Measuring Heart Rate

This post will be a little bit of a modge podge of topics. I'll highlight a few things and then go in to more detail about the beginnings of my heart rate monitoring and training!

Runs
-4 times last week (Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri) and another run today (Sunday)
-(both) Sundays: 2.5 mile runs with Ellie to Harvard Gulch (152 and 151 avg heart rate)
-Monday: 2 mile treadmill run at 10 min pace (HR unknown)
-Wednesday: 3.2 mile outside run at work - 2nd fastest time for 13 times running this course (161 avg heart rate)
-Friday: 4 mile intervals on treadmill, average heart rate 168

Take aways
1- Ellie does NOT like to run. I feel like people are judging me as it appears I am dragging her. She is content trotting along, but has the energy to speed up once she sees squirrels, dogs, etc. I know she is MUCH faster - she sprints up and down in the snow hiking and does crack laps around the yard! She doesn't like running much. She DOES like lounging around and looking cute:

Case in point - Ellie lounging: (AA took this in Beaver Creek this weekend)

2- I am slow. I don't care that I am slow - but when I was training for the Boulder 1/2 I was not concerned as much with my time, as I was building my endurance. The next race I have is the Turkey Trot in Wash Park on Thanksgiving. I wanted to see what I ran last year to see what I had to beat. I was amazed I ran a 9:32 pace last year for the four mile race! Most of my miles have been around 10:30ish recently, so I made my goal over the next 4 weeks to improve my speed. Just for perspective, my first race in Denver was the 2010 Turkey Trot and I had an 11:09 pace! I don't think I'll have as big of an improvement this year, but I am looking get the 9:30ish pace!  

2011 Turkey Trot - Tyler, AA, Panda

3- I want to learn more about my heart rate...my target heart rate, my max rate, my rate for recovery runs, etc. This past week I have started collecting data by wearing the heart rate monitor for my watch. I'll go in to this a little bit more below. I think my goal of increasing my speed goes hand in hand with this idea as I learn to better monitor my heart rate and learn from it!

4- I love Colorado, and I love the outdoors :-) AA and I took a trip up to Beaver Creek for the weekend with the pups since he can get us amazing deals for hotels with his job :-) It was an amazing weekend of adventure, relaxing, and catching up with each other!

compliments of AA

AA at Beaver Creek Lake

Hoping the ice didn't break!

Puppies always close

Beautiful views of Beaver Creek!

5- Halloween is a great holiday. I dressed up in my panda costume to get a $2 boo-ritto. The line was pretty long! After I was a little disheartened when only four trick or treaters showed up at our house :-(
Also - day four with no candy! A blog I follow start a No Candy November Challenge. After having WAY too much candy leading up to Halloween I knew this is exactly what I needed to curb my intake! Especially since candy is a tasty treat while studying....but no unhealthy!

Heart Rate Training
I have only begun to look in to this. I decided to start collecting data would be my first step! Love to analyze data :-)
There are different zones you can target depending on what the aim of your workout is. There is a zone (60-70% of max rate) that is for long, recovery runs. The aerobic (70-80%) is the 'target heart rate zone' which is most effective to improve cardiovascular fitness. The anaerobic zone (80-90%) is used to increase your bodies lactate threshold and then the VO2 max which is only used for very fit people, and for a very little amount of time.

My first step is that I need to figure out my resting heart rate and my max heart rate so I can determine what these zones are. There is the basic calculation of 220-age = max heart rate. I also read something about doing a treadmill test where you run your hardest for 3 minutes (two times) with a small break and the max of your heart rate during the 2nd interval should be the max. I will try this.

So for now, I am doing research and trying to see what different types of training there are, and how to best improve my fitness. My interval training on Friday felt great. I monitored my heart rate and tried to let it drop a little bit before I would start the next fast interval. If anyone tracks their HR and has any advice please pass it on!!

Heart rate from intervals on Friday

 Have a great week! GO BRONCOS....great win today :-)

Pic from last week's game! Broncos beat the Saints week 8

Easy Week for Recovery

I wanted to take it easier this week to let my body take a break and recover from the race on Sunday. 

Workouts:
Monday - ab/arm exercies + 15 min on elliptical
Tuesday - 30 min on bike
Wed - intervals for 2.5 miles & ab/arms
Thursday - 30 min elliptical

Saturday - 5ish mile hike


I was pretty happy with taking it easy, and only really felt sore on Monday!
Since I wasn't able to give blood last time at work because of training, I gave blood at REI on Thursday night after work. This is the first time I have given there but was happy with my experience - even though it was on the mobile blood bus! It took 5 minutes flat to draw the blood! I think that is a new PR for me - can't wait to try and beat it :-) In high school and most of college I was scared to give blood, mostly because I heard a few horror stories. I volunteered to sit at the table in college to register people to give blood. This is exactly what I needed to build up the nerve (after a few hours) to donate. I try and give as often as I can now. I hope more people try this. The lady told me during the holidays is very important because a lot of people get procedures done to get them in before year-end and it is a harder time to do blood drives so go give!

I didn't feel great Thursday night and was still feeling it Friday (did not work out), but felt good for the hike today!

AA and I ventured just south of Nederland to Rollinsville. We were aiming to do Heart Lake in James Peak Wilderness. The drive is about 1 hr, 40 min from Denver. The weather was supposed to be high 30s and partly sunny. We got to the lot around 10:30 and took a while getting ready since it was SO windy out. We had the dogs with us too. I had 5 or 6 layers on....it looked cold!

Once we got going though, we were out of the wind and it cleared right up!

I was surprised at how much snow there already was! At the beginning of the hike there was 6-8" and over a foot in some areas! It was an 8 mile round trip hike up to Heart Lake, a high alpine lake. I forgot my GPS watch so I am not too sure how far we made it, probably only did about 5 or 6 miles round trip. It was a nice day but we weren't up for the whole hike and it was really hard to follow the trail and were not really even sure if we were headed up to Heart Lake. It was a great day and felt great to be outside and in the snow! We were at an altitude of about 9,200'-11,000'. Came home to a home cooked meal all ready in the crockpot :-)

Still excited for the possibility for AA and I to sign up for the Canyonland 1/2 Marathon in March :-) Hope to get in some good runs this week plus some cross training! 

Plus the Broncos game tomorrow! Gooooo Broncos!

AA and I

Ellie loves her mommy

Timer :-)

 

First 1/2 Marathon....Boulder Half....Recap!

Well I survived my first half marathon! It has been two days since the race and I am still feeling really good about it :-) Starting with high level – I got really scared on Saturday night before the race. All the ‘what-ifs’ came in to my head and I started freaking out. I wasn’t so much scared about my time – I was just scared that it’d be a ‘bad running day’. Sometimes it seems like there are those days you don’t get in the groove and feel pretty cr@ppy. I wasn’t sure how I could try and prevent that and was ultimately scared about that – knowing I wouldn’t be able to make it the 13.1 miles without stopping.

In hindsight, I guess I did do some things to try and prevent that. I tapered 2 weeks out and tried to get lots of sleep and eat well during that time. I took it really easy the few days leading up to the race and had a great carbo-load meal (does that help?). I got up early to make sure my stomach was all in order. I had a training plan and stuck to it. I thought about fuel during the run and tried to hydrate lots.

When people ask what I thought about it, my response is usually, “I really liked it and I thought I did well. It would have sucked though if I hadn’t trained”. Looking back I know the long runs, and starting with a decent base really allowed me to push through the last few miles. I did not have to walk up the hills (as some did) and I got faster as the race went on (I didn’t lose my steam) – showing I had good endurance. I gradually built up my mileage and did not have any injuries during training. This probably sounds like everything went perfectly – but as always, real life is different than on paper. I had my struggles, the days I didn’t feel like running, the days I really had to try to fit in runs. In the end, it all paid off and I was very happy with my three day running schedule :-)

Now down to the nitty gritty of race day: (it's long)

5:30 wake-up time with anticipation of leaving about 6:15. AA hopped out of bed which was nice motivation for me to get going as well. He ran out the night before to get us coffees for the morning since we were out of K-cups and there weren’t any good coffee places open that early! That definitely helped :-) I had a greek yogurt and started getting ready. Everything was already laid out and I did not need to think much. Stomach did its job and I was ready to go :-) One of my big struggles the night before was also whether or not to wear my hydration belt. There was going to be aid stations about every 2 miles – so did I want to bother with the belt, or just rely on the stations? In the end did not wear my hydration belt and just wore the belt that can hold a few GU’s and attached my racing bib. Katie met us at the house and we left at 6:30.

The drive up was easy UNTIL we got to the turn to get on to 51st that goes in to the Reservoir. Since my Stroke and Strides were there all summer, I knew this would probably be a tricky section with the light (and the race director send out warning emails). I think we got to this turn at around 7:10 and did not move at all for 15 minutes. AA made the executive decision to go past the light, turn around, and head in from the north. Good decision – no line. There were police officers at the light – but they did absolutely nothing to help. Then we had to make the 1.5 mile drive up to the reservoir though and this was bumper to bumper and slow moving as well. I think we finally got to the parking lot at about 7:40 and made our way over to the start area. Luckily we had both gotten our race bibs the day before because that lined looked really long. We were still in the bathroom line at 7:55 but they announced they were going to delay the start until everyone was ready. We had no idea how long that would be – that traffic line was LONG. We dropped of our bags (no problem) and then they announced they would be starting at 8:15. Sounds good – we lined up in the huge crowd and waited for a bit. They announced there were 1,500 ½ marathon runners and 500 people had just signed up in the last few days. I think there were 300 or so 5 milers and maybe 500 marathoners (that started at 7 AM). I had decided to go with a tech tee and shorts, but it was a little breezy in the morning so I wasn’t sure how it would be. Turned out to be a good decision. 

Katie and I pre-race

Starting crowd!

Starting line

I said good bye to AA, who had brought a chair and some reading materials for the event and we were just about off. The gun went off and the funneling of 1,500 racers in to a tiny area did NOT go well. The first 2 tenths of a mile were basically walking and pretending to run. It was over hard bumpy grass and you had to be very careful of your footing. Soon enough though Katie said goodbye and good luck and my adventure began! It was hard to tell what my actual pace was the first mile since it started out at about 16:30 min/miles. The first mile went pretty well though and I was finding my groove among all the runners. There was definitely a mix, lots of people passing me, some already walking – so it was just neat to take everyone in. I finished the first mile around an 11:40 pace – but I knew this was because of the start.

It was an out and back course so most of the way to mile 6.55 was uphill. I settled in around a pace of 10:40 and was pretty happy with my consistent pace. There was an aid station at mile 2 and mile 4. I had water at mile 2 and then my GU + water at mile 4. I managed to keep running and did not have to stop. A lot of this blurs together but nothing too scary from this part. I started to see the half marathon leaders at some point so that kept me occupied in amazement of their running ability. At mile 6 I saw Katie going back with a slew of other runners and at this point I was just focusing on making it to the turn around where I knew the rest of the way would mostly be downhill. My watch was a bit ahead of the mile markers – even from mile one it was off and then was consistently .19 past the mile markers. I wasn’t sure if I’d just make it up in the end or what the deal was.

At the turnaround, people seemed to just want to stop and walk, so I had to weave through a few people – I wanted to keep going! My watch said 1:12:XX so I knew if I could keep my pace I’d make it under my 1:24:XX high range. I had water at this aid station. Starting here – it was a little harder to get water as they did not have them prepared as in the beginning.

I don’t even remember mile 7 and mile 8 – they flew by, I remember when my watch beeped for mile 8 I was so surprised it had gone by already! A lot of the return was facing the sun and also had a good head wind which made it harder. I was very happy with my pace and even told myself to slowdown sometimes so I would not run out of energy. I was easily hitting sub 10:30s on my Garmin. I knew the next aid station was 4 miles from the start, which meant mile 9. I was contemplating whether or not to take a GU but the first went well so I thought it was a good idea. At mile 9 I had my GU as I approached the aid station and then grabbed a water (at this point the volunteers were furiously trying to fill up cups for the runners). Unfortunately there was barely any water in my cup but I did not realize it until I was past the table and did not want to turn back. The next 2 miles I really wanted water, bad. Those things definitely require water when eating. I was still feeling good from mile 9-11 and my pace was still right where I wanted it, I just wanted water. 

Race map and elevation. My watch had 431 ft gain

 At mile 11, I got water – this time I think I even had to fill it up myself. The last two miles were definitely the toughest. I was feeling strong and had no doubt that I could make it – but I was very thirsty the whole time and it was hot out. Also at this point, all you could see was a giant hill that curves off the right – and it was more of a mental challenge getting up. I felt strong, but mentally weak as I was craving water. At this point you can see the reservoir and the finish off in the distance, which I think makes it worse because you see how far you still have to go. During the final mile or so there were some marathoners among the group (easily stood out) and I was so thankful I was only running 13.1. It is simply amazing those who can run 26.2 – it is not an easy task for the body.

The last bit I tried to kick it in to high gear, but thirst still lingered. My watch had already beeped 13 miles and I knew there was way more than .1 left. They routed us a bit of a different way to the finish and finally I see the home stretch and run run run (looking for AA). He had a prime space right next to the finish. I crossed the finish! AND I GOT A MEDAL. I had to fidget to get my timing chip out (no volunteers) and was searching with my eyes for water. There was none. I saw AA and hugged him for 2 seconds! I immediately told him how much I needed water. It was a fight to get to the tent, there were no cups, and I was on the verge of tears. Finally a volunteer came over with cups. Another runner helped me with a jug since there was hardly any left. It was the best water I had tasted :-) After a few refills I was so happy to have completed it and couldn’t believe it :-)

My first  medal!

We went to sit up on the hill and it felt so good to sit down. I grabbed a ½ banana and piece of orange – I wasn’t quite ready to eat yet. I don’t quite remember what I was feeling at this point…but it was nice to sit down and debrief with AA a little. After we met up with Katie and her friends we headed to see what food there was. There was an Evol burrito food truck and we got a burrito and headed to the beer tent. We had a food tag on our bib, but we didn’t see anywhere to use it. We stayed for one drink, got an Udi’s bagel (main sponsor) and headed out since we knew there was more traffic. That was another 15-20 minute wait to get out. 

Race Poster

Race organization thoughts: This is my first ½ marathon so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I have run a lot of well organized races (ie: Bolder Boulder). The Evergreen Sprint Tri was great, the Wash Park Turkey Trot is always fun and so was the Aetna Park to Park 10 miler. So all of my recent experiences have been good. This race definitely had its downfalls (traffic/late start entering, the funneling and walking of runners at the beginning, course length, lack of water/volunteers at aid stations on return, lack of food) – but overall I definitely enjoyed my experience. I think a lot has to do with it being my first race so I was just excited to run and I don’t have races to compare it to. I was very curious to read others and set up a search immediately. The reviews haven’t been great. Some people are pretty pissed for all the reasons above plus the cost of the race. I read at least two other blogs who also had the race distance at atleast 13.4. I only did the ½ marathon, I can’t imagine doing the marathon and not having aid stations as support throughout the race and my feeling is they completely ran out of food. I’m not even sure what the tag on the bib was for.

Race time: So my final chip time was 2:22:02 (10:50 pace). As I mentioned in my last blog – this was right in the range I wanted (2:21:XX – 2:24:XX). So I was very happy with this! 

Splits - I thought these looked good - mostly negative-ish :-)

Pace = blue, elevation = green. pretty consistent!

Now – my Garmin had a distance of 13.43 with a finish of 2:22:02 also. For that distance – it is a pace of 10:35! Seems like a big difference. If I had that pace for just 13.1 miles it would have been a time of 2:18:33 which would have beaten my expectations! But I guess I have to stick with my official time – so I am still happy that I got within my goal. It is hard because when I was running I felt I was running 10:40s on the way out and 10:30s on the return so I was really hoping/expecting that time. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

The future: I wasn’t sure how I would feel after the race. Would I want another? Would I be satisfied that I just ran a ½ marathon? Well it turns out I really liked it and want to run another! I know I want to focus on Triathlons during the summer, and AA is super interested in doing a ½ together. So we are thinking of trying a half in the February/March/maybe April time frame! We have the 4 mile Turkey Trot in November but not much else so I can take it easy for a few weeks which will be nice!

Of course Monday morning I searched high and low for races. Right now our #1 pick is the Canyonlands ½ Marathon. It looks AWESOME. It is in Moab, UT which is only a 6 hour drive from Denver - it looks beautiful. The only downside is that it is so popular there is a lottery to get in. The lottery opens in about a month so it’ll be a waiting game until then. Luckily there are a few others incase that doesn’t work out.

Until then, I started studying again :-( For my profession I need to take about 9 exams to receive the actuarial designation. I hit a speed bump about 2.5 years ago after I failed the same exam a few times after studying SO hard for them. I think I am finally ready to start them back up, so I will be focusing on studying until my test in February and keeping myself sane with running and swimming :-) Silly actuarial exams! If my family is reading this though – please don’t ask me about studying yet :-)

Thanks for reading! Share your reactions after your first half and what your immediate plans were after!

Boulder 13.1 Preview

My first half marathon is almost here....tomorrow!!! I was not that nervous this week, but sitting here - the night before the race, I am definitely more nervous than I thought....but not as nervous as I was for my first tri. I think the 10 mile race helped to ease my nerves a bit over Labor Day and the runs to work. It seems so long ago since my last long run so that makes me doubt myself! I am scared of the new and unknown and the fact my running hasn’t felt great the last two weeks. I am hoping all the training shows on Sunday! 

I have had an itch in my throat all week. I traveled to Nebraska this past weekend, so I was worried about catching something on the plane, plus everyone seems to be sick! It only hurts a little in the morning mostly so I think it will be OK :-)

Running last week went well – I ran 80% of my normal amount. I ran Mon/Tues/Thurs/Sat. I ran 2 miles on the treadmill Monday and then two 4 mile runs outside on Tuesday/Thursday. Saturday I ran a 10K in Nebraska at a vineyard!

This week:
Monday – 2.5 miles on treadmill felt awful. Lungs really hurt
Wednesday – 3.5 miles on treadmill (small incline) – felt better still tired
Friday – 2 slow miles on treadmill - felt pretty good
Saturday – went to Boulder to pick up the race packet
Sunday (Race morning): Race starts at 8 AM and they advise you to get there at 7 AM and allow for parking traffic. Boulder is about 45ish minutes from the house so the plan is to leave around 6:15 AM. AA is driving us up and my friend Katie is riding with us (running ½ as well), should be fun!

The race swag is pretty sweet. Check out the race shirt! The logo and hat are cool too. I really want a race medal (never gotten one before) –but it doesn’t look like we get one :-) Maybe next time! 

Race hat, long sleeve tech tee, pint glass and howling moon bib (not shown: poster)

Expectations: Best case I am hoping to get a 10:45 pace = 2 hrs, 21 min.
More reasonable expectation is an 11 min pace so that would be 2 hrs, 24ish min. With the upper limit hoping that I at least get under 2 hrs, 30 min!

AA, being great as usual, is making my carbo-load pre-race meal of spaghetti with chicken and PBC bread...YUM! It smells delicious right now :-)

AA cooking tonight :-)

Weather: arrival time of 7 AM weather is 48 degrees, 49 at race start (8 AM) and 56 by 10 AM. I am thinking shorts and a tech tee should be good - assuming it will feel about 10 degrees warmer running. I am going to wear my sunglasses, hat, brace and probably my new hydration belt. I am going to stick with my last test mode of gu at 4 miles and 8 miles.

OK dinner time! Wish me luck :-)

Grapes for Grace - Omaha, NE

Grapes for Grace 5K/10K at Soaring Wings Winery in Springfield, NEThe race wasn’t slated to start till 3 PM and in the morning the weather called for 95% of T-storms at 2 PM and beyond – BOO! As the day progressed we decided we at least wanted to get our race packets (t-shirt included) and free wine! We (my mom, dad, sister, boyfriend and myself) arrived quite early but the weather looked to be on the up and up. My aunt and uncle decided not to chance the weather so my mom was going to run the 5k under my aunts name and my sister took over my uncles registration since she did not register (although she claims she did) :-)

The winery was on a beautiful hill overlooking the vineyards and farm country with great fall colors.

Pre-race stretches

Beautiful scenery - minus the look on AA's face :-)

Not used to this terrain!

 It was windy so we sought shelter inside and in the car. 

Passing time in the car

After a long wait – we were called to the start lane and given instructions and the run-down of the course. It looked to be only about 50 of us or so lined up (guessing the weather scared some away). The beginning was a sharp downhill through the vineyard and cornfields to get to the MoPac North trail where both the 5K and 10K turnaround points were. AA and I were running the 10K and my sister and mom were doing the 5K. We high fived – and we were off! The first mile of the course was hard. I forgot my ankle brace and had to be super careful about my footing since you were running through high grass, cornfields, mud and everything in between. My goal for the race was 10:45 pace and to take it easy. I started off about 10:30 and was happy. Once we got to the trail it was much nicer. A firm packed gravel was much nicer to run on. Before I knew it the 5K runners turned around and I found myself completely alone. 

Mom and Molly 5K finishing together :-)

I often wondered if I was running the right way, but there was no where I could have gone wrong. As it turns out there were only 15 people running the 10K so that explained it. I had my watch on so once I hit the 3.1 I was going to run around anyways. At about 2.6 miles I started to see a group of people heading back towards me. AA and I exchanged another high-five and I was feeling OK. I grabbed a quick sip at the turnaround and was off. For only being at 3 miles I wasn’t feeling great at that point but knew I still had 3 left in me. At about 4 miles another runner came up beside me. It turned out he was just out for a jog and came across the race. We ended up running about a mile together and he picked up my pace to 9:45 and he ended up finishing the race and then entering to get some wine! The last mile was hard on the terrain again and I slowed down to 10:45. You had to finish UP a hill which was hard, but I ended finishing at 1:04:14. This is a pace of 10:22 which is better than I expected - but I think that has to do with the lower elevation compared to Denver :-)

Running up the hill, I swear its bigger than it looks!

That ended up being 2nd in my age group out of 5! Even though I finished 12th of 15 overall :-) All in all a tough race with the beginning and end, but fun to race in another state! 

Pace and only at 1000' elevation

Afterwards we collected our wine glass and started the free samples. There was live music, but the musician wasn’t playing, rather she was sharing the Lord’s words – which was fine, but I was not expecting this and really just wanted some music (played before hand was pretty good!) The vineyard had both beer and wine. The overall consensus was the beer was decent but the wine was not. If I lived in the area, I would run it again. It’d be neat if they made a trail from winery to the actual trail – and they stuck to just music.

Post race sweat (Molly, Mom, me, AA)

Jazz hands....is AA confused?

Stay tuned for my pre-Boulder half marathon analysis :-)

Running to Work

Yet again I find myself starting out with the phrase, “It has been too long since I last updated this blog”. Nonetheless, I will update piecemeal as I can!
Just over 2 weeks until the ½ marathon! Training has been going really well. I don’t think my overall weekly mileage is as high as it should be, but this is what I had planned and was really trying to only run three times per week. When I was running four times per week is when I got my overuse/tendonitis injury and I am trying to baby it. Mission accomplished. Although I do feel pain on the outside of both legs after longer runs, the pain has usually subsided after a day of rest. 

So as I mentioned in the last post – the weekends have been piling up and long runs did not look good! I was able to get my long runs in with some creativity though! So since the 10 mile race, I have gotten in long runs 4 out of the 5 weekends. The first week I did a 10 mile run on the highline. I had a great 12.7 mile run at sea-level back in Massachusetts – what a difference! The wine tasting went better than expected in Napa and there was no run across the Golden Gate bridge. I was really worried about the last 2 weekends, but I decided to try running to work the past 2 Fridays! It is just over 11 miles and ½ of it is on the Highline Canal trail which I like going to anyways. I take public transportation to work (takes about 45 minutes), so this seemed like a great solution and was able to get in the run as the weekends are so busy.
Before I get in to the long runs – my schedule over the last couple weeks has basically been 3 runs per week with 4 or 5 miles each during the week and a long run on the weekend (10+). The past 3 weeks have been 20+ miles.

Friday September 28th
After not sleeping great because I was really nervous, I got up at 5 AM because I wanted to have a quick cup of coffee and yogurt before I left for the run. It was still dark out, and hard to get motivated to go run for over 2 hours all uphill! Not to mention, I was pretty scared running in the dark! I finally got out the door at 5:45 with a little bit of encouragement from AA, but not before snapping this awesome pre-run picture!

The first ½ of the route is a little over 5 miles going to the canal trail. Within the first mile I had to try and tighten my hydration belt. I had to do this 2 more times before I finally fixed it at about mile 5. While it may seem tight you have to put it on super tight so it doesn’t bounce around. So that was annoying. I was feeling and was taking it slow. I needed water early and often, which I wasn’t used to. At about 3 ½ miles I saw 2 coyotes! I was pretty scared as one kept staring at me (still dark) so I took a detour uphill to avoid their route. By the time I got to the canal trail at 5.5 miles I need a rest. I took my gu and water and walked a little bit. The canal trail portion is about 3.5 – 4miles and luckily it is flat. I could tell I was getting super tired though as this should have been fairly easy. Around mile 9 I was trying to find my turn off and had to turn around. I walked again. After finding the right route the last 2 miles were variations of walking and running and trying to keep going. I couldn’t believe how tired I was! The last mile is a nice uphill section in to the sun (without sunglasses), so this was tough. I made it work, finally, with a watch time of 2 hours, 5 minutes (11:10 pace), but that didn’t include the walking and stopping – so it was more like 2.5 hours. Ouch!

We headed to the Sand Dunes that night, which is probably my new favorite spot in Colorado. I felt pretty bad Friday night and just wanted to go to bed! Here are some pics though, we had an amazing time.

AA and the pups

Kung Fu Panda much?

View of the Dunes from Zapata Falls

Sunset

Friday October 5th 

Thursday night was pretty busy getting ready for company, baking, trip to work, etc – and heading to bed I wasn’t really too sure what I was going to do when I woke up. I was deciding hopefully between either lots of laps at Wash Park or attempt the run to work again, and hopefully not option three of doing nothing.
Woke up at 5 AM again and had the coffee and yogurt. I slept really well, a little shorter than my preferred 8 hours, but pretty much straight through. I had decided I should go for the run to work as it is a better training option for the ½ (HM). I had layed out my clothes the night before. It went from 80 on Thursday to about 30 overnight on Friday. I had my running tights, a dry fit long sleeve, a zip down running jacket and then my fleece vest plus gloves and my ear band. As I was changing I happened to look outside (still dark) and noticed it had snowed! The weather forecasters said it most likely would not, and only a dusting if anything. Liars! 

Snow!

Here I go!

AA got me out the door at about 5:45 again and I was running the first 2 miles with snow on the sidewalks. I was nervous my feet were going to be freezing! My hydration belt felt great though and I did not have to fidget with it once. I had decided I should try and get more nutrients and was planning on taking 1 gu at mile 4 and a 2nd gu at mile 8. As I started off, I was really just thinking about the snow and sort of got lost in my thoughts. Next thing I knew the first turn at mile 2 was done and I had some water at mile 3. Luckily there was no coyote sightings at 3 ½ and I stopped at mile 4 quickly for my gu and water. I continued on and hit the trail just after 5 miles (no detour this week so mileage a little different). As I continued along the trail I noticed how much better I was feeling and remembering how at certain points I was struggling the prior week. I took another sip of water at mile 6 and my layering felt perfect. I couldn’t help but stop and take a few quick pictures – the combination of the fall colors, first snowfall and the sunrise was just incredible! 

Fall colors + first snow fall = gorgeous

Amazing morning on the Highline

At mile 8 I even continued running while I had the gu and water, which was a first. A quick fox sighting, but no detour needed. I got off the trail just before 9 miles and couldn’t believe there were only 2 miles left. I made it up the final hills without problems (just slow). I finished in barely less time than last week, 2 hours and 3 minutes (11:08 pace), but I know I ran more and didn’t need to stop for breaks and was not dying. I liked having the 2 energy gels and I think I will try and do that for the HM in 2 weeks as well!
Looking Forward
For the next two weeks I want to keep running 3 times per week, just drop the mileage a little. We are headed to Nebraska for a family wedding next weekend and we are doing a 10k on Saturday so that will serve as my long run and then maybe 2 four mile runs during the week. The following week I will take it easy as well for the race on Sunday! Unfortunately my Aunt and Uncle cannot make it out for the race in Boulder, but luckily we are doing the 10K together next weekend so it works out!

Aetna Park to Park 10 miler

I haven’t gotten a chance to update the blog from the vacation! I have a great title post too! 4 runs in 4 states! Stay tuned :-)

Well the past few weeks I have been focusing on the 10 mile Aetna Park to Park race that starts in City Park in Denver. It winds through Cap Hill through Cheeseman Park, Alamo Placita Park and then finishes in Washington Park! I have never run 10 miles before, so this was a big deal! I was slowly building my long runs each week being careful not to run too much too early! I think it paid off :-)

2 weeks ago AA and I got the chance to do a practice run of the route. We got a little messed up at the beginning but my watch clocked in at 9.5 miles (longest run at that point). I did not stop, and while slower, my goal was just to finish. I had been methodically building one extra mile per week since my tri and was able to stick to my schedule. The week before I tapered a little and only did an 8 mile run.

The Race

It started at 7:30 AM near Denver Zoo. Aunt Molly was visiting and was so kind to drop us off at the start since it was a point to point! The race environment seemed very lax but from the look of the runners, there were many veteran runners with a few 10 milers under their belt! With the timing over Labor Day it serves as a great practice jaunt for fall ½ and full marathons!

There were plenty of porta potties and water and Gatorade at the start. I had picked up our packets the day before so it was an easy morning! The race started promptly at 7:30 and we were off! I quickly checked my pace and noticed I was going out a bit too fast and settled in to a 10:30ish pace. The first 3 or so miles wound through City Park and I was ready to hit the streets! I continued to pace myself well and hit right around the 10:30ish for my miles. My watch was beeping a bit before the mile markers and in the end I had about a 10.13 final race distance.

I was amazed at the great traffic control they had since we crossed SO many roads and I never had to stop! As AA pointed out, this is where a lot of the race $ goes to (packing for officers). The first four miles had some uphill but after we left Cheeseman Park I picked up on a nice little downhill and was happy about that! I felt good for the next few miles and continued to pace myself. I found myself not near too many runners but was happy that I seemed to be passing most (albeit slowly) at this point which made me feel good about my pacing. Around mile 8 I was feeling good but the entry in to Wash Park I definitely hit some sort of wall and struggled with a 10:37 pace (on my watch) for mile 9. Once mile 10 hit though, I knew I had to finish strong and made the final mile a 10:00 pace!

My official time had me at a pace 10:36 and my watch had me at a pace of 10:27 – so that averages around 10:30 right!? Officially it will be the 10:36 though! My low expectations had me at 11 min/miles and my optimistic side wanted at least 10:45 so I was happy! My official time was 1:45:37 :-)

The Route

Splits!

 AA had a great race too! His knee has been bothering me a little so he took the previous 10 days off but finished strong at 1:27:51 (8:50 pace). There were 732 finishers in the 10 mile portion of the race. Jen’s boyfriend Danny raced (13th place) and another friend of Jen’s was there as well so it was nice to see some familiar face!

They had bananas, water, energy drinks, bagel things from Panera, duffey rolls and more to eat afterwards - so good!

Post Race!!

 

Looking forward

The 10 miler was a great stepping stone for the ½ marathon approaching on October 21st. Including this weekend, it gives me 6 training weekends and then the race weekend to prep. During that time there is a trip to Napa, trip to Omaha, a trip back east and friends visiting another weekend. 2+ hour training runs are going to be hard but I will try! Here is what I am thinking:

Weekend of: 9/8 – (home) 10 mile run on Sunday 9/15 – (Napa) attempt shorter 5 or 6 mile run 9/22 – (East coast) – 11 mile run Friday after traveling 9/29 – (home) – 12 mile run Sat (Bronco game Sunday!) 10/9 – (visitors) – 13 mile run…somewhere :-) 10/13 – (Nebraska) – 10K race with the family! …taper! 10/20 – race weekend!!!

My Uncle James and Aunt Stella are also driving from Nebraska for the Boulder race so I am really excited to share another race with James and Stella’s first in Colorado! :-)