Angel Fire Adventure Marathon (Race Recap)

Angel Fire, New Mexico
Sunday, July 3
Marathon #29
Weather - Sunny/windy/warm

With a pretty big race coming at the end of summer, I knew I would need some longer runs. At the time I registered for the Angel Fire Adventure marathon I didn't yet have my training plan and decided, sure, why not. Well, I actually was looking for something close by when I didn't already have something planned, preferably on a Sunday so I could also do a longer run with Runners' Edge. I was having trouble finding a race until I expanded my search to surrounding states, and since I hadn't run a marathon in New Mexico, it was the "obvious" choice.

I registered right after I finished Revel, before I knew the hip was all jacked up. As race day approached I was apprehensive about what to do. I had already booked the hotel, and since the "easy four" and week of trail running had been "OK" - I figured I would head out and hope for the best.

As far as I could tell, the course was a double out and back, and figured I could ask the race director about dropping at the halfway point if I felt really awful.

Race Day

I had slept fairly well. I had mapped how far it was to Angel Fire from the hotel, and it was about an hour and a half, so I was up just after 4 am for the 6:45 start. I was checked out of the hotel by 4:15, and drove around town for longer than I would have liked looking for coffee. Finally found an open gas station, got a coffee and diet Pepsi, then started the drive.

Highway 64 into Angel Fire is a two lane highway, super straight until you near the hills, then  it is pretty curvy. I saw jillions of deer on the side of the road, so I was paying extra close attention, as dawn is when they really seem to be out. I was driving over the speed limit and it was STILL taking longer than mapquest had said. Shit.

There was no actual address for the race start, but when I started to get close I saw that there were markers on  the side of the road so I just followed those until I got to the parking lot at the entrance to the resort. The website had said it was a 1/4 mile walk to the start/finish area where I would need to get my bib. I was parked by 6:10 - only 35 minutes until the race start. I call shenanigans that it was a 1/4 mile. It took almost 10 minutes to walk over, then the same to get back - and I was walking pretty fast.

View from the start line. Wish the race would have been in those hills!

By the time I got back to the car it was 6:35, I still had to apply sunscreen, shove my gel in my pockets and get my sunglasses. I was halfway to the start when I realized I had left my handheld in my car. Crap. And then I still had to use the bathroom - I hadn't used one since I left the hotel! Got in line with 3 minutes to the start, but there were only two port-o-potties. I ran into Dave Bell in the line and we chatted until he headed off, while I still waited. The race is not chip timed and I was the very last marathon runner to cross the start line - 8 minutes late, snatching a bottle of water on my way out. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the race...

The race set out on the shoulder of the road... where we would remain the entire race. I was minutes behind everyone else and stupidly started out faster than I should have. Within a half a mile, my calves seized up. Tried to run through it, but I pushed too hard and by the time I gave up and started walking I had to go super slow and was limping. At this point, I was thinking, the calf issues are nothing new, if that is the only issue I have this will be fine.

When I say I was running super slow, I'm not kidding. Normally (at least in the last few years), in a road race I'm moving around an 11 minute pace. I was at a 13 minute pace for most of the first half. I was taking lots of walk breaks. Angel Fire is at 8400' and for whatever reason, the altitude was making me a little queasy, although some of that could have been the heat and sun.

The aid stations were about 2 miles apart, having ONLY Gatorade (various flavors) and water. I had brought enough gels for the entire race, but for the first time, the sweetness was really bothering  me. I had also forgotten my Base salt, and I was sweating like crazy.

I got passed by the first half marathon runner before I was even at the first aid station. I caught up to the first marathon runner shortly after that. I was NOT enjoying myself. Even though my hip was feeling all right at this point, I just felt overly fatigued and not into it.

Not much else to say about the first half. It wasn't great, but I figured I might as well just go for the full marathon. I caught up to Dave just after the half marathon runners turned off. He wasn't having a great time either. Then, I realized where we were...

Focus on the SIDE of the highway. Pretty trees!

When I had gone out last year for Ragnar, there was a section of trail that ran near the road, going UP. That's what we were on. So for about 2 miles, I pretty much just walked. It was steep enough that running wasn't even worth it. Just past mile 15 we had some downhill. I started running, slow still, but the hip was holding up. That is, until I was running across a gravel driveway and I caught my toe on a rut. I lurched forward to catch myself from falling on my face and the impact of stepping (of COURSE with my "bad" leg) jarred my hip. I yelled out and tried to keep running and couldn't. This was around mile 17. I basically walked the remainder of the race.

The only marker that made me feel almost as good as the finish line

At the turnaround, I noticed I wasn't alone in my misery. All the people at my pace were walking. I would walk for 3-4 minutes and then try to jog, but the way back was about a four mile climb, into a headwind. AWESOME. My kidneys were "hurting" like I needed to pee but there were no bathrooms on the course and nowhere I could go without risking public indecency. Since the race was on the road, there were a few Sheriffs cruising up and down the race course to ensure people weren't driving like maniacs.

I tried REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hard to not hate every single second of this race. Pictures like THIS made me feel a tad better (this was the side of the road, maybe around mile 22?)

To top it all off, I was getting eaten alive by deer flies. URG. I was in  bad place and cursing my stupidity for "needing" to run the full marathon.

Random sightings on my run back... (I did NOT take a picture of the decapitated owl):

The long long long long long road - but yay for the pretty mountain in the distance!

Deer leg. Just one.

Deer body. Down the road from the aforementioned leg.

Caped ninjas on horseback?

I passed maybe a half dozen people in the last 6 miles. Caught up to a guy I seen pacing earlier. He had to quit his pace leading duties after getting incredibly sick. We ran/walked together for most of the last two miles.

At the finish I collected my medal, was given a bottle of water, and then I headed to the "finisher tent" for my shirt. Not surprisingly, the size I had ordered (men's size XS, since no women's size) was not available. There was no food at the finish other than pretzels, granola bars, orange and banana slices. After a hundred thousand miles on the road, I really needed something more. "Luckily," I was still nauseous so I was fine for the time being. I hung around at the finish to wait for Dave and Stacy. I chatted with the race directors for a few minutes and let them know that they need more potties and that the walk from the lot to the start is NOT a quarter mile. The race director offered to adjust my time to my Garmin time since I started so late, which was nice.

Official Time - 6:08:46 (slowest road marathon, by quite a bit)
Overall Place - 64/78
Gender Place - 35/44
Division Place - 7/7
Mile 1 - 13:19
Mile 2 - 13:09
Mile 3 - 12:52
Mile 4 - 13:34
Mile 5 - 13:00
Mile 6 - 12:56
Mile 7 - 13:01
Mile 8 - 13:42
Mile 9 - 13:29
Mile 10 - 13:10
Mile 11 - 13:34
Mile 12 - 13:22
Mile 13 - 13:52
Mile 14 - 13:58
Mile 15 - 16:11
Mile 16 - 12:39
Mile 17 - 13:49
Mile 18 - 15:11
Mile 19 - 16:08
Mile 20 - 17:03
Mile 21 - 16:36
Mile 22 - 16:20
Mile 23 - 15:39
Mile 24 - 13:21
Mile 25 - 13:3
Mile 26 - 13:54
Mile 26.11 - 12:55

Back half = NOT FUN

Thoughts:

• This was the third year of the event and there are still some kinks that need to be worked out. The parking lot situation/time to walk to the start needs to be adjusted to a realistic time. The inaccurate info caused me to misjudge my morning and got me off to a rough start.
• The aid stations were well stocked with fluids, but NOTHING else...  I know better than to rely on aid stations for food, but for a $100 fee, something with salt would have been appreciated.
• The course was marked. But incredibly inaccurately. The only mile markers that were right on for me were 1 and 13. For example, the 26 mile marker was about .6 away from the finish. WTF! If I was someone who had a kick at the end I would have lost my mind.
• The race isn't chip timed, which is fine, but there needs to be more bathrooms at the start (and on the course) and the half should maybe start 30 minutes after (instead of 15) to ease up on the crowded start area.
• The race did start right on time, which would have been nice if I could have started on time.
• The post-race was not great - need more food for sure!
• The unisex shirts. Boo, hiss. Everyone knows how I feel about this.
• I do love the medal!

• The course itself is not great. I knew it was road, but it was all on the shoulder and most of the shoulder was gravelly and uneven. But! If I looked to my left or right, it was really pretty! Angel Fire is a gorgeous resort town, and running on the trails there is pretty fantastic. Sadly, I didn't get to do that (again, not the fault of the race, it's not like they mislead anyone into thinking it would be trail). I also realized, when writing my recap, that I did not take any pictures on the first half of the course when we ran through "town" and on not nearly a "pretty" road.
• Would I run this again? No.

Week in Review (June 28 - July 4)

Tuesday (21,551 steps) - With A gone, I plan on sleeping "late" and doing my running in the evenings on the trails. Traffic was a nightmare getting out of downtown, and I had plans on doing the loop at North Table, which is about 7 miles. I hadn't been there since I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I pretty much didn't run at all last summer, remember? Anyway, the loop, on average, took around 1:40-1:45. I expected to be a tad slower with my tired legs and stupid hip. By the time I got close, it was almost 6:15 and the sky was looking suspicious. I kept checking my phone. Windy, but no forecast of rain or a storm. Hrm. So I headed out. I got about a mile up and a few tiny raindrops started to come down. Mesa Top from North Table Loop was open (it never had been a few years ago), so I figured I would take the "short cut" and hopefully avoid whatever storm was coming. It was a bit disconcerting when the thunder started when I was on top of the mesa. I headed back down Cottonwood Canyon. A LOT more mountain bikers today, and it was (as always) frustrating to jump off the trail.

Anyway, managed to make it back down without getting struck by lightning. Yay! (And smart choice to do the shorter loop, it would have been dark by the time I finished the big loop). Shower, dinner, reading and two episodes of "The Vanishing Women." Boy, I really live it up when A is gone!
Wednesday (18,282 steps) - Went to work an hour early so that I could go to my very first barre class during lunch! For some reason, I thought the studio was closer than it actually was (if you are a long time reader, you know that judging distances and time to travel between the two is a serious problem I have have). I thought I would have time to walk over there, take the class, and be back in under two hours. Turns out, the Barre Forte LoHi studio is almost 2 miles from my office, so I had to drive over. I did manage to find free street parking just a few blocks over. I was the first to arrive for the 12:00 class, and spoke with one of the owners and the instructor before class began.

I guess, in my head, I imagined it would be similar to the Fitness Blender barre videos I have done in the past. It was NOT like that at all. It is incredibly fast-paced, and is a total body workout. Within minutes, I had sweat dripping down my back. Within 15 minutes I was shaking during so badly during some of the moves that I thought I might collapse. But man. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. After class the instructor told me she didn't believe me when I said I'd never taken a barre class before. She probably says that to everyone, but I loved hearing it. So I was a sweaty disgusting mess when I got back to work, but I felt great. Stayed a few minutes late to make up for my long lunch, then headed down to a special run club at the Roost.

The run really sucked. I have been running 3ish miles pretty regularly at run club. Between the fatigue from barre and my stupid hip being weird, I barely got in 2 miles, with quite a bit of that walking. Other than that, it was a super fun evening with Maureen listening to ultra runner/Leadman Travis Macy speak. Stretched when I got home and watched another episode of "The Vanishing Women."
Thursday (22,338 steps) - Failed at sleeping in. Pretty tired at work all day. After work I headed over to Lair O' the Bear for a special weekday "Happy Trails" run club. Thankfully, the temperatures dropped a bit, it wasn't nearly as hot in the hills. Decided not to demo shoes since my hip is still being stupid. After a pretty full week, and Wednesday's Terrible Run, Maureen and I decided to run 3-4.

We ran with a new friend, Francesca, and the run was pretty great. We took it slow and easy, lots of chatting.

When the run was over we gathered at a picnic table for BBQ and a beer. It started to rain a bit and I desperately needed to run to the store, so I left early.
Friday (17,491 steps) - Rest day? Nope! I was still feeling pretty good (as in not sore) after Wednesday's barre class, so I went to the 7:15 class, giving me a chance to go before work. It was much easier to find parking, but I didn't enjoy the instructor quite as much. As soon as I got to work, I noticed an email that the office was closing 2 hours early! Yay! Only I ended up staying later to get work done. Stopped and got my hair cut on the way home, watched some TV, picked up some Pho (only my order was wrong), bed later than planned. A called me for the first time since she left and we talked for a while. Miss her!
Saturday (22,540 steps) - Runners Edge was right down the street (literally, like 5 minutes away), so I decided to go short and slow. It was drizzling when I left, and thankfully, continued to lightly rain all morning. Ran with the slowest pace group for four (really enjoyable) miles.

I remembered the pace leader as the one that Hope and I ran with a few years ago. Stuck around for coffee and a sandwich before heading home to finish packing and watch an episode of Contagion. Left around 10 to go to Declaration Brewing for the first of the beer runs!

Met up with Maureen pretty easily, got our stuff, and then met up with Johnny, who decided to "run" with us. I was trying to still take it easy, but had incredibly heavy legs. Hip did seem ok. We stayed on the patio for HOURS, sharing beer and conversation. A truly great time!

Had to wait a bit before I could head out, so around 5 was when I finally headed down to Raton. Got hungry a shortly after passing through Pueblo, and realized I was in the middle of nowhere with very limited food options. It was raining pretty heavily and the "best" choice for a quick dinner was Carl's Junior. Ate in the car, got to my hotel in Raton around 8. Door lock was broken, but it was the "last room" (I always find it funny that no matter what time I check in, it's always "the last room.")

I was EXHAUSTED from the day. Took a shower and was in bed by 9.
Sunday (64,122 steps) - Angel Fire marathon - recap to follow.

On the way out of town, I stopped at the Enchanted Circle brewery. Got a pork sandwich, fries, and a delicious beer. Service was kinda slow, and I was sitting on the patio when it started raining pretty heavily. Food and beer was good, although it took a long time to check out and be on my way. The drive back was fairly uneventful except for the 75 minutes of POURING RAIN that I drove through once I crossed into Colorado. Every time I drive to New Mexico. EVERY TIME. Stopped at Target on my way home, watched some TV, in bed later than I hoped. My hip was INCREDIBLY sore and achy. I warned Maureen that we may not be able to hike as far as we planned.
Monday (31,817 steps) - I woke up way before my alarm. I could barely get out of bed because my hip was hurting so badly. I was glad that I had picked up some Epsom salt and took a hot bath. I don't know, it might have helped. Left the house at 7 to meet Maureen at the Woolly Mammoth lot at 7:30 so we could carpool to Evergreen. We were parked and on the trail by 8. Looking up my old Garmin information, I thought that hiking to the summit of Bergen Peak was about 9 miles. I hadn't been out to Bergen in two years, so my memory was foggy of where everything was. My hip was feeling all right and Colfax was keeping up. We were maintaining an easy pace and having a great time. We decided to go all the way to the summit, and I was a bit surprised that both our watches read 5 miles.

At the summit!

 Ah. The way down was a bit more taxing on my hip and I could feel my gait getting wonky. But the movement DID make my body feel better. We stopped in town on the way down to grab a beer and share some chips and salsa.

I drove into Uptown to meet up with Heather for "real" lunch at Steuben's. I had a fantastic green chili burger and a beer. I hadn't seen her in a week (that's a long time!) and it was great to catch up before she leaves for Hawaii for two weeks.

Went home for a quick shower, iced the hip, watched an episode of Contagion. Drove over to Jessie's house for her annual Fourth of July party. More BBQ (I really didn't eat that much, but there was a to-die-for pineapple upside-down cake that I had two slices of). Headed home when the city's fireworks started. Another long day and I was exhausted. Iced the hip again, watched one more episode of Contagion (I really like this show!)

Stats:

• 198,141 steps
• 44.6 miles run
• 4+ hours of cross training (10 mile hike!)
• 120 minutes of strength/stretching (2 barre classes)
• Weekly loss 0.4 (126.4)

Everything Else:

• The hip sucks - I plan on taking days of from running and seeing the chiropractor to see if they can figure out what is going on. Bah.

Week in Review (June 21 - June 27)

Tuesday (29,264 steps) - Now that I have a training plan again, back to regularly scheduled training. I had 7 miles on schedule, and was feeling very apprehensive about my hip/groin. It is tender/uncomfortable even when I'm walking. I was out the door by 5:15, which gave me plenty of time to take it slow. I hit up the Rocky Mountain Greenway again, which was a good choice.

Even after the sun came up it didn't seem too hot (forecast for the day is 99 degrees!) The way out is uphill, and I took it VERY slow and easy.

I got to go out a mile further than the last time I ran this trail, and it's a very exposed trail, but wide and dirt/gravel. Running here will need to be done on cool days or very early in the morning. Emergency stop at the bathroom on the way back, which was a LOT better than the way out. Did some stretching when I got home. The hip/groin is still sore/tender, but it seems that my range of motion is a little better than when I did yoga on Sunday. Spent a bulk of the morning using my Addaday torture device on my hip - hoping whatever I've got going on is just a knot or something. Did the day's videos - warm up, HIIT (lower body/abs) and cool down. This one wasn't too bad. Started packing for our upcoming weekend in Glenwood.
Wednesday (19,632 steps) - Warm up, upper body, cool down. Run club! A said she was tired and didn't want to run far, so we had plans to go to the track nearby. Turns out there were kids playing on the baseball field nearby so we couldn't run there. Ended up running a bit further than if we would have done our normal 3 mile route. Good times running with Maureen, Colfax and Heather. Went out to eat at Old Chicago's afterward.
Thursday (18,621 steps) - Woke up incredibly sore. Not just my left hip/groin, but my inner thighs. Yesterday's super short lower body video apparently kicked my ass. Geez. Cardio (where I had to do a few low impact modifications) and cool down. Since it was Maureen's birthday, we had plans of skipping A's gymnastics class and going to Belmar's run club. We did a super slow (like REALLY slow) walk/jog with Maureen and Colfax.

We went to Rocko's for dinner afterward with the group, where I had probably the best nachos I've ever eaten.

Failure to lose weight is a MYSTERY. Home late, in bed late.
Friday (17,453 steps) - Woke up still sore, so I didn't do the video (which looks like lower body). Maybe will do later at the hotel room. Looks like there is a "beginner" video - which maybe means I can get through it and not be too sore for the weekend? Anyway, up crazy early because I had to get A and her friend Madi to Union Station before 7:30 (which meant we had to be out the door at 6:45) for the Girl Scouts train ride to Glenwood Springs (that they get to attend for selling a jillion boxes of cookies). I was at work before 8, and since I worked through lunch all week I was able to head out around 2 to meet A and the Scouts in Glenwood. There was a frustrating amount of traffic, but I managed to arrive around 5:15. We didn't get around to eating dinner until after 7, but I really enjoyed the pizza and beer.

A and I headed over to scope out the trail head to make sure I knew where I was going. How could you NOT want to run here?

Quick trip to Target to pick up some essentials, and stopped by Dairy Queen. Apparently, along with the rest of the town. Took over 20 minutes to get an Orange Julius and a dipped cone.

Saturday (26,008 steps) - I decided to get up early and run the trails instead of doing a longer run on the bike path. HOLY CRAP WAS THIS CHALLENGING. Previously, I had run up the road, which was pretty steep. The trails were NUTS. I thought I was going to die at some points. One mile claimed to be about 900' of climbing! Anyway, I ran all the way to the top of Red Mountain, past the cross, where I saw a wild turkey. No pics, because it startled me and ran into the bushes before I had a chance to take one. The way down was "easier," but not much faster because it was so steep. I had hoped to do closer to 8 miles, but needing to be back to shower and eat before A's event meant I only had time to the 6ish miles.

After breakfast we drove to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. We met up with everyone from A's troop (except Rose, who had overslept) and took the tram to the top of the park. I had never been here, so it was fun to go on some rides - the alpine coaster was super fun, and A was tall enough to ride alone. Some of us went on a cave tour, then it was time for lunch (nachos/tacos) and then the awards ceremony. They announced the name and number of boxes of each and every girl that sold 750 or more boxes of cookies. The top seller in the state sold over 7,000 boxes. That's just crazy.

cave bacon!

 

Apparently, an upside down/sideways cave selfie!

1,039 boxes sold!! Woo hoo!

A's whole troop - all girls sold over 750 boxes to attend the event

We went on a rides until about 5. The tram line was FOREVER LONG, so it was about 6 before we got done. We went to Vicco's Charcoal burger drive in for dinner. Wait was long, food was delicious.

I had been texting with A's dad about pick up for her going to Texas. He decided to drive out this year, which worked out nicely because I had some work around the house (plumbing) that needed to be done. However, he showed up early, and told me over the phone that he only had Sunday to work on the house because he had told his job he would be at work Tuesday, so he and A would need to leave early Monday. URG!!!!!!

A and I headed to Glenwood Brewpub for me to check out the local beer, then in bed fairly early.

Sunday (32,238 steps) - Up before 6 for a quick breakfast at the hotel, load up the car and go to Hanging Lake. We had hiked it recently, in April, but were hoping to hike without all the ice. At 6:45 the parking lot was already pretty full, so I was glad to have the early start. Everything was really green, but I have to say that I think the lake itself looked "cooler" in the winter.

We were done in just under two hours, and on the road to get to the metro area as soon as possible. Stopped at the Yeti's Grind for coffee and breakfast. Traffic on the highway was a headache around Idaho Springs, but we got home just after noon. A's dad looked at my plumbing issues and wrote out a list of items I would need, we went to lunch and bought all the things. I tell you, if you know someone who is a licensed plumber and is willing to do work for you, you're lucky. He fixed my three major issues in just a few hours, and all it cost me was about $60 in parts. I would have probably paid a random person over $1,000. In the mean time, I was doing laundry and A was packing.

At 4, we headed out to the latest installment of Trails & Ales. Good thing we left early, since we went to the wrong lot/trail head. I had never run at Mt. Falcon, and was anxious to get a good run in. Newton was there to demo shoes (I didn't especially love the ones I tried), and Smartwool was there giving us free socks! Yahoo! A decided she would rather hike with Maureen and Colfax, so I headed out alone. HOLY MOLY. Yet another super challenging trail! This was just climb after climb... Was supposed to be a 3 mile loop, and I grew concerned when it was about 1.8 before the descent finally started. With my hip still being a bit wonky I wasn't able to bomb the downhill as much as I would like, but it wasn't too bad. I got to the bottom and didn't see Maureen and A, so I filled up my bottle and headed up the reverse way, thinking I would run into them. I got a text when I was almost another mile up that they had just done an out and back and they were almost back to the trail head. Ah well, I got in 5 miles instead of 3ish.

Love this picture! That windy road down there? That's pretty much where the trail head is - and Red Rocks (a concert venue) is also in the distance. Apparently "Widespread Panic" was playing!

We all went to the Morrison Inn afterward for Mexican food and a beer. We didn't get home until after 9, and then it was more packing and laundry. EXHAUSTED.
Monday (27,010 steps) - I had told A's dad I would be up by 7. For some reason he heard 6, so I was awakened earlier than I planned. They headed out around 8. Sad face. After work I figured it would be a good idea to get a trail run in. I didn't want to run too far, so I went to Apex. I got out of the office a bit late and it was 6:15 before I got there. I hadn't been there in a few years, and the lower lot was now open, but the trail was of course the same. I had forgotten all the climbing on THIS one, as well. There weren't too many mountain bikers out and I got 5.5 miles in.

By the time I stopped at the grocery store, it was after 8 before I got home. Shower, dinner, an episode of "The Vanishing Women," and 20 minutes of reading.

Stats:

• 170,226 steps
• 30.5 miles run
• 173 minutes of cross training (HIIT, cardio and hiking!)
• 31 minutes of strength/stretching
• Weekly loss 0.8 (126.8)

Everything Else:

• Blah. So A left this week. Now, it's nice that I can finally hit the trails, but I'm just so used to her being around, really going to miss her!
• The hip is still not GREAT, but it is way better than last week. Taking it very easy right now and trying to ensure my gait doesn't get all screwed up.