Snowman Stampede 10-mile 2009

It snowed last night. Not a lot where I live: there were a couple of inches on the ground and on my car, but none was sticking and it brushed right off. I guessed, though, that there would be snow and possibly ice on the course for the race (out at Chatfield this year instead of Cherry Creek. I still don't know why). This was reinforced by a text message I got from Runner's Edge of the Rockies' Coach David: "Run cancelled. Slick footing. Too much ice." Of course, the RER run starts at 7:30, where the race didn't start until 10; so I figured (hoped) most of the ice would be melted for me.

That sure didn't seem too likely at 8:30 in the morning when I got to the staging area, though. MAN was it cold out there. Fortunately the sun was out, and my car makes a nice little incubator when the windows are rolled up and the sun shines into the front. After collecting my tshirt, bib, and timing chip, I spent the next hour or so resting in the front seat, psyching myself up for a good race. My warmup mile helped loosen some of my kinks, and soon I was ready to start.

Last year, I ran the Frosty's Frozen 5-mile race at Chatfield. This race, also split into 5- or 10-mile options, was set on the same course. I was looking forward to seeing parts of the park I hadn't the first time. I cruised through the first mile, holding myself to about a 10-minute pace. I picked my pace up only a little for the second one, running it in 9:36. And I kept accelerating from there: except for walking through the three aid stations (at 2.5, 5.5, and 7.5), I maintained a sub-9 pace for the rest of the race.

Overall, the course was not flat. There were a few reasonably flat sections, in the first couple miles and at a brief out-and-back just before the halfway point; but some miles were almost entirely uphill (albeit a gentle grade), and mile 8, which twisted along a winding path, bounced up and down a couple of times. I was very conscious of my own breathing for the second half of the race, and focused on long, deep breaths as often as I could.

I did set a new 10-mile PR at this race, shaving about 2 minutes off my Park to Park time from last September (as a side note, it looks like there was no "chip time" for this race, only "gun time"). And the further good news is, since Coach had to cancel the run this morning and reschedule for tomorrow, I don't have to miss out on seeing all my RER friends!

Official time: 1:32:12
Total races: 4
YTD race miles: 42.5
YTD total miles: 150.5
RER training runs missed due to races (YTD) : 0!!