Cherry Creek Sneak 5-mile 2012

Last year, I challenged my younger sister to run the 5k race at the Sneak, while I ran the 5-mile.  Whoever had a faster time would win, and the winner would buy the loser a massage.  Then I found out I had a 20-mile run scheduled the day before (training for the Steamboat Marathon), so I asked her for a 2-minute handicap.  Even with that, she beat me by 25 seconds.  This year, we had the same setup, but with no bet.  Just as well:  I had a 20-mile run yesterday (training for the Casper Marathon)!

But I always seem to surprise myself.  I certainly did last year, with a huge 5-mile PR.  I thought this year, even if I didn't PR, I'd still probably come pretty close.  Once again, the music on my iPod provided some fantastic running inspiration, as did the energy of the crowd.  Not to mention the huge turnout of my fellow Runner's Roost Race Team athletes.  I still have to pinch myself to be sure I'm not dreaming when I see that I'm lined up with such an impressive array of running talent.

My race started off well.  I had seeded myself further back in the crowd, which I hoped would force me to keep myself from starting out too quickly and flaming out in the first mile.  Anyway, that was the theory.  But with shorter races, what actually tends to happen is, I expend a lot of energy weaving through the crowd, looking for openings and surging forward.  Which is more or less what happened today.  Still, I kept a pretty solid pace, finishing the first mile in 8:41.

I've gotten out of the habit of looking at my Garmin all the time during shorter races.  However, I noticed that as I reached the first mile marker, my iPod was about halfway through song #3.  So I set myself a goal of three songs per mile.  Of course this is very unscientific since the length of songs varies and I have no way of controlling which songs play.  For example, longtime readers will know that one of my secret weapons is Metallica's Master of Puppets, which is an 8-minute song!  On the other hand, I have a few songs in my mix that are around 3 minutes long.  Well, I told myself 3 songs per mile or less; if an 8-minute track came on, for example, I'd run a full mile before it ended.

This arbitrary measure seemed to work pretty well for me, and each of the next 3 miles were in fact faster than the ones before (8:37, 7:49, and 7:45 in fact).  However--and this was somewhat annoying--although I saw the sign for mile 2, I did not see signs for miles 3 or 4.  I also registered with some annoyance that the course ran further west along Speer Blvd, all the way to Downing, and even turned north on Downing for a good tenth of a mile before doubling back and heading towards the finish.  Was the course measured too long?  Of course, I hadn't realized they'd tweaked the course from last year.  When I saw the finish line, I remembered that last year we'd turned north and wound our way through Cherry Creek for a few blocks before coming back out to Speer.  But when I didn't see runners turning ahead of me, I realized how the course had changed.  Still, even that relief wasn't enough to push my last mile any faster, and I finished in 41:54.

I'm not complaining by any means.  I still had a solid race, and kept myself under 45 minutes, which was what I'd told folks was probably the best I could hope for given that I'd had such a long and busy week (and, again, 20 miles the day before!).  Of course, I had great fun cheering for my fellow Roosters as they came streaking past me.  My teammate Keith took second place in the 5-mile, and the top 3 female finishers were all teammates as well!

Official Time:  41:54
YTD Race Miles: 23.4
YTD Total Miles: 475.9
No Wonder I Was Tired: After yesterday's 20-mile run, by the way, I had an 8-hour rehearsal for A View From The Bridge. Show opens May 4; use discount code DT15 for $15 tickets!

Mile High Mile 2012

I hadn't originally planned on running this race. I'd been asked by my good friend Keri, who was volunteering, to help her out with registration setup; and she told me she'd see if she could swing me an entry. I'm happy to say that she was successful, and grateful to her and the race director for the opportunity.

Last year was the first year that the Mile High Mile was run at Mile High Stadium (that's right, Mile High Stadium. Only the FIELD is named Invesc--er, Sports Authority). It's cute and all, the synchronicity; but I preferred running this race when it was at the state Capitol building, because the course was flat! Now there's a hill in the second quarter mile. Obviously, it's followed by a downhill in the third quarter, but still. I like flat.

But that makes no nevermind. I was still looking forward to busting out a fast race. How fast was still open to discussion. Last year I finished in 6 minutes, 16 seconds. I didn't think I'd beat that this year. I told myself at the start that I would keep it under 7 minutes. In fact, for most of the first quarter mile, I kept my pace between 5:30 and 6:30, so I had a good strong start going into that dang uphill. I even managed to keep myself under 7-minute pace for the first part of that uphill, but then I started to slip to between 8:30 and 9:00 pace. Of course, I made up some of the difference on the downhill, pushing to around 6-minute pace.

I was feeling pretty good at this point, and even thinking that I might come pretty close to my PR from last year. Just past the three-quarter mark I decided to make my move and take advantage of the steep drop as the course entered the stadium. I poured on the speed and passed a runner whom I had been dogging since the start of the uphill. I started my loop around the outer track on the field and started to sprint. As the finish line came within sight, I saw the clock creeping towards 6:30. I reached as deep as I could and threw myself across the line in 6:28!

Official Time: 6:28
YTD Race Miles: 18.4
YTD Total Miles: 431.5
Incognito: Kylee S

An Epic 20-miler

My friend Jim Lynch recently wrote a blog post entitled "Bad Training Runs are Good For You." I would never dispute his wisdom (he's run eight times as many marathons as I have, so I believe he knows his stuff). But speaking personally, I hate bad training runs. Today's 20-miler, however, was not one of them.

For the last several weeks, I've run my Saturday long runs with Runner's Edge of the Rockies' 4-hour (or 3:59:59) pace group. I dropped back from the 3:50 pace group after I just couldn't keep up with them for a goal-pace run. I told myself at the time that I just wasn't ready yet to stick with the faster group. But this morning, I decided it was time to try pushing myself again. I had 20 miles on my schedule, and I wanted to see if I could keep the faster pace for that distance.

I was successful.

I guess it helped that we were running the Highline Canal Trail today. Now normally, that's not my favorite trail for running very long distances. It's certainly easy--very flat, very soft, and with some decent shade in places. But I've gotten used to having a bit more variety in my weekly long runs, thanks to the wide variety of courses Coach David has mapped out. Uphills and downhills make for more interesting runs and, to my way of thinking, more effective training. But I think the ease of today's run was a big contributor to today's awesomeness.

Temperature was also a factor--it was nice and cool, even with a slight breeze for much of the run. Especially since we started nice and early. And, of course, the fact that I was running with my friends (at least for the first half) is always a big factor to the makings of a fantastic run.

It was also somewhat amusing to me that we started (and finished) the run in Cherry Hills Village. As I mentioned to the 3:50 pace group at our first aid station, we were running through "my Dad's neighborhood--and I mean that literally, as he was just elected Mayor of Cherry Hills Village!" It didn't occur to me until it was too late that I should have called him and told him to come down to that aid station, to greet the runners as they came by. Ah well, missed opportunities.

Anyway, back to my run. I think it was a combination of a good night's sleep, the challenge I'd set for myself of trying to keep up with the faster pace group, a solid breakfast, and the factors I mentioned above that led to me having such a fantastic run. I've reviewed my splits from today's run, and see that I stayed on pace pretty consistently throughout the whole time. I was even a good ten or 15 seconds faster on a few miles on the back half. I ran with folks from the group on the way out, but as people turned around the group got smaller and smaller until there were only 3 of us. Running with others makes it easier to stay on pace--indeed, sometimes we end up caught up in conversations and have to remind ourselves to slow down. But company definitely makes the miles go by quicker, and often feel easier.

At my turnaround point, however, I found myself alone. But I'd been feeling just fine for the first ten miles, and felt confident that I'd have no issues for the remaining ten. I still take walk breaks every mile, as I have done for my last seven marathons, although now I've shortened them to 0.05 miles (between 30 and 40 seconds). So I walked a bit, then ran at what felt like a comfortable pace for me. I didn't watchdog my Garmin, to make sure I was staying on pace; I just ran what felt right. When my watch would beep at me every mile, I was gratified to see that I was staying more or less on pace. In fact, my Garmin records that miles 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 were all faster than 9 minute pace. And I wasn't feeling tired, or sore, or hungry, or dehydrated, or dizzy (I'd been struck by a very odd dizzy spell at the very start of a 16-mile run a few weeks back, which I attributed to poor breakfasting that morning). In short, for 19 miles (and especially starting at mile 15), I felt like a rock star.

The last mile, however, was less than fantastic. My right hamstring, which up until that time, had been just fine thank you very much, started to cramp up on me. It forced me to slow down, and I even threw in short walk breaks every quarter mile. Actually that's the second long run where my hammy has acted up towards the end. I've made an appointment for a massage tomorrow that I hope will clear up whatever the heck is going on there.

As I said at the start, I don't like "bad" training runs. Nothing makes me happier than having a really solid workout. And a really great 20-miler is just one of the best things that can happen.