Week in Review (January 18 - January 24)

Tuesday (8,316 steps) - Got up early to do a Peloton ride and a quick row before going into the office for work. Went for a quick walk during lunch. Had to do another ride when I got home since I had 90 minutes of cardio on schedule for the day.

Wednesday (15,194 steps) - Work in the office. It had rained overnight and all morning so it was incredibly icy on all the roads. I had been planning on going to Boulder for run club, but that ended up getting canceled because of conditions. I had 1300' of vert on schedule, so I told Ben I was going to do repeats of the Standley Lake hill. 

I know it doesn't look like much, but it's about 80' of gain in 1/8 of a mile

Since I would be starting after dark I couldn't park in the lot since they close the gates at sunset. I parked a few blocks away and thought I was going to die because of how slick the sidewalk was. The lot was also incredibly slick. I figured the trails would be better. No. I have never been on such icy dirt! I did one repeat that was incredibly scary and texted Ben and asked him to bring me my spikes. I did one more repeat while I was waiting for him to get there. Once I had the spikes on it was MUCH better. It was cold and there was sideways snow, but I've been in worse. 

To get the vert I needed, I had to do a LOT of repeats.

I am still not good at running up hills, especially this one! But I did run up the whole hill on my last repeat, so that one was of course my fastest. I felt pretty accomplished after this one!

Thursday (17,847 steps) - Work from home! It was still so icy that Ariel had a two hour delay for school. People were sliding all over the place. I was not looking forward to walking Pika at lunch, but thankfully, it warmed up enough that there were not many sketchy sections. I also had a 5/10/5 tempo run on schedule, and unlike the last time I had this planned, I opted to NOT run uphill in hopes that I'd have some energy left for the 5 part, plus the additional 20 minutes that I still had to do.

This actually went really well! I reset my watch and did a different route home that I hoped wouldn't suck as much, and it didn't. Overall, I felt pretty good about this one. Met Ben at Torchy's for a beer and to pick up tacos for dinner.

Friday (9,989 steps) - Wash Park walk with the gang! Got coffee after and then went into the office for work. Remember nothing about the day. Ben and I watched a few episodes of the new season of Ozark and Batman was being adorable like usual. 

Saturday (33,973 steps) - I had a long run on schedule, but I didn't get up early for it. I would regret this. I had created a route up in Boulder that combined a lot of areas I normally run, but not necessarily all at once. By the time I got to the lot it was full and I had to drive around a few times to get a spot. It had already warmed up a decent amount and I overdressed. First, I got bit by an off-leash dog minutes into my run. Boulder has a Voice and Sight program that allows dogs to be off-leash, but this one should NOT have been. The lady was like "Oh my god I'm so sorry" and just kept walking. WTF? Then, I was already sweating, so I had to take my jacket off. Great, now I'll have an overloaded pack for three hours. But it was a beautiful day.

I had brought my spikes, and there were definitely areas in the shade where I could have used them, but I didn't want to take the time to put them on, plus there wasn't really anywhere to sit so I could anyway. I just used extra caution, especially since we didn't have any tape for my ankle :(

A lot of the trail was fairly runnable, so I ran what I could. 

I had added in the Bear/Skunk/Mesa loop that we do on Wednesdays and intentionally picked Bear to run down because it's not technical. Of course that is the one section where I stepped wrong and mildly rolled my ankle. Once I got towards the bottom it was INSANELY muddy. Had I been here a few hours earlier it would not have been as bad. Then it was icy going up Skunk, but pretty!

By the time I got through the Mesa back to the connector I was DEFINITELY getting tired. I had hoped that most of the technical stuff was out of the way.

Still runnable in the trees since there wasn't enough sun for it to get muddy.

I had a loop to do down Shanahan South Fork that was INSANELY slick. I couldn't believe how sketchy this part was! Probably the section I was regretting not having traction the most. I sent Ben a message to let him know how much was left and settle in for the last few miles. I thought they would be flattish, but it was a SLOG uphill in a ton of mud. At least this part is doubletrack "road" and not single track. It was a mess. 

When I finished I headed over to Bluegrass where I met Ben for a beer and a snack.

Sunday (13,857 steps) - Another morning to sleep in! Ariel actually agreed to go with me and Pika back to Boulder for a hike/jog. Pika loves it up there!

Thankfully, it was not nearly as bad as it had been the day before. Very little mud and not as icy.

Another gorgeous day! There were a ton of people trying to get into the lot when we were leaving and I had a guy ask me "do you really have a student driver" when walking to the car. WTF, who cares and why would it matter? (Yes, obviously do have a student driver, and yes, I have a magnet on my car. Not that it matters, people are NOT patient with her). Stopped at the store for a few things and then did my Peloton ride when I got home. Liked the David Bowie collection! As soon as I finished I changed clothes and then met up with Ben at New Terrain. They were SO CROWDED. We had one beer and then talked Tyler into meeting us at Luki.

Monday (16,605 steps) - Work from home! I had a tempo run on schedule that I was DREADING. It was supposed to be relatively nice, but I still wasn't looking forward to it. Finally headed out and picked a route I like that just has a few road crossings. The warm up went fine. And so did the first 18 minutes of the 20 minutes at tempo I was supposed to do. Then everything just kind of locked up. My legs felt like lead and my feet were both numb. I had to walk so much here just to get things moving again. Felt like such a disappointment. The last part of the run once everything stopped hurting was not bad. Ugh. Took Pika for a walk. THEN, I still had a low impact Peloton ride to do. I hope all this biking gives me stronger legs or something, haha.

Stats:

• 115,781 steps
• 30.72 miles run
• 180 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength

Week in Review (January 4 - January 10)

Tuesday (18,557 steps) - I had asked Steph to modify my workouts for the week since we were supposed to have a severe cold front come through later in the week. I decided to just get my run out of the way before work since I needed to get A from practice. It was warmer than I expected! I ran out on the road and then decided to jump on the trails for a bit after using the bathroom. That didn't last long and I'm glad I tested them out first. The trails were chunky and traction wasn't bad, but I also didn't want to roll an ankle, so back on the sidewalk I went. Pretty morning!

Work in the office. I figured I would double check on the gym situation. Sadness. :(

Wednesday (9,337 steps) - Another early morning. I had actual strength training on schedule, in addition to over an hour of biking. I got my strength training done before work - a core video and lower body*. (*I'm going to be feeling that later). Work in the office. The impending snow storm seemed to be having a slow start. Snow was supposed to arrive around 2, and I kept checking every 15 minutes or so. Ben told me things were getting "bad" although I didn't notice it until after 4. I left work a little early in hopes of avoiding nasty traffic. It was slow-going, but not that bad. Did 70 minutes of Peloton before dinner. LONG DAY.

Thursday (9,097 steps) - Work from home and a rest day, thanks to moving my schedule around. It was FREAKING COLD out, I don't think we got above about 12 degrees the whole day. Took Pika for a walk at lunch, and really nothing else.

Friday (19,546 steps) - I really really don't like having to run on Fridays, but I sucked it up since I had a wonky schedule this week. I was supposed to be running an hour "as fast as I could maintain." I was really shocked at how icy the park was - it's normally really clear, but it wasn't great. I couldn't believe no other runners had lights - it was the only way I could see the black ice. As per the norm, I wasn't really able to get into a great groove and walked more than I would have liked. Really hope I can get back to more consistent running - can I really do that while training for long stuff though? Hmmm.

Went to Stella's with the gang before going into the office. It was a really slow day since Joyce was out. Met up with Ben (late) at Torchy's for a drink and to pick up dinner.

Saturday (33,458 steps) - A was going tubing and snowshoeing with her Girl Scout troop, so I was up pretty early to see her off. After she left, I headed down to Waterton Canyon for my 15 mile long run. I haven't run that far since... October? I was optimistic, but thankfully within 5 minutes I knew it was not going to be my day. My calves were incredibly tight and I felt very out of breath right off the bat.

I was worried I had overdressed when I opted to forego a long sleeve and vest for my Zip & Zoom hoodie. It always gets windy enough in the canyon that I was fine in what I had chosen. (I did see a girl wearing just shorts, a bra and compression socks. Her legs were definitely wind-burned!

The road was actually in great condition. Very few icy and muddy spots, I couldn't believe it. I knew that I had to go at least a mile past the dam to get round trip of 15 miles. Once I got to the single track it was a completely different story. Lots of snow!

The best part of my day was running in this section back towards the main road. I naively thought that my legs would feel better with the gradual downhill, but I was wrong. This was overall a pretty sucky run. At least I saw sheep on the way down!

I got back to my car and saw this email:

I've been trying to get into Vermont 100 for YEARS (seriously, I've been first on the waitlist for TWO YEARS) and to get this email was pretty exciting, although maybe not after the worst long run I've had in ages. I called Ben to see if he wanted to meet up for a beer.

We hadn't been to Over Yonder for a while, and they had a few new beers, so that was exciting.

Sunday (18,060 steps) - Had an "easy" day of 6-8 miles of power hiking on schedule. I didn't want to get up too early, but also wanted to get out early enough that the trails wouldn't warm up and be a muddy mess. I decided to take Pika with me since it was mostly hiking. I figured I would be warm enough in a pullover and vest, and it turned out to be the perfect outfit choice.

I had worn my Kahtool EXO spikes, thinking the trails (at least the ones up top) would be pretty icy. It was a weird mix of conditions. Some of the trail was completely dry, and then we would have sections that were crunchy snow or ice. Thankfully, no real mud.

Steph had wanted me to aim for a 16:30 pace, but between Pika dawdling and the crappy conditions, we didn't get anywhere close to that. Pika loves going to Boulder because she can be off leash since she has a sight/sound tag.

SO ICY!

I planned to easy jog the way down so we wouldn't be out forever. I should have taken my spikes off sooner, because between them, the rocks, the high stack of Hokas and the mostly dry conditions, I was asking for a rolled ankle - which I got. Still had about 2.5 miles to go. Ugh. I took off the spikes and walked a bit to loosen it out and then jogged most of the way down. I realized after getting to the car that I had forgotten a towel to clean a VERY muddy Pika off. Ugh. Met Ben at Westminster Brewing for a beer.

Monday (8,914 steps) - Work from home. A rest (or optional bike) day. Just took Pika for a walk, opted to skip the bike since... I am switching coaches. I love Steph (I really do), but I think I have outgrown what she can do for me, and with what I have on schedule for the year I really need someone who can give me better workouts/feedback and be overall more responsive. Spent quite a bit of time working with him to get on track with a new and "improved" training plan - starting tomorrow! Excited to be working with him as he has also done a few 200s and is signed up to run Cocodona as well. Lots of hard work ahead of me, that's for sure.

Stats:

• 116,969 steps
• 32.58 miles run
• 70 minutes of cardio
• 35 minutes of strength training

The Drift "Half Marathon" (Race Recap)

Pinedale, WY

Sunday, March 14

Weather - Sunny and wiiiiindy

I really don't race anymore. Over the last few years, the amount of races I have signed up for has certainly dwindled. In the early years of racing I basically signed up for anything and it was just for the sake of running races. I don't do that anymore. With that said... back in November, Kristin came back from visiting family in Wyoming and told us about a "fun" race that happens in this quaint town in Wyoming in early March. I visited the website and it was hilarious/scary that it basically said that you could look at the forecast and assume it wouldn't be that cold, but it would definitely be colder/windier than you might think. Jeramiah registered immediately, but by the time Kristin went to sign up, it was waitlisted! So imagine my surprise when all of a sudden in February, we got the email that we could move into the start list. Kristin was the first to get the email and asked the race director if she could do the half marathon instead of the "heavy" marathon, and was told that was fine. After I got the same email, I did the same, and the three of us were ready to head to Wyoming!

In the midst of all this, Denver was preparing to have record-breaking snow in a blizzard that was supposed to start coming through Friday through the weekend. Once we figured out that we'd at least be able to GET to Wyoming, everything else fell into place.

Race Day

We still weren't sure what was going to happen with Jeramiah, but his marathon started an hour before us, and we wanted to see him off. Even though I had woken up earlier to pack everything so we could check out before heading to the race, we were a few minutes late dropping everything off in Kristin's room. We arrived at the start line around 7:40, with J's race starting at 8:00. 

Picture is actually from the night before - not an ugly view!

J's race started right on time at 8:00. Did I mention that part of the fun of this race is that the course could be completed either as a run, a bike, or skis?? Anyway, we were surprised at how much colder and windier it seemed at the start line than it had when we left our hotel that was only a half hour away. We stopped by check in to get our bibs and discovered that my bib was missing!! We later found out they had accidentally given it to a late-arriving marathon runner. (He didn't realize his name was not Walker, nor was he running the half marathon?) We double checked that there was no course limit - "we would give you until 5:00, when the marathon course limit is." Better not take us 8 hours to do a half marathon.

We went back to sit in the warm car. Ariel and I shared the leftover cakes from the night before for breakfast. By the time I used the bathroom and made sure I had everything, it was only a few minutes until the start. I was really concerned that I hadn't brought warm enough clothes. I was wearing a fleece-lined long sleeve and my super warm Salomon jacket, but I was kicking myself for not bringing my warmer mittens, even though I had packed them, they were still at the hotel. UGH.

I believe we were told to "look cold" - we didn't have to try that hard

Our race also started right on time, at 9:00. We started near the back, wearing our Kahtoola Exo Spikes. We didn't necessarily have plans to start/run together. Kristin has been working really hard and has gotten substantially faster, and has also been running a lot more base miles than I have been. I took a quick picture out of the gate - I've never been in a winter race with skiers before.

I don't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't really what I expecting... The first 10-15 minutes I was really cold, and struggling up the hill. You'd think that the snow would have been packed down, but it really wasn't. I had better luck when I was following in ski tracks, but overall the snow was pretty loose and uneven, so it was hard to get a good groove going. Also, the entire first 3 miles were a gradual uphill. I told Kristin that she should not wait for me and we would just meet up at the finish. She finally headed up without me, and I got into the rhythm of a run/walk between the markers on the side of the trail. It was slow going, and I kept leapfrogging the same people, but I felt a lot better than just trying to run it all. (Edited to add professional pictures from Geoffrey Ristau):

Up ahead I saw Kristin taking off her jacket and struggling trying to get in her pack. I caught up to her and helped her to bungee it onto the back. We would end up sticking together for the next few hours. When we got to the only turn on the course, about 2.7 miles up, I remember telling the volunteers that I was a bit disappointed that this race didn't seem to be as awful as it was advertised. 

We then headed the opposite directions, which was on a more narrow trail. It wasn't long before we started to see people coming towards us as the course was an out and back. This section was actually not bad. I took off my jacket and even my gloves because I was warm. 

It seemed like a gradual downhill and we finally had a tailwind. I did, however, have to pee and there was nowhere on the course to duck off and get privacy, so around mile 5 I literally just sat on a drift on the side of the trail to pee. Before we knew it, we saw the turnaround. It was literally just a volunteer standing there with a tub of pre-packaged food and a jug of water. I didn't need anything, so he checked our numbers and we headed out.

I forced myself to eat a bite of snack mix, but I wasn't hungry and it was hard to breath (between the cold and higher elevation). I think this was probably the point of the race where things just got... less enjoyable. It was definitely still pretty, but we were now going back uphill and into the headwind. We realized we were NOT last, as there were actually some skiers and a runner behind us. We were still doing our run/walk between posts, but this was not fun. Somewhere near the turn, Kristin stopped joining in the intervals so I decided to just keep going because I wanted to be done.

We had a brief conversation after turning that what we thought would be a nice downhill finish did not feel downhill at all. The snow seemed even worse than the way out and it was so hard to find a section that felt runnable. Since it WAS supposedly downhill, I forced myself to modify my intervals so I was running two and walking one. It was still hard. 

Finally, I could see the finish area, and it looked like a surprisingly large crowd was down there. I was hoping to finish in under 3 hours, which I did (barely).

Fun finish line with tape and everything!

Kristin finished just a few minutes behind me - we were done!! I know that in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't "seem" that hard, but it was something I have never done, and there was an awful lot of prep going into "JUST" a half marathon.

The local brewery had a guy with a trunk full of beer - that made for a pretty fantastic finish line!

Garmin Time - 2:57:57

Garmin Pace - 14:52

Elevation Gain - 1,358' (which I think is wrong)

Mile 1 - 15:29

Mile 2 - 15:42

Mile 3 - 15:52

Mile 4 - 14:55

Mile 5 - 14:50

Mile 6 - 13:37

Mile 7 - 15:47

Mile 8 - 15:37

Mile 9 - 15:47

Mile 10 - 14:02

Mile 11 - 13:47

Mile 12 - 13:00

Once we finished the beers we were ready to head out. However warm we got while running quickly ended.

Thoughts:

• Probably the most "no frills" race ever. No race shirt or medal, although we did get a reusable bag and a bottle of hot sauce.
• Pretty expensive for what it was - around $100 for the half marathon. Of note, every runner had to carry $50 cash on them in case they had to be evacuated off the course for any reason. With that said, we really didn't see the snowmobile patrol, so not sure how that would have worked.
• Not a ton of information on the course, the gpx for the course didn't work and there were no actual directions to the start of the race. We scoped it out the night before and were able to find it though the gpx for the marathon.
• We REALLY lucked out with the weather. Normally it is much colder and awful conditions. 
• Would I run again? No, I would not travel for this. Would I run again if I was local? Maybe...