Week in Review (June 3 - June 9)

Tuesday - A got to go on vacation (AGAIN) with my parents, so after work I grabbed a quick drink with co-workers. I had plans to cross-train at home, but then I didn't. I watched Criminal Minds and had a beer.
Wednesday - Headed to a fun night at run club for "National Running Day." Really didn't feel like running, but I ran a couple with Heather anyway.

Thursday - Last night off before A got back from vacation so I headed to a (new to me) trail out near Golden. OMG I AM IN LOVE. I wasn't sure on distances and didn't bring water (dumb) so I didn't want to go too far, but ended up running an AMAZING 5 miles. I just love love love trails soooo much.

Friday - Nothing. Ate pizza. Visited a waffle truck.

Saturday - A and I volunteered at the Crescent Moon triathlon at the Aurora Reservoir. We had to be there at 6, which meant we were up before 5 am for the HOUR LONG DRIVE to get out there. The only volunteering we have done at a multi-sport event still had us on the run portion. This time, we also got to do body marking. A thought that was the MOST FUN EVER.

After the race started, A and I were both put on the run course to make sure the runners didn't go the wrong way. No one did (and only one person asked to be sure they were going the right way). We left at 11:30 and headed to a birthday party at the pool by our house. Spent the rest of the day exhausted, went to bed early.
Sunday - Up early AGAIN for the Carnivore Classic. By the time we toured the Sanctuary, we didn't get on the road until about 1:30. After stopping for lunch and errands, the day was pretty much over. Where did the weekend go???

Monday - Negative zero motivation. I mowed the lawn and did nothing else. A and I went out to dinner instead.

Weekly Miles Run - 20.88 (NO treadmill)
Weekly Cross Training - Uh. None.
Minutes of Strength - ZERO. oops :(

Weekly Gain - Horrible.

• I thought I was pretty careful this week, but now that I think about it, I had pizza three nights, and more beer than usual. Le sigh. Sometimes, I really hate "eating right."

Everything Else

• Uh. Nothing.

Carnivore Classic Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, June 8
Keenesburg, CO
Half Marathon #108
Colorado Half - #44
Weather - Overcast and chilly at the start, warm and sunny at the finish

I can't even recall where or how we heard of this race since it wasn't really advertised. The price tag seemed a bit steep, but who can resist a race called the "Carnivore Classic." Our entry fee also included entry into the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The race was about 40 minutes east of Denver and my dad agreed to bring the kids out for the finish so we could check out the Sanctuary.

We left the house just after 5:30, arriving with no problem around 6:15 and there were already a lot of people there. The event was inaugural, with the exception of the 5k, which was running for the second year. I am always leery about new events. There wasn't too much information regarding the course or aid stations, so I planned on wearing my belt and had brought enough gels for the day.

I will say that I was impressed with the grandiose of the start/finish area. The race was not going to be huge by any means, but they really went all out.

We checked in and got our bibs and shirts, and noticed our medal was already in the bag. We also got our wristbands to gain access into the park after the race. With nothing to do we cycled through the bathroom lines a few times. We were surprised when we headed to the start line for our 7 am start to find out the half actually was starting 10 minutes later, after the 10k. So, of course, we went to the bathroom. Again.

We had lucked out with some cooler weather and overcast skies. I just hoped it would last as we were seriously in the middle of nowhere and there was NO shade.

The gun went off at 7:10 and we headed out, immediately with a gradual uphill. I kept thinking to myself, if it is uphill NOW, that means that it will be downhill later. My legs were tight and I wanted to walk but I pushed through that until I warmed up and things got better. The first aid station was at mile 1.5. We headed up a hill for the half course and the 10k turned left. We ran the entire course on dirt country roads and I think I only saw one car the entire time. It was never crowded, and since we were in the middle of nowhere, I could always see people in front of me.

This is what the course looked like. For 13.1 miles.

I was really happy to find out that there were aid stations every mile. They had small cups of water and Gatorade at every stop, and at least 3-4 of the aid stations also had gels, both Powerade and GU, depending on the stop. The course was very clearly marked, although again, we were in the middle of nowhere, so it would have been tough to get lost.

After my legs loosened up, I was feeling pretty good. By the time I hit mile 3, I actually was pacing a bit faster and I started passing people. The weather was still holding up, and now it was just a matter of time before I crashed.

The miles ticked by and I was still feel really good when we hit mile 8. Then... the clouds broke and the sun came out. I got real hot, real quick. And even though we were on our way back, IT WAS NOT DOWNHILL. There was a shocking number of hills in between miles 9 and 10. I ran up most of them, but by the time I got to about mile 9.7, I CRASHED. I was sad to have made it that far without my brain breaking, but I was struggling with the heat and the hills. I took quite a few walk breaks over the next mile or so. Once I saw the mile 11 marker, I reset my brain. I had a goal to beat this woman that had been run/walking for most of the race. I did really well until I hit this hill at mile 12:

No, really, the mile marker was in the middle of the hill, by the time I took this, I was probably 2/3 of the way up. Gross. I finally saw the fenced area and knew I was close and gave it everything I got. I had less than a tenth of a mile to go, and I saw a woman coming up on the side of me. I gave it everything I had and sprinted in to the finish. According to the results, we have the same gun time, but she beat me by a few second on chip time. Oh wells.

Is that a photo finish or what??

Bib #163
Official Time - 2:17:42
6.55 mile Split - 1:07:37
Official Pace - 10:30
Overall Place - 40/72
Gender Place - 24/48
Division Place - 1/5 (WHAT)
Garmin Time - 2:17:48
Garmin Distance - 13.13 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:30
Mile 1 - 10:24
Mile 2 - 10:39
Mile 3 - 10:32
Mile 4 - 9:59
Mile 5 - 10:20
Mile 6 - 10:26
Mile 7 - 10:10
Mile 8 - 10:03
Mile 9 - 10:15
Mile 10 - 11:55 (yep, died here)
Mile 11 - 11:18
Mile 12 - 10:09
Mile 13 - 10:32
Mile 13.13 - 8:27

I saw A and my dad right away, and we got our picture taken by another one of the inflatable animals before heading over to the food spread.

The kids wanted their picture there too, of course:

The finish line spread was impressive. They had beer:

They had Dickey's BBQ (chicken, pork, sausage) with cole slaw, potato salad and corn bread. A giant spread of fruit (pineapple, grapes, melons, etc) and TONS to drink. Sodas, milk, juice. They also had a band playing. So while we were eating and hanging out with my dad, they were doing the awards for the 10k. They said they weren't doing the awards for the half marathon until 1:30. Not that we cared, no way we were getting anything. My dad headed out and we went to the results tent for our official finishing times. I glanced at mine, then headed to the car to put on sunscreen, grab jackets and head to the "tram" to take us to the Wild Animal Sanctuary.

We are almost to the tram at the very far end of the parking lot, and we hear that they are doing awards for the half marathon earlier than planned. Then we hear L's name for 2nd place in her AG. So we run back to the podium area and then I hear MY name called for 1st place in the old lady AG. WHAT WHAT WHAT. Turns out, that it WAS printed on my results sheet and I glazed over it.

In absolute shock!

With all the running stuff out of the way, we headed over to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The entry for the kids was only $7.50 and we headed in for the one mile walk on a bridge over the Sanctuary. A enjoyed being our tour guide and telling us all about the animals.

It's really too much to type here, but what a cool place this was. We ended up spending about two hours there, and left only when the weather turned poor (high winds and rain) and, by now, we were REALLY hungry after our race.

Thoughts:

• WOW. I've run well over 100 distance races, and I rarely am left with a race where I have nothing bad to say.
• TONS of volunteers - both from the Sanctuary and from local race organization 3W that assisted with the timing, set up and tear down, and aid stations. They were friendly and helpful.
• Well stocked and frequent aid stations. Even though the weather was unseasonably cool in the early portion of the race, it heated up quickly and it was great to have so many stops.
• Chip timing and official timing on the course for additional splits.
• Markers at every mile, and they were dead on.
• Awesome finisher spread of food and drinks. There were also local vendors and a live band.
• Results and photographs up same day. I had something like 25-30 pictures on my "page" - which is weird since I don't recall seeing photographers. The price tag is reasonable, only $5.95 a picture.
• The $79 price tag was a bit steep, but after visiting the Sanctuary and knowing our entry would have been $15, the race is very reasonable and again, the Sanctuary is amazing and worth a trip/donation. If interested in making a donation, you can do so here.
• If you have a chance to run this one, do. Take a few hours after the race to visit the animals afterwards. 
• I have NOTHING bad to say about this event. If TWAS can put on this fantastic of an inaugural event, I can't wait to see how they can grow this event in the future. Awesome.

Week in Review (May 27 - June 2)

I'm writing this a few days late, I barely remember yesterday so it might be short.

Tuesday - Ariel got an award at school. The ceremony was in the morning before school started, so after that was done, I went for a run (on an unscheduled run day) with L. So hot. So hard. She is such a strong runner and I struggle to keep up with her "easy" pace. Short bike ride with A after work AND a new to me arms video.

Her award was for creative writing

Wednesday - Headed to BodyPump for the first time in weeks. This felt REALLY hard. Also, it was A's last day of school. She wore the same outfit that she did on the first day.

Thursday - Have I mentioned that I give up on tempo runs? More than anything, I feel I have lost a lot of endurance, so my goal is to just get some miles in (hopefully between 6 and 8) at a generally faster pace. We will see. Ran 7.1 before work (10:47, 10:39, 10:53, 10:40, 10:46, 10:47, 1.1 @ 10:29). Not even CLOSE to a tempo pace, which should be closer to 10:00. Oh wells.
Friday - Pizza.
Saturday - Turquoise Lake "half marathon." Nephews birthday party of pizza and ice cream cake. Yum.

Sunday - Um. Sitting on the couch? I for real have no recollection of what happened on this day. At night A had her Girl Scout end of year BBQ.

Monday - An uninspired and not so great "speed" workout. 1.1 @ 10:45, 800 @ 9:38, 1 @ 9:57, 800 @ 9:22, 1 @ 9:48, 1.15 @ 11:03. This felt very tough and my success was not quitting, even though my paces weren't that close to where they should be.

Weekly Miles Run - 33.98 (Outside - 6, Racing - 15.63, Treadmill - 12.35)
Weekly Cross Training - A bike ride with A, some "walking"
Minutes of Strength Training - 95 (really slacking on this)

Weekly Loss - 1.4 pounds

• As usual, the weekends ruin me. I just get so hungry when I am not busy. I need to work on that.
• To help NOT eat as much junk, I looked up nutritional information of all the things I like to eat when we go out. Um. Yeah. I'll have to remember those numbers.
• Also, I was mostly on a beer hiatus, only one beer all weekend, that might have helped. 

Everything Else 

• Nothing, really. 
• No crazy online dating stories except one guy. He had sent me a general hi message, sorta cute, so I responded. Then he asked if I wanted to go out and I went to read through his profile. Me - "I read through your profile, I'm not 420 friendly. Thanks though." Him - "Wow. Profiled me completely. I'm pretty smart, charming, a loving father (even ask my exwife), funny cause life is what you make of it. I broke my neck in Iraq, I have PTSD, depression. But I smile everyday. Bogo orange julious would've been nice." Me "Um? Your profile specifically says "420 friendly" - how is that me profiling? It's called reading." And for the last TWO DAYS I'm still getting messages. Him "Sorry. I'm just not some loser pot head. I'm a hard working daddy" and "Its just sometimes I get depressed or lonely. It's not something I need." WHAT. I said I wasn't interested, what's with all the extra communication. (All the typos are verbatim, these are exact quotes, lol).
• Related: Again, I don't think I'm cut out for this. Why are guys so weird an insane? They are either needy and crazy or instantly start out with suggestive and lewd comments. Blech.
• Work is still really busy.
• Related - I "hit" a car in the parking lot at work on Monday. My car is fine, but it looked like I damaged the other car a bit. I left a note with my name, insurance card and phone number. DID YOU KNOW NO ONE HAS CALLED ME? What would YOU do? My car has been hit a BILLION times and no one, not even ONE time, has ever left a note. I feel like I would at least call and say "I'm planning on taking it in later" or "thanks for the note" or "I'll let you know" or SOMETHING. I'm dying waiting for this call. I have seen the car every day since and it honestly looks like it might just buff out, so maybe they aren't going to get it fixed at all? It's just weird and STRESSFUL, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Turquoise Lake Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, May 31
Leadville, CO
Half Marathon #107
Colorado Half #43
Weather - Sunny, warm, rainy, cloudy... everything?

After we had a race cancel on us we were on the hunt for a race to fill our schedule. We had been eyeballing the Turquoise Lake half marathon for a while, and L was kind of enough to register me as a late birthday present. I know I say that I don't really care about course profile, etc., but I have seriously never seen a website with SO LITTLE information.

The night before the race, we got an email that due to some washed out trails, the course would be changed, a lot of it being on the road, and it would "add a bit of distance."

There was nothing about aid station locations so I decided to wear my belt and carry a water bottle, just in case.

The race didn't start until 9, but with 100 miles (2 hours) to drive through the mountains and not being entirely sure where we were going, we decided to leave at 6. Turns out, that was the perfect amount of time. We arrive just after 8:15, and after only one wrong turn, we found the parking area. Upon picking up our bibs and long sleeve unisex cotton shirt, we were told a bit more about the course. Apparently, the "little extra" was going to be closer to three miles. Oh. In MY OPINION, an addition of THREE MILES is substantial enough that they should mention it in the email they send to registrants. Also, we found out there were only going to be three aid stations - at miles 5, 10 and 14. Again, information that might have been helpful the night before. I was worried about not having enough fuel and water, but what was I going to do about it now?

View from packet pick up

The race had not ordered port-o-potties, so there were only the two bathrooms at the start. With about 90 participants, the wait wasn't too bad. We were able to get through the line twice. The race started just a few minutes late, due to last minute race instructions. I of course lined up on the back, and we were off. I had ZERO idea of what to expect, as there was no course map on the website, no elevation chart, and this was the first time the course had changed. Turquoise Lake is just outside Leadville, which has an elevation of around 10,000 feet. The original course description was 7.5 miles of hilly, paved road, with 5.5 miles of single track. We ended up doing about 10 miles on road, and 5.6ish on trails (spoiler, the course measured 15.63 miles for me).

With no idea what to expect, I took it slow and hoped I would finish without running out of water. The hills started about a mile and a half in and some of them were pretty brutal. It was sunny and warm and I did a lot of walking. At one point, I was dead last.

I long ago stopped caring about being fast, but I certainly never want to be last. Luckily, I'm a pretty strong walker, and slowly started passing people around 4 miles in. I did short bouts of jogging, even on the inclines, trying to make up time/distance. A little under an hour in and we finally hit the first aid station. Water, Gatorade, nothing else. I refilled my water bottle and kept going.

Even though we were on the road, there was a lot to see. Creeks, trees, snow, and of course, more mountains. I was moving pretty slow, but didn't care at all. The mountains are pretty magical.

And then...... DOWNHILL!! I was feeling great and really picked up the pace on miles 7-10. I had one mile clock at 8:39(?!?). I passed at least a half dozen people.

Somewhere a few hours in, the clouds came out and we the temperature dropped a bit, which was NICE, and then we had some rain sprinkles for a few minutes, a welcome cool down.

The second aid station was around mile 10. Water, Gatorade and a bowl of fig newtons. Nothing else. The course flattened out for about 3/4 of a mile, before we FINALLY got to head onto the trail. It wasn't super technical, so I wasn't upset about not wearing trail shoes.

We were briefed about a section of trail that would require the use of "logs and ropes" - it wasn't as bad as I thought, but wow, the river was moving pretty quick:

I was thinking the worst would be over in terms of "washed out" trail sections, and enjoyed my views and my beloved trails.

I passed a decent number of folks on the trail section, which was nice. There were some sections of the trail that were flooded over, and one "intersection" where I wasn't even sure I was ON the trail. Those parts could have used some flags, as it turns out that L *did* make a wrong turn, but was lucky enough people behind her caught her before she got too far.

Shoes got a bit muddy

We came off the trail for the last station around mile 14. The last mile and half were on this "beach" area - I passed a few more people that clearly were "done" at mile 13.1... I didn't have a lot left in me, but I made sure to not let myself walk too long, and to jog for a few minutes here and there. I took a TON of pictures though, which I'm sure slowed me down too.

I could tell I was close when I saw volunteers at the top of a big hill. Then we had to run AROUND THE PARKING LOT to the finish. WHY? The course was already long, let us stop right there. And here, is my "finisher" picture from L. Not one of my better ones :D

There was no food at the finish. No water at the finish. So... shortly after that picture, we took off for the 15 minute drive to Leadville so we could buy something to drink at a gas station.

Official Time - 3:14:15
Official Place - 62/93 (YES!!!)

So, I'm glad I took a picture of my "new" Garmin to send to Heather, because apparently, I bought a defective watch. I had had trouble initially setting it up since I already have Garmin Connect for my 405, but finally had it working. I got home and plugged it in to sync, and although the workout had been saved and the watch was charging, it would NOT sync. I kept getting the error message "failed to sync" and "click here for more details." The more details? FAILED TO SYNC. I spent a good amount of time googling how to fix this, and decided to turn off and turn back on, as the only suggestion was that the prongs on the connector might be corroded - which was obviously NOT the case since the watch was brand new out of the box. Basically, the watch completely reset and erased my whole run. I'm bummed, I wanted to see the elevation and mile paces, but oh wells.

Thoughts:

• WTF. Next to zero information about this race, so feel comfortable going in blind with all your supplies.
• The race REALLY should have communicated better about the course and the changes and the additional distance. I ended up being ok, but I'm guessing there were others that didn't fare so well.
• VERY minimal aid stations. I'm guessing the original course only has TWO aid stations, so plan accordingly. BRING YOUR OWN FOOD/GELS. None on course.
• Unisex cotton tee, I'll use as a sleep shirt.
• No medals, but they did have awards for age group finishers, although the awards were long over before I finished.
• Unacceptable that there was no water at the finish. Period.
• On the PLUS side - I honestly loved this race. I love the mountains, I love downhills, I love trails. This had a little of everything for me.
• I would probably run it again, just knowing in advance what I was getting myself into.