Rocky Mountain Double Marathon - What a race!

This last weekend I headed up north towards Laramie Wyoming to race the Rocky Mountain Double Marathon, which starts 10 miles east of Laramie.  I picked this race because I thought it would be a good trainer for the Laramie 100 in end of June and it is very close together.  My original plan was to head out before 3am for the race and arrive 30-45 minutes before the race, but Kate thought it would make sense to drive there the night before and stay at a hotel.  Well I'm too cheap to do that, so I thought I would just camp out in the car at the rest stop and head out from there.  So I headed up Saturday night around 8pm after putting the kids to sleep and got there just after 10pm.  I probably would of got there sooner, but it rained the whole way there and the fog got really bad just about 15 miles before arriving.  I couldn't believe the weather it was raining, windy and probably could not see beyond 50 feet in front of you.  Being worried about the weather I thought it would be a good idea to take some PM pills to help me fall asleep and get a good nights rest before the race.  Well apparently I thought I packed them and could not find the pills in my bag (still cannot find them).  So I spent most of the night in the back of the car humming Scooby-Doo theme (my daughter's new favorite cartoon) and wondering if I will ever fall asleep.  After 3am my back and side were sore from laying on the hard surface in back I decided to try out the passenger seat with the back down and sure enough that helped!  My alarm went off at 4:30 and I felt surprisingly refreshed after less than two hours of sleep, but I thought it might be best to roll into town and get some coffee before the race starts.  When I got back to the rest area the parking lots were filling up fast!  I thought it would be best to park as close as possible to the race line, so I could head back to the car before the second half of the race to replenish and didn't realize I could of just parked on the side of the road right by the start line.  Instead I was probably a couple hundred yards from the start and as you can see with my total miles it's extra .2 miles (might of saved me a couple of minutes in my time no big deal). 

Start of the race it must of been between 35 and 40 degrees out, still foggy and light drizzle of rain.  We had a quick moment of silence in honor of Memorial Day and then we were off to the start of the race.  Looking at my splits I probably started off a bit faster than I should of, but not a big deal I figured I would be walking and running slower the second half.  After a few miles I met up with Hawaiian Shirt Ray and we had a pretty good conversation about past events for a good 6 to 8 miles before he had to stop for a break and I continued on.  Getting close to the 13.1 turn around I was getting a pretty good sense of how many double marathon runners were ahead of me and gathered I was in 6th place at the time.  By mile 19 I passed the three runners that were ahead of me and that put me into 3rd place for rest of the 30+ miles to go.  When I arrived at the finish for the first half of the double the first question to me was I finished or going to continue and I quickly shouted back I was going to continue!  First I had to run back to my car to replenish.  This is where I wished I had parked closer to the finish.  I quickly grabbed my PBJ sandwich some more GU's and dumped Smart water into my hydration pack.  I decided to go all water this time just because I lose interest in the taste of sports drinks after 20+ miles and I figured I would get the electrolytes from the GU's, Smart water and the e-caps.  I think I only took two e-caps the entire race, the second one was nasty because it broke open in my mouth and the thought of taking another one wasn't appetizing at all.  One thing I did forget to do was to reapply the body glide and luckily I didn't need it for the second half.  Whew!  So off I go with sandwich in hand another 70oz of water on my back and also shed off a layer of clothes now that it stopped raining and the pullover I was wearing was pretty soaked from the rain.  I passed the start line again to see all the marathoner's coming in and cheering me on out as I'm doing the same to them as they come in.  A few runners were even asking how much farther to the finish and I was trying to give my best estimates based on how many miles I've done after leaving.  It felt pretty good to hear some of the runners praise me for going back out again and to see Ray not too far behind me along with a few other double marathoners.  By the time I got close to the I80 interstate the wind was picking up and patches of fog was coming and going.  For about 5 miles was a constant 40 mph head wind until reaching the Vedauwoo camping area where there were more tree's and rock formations to help protect from the wind.  Also around this time there was obviously less runners out and in most cases you could not see any in front of you or in back of you.  One of the volunteers asked if I wanted to take a break in the back of his car and I told him if I did I probably wouldn't want to come back out and finish the race!  Finally the last turnaround and only 13.1 miles left to go.  Again I get to see who's behind me and how much gap I have.  I thought I would see Ray again, but it was the couples probably ten minutes behind me and keeping the same pace as I was.  Then I finally saw Ray and he mention he was having some stomach issues and had to stop at all of the rest stops available on the route.  I was having some minor stomach issues, but probably not as bad as his.  After getting out of the Vedauwoo camp area I was back on the frontage road and had some nice tail wind to get me back to the other side of I80 and then downhill to the last volunteer aid station where it was all up hill to the finish line.  By the time I got to the last aid station the sun was finally coming out and did it slow me down!  I could feel my head roasting and every time I saw the creek on the side of the trail I just REALLY wanted to soak my feet in there for a few minutes.  The last four miles was around 700 feet elevation gain and I had no juice left in me to run the rest of the way specially with the sun out.  I pretty much walked 90% of the four miles and waved numerous times at the same ATVer's as they kept on going up and down the trails.  Finally the finish line was in sight and I actually ran it in thinking there would be people there watching me come in.  That wasn't the case, nobody was around except the Race Director's wife coming out of the trailer a few seconds after I arrived to congratulate me and to figure out where she put the finisher's belt buckles.  Runner's high was kicking in to see that belt buckle!  Finally a belt buckle I can show off!  I know it's not 100 miler, but hey 52.4 is pretty damn good too.  So off to the car to change and head to Ft Collins to hang out with friends for a BBQ.  I ended up coming in 3rd place overall finishing 9:51:02.  Not bad for a couple hours sleep the night before.

Just before start of the race.  Wet and cold!

My first buckle!

The first 13.1 mile elevation.  Did this four times.

3rd place finishing 9:51:02

Nutrition:
I think I used around 12 GU's total for the race about every hour or less.  I also had a PBJ midway through and ate potato chips at the aid stations for salt.

Gear:
I wore my New Balance MT101's, Zenzah Leg Compression Sleeves, Dirty Girl Gaiters, and Nathan Hydration Pack.

This was my first time wearing the gaiters and they did pretty well I had to stop a couple of times to get out a couple small pebbles.  My wife got them for me since she noticed a lot of other runners from the Moab race were wearing them too.  Of course she got me the DNF gaiters how appropriate for me considering I DNF'd the moab race :)

Overall I'm very pleased with the race.  The race director held up to his promising nothing and delivering motto.  I also got to meet other runners and shared our experiences with past races.  Looking forward to the next race Laramie 100 in end of June.

Personal Record for Colfax Marathon!

Despite the cold wet weather on Sunday it was a perfect day to run a marathon.  I got to the race an hour before start time to make sure I had enough time to eat and survey the weather to decide what to wear before heading to the start.  Pretty much rain drizzle and under 40 degrees till start time at 6am, so I decided to go with my original plan and wear short sleeve shirt and shorts.  But I also included my compression arm sleeves for warmth and my beanie to keep my head warm.  Pretty much froze up until we started the race and quickly warmed up the first mile in.  My plan was to shed the sleeves and beanie as the weather warmed up, but that never happened.

Start of the Marathon had corrals set for expected finish time it was tricky to get to the pace I wanted on the first two miles.  Finally when the full marathon split from the half marathon around mile 2 I was able to get to a comfortable pace.  At this time I met a runner (Jim) that I ended up running with up to mile 16 and later catching up with him around mile 22.  We talked about the lack of mile markers and I was talking up how great my Garmin Forerunner 305 was giving me miles and pace.  He was using his watch to try to track his pace by lapping his miles, but the markings were not very consistent.  Just after mile 6 heading on to the pathway by the Platte river I looked at my GPS to see what my pace was and it was not on, I hit the power button thinking maybe I managed to turn it off and it was not coming back on.  It was still drizzling rain and thought for sure the water got inside where I have missing buttons.  DAMN!  So much for relying on my GPS for pace and mileage.  So I told Jim if he didn't mind me tagging along and trying to rely on his method of finding the markers and lapping to get the pace.  We both had the same plan of finishing under 3:30 and we were well ahead of that.  For the most part we were maintaining a 7:30 to 7:40 pace up to mile 16 where he decided to move ahead or maybe I was slowing down a bit who knows.  From here it was all down hill back to the finish line at City Park.  Around mile 23 or 24 there was a nice short hill climb on 17th and Broadway.  I felt like I powered up the hill with no problems specially after running 23 miles and I think this is where I caught up with Jim and we asked each other what mile we were at and the last mile marker I saw was 18.  At this time I was wondering how many miles left and what my time was.  I passed a bank with the time on it and it said 9:12 and figured I had less than 2 miles to go.  As always the last two miles seem to take forever and not knowing what my pace was I'm pretty sure I wasn't keeping below a 8 min pace.  Finally entered City Park and had to go through an out and back section, which really sucks because you just want to get to the finish line.  After that it was probably another half mile away to the finish!  I came in to the finish line around 3:23 and was excited to finish under 3:30 and the runners high was kicking in.  What was even better was my family was there to greet me!  Yeah!  Kate and the kids got there just a few minutes before I finished, talk about perfect timing.  Since the weather was still crappy we decided we should get out of here and not hang out to check out the tents or even get my free watered down beer.  We ended up heading over to the Museum to check out the new Pirate exhibit and figured it would be good to keep on walking around instead of sitting and end up my legs cramping up.  All in all it was a good day!

So when it came to nutrition for the race I had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter about an hour before the race along with coffee.  Then 15 minutes before the race I ate a Lara bar.  As for the race I used my Amphipod and stuffed 6 GU's in it along with my truck key.  My plan was to eat one GU every 4 miles or around every 30 minutes.  Of course it was hard to track once I my GPS died, so I tried to rely on the mile markers.  I was pretty good about taking them every 4 miles and I think I may have taken one around mile 20 just to make sure I have enough juice to make it to the finish.  This was good practice for my longer runs coming up to get my body use to ingesting food while running.

Reese and I at the finish.  Reese was a little grumpy, but I don't blame her it was pretty cold out!

Race Results:
bib number: 988 age: 39 gender: M location: Westminster, CO overall place: 55 out of 758 division place: 21 out of 154 gender place: 47 out of 476 time: 3:22:26 pace: 7:44
Next race is the Rocky Mountain Double Marathon in Wyoming May 29th!

12 Days Straight of Running

Don't ask me why I didn't take a day off somewhere within the 12 days, but for the most part my legs felt pretty good up until today before my run.  The first quarter mile of my run my legs were hurtin!  I was almost considering on stopping and turning around back to the car, but I figured worst case I will do a lap on the route I was running in San Antonio and call it a day.  Well after the first mile my legs were starting to feel good and before I knew it I was running at a good pace and it just kept on getting better throughout my run.  I actually ended up running a faster pace today then I did yesterday by 10 seconds!  Sometimes I amazed how the body can react.  Even though my body was telling me to take the day off it still bounces back and gives me a 110% to put in a good day running 9.5 miles.


Well being this is the twelfth day running it is definitely time to take a day off and will be doing that tomorrow during my travel day back home.  Here's my stats for running twelve days straight.

This Sunday will be two weeks until the Colfax Marathon, so this will be my last weekend to get in a long run before I can taper.  I will most likely still put in some high miles, but will tone it down a bit to make sure my legs are fresh for the marathon.  Then it's time for the double marathon in Wyoming two weeks after that!

Colfax Marathon - To PR or not to PR

This will be my first full marathon in almost two years and have been tossing the thought of beating my previous PR of 3:47 at the Rock N Roll San Diego marathon in 2009.  This was my first marathon and my goal for that race was to finish under 4 hours and was able to accomplish that with no problems.  Besides being at sea level my strength level was pretty consistent throughout the race maintaining an 8:40 pace all the way through.  The following week I headed to Steamboat Springs for another Marathon with Team In Training and basically spent that whole week recovering from the first marathon.  Amazing to look back to see it took me 6 days to recover from my first marathon as to now I can knock out 26.2 miles no problem and still feel I can run another 26.2 miles the next day.  Well sadly to say I finished 4:23 bonking the last mile into town, so I ended up walking most of the last mile and mustered up enough getup to run the last .2 miles into the finish line.  Luckily as I finish it started hailing, so no time to celebrate with everyone we just headed straight to the car and back to the hotel.  I was hurting physically big time, pretty much walking around like an old man for the next few days.  The last marathon I ran was the Boulder Marathon end of 2009 and DNF'd that one due to illness.  I was just getting over the flu and thought I was healthy enough for the race, well after mile 18 I felt like crap!  I felt light headed and could tell I probably was a few shades whiter than normal.  I sat at an aid station for probably 30 minutes before deciding I wasn't feeling much better and caught a ride back to the finish line.  I was off to a good start with this race and was hoping to PR up until mile 16 and went down hill from there.  2010 I shied away from doing any marathons and stuck with a couple ultras and half marathons.  I PR'd my second half marathon at Heart and Sole with a 1:40 finish time.  Knowing that I'm definitely on track to PR this next marathon if I choose to.

So why not go for gold and PR Colfax?  Probably because I have bigger plans for this year with completing my first 100 miler.  Also signed up for a double marathon two weeks after and would be nice to be fresh for this race.  Granted two weeks of recovery is more than enough to go from a marathon to a double marathon.  The last 100 mile attempt I ran 60 miles and I was back at running within 3 days and at my normal pace in 5 days.  Like any race I'll probably make my decision that morning and go from there.  Ultimately I would like to finish strong and not have to worry about struggling the last few miles to the finish line.  So far my training runs have been all strong and hoping that will carry through to race day.

If I do decide to PR this marathon it will be between 3:25 and 3:30, which will be a pace between 7:50 and 8:00 minutes.  Guess we will find out May 15th!

Belt Buckle Obsession

2010 has been the beginning of my interest in running ultra's particularly 100 milers.  Besides doing 50 miles with a friend on our own I only completed two ultras - The Greenland 50k and the 12 Hours of Boulder (57 miles total).  After doing the 12 hour race, my thoughts on completing a 100 mile race grew even bigger.  Looking to see what 100 mile races were around I noticed most of the events give out belt buckles instead of medals.  Wow a belt buckle instead of a medal?  I could actually wear it and show it off around town instead of wearing something silly around my neck (not that I would actually do that).  And some of these buckles are actually pretty cool looking.  One that comes to mind is the Leadville 100, but no way in hell I'm ready to finish that race I need to find something a bit more at my level before I can commit to training for 100 miles in the Rocky's.  Since this is the year I'm going to finish a 100 I thought I would stick with Gemini Adventure's running events.  They put on great races and they keep the routes close looped, so you're always close to your gear.  I attempted my first 100 just a month ago and was only able to complete 60 of the 100 mostly due to the elevation gains and lack of training for that type of terrain.

Well my next attempt will be with Gemini again this June with the Laramie 100 and unfortunately they do not do belt buckles.  Of course my priority is to complete my first 100, but man do I want a belt buckle!  I was looking at other ultra-runner websites to see what races they are running this year and I stumbled upon the Rocky Mountain Double Marathon which hands out buckles to the double marathon finishers (52.4 miles).  Well I know I can do that with the past ultra's and this would be a good training run for the 100 in Laramie, which is also in the same area.

If all goes as planned and I can finish my first 100 in June I'm hoping to pack up the family and head to Phoenix for another 100 mile race called Javelina Jundred.  This is another race that I stumbled upon that have cool looking buckles for the 100k and 100m finishers.  Kate's mom recently moved to Phoenix, so this looks like a good opportunity to visit with the kids and I can go run 100 miles in the desert.

I'm bound to finish a 100 and get a buckle this year!

New Balance Tester - MR1080v2

About six months ago I thought it would be awesome to be able to be a tester for New Balance, since I figured my chances of being sponsored are slim to none.  Well finally I received the email last week that they are shipping me my first test shoe!  Once I found out what shoe I was going to be testing I was thrilled and a bit nervous at the same time.  I've been running in the NB minimalist shoes for over six months now and have really got use to the feel of the lightness and style of my shoes.  Whatever I'll suck it up and give them a try and give my feedback as required.  Of course I do not want to be bias about these well cushioned high heeled shoes!  I use to run in these types of shoes and never had any issues with my running style at all.

Well I finally received them in the mail yesterday and when I opened them I could tell they must of been fresh off of the assembly line.  The fresh smell of toxic glue and rubber quickly filled the house, so I decided to leave them outside and in the garage over night before giving them a test run.  I was planning going for a trail run by Boulder today, but I've already put in close to 50 miles this week and thought it might be best to take the day off and get a good long run in tomorrow (Saturday).  Then I thought well maybe going for a quick 4 mile run with the new shoes wouldn't be a bad idea.  As soon as I put them on the first thing that came to mind was they felt like I was wearing high heels, but the cushion was very nice kind of like riding a Cadillac.  So I went out for my quick Westcliff loop, which is 4 to 5 miles depending the route I take back to the house.  The wind was starting to pick up, so I figured I would stick with the 4 mile route instead. First part of the route was going down hill and could tell the sole was very responsive to the sidewalk and seemed to be adjusting fine to the higher heel.  Once I got on to the crushed fines they seemed to respond just fine too.  I did have to stop once to adjust the shoe laces, which is typical for wearing new shoes.  After that I picked up the pace and despite the weight of the shoe I had no problem keeping a 7:30m pace up until the head wind kicked in.  I ended up walking for probably a minute due to the high winds, but after that I sailed right home in time to take Reese to pre-school.

First thought would be the toes feel a bit tight, but that might be the type of thick socks I'm wearing.  I wore the comfy Balega socks, but maybe the next test run I will wear my thinner socks instead.

Here's my garmin run with the test shoes:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80775536

Wearing the new test shoe

NB MR1080v2 Shoe

Moab 100 Mile Endurance Running Race Report

Took me a while to spit this one out.  Between Kate giving me shit about "blogging" a race (apparently I'm not the blogging type) and the emotions of not completing the 100 miles have delayed this, but here it is!

My first challenge of 2011 was to complete the Moab 100 and unfortunately I was not able to.  Since the beginning of the year I've been wanting to run a 100 mile race and also attempt to run 3 100 mile races for this year.  Gemini Adventures hosts three 24 hour events, which include 100 mile races.  They are hosted in Moab, Laramie and Boulder.  I ran the 12 hour event last year and thought they put on a very well organized event, so I thought it would make sense for my first 100 to sign up for their events.  All races are done with reasonable sized 5 to 8 miles laps, so you're always close to your gear and they provide plenty of drinks and snacks throughout the race.   Another attraction is they have the triple crown event by completing all 3 100 mile events, which nobody has done so far.  Well I failed the first one, so now I have a mind set of just being able to complete 100 mile race.

After explaining to Kate (my wife) about my crazy idea for 2011 she was on board and wanted to support me at the race.  She also thought we could rent an RV and she could support me at base camp at the same time hang out with our two daughters.  Well after calling a few RV places we decided we didn't want to spend a minimum of $600 to rent and who knows how much in gas to get us to and from Moab.  We went with plan B and decided to rent a hotel and she could support me the best she could during the day and hope for the best for the evening.  I mentioned our trip to our friends Ryan and Vivien and they wanted to tag a long to go 4x4, hike in the area and of course help out if needed.  So I signed up for the race early February and the training was on!  I decided to not go overboard and I had a lot of travel days coming with work, so I didn't want to spend most of my weekends running and rather spend it with the family.  I probably averaged 50-60 miles a week and tried to do some longer runs in the evening time while I was on the road.  Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to hit some more technical trails which would of been nice for this race course.  Instead I just hit the pavement and in most cases get around 8-10 miles a day.  Three weeks before the race the traveling finally caught up with me and was on the verge of getting the flu.  Luckily no temperature, just a bad cough and runny nose and that didn't stop me from running.  After that I was able to get in a good 20 mile run to Boulder with some trails along the way and felt pretty good to squeeze in one more long run before the race.  Well one week before the race I came down with the worst stomach flu ever!  This one put me out for four days and it managed to spread to the kids and Kate.  I was getting worried this would carry into the weekend of the race and none of us would want to go to Moab.  Thankfully it was in and out of the kids system fast and as bad as Kate felt her's was pretty fast too.  I was the only one to suffer for four days and ended up taking an extended tapering off of my running schedule.

Race Weekend

We all headed out of Denver Friday morning and ate lunch in Vail.  Another pit stop in Grand Junction and last stop Moab!  Between Grand Junction and Moab the weather was pretty bad with the wind and rain.  I was happy this was not race day!  I can't imagine being pelted by rain and trying to run on wet slick rock.  We made it to our hotel around 5pm, quickly unpacked and headed out for dinner. 

Race Day
Race started at 7am and it was a chilly 35 degrees out.  Just after the race started Kate set up my table across the check-in tent with supplies needed for the 100 miles.  The first lap would start going clockwise then counter clockwise and so on.  The first 4 laps I was able to keep a descent running pace and after that I figured it would be best to start walking the hills if I wanted to have the energy to go 100 miles.  For each lap the first two miles were roughly a 600 foot elevation gain then the same after the turn around back to base camp.  Running clockwise the first mile was a lot of sand and rocks and start of the climb it was all slick rock.

Throughout the day Kate and the girls were there to greet me and help me replenish.  Even Reese would run out to me and run back with me.  That was definitely a big motivation for me to keep on going.  I was doing pretty well with making sure to drink plenty of fluids and take e-caps when needed.  For the most part I was eating gels every lap and whatever looked appetizing at the check-in table.  Later in the afternoon Kate brought a subway sandwich surprisingly back from town and that was good booster to keep me going.  It was time for Kate to take the girls back to the hotel and get them ready for bed, so I was on my own again.  Starting lap 11 was very difficult.  My knee's and ankles were taking a beating with the slick rock, also the rain clouds were coming in.  I decided to put on my rain jacket and carry my phone in case anything happens I can get a hold of Kate.  One mile into lap 11 it started to rain and the thought of running/walking on the wet slick rock wasn't sounding too appealing.  I started to text Kate about it and she assured me that throwing in the towel at 60 miles isn't a bad thing and it's still a huge accomplishment.  So I decided to finish the last lap and Ryan volunteered to come help pack up and bring my battered body back to the hotel.

Later in the week I looked up the Mike Le Roux's (placed 2nd 19hrs 36min) live updates and he was quoted saying:

"100 miler is the hardest thing he's ever done, track had fine sand that was impossible to run thru, + uneven terrain!"

 

Lap	Miles	Time	Split
1	5.37	7:55	0:55
2	10.74	8:49	0:54
3	16.11	9:44	0:55
4	21.48	10:51	1:07
5	26.85	12:00	1:09
6	32.22	13:13	1:13
7	37.59	14:27	1:14
8	42.96	15:42	1:15
9	48.33	17:03	1:21
10	53.7	18:29	1:26
11	59.07	20:00	1:31

Gear
I kept it simple this time around.  Since the laps were fairly short I did the hand held Nathan water bottle with a two to three gels in the pockets.  The first 27 miles I was able to wear my New Balance MT101's, which already had close to 700 miles on them.  Not sure what I was thinking I should of went with a newer pair.  Towards the end of the 27 miles the holes were getting bigger and lots of sand was coming in, plus the support was just not there anymore.  I ended up finishing the remainder of the miles in my old Nike Air Pegasus shoes, which held up pretty well.  Last item were the Zensah compression leg sleeves which I thought came in handy during the race and for my recovery process.  I feel this time around my recovery was much faster than my last ultra.  Within taking three days off I was back on the trail starting off with 3 miles and working my way back up.

Pictures

The vert on slick rock running clockwise on the trail.

Checking in and refueling!

Pictures from my iPhone

At the end of the uphill battle

My stats from garmin 305.

The large spikes in time were when I was taking an extended brake at base camp

Easy part of the trail!