Snow Mountain Ranch 33k (Race Recap)

Saturday, September 12

Granby, CO

Weather - Partly cloudy and cool

I had some credits from deferring my Coldwater entry a while back AND from volunteering, so I decided to run Snow Mountain ranch for the 7th (!) time, although this would be my first time running anything other than the half marathon AND the first time running under Aravaipa and not ERS. Since I figured I could use a longer run as training for my last big race of the year, I went for the 33k, thinking I didn't really want to run another 50k this year.

Race Day

I always drive up in the morning and had planned on doing the same this year. Ben wanted to go with me, which was fine since it was a lot darker driving up for an 8 am start! Got there with enough time to get my bib and cycle through the bathroom line a few times. Ran into Stella and Anita and Ben got a picture of us at the start.

Ben also likes a selfie before race starts:

Historically, one of my favorite things about this race is the fall colors. The race seemingly was earlier this year, so not as many yellow/oranges, but still so pretty and MUCH cooler than we have been in Denver.

The gun went off right at 8 and I started in the back, like I always do. It had been a few years since I had last run, but the course has been pretty similar over the years and I thought I knew exactly where I would be going. Up the hill, to the right. So far so good. I was surprised to see an aid station about 2/3 of a mile in - seemingly not necessary at all, but I would find out later why it was probably placed there.

For the whole first mile I was vying for DFL with a couple other people. By the time we got to the flatter grassy field area I was comfortably in second to last place. Got to the road and thought I knew where we would be going - I was wrong. Up a dirt road. 

I really needed to use the bathroom, so I was happy to see that the permanent bathrooms near the first "real" aid station were open. I had to backtrack to go over the timing mat, but off I went. In the time it took me to use the bathroom I was back to being DFL. OK! I have work to do. We are going up a road that I swear we normally come down and suddenly I don't know where the course goes. 

I didn't even think to look at the course map, so I have no idea long the climb is. I can fast hike though, and I pass a few people. At some point I see 50k runners coming down a different road - including Carol! Continue up... seemingly miles in and then finally the trail levels out. I finally was able to pass the old guy that got past me when I was in the bathroom on the downhill. There was one section where the markings were not clear of where to go and I think I only chose correctly because I'd previously run the half here (SIX TIMES). 

We moved over by the reservoir and I was surprised to NOT see an aid station at that location (would have made more sense than where the one was at less than a mile in). Passed quite a few people on this climb/descent, but I think those might have been 10k runners?

The rest of the course was similar to me - run close to the finish line, aid station (I did not stop) and then up the hill (saw Carol again) and by the shooting range. Then the loop on the backside.

Thankfully the grass was NOT long in this section. I passed another few people in here and I was headed back to the start/finish area. For some reason the bottles in my pack were driving me NUTS and I couldn't wait to drop by empty one. I saw Ben when I was running up the hill to the timing mat, but he didn't seem to hear or see me. I finally threw the empty in his direction and told  him I was leaving it because it was pissing me off.

At this point I would have been happy to be done, having completed roughly the half marathon. I knew it was a shorter loop this time and kinda thought I would just be doing the 10k loop. Did NOT like having to do that lower grass section again. This picture of the cabin really shows how little the leaves have changed so far!

I was just trying to run as much as possible as I didn't want to get passed by anyone. Up by the shooting range and the grassy loop again - UGH I CANNOT WAIT TO BE DONE. 

Ben was at the finish line with Olive and since there wasn't anyone coming up directly behind me in the  chute, he let go of the leash and Olive was OVERJOYED to see me. Love this sequence of pictures.

We went to sit at the picnic tables right after I crossed the line. I was TOAST.

Official Time - 4:23:27

Overall Place - 20/31

Gender Place - 10/18

Garmin Time - 4:23:21 (pretty darn close to official)

Garmin Distance - 19.41 miles

Garmin Pace - 13:34

Elevation Gain - 2,456' (up to almost 10,000!)

Run Time - 3:14:03

Walk Time - 1:08:33

Idle Time - 0:45!! only my bathroom stop - otherwise I was always moving

Miles 1-5 - 13:05, 13:56, 15:53, 16:40, 15:36

Miles 6-10 - 12:10, 10:57, 11:08, 12:23, 12:32

Miles 11-15 - 13:31, 14:04, 13:03, 13:34, 14:16

Miles 16-19.4 - 13:18, 13:39, 13:40, 14:53, 12:20

Thoughts:

• I really like this race overall, but didn't love the extra mileage/distance of the 33k. I would likely do again (one of my favorite fall races), but would go back to "just" doing the half marathon - that is plenty.
• I am sure the aid stations were fine, but I did not stop at a single one of them. I had filled two 600ml flasks before the race started and did not need to top off at all, with the cooler temps I had enough fluids, although I did run out right at the end.
• Course markings were "mostly" good, but there were a few intersections where key markings I think were lacking. Had I not run this before I could see where it might be confusing. Apparently the website said the 33k would be over 20 miles but I got 19.4 (which is what official tracking also listed).
• Saw photographers, my pics are horrific, will not be purchasing (as an aside, pictures used to be free under the previous organization).
• Gear used - UltrAspire Zygos 5.0, INKnBURN skirt, rabbit deflector with a rabbit EZ tee over. Rabbit socks and Mount to Coast H1 shoes. LMNT added to my water and the only calories I had on course was 3-4 Hi-Chew. (I did eat before the race, but I just wasn't hungry during it).
• I would recommend this race overall.

North Fork 50k (Race Recap)

Buffalo Creek, CO

Saturday, May 30

Weather - sunny, hot for the exposed first miles and then quite pleasant

Last fall when I randomly decided to run in Thailand, I had already been signed up to run Coldwater Rumble - a race in Arizona also put on by Aravaipa. When I withdrew from Coldwater I had credits to use and figured that North Fork would be a good, long training run for the summer. 

The 50k started at 8:00 and the pre-race email led me to believe that it could be tough to find parking since the 50-miler started an hour earlier and it looked like a few hundred people total would be running. Initially, Ben wanted to go down with me. With Ariel being out of town I thought that would be too long to leave Olive home alone, so I headed out just after 5 am, thinking it was an hour drive. There was no traffic and I wasn't too surprised when I lost phone service shortly after getting off 285 outside Aspen Grove. 

The race had put a pin/coordinates for where the parking lot would be, so imagine my fear/annoyance when the pin dropped in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't had any phone service for at least 15 minutes, and I had no idea where I was. I saw a small parking lot on the side of the road with a bathroom that I stopped at. Another car pulled in just after me and thankfully they assured me the lot was another 5 or so minutes up the road. Phew.

Parking was pretty easy and I got my gear ready and headed out for the 10-minute walk to the start. The email had also said that parking at the start was limited and would be "closed" at 6 am. That was a lie, they were still letting people park there when I was walking up at like 6:20. I saw Jim directing traffic and said a quick hello. There was still no service at the start line so I just put my phone in airplane mode and figured I would just go through the day without even trying to use it.

Went in the building where the race day packet pick up was and got my bib and race shirt (which I shoved in my pack since I wasn't going to walk another 20 minutes round trip to put in the car). I cycled through the bathroom line a few times and talked to Alexa and Julie before lining up at the start.

Start to Colorado Trail - 4.8 miles

I was mostly excited for this race and absolutely THRILLED to run something that had aid stations so close together! I lined up pretty close to the back. Alexa had mentioned that the first mile or so was on a dirt road and that would give the field time to spread out.

The road was definitely wide enough for the few hundred racers, which I appreciated. I planned to take it easy and was doing an easy jog. Passing some people and getting passed by others. It didn't seem like too much time had passed before we moved onto the trail.

The first conga line of the trail began! I had always heard that these were really runner-friendly trails, and they definitely were. Relatively smooth with no huge hills, at least in the start. People were definitely getting antsy already and I had to quickly decide if I wanted to get stuck at what the conga line wanted to do.

Initially I felt like I was in a good position and the people in front of me seemed to be pacing pretty well. However, it seemed like there were sections where there could at least be a little bit of running, so I decided I would gradually make some movements when I felt like I'd be able to run for more than a few steps. We quickly moved out of the trees and into the burn area - the sun felt like it was beating down, even though it was probably in the upper 40s/low 50s. 

I started gradually passing people in this section. 

Overall, this was a nice section and we seemingly got the first third of the climbing out of the way.

Colorado Trail to Shinglemill 4.8 to 7.9

I was glad that I hadn't needed any snacks at the first aid station since it was just a table with a single jug of water. I was very glad that I had worked to pass people because there ended up being a line of us. 

We had a short segment of dirt road leading out of the aid station. I was run/walking in this section and I think I did get passed by at least a guy/gal that were running together and another gal that I would leapfrog with for at least the next hour.

I did not have the foresight to make note of where the aid stations were, so I had no idea each section how long it would be between aid. 

Once we moved off the dirt road we had a nice section of flowy single track with just a few gradual climbs. I thought I finally saw Alexa ahead of me.

I caught up to her and we chatted briefly. She said that her knee was really bothering her and that she was probably going to be dropping as it wasn't worth making things worse with her goal race coming up soon.

This was probably the first section where I realized that bikes were going to be on the trails. I mean, I understand that they aren't going to completely close to the public, but if it were me, I would probably have gone to ride somewhere else...

We had a nice downhill into the aid station.

Shinglemill to Tramway 7.9 to 13.2 miles

I filled up my flask and added another packet of LMNT. I grabbed one ginger cookie and a bag of pretzels and moved out very quickly. Initially I was planning on eating the bag of pretzels upon leaving, but I always forget how dry they are when I am actually trying to move quickly. I think I only ate one or two before giving up on them and having some Nerd Clusters instead. There were some rollers leaving the aid station and we moved out of the shade onto another plateau.

I can't remember too much about this section. It was getting warmer and we were working on the second bigger climb of the race. 

There was a split in the trail and I got passed by another gal that I would see on and off multiple times throughout the rest of the race (I think she eventually finished 10-15 minutes behind me).

I passed another few women in this section and just was grinding out this climb. The elevation profile showed a pretty gnarly hill right before the descent, but I honestly never could figure out what that might have been. In this section we met up with the 50 milers, and it was kinda crazy being passed by people that were moving so much faster!

Tramway to Buffalo 13.2 to 19.2 miles

I stopped at the aid station just long enough to fill my flask and get some soda. There were a lot of people just sort of hanging out at the aid station but I as in and out. More climbing? I think we were in the trees most of this section, which was nice. I saw a conga line of people coming up behind me and my goal was to try and not get passed by anyone. 

I caught up to the gal that had passed me earlier and made some comment like "are you even stopping at the aid stations" and she was nice but not at all chatty. At one point she did ask if I wanted to pass and I apologized for nipping at her heels but she was pacing well.

The course had been advertised as being 30.2 miles on the gpx on the website and I started to get really excited thinking that there was a possibility that I could go under 7 hours. I even told the gal that unless the wheels fell off that I should be finishing well under my A goal (7:24 which was my ultrasignup predicted finish). 

This section seemed pretty long and I came into a clearing where there was a bathroom and was disappointed that it was locked up. Thankfully the aid station (the only one with drop bags, but I didn't have one) was only a few minutes down the road.

Buffalo to Homestead 19.2 to 24.6 miles (aka, "the lie")

I filled up my flask and grabbed some Mountain Dew. Had to wait in line for the bathroom for a few minutes. Most annoying was the spectator that wasn't polite enough to let me go ahead. (Not that anyone HAS to do that, but I personally think that is common courtesy during a RACE). 

Headed out and there were more rollers and we also had to do our last longer grind/climb of the race. Thankfully the weather was cooperating, and it didn't feel too unbelievably hot. I don't remember much of this section, but I think I passed some people in here. Came to a fork in the road that said the aid station was at mile 24.6 and I looked at my watch and it should have been close. Unfortunately, this was the segment of lies!! I think I was closer to 25.5 or 26 miles when I finally saw the aid station.

Homestead to Finish

I asked the volunteer how far to the finish, "5 or so?" He said more like 6, so I actually had a few cups of coke, two watermelon slices and an orange slice. I knew I had not been eating as much as I probably needed to, but I was still feeling pretty good and was running a lot (for me). I didn't want to get totally burned out. This was probably my second longest aid station stop.

Headed out just as Lesli and some of the people I had passed were coming in. We had a little bit of a climb out of the aid station, and I was thinking that after I got through 1-2 miles it was supposed to be almost all downhill to the finish.

I think I only got passed by two people here, and pretty sure they were both in the 50 mile. I waited until I got to about mile 28 before I changed my watch to see what Garmin thought my finish time would be. I was a little sad to see it was supposed to be around 7:33. Still not bad!

The course was not as downhill as I expected, and I tried to run just about everything since I knew I was almost done. Finally got back to the road and knew I didn't have too far left to go.

I did finish a few minutes faster than Garmin predicted, so I was happy about that. I had a random person take my picture at the finish - he apparently thought I didn't need my feet in the picture - ohhh weellllll.

After I finished I went back in the building to see if there were any cold drinks. I got a La Croix and then went to the finish for a few minutes before deciding just to head out and go home.

Official Time - 7:31:45

Overall Place - 94/168

Gender Place - 27/67

Garmin Time - 7:31:19

Garmin Distance - 31.89 miles

Garmin Pace - 14:09

Elevation Gain - 3,979'

Run Time - 4:46:39

Walk Time - 2:38:22

Idle Time - 6:18 ---> Really pleased with this, probably would have only been 5ish minutes if I wouldn't have needed to wait for the bathroom. Not bad for 5 aid stations that I at least had to fill up my bottles.

Miles 1-5 - 12:29, 16:39, 13:26, 14:44, 13:49

Miles 6-10 - 14:00, 12:44, 12:27, 12:54, 12:20

Miles 11-15 - 11:53, 13:02, 14:42, 17:06, 15:00

Miles 16-20 - 16:08, 16:36, 14:29, 12:20, 15:29

Miles 21-25 - 15:22, 16:40, 17:25, 13:30, 12:37

Miles 26-30 - 15:24, 14:49, 13:43, 14:16, 11:51

Miles 31-32 - 12:55, 11:44

Thoughts:

• Outside of thinking I was lost going to the race, everything was very organized and smooth. Packet pick up morning of was a breeze. No junk to worry about in the pack, just bib and a shirt.
• Course was very well marked. Red flags/signs for the 50 mile and neon green for the 50k
• Aid stations were good, manned well. Only the first aid station was fluid only. All others had plenty of normal aid station fare. (They are cupless but have plastic cups people can use if they forget one and the volunteers clean them).
• I saw a photographer three times on course, no idea if pictures will be free or not, will update.
• Gear used - Sparkle Skirts party cats skirt (I haven't been wearing skirts much and got lots of compliments on this one), Patagonia sun shirt with my rabbit EZ tee Runners Roost race team shirt. Ultrapsire hat and Zygos 5.0 pack with one 800 ml flask. I only ran out of water between Buffalo and Homestead, otherwise 800 was plenty of fluids - and I am a heavy drinker. LMNT - three packets total, Nerd Clusters and a few Hi Chews. Did not use my poles and did not feel like I needed them but probably 25% of people had them. 
• I would recommend this race - and with a 13-hour cutoff for the 50k I think it's probably a good ultra for beginners.

Week in Review (November 5 - November 11)

Tuesday (11,382 steps) - Peloton and Olive walk. I had to go to the dealership for service on my car. Shockingly (not), it took way too long for having an appointment. I think it is impossible to leave there without being angry. Went to the gym at lunch. Did the StairMaster and climbed the Egyptian pyramids.

Did some driving before heading home. Initially, I had the news on and was watching election results, but it was obvious pretty early on that it wasn't going to go well. We ended up watching a movie instead.

Wednesday (20,368 steps) - Olive walk before going to work in the office. It had been snowing all morning, so I put of running as long as I could. When I finally headed out I was not optimistic and worried about being cold. I definitely overdressed and had to take off the additional hoodie after less than a mile. Greg had initially given me a workout, which I told him I was going to skip because of weather. Spoiler, I guess cold weather makes me "fast."

Headed home after work to take Olive for a quick walk. I went out to do some driving but ended up quitting earlier than I wanted to because the snow started coming down a lot harder.

Thursday (10,780 steps) - Work from home. Lots of activity, including Peloton and strength training. Took Olive for a walk. Drove to Golden to pick up Ariel to take her to get additional X-rays at the dentist and to Costco to get her glasses ordered. She stayed at the house until I was off work and we went to Target and then met Ben at Torchy's for dinner. We took her home afterwards, I took Olive for a longer walk to get all my steps in and we watched a movie. 

Friday (10,411 steps) - Since it wasn't snowing YET, I took Olive for a longer walk before I clocked in for work. I messaged Amber to let her know that I was going to work from home the whole day. Work was pretty slow and even the people that DID go in were told to go home by noon. Took Olive for another walk. Ben picked up pho for dinner and we watched a movie.

Saturday (23,829 steps) - Did some reading and random cleaning in the morning .Took Olive for a walk. We finally braved going for our run on Big Dry Creek. Except for a handful of places, it was actually in decent shape. WE, however, were NOT in decent shape. Felt hard.

Can you spot the coyote?

Home to shower and then we went back out. I got a holiday coffee from Ziggi's and we went to 4 Noses. Still no beer for me!

Food truck had fancy mac n' cheese, which was delicious for lunch. 

No idea what else happened.

Sunday (13,712 steps) - No idea what we did in the morning. Took Olive for a walk and then went to Boulder so Ben could look at shoes at Runners Roost. I had a short run on schedule, so I ran while he was at the store.

Opted to stop at Bluegrass on the way home for a snack. Took Olive for another walk and went out driving for a bit. Turns out that would be all we would eat all day, as neither of us was hungry when dinner time rolled around. Have no idea what we watched.

Monday (16,606 steps) - Work from home. Went for my run relatively early. Hard to believe we just had so much snow as a tee and shorts was fine for the run.

Took Olive for a walk and then took a shower. Drove to Golden to pick up Ariel and take her to her consultation for getting her wisdom teeth taken out. Glad I brought my laptop since it lasted longer than expected. I ended up having to finish work in the car since it took me right up until my time to log out. Did a few deliveries on my way home. We made stir fry for dinner and watched a movie. 

Stats:

• 107,088 steps
• 21.71 miles run
• 14.53 miles walked
• 62 minute of cardio
• 85 minutes of strength

Week in Review (October 15 - October 21)

Tuesday (11,305 steps) - Walk with Olive before going to work. Went to the gym at lunch - which was oddly crowded (although I did go closer to a "normal" lunch hour) and did my strength training and a short Peloton ride. After work I took Olive for a walk before driving for about an hour. Pizza for dinner and "Only Murders." We finished early, so we started "Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter" - which is funny because I swear there is a later movie in the series called the same thing.

Wednesday (18,009 steps) - Worked from home in the morning because I had to be home for our sprinkler blow out. I went for my shake out run, opting to make it a bit shorter instead of the hour I had on schedule. For the first time I wore a long sleeve race pace tee from rabbit (currently the short sleeve are among my favorites) and it was a bit tight. Ugh, I gotta get my weight under control.

The sprinkler guy was on time (early, even) and it didn't take him too long to finish. I took Olive for a walk before going to work in the office.

We finally went to a "new to us" restaurant for dinner - the Aspen Lodge. It was a bit... eclectic. I had a gyro sandwich that was pretty tasty.

Finished up watching the Friday the 13th movie.

Thursday (16,180 steps) - Up VERY early. I took Olive for a walk before showering and getting ready. Ben drove me to the airport at horrible hour of 5 am. There was virtually no wait at security and I was near the gate in no time. I walked around a bit, but before I knew it, time to board the plane. I initially thought I was going to watch a movie, but nothing really sparked my interest, so I mostly just read my book. Layover was in Baltimore, and I had a decent amount of time between flights. I picked up a salad and a giant cookie before boarding my flight to Manchester. No recollection of this flight, other than it was too turbulent for them to do any food/beverage service. Landed on time (I think?) and thanks to it being a small airport, I was on my way pretty fast to get my rental. 

I was upgraded to an SUV again, and had already mapped to a place to go for a walk before going to my hotel room. Falls Loop was outside Merrimack, and I thought it said it was a 1.4 mile loop. It was beautiful, and there were not that many people there.

After a while I was starting to wonder if I had gotten off track somewhere, so I pulled up Strava (thankfully I had enough coverage to use it) and realized that I had somehow gotten off the main loop. Found my way back without too much trouble once I had the map.

It was quite chilly when I got done with the walk and I was relieved I had found my way back before dark. I found the hotel without any issues, but was a bit annoyed with the sketchy parking garage. The AC didn't feel particularly cold in the room. I had plans to go to the gym and get my workout in when I realized... I booked a hotel without a gym?? That's a thing?? Ugh. So by this time I figure I'll just skip the workout. It's about dinner time and I realized I was pretty close to a highly rated brewery - The Lost Cowboy.

The food was delicious, but the portions were way too big for just one person. I had to toss about half of it. I stopped at Target after leaving there to get a few essentials. Watched TV in the hotel but was seriously annoyed with there not being a TV guide and the remote was very slow. (I know, first world problems).

Friday (14,090 steps) - Really glad that I gave myself an extra day. I stayed in bed ridiculously late. About the time I woke up I had a text from Tyler asking if I wanted to do anything for the day. I had looked the night before and had found a 4ish mile loop that I wanted to walk. I realized that the hotel I was staying ALSO didn't have free breakfast. I took a quick shower and ended up going down the street to get a smoothie because there was ALSO NO (FREE) COFFEE IN THE LOBBY, WTF. I met up with Tyler and Terri and we went on a quite lovely walk in the woods - the Horse Hill loop. We saw only two people riding horses and a few bikes. Otherwise, in over an hour, no other people. It was nice.

By now we were hungry, so we stopped at the Thirsty Moose for food and beer. 

It was a good time to sit around and chat for a bit. Tyler ended up having to go back to his hotel for a work call, but I was tired anyway, with a headache, so I was fine going to my hotel as well. I ended up taking a nap and woke up not feeling any better. By then it was already 5 and I had missed the start of the pasta dinner the race was hosting. I was not especially hungry, but figured I needed to pick up something for dinner. I went down the street to Aldi's and got a calzone and a burrito for morning. More TV and a beer before going to bed relatively early.

Saturday (128,157 steps) - Ghost Train 30 hour - recap to follow.

Sunday (96,065 steps) - Ghost Train ending. Initially I had planned to go back to my hotel (I had switched to the Hampton a half mile away), but when we were mapping places to go, it seemed that Lost Cowboy would be on the way, so I just met everyone there for a celebratory beer and snack.

Kristin and her brother and his wife had to head out to Boston, so festivities were cut short. I was exhausted, so didn't care. Checked into my hotel and took a shower. I called Ben but was so exhausted, I had to take a nap. I set my alarm for an hour and passed out. I woke up, knowing I would need to get food for dinner. Ben had Uber Eats deliver food for me (buffalo dip and fried pickles). Fun surprise! He was NOT able to get beer delivered though. I decided to walk across the street to Applebees, since it was the closest. I had two marginal beers, then decided I needed to be relaxing.

I went to sleep almost immediately after getting back to the room.

Monday (11,997 steps) - Didn't set an alarm and still woke up around 8. I decided I was hungry and figured I should go to the breakfast buffet. There wasn't anything too exciting, but it was free, so I was happy. 

I went back to my room and was suddenly very tired and decided to take a nap even though I hadn't packed yet. By the time I showered and got all my things packed it was time to check out. I had found another new place to go for a walk before my flight. When I parked at Mine Falls Park I was not optimistic at all as it appeared I was in the middle of the city. BUT - it ended up being a really beautiful trail - and I could have added a decent amount of distance and variation if I had wanted to.

Headed back into Merrimack and went to the Thirsty Moose for lunch and a beer before going to the airport. Both were delicious.

Stopped to get gas and returned the car without any issues. There were maybe a half dozen people in front of me at security, so I was there LONG before I actually needed to be. I decided I would watch "Modern Family" on these flights since I had never seen it - these are pretty good! I had a two hour layover, so even though I wasn't "starving," I got dinner. It was delicious!

I continued watching Modern Family, but turns out they only had six episodes and I went through them all. Nothing sparked my interest in movies, but I put on "A Cinderella Story" to pass the time. We ended up landing about 15 minutes early. Unfortunately we were at the farthest gate in C, so I had to walk to the train, which was packed. By the time Ben picked me up with was after 10. Got home just before 11 but then I still had to eat something before bed. LONG DAY.

Stats:

• 295,803 steps
• 103.03 miles run
• 17.52 miles walked
• 15 minutes of cardio
• 30 minutes of strength