Short of it: 3rd in the half marathon (actually it was 14 miles something with 3000 feet of climbing heading up to 12K +), 2:04:16.
Long of it: a good long effort, but not a great day of racing. In many regards, I am very happy to have had a good long altitude run under the circumstances. It was beautiful weather. I did not have high expectations and ran based on the training I have had, and the fitness I am in.
Waking up I knew I was feeling off a bit and elected to do the half marathon, deciding that two hours of running would be rather rich for me (instead of the four I could expect with the marathon). I hid this
That said, that excuse approach was a theme that bugged me about this race today ... In fact, I was running on excuses a good part of the day. After starting the road section well, I began to weaken as soon as we hit the hills. I ended up in a pack of runners and started playing "taffy" with them. "Taffy" is where the pack stretches out and then groups up. On the steeper portions we'd stretch out. On the flatter sections we'd begin to group up. I was on the back end of this taffy, and mentally played with thoughts of how'd I get after these folks on the downhill, cursing myself for being weaker than normal this week with the higher mileage, giving blood, and being two weeks out of a big weekend. And then I'd be pissed at myself for couching this run in a bed of excuses. But there was some truth - I was running weak and I knew it.
As we hit treeline, the trail went from road to single track and went really steep. I struggled but I could see we were all struggling. Everyone was in a power hike or short granny gear shuffle mode. I could see I was beginning to shorten the taffy and was encouraged by that. We hit the top aide station where marathoners peeled off (continuing on the crest / ridge) while the half marathoners started the trek down (this was about 7 miles into the race). I had got there in about 80 minutes.
The upper stretches of the down road were pretty challenging - a washed out, rocky 4 x 4 road where there was little smooth footing. I kept this easy - but I was somewhat forced to do so given the footing. I caught a guy, but I had no idea what place I was in. I put some ground on him but with not a ton of effort. A few minutes later, I heard a rock click above, looked up and sure enough I could see a guy coming. This upped the ante a bit for me and so I picked up the pace as the road began to smooth out. Given we were running down a switch back road, I could see that I was putting some ground between him and me. I went through an aide station and saw a cup on the outskirts. This clued me in that there was at least a guy ahead of me and I began to press a bit more with the thought of being the chaser rather than the chased.
The trail began to climb. Climb? I had expected a bit of a climb up towards the finish as I had seen it on the race profile but this seemed to be working back up the mountain. I realized I had not seen a trail marker in about 2 minutes but that had not been totally unusual in some sections. But my head told me what I already knew: I had missed a turn (apparently this is where the Prospector trail connects with the Peak 8 trail).
Okay ... this happens right? Ah well, right? Lesson learned, right?
Right. Right. Right. Well, mostly right. But I'd be a liar if I did not say there was a part of me a bit pissed about this. I knew I had lost a place to the guy I had put to bed. I got back to the trail and saw I had missed a poorly marked turn. Yet, an other excuse to lean on and it bothered me. I alternated between pushing hard here and trying to fight out for the place I had lost (I am guessing I had lost 3 or 4 minutes) and a lose of motivation and just cruising it in. There was about a mile or two left in the race.
I finished in 3rd, losing the place to the guy who woke me up on the upper stretches.
Again, not bad on whole. A good day. 16 miles of running total. But there is definitely some "hmmm ... I don't like that" in there. I mean, I got out what I came for ... a good long run, when I was already in the hole. I knew I was operating from a point of weakness. So, why is there a little box of "grr" in there that is expecting something else?
I decided not to hang around for the awards assembly (it would be 2.5 more hours sitting in Breck). Instead I came back to the high altitude camp, and made a tree house for my kids.
By the way, even though I botched this turn, the course other than that one spot seemed very well marked, was beautiful and was a well run race. I'd recommend it as a smaller scale race and I might even do it again. I think though I'd be sure to eliminate the going in excuses though.
The past week ... every day was 2 a day except Sat, Sun and Tue
M - 14, 105
T - Green via Bear Canyon, 9.5 , 92
W - 12, 101
Th - 14, 106 (a bit more than easy for the 8 in the PM)
F - 15 - 112
Sa - 5 - 41
Su - 16, 150 (altitude, race)
85.5 miles on the week. 616 minutes. Obviously a slight drop due to the Saturday recovery / prep day. I will continue to look to do keep the mileage up this next week with the two runs, and when I feel up for it - go into the easy plus running that I did on Thursday. My heart is thinking about chasing a 10k right now but I think I will benefit from a fall of good mileage right now. I will also look to incorporate strides periodically to just mix up the pace a bit, along with some weight work. I will still hit the hills periodically as part of my training but I think I need to make my training a bit more geared towards the 10k, half marathon versus strict hill climbing to move forward.
Various ...
- Friday as we wrapping up the night I could hear the local football game from the HS. We just moved here at the beginning of the summer and so this is a bit of a new phenomena for me. I hopped my bike and rolled the mile or so over to the school. There were, I dunno, several hundred, maybe a thousand people down there. Wow. It brought back some nostalgia of running track meets under the lights ... those are some of the best.
- Regarding the hernia ... yes, it is definitely healing. I am painfully reminded of it whenever a.) sneeze, b.) cough c.) do a variety of motions that I cannot easily describe in writing. But I think I can say that it has healed to a point where I can fairly say it does not impact my running training significantly.
the last book on running I will ever buy: "
blood!"). An hour later they had "try outs" for Basic Training field day. The longest event they had was an 800. They told me if I could beat their best guy I could be on the team. I asked who the best guy was. They pointed him out and I asked him what he ran. Very proudly he said he ran 2:10. Now, this is when I was 18, still had some wheels and just had come out of high school where I was running 2 miles under 10 minutes. In any case I ran, in combat boots, and in uniform pants a sub 2:10 on a dirt track. After giving blood. That is not fast, but it was enough to get on the team (which got me some real small level of desired privileges that were highly coveted in basic training). And then I nearly passed out. An 800 never feels good but that one absolutely was torture. 
PM - ran with Ken Pliska for just under 45 minutes then added on some for 73 minutes. Ken kept me honest in the middle (we were sub seven but talking fine). Of course, Ken also was an Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier when he was 37. He will run his 20th consecutive Boston Marathon this coming spring, and promises me that it is his last. "Need to break that streak so I am not running when I am 90!" Running with Ken reminded me of something else that has been missing from my program for too long. Running with other runners who will push the pace just enough to keep you honest.
His answer was that he got in a lot more hundred mile weeks. The answer is obvious. Train more, train more smart. I am journeying there but I have not crossed that threshold to the next level in my training ... and hence have not in my results. Why should be surprised with what I get? So I train 85 minutes a day or 120? Are the 35 minutes more a day the difference?
Tracy and my two awesome kids, KZ and JZ ... without you guys I'd be nothing ... I'm sure I'd be a lost soul without your love.
