RMRR Trophy Series - Twin Lakes 10k (Race Recap)

Sunday, January 3
Weather - sunny

I had NO business running a 10k so soon after Across the Years. But Saturday night I was up late... on Facebook... and saw that Maureen was attending. I looked at the website and it was $10 for race day registration at the first RMRR Trophy Series race of the season.

The race was scheduled to start at 9, and after some quick messaging with Maureen she said it was easy to find, registration was quick and I should come. (They also had a 5k option that I was considering).

So I got up just before 8 and drove to the start, only about 15 minutes away. There was a decent number of people there. When I went to register Maureen convinced me to sign up for the whole year since it was only $35 (and I can do a family add on for A of only $10)! So I got my bib and then sat in the car for a few minutes until the race started.

The series does some sort of handicap that I don't really understand, other than trying to remember my days of league bowling. Anyway. I guessed (optimistically) that I would run around 13 minute miles. That meant that I would be starting in the first wave (with the race walkers).

Can you spot me at the start?

The course is an out and back, and I planned on going SUPER slow. I started jogging. Felt ok. Kept going... and going... (saw my buddy Ross at the 5k turnaround, but not sure he recognized me) and going... and going...

I had not run this path before, although it is a branch of the Clear Creek trail I have run in other places. We had the creek on one side and then some industrial areas on the other. But, it was pretty. It was a nice cool day, but I started to heat up around the half way point. The miles ticked by, and by the turn around I still had not taken a break.

I stopped briefly at the water stop and then kept going. I felt really good until about mile 4. Mile 4-5 I slowed down a bit and it felt harder. Maureen passed me somewhere after mile 5. In fact, quite a few people passed me then. I finally had to take a walk break only about a half mile before the finish. I swear the whole way back was uphill. My legs finally had enough!

I crossed the finish, found Maureen and my other Roost teammates, and then we socialized (with coffee and snacks) until awards. Even though this was probably a dumb idea, I had a great time and look forward to future events!

This might be one of my favorite pics ever - we all look so happy!! (Maureen, me and Lisa)

Teammates (Sabine - women's overall winner, Bill, Lisa, some guy (sorry guy!), Sara, Maureen and me)

Official time - 1:10:27
Garmin time - 1:10:21
Garmin distance - 6.24 miles
Garmin pace - 11:16
Mile 1 - 11:32
Mile 2 - 11:11
Mile 3 - 10:57
Mile 4 - 11:01
Mile 5 - 11:08
Mile 6 - 11:55
Mile 6.24 - 10:48

Monster Dash 10k (Race Recap)

Saturday, October 24
Louisville, CO
Weather - sunny and warm
A's second 10k

Halloween races are my FAVORITE. Ariel, Heather, Dan and I were looking to find a fun race that we would be able to wear costumes at. We found the Monster Dash race up in Louisville with both a 5k and 10k option. We gave A the choice of what distance to run, and I was surprised that she picked the 10k.

One of the best parts about the race is that it was NOT a morning race! That meant we would actually be able to sleep in! And there were tons of other things at the race for an afternoon/evening event.

With the race starting at 3 pm, we headed up around 1:00 to find parking and our friends. We arrived around 1:30 and found a spot on a side street behind the finish line with minimal difficulty. We spent the next hour doing pre-race pictures, talking to people and wandering around.

Team Goblin!

The 5k and 10k lined up at the same time - right before the start we ran into our friend and teammate, Maureen, and we all headed out together for A's second 10k.

A and Dan had both chosen horrible costumes to run in. Full length black robes and masks and head coverings. It was a fairly warm day and the sun was shining. I had a feeling that A was going to get HOT in her costume, and I was right. Between the hot costume and the annoying "medallion" - there were plenty of things BESIDES running for her to complain about.

Right off the bat this was a better event than the race we had chosen last year. Most of it was on "trail" and it was a lot prettier. Plus, there wasn't a giant hill on the course. A did great the first few miles, struggled a bit the middle 2, and then had a strong few miles for the finish.

Mile 3

The most fun we had on the course was when Dan ran ahead and while us girls were gabbing further back, we managed to jump out from behind a tree - scaring us all nearly to death. It was a fun race though.

Thankfully, we were NOT at mile 13... I think this was around mile 4

My only complaint was that they started the kids races before we had a chance to finish... The last 10th of a mile we were trying to run into the finish line and there was a sea of flailing arms of hundreds of kids and their parents and strollers and dogs headed straight towards us. That was a bit of poor planning, as at least part of the road should have been coned off so that we could finish.

There was no "chip" timing for this race so we don't have an official finish time, but my Garmin definitely showed a HUGE 13 minute PR for A!

Garmin time - 1:20:05
Garmin distance - 6.3 miles
Garmin pace - 12:43
Mile 1 - 10:56
Mile 2 - 12:33
Mile 3 - 13:17
Mile 4 - 14:19
Mile 5 - 13:21
Mile 6 - 12:27
Mile 6.3 - 10:49

We collected our wine goblets (with a comment from the volunteer "did you guys even finish?") and then we wandered around looking for the food and beer.

The finisher party was at a restaurant a few blocks away, so we all walked over and got a seat on the patio so Maureen could have her dog sit with us. It was a great evening of good beer and good food (seriously, the restaurant made an amazing mac and cheese with green chilies and bacon and to die for brussel sprouts!).

I went for a quick walk to the car to move it closer to the restaurant and to get our hoodies, as it was getting chilly in the shade.

A great time!!

Thoughts:

• Course was very well marked. Mile markers at every mile - chalk in the dirt at an "confusing" intersection.
• Plenty of aid stations with both water and Gatorade.
• Most people wore costumes - which made this FUN.
• The shirt was cute - with a vampire on it, but I didn't take one of course.
• The race was "time" and yet there are no results that I can find. I guess I don't understand why you would bother timing if there are no results anywhere?
• My only complaint, again, was the kids race starting before everyone had finished. We were not super slow by any means (I mean, not the fastest, but still) - they should have waited maybe another 15 minutes, or at least coned off a small section of the road.
• Yay for the free beer! 
• We had a great time and we will likely find another fun Halloween race for next year :)

Week in Review (May 5 - May 11)

Tuesday (18,077 steps) - Went to the gym with plans to do a hill program of some type. After I had been screwing around and had only gotten maybe a half mile into my run, one of the teachers from the Kid's Club came over to tell me that A had hurt herself and was pretty upset. I grabbed my stuff and headed in to see her shaking, crying and freaking out. She had been trying to show her friend how to do a back bend and for some reason the two were holding hands. Not sure of who let go or what happened, but A fell back "wrong" on her wrist. I opted to take her to urgent care - where it was confirmed... fracture.

Wednesday (22,108 steps) - A still wanted to go to the gym. I tried to run on the treadmill, got a little over three miserable, chafing miles in. Blah.

Thursday (25,399 steps) - An hour on the elliptical.

Friday (17,155 steps) - A had an appointment to get the "real" cast on at a super inconvenient time. I skipped going to work in the morning and watched some tv while she was in school until it was time for her appointment. She opted for green and purple.

Saturday (18,193 steps) - L and I were supposed to be running the Arvada Park to Park inaugural half marathon. Due to a week of non-stop rain a lot of the half marathon course was flooded so it was canceled at the last minute (like 2 in the morning). We opted to run the 10k instead, and A ran the 5k. (Recap to follow).

I had plans to meet up with Jessa, Jackson and Lisa at 3. We hadn't hung out in a LONG time. Imagine my surprise when we walked in and they had thrown me a mini surprise party! (My birthday isn't until the 18th, but this weekend worked better for us all). They got me Voodoo Doughnuts, a cheese plate, vegetable and fruit trays, stout beers I hadn't tried and we ordered pizza for dinner. THE BEST NIGHT EVER. These gals are the best!!

Sunday (22,247 steps) - L had opted to run another 10 in the morning. It snowed (A LOT, like 5 inches) overnight and I wasn't feeling up to it - especially after all the fun food from the night before. Since it was Mother's Day, A woke me up with coffee and breakfast. We had NO plans with such a blah day, so we watched movies. I walked (yes, walked) - 8.5 miles on the treadmill. Yikes.

We had dinner at my parent's house with all the family - it was pretty nice.

Monday (29,254 steps) - I did a "virtual run" with some of the INKnBURN fan club ladies. I actually got up early and ran 6 (very very very slow) miles on the treadmill. I honestly can't remember the last time I did that many miles during the week OR the last time I got up early during the week to exercise. A still wanted to go to the gym so we went for a bit - 40 minutes on the elliptical.

Stats

• 152,433 steps
• 15.5 miles run
• 100 minutes of cross training (plus 8.5 miles of walking)
• No strength this week... (oops)

Everything Else

• Gah. So, yeah, A's fractured wrist was the "excitement" of the week. Not that there is ever a good time for medical bills, but I have just spent all that money with the dentist (root canal & tooth bleaching is coming up on the 26th) and I'm not looking forward to getting the bills from the Urgent Care and Orthopedic. Yikes.
• The weather has been AWFUL for the last few weeks. Maybe we were spoiled with such a mild winter, but man. It's been cold, windy, rainy and GLOOMY. Not to mention the half a foot of SNOW we just got. Enough!!! I want some sun and warm weather!
• Still haven't had my review at work. It was canceled due to the HR lady being out on a family emergency. It never got rescheduled... Do I harass and keep asking if it is happening? It was supposed to be almost three weeks ago.
• Nothing else.

Redline Turkey Day 10K (Race Recap)

Thursday, November 22

Broomfield, CO

Weather - Mostly sunny, WINDY (warm at start, cool at finish)

The Redline Turkey Day 10k is the only road race I have signed up for since I decided I hate running and my IT Band has been acting up. It was "only" a 10k, and the course literally runs right by my old house in Broomfield (literally - my house was one house beyond the mile 2 marker AND is apparently for sale again). I was enticed to register early for being one of the first 1,000 to register and getting FREE arm sleeves.

Redline is one of the most disorganized companies I've ever known to put on a race. For example, this is an excerpt from the email I got the NIGHT before the race:

"Shirt and Armwarmer pickup - It is fun to be a race director! You never know what is going to pop up and inevitably, something always does. There is always a lot of excitement around the unique designs of our race tee's on our popular Redline Gear. I flew to LA on Monday and drove back the shipment of shirts for the event, thinking that the delivery was the only problem with our factory's shipment. Upon opening the cartons we realized the factory failed to print the designs on our shirts. So you get a brand new Redline colored tech tee, that has never been on the market, but you don't get to use it as a conversation starter about the cool design and race advertised on it. I am more upset than you are, believe me. The other surprise was the exclusion of the much anticipate release of our totally unique arm warmer that we are introducing as a gift to the first 1000. Those will ship on DECEMBER 3."

W.T.F. For freakin' real. I registered for this at least a month ago? L started seeing advertisements for this months ago. This is the FIFTH year? How does this guy continue to be a race director? (For more of his blunders, you can read about this race.)

Anyway, the race is really close and I know the parking is pretty good, but I did still have to register A for the kid's race, and registration closed at 8:30. So... we dropped the kids off at my parents house at 7:45 and got to the race shortly after 8. Hit up the bathrooms (no line), registered A and picked up shirts (hers fancy and printed, mine not) and then sat in the car until it was time to go.

Apparently, the giant arch was NOT the starting line and we stood in a giant cluster waiting to be told where to start. The race was supposedly chip timed, although we saw no mats and started in the back.

The race is course is almost identical to what I used to run (back in 2007 and 2008) when I was doing my long runs around the neighborhood. I knew it was mostly flat. I was hoping it would be an awesome and glorious race. It was not.

There was no gun or announcement and we ended up in the back of the pack and never moved up. Apparently people in Broomfield are fast (other than me). First water station was around mile 1.4. My old house, as I said, was at mile 2. That was the end of the excitement. Around 2.5 miles in, the course turned north up Zuni, and that is when wind and stupid tired legs kicked in. My pace was NOT fast. I should have been able to run with ease. And yet.

Walked. Got passed. Jogged up a hill. Course turned back to the west and the wind was even worse. Next aid station was at mile 4. More walking.  More getting passed.  The worst of the wind was the last mile. L's awesome turkey hat kept almost blowing off.

Official Time - 1:07:28

Official Place 307/336

Garmin Time - 1:07:29

Mile 1 - 9:52

Mile 2 - 10:46

Mile 3 - 11:31

Mile 4 - 12:40

Mile 5 - 11:21

Mile 6 - 11:22 

Disappointing finish, but awesome outfits.

• "Turkey" tank. This is the third year we have worn it.
• Yellow Princess skirt from running skirts (clover socks also from there)
• Arm Sleeves - Ink n' Burn
• Hats - Clearance rack at Michael's

The Kid's race was supposed to start at 10:30. We had no idea where that started either. A decided she wanted to wear her awesome shirt, so I had to run back to the car to get it for her.

Razzy Roo Turkey headband

There were a TON of kids, so I told A to line up near the front so she wouldn't get trapped behind all the slow people (like me):

A is freaking fast. She was easily in the first 10 (out of probably 100 kids). Her hat came off too. I should have tried to get a better video of her running. She has a super long stride and it looks so EASY for her. She was one of the first girls across the line. I asked her what it was like to be in the front and she says "like being champion of the kids"

Hannah also ran - success with NO falling (for either kid). They even got awesome ribbons! (Somehow, I think they got a better deal for their $10, than I did for my $32).

After the race there was an insane raffle. Even though the wind picked up it was freezing, we stuck around to the very end. I am sad to report I did NOT win any of the $4500 (CASH) or pies. I might be more sad about no pies.

:(

The rest of Thanksgiving was:

• Starbucks
• Jumping at the trampoline center (2 hours for only $5!)
• Dinner at my parents house
• Movies - Barbie and Megamind (which, according my blog from last year, we watched then too).
• Bed at... 8:45?

9/11 Remembrance Run 10k (Race Recap)

Saturday, September 8
Arvada, CO
Weather - Sunny and warm

I ran the 20 mile option of 9/11 Remembrance Run last year. This year, they had added a half marathon option, which I registered for months ago. As the date got closer, I didn't want to have another painful half, so I dropped to the 10k the morning of the race.

Race Day

We had plans to arrive around 7:15, to give us time to park and get to the starting area with enough time for me to change my registration. For WHATEVER reason, in order to change my registration, I had to fill out a WHOLE NEW FORM, swap bibs and shoe tags. ALL IN DIFFERENT LINES. It was super annoying. Had I known it would take so long, I really would have gotten their earlier. Why not just adjust the distance in the computer? Why the theatrics? There were only 4 port-o-potties, but the line didn't take that long. We saw Ruth while we were in line and got her to take a picture of our super patriotic outfits.

Running Skirts, Pro Compression socks (Also, I'm wearing my niece's Barbie sunglasses since I left mine at home)

"Luckily," the race wasn't very organized, and the race started about 15 minutes late. I hadn't bothered to look at the profile, I had assumed the course would be the same as last year. I was wrong. The first 5K of the course was on the parade route. Oh. Did I forget to mention that the race was the same day as the harvest festival? And that with the race starting late, we were running on the parade course within oh, 15 minutes of the start of a 140+ float parade? It's true, that happened.

I lost L and Ruth in the first 5 minutes. I was feeling ok, there was no knee pain, but I was exhausted very early. Apparently, that's what happens when one tries to run after NOT running for practically a month. Anyway, the course was totally bizarre. Somewhere around the first mile, we veered off the main road onto this weird "trail." I walked up that. I was tired. On the turn around, there was a pretty big downhill, but thankfully, it didn't make my knee angry. At the turnaround point, there was a bit of confusion, the volunteer asked "have you been by me before?" Huh? On the other side of the median? Is that the same? Either way, wasted 15-20 seconds trying to figure out where we were supposed to go. On the way back towards the start/finish area, I chatted with a lady for a few minutes about the race.

The 5k point was where we split off and got back on the trail where I remembered running last year. It was hot. At this point, I was REALLY happy that I had dropped down to a shorter distance. I was walking a decent amount, but the great news was that my knee was not hurting. The turnaround on the trail was just after 4 miles. I probably could have pushed a bit more on the way back, but I didn't.

I felt pretty good at the finish, and even though this is my 10k PW, it was about 9 minutes off what I had as my "A" goal for the race, due to how my running has been going lately. I have only run a couple 10ks in the last few years. Not my favorite distance.

Overall, SUPER pleased with my finish. So nice to run so long and NOT be miserable at the end. Maybe the end is in sight? (I hope!)

Bib - 4171
Official Time - 1:06:15
Official Pace - 10:40
Overall Place - 87/139
Gender Place - 53/96
Division Place - 18/35
Garmin Time - 1:06:14
Garmin Distance - 6.19 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:42
Mile 1 - 10:27
Mile 2 - 11:34 (I walked a LOT)
Mile 3 - 10:24
Mile 4 - 10:52
Mile 5 - 10:29
Mile 6 - 10:28
Mile 6.19 - 10:15

Good

• Nice running on the bike path
• Bottled water at the finish (nice change from last year)
• Chip Timed
• Good volunteers on the course

Not so Good

• Late start - it's too hot for that!
• Too many distances starting at the same time in a small space
• Disorganization with pick up and changing distances
• Not enough bathrooms
• Would have liked sports drink of some kind

This is a local race for me, and I liked the addition of the half distance. I will run it again, hopefully they get some of these flaws figured out for next year. I'd REALLY like to see a women's size shirt. I got the smallest shirt I could and it's like a nightgown on me. Annoying :(

10k, Baby!!

Treadmill training run - Wednesday, July 28

The best part of the days I *only* run is that I get to wear my running skirts! Today I was wearing the first one I ever bought - my neon green Adidas (due to the zipper back pocket, this was also my racing skirt for close to a year).

Anyway, I was actually (surprisingly) feeling REALLY good when I started out. For the last few months I've been pacing myself slower. Figuring that I usually do this too on my Sunday long runs, I've been trying to pick the pace back up. I know I'm slow, but I don't need TWO slow runs a week or I'll never get any faster! I was doing really well, and then I ran into my usual problem... I have to use the bathroom almost every single time I run on the treadmill. This time I made it just over 30 minutes in.

When I got back... blah... I really was not feeling it. Just in those couple minutes I seem to have lost a lot of my energy and I spent the second half of my run watching the timer on the treadmill. Which of course makes it drag... and drag... and drag...

Longest treadmill run in ages though (finally FINALLY over a 10K) - so I feel great about that. Also, my heel is still feeling ok, which is a good sign.

Also, I am down to my last month of fundraising for the Athens Marathon in Greece. I'm in the home stretch, I only have about 5% left of my goal to meet! If you have anything you can contribute to my cause, I would be ecstatic!

http://www.active.com/donate/athensmarathon/RWALKER539