Louisville Trail Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, May 5
Louisville, CO
Half Marathon #80
Colorado Half #19
Weather - Overcast and chilly

In our quest to run all the half marathons in Colorado, the Louisville "trail" half marathon was the choice for the weekend because it was close and less than half the cost of the "bigger" half of the weekend, the Colorado half marathon in Ft. Collins. Trail is in quotes because this is NOT trail. It is paved bike path and crushed gravel. No trail shoes necessary. So an urban trail? I dunno.

Anyway, the race started at 8, and we have run races put on by this group before and they aren't too big, so we dropped the kids off at 6:45, made the 20 minute drive to Louisville and parked a few blocks from the starting area. We hit the bathrooms and then went back to the car. We heard an announcement saying the race was starting in 20 minutes, and we weren't paying attention and realized we only had about 10 minutes for the race to start and we wanted to use the bathrooms again. There was also a 10K that was starting 10 minutes later and only one woman in line let us cut so that we wouldn't miss the start.

Well, we missed the start anyway, and I was the last one across the line. L is back on her kick where she wants to run fast, which is fine, she is clearly WAY faster than I am, and she took off. I tried to run just fast enough to keep people in sight so that I wouldn't get lost.

I have run part of this section of "trails" before (most recently the St. Patrick's Day 5K that A and I ran). Everything still looks dead and brown thanks to our 7+ months of winter:

Remember last week, in Eugene, where everything was green and lush??

I caught up to the last of the runners within the first half mile. And shortly after that was when I started walking. Early on, I was walking because my calves were tight. By the end of the race I was walking because I was tired and cranky.

This tiny section of single track was the only part I'd even remotely consider "trail"

I spent miles 6-9ish talking with a fellow Half Fanatic, Hope, which helped make the miles go by a bit quicker.

Really have to figure out why my upper body is so STIFF

 But I wasn't enjoying my day. I felt off and the weather was gloomy and the course was blah.

View from the peak of the one (GIANT) hill

I had talked my co-worker into running this and I spotted her on both out and back sections. She didn't enjoy herself much either.

I really didn't want to walk the end of the race. But I did. I walked more in this race than I probably have EVER. EVERY single mile, I walked. I bet I never ran more than a half mile before I walked. WTF, me.

L, who had been done a half hour, got shots of me heading into the finish. At least I looked cute?

Favorite course pictures and my finisher pic

Bib #2180

Official Time - 2:33:04

Official Pace - 11:41

Overall Place - 210/231

Gender Place - 127/142

Division Place - 44/47

MMR Time - 2:33:08 (slowest half in months)

MMR Distance - 13.24 miles

MMR Pace - 11:33

Mile 1 - 10:08

Mile 2 - 12:07

Mile 3 - 11:32

Mile 4 - 10:44

Mile 5 - 10:52

Mile 6 - 10:48

Mile 7 - 12:24

Mile 8 - 11:15

Mile 9 - 10:50

Mile 10 - 12:11

Mile 11 - 12:54

Mile 12 - 12:56

Mile 13 - 11:10

Mile 13.24 - 10:47

 

Thoughts on the race:

• Pretty well organized, but a bit confusing with two distances starting in two different directions
• Not really enough bathrooms at the start
• Generic unisex shirt = bad. Even the XS is giant on me. Waste of a shirt, I will never wear it. I swear, there were more women than men here - GENDER SPECIFIC PLEASE.
• I got a great deal on race registration through ZOZI (like living social) - $35!! So I guess I can't complain too much
• Nice medal
• Well stocked aid stations. They all had water and some type of electrolyte drink I had never heard of, but it tasted fine. Most also had little Lara bars and Honey Stinger gels, chews and waffles.
• Course was pretty well marked, mile markers at every mile, but with the multiple distances, the markers were a bit confusing.
• I like the figure 8 course, I got to see people on a couple out and backs - and reassuring that I was NOT last.
• Lots of food at the finish area. Rumor is there was beer but I was cold and cranky and we had to get the kids so I didn't even look for it. Finish area also set up with vendors like an expo, so there was stuff for sale at the end.

Thoughts on running:

• I am definitely in a funk. I hate running a lot right now.
• Calves are STILL tight and apparently NOTHING I do will fix it, they apparently will randomly flare up, and there is apparently NO cause for this. ANNOYING.
• Ankle and IT band both got a bit angry - but not too terrible. So happy I was only doing a half.
• I know speed is not everything. However, I'm tired of being slow. I'm tired of a jog feeling so hard. I've been to the doctor and there is no medical reason why I am so tired and sloggy all the time.

Anyway, the end. I've been complaining for the last 24 hours and even that is getting old. Anyway, L really liked this race and said she would do it again.