Dirty 30 50k (Race Recap)

Golden, CO
Saturday, June 3
Ultra Marathon #23
Weather - perfect!

The Dirty 30 is one race I had never done because it always seemed to conflict with something else. Back in February I decided to make this my "A" spring race. And then the same thing happened that seems to happen every single time I have a goal race. I didn't properly train and the weather was shit in the month leading up to it.

Unlike my last "A" race, Lean Horse, I wasn't injured going into it. But with 11 months of anti-treadmill running under my belt, a super chaotic schedule, new job, etc., I simply did not get in the proper training. I didn't get in any really long runs (I think I maxed out at 18 miles... but that was two months before the race) and I *certainly* didn't get my trail running in. With all the moisture (both rain and snow), I think I only hit the trails 2-3 times ALL TRAINING CYCLE.

So it should come as no surprise that I pretty much fell apart during this race... but let's rewind.

About two weeks prior to the race I figured I should start planning my race day. That's when I realized that in order to do the early start I would need to carpool - WITH AT LEAST TWO OTHER RUNNERS. Awkward, since I didn't know of two other idiots like me that were running the 50k - all my friends were running the 12 miler. Luckily, there was a ride share link and I managed to connect with some runners that allowed me to tag along. Also a stipulation for doing the early start was picking up my bib in Golden on a week day, which I managed to do the Thursday before the race. Phew.

Race Day

The plan was to meet at Amy's house in Golden at 4:30 in the morning. I unfortunately woke up before my alarm went off (at 2:57) and opted to not go back to sleep. Turns out the extra time was helpful. 1). I forgot my purse and had to go back to get it and 2). the on ramp for the highway was closed, so I had to take more side streets than expected. I still arrive at Amy's house a few minutes early. Jesse and his girlfriend, Brit, arrived a minute later and we loaded up all our gear. I tried to offer them gas money and they wouldn't take it.

I was very glad someone else was driving, as it was dark, there is no cell phone service once you enter the canyon and I had NO idea where we were going. (I'll refer to my lack of reading information more than once in this post).

We were parked with a little less than an hour until the start. Used the bathroom a few times, and then with maybe 15 minutes to go we headed down the hill to the start line (where I used the bathroom at least two more times). Amy, Brit and I were all doing the early start, but Jesse wasn't, so he offered to take my coat back to the car with him. (Seriously, these guys were the best random strangers!)

Listened to the last minute race instructions (follow the pink flags), and at 6:01, we were off. We headed up the road to the trail head and then the first of many MANY walking segments began. We bottle-necked a bit here as we were quickly thrust into single track. Sadly, only a few days later, I can barely remember anything about the course itself.

I recognized the early sections of the course as being the same as the Black Hawk half from last summer. Lots of green, and we got to run beside the creek. We hit the first aid station around 5 miles in. I took only a cup of coke and kept going.

And this is where memory fails me. All I can seem to remember is that the course was either up or down, there did not seem to be any inbetween. Since I haven't mentioned it yet, the scariest part of the race is the amount of climbing. We were supposed to climb over 7,200' over the course of 32ish miles. Holy crap.

Somewhere around mile 8, just before all the elite males ran by me (remember they started an hour later)

I can't remember the difference between the second and third aid station, other than I knew there was climbing right out of the gate after the third one. And that's pretty much when the race really started to fall apart for me.

One of my teammates captured this as I was coming into an aid station

I felt pretty good the first 15 or so miles, you know, because I was adequately trained for that kind of distance. And then shit got real hard, real fast. As I've mentioned before, I'm a terrible climber. And there was a LOT of climbing. And for me, not the kind of climbing where I just keep hiking and plugging along. It was steep and it was unrelenting. I had been keeping a pretty steady pace for a while and then I just kept getting passed. I saw my teammate Kaitlyn a few times on the course, she ended up running in 7ish hours and looked awesome on the climbs. Meanwhile, I'm wondering what superhero gene these people have that give them the ability to run up these hills I can barely walk up.

The trail also got exceedingly more technical. There was a section where we had to climb over boulders, and then, when the climbing FINALLY stopped, it also became ROCKY. Where I lack in my ability to climb hills, I'm normally able to compensate with bombing the downhills. Unfortunately, my quads were like liquid lava. They were shaky and hot and exhausted. I cautiously tried to run down, only to roll my ankle on a loose rock. Not what I want to happen going into peak trail running season! I made the decision to take it easy on the downhills, which really hurt my overall place, but at least I wasn't going to hurt myself.

And the sky was ominous...

As the afternoon wore on, the sky started to look scary. Sure enough, we were heading into aid station 4 when it started to rain. And then it POURED. Turns out, my windbreaker is just that, a windbreaker. I was completely soaked within a minute or two. The temperature dropped quite a bit and I grew concerned that if the storm got worse that they could cancel the race and pull us of course - we still had not climbed Windy Peak!

I was ecstatic to see Terry and Ben volunteering as course marshals! I had been in a dark place and it was so awesome seeing some friendly faces. As I headed down (WHY ARE WE GOING DOWN JUST TO START CLIMBING AGAIN??) I was thinking, shit. I'm going to be coming back up this way in a bit.

My jacket is NOT a rain jacket...

In a bit... I'm hilarious. At mile 25 of this race, we had to climb Windy Peak, which is something like 1800' of climbing in just a couple miles. I thought I suffered in the early climbing? No. This was like nothing else I've climbed, with maybe the exception of a 14er, but maybe with a bit more air. All of the runners I had been able to stave off were passing me as I was pulling over to breathe and will my stupid noodle legs to continue. I was struggling to maintain something like a 30 minute mile pace. I was now worried about cutoffs that should not have been a concern, ESPECIALLY with an early start. Yet here I was.

Finally I saw Brit on her way down - she looked fantastic and was in good spirits. And then finally finally FINALLY, made it to the summit. My bib was marked and scanned, and then headed back down. I again ran into the same issue with the trail being a bit too technical to really run down (lots of tree roots and rocks), but at least I could breathe, and at least my legs were functioning.

The hill to get back to Terry and Ben that I was dreading THANKFULLY didn't seem long or terrible. (I mean, it wasn't a walk in the park, but not was bad as I thought it would be). Gave Ben a hug and he said it was "mostly downhill" to the finish. Ben is a liar. There was a decent amount of climbing for a half mile or so (although very tame compared to what we had done earlier) and then the last 3/4 or so was rolling and downhill - FINALLY. It was also NOT as technical, so I was able to run this part. I was able to run into the finish, and was really happy to see Alison (who had run the 12 miler) still at the finish line. She got a few pictures of me running in.

Elevation profile... see flat anywhere?

Official results:
Official time - 10:16:49
Overall place - 339/353
Gender place - 101/110
Division place - 44/49

Garmin splits:

I immediately saw Jesse and Brit, and they had brought my bag so I was able to get out of my shoes and into my oofoos. Went to the finish area and got my beer and burger. We headed out shortly after 5 and they drove me back to my car in Golden.

Thoughts:

• This course is not to be taken lightly. I took the early start option because I really *am* back of the pack slow on trails. Had I not taken the early start I would have DNF'd because I would not have finished in the TEN HOUR TIME LIMIT. 
• There are a ton of spigots and turnoffs on the course. The course was marked exceptionally well. There was only one section (near the bouldering) where I had to look around for the next flag. Granted, I'm slow and walked a lot, so it may have been more of challenge for the faster people.
• Pretty low-key event. Other than my bib and race shirt, I got nothing. There are no medals or general finisher awards, although I'm sure the winners get something.
• Post-race festivities were great - beer and burgers.
• Would I do this again? Probably not... not because it was a bad event, just because it's a little bit "more" than I like to have in a race (difficulty-wise).

Bolder Boulder 10K (Race Recap)

Monday, May 29
Weather - Sunny, warm

I hadn't run the Bolder Boulder in 8 years, and had literally no intention of running it again, after what I considered a less than stellar time when I was there last.

On the Thursday before the race, I managed to win a comp entry at run club. So there I was, running my second race of the weekend on Memorial Day.

Race Day

Maureen and Dulce were also running, so we planned to meet at the Broomfield Park n' Ride at 6:30 to get to the start line. The bus tickets were $9, but they were special "non stop" buses, so the price tag certainly seemed worth it. I was expecting it to take at least a half hour to get to the start and was pleasantly surprised when we arrived in only 20.

Since I had registered so late I still had to pick up my bib, which I was imaging was going to be a disaster. Again, I was pleased to find the tent to get my bib in a matter of minutes, and there not being a line. It was bizarre to be given my entire swag bag (with the exception of the shirt) at that time. No plans to run with a commemorative calendar! I was given a bracelet that would get me my shirt at the end.

Maureen and I went through the bathroom line and then got into our corral about 10 minutes before the gun went off. Unlike the last time I ran this race, I did NOT have to to run to get into the corral, nor was it crowded. We saw our friend Kara and her family in our same corral.

Maureen and I planned on starting together, and once I felt how sore my quads were from my trail race, I didn't mind keeping the pace down.

This race is HUGE. Like HUGE. The entire city of Boulder pretty much shuts down for this event. With 50,0000ish runners, just imagine the number of spectators and volunteers that were also out. The course had also changed since I ran it last and we started with some gently climbing. No walking unless we got to a "big" hill, an aid station, beer station or...

We decided to just have fun. Oskar Blues is the official beer for the race and there were quite a few places along the course that were handing out full cans! Having run with a full can of beer a time or two, I knew it would foam up quickly and to just take a few swigs and toss (wah!).

We stopped at the slip n' slide, did a cartwheel on course (for frat boys to take a shot), had donuts and most importantly - HAD FUN.  Other than the terrible hill going into Folsom, I really found the last few miles of the course fun and fast. I haven't been very excited about this race in years past, but after just having fun with it this time, maybe I'll run it again. Maybe.

It's very cool watching people finish!

We met up with Belmar run club in the stands. It was a bit chaotic getting out through the "expo" to find the buses, but I didn't get on the wrong bus, and again, got back to my car in just about 20 minutes. WAY easier than I remember this being in the past.

Official time - 1:11:51
Official mile splits - 11:13, 12:06, 11:40, 11:45, 10:59, 11:29
Garmin time - 1:11:54
Garmin distance - 6.35 miles
Mile 1- 10:54
Mile 2 - 12:04
Mile 3 - 11:26
Mile 4 - 11:13
Mile 5 - 10:52
Mile 6 - 11:13
Mile 6.35 - 11:56

Rock Hawk 10K (Race Recap)

Saturday, May 27
Weather - The sunniest

I was unable to run Rock Hawk last year as the date was announced very late and A and I already had plans for Memorial Day weekend. This year, I was on the fence about running because the race (half marathon, 10K and 5K) were only a week after Palmer Lake. I managed to score a comp entry, and kids 12 and under get their registrations 50% off, so we signed up for the 10K.

Then... we had a TON of rain, so the race was postponed until Memorial Day weekend. We had no plans to go out of town, so we were fine with the race being rescheduled.

Race Day

The informational email said that there would be plenty of parking, so I didn't figure we needed to arrive super early, although I did want to see the half marathoners start at 7:00. We arrived around 6:45 for our 7:30 start. Picking up our bibs was easy, took just a minute to get that and our neon yellow race shirts.

After we watched the half marathon start we cycled through the bathroom line and applied sunscreen. Listened to the pre-race instructions and then we were off!

A had toed the line pretty close the front of the pack, while I started in the back with Maureen. We ran together for a few minutes before she pulled off for a walk break. I was running in front of Sheila and managed to run the entire first mile without taking a break - pretty amazing for me in a trail race!

I had never run on these trails and they were gorgeous! After a bit I could see A up ahead, taking frequent walk breaks. It was WARM out and she really struggles in the heat. I had times where I certainly had to walk, but never for very long. Although the course was certainly more hilly than I expected, most of it was runnable.

The first aid station was a few miles in and  Pete and Kristen were volunteering. I love seeing familiar faces on course! A decent climb coming out of the aid station, and then we ran around the top of the plateau and headed back down the other side of the hill we had just ran up. Our second aid station was the same as the first one - and I had finally caught up to A!

We ran together for about a mile. She took off with about a half mile to go - she desperately wanted to beat a teenage boy. I absolutely LOVED that we had a mostly downhill finish and I was able to come in strong.

A:
Official time - 1:17:03
Overall place - 22/37
Gender place - 12/23
Division place - 1/2

Me:
Official time - 1:17:42
Overall place - 24/37
Gender place - 13/23
Division place - 2/5 (although the person who was first was on the podium)
Garmin time - 1:17:51
Elevation gain - 735'
Mile 1 - 11:38
Mile 2 - 13:55
Mile 3 - 13:37
Mile 4 - 12:12
Mile 5 - 11:30
Mile 6 - 13:07
Mile 6.2 - 9:12

We stuck around for at least an hour after we were done to watch people finish. A and I both somehow came in first in our age groups (much more of a surprise for me than for her). The clouds began to roll in - thankfully it was after we were all done when it started pouring rain.

Me, A, Jandy, Mo and Colfax

This is the newest addition to the Bear Chase trail series and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. By far the smallest of all the events, but it is on a fun section of trails that I would normally never be on. I can't wait to go for the half marathon next year!

Edited to add the FREE race pictures that we got! (Courtesy of David Manthey and Twain Wilkins):