Results by Time
Prediction Race
November 24, 2011
24:42 5k+-ish
Rockford Road Runners Turkey Trot with Dad
87/684th in the overall race (6th woman) and 82nd in the prediction race (off by 46.0 seconds). Consistent.
This race is a bit of a family tradition. Crazy race director (I like those) with a Turkey hat and a difference course every year anywhere from 2.5-4mi. There has been mud, lake like mud, snow, rain, frigid temps, etc. This year was pretty mild- temps in the low 40s, overcast, and only one small mud patch.
The course designer did a phenomenal job this year. First a lap around the grass to the back of the dam and along the camber near the road to spread out the record field and then onto the trail. Around the loop (further north stretching than usual) and then out on the dam and back around to the finish. Based on the times, I'd guess the course was a minute or two longer than a 5k but I'm not all that familiar with the Rockford racers anymore. A tough hilly course for the area but pretty flat compared to my usual fare.
Its time to see a PT about my IT Band(s) since rest and my own stretching do not seem to be resolving it and I've been losing quite a bit of fitness since this all started ~8 weeks ago.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Fall Series #4 2011
Results November 13, 2011
7.5mi-ish @Palmer Park (very hilly/rocky)
Series Results
Definitely not the race I was hoping for, but confirms what I already know. No more running races in 2011 except the Turkey Trot (which isn't really a race). Possible some xc ski or snowshoe races, but I need a break from the running. My training runs have been faster than my races lately. And I need to do some serious strength work and stretching focusing on my left IT Band. I'm not sure if it was a calorie shortage (I did have a few bites of oatmeal and some coffee 3 hours before) or what but I felt weak the whole way and dizzy and lightheaded for the second half and I really wasn't running very fast. I hiked up most of the hills and people I usually finish ahead of beat me by 10min in some cases.
I think this is my favorite Fall Series race. Up and down and up and down; rocks, sand, stairs, roots. You have it all. The uphills are of varying length and steepness so that they aren't totally evil like the BFNH at Bear Creek or High Drive. The downhills are technical enough that not many people can fly down.
7.5mi-ish @Palmer Park (very hilly/rocky)
Series Results
Definitely not the race I was hoping for, but confirms what I already know. No more running races in 2011 except the Turkey Trot (which isn't really a race). Possible some xc ski or snowshoe races, but I need a break from the running. My training runs have been faster than my races lately. And I need to do some serious strength work and stretching focusing on my left IT Band. I'm not sure if it was a calorie shortage (I did have a few bites of oatmeal and some coffee 3 hours before) or what but I felt weak the whole way and dizzy and lightheaded for the second half and I really wasn't running very fast. I hiked up most of the hills and people I usually finish ahead of beat me by 10min in some cases.
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| Credit: Jon Cornick |
I think this is my favorite Fall Series race. Up and down and up and down; rocks, sand, stairs, roots. You have it all. The uphills are of varying length and steepness so that they aren't totally evil like the BFNH at Bear Creek or High Drive. The downhills are technical enough that not many people can fly down.
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| Photo: Jon Cornick (Nicely let him beat me by enough so he could get my picture ^_^) |
Sunday, November 6, 2011
November Nielson
Results November 5, 2011
2 miles on flat trail (Classifying as a road race since I could drive the course)
14:29 28/115
I headed over to Monument Valley Park to take advantage of PPRR's free 2 mile race (1st Saturday of every month). Its been a while since I've made it out there. No real goals or expectations since I just took four days off to give my knee issue some rest and no fast training. Nice even pacing, but the speed gear was not with me. It felt like I was running at some ridiculous cadence at the end since my stride would not open up at all. I always enjoy this little low key race. As expected, pretty far off my handicap time and even further from my PR on the course (13:13 from July 2010), but I'm happy with the way I paced it and how my lungs felt. I'm looking forward to some strength building this winter on the snow- I've been feeling a little fragile/ragged for the past month or so.
2 miles on flat trail (Classifying as a road race since I could drive the course)
14:29 28/115
I headed over to Monument Valley Park to take advantage of PPRR's free 2 mile race (1st Saturday of every month). Its been a while since I've made it out there. No real goals or expectations since I just took four days off to give my knee issue some rest and no fast training. Nice even pacing, but the speed gear was not with me. It felt like I was running at some ridiculous cadence at the end since my stride would not open up at all. I always enjoy this little low key race. As expected, pretty far off my handicap time and even further from my PR on the course (13:13 from July 2010), but I'm happy with the way I paced it and how my lungs felt. I'm looking forward to some strength building this winter on the snow- I've been feeling a little fragile/ragged for the past month or so.
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| Photo: Bob Kane |
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Fall Series #3 2011
Results October 30, 2011
Roughly 6mi in Ute Valley Park
48:19; 72/357 OA, 9/142F
I decided to dress up and have fun for this race. My friend lent me a cavewoman dress which is nice and easy to run in. I took it pretty conservatively for the first two miles, realized I felt pretty good, and picked it up a little bit for the rest. More people cheer for you when you dress up for sure. Its hard not to go a little faster when people are yelling "Go Cavewoman!" I definitely got a "Where's Tarzan?" cheer (heck if I know).
There were some other pretty cool costumes out there. I got beat by a giant who-knows-what (kind of like a fluorescent drag thing wearing a hot pink thong?), JT dressed as beer (go figure), and some pirate-ish thing... all of which looked much harder to run in than my costume.
Roughly 6mi in Ute Valley Park
48:19; 72/357 OA, 9/142F
I decided to dress up and have fun for this race. My friend lent me a cavewoman dress which is nice and easy to run in. I took it pretty conservatively for the first two miles, realized I felt pretty good, and picked it up a little bit for the rest. More people cheer for you when you dress up for sure. Its hard not to go a little faster when people are yelling "Go Cavewoman!" I definitely got a "Where's Tarzan?" cheer (heck if I know).
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| Photo: Bob Kane |
There were some other pretty cool costumes out there. I got beat by a giant who-knows-what (kind of like a fluorescent drag thing wearing a hot pink thong?), JT dressed as beer (go figure), and some pirate-ish thing... all of which looked much harder to run in than my costume.
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| Photo: Tim Bergsten |
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
CU Boulder-O 2011
Results October 23, 2011
Casual Orienteering at CU-Boulder
shoes: Saucony Mirage
Legs felt pretty good.
The big doozy was between 10 and 11. I was at 11 but it was really stuck in my head that I was at 10, so I went running off in the wrong direction even though nothing looked right, backtracked, and then did it again before I realized what was going on.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
New Year's Extravaganza
Results January 1, 2011 Nielson Challenge
Results January 1, 2011 Rescue Run 10k
January 2011 Nielson 2mi
Run race 16:00 [4] 2.0 mi (8:00 / mi) +294ft
shoes: Mizuno Elixer
Results January 1, 2011 Rescue Run 10k
January 2011 Nielson 2mi
Run race 16:00 [4] 2.0 mi (8:00 / mi) +294ft
shoes: Mizuno Elixer
Snowy FREEZING 2mi race.
Felt like running in sand. Car said it was -2 when I got out.
Rescue Run 10k
Run race 52:33 [4] 6.25
mi (8:25 / mi) +783ft
shoes: Screw Shoes (Brooks Axiom)
shoes: Screw Shoes (Brooks Axiom)
2nd race of the
day, hilly 10k. Road was horrendously icy (with a few soft patches),
trails felt like running on sand. Still very cold, but not was brutal as
for the 8am race. I need to put new screws in my shoes since they don't
have nearly as much bite as they used to. I had to be a bit cautious
and I nearly fell into some guy once when I slipped on a slanted rock
covered in snow. My hip flexors are really really sore from running hard
on loose surfaces today.
Photo: Brian McCarrie
It was so cold. I was worried my contacts would get blown out in the biting wind so dealt with foggy glasses instead.
RMOC Eldora Ski-O 2011
Results January 8, 2011
XC Ski race 1:35:30 [3] 7.0 mi (13:39 / mi) +1000ft
My first Ski-O :-) I kept the pace easy so I didn't do anything stupid like go up any more hills than I had to. Can't wait for the next one!
It took me a few controls to get used to how everything was mapped but I still made little navigational errors throughout. I was never lost, but I often took longer than planned routes due to missed intersections and wrong turns. I spent more time stopped looking at the map than I care to admit. Control #1 was mislabeled but I knew it was in the right spot. I took an off trail shortcut slide down a hill to #2. I accidentally punched #13 on my way to #3. My route to #4 took me up a steep hill that was too narrow to skate up with any amount of glide even with my shorty skis. I got my tips stuck in the snowbank at the edge and fell on my face more than once (only on uphills). I think it would have been faster to skate the long way around. I think I started to get the hang of the map after #5. I added an extra 200-300m on the way to #9. #10 involved more narrow uphill and it may have been faster to skate on a longer route. I accidentally went the long way around a loop to get to #12 and I stopped at a 5-way intersection on the way to #14 partly because I was confused and its awkward not being able to keep my map oriented and partly because it involved going up a decent hill. I blew by my turn for the last control. It doesn't seem to be unusual for me to mess up the last control.
Next time: Less time stopped, ski faster when I'm moving.
XC Ski race 1:35:30 [3] 7.0 mi (13:39 / mi) +1000ft
My first Ski-O :-) I kept the pace easy so I didn't do anything stupid like go up any more hills than I had to. Can't wait for the next one!
It took me a few controls to get used to how everything was mapped but I still made little navigational errors throughout. I was never lost, but I often took longer than planned routes due to missed intersections and wrong turns. I spent more time stopped looking at the map than I care to admit. Control #1 was mislabeled but I knew it was in the right spot. I took an off trail shortcut slide down a hill to #2. I accidentally punched #13 on my way to #3. My route to #4 took me up a steep hill that was too narrow to skate up with any amount of glide even with my shorty skis. I got my tips stuck in the snowbank at the edge and fell on my face more than once (only on uphills). I think it would have been faster to skate the long way around. I think I started to get the hang of the map after #5. I added an extra 200-300m on the way to #9. #10 involved more narrow uphill and it may have been faster to skate on a longer route. I accidentally went the long way around a loop to get to #12 and I stopped at a 5-way intersection on the way to #14 partly because I was confused and its awkward not being able to keep my map oriented and partly because it involved going up a decent hill. I blew by my turn for the last control. It doesn't seem to be unusual for me to mess up the last control.
Next time: Less time stopped, ski faster when I'm moving.
Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2 2011
Results January 15, 2011
1:11:59, 1/5 AG, 15/93 F, 85/222 OA
1.5mi Run, 3.6mi bike, 2.5mi run, 7.2mi bike, sprint to the finish
Multisport race (duathlon) 1:11:59
1:11:59, 1/5 AG, 15/93 F, 85/222 OA
1.5mi Run, 3.6mi bike, 2.5mi run, 7.2mi bike, sprint to the finish
Multisport race (duathlon) 1:11:59
Chilly
Cheeks Du #2. 8-9min slower than #1 and I think about the same time as
last year. Haven't biked since Race #1 and the roads were really icy in
places so there was a fair amount of soft pedaling trying not to crash
on my roadie. The first run was mostly dry but the 2nd was really tough.
A lot more women beat me this time than last time. When there are
traction issues on the run, people beat me that I can be on smooth road.
Results do indeed confirm that a lot more people beat me than at Race #1 and I stink at running on snow and ice. The cluster of women that I am usually ahead of was running 45-60sec/mi faster than me on the snowy icy run and I know it wasn't a pacing mistake.
Results do indeed confirm that a lot more people beat me than at Race #1 and I stink at running on snow and ice. The cluster of women that I am usually ahead of was running 45-60sec/mi faster than me on the snowy icy run and I know it wasn't a pacing mistake.
Frisco Cup #3 2011
January 16, 2011 Frisco Cup #3 12k Skate Ski Race
Results
XC Ski race (skate) 1:00:05 [4] 8.01 mi (7:30 / mi) +1058ft
Results
XC Ski race (skate) 1:00:05 [4] 8.01 mi (7:30 / mi) +1058ft
Frisco Cup #3 fun!! 12k (but 8mi according
to my Garmin) 2/3 on black trails, 1/3 on blue trails. I didn't trip
over myself and fall on any uphills this time. I beat the friendly 72
year old guy who beat me by 20 seconds at the one in December by 3
minutes. That's good. I don't particularly like being geezered by that
much even if said geezer ran a 35min 10k back in the day. I skied behind
someone wearing a purple shirt for pretty much the whole race. They
would pull away on the downhills and I would catch back up on the
uphills. I pulled away for good at ~6.5mi and I think he went on for
another lap to do the 16mi. I thought about doing the 16mi, but realized
I had no way of carrying any water. It took about 2.5mi before my legs
felt un-sore from yesterday's race. I think, for the first time, that I
could not have run the course faster than I skied it at the same effort
level. The soreness starting out and the purple shirt in front of me
helped me pace it comfortably.
RMOC Frisco Ski-O 2011
Results January 22, 2011 RMOC Frisco Ski-O
XC Ski race (skate) 2:16:05 [4] 10.11 mi (13:28 / mi) +1411ft
XC Ski race (skate) 2:16:05 [4] 10.11 mi (13:28 / mi) +1411ft
Ski-O!! Found all 20, better race than
Eldora. Less time stopped, took skis off to bushwack a few times until
my bindings froze shut and I couldn't get them off anymore. 2x10min
mistakes in whiteout blownover conditions in Frisco Bay area. Otherwise
clean with a decent route choice.
Three Race Weekend #1
Results February 5, 2011 Ski Orienteering
Results February 6, 2011 10k Skate
Results February 6, 2011 7k Snowshoe
Orienteer
race (skate ski) 1:53:00 [4]
11.04 mi (10:14 / mi) +1119ft
Frisco Gold Rush 10k Skate
XC Ski race (skate) 50:03 [4] 6.2 mi (8:04 / mi)
Results February 6, 2011 10k Skate
Results February 6, 2011 7k Snowshoe
Ski-O!! One larger and one smaller
navigational oops. Started late, crummy drive and couldn't avoid 70 this
time. Ski conditions were awesome. All 20 controls. I think my planned
route choice was good. Plans changed when I forgot to turn and ended up
at a different control than the one I thought I was headed to (small
mistake, replanned route on the fly and it didn't add much extra
distance at all in the end) or turned at the wrong place (bigger
mistake, headed to the finish instead around the northwest loop
counterclockwise to get the last 3 controls, so did the loop in the
direction with the steeper uphill and did part of the loop twice; I also
stood around confused looking at my map for an extended period of time
wondering "How on earth did I manage to do that?").
Frisco Gold Rush 10k Skate
XC Ski race (skate) 50:03 [4] 6.2 mi (8:04 / mi)
Racing
is hard when you start off exhausted and half bonked. My legs started
shaking 2k in... a 50min 10k is really really slow. Crowded course,
definitely fun. I think the only food I had between Ski-O at Devil's
Thumb and my two races this morning were a bottle of orange juice, 3
bottles of water, a banana, 2 chicken tenders, and possibly a few gummy
bears and goldfish. Not sure where my appetite was but it wasn't where
it needed to be. So yeah, started out half bonked already. Succeeded in
completely exhausting myself which was my goal for the weekend.
Frisco Gold Rush 7k Snowshoe
Snowshoe race 59:59 [3] 4.39
mi (13:40 / mi)
7k
snowshoe race after the 10k ski race. I'm pretty sure it was actually
less than 7k. I noticed all the racing snowshoes that most people had. I ordered some as soon as I got home. The start was a
little weird since we were funneled onto single track after 10 ft. I got
caught behind a group of walkers for the first 1.5mi... if I had really
wanted to I'm sure I could have gotten around them sooner but legs were
unsure whether they wanted to make the effort. I finally got around
them and was able to run all but the steep uphills. I caught up to
another group that walked the uphills and ran the rest. Again, probably
could have gotten around them but never bothered to. Stopped twice to
tighten my right snowshoe, it kept coming loose and my foot would start
to pull out on steep uphills. Totally exhausted now. Good, that was the point.
March Nielson 2mi 2011
Results March 5, 2011
Nielson 2mi. Nontechnical trail with a u-turn.
15:21 Yikes I am out of shape. Tax season does that to me.
Anything that I would drive my car on is a road race. Anything I wouldn't is a trail race. This is a road race even though its on dirt.
Nielson 2mi. Nontechnical trail with a u-turn.
15:21 Yikes I am out of shape. Tax season does that to me.
Anything that I would drive my car on is a road race. Anything I wouldn't is a trail race. This is a road race even though its on dirt.
RMOC Chatfield 2011
Results May 7, 2011
Orienteer race 2:03:13 [3] 7.1 mi (17:21 / mi) +1215ft 14:56 / mi
shoes: 1st Pair - Saucony Guide 2
Red, completely boggled the 1st control by attacking from the wrong bend in the trail. Nothing else quite as bad but there were a distractions and bad route choices in there especially in the last part when I was tired. This time I picked straighter routes and ran less extra distance to stick to trails than I would have last year.
Start-1: My worst control, attacked from the wrong trail bend and went all the way up to the bridge to recover.
1-2: I was a bit thrown after #1 and was slow. I had a few moments of panic wandering through the pricker bushes when I didn't immediately see it.
2-3: I'm happy with it. Fitness was the limiter here. Looks like I was drifting left in my bearing though.
3-4: Happy with navigation, not fitness.
4-5: I had to back track a little after crossing the creek.
5-6: Grumpy at myself for wandering into the fight too far north and without a careful bearing. Had to backtrack and then key off the nick in the opposite side of the streambed. I feel like I did the same thing last year.
6-7: Happy with it. Maybe I could have run faster and cut some climb out by going around rather than over the large knoll but I could see it from the top of the knoll, so I'll stand by my route.
7-8: Happy with it. I tried to sneak around the people searching in the wrong reentrant but they all saw me and followed me to it.
8-9: ok...
9-10: Happy with it.
10-11: Found the control easily enough but my route choice left something to be desired. Followed the indistinct barely there trail along the lake that took me up and down and up and down. I should have stayed farther from the lake. I really started to get tired after this one.
11-12: I was sooooo close to it. I was in the right depression but I didn't go quite far enough south and then I got distracted by people searching too far north. Arg! I have to get better at ignoring other people out there even if I think they are better than me.
12-13: I was tired. Crossed the stream, missed the southern streamlet that I was planning to follow so I continued up the stream for a bit to confirm where I was along the stream and then waded into the fight right to it.
13-14: Route choice... Crossed the stream at a too deep place and swam and got my map all wet (borrowed Tom's to scan since mine is not very legible). Got stuck in some fight on the other side and tried but failed to get across to the trail closer to the lake. Ended up running north on the trail all the way to the road. And I over shot the control. I'm not sure quite what the ideal route choice would have been here. Probably cutting across the marsh...
14-15: I was really feeling tired but I went straight to the control
15-16: Straight to it.
16-finish: Straight to it.
I'm kind of embarrassed by my last place. At least I finished and wasn't last by a lot. I'll like ski-o better until I gain some sort of sense of direction and distance.
I think my strategy of backtracking when I screw up works better than my last year strategy of wandering in circles. 5 and 6 would have turned into nightmares if I hadn't backtracked as soon as I realized I wasn't sure I was going in exactly the right direction.
Orienteer race 2:03:13 [3] 7.1 mi (17:21 / mi) +1215ft 14:56 / mi
shoes: 1st Pair - Saucony Guide 2
Red, completely boggled the 1st control by attacking from the wrong bend in the trail. Nothing else quite as bad but there were a distractions and bad route choices in there especially in the last part when I was tired. This time I picked straighter routes and ran less extra distance to stick to trails than I would have last year.
Start-1: My worst control, attacked from the wrong trail bend and went all the way up to the bridge to recover.
1-2: I was a bit thrown after #1 and was slow. I had a few moments of panic wandering through the pricker bushes when I didn't immediately see it.
2-3: I'm happy with it. Fitness was the limiter here. Looks like I was drifting left in my bearing though.
3-4: Happy with navigation, not fitness.
4-5: I had to back track a little after crossing the creek.
5-6: Grumpy at myself for wandering into the fight too far north and without a careful bearing. Had to backtrack and then key off the nick in the opposite side of the streambed. I feel like I did the same thing last year.
6-7: Happy with it. Maybe I could have run faster and cut some climb out by going around rather than over the large knoll but I could see it from the top of the knoll, so I'll stand by my route.
7-8: Happy with it. I tried to sneak around the people searching in the wrong reentrant but they all saw me and followed me to it.
8-9: ok...
9-10: Happy with it.
10-11: Found the control easily enough but my route choice left something to be desired. Followed the indistinct barely there trail along the lake that took me up and down and up and down. I should have stayed farther from the lake. I really started to get tired after this one.
11-12: I was sooooo close to it. I was in the right depression but I didn't go quite far enough south and then I got distracted by people searching too far north. Arg! I have to get better at ignoring other people out there even if I think they are better than me.
12-13: I was tired. Crossed the stream, missed the southern streamlet that I was planning to follow so I continued up the stream for a bit to confirm where I was along the stream and then waded into the fight right to it.
13-14: Route choice... Crossed the stream at a too deep place and swam and got my map all wet (borrowed Tom's to scan since mine is not very legible). Got stuck in some fight on the other side and tried but failed to get across to the trail closer to the lake. Ended up running north on the trail all the way to the road. And I over shot the control. I'm not sure quite what the ideal route choice would have been here. Probably cutting across the marsh...
14-15: I was really feeling tired but I went straight to the control
15-16: Straight to it.
16-finish: Straight to it.
I'm kind of embarrassed by my last place. At least I finished and wasn't last by a lot. I'll like ski-o better until I gain some sort of sense of direction and distance.
I think my strategy of backtracking when I screw up works better than my last year strategy of wandering in circles. 5 and 6 would have turned into nightmares if I hadn't backtracked as soon as I realized I wasn't sure I was going in exactly the right direction.
CS Rec Center 5k #1
Low key 6pm 5k running race... The course
is the 1k crit course at Memorial Park 5 times. Ran 21:40 and paced it
somewhat badly but not atrociously. Wish I could keep up
the pace I took it out at today (did that one in 2003 and once in 2007). Forgot the garmin coming from work,
but I think k's were 3:56, 8:19, 12:50, 17:19, 21:40 soooooo 3:56, 4:23,
4:31, 4:29, 4:21 for each kilometer.
RMOC Buena Vista 2011
Cold snowy fun weekend orienteering in Buena Vista.
Huddled around the campfire waiting for it to get dark enough to start.
Results May 14, 2011 Night - Green
Results May 15, 2011 Day - Red
Orienteer
race 2:24:10 [1] 4.4 mi (32:46 / mi) +1630ft 24:15 / mi
Green Night-O at
Buena Vista. Finished!!! Shamelessly followed footprints in the snow and
noticed other people around. I did find some completely on my own
without major navigational errors.
#9 was really my only panicky one, but I saw people... I was being led by people at 11 and it messed me up I think. I should have ignored them, I was pretty sure we hadn't gone far enough while they all thought they had gone too far up the spur. Confidence would have helped here. I was especially happy with my 5 and 6 where that were my relative fastest splits except the finish and I didn't see people going in or out of them. In fact, I think I led people to them. I just think its hilarious that I had the least "lost" time on this course. Consistently very slow and careful and I had the brightest light.
#9 was really my only panicky one, but I saw people... I was being led by people at 11 and it messed me up I think. I should have ignored them, I was pretty sure we hadn't gone far enough while they all thought they had gone too far up the spur. Confidence would have helped here. I was especially happy with my 5 and 6 where that were my relative fastest splits except the finish and I didn't see people going in or out of them. In fact, I think I led people to them. I just think its hilarious that I had the least "lost" time on this course. Consistently very slow and careful and I had the brightest light.
shoes: 2nd pair - Saucony Guide 3
Red. I walked most of it. It turns out I can actually follow a bearing when I'm walking. I felt pretty much spot on through 7, made a pretty big mistake on my way to 8, a smaller mistake on the way to 9, and I took a "longer than necessary but I knew where I was the whole time" way to 10. I'm pretty happy with it. That's definitely the best my navigation has been. I wish I could run and navigate at the same time, but that will take more practice. I really like the map.
I started very cautiously since I've been blowing the first control pretty consistently lately. Last place on 1 and 2 but not after that. I got caught picking my way through a bunch of downed trees before 5. I gradually started moving faster and was running for 6 and 7. I *really* felt awesome after 7.
I of course go on to butcher 8, but there are no circles in my route. There was plenty of slow going up the reentrant when it seemed like I had gone too far, there were too many rocks on the right, and then there was a bend in the reentrant that caused me to finally figure out my actual location. I figured out where I was and moved on. I made a route choice error on 9. I should have taken the trail down rather than the reentrant which was steep on the sides and filled with tumbleweed. I'm not sure why I started looking at the wrong pile of rocks, that was just stupid, but I realized where I was quickly and didn't walk all the way around the wrong pile of rocks first.
After those two blunders I did some careful navigating on a safe route to 10. I came out of 10 in the wrong direction. It cost me time, but I knew where I was and recovered. I'm very happy with that overall. I'm especially pleased that there are no aimless circles on my track. Now I need to be able to navigate and run at the same time like I did at 6 and 7. That was my best red course ever but it had the most walking time ever too... In theory I should be faster if I run more, not less.
Stop, Drop & Run 5k 2011
Results May 28, 2011
22:16 13/130 OA 1/61 F
5k in Monument. Fundraiser for my friend's fire department. 1st half uphill +377ft, 2nd half downhill. It was a small race. I stayed in contact with the lead women on the uphill portion and flew by on the downhill. I like running downhill on roads, its what I'm best at, though it trashes my legs so I don't do it often. I relaxed for the last 3/4 mi since I was comfortably ahead and the ball of my right foot was killing me. I'm hoping its plantar fasciitis and not some stress reaction since its not very consistent and it didn't feel it the rest of Saturday or Sunday. Now comes the hard part of training. I can always get down to a comfortable 22 range 5k on very little training and no fast training but I have to actually work to go any faster or longer...
22:16 13/130 OA 1/61 F
5k in Monument. Fundraiser for my friend's fire department. 1st half uphill +377ft, 2nd half downhill. It was a small race. I stayed in contact with the lead women on the uphill portion and flew by on the downhill. I like running downhill on roads, its what I'm best at, though it trashes my legs so I don't do it often. I relaxed for the last 3/4 mi since I was comfortably ahead and the ball of my right foot was killing me. I'm hoping its plantar fasciitis and not some stress reaction since its not very consistent and it didn't feel it the rest of Saturday or Sunday. Now comes the hard part of training. I can always get down to a comfortable 22 range 5k on very little training and no fast training but I have to actually work to go any faster or longer...
RMOC Peaceful Valley 2011
Results May 29, 2011
Red; 1:47:25 12/15
At the finish.
Red Course at Peaceful Valley. Lots of relatively minor mistakes. Navigational bobbles on 1,5,11,13,18. Larger than necessary pauses to carefully consider my location on 3, 4, 12,17 plus the ones with navigation mistakes. Ran more than Buena Vista but less than Chatfield.
Red; 1:47:25 12/15
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| Photo: Brooke Mann |
Red Course at Peaceful Valley. Lots of relatively minor mistakes. Navigational bobbles on 1,5,11,13,18. Larger than necessary pauses to carefully consider my location on 3, 4, 12,17 plus the ones with navigation mistakes. Ran more than Buena Vista but less than Chatfield.
RMOC Observatory 2011
Results June 18, 2011
2:26:09 8/12
Spent Thursday in the ER with a kidney stone, and it came out the morning of this race, so took it very easy. Walked the Orange course with a friend and taught her orienteering.
2:26:09 8/12
Spent Thursday in the ER with a kidney stone, and it came out the morning of this race, so took it very easy. Walked the Orange course with a friend and taught her orienteering.
Three Race Weekend #2
Results July 9, 2011 RMOC Frisco Night Orienteering - Green Course 3/5 1:21:29
Results July 10, 2011 Summer Roundup 12k 1:08:01 193/693 OA 31/255 F
Results July 10, 2011 RMOC Frisco Orienteering - Red Course 12/13 2:16:35
Completely exhausting weekend. Spent Saturday whitewater rafting in Vail. Then 9:30pm Saturday start for night orienteering at Frisco Peninsula. I was very slow at the beginning and totally messed up control #2, but after that I realized it wasn't a particularly hard course and I could run a lot of it. So I ran and didn't mess up after that. A very good race for me.1:21:19 4.19mi +1195ft
Left Frisco at 11:30pm and made it home in less than 2 hours. There was no traffic at all.
Raced the Summer Roundup 12k at 7am. 1:08:01, about 20 seconds faster than last year. Still no good races in Bear Creek Park. 193/693 OA 31/255 F. On my Garmin 7.33mi w/ 2220ft of ascent.
Summer Roundup 12k in Colo Spgs. Was sore before that start since I ran hard for a fair amount of the night-o and my right hip stiff from holding myself in the raft. 25sec faster than last year but that isn't saying much. I've never had a good race at bear creek and I really dread races there for some reason. Everyone who beat me at the Garden 10mi beat me at the roundup and lots of women who I beat by up to 10min at the Garden 10-miler beat me today. Same thing happened last year. I wasn't particularly motivated, but I got it done.
Embarrassed to say I walked a bit on the up. But there was a lot of up and I just couldn't conjure up the motivation to suffer. Results suggest that I am a better downhill road runner than uphill trail runner. Trail races are more fun and uphills are better for me though.
Photo: Brian McCarrie
Drove back to Frisco in time to start by 11. Red Course during the day. 2:16:35 6.29mi +1716ft. Man was I tired. I took off from the start running and got to the first hill and walked the rest of the way until it started raining near the end (and then I ran in the wrong direction, twice). I made a lot of stupid navigational mistakes too. Biggest was on 3 when I blew by a trail intersection (which I did NOT miss at night-o when I was running...). There was some nearly aimless wandering in there and way too much second guessing myself when I was right. More just plain sloppy than anything else. I think I could do very well on that map in better conditions. 4h sleep + 5h driving + 7.5mi running race with lots and lots of climb + very little food in between night-o and day-o = walking and sloppy navigation.
Night-O had both faster pace and better navigation. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say that again :-)
Results July 10, 2011 Summer Roundup 12k 1:08:01 193/693 OA 31/255 F
Results July 10, 2011 RMOC Frisco Orienteering - Red Course 12/13 2:16:35
Completely exhausting weekend. Spent Saturday whitewater rafting in Vail. Then 9:30pm Saturday start for night orienteering at Frisco Peninsula. I was very slow at the beginning and totally messed up control #2, but after that I realized it wasn't a particularly hard course and I could run a lot of it. So I ran and didn't mess up after that. A very good race for me.1:21:19 4.19mi +1195ft
Left Frisco at 11:30pm and made it home in less than 2 hours. There was no traffic at all.
Raced the Summer Roundup 12k at 7am. 1:08:01, about 20 seconds faster than last year. Still no good races in Bear Creek Park. 193/693 OA 31/255 F. On my Garmin 7.33mi w/ 2220ft of ascent.
Summer Roundup 12k in Colo Spgs. Was sore before that start since I ran hard for a fair amount of the night-o and my right hip stiff from holding myself in the raft. 25sec faster than last year but that isn't saying much. I've never had a good race at bear creek and I really dread races there for some reason. Everyone who beat me at the Garden 10mi beat me at the roundup and lots of women who I beat by up to 10min at the Garden 10-miler beat me today. Same thing happened last year. I wasn't particularly motivated, but I got it done.
Embarrassed to say I walked a bit on the up. But there was a lot of up and I just couldn't conjure up the motivation to suffer. Results suggest that I am a better downhill road runner than uphill trail runner. Trail races are more fun and uphills are better for me though.
Drove back to Frisco in time to start by 11. Red Course during the day. 2:16:35 6.29mi +1716ft. Man was I tired. I took off from the start running and got to the first hill and walked the rest of the way until it started raining near the end (and then I ran in the wrong direction, twice). I made a lot of stupid navigational mistakes too. Biggest was on 3 when I blew by a trail intersection (which I did NOT miss at night-o when I was running...). There was some nearly aimless wandering in there and way too much second guessing myself when I was right. More just plain sloppy than anything else. I think I could do very well on that map in better conditions. 4h sleep + 5h driving + 7.5mi running race with lots and lots of climb + very little food in between night-o and day-o = walking and sloppy navigation.
Night-O had both faster pace and better navigation. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say that again :-)
Fall Series #2 2011
Results October 16, 2011
5ish miles in Bear Creek Park. I've still never had a good race there. Walked up most of the hills. Legs were feeling the 5k yesterday in a much bigger way than I expected. Feeling some sort of mental block to pushing myself.
Same pace as my Summer Roundup 12k in July. I'm pretty sure I'm in better shape now than I was then, but I guess I could be wrong.
42:41; 105/381 OA 12/142 F
5ish miles in Bear Creek Park. I've still never had a good race there. Walked up most of the hills. Legs were feeling the 5k yesterday in a much bigger way than I expected. Feeling some sort of mental block to pushing myself.
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| Photo: Bob Kane |
Same pace as my Summer Roundup 12k in July. I'm pretty sure I'm in better shape now than I was then, but I guess I could be wrong.
42:41; 105/381 OA 12/142 F
Peace Officers Valor 5k 2011
Results October 15, 2011
21:49; 3.1mi +384ft
19/177 OA 5/84 F
Raced a 5k because one of my buddies told me to. Out and back along the Pikes Peak Greenway. Flat but gradual downhill on the way out / gradual uphill on the way back. I honestly felt pretty terrible the whole way. My IT band wouldn't warm up and then I felt a bunch of pain in my right hip area for no particular reason (didn't feel muscular, felt more like small kidney stone or a large cramp, ugh). Started off too fast for what I was feeling. I didn't go hard enough at the end to have stomach trouble but I'm sure I would have if I'd really pushed that last mile. Pretty disappointed with my time. I thought I was in better shape than that. Hoping it chalks up to an off day. For the past two weeks I've been able to do 4mi training runs at 7:45 pace and that seems to be right at the threshold where I start to breath hard and I feel great. But drop the pace to 7:15 and I feel miserable. I suppose I should do some training above threshold for once... I am not used to that feeling anymore.
Photo: Thomas Dewane
Started off too fast as usual. Wishful thinking pace. Miles were approx 6:30, 7:30, 7:45 (including .1). Average pace 7:03. A good portion of the slowdown was mental rather than physical.
21:49; 3.1mi +384ft
19/177 OA 5/84 F
Raced a 5k because one of my buddies told me to. Out and back along the Pikes Peak Greenway. Flat but gradual downhill on the way out / gradual uphill on the way back. I honestly felt pretty terrible the whole way. My IT band wouldn't warm up and then I felt a bunch of pain in my right hip area for no particular reason (didn't feel muscular, felt more like small kidney stone or a large cramp, ugh). Started off too fast for what I was feeling. I didn't go hard enough at the end to have stomach trouble but I'm sure I would have if I'd really pushed that last mile. Pretty disappointed with my time. I thought I was in better shape than that. Hoping it chalks up to an off day. For the past two weeks I've been able to do 4mi training runs at 7:45 pace and that seems to be right at the threshold where I start to breath hard and I feel great. But drop the pace to 7:15 and I feel miserable. I suppose I should do some training above threshold for once... I am not used to that feeling anymore.
Started off too fast as usual. Wishful thinking pace. Miles were approx 6:30, 7:30, 7:45 (including .1). Average pace 7:03. A good portion of the slowdown was mental rather than physical.
Monday, October 10, 2011
RMOC Manitou Lake NIGHT 2011
Results July 23, 2011
2:19:33; 4.67mi; +1529ft; 3/3 OA
Night-O at Manitou Lake - Dropped to the Green Course in the dark
Night Orienteering is really hard!
This is a wooded area with lots of contour detail which makes daytime orienteering difficult.
Completely messed up #4 which should have been a very easy control since it was 50m from a bend in a trail. +22-5ish minutes there aimlessly wandering around in the wrong reentrant and haphazardly relocating on the road off the wrong bend back to the same reentrant.
Took #5 (long distance) extremely cautiously after that. fence to fence to fence corner to bearing when it would have been safe to cut off a lot of corner. walked too after nearly faceplanting
I just walked on careful bearings and payed attention to the map and went pretty much right to 1-3, 6-13.
2:19:33; 4.67mi; +1529ft; 3/3 OA
Night-O at Manitou Lake - Dropped to the Green Course in the dark
Night Orienteering is really hard!
This is a wooded area with lots of contour detail which makes daytime orienteering difficult.
Completely messed up #4 which should have been a very easy control since it was 50m from a bend in a trail. +22-5ish minutes there aimlessly wandering around in the wrong reentrant and haphazardly relocating on the road off the wrong bend back to the same reentrant.
Took #5 (long distance) extremely cautiously after that. fence to fence to fence corner to bearing when it would have been safe to cut off a lot of corner. walked too after nearly faceplanting
I just walked on careful bearings and payed attention to the map and went pretty much right to 1-3, 6-13.
RMOC Rainbow Falls 2011
Results July 24, 2011
RMOC Rainbow Falls - Red Course
1:31:15; 5.64mi; +1243ft; 13/16 OA
Rainbow Falls Red. A good race for me. Mistakes on #8 (8-10min, stupid), #4 (3-4min, went past it, saw 2 controls that weren't mine), bad route to #6 (1-2min). I walked a lot more than I would have liked to since it was hot and I was getting a blister on my right big toe and just feeling generally wimpy about tripping on stuff. I probably would have just made more navigation mistakes if I ran more anyway since when I run hard I make more mistakes near the end and I didn't today.
Yep, looking at the results/graph 4,6,8 killed me and I had the most lost time. Rest was great by my standards. According to the graph, for the whole cluster of people within ~10min ahead of me, 4,6,8 were the only ones they beat me on by anything more than seconds (1,2 and 12 were not spectacular either). I'm still standing by my route for 12 and blaming my blister, heat, laziness for why that was so slow.
RMOC Rainbow Falls - Red Course
1:31:15; 5.64mi; +1243ft; 13/16 OA
Rainbow Falls Red. A good race for me. Mistakes on #8 (8-10min, stupid), #4 (3-4min, went past it, saw 2 controls that weren't mine), bad route to #6 (1-2min). I walked a lot more than I would have liked to since it was hot and I was getting a blister on my right big toe and just feeling generally wimpy about tripping on stuff. I probably would have just made more navigation mistakes if I ran more anyway since when I run hard I make more mistakes near the end and I didn't today.
Yep, looking at the results/graph 4,6,8 killed me and I had the most lost time. Rest was great by my standards. According to the graph, for the whole cluster of people within ~10min ahead of me, 4,6,8 were the only ones they beat me on by anything more than seconds (1,2 and 12 were not spectacular either). I'm still standing by my route for 12 and blaming my blister, heat, laziness for why that was so slow.
Scapegoat at Blue Mountain 2011
Results
August 14, 2011
Long Distance Orienteering in challenging terrain with a malicious course setter.
4:01:20; 12.24mi; +3328ft; 12/13 OA
I had a very interesting race... got kind a lost a few times, but that's the fun of it.
1-3 stuck with group so those were good. Fell behind in a patch of cut wood and was on my own for the rest. I need to work at picking my way through rough terrain since it appears I'm not very fast at it.
5... oops! I took the road route and actually beat some of the group I was following to (what I thought was) my attack point, but then I took my bearing from the wrong ditch! Then I got confused by a trail that wasn't on the map with a very similar bend to one that is on the map.
Got caught in an evil logging area on the way to 7. I thought I came down the middle reentrant, but I guess not...
Between 8 and 9 I caught a tree branch / pine needles directly in my left eye. Contact got caught up between my eyelid and eye and I rubbed it until I could somewhat see out of it but it hurt the rest of the way so after this point I walked with my left eye closed the whole time. Not much running after that incident. After the finish, I pulled out the rest of the contact (it seems like the branch took 1/3 of it). Not comfortable.
Came down the wrong reentrant on the way to 11 but that was a quick recovery. Was very surprised that I caught up to Nic at this point.
12 was a horrible disaster. It looks like I was good until about halfway through my bearing when I veered off 90 degrees, and then another 90 degrees. What did I do that for? I think that was when I saw Katie relocating and panicked that I must me going in the wrong direction too. The second turn was to go to the road to relocate but then I found 15.... Not at all where I thought I was! Ugh!
Started off on a bad bearing to 14. Way too low.
I thought it would be easier to find 15 again since I had already been there, but it was a bit nerve wracking.
August 14, 2011
Long Distance Orienteering in challenging terrain with a malicious course setter.
4:01:20; 12.24mi; +3328ft; 12/13 OA
I had a very interesting race... got kind a lost a few times, but that's the fun of it.
1-3 stuck with group so those were good. Fell behind in a patch of cut wood and was on my own for the rest. I need to work at picking my way through rough terrain since it appears I'm not very fast at it.
5... oops! I took the road route and actually beat some of the group I was following to (what I thought was) my attack point, but then I took my bearing from the wrong ditch! Then I got confused by a trail that wasn't on the map with a very similar bend to one that is on the map.
Got caught in an evil logging area on the way to 7. I thought I came down the middle reentrant, but I guess not...
Between 8 and 9 I caught a tree branch / pine needles directly in my left eye. Contact got caught up between my eyelid and eye and I rubbed it until I could somewhat see out of it but it hurt the rest of the way so after this point I walked with my left eye closed the whole time. Not much running after that incident. After the finish, I pulled out the rest of the contact (it seems like the branch took 1/3 of it). Not comfortable.
Came down the wrong reentrant on the way to 11 but that was a quick recovery. Was very surprised that I caught up to Nic at this point.
12 was a horrible disaster. It looks like I was good until about halfway through my bearing when I veered off 90 degrees, and then another 90 degrees. What did I do that for? I think that was when I saw Katie relocating and panicked that I must me going in the wrong direction too. The second turn was to go to the road to relocate but then I found 15.... Not at all where I thought I was! Ugh!
Started off on a bad bearing to 14. Way too low.
I thought it would be easier to find 15 again since I had already been there, but it was a bit nerve wracking.
Colorado Orienteering Championships 2011
Results
October 8, 2011
1:21:50; 4.97mi; +1273ft; 6/15OA 1/5F
Photo: Randy Peel
Red Course at Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch in Elbert, CO. Basically just followed footprints in the 6-8" of snow the whole way. I had a lot fun playing in the snow. Two good races in a row. Both of them had easier navigation than usual. Cherry Creek was wide open. Peaceful Valley I could follow footprints and I did a decent job of following the right ones.
This might be a first. I wasn't the slowest on any of the controls. Nearly went past the proper reentrant for 1, but caught it before it was a disaster. Confused myself on 3 and had to stop and look around to make sure I was where I hoped I was. Caught up to Goril at 9. Deviated from footprints to 10- was very confused by a set of car tracks that weren't on the map and stopped. Made my own route again on 12, not the best choice since I got caught in some weeds. Caught back up to Goril at 14. A few other pauses to make sure I knew where I was in case the footprints diverged so I could stay on the right track.
October 8, 2011
1:21:50; 4.97mi; +1273ft; 6/15OA 1/5F
Red Course at Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch in Elbert, CO. Basically just followed footprints in the 6-8" of snow the whole way. I had a lot fun playing in the snow. Two good races in a row. Both of them had easier navigation than usual. Cherry Creek was wide open. Peaceful Valley I could follow footprints and I did a decent job of following the right ones.
This might be a first. I wasn't the slowest on any of the controls. Nearly went past the proper reentrant for 1, but caught it before it was a disaster. Confused myself on 3 and had to stop and look around to make sure I was where I hoped I was. Caught up to Goril at 9. Deviated from footprints to 10- was very confused by a set of car tracks that weren't on the map and stopped. Made my own route again on 12, not the best choice since I got caught in some weeds. Caught back up to Goril at 14. A few other pauses to make sure I knew where I was in case the footprints diverged so I could stay on the right track.
Monday, October 3, 2011
RMOC Cherry Creek 2011
Garden of the Gods 10 mile 2011
Results June 12, 2011
Garden 10 miler! 2 seconds faster than last year, actually :-) 1:17:52. I thought for sure my fitness was worse than last year. I think I just pushed myself harder. That's with a 10min last mile and a 9min penultimate mile since my stomach was very close to rebelling on me and I barely held it in until the finish line (average pace 7:47). Somehow I still negative splitted by 30 sec. I guess that makes sense with more downhill in the 2nd half. I like downhill. I was hot. My stomach was my limiting factor here in the last 2 miles. That seems to happen frequently, especially when I'm a little out of shape. I'm jealous of all the ironstomachs out there. The only food in the 12 hours before the race was gatorade and water and a gu.
187/1564 OA, 29/691 F, 8/41 F20-24 (but got 4th award since 4 were top 10). One of my last races as a 20-24.
Garden 10 miler! 2 seconds faster than last year, actually :-) 1:17:52. I thought for sure my fitness was worse than last year. I think I just pushed myself harder. That's with a 10min last mile and a 9min penultimate mile since my stomach was very close to rebelling on me and I barely held it in until the finish line (average pace 7:47). Somehow I still negative splitted by 30 sec. I guess that makes sense with more downhill in the 2nd half. I like downhill. I was hot. My stomach was my limiting factor here in the last 2 miles. That seems to happen frequently, especially when I'm a little out of shape. I'm jealous of all the ironstomachs out there. The only food in the 12 hours before the race was gatorade and water and a gu.
187/1564 OA, 29/691 F, 8/41 F20-24 (but got 4th award since 4 were top 10). One of my last races as a 20-24.
Fall Series #1 2011
Results October 2, 2011
I love the Pikes Peak Road Runners' Fall Series. The race director is crazy in the best of ways.
My race didn't go quite the way I had hoped this year, but it happens. I have 3 more races to move up a few positions. The first section was was 2 miles on flat nontechnical trail (13:20ish, about what I wanted but probably too fast for what I felt on that day and my lack of higher intensity training), then 0.8mi in Monument Creek, then another 0.8 miles with a couple short steep climbs in wet shoes to the finish. I bear crawled both of them.
Fighting my way through the creek in the middle of a bunch of guys.
Things fell apart a bit when I started dry heaving right after I got into the creek. It really took me by surprise and required several minutes of walking to keep things under control. The Stomach was still felt pretty iffy after I got out of the creek so I didn't run down as many people as I was hoping to. Someone told me I looked deathly pale afterward. Knee felt fine. Legs felt pretty good. Breathing was heavier than I thought it should be for the effort level. Stomach was ridiculous... Its not unusual for the Stomach to be my limiting factor, but that is usually closer to the end. I can't for the life of me figure out what it will tolerate. I was 5th woman into the creek (but only about 20sec behind 1st), 13th woman out, and 10th at the finish from my count. Placed very slightly higher than last year, but I thought I could move up more. I've been flirting with a cold for the past week, so its time to rest and recover.
93/278OA 10/146F 2/25 F25-29 3.67mi +446ft climb, 32:59
Briefly out of the creek into squishy sand.
Photo: Tim Bergsten, PikesPeakSports.US
I love the Pikes Peak Road Runners' Fall Series. The race director is crazy in the best of ways.
My race didn't go quite the way I had hoped this year, but it happens. I have 3 more races to move up a few positions. The first section was was 2 miles on flat nontechnical trail (13:20ish, about what I wanted but probably too fast for what I felt on that day and my lack of higher intensity training), then 0.8mi in Monument Creek, then another 0.8 miles with a couple short steep climbs in wet shoes to the finish. I bear crawled both of them.
Fighting my way through the creek in the middle of a bunch of guys.
Things fell apart a bit when I started dry heaving right after I got into the creek. It really took me by surprise and required several minutes of walking to keep things under control. The Stomach was still felt pretty iffy after I got out of the creek so I didn't run down as many people as I was hoping to. Someone told me I looked deathly pale afterward. Knee felt fine. Legs felt pretty good. Breathing was heavier than I thought it should be for the effort level. Stomach was ridiculous... Its not unusual for the Stomach to be my limiting factor, but that is usually closer to the end. I can't for the life of me figure out what it will tolerate. I was 5th woman into the creek (but only about 20sec behind 1st), 13th woman out, and 10th at the finish from my count. Placed very slightly higher than last year, but I thought I could move up more. I've been flirting with a cold for the past week, so its time to rest and recover.
93/278OA 10/146F 2/25 F25-29 3.67mi +446ft climb, 32:59
Briefly out of the creek into squishy sand.
Pikes Peak Ascent 2011
Results August 20, 2011
Pikes!! 21min faster than last year but I still have room for improvement. 3:47:48. 368/1707 OA, 60/531 F, 10/66 F25-29 (my birthday is 2 weeks too early).
Shorts and tri top; didn't carry anything warm. It was hot.
12oz handheld amphipod bottle. Breakfast: 1/2 banana, 1/2c almond milk, strong black tea. 10min pre-race: 1 tri-berry gu. During race: 6 raspberry powerbar gummies before Barr Camp; 2 cola flavored ones after. I didn't feel like eating in the second half and just put one in the side of my cheek and it took about an hour to get each one down. Yuck. Refilled water bottle with water and added pieces of nuun electrolyte tablets. Whatever was left in my stomach was regurgitated right after the finish line as usual for hard races for me.
A buddy of mine passed me in the flatter section between No Name and Bob's Road (Mile 5ish) and I thought that I would never see him again. He passed me when I was feeling good on the flat section that was my strong suit. However, just after the 2mi to go sign (Mile 11ish) there is a really long switchback and I thought I saw the back of his shirt on the other side 1/3mi away. I had just finished a really awful mile, but I felt better all of the sudden and started gaining. Got it with 3 switchbacks to go and finished ahead by 9 seconds. That hurt, but there is lots of room for improvement and I will be back next year. I predicted it would be a close race, but that was crazy.
I felt pretty good on the W's. I think I went a little too hard because I don't think I was running as fast as I would have liked to on the first flatter section. I didn't miss it by much since I felt much better on the second flatter section. After Barr Camp I felt gradually worse until 4-to-go when I felt horrible. I felt horrible until about 2-to-go and then I felt better. No good reason, I just don't really like that section of the course. My muscles were my speed limiter, not my lungs but they didn't cramp as badly as they did last year. My hamstrings and lower back just gradually got more and more sore as the race went on. I ran more this year than last year above treeline. I made an effort to run at least a few steps on all of the flatter switchbacks above Barr Camp except for the period where I was feeling awful when there was no running. I may have slightly improved my hiking pace over last year as well.
This year: Barr Camp 1:49; Barr Camp to A-frame :49; A-frame to top 1:09 = 3:47
Last year: Barr Camp 2:00; Barr Camp to A-frame :50; A-frame to top 1:19 = 4:09
Training on Pikes. For 2011, I didn't have much more training volume than 2010, but I did a lot more hiking at high altitude.
In preparation for next year, I will make a good effort to include more core/strength/stretching. I know it will help me a lot... I think I raced a good race for where I am. I could improve the nutrition a bit. I usually like the powerbar gummies but I really didn't want them after Barr Camp and had no other options. My water w/ nuun worked well (I think my stomach didn't cooperate at the top because I didn't drink enough above treeline). I thought about carrying a bigger water bottle this year and maybe I should have. My little one is more comfortable though. I am well aware that I would be faster if I trained more consistently...
Pikes!! 21min faster than last year but I still have room for improvement. 3:47:48. 368/1707 OA, 60/531 F, 10/66 F25-29 (my birthday is 2 weeks too early).
Shorts and tri top; didn't carry anything warm. It was hot.
12oz handheld amphipod bottle. Breakfast: 1/2 banana, 1/2c almond milk, strong black tea. 10min pre-race: 1 tri-berry gu. During race: 6 raspberry powerbar gummies before Barr Camp; 2 cola flavored ones after. I didn't feel like eating in the second half and just put one in the side of my cheek and it took about an hour to get each one down. Yuck. Refilled water bottle with water and added pieces of nuun electrolyte tablets. Whatever was left in my stomach was regurgitated right after the finish line as usual for hard races for me.
A buddy of mine passed me in the flatter section between No Name and Bob's Road (Mile 5ish) and I thought that I would never see him again. He passed me when I was feeling good on the flat section that was my strong suit. However, just after the 2mi to go sign (Mile 11ish) there is a really long switchback and I thought I saw the back of his shirt on the other side 1/3mi away. I had just finished a really awful mile, but I felt better all of the sudden and started gaining. Got it with 3 switchbacks to go and finished ahead by 9 seconds. That hurt, but there is lots of room for improvement and I will be back next year. I predicted it would be a close race, but that was crazy.
I felt pretty good on the W's. I think I went a little too hard because I don't think I was running as fast as I would have liked to on the first flatter section. I didn't miss it by much since I felt much better on the second flatter section. After Barr Camp I felt gradually worse until 4-to-go when I felt horrible. I felt horrible until about 2-to-go and then I felt better. No good reason, I just don't really like that section of the course. My muscles were my speed limiter, not my lungs but they didn't cramp as badly as they did last year. My hamstrings and lower back just gradually got more and more sore as the race went on. I ran more this year than last year above treeline. I made an effort to run at least a few steps on all of the flatter switchbacks above Barr Camp except for the period where I was feeling awful when there was no running. I may have slightly improved my hiking pace over last year as well.
This year: Barr Camp 1:49; Barr Camp to A-frame :49; A-frame to top 1:09 = 3:47
Last year: Barr Camp 2:00; Barr Camp to A-frame :50; A-frame to top 1:19 = 4:09
Training on Pikes. For 2011, I didn't have much more training volume than 2010, but I did a lot more hiking at high altitude.
In preparation for next year, I will make a good effort to include more core/strength/stretching. I know it will help me a lot... I think I raced a good race for where I am. I could improve the nutrition a bit. I usually like the powerbar gummies but I really didn't want them after Barr Camp and had no other options. My water w/ nuun worked well (I think my stomach didn't cooperate at the top because I didn't drink enough above treeline). I thought about carrying a bigger water bottle this year and maybe I should have. My little one is more comfortable though. I am well aware that I would be faster if I trained more consistently...
Breck Crest 2011
Results September 4, 2011
Labor Day Weekend was quite the adventure this year!
Friday night, I drove to Crestone, CO to camp and Saturday morning hiked about 10miles with 5k of climbing to South Crestone Lake and back. Swam to the island in the middle of the lake (cold), ate lunch, and hiked back. I had a lot of fun hanging out with some awesome super-speedy ultra-runner guys recovering from Leadville. I'd be happy to do something like that with them again if they go slowly enough for me to keep up. My right toe started to hurt on the way down.
Near the trail on the way up.
Here is South Crestone Lake with Mt Adams in the background.
Saturday after the hike, I headed to Breckenridge for the Breck Crest Half Marathon. I woke up a little later than I meant to so no time to cook anything for breakfast. No coffee :-( Sore glutes and quads from the hike yesterday. Frost on my tent/car. I just drank a liter of gatorade on the way to the start. The plan was to push myself but not too hard since I can only take that about twice a year.
The opening road section went quickly. As soon as we turned on the trail I started walking the steeper pitches even though I seemed to the be the only one doing that and a never ending procession of people passed me. By the mile 4.5 aid station I think most everyone that was going to pass me had passed me. I continued to walk all the steep pitches and then I walked everything except downhill above treeline. I enjoyed the views instead of really pushing. The top of the race was just before the mile 7 aid station. 1h49 to the aid station. Here most people turned to do the marathon. Next year. I ate an entire package of shot blocks and drank 40oz of water on the way up. From miles 7 to 11 it was steep descending on a rocky road that I would not take my car up if my life depended on it. I had a ton of fun bombing down it. I have trouble with tight switchbacks, but these rocky sweeping turns were just fine. I put 20min on the girl from New York that was with me at the top. There was at last one mile under 7min in there. I thought I had a shot at going under 2:30 until mile 11. At mile 11 the trail switched to twisty turny singletrack that was not 100% downhill so I relaxed a little bit and jogged it in.
The winning woman came in at 2:22 (13min ahead). I was 2nd in my age group and 4th women. I suppose 2:35:13 a new half marathon PR by 1h12 since the only one I've done before is Pikes. I'm thinking I could take another hour off if I run a flat course at lower altitude.
I love finding fast-guy race reports for the races I do. Here is the one I found from 2008. 29min ahead of me on the up, 2min ahead of me on the down (with a small wrong turn).
A week later I took the nail polish off the toe that was bugging me. Here is the result:
Labor Day Weekend was quite the adventure this year!
Friday night, I drove to Crestone, CO to camp and Saturday morning hiked about 10miles with 5k of climbing to South Crestone Lake and back. Swam to the island in the middle of the lake (cold), ate lunch, and hiked back. I had a lot of fun hanging out with some awesome super-speedy ultra-runner guys recovering from Leadville. I'd be happy to do something like that with them again if they go slowly enough for me to keep up. My right toe started to hurt on the way down.
Near the trail on the way up.
Here is South Crestone Lake with Mt Adams in the background.
Saturday after the hike, I headed to Breckenridge for the Breck Crest Half Marathon. I woke up a little later than I meant to so no time to cook anything for breakfast. No coffee :-( Sore glutes and quads from the hike yesterday. Frost on my tent/car. I just drank a liter of gatorade on the way to the start. The plan was to push myself but not too hard since I can only take that about twice a year.
The opening road section went quickly. As soon as we turned on the trail I started walking the steeper pitches even though I seemed to the be the only one doing that and a never ending procession of people passed me. By the mile 4.5 aid station I think most everyone that was going to pass me had passed me. I continued to walk all the steep pitches and then I walked everything except downhill above treeline. I enjoyed the views instead of really pushing. The top of the race was just before the mile 7 aid station. 1h49 to the aid station. Here most people turned to do the marathon. Next year. I ate an entire package of shot blocks and drank 40oz of water on the way up. From miles 7 to 11 it was steep descending on a rocky road that I would not take my car up if my life depended on it. I had a ton of fun bombing down it. I have trouble with tight switchbacks, but these rocky sweeping turns were just fine. I put 20min on the girl from New York that was with me at the top. There was at last one mile under 7min in there. I thought I had a shot at going under 2:30 until mile 11. At mile 11 the trail switched to twisty turny singletrack that was not 100% downhill so I relaxed a little bit and jogged it in.
The winning woman came in at 2:22 (13min ahead). I was 2nd in my age group and 4th women. I suppose 2:35:13 a new half marathon PR by 1h12 since the only one I've done before is Pikes. I'm thinking I could take another hour off if I run a flat course at lower altitude.
I love finding fast-guy race reports for the races I do. Here is the one I found from 2008. 29min ahead of me on the up, 2min ahead of me on the down (with a small wrong turn).
A week later I took the nail polish off the toe that was bugging me. Here is the result:
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Pony Express 2011
Results September 18, 2011
The Pony Express has been on my radar for a while now. My colleague is the race director. For $6, you get 15 miles of beautiful singletrack around Rampart Reservoir with views of Pikes Peak in the background. Before this year, I didn't have enough injury-free miles in my legs to be able to run that far. It was my longest run ever.
I drove up an hour early and helped with registration. Woke up too late to make coffee but I drank a large bottle of powerade before the race. The race starts with a nice downhill to get to the reservoir, so I was pretty far up front when we got to the reservoir. I made a point to make room for the guys behind me to pass as the trail started rolling. I settled into my spot around mile 3. Somebody at the aid station told me that I was second woman. Ok, good spot to be.
Around mile 6.5, the 9,000ft altitude started to get to me and I accidentally ran off course. The course was minimally marked with flour, but the main direction was to keep the reservoir on your right at all times. I took some spur trail away from the reservoir and kept on running until I realized I hadn't seen the reservoir in about 5 minutes. !%$&^! Ran back. It was fairly obvious where I should have gone and there were other runners in the area. Ran 4.5 miles at 10k effort passing people right and left. When we turned onto the dam for a brief road section, things fell apart.
At about mile 10 on the course (mile 11 for me after my mistake), my legs had had enough. Inner thighs just gave out on me. I went from hammering out 8 minute miles and catching up to groups of people to run/walking 11 minute miles. Some of the people I flown by worked their way back to me and passed me. I didn't respond. I stayed ahead of the old lady that I passed when I first got back on course and that was my only goal at that point.
I had a wonderful time, learned many things, and got in a great workout. First, I need to pay attention to where I am going. In retrospect, the trail didn't look quite right within a quarter mile, but I kept on going. Second, no 10k efforts when there are 8.5mi left to run (after already running 7.5). If I go off course, I go off course and I can't make up that time. I will be back for some redemption next year. I have about 15min of easy gains from my 10min nav error followed by 5+ minute pacing mistake.
The Pony Express has been on my radar for a while now. My colleague is the race director. For $6, you get 15 miles of beautiful singletrack around Rampart Reservoir with views of Pikes Peak in the background. Before this year, I didn't have enough injury-free miles in my legs to be able to run that far. It was my longest run ever.
| Photo: Thomas Dewane |
I drove up an hour early and helped with registration. Woke up too late to make coffee but I drank a large bottle of powerade before the race. The race starts with a nice downhill to get to the reservoir, so I was pretty far up front when we got to the reservoir. I made a point to make room for the guys behind me to pass as the trail started rolling. I settled into my spot around mile 3. Somebody at the aid station told me that I was second woman. Ok, good spot to be.
Around mile 6.5, the 9,000ft altitude started to get to me and I accidentally ran off course. The course was minimally marked with flour, but the main direction was to keep the reservoir on your right at all times. I took some spur trail away from the reservoir and kept on running until I realized I hadn't seen the reservoir in about 5 minutes. !%$&^! Ran back. It was fairly obvious where I should have gone and there were other runners in the area. Ran 4.5 miles at 10k effort passing people right and left. When we turned onto the dam for a brief road section, things fell apart.
At about mile 10 on the course (mile 11 for me after my mistake), my legs had had enough. Inner thighs just gave out on me. I went from hammering out 8 minute miles and catching up to groups of people to run/walking 11 minute miles. Some of the people I flown by worked their way back to me and passed me. I didn't respond. I stayed ahead of the old lady that I passed when I first got back on course and that was my only goal at that point.
I had a wonderful time, learned many things, and got in a great workout. First, I need to pay attention to where I am going. In retrospect, the trail didn't look quite right within a quarter mile, but I kept on going. Second, no 10k efforts when there are 8.5mi left to run (after already running 7.5). If I go off course, I go off course and I can't make up that time. I will be back for some redemption next year. I have about 15min of easy gains from my 10min nav error followed by 5+ minute pacing mistake.
2010 Races
2010 Races and Results
Edit: I remembered. I did a little 5k at Palmer Park with my dad on May 8 or 9. Can't figure out what it was or if result are posted.
- January 23, 2010; Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2; 1.5mi run, 3.6mi bike, 2.5mi run, 7.2mi bike, sprint @Cherry Creek Park; 1:05:43 18/111 F, 94/246 OA
- February 6, 2010; February Nielsen Challenge; 2mi run (flat nontechnical trail); 13:48
- February 13, 2010; Winter Series #3; 10mi; 1:22:50 12/93 F, 74/221 OA
- February 20, 2010; Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #3; 10mi bike, 4mi run (wintery conditions, used the roadie anyways, was one of about two people to do so); 1:14:30 2/60 F 46/173 OA
- March 6, 2010; March Nielsen Challenge; 2mi run; 13:40
- April 24, 2010; Victims' Rights 5k; 5k hilly nontechnical trail; 23:47 1/34 F 6/73 OA
- May 1, 2010; Falcon Groundspeed Triathlon; 750m swim, 15mi bike, 5k run; 1:31:49 3/55 F 29/207 OA
- May 8 or 9. 5k at Palmer Park. Can't remember time.
- May 16, 2010; Littlefoot Triathlon; 800m swim, 20k bike, 5k run; 1:16:40 11/66 F 59/182 OA
- May 30, 2010; RMOC Peaceful Valley; Orienteering - Brown; 1:29:52 3/5
- June 13, 2010; Garden of the Gods 10mi: 10mi run (hilly road); 1:17:54 34/784 F 251/1790 OA
- June 19, 2010; RMOC Observatory; Orienteering - Green; 2:56:05 8/9
- June 29, 2010; Springs Splash and Dash #2; 900yd swim, 4mi run; 42:58 1/5 F 5/11 OA
- July 3, 2010; July Nielsen Challenge; 2mi run; 13:13
- July 11, 2010; Summer Roundup; 12k run; 1:08:26 30/262 F 195/665 OA
- July 17, 2010; RMOC O-fest Saylor Park; Orienteering - Red; DNF, lost, over my head
- July 18, 2010; RMOC O-fest Manitou Lake; Orienteering - Red; 2:28:29 24/24
- July 19, 2010; RMOC O-fest Manitou Lake Night; Night Orienteering - Red; DNF, lost, way over my head
- August 1, 2010; Tri for the Cure; 750m swim, 18.3k bike, 5k run; 1:14:20 10/2706 F/OA
- August 7, 2010; August Nielsen Challenge; 2mi run; 14:20
- August 21, 2010; Pikes Peak Ascent; 13.3mi "run"; 4:09:42 148/549 F 704/1415 OA (2:00 start to Barr Camp; 0:50 Barr Camp to A-Frame; 1:19 A-Frame to top)
- September 11, 2010; RMOC - Fox Run; Orienteering - Green; 1:29:02 3/5
- September 12, 2010; Our Great Race; 5k; 23:04 1/16 F 14/40 OA
- September 18, 2010; Thunderstorm 5k; 23:49 2/126 F 18/250 OA
- September 19, 2010; RMOC - Bear Creek Lake; Orienteering - Green; 1:29:02 3/13
- October 2, 2010; October Nielsen Challenge 2mi; 13:39
- October 3, 2010; Fall Series #1 3.5ish mi technical trail/creek; 31:29 12/171 F 130/394 OA
- October 10, 2010; RMOC - Kelly Dahl; Orienteering - Green; 1:34:47 5/15
- October 17, 2010; Fall Series #2 5ish mi technical trail; 43:54 18/150 F 131/361 OA
- October 23, 2010; RMOC - Chatfield; Orienteering - Red; 1:45:00 19/25
- October 31, 2010; Fall Series #3 6ish mi technical trail; 53:28 16/144 F 133/358 OA
- November 6, 2010; November Nielsen Challenge 2mi; 14:19
- November 14, 2010; Fall Seris #4 7ish mi technical trail; 1:00:30 9/143 F 92/359 OA
- November 20, 2010: Turkey Trot Predict 5k; 23:30
- November 26, 2010; Briargate YMCA Turkey Trot 5k (short course- 2.86 on my gps); 17/917 F 118/1745 OA 19:53
- December 4, 2010; Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #1; 4mi run, 10mi bike; 1:03:14 5/104 F 34/250 OA
- December 19, 2010; Frisco Cup #1; 8k XC Ski (skate); 46:06 3/14 of the people on the 8k (most did 16k and pretty much all of them beat me)
Edit: I remembered. I did a little 5k at Palmer Park with my dad on May 8 or 9. Can't figure out what it was or if result are posted.
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