

Met up with A, Kristen and Becky and waited until Lisa and Francesca crossed the finish line and the scurried out pretty quickly.

Official time - 2:31:18
Overall place - 78/101
Gender place - 41/61
Division place - 15/17
Mile 1 - 11:25
Mile 2 - 11:56
Mile 3 - 11:31
Mile 4 - 11:07
Mile 5 - 11:01
Mile 6 - 10:56
Mile 7 - 10:50
Mile 8 - 11:53
Mile 9 - 11:10
Mile 11 - 13:07 (bathroom)
Mile 12 - 11:54
Mile 13 - 11:18
Mile 13.2 - 10:13

A had an INCREDIBLE race - she got a PR of about 3 minutes in these horrible conditions!

Official time - 1:04:22
Overall place - 54/94
Gender place - 28/59
Division place - 1/1

Thoughts:

• This is not the most interesting route, especially since it is in my own backyard. Since it's not shaded at all, the weather was actually preferable to a nice sunny day, and the weather made it... interesting.
• It's a bit of a stretch to call this race a "trail race," although there are dirt sections, it's best to look at this as an "urban" trail. 
• The medal is huge, and the post race "party" is awesome. (Although, no beer at this one - per city rules, and the party was a bit of a bust due to the crappy weather. We were given about a dozen Noosa samples, so it wasn't a total loss).
• Other than the FYCO "races" that A put on, this was my first half since the first week of February?!

Westminster Trail half marathon (race recap)

Sunday, March 27 (Easter)
Westminster, CO
Half Marathon #145
Weather - chilly at the start, sunny, windy for the second half

I ran the Westminster trail half marathon two years ago and didn't love it. To me, a trail is dirt. The course I ran two years ago was about half on bike path, some dirt and a very teeny tiny section of single track. I volunteered at the event last year, choosing to skip the run.

One of the HUGE perks of being an ambassador is being able to run every event. The Westminster trail series was the kickoff of the season. After the blizzard we had on Wednesday the week before and more snowfall the day before, trail conditions were not ideal.

Thankfully, the event takes place only a few miles from my house on the Big Dry Creek trail, which meant we did NOT need to get up super early. We were out the door just before 7, stopping to get A a donut at Dunkin' before heading over to the Westminster Rec Center.

Being a season pass holder meant skipping the registration lines and getting a bag full of swag (see what I did there - a rhyme!). No pictures of the contents 1). because I am lazy 2). all items, with the exception of one shirt, are all still in the bag on the floor in my living room. Anyway, after getting my gear we sat in the car with the heater running until about 15 minutes before the start. Bathroom line only took a few minutes, and then we chatted with Maureen (who was running the 10K) and other Roost teammates.

The half marathon started at 8 (maybe a minute or two late), and right away, the course was different. We started in the parking lot of the rec center and then ran around the grass to get onto the trail. It was a bit of a conga line traffic jam for those of us at the back, but nothing that was concerning. I don't run for time. Anyway, it was nice running on the softer surfaces before jumping onto the pavement. It was a bit icy/snow-packed in sections, but nothing too bad. We arrived at what I thought was the first aid station around mile 1.5, but there weren't any fluids out yet. I was in the back and getting passed and assumed I was going super slow. Surprised that my splits were sub 11 - not THAT slow.

Teammate Jeff on his way to 3rd overall in the 10K - headed towards the lake

Beautiful day for a long run!

The course stayed on the path until maybe 2 miles in when we ran around the lake behind the college and then headed up some trail to the first aid station at mile 3, near the 10K turnaround. Started to get hot, so I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist. Back onto pavement until we ran under the bridge at 120th. This is where the course got more dicey. There was some really icy sections in the shade. Jeff, the race director, had warned us that the course was the iciest between miles 4 and 8 (which was right after we got back on the dirt). Sure enough, I bit it, pretty hard, right after mile 4.

Somewhere here was ice that caused me to fall

And that's pretty much when I lost my mojo. I had really been enjoying myself, but the fall caught me off guard and I slowed the pace a bit and just couldn't seem to get back into a good groove. Things went pretty well on the way out and I briefly contemplated taking off my long sleeve shirt and just running my singlet.

Running in "spring" in Colorado...

The second I turned around and started running southwest, the wind picked up. I had to put my gloves back on and was glad that I had left my shirt on. I ran pretty well on the way back, used caution on the icy sections. I was pretty surprised at how MUDDY the course had gotten just in an hour or so. The last mile was a little rough. I was pretty tired after having run the 19 miles the day before. And THEN I remembered that I would have to run UP a decent hill for the finish. Not my favorite way to end a race!

So happy the weather cooperated. Even though I was tired and I fell, I really enjoyed this event! The course change was great, I really appreciated the extra sections on dirt - some of which I actually hadn't even run before, which is CRAZY, since this is literally in my backyard.

Got my medal, talked to fellow ambassadors, Jeff, Ruth (who was assisting with timing), Maureen and the few remaining people that were still there. A didn't want to eat, but there was still a ton of food left.

I had my Roost singlet on underneath, but it never got warm enough for that

Blurry picture courtesy of A (although there might have been fogging from the cold)

Garmin time - 2:29:39
Garmin distance - 13.23 miles
Garmin pace - 11:19
Official time - 2:29:33
Overall place - 89/108
Gender place - 52/64
Division place - 22/29
Mile 1 - 10:50
Mile 2 - 10:47
Mile 3 - 10:41
Mile 4 - 11:25
Mile 5 - 11:28
Mile 6 - 11:58
Mile 7 - 10:57
Mile 8 - 12:01
Mile 9 - 11:10
Mile 10 - 11:31
Mile 11 - 11:25
Mile 12 - 11:28
Mile 13 - 11:16
Mile 13.23 - 11:56

Thoughts:

• This is the smallest race of the series, because it is on Easter. This is the fourth year for the event, so I don't see the date changing any time soon.
• REALLY loved the course change. Pretty much any other weekend this would have been perfect weather. March in Colorado is so weird. You never know what it's going to be like.
• Course incredibly well marked. Markers at every mile, in different colors for the different distances.
• There were plenty of aid stations, although I would have liked to have stopped at the first one (which WAS manned on the way back). Electrolytes and water, plus other stuff (that I didn't take). Volunteers were out in some cold and windy weather, very appreciated!
• Cute race shirt with a bunny on it (long sleeve, yay!) - I will wear this one again.
• Like the medal - it's nice and big (size does matter, ha ha).
• Even though I'm a slow poke, there were still some vendors and plenty of food left at the finish. I like that.
• The season pass business is SO WORTH IT. I will try to remember to post a picture of some of the swag we got, but it was a few shirts, an Ultimate Direction drop bag, socks, other things I can't even thing of.
• This race series has come a LONG way in the last few years, and I can say that I would definitely recommend this race (and I'm not just saying that because I'm an ambassador).
• Pricing is very competitive, especially for the perks. If you are on the fence about signing up for any of the races, you are welcome to use my 15% off code ERSRACE3 - next race is May 21 at Palmer Lake!