Louisville Turkey Trot (Race Recap)

Thursday, November 23
Louisville, CO
Weather - sunny and warm

I had run this race a few times, most recently in 2014. We planned to arrive early, simply because a "free" on Thanksgiving has a big turnout and there isn't a ton of parking in downtown Louisville. With a 9 am start, we arrived at 8 am and were able to get a spot only a few blocks from the start line. The race was "free," but everyone was to bring food and/or clothing donations. We had picked up about a dozen food items at the store earlier in the week. This year, there weren't even bibs, so the most informal "race" ever.

I was feeling like crap. The cold I felt like I was getting Tuesday night was full-blown by this time. A was planning on racing and I was planning on not dying. We stayed at the Roost tent until shortly before the race started so that we could get closer to the front. There was a timing clock, but obviously no official timing since we had no bibs.

We saw Denise and her daughter in the chute and then follow the Shults' to the front of the line. A minute or so before our "wave" went off I told A (very dramatically) to go on without me, and she disappeared into the crowd.

I have been running better/more consistently, but knew that I was just going to have to get through this one. The first mile was eh, and by the second mile I was walking because it felt like my head was going to explode. I knew that this year had a new course, but for some reason I had thought that we were running on trails - nope. The mile markers were off according to my watch, so I assumed that the course was going to be short.

I finally started to feel better near the aid station at mile-ish 2 and was able to run all the way to the finish. The course actually measured just under 3.1, so not too bad. I headed back to the Roost tent to get A. She had an awesome day and ran a new PR  - 25:09 - even though it probably doesn't count since there are no results.

I got a tasty beer from Liquid Mechanics, and we enjoyed sitting in short sleeves on Thanksgiving. Couldn't have asked for better weather!

SINGLET. IN NOVEMBER.

Time - 33:57 (maybe 15 seconds faster, forgot to stop it right at the finish line)
Mile 1 - 10:51
Mile 2 - 12:12 (bah)
Mile 3 - 9:46

Week in Review (November 21 - November 27)

Tuesday (5,923 steps) - Barre with Kelly. Worked almost a 12 hour day, picked up Ang's girls on the way home for another sleepover. (Seriously, I must be crazy). After dinner I made two pumpkin cheesecakes (one with a chocolate crust, one with graham cracker) and we all played Things.

I was starting to feel like I was coming down with something so I went to bed as soon as the cheesecakes were at room temperature.

Wednesday (18,285 steps) - Girls went home around 10:30. Target for cold medicine and then my annual doctor's appointment. Then we headed up to Runners Roost in Boulder for a Thanksgiving Eve trail run! So nice to be running in a skirt and short sleeves in mid November!!

Stopped by Avery to fill up my growler before getting A to her doctors appointment. 1). they no longer take my insurance and it was just fantastic to find that out after we were waiting to see her, $172 out of pocket for a well-child visit!! and 2). she is now officially taller than me at almost 5'1". Appointment took long enough that we didn't have time to get to Wash Park for the Denver store's run, so we stopped by Louisville. Neither of us felt like running, but we had a good time hanging out with everyone.

Thursday (12,395 steps) - Louisville turkey trot! A ran with Maddie for another PR (25:09!) and I (with a full blown sinus infection) suffered through my miles. No official timing, but I ran 33:57 (10:51, 12:12, 9:46). A got some hot chocolate and I had a delicious (FREEE) porter from Liquid Mechanics in the beer garden. 

Home to shower and get ready for Friendsgiving at Heather's. I felt horrible and couldn't breathe and/or taste, so probably the first Thanksgiving in the world when I didn't overeat. We had a fun evening, even WITH her home alarm system going off for almost an hour.

Love all my Rooster teammates!

Ben (who HAS to be taller than 6 feet) and A

A's artwork for the party

Friday (3,802 steps) - Slept in until NINE. NINE. Black Friday barre with Sasha! (And apparently the only movement I did allll day). Lounged around until we went to Dulce's house for a "Bah Humbug party." Super fun evening, attempting to do a puzzle and drinking wine. A and I were both tired, so we headed home early.

Saturday (18,106 steps) - Runners Edge! I was really hoping we were going to be at Three Sisters again, but we ended up just running Bergen Park and Elk Meadow. Super sunny, but really windy. Probably a good idea to have a "flatter" run during taper.

Quick shower, then on to Lisa's birthday brunch! Jen hosted an amazing event, there were Bloody Mary's (I only had two all day), cheese & meat, quiche and delicious breakfast burritos. We stayed until about 3, then headed over to Berkeley Park for the Onesie Beer Mile! 

A was the "junior" winner!

I was still feeling sick so I opted to volunteer and A was doing the root beer mile. It was a really fun event, they ended up having about 40 people running!

Sunday (12,884 steps) - Team/community run at Runners Roost Aurora. Probably the most fun ever, a 5K scavenger hunt!

We took tons of pictures, did a little running, ate some pie, and (sadly) came in second place. Errands and then packing!

Monday (9,413 steps) - Nothing.

Stats:

• 80,808 (1. least steps ever, 2. could never ever recreate this total)
• 19.1 miles run
• 2 barre classes

Week in Review (November 14 - November 20)

Tuesday (7,994 steps) - A's 12th birthday!! Got up early and made birthday french toast for breakfast. Left work a bit early to pick her up and get her to the high school for the rehearsal before her first orchestra concert of the year. While she was rehearsing, I went to Tokyo Joe's for dinner and got all her birthday surprises ready.

Concert was fun, the kids have improved so much!

Presents and chocolate mousse cheesecake at home.
Wednesday (13,591 steps) - Barre sculpt with Kelly. Run club at Roost Denver! Traffic was absolutely horrendous, it took just under an hour to get from A's school to there - and there weren't even any accidents. Grrr. We ran a big 4ish  mile loop (a bit with Ted and Dave).

A is less than 5 miles away from hitting her 100 for a year, we will have to go to at least one more run club this year for that. After, we went to Old Chicago with a bunch of folks to have a birthday dinner for A. For once, I wasn't able to finish my whole burger and fries. This has pretty much never happened.
Thursday (10,724 steps) - Belmar run club! (Apparently we didn't even take a group picture, but I promise I was there).
Friday (9,158 steps) - Grocery shopping and cleaning.
Saturday (24,851 steps) - Runners Edge! I had thought about running 12, but then I saw the route was a big 10 mile loop, A and I thought that was satisfactory. I ran in my UD Jurek vest for the first time, you know, because I should probably test it out before the big race. It was a pretty hilly loop, 10 was definitely enough.

We tried to go to IHOP after, but their systems were down and the wait was over a half hour. Once we picked up our aid station we stopped at Torchy's for some tacos (tasty and cheaper) and got a car wash. Then it was more cleaning until 6 when A's slumber party started.

I could NOT find fire to light her birthday candle, so the kids turned out the lights and used their phones for a "flame"

It was chaos until the 2 kids not sleeping over went home. I was up until 11, no clue when the kids went to sleep.
Sunday (10,106 steps) - Dragged myself out of bed around 8. Kids played hide and seek until their parents came, with the last ones leaving around 11. A and I went for a 4 mile run at the lake. Pretty day, but it was pretty windy.

Then a lot of sitting and TV.
Monday (7,523 steps) - Barre with Karen. Stopped at the store on the way home to pick up ingredients for crock pot lasagna!

Stats

• 83,947 steps
• 20.6 miles run
• 3 barre classes

Week in Review (November 7 - November 13)

Tuesday (9,392 steps) - Nothing... walked on the treadmill and watched an episode of Game of Thrones.
Wednesday (19,114 steps) - Runners Roost Boulder! Once again, we arrived with like a minute until the trail runners headed out. A decided that she was just going to do the road run at 6:15, so I went out by myself.

I managed to start about 30 seconds after everyone else and that was just enough for me to not be able to catch up. I figured I could re-create a route we did a month or so ago. The trails were crazy muddy and the glowing eyes freaked me out. Plus, I never saw a single person out there. I managed to not get lost.

Got back to the store in time for pizza, beer and dessert. Criminal Minds when we got home.
Thursday (9,386 steps) - Belmar run club!

Friday (13,192 steps) - Barre with Sasha.
Saturday (31,769 steps) - Runners Edge. We were running out of Broomfield, which was nice because we didn't have to get up super early. Ran 6 with the group and the last 8 solo for 14 total.

Home to shower and then met up with Heather and Eric at her house so we could carpool to Lone Tree for our indoor skydiving! We got to iFly a few minutes early, which gave us time to do our waivers. We watched other people take their turns, took our "class," got our super snazzy suits and then a group of us headed in. I will say that it was pretty fun, but that I would never pay full price for it.

Went to California Pizza Kitchen for A's birthday dinner with Heather, Eric, Beth and James. Service was terrible, company was great.

Sunday (14,898 steps) - A was running the Great Candy Run with her Girls on the Run team. I didn't want to pay $40 to run a 5K, so after I dropped her off with her school I ran 3ish by myself and then headed to the start to watch. It's always fun to spectate!

After everyone was done we stayed at the finish eating candy and socializing. We went with Ang and her girls to Chipotle (50% of all proceeds were being donated to GOTR for the day) and then home. Walking/Talking Dead.
Monday (16,684 steps) - Last New Terrain run club of the year (sad face). Since Dulce was with us we told the group to not wait for us at the intersections. I felt pretty good and would run sections, then wait for Dulce and A. We ran the 4.5 mile loop and it took a long time, but the weather was really nice. We socialized for a bit with the group before heading home.

Stats:

• 114,435 steps
• 31.4 miles run
• 1 barre class

Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, November 4
Highlands Ranch, CO
Half Marathon #176
Weather - WIIIIIINDY

In it for the fifth year to run the Backcountry Wilderness half marathon. Heather signed up at the last minute and we had plans on running together. The course was different this year, with the start/finish at a different location as well. I knew it was about 45 minutes to get there and planned on arriving with an hour until the start. The closer lot was already full by the time I arrived, so I had to go back out and park at the high school. By the time I got all my crap ready it was 8:15. I saw Lisa on my walk to the start (which took a long time). The line was already insane. It probably took 20 minutes to get my bib, and by the time I got THAT, the line for the bathroom was already insane.

Due to the wind, they actually delayed our 9 am start fifteen minutes because course markings had blown over. So luckily, I was able to get through all the lines. I did not, however, have time to run back to the car to drop off my bag. Luckily, Anne was working with her Nuun van and let us put our bags in there.

We lined up in the middle of the last wave. I had not looked at the map at all to know where we would be running, so I walked when I felt like it - which in the beginning was a decent amount. The wind was pretty bad, but I at least warmed up a bit. I was familiar with the entire trail section in the first 6 miles, so it was pretty easy to know where I could push the pace a bit.

I had only brought my handheld, and we didn't hit the first aid station until mile 4. We both filled up and then headed out to the section of trails where the Chase the Moon course went. I know Heather was behind me for a bit, but I pushed it a bit on the downhill and when I looked behind me I didn't see her. I ended up in a conga line, but the pace was pretty good so I didn't worry about it. I was really looking forward to the Roost aid station at mile 8.5.

I caught up to Michelle around mile 8 and she said she was struggling a bit. I stopped at the aid station only long enough to fill my bottle and headed out. Looked like we had some climbing to go, but I thought I knew where the course was going and that we would get another aid station around mile 11. Unfortunately I had not read that info either, and would only have the two. Womp.

I manged to catch/pass a LOT of people on this section. The last two miles were mostly downhill and I was able to push that section a decent amount. This course had always measured a tad short for me, this time it was just over 13.1. I saw Lisa and Eric at the finish and after grabbing a bottle of water I met up with them to wait for Heather, who was more than 15 minutes behind me.

Official Time - 2:45:07
Overall Place - 570/762
Gender Place - 246/395
Division Place - 90/141
Garmin Time - 2:45:10
Garmin Distance - 13.15 miles
Elevation Gain - 1,348'
Mile 1 - 13:18
Mile 2 - 13:10
Mile 3 - 13:21
Mile 4 - 10:56
Mile 5 - 12:25
Mile 6 - 11:15
Mile 7 - 12:42
Mile 8 - 12:46
Mile 9 - 13:43
Mile 10 - 14:21
Mile 11 - 12:18
Miler 12 - 11:45
Mile 13 - 11:35
Mile 13.15 - 10:15

Stayed at the finish long enough for Flippin' Flapjacks and a beer, even though the wind was extremely unbearable.

Thoughts:

• This was the fifth time that I have run the race. The weather has actually always been pretty decent, considering it is in November.
• The race is very well organized, for the most part. The packet pick-up is always a giant cluster, especially with 1,000 people running. Checking for ID also slows everything down, as well as the lack of parking near to the start.
• The swag is always really good. This year the shirt was a hooded long sleeve shirt and the medal is nice too.
• Good post-race party with beer and pancakes - what more could you want?
• In the past there have always been three aid stations. It would have helped out a lot to have a third one around mile 11. The course is exposed, and if the sun is out it heats everything up A LOT. If they keep the new course, I really hope they make this change!
• Will I run this again? Oh, probably. 

Week in Review (October 31 - November 6)

Tuesday (8,228 steps) - Halloween!! Barre with Sasha. We stopped at the grocery store on our way home and then went over to Kristen's for "trick or shot." Surprised to have Pete show up too! The adults sat around the fire pit and A went trick-or-treating with some older kids. A fun night!

Wednesday (20,352 steps) - Runners Roost Boulder run club! We barely arrived with enough time to join the trail run. And it was WINDY.

We ended up leaving the store about a minute after everyone else did because A needed to fill her handheld. Thankfully I had downloaded the Strava route, because I ended up having to run the app while we ran. The route was more on the roads than what we had run before, and we ended up getting pelted SEVERAL times by dry leaves. It hurt and the leaves actually were cutting the backs of our legs!! Finally we got to the Shanahan trail. A decent amount of climbing, but most of it didn't seem that technical. We actually managed to catch up to the group around the apex of the course and opted to run down with them instead of finishing the loop.

Unfortunately the front of the pack missed some turns and we ended up running a bit longer than we had planned, finishing with over 7 miles (on VERY tired legs). Arrived back in time for pizza, beer and a raffle. I won the last raffle of the night - a Boulder Roost shirt! Also picked up the newest winter beanie.

Thursday (10,287 steps) - Belmar run club! We did a mini boot camp at the start with Ash Kempton, and then Dulce and I ran the big loop. I was glad that I had left a thin jacket in the car because it was COLD. Stupid winter.

Friday (5,932 steps) - Went to A's school for an award's ceremony, and then later had to pick her up from her early release day.

They did their own face paint for Day of the Dead

Rachelle asked if she could come over for a sleepover, so I ended up having the night free! I went out with Lisa and Jessa. LONG night.
Saturday (31,310 steps) - Backcountry Wilderness half marathon (recap to follow). I was supposed to pick up A around 1. Got a message while I was still at the race to ask if she could stay a little later, so I stopped at the Denver Roost to get some fuel and rock tape. Then I got another message after I was already on my way asking if she could stay even longer. With my extra time I went a bit further into Thornton to stop at Godfather's Pizza (with a new brewery next door!)

By the time I got A it was almost 4. Went home, ate, showered, napped on the couch. Watched a bunch of crappy Lifetime movies before bed.
Sunday (22,027 steps) - The only good day of daylight savings is the first day - extra hour of sleep! We got ready and headed over to Prairie Gateway Park for the RMRR November Trophy Series! A was also going to run the 9 miler. I misread my bib and thought I was supposed to start a minute after the gun. I actually was supposed to start at 0:00 so they quickly had to edit my start time.

Last year I had remembered suffering the back half of this race, but happy to say that I ran pretty steady and didn't have to take any walk breaks. Also ran about 40 seconds per mile faster than my predicted time (although no ribbon), and about 17 seconds faster per mile than last year. Overall, pleased.

Garmin time - 1:37:45
Garmin distance - 9.00 (on the dot!)
Garmin pace - 10:52
Mile 1 - 11:09
Mile 2 - 10:55
Mile 3 - 10:53
Mile 4 - 10:40
Mile 5 - 11:01
Mile 6 - 10:43
Mile 7 - 10:49
Mile 8 - 11:04
Mile 9 - 10:30

A and I had went to Red Robin for lunch - which was fabulous. Afternoon flew by, no recollection of anything other than watching Walking/Talking Dead.
Monday (26,684 steps) - Got a text from a co-worker notifying me that we were having a late start because of a power outage. (Thankfully she texted me or I would have gone in). I took A to school then stopped at Target to pick up some groceries. Went home for a bit and walked on the treadmill while watching Stranger Things. Around 9:15 I thought it was probably time to go into the office, then I got another text saying at the soonest we would be opening at noon. So I went back home with plans to watch a movie until it was time to go in. Around 9:45 we were informed the office would be closed all day! WOOT!! I finished my movie, went to barre with Laura and Beth at noon. Then drove up to Centennial Cone and ran about 6.5 miles. My first time out there, and next time I will allow more time so I can do the whole loop instead of having to do an out and back.

Came home for a late lunch and started an other movie. Left to pick up A at Scouts at 5:15, then went to the second-to-last run club of the year at New Terrain. Now that it is dark we can't run on the trails, so we just ran along the canal. I had only planned on about 2 miles, but it didn't feel that cold and my legs were ok, so we did just over 3.

Had a beer with the group, then went home for dinner and to finish Beauty and the Beast. Best unexpected Monday ever!

A's newest art project!

Stats:

• 124,820 steps
• 41.2 miles run (WOW)
• 1 barre class