Week in Review (October 16 - October 21)

Tuesday (9,040 steps) - I actually met a guy for drinks after work. Only had about an hour, but it was a lot of fun, and something I haven't done in a long time. No pic of him, but this is his adorable pup:

I had to rush to head to A's school for her first orchestra performance of the year. The school's gym is fairly small and they had ALL band, orchestra AND choir performing. So even though I was there almost 30 minutes early it was SUPER crowded.

Wednesday (18,636 steps) - PF Core during lunch. Runners Roost Boulder! As usual, a pretty tough run. It was a little muddy and slick on Mesa before we got to Bear, but not as bad as it was the previous week. PLUS - I finally saw a bear! A cute little black bear that was thankfully running the opposite direction we were.

Thursday (13,380 steps) - Belmar run club! I actually ran with Paula, which I'm not sure I have ever done before because she is too fast (and usually running with A).
Friday (13,648 steps) - Forgot my gym clothes at home, but it was my trainer's last day, so I bought a cheap shirt at TJMaxx and some shoes and went to PF Core.

After work was typical grocery shopping & TV, starting packing for Javelina.
Saturday (21,318 steps) - Runners Edge! Lucky enough that it was in our next of the woods, so we didn't need to get up crazy early. The route was a figure 8 loop, so we all ran that.

Headed home to shower and get ready since we had plans to meet up with Dulce in Belmar for pictures. Picked up our aid station and then met her and Matilda. Spent an hour or so doing pictures (which was fun).

Stopped at BPCO to pick up some Body Skin, and we were both starving, so we went to Call to Arms & Mas Chaos. Sadly, the beer I liked wasn't on tap. Home for a bit before driving up the hill to pick up Heather and go to Brian & Katie's Halloween party. Tried to not eat too much, watched a super weird foreign movie, November. Fun time!

A with Gilly (dressed as a tarantula)

Sunday (11,102 steps) - Up early to volunteer at the 4 mile aid station at Rock n' Roll Denver. It was super cold, but the three hours flew by.

We went to brunch later at Punch Bowl Social with Ted, Jandy, Ben, Lisa and Sue.

Target stop on the way home resulted into spending $150 on new bedding. Laundry and TV.
Monday (10,280 steps) - Nothing.

Stats:

• 97,404 steps
• 16.8 miles run
• 2 x 30 minute core workouts

Week in Review (October 11 - October 17)

Tuesday (29,096 steps) - Motivated! Up early to run at the lake. I wore long sleeves since it's been cold in the morning. Within 15 minutes I was warm enough to lose it, even though it was decently windy. I did have to wear my headlamp for all but the last mile. I was a bit faster than I expected and it was not awful.

Went to Laura's barre fuzed class during lunch. Tough workout, like always. After work, picked up A from soccer, went to the library for some homework, then gymnastics. As always, one of the busiest days of the week.
Wednesday (19,700 steps) - Barre class at 6:00. I ended up having to leave work early to pick up A after school because her soccer practice was cancelled. She did homework while I went back to work until it was time to go to run club. We had just enough time to go to Nothing Bundt cakes before the run. Mo was there with Colfax, so A stayed with Maureen and I went for a run with Colfax. It was a little chilly, but I was ok in my short sleeves and skirt.
Thursday (17,914 steps) - Barre class at 6:00. So tired! I had a long day at work and by the time I picked up A we were running a little late for Belmar run club. Met up with Maureen and A went with her again while Colfax and I went for a short run through the park. Interestingly, even though it was a lot warmer, I felt colder in a tee and capris than the night before.

We went to Rocko's afterwards for nachos and a beer (for me).
Friday (21,611 steps) - A had the day off from school, so I also took the day off. I went to barre at 7:15, then A and I packed and headed up to Berthoud Falls to hike at Jones Pass. There were only two other cars at the trail head and we lucked out never seeing anyone else on the hike. We were both overdressed and had to lose layers early in. I was a bit bummed that we seem to have missed all the fall colors, but it turned out to be a gorgeous hike. We had lunch at 11,700' IN SHORT SLEEVES. Once we got just a bit higher than that (and above treeline), we had to put on jackets as it got very windy.

On the way down, we were able to lose the layers again when we got back into the treed area. We drove to Central City to meet up with Kathy from Elevated Legs so I could pick up my rental. Then on to the expo for Denver Rock n' Roll half marathon. Expo is still at the horrible National Western Complex, although it was better than last year's. We wandered around for a while chatting with people and bought some fun Injinji Halloween socks. THEN, we drove up to Godfather's pizza for dinner. Such a busy day!
Saturday (21,523 steps) - Drove down to Stapleton for Runner's Edge. Finally healthy enough to run with my old pace group and did 6 miles - still beautiful fall colors in the city!

Then I headed over to a barre class at 9:30. Just barely had enough time to shower before going to A's soccer game.

Lisa met up with us and then we went to HuHot for lunch. Went home to sit in the Elevated Legs and ended up napping until it was time to take A to Rachelle's birthday party. After I dropped her off I went to Carrie's birthday party, only staying until about 8:30.

A new to me beer!

Headed home to watched American Horror Story and get my race clothes ready.
Sunday (38,361 steps) - Rock n' Roll Denver half marathon.

Drove back up to Thornton to pick up A from her sleepover. I was ravenous after the race, and decided I wanted a burger. We went to Red Robin and just barely missed the busy lunch rush. Showered, then sat in the legs and napped on and off. Barre class at 4:15. I'm a few classes ahead at this point, but my competition is fierce - and willing to come more than once a day! Dinner, laundry and TV. Went to bed early - A was exhausted from staying up too late at her party and I was exhausted from doing all the things.
Monday (10,577 steps) - Finally got to "sleep in" until 7:00. Busy day at work. Went to barre class after work/school. Dinner and watching Quantico.

Stats:

• 158,782 steps
• 30.3 miles run
• SEVEN barre classes and a hike! (Personally, I really can't wait for this challenge to end. I can definitely feel a difference with my body and running taking barre, but not THIS many times a week. I need to rest!)
• Current weight 125.2. Maybe I won't weigh myself for a while. Way too depressing.

Everything Else:

• Work is still really busy. I really need a vacation. Badly. Getting stressed out.

Rock 'n' Roll Denver Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, October 16
Denver, CO
Half marathon #156
Weather - Sunny and warm

Every year I say I'm not going to run the Rock 'n' Roll Denver again, and then they do a super cheap registration. For the 2016 race, I registered on October 20, 2015 (two days after the race) for $50 plus a $7.99 processing fee. Have I mentioned how much I hate processing fees?

Expo

The expo was held again at the National Western Complex. Parking is $5, which is super annoying. The venue is not the best for an expo. A and I went to the expo on Friday afternoon, however, and it wasn't too busy. And it was WAY better than last year. We spent over an hour walking around and talking to people. We both got fun Halloween Injinji socks, and NOTHING else.

Race Day

In 2015 I had parked at the garage I use for work because it's freeeee. However, I remember having issues getting in and out with road closures. A few days before I looked at the road closure map and decided I didn't want to screw around with it. Instead, I planned on meeting up with Heather at her dad's office and walking over. We made plans to meet at 6:00, and I left the house a few minutes late at 5:37 (yes, I looked), and still go there a few minutes before 6. Waaaay easier than anything I've done in years past.

It took us just a few minutes to walk over to the start area, and since Heather planned on checking a bag, I kept my hoodie on. We ran into tons of friends and teammates before the start. Took lots of pictures and used the bathrooms a few times.

No filter. This was the coolest sunrise ever.

Heather was supposed to be in corral 2, and I was in 7. By the time we tried to feed in I think we ended up in corral 8, which was fine by me. I love how every year I estimate a stupid fast time that places me in a corral I have no right to be in.

Trying to get a picture of the giant full moon

At the start line

I warned Heather that I was going to go out slow and try to not burn out like I did the year before. The tall buildings were messing with my GPS a bit, it was hard to tell what pace we were running. My legs felt very fatigued from all the barre classes I have been taking (6 days in a row before the race), but thankfully, no tight calves.

The course was completely different (yet again). We ran up 14th to start, and then we weaved through random roads downtown. Did not love this section. We looped over by the Pepsi Center around mile 2 (which in the past was about a mile in) and hit the first aid station about mile 2.5. We ran by Coors Field and up the big overpass early (I swear that in the past this has been much later in the race). The Runners Roost aid station was at mile 4, and as always, was a great boost to see so many familiar faces helping out.

I was feeling ok until we headed down Lincoln. That's when the leg fatigue really set in and I started taking walk breaks. The 10k headed towards the finish while we turned up 17th, and I walked up the entire hill, much to Heather's dismay. This section of the course is one of my favorites because as we head out to City Park all the fast runners are coming towards us. We managed to see quite a few Roosters, including Eric, on our way to the park. Runners Edge had the aid station within the park, and again, it was awesome seeing friends helping out. Pete gave me a high five and then we headed out for the rest of the loop in the park.

Still fall colors in City Park!  By far the prettiest section of the course.

David was sitting on top of his van using his bullhorn to cheer people on, which was fun. The out and back on 17th was a little brutal, although I managed to make it until the loop by East High School before I pretty much fell apart. I had to take way more walk breaks than I would have liked. Heather is a trooper and still stuck with me. (It will be interesting to see how I can run on rested legs after my barre challenge is done).

We turned south on Sherman and ran by the Capitol, where a man was yelling "look at the twins! the twins!" Except for Heather being about 6 inches taller than me, I suppose so. I had NO kick left, but managed to run through the chute without walking. The course measured incredibly long (much like last year).

There was NOTHING in the finish area except for water, chocolate milk, cups of fruit and Cheez-Its. Womp.

We met Eric just outside the finish area, and I checked my phone to see that I needed to start heading towards Thornton to pick A up from her slumber party. We wandered around the finish area before getting a small team picture, and then we walked back to the car.

Tony, me, Heather, Eric, Andy

All things considered, especially since I spent most of the summer injured, the race turned out OK. I did, however, barely beat last year's time.

Official Time - 2:23:11
Official Pace - 10:56
Official 5K - 33:066
Official 10K - 1:07:06
Official 10M - 1:48:52
Overall Place - 3868/6661
Gender Place - 1991/4113
Division Place - 355/705
Garmin Time - 2:23:33
Garmin Distance - 13.70 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:28
Mile 1 - 9:53
Mile 2 - 9:28
Mile 3 - 10:03
Mile 4 - 10:10
Mile 5 - 10:27
Mile 6 - 10:42
Mile 7 - 9:59
Mile 8 - 10:41
Mile 9 - 10:43
Mile 10 - 11:21
Mile 11 - 10:33
Mile 12 - 11:44
Mile 13 - 10:32
Mile 13.7 - 10:18

Thoughts

• The race is fine. The course is pretty good, although I think this was my least favorite of all the years I have run. The early miles had us running on roads that had sections barricaded off from construction and running over light rail and train tracks. Not to mention all the potholes. I guess that is just road running though.
• There were plenty of aid stations and they were spaced pretty well. It was really warm, but I did not need to carry my own hydration and I was fine with that. In the past, there has ALWAYS been GU on course at RnR races. I did NOT see any this year. Somewhere around mile 7 they were handing out SOMETHING, but I did not recognize whatever it was. Two aid stations did not have Gatorade, but again, for me, that was fine.
• Last year I remember the course being a bit crowded in the beginning, I didn't find it that bad this year. I did, however, hear that registration numbers were really low this year (like 4,000 less than the year before).
• The shirt is red this year, which is nice. I assume it is Brooks since that has always been the partner vendor/brand, but honestly, it is still in my expo bag.
• The medal is probably my least favorite out of all of the years I have run. At the very least, the neck of the guitar should be longer.
• Getting in/out of the race (parking wise), was easier this year than any year I have run. I assume it is still a nightmare if you don't have an "in" somewhere.
• Will I run again? I'm saying NO right now, but you know me... I'm fond of changing my mind.

Rock n' Roll Denver Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, October 19
Denver, CO
Half Marathon #118
Colorado Half #54
Weather - PERFECT

Expo

I happily work downtown very close to the expo. The Rock n' Roll Denver race has fallen on L's birthday weekend the last few years, so I took an extremely extended lunch so I could take L to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (for the dairy trifecta) and then get to the expo when it opened at 1:00.

I think this was one of the smallest RnR expos I have attended. There were not that many vendors there, and it was really disappointing how bad the Brooks/RnR section was. I had been hoping to get L a new hoodie and the selection was crap. No bueno (although it did save me some money).

L was trying to figure out where to get her special "5 year runner" stuff (I missed the first year because the half sold out by the time I decided to run, so this was only my 4th year. Sad I'm not a legacy runner), so I headed to the INKnBURN booth, where I still managed to find two shirts I didn't already own, and picked up my custom, limited edition Denver drop bag. Really no other vendors of interest, but we did stop by and visit Cheryl from Razzy Roo. After buying from her since 2010, she finally told me that I was her VERY FIRST online customer :) We picked up a lot of cute hair ties and I got a new Denver Bronco colored Chevron print band.

In and out in less than 40 minutes. The race shirt this year is pretty adorable, although white tech shirts are no good because they are SO SHEER.

Race Day

Thanks to my blog, I knew we needed to leave the house by 5:30 to get parked and walk the 1.5 or so miles to the start. My dad was doing the 10K and the kids had spent the night at their house, so we picked up my dad and drove down to the lot on Auraria campus, where we have parked in previous years. The start for the 10K was in the opposite direction of our start, so we parted ways with my dad so he could walk up to his starting area.

I was hoping to have a nice, fast race. The course was different this year, and MUCH hillier. In lieu of breakfast, I drank a beer on the walk over to Civic Center park. Don't judge. We cycled through the bathroom lines a few times and headed over to the corrals at 7:18 (the race was supposed to have started at 7:15, but it started late).

L was technically in corral 7, I was in 8. Not sure where we fed in, but I lost her immediately. Only the first mile or so was the same as previous years. We ran towards the Pepsi Center, then up Speer, which I (stupidly) thought was really the only hill:

I was feeling pretty good, but wondering where the aid stations were as I really wanted a water/walk break. We ran over by Sports Authority Field (another hill), and I managed to catch my favorite Team Beef guys:

We then headed down 17th around Sloan Lake. The road was TORN up from construction. Thanks Rock n' Roll for routing us down there. Awesome. The Roost aid station was around mile 4.5 on the south side of the lake, and I saw Carol, Dan, and some other friends from run club. The walk break there helped, and I felt REALLY good running around the lake.

View of downtown from the west side of Sloan Lake

I managed to finally pass Ruth (she had been in my line of sight for about 2 miles) when we got to the aid station at the 10K marker. MORE HILLS.

I think mile 7 was pretty good, and sort of downhill. Still feeling pretty good. Somewhere around mile 8 is when we finally crossed back over into the Denver downtown area. Mile 9 I was cruising, and then hit the (horrible and understaffed) aid station at mile 10, just before a big overpass. I had not taken any unplanned walk breaks and managed to run up the hill, but my legs went numb, and around mile 10.5 I had to walk for about a tenth of a mile to loosen everything up. I felt much better after that and was pretty psyched we had less than 3 miles to go.

Ran through the same ugly warehouse area that we had run during Hot Chocolate, and then we turned down Lincoln (instead of Broadway) for essentially the same chute finish. The split for the marathon was literally at the intersection where my building for work stands, and I was HAPPY to be finishing.

Official Time - 2:12:54 (fastest half in 11 months!)
Official Pace - 10:08
Official 5K - 31:31
Official 10K - 1:03:54
Official 10M - 1:41:17
Overall Place - 3879/8113
Gender Place - 2018/5260
Division Place - 395/950
Garmin Time - 2:12:56
Garmin Distance - 13.19 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:05
Mile 1 - 9:55
Mile 2 - 9:59
Mile 3 - 10:27
Mile 4 - 10:33
Mile 5 - 10:48
Mile 6 - 9:51
Mile 7 - 10:17
Mile 8 - 9:29
Mile 9 - 9:16
Mile 10 - 10:10
Mile 11 - 10:50
Mile 12 - 10:12
Mile 13 - 9:24
Mile 13.1ish - 9:00

Thanks to runner tracking, L knew when I finished and I met her and my dad without any trouble. We got our finisher pictures in front of the Civic Center building. COOL clouds in the picture with the three of us - this is NOT photo shopped!

Thoughts:

• This was probably the best weather we have ever had for this race. I think it was the only time I wasn't concerned about getting hypothermia walking to the car afterwards.
• L is a legacy runner, so I of course will run this race again. Not super crazy about the course change, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined it would be. I think I could run it a bit smarter next year.
• There was NO GU on the course. I made sure to check every aid station because they were supposed to have Salted Watermelon. NONE. Glad I brought my own.
• The one aid station around mile 10 was horrible. There were only 3 or 4 volunteers, they didn't have most of the cups filled. L said she was handed an empty cup. Wheee!!
• There were MAYBE 5 bands on the course. Maybe. And at least 2 of them were actually just speakers playing music, not anything original. Maybe RnR needs to consider changing its name...
• Really like the shirt, really REALLY like the medal (which doubles as a bottle opener).
• Other than that, unless you register early, this race probably isn't worth the hassle. There are a TON of people, you have to pay to park on race day, most of the parking is well over a mile away.

Rock 'n' Roll Denver (Race Recap)

Denver, CO
Sunday, October 20
Half Marathon #95
Colorado Half #34
Weather - Chilly

I am not the biggest fan of the Rock 'n' Roll series, but I really enjoy Rock 'n' Roll Denver. I had already signed up for the Boulder 100K (even though I ended up running the 100M) but I REALLY wanted to run the event again, mainly because this year's medal was AWESOME.

Expo

L met me downtown again - mainly because the day of the expo was also HER BIRTHDAY, so I took her to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (best dairy trifecta EVER) and then we walked over to the expo. The expo wasn't busy and I was surprised that no one gave me a hard time for picking up A's packet for her. I walked out spending $22 on a clearance running skirt, a 100 sticker for my car and a tube of grape nuun. Hardest part was getting OUT of the expo and onto the correct street to get to my parking garage.

Race Day

Thanks to running this in previous years, I knew we wanted to be out the door by 5:30. My dad was planning on speed walking the mini marathon, and Hope was running the full. We all met up at my house and left just a few minutes late. I rode with my dad and A downtown. We took the Speer Blvd. exit (as we have done in previous years), only to discover that it was closed south bound, and was feeding us BACK onto the highway. Luckily, knew that we could take the Colfax exit and still get to the lot we park in on Auraria Campus.

It was about 5:55 by the time we parked. Annoyingly, the garage seemed inaccessible, so we had to park on a surface lot. Everyone had to pay for parking, but it was all done through one of those machines - time consuming. Not sure when we actually left to walk over, but it was probably after 6:10. I was glad to have worn pants and a throwaway. Chilly!!

The bike tour started at 6:45, but like last year, had zero effect on the running race, and I never saw a single bike. We got in the bathroom line at 6:45, managing to run into Jody and her husband. It took 15-20 minutes to cycle through the bathroom line and then we headed over to the start area. Hope left us to join her friends with the 5:00 pacer, and my dad was insistent on getting in his proper corral, 14. L took this picture of me and A before jumping in around corral 4 or 5.

The counting down for each corral had A very nervous. She kept asking why I was making her "miss her race." We finally jumped in around corral 9.

Like every other race we have done, she took off. I don't know how many races she will run before she figures out that starting a little slower might not make her so tired so early. I'm much more familiar with downtown now that I work down there, so I was pointing out all the landmarks to her on our run. We passed the Convention Center and the big blue bear, and then headed across Speer to run along the Pepsi Center, where she says - MOM, NO BATHROOM, KEEP GOING. Settle down, I did NOT need to go anyway. She took a few walk breaks here and there and seemed revived when we got to the first aid station at mile 1.8.

Coors Field

I had NOT paid much attention to the course. For some reason, I thought the mini marathon was either 3.3 or 3.4 miles (I would later discover it was actually 3.7 miles). A was a little whiny, "when am I going to be done?" 

She was really pumped when we saw the mile 3 marker and she thought she was almost done. When we turned the corner and saw the chute for the mini marathon, she TOOK OFF. I yelled - "GO!!!!!!!!!!!!" after her and she bolted for the finish, passing a few. (She would then wait at the finish for about 10 minutes for my dad).

And then... I was alone. I had brought my iPod, remembering how much I had enjoyed listening to it during the day miles of my 100. I turned up the volume and ran...

The only major hill of the course was right after I had left A, and I passed dozens of people as I had a decent amount of energy after all my walk breaks with A.

For the most part, this felt GREAT. I was stunned at how great I felt. I had assumed it was going to be the second longest walk of my life and I was going to be miserable. I wasn't.

The miles ticked by and I was pleased to see my splits hovering around 10:00. I haven't run that fast in ages. The thought entered my mind that MAYBE I could run a sub 2:30, which I haven't done since April. I cautioned myself to slow down a bit and I just took everything in. I was enjoying the race, the course, everything. I took my gel around mile 7 (had brought 2, but the one I grabbed was NOT my salted caramel, wah) and kept pushing. Miles 5-10 were pretty great. I had pulled out my phone and was trying to get some pictures of the changing leaves, but I couldn't get the screen to work. I would eventually have to do a hard shut down for it to work - I took a few walk breaks around mile 11 to get this taken care of. Cheeseman Park was extra pretty:

Running through the park got chilly. The wind had picked up and I put my arm sleeves back on. Then, I glanced at my watch, and when I hit the mile 12 marker, I was around 2:10. What.

My legs were definitely getting tired, but I pushed that last mile, especially when I thought that I might have a sub 2:20 in me.

I turned the corner, saw the chutes and raaaaaaaaaaaan (seriously, my arms always look so stiff and weird):

Crossed the line, and NOT QUITE a sub 2:20:

 

But you know what? I don't care!! My fastest race in well over a year, and ONLY A WEEK after running 100 miles. I'm still smiling about it! I had a great time running with A (who I think ran a very respectable 41:30ish - the mini marathon was not chip timed). I had some really decent splits, and you know what? I really enjoyed this entire race. It's about time.

Bib #12348
Official Time - 2:20:08
Official Pace - 10:42 :) :) :)
Overall Place - 4722/8244
Gender Place - 2703/5455
Division Place - 499/969
Garmin Time - 2:20:08
Garmin Distance - 13.23 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:36
Mile 1 - 10:39
Mile 2 - 11:30
Mile 3 - 12:16
Mile 4 - 10:34
Mile 5 - 11:08
Mile 6 - 9:43
Mile 7 - 10:01
Mile 8 - 10:20
Mile 9 - 9:53
Mile 10 - 11:01
Mile 11 - 10:49
Mile 12 - 10:27
Mile 13 - 9:47
Mile 13.23 - 8:38
(THREE mile splits UNDER 10. Yay!!)

Me and L

AWESOME medal this year! (But el cheapo ribbon)

A with her awesome bling!

Thoughts:

• I will run this race again, and I sure hope that A decides to run the mini marathon again. So proud of her!
• I really really like this course. I like that it does NOT end with an uphill finish. 
• The shirt is nice this year, gender specific Brooks tee, dark blue (I'm lame, I should have a picture) - I will likely wear it again, although I have a TON of race shirts.
• It was a lot colder than in previous years. I was comfortable while I was running, but the second I stopped it got REALLY cold. I was glad I was a bit "over prepared."
• I haven't worn capris under a skirt in a while. I had my phone in the skirt pocket for easier access and by mile 10 or 11, it was really pulling my skirt down. A little annoying.
• The later aid stations were a bit short on water and Gatorade, but there were zillions of volunteers and I didn't really have to wait for anything, I just sometimes had to run by empty tables. No biggie.
• Bands were meh - of course I had headphones in for most of it, but the bands I heard when running with A weren't all that great.
• Post race food was disappointing. Tiny bagels and Powerbars. Womp. Although, they did have Jamba Juice, which was great, except that it was too cold :(