Mountain Chile Cha Cha Half Mary Recap

On to the third recap of four half marathons this month: Mountain Chile Cha Cha Half Marathon in Pagosa Springs, CO - 7,200 ft elevation.

The boyfriend and I loaded the pups into the car and hit the road on Thursday after to work (22nd) to drive to Alamosa, CO. The pups were going to stay with his folks for the weekend while we enjoyed a tiny mini vacation in Pagosa. Seeing his hometown was great! The next morning we patted the dogs on the head and hopped in the car - Pagosa bound! It is an absolutely beautiful drive through the mountains, and I found several little towns that I would love to move to when I retire (or win the lottery...or actually both, don't think I can afford it without the lottery)!

We stopped at the scenic overlook by Treasure Falls and admired the view from the top. It's stunning out there.

We checked into our falsely advertised hotel, bought some wine, and spent some time at the pool and hot tub that we had all to ourselves after having a mexican dinner in town over looking the San Juan river! Run on sentences are my FAVORITE! Unlike the Mountain Chile Cha Cha Race! (See what I did there?!)

So onto the actual race.

We woke up and head to the parking lot with enough time to get ourselves together, I had time to complain and whimper about how I did NOT want to run the half, that I might see him in 45 min after I was done with the 5k, etc etc...then BOOM, we were off! Uphill almost immediately.....how fun!

Yeah right.

I told S to charge on ahead and have a great run and I stayed in the back of the pack and settled in for an extremely long day. I had to start walking pretty early on to try to maintain some level of breathing without hyperventilating. The course goes up, up, up, then finally levels out a little bit, then you get a small downhill, then a fake me out where you get to watch the 5K runners peel off to the finish while a volunteer tells you to head back UP the switchbacks.

So up, up, up I went again...trying to find some kind of groove (I didn't) and trying to enjoy being out with nature. I think I enjoyed this run for MAYBE a mile. Maybe.

I totally misunderstood the stated elevation gain and loss, because I thought the race claimed to have a net change of 2,300ft. Turns out, that's the amount for just the elevation GAIN. Ugh.

That elevation profile does not look like what my Garmin has. If I figure out how to put that on here I will. And you will see. It was harder than it looks.

So around some later point in the race (blurry), the runners split off from the 10k finishers (I had a slight thought of just ending my race there) and head...you guess it, UP. AGAIN. Lord save me.

It was the most difficult of uphills I have encountered since Bear Mountain. I was on my way up the tiny little single track, which provides zero visibility as to if anyone is about to come barreling down from the top. That's about when all the front runners started their way down and I clung to the side of the trail for dear life for fear of plummeting to my death. At least it would have ended the race.

I have pictures somewhere. I'll have to upload them and then you can at least see the beautiful view I had from the top.

After you finally finish going uphill, it levels off briefly before you head on a pretty steadily steep downhill. Then you get to another mildly flat area, then an aid station for the turn around point. Then you get to go exactly where you just can from, so some brutally, unforgiving uphills. I about died for real. My stomach was sore from breathing so hard.

It started raining when I was up on the top of the mountain trying to pick my way back down. I feared that I would get struck by lightning and only one man was behind me in the race so I wouldn't be found right away. Not that it would matter I guess...luckily I didn't see any lightning.

I finally made it to the switchbacks from the beginning of the race, and I was finally running a bit. An older gentleman caught up to me and I was ready to just let him fly by, but he was going to have non of that. He badgered me that I couldn't let an old geezer beat me. Oh but I could. I was totally fine with that. I ran with him down the final switchbacks, and we could hear the music down at the festival. He was hauling ass. It seemed like we were running faster than my normal running speed. It took most of my remaining fibers to keep up with him.

We made it down to the final stretch and S was waiting with the camera ready. I (maybe) have never been so happy to be at the finish line. It was THE hardest half marathon I have ever run. And all I got was some chile pepper beads and socks that I probably won't wear.

And memories.

And very, very sore legs.

We went to the hot springs that night and I think it really helped my body deal with everything.

So there you have it. Half marathon three of four for August.

I would recommend it. But it is not for the faint of heart.

Here are some gems from the ride home.

Inaugural Rocky Mountain Half Marathon Recap

So.

Around the 13th, I searched online to just see if there were any half marathons happening on Saturday (17th) to match up with the 13 miles I was scheduled to run...you know....because racing is so much "easier" than forcing yourself to trudge through 13 miles alone.  I was surprised when I found a half marathon in Estes Park, which is an hour and a half away. I seem to know about most races that are in the area, but this one I hadn't even heard a little tiny detail about. After thinking about it for..oh..two seconds, I signed up.

Then I realized it was at 6am and that I would have to wake up at 3:30am. Ugh.

Instead of trying to pick up my packet Saturday morning before the race, because the organization advised against it (even though there was no line and no real hassle to doing it that morning) I decided to pay $10 in addition to my very high race fee just to get my bib in downtown Denver. Where they already had a packet pickup anyway. If you have to have people stand there just in case people pick it up early, don't be a dick and charge $10 when I already paid you $100. That's just rude. On top of that, don't let me pay that much money, get all the way to the packet pick up and then say you are sold out of the race shirt size I need. No no. I paid $100 to get the right size shirt. Jerks.

Anyway...(this whole recap will be a rant)...The shirt was decent enough, and so I spent my night doing the normal race prep stuff. Filling my water bottle, practicing using the hydrapouch because the race was cup free (btw I hate that thing. No matter how hard I tried to close the opening, I still managed to spill it on me), grab my nutrition, ipod, gps watch, etc. I laid out my clothes and went to bed early. And woke up promptly at 3:25.

I was suprised at how quickly I made it out the door and I was on my way in the pitch darkness of the wee morning to Estes Park...praying the wildlife stayed off the road. I made it to the Stanley without much problem and had enough time to gather my things, find the potty john, layer up my clothes because it was 40 degrees...etc. I popped some tylenol for my shoulder (long story short, my shoulder got mildy separated and was still pretty fatigued and sore on race day) and lined up with just enough time for the start.

It was pretty uneventful. Until we ran about a tenth of a mile and saw a whole bunch of elk just chillin at the gas station. It was THE highlight of my day. For real.

I had on my long capris, a short sleeve and long sleeve shirt, gloves, and ear warmers, and I was still pretty dang cold for most of the race. The course begins by going around Estes Lake and then up this hill, and then up this other hill for M.I.L.E.S. I'm not even exaggerating. It sucked. So I'm trudging up this awful, long hill, chatting with a few of the people around me about how awful it was, admiring the view every once in a while, and mainly just suffering. Walking and suffering. My legs were burning from GTIS Half and I had nothing in the tank to push me up that four mile long hill.

Eventually there was a downhill, and that helped but for the most part the damage had been done. I was sick of passing 'aid stations' with only one volunteer (if that, some had nobody), sick of being pushed off the road by passing cars because the race didn't allow hardly any room on the road...sick of freezing...

When I finally came around to the finish line, I was over it all. The runners have to run up this stupid dirt path, a short steep bump with rocks and whatnot, and over to the finishers shoot. It just seemed very poorly thought out. And rounding the corner there was extremely dangerous with traffic. I'm honestly surprised someone didn't get hurt.

Finally, after finishing, I walked over to the tent for some water and food and the selection was grim. I grabbed a piece of string cheese that was hot (gross!), filled up my water bottle with the jug they had (because again, even at the finish line, no water bottles or cups or anything...unless you wanted warm chocolate milk). I was underwhelmed, so I walked back to the car and headed back to my area. Where I stopped at Costco. Because going into a warehouse store after running a half marathon is a blast! Truthfully, I had to pee and Costco was on the way...so I got to kill two birds with one stone :) Then I went to the big liquor store by Costco to buy wine bottles in an attempt to fill up our always empty wine cabinet. I don't know how that keeps happening...honestly...I don't.

After I got home I took a cold epsom salt bath, a hot shower, and crawled into bed. You might remember that last time I mentioned I wouldn't be able to nap until 4, but sadly and luckily, the krav maga thing got canceled so I got to try and rest.

Which wasn't very successful. My muscles always make me too uncomfortable to sleep after a race.

So that's the recap. I won't do that race again. But at least I got a medal, which is more than I can say for the Mountain Chile Cha Cha I did this past weekend. Recap on that bad boy to come.

Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Recap



Ugh....heel striking.



Look at how my foot lands. Just awful! I need to work on that.

.

 Cruising into the finish



Only decent picture of the day!



Oh my...what can I really say about those pictures?! How horrific! I thought I would share the awfulness anyway.

I seem to take the worst race photos. I always look twenty pounds heavier and just blergh.

So onto the actual race report! 

I woke up at 4:25am, threw my running gear on, grabbed my breakfast and gear and hopped in the car to drive the hour to Idaho Springs.  

I got to IS and parked and realized that I was a little late to meet 3W's group of runners at the football field (and I wasn't sure where the field was...), so I hopped on the shuttle that takes runners to the start line area in Georgetown. I went to the packet pickup area by the start and gave them my name, but I wasn't in there. They told me to check at the other table that had the official list, and I wasn't on there either. I explained the situation of how I won the free entry from 3W Races (3Wraces.com) but the RD came over and told me that wasn't possible since they allow absolutely NO TRANSFERS. Okay then...I'm without a bib, I don't know who any of the 3W people are....but I woke up at 430am to come out here and run a race. Luckily, one of the ladies at the table took pity on me and when the RD walked away, she gave me a bib, telling me that everyone is out here to have fun anyway. NBD. I was extremely grateful.

I did eventually find some of the 3W group before the start of the race, and we chatted about how we were all undertrained for this distance. Comforting. The start time got closer and I decided to line myself up by the back of the pack (like waaay back...behind the 3 hour pace group). I didn't have my garmin with me, so I decided I would just enjoy the run and try to survive the distance.

The first two miles take you around and through Georgetown, which is very quaint and scenic along the creek. A few early risers came out of their houses to cheer on the runners, but I just tuned into my ipod and some running podcasts and cruised for a while.

I had the best time. Probably my favorite half marathon. Which is strange...because I wasn't very prepared for it, I was freezing for a few hours before the race started, I felt nauseous 99% of the race, and I was out there completely alone. But I had THE BEST TIME.

Anyway, so after the race, I hung out at the 3W tent for a while and then made the hour drive back home. I felt pretty decent after the race and ran some errands the rest of the day and then hit a friend's birthday party.

So this week, on Tuesday, I decided to go to Anchor for the workout but ended up tweaking my already pissed off shoulder. Thank goodness I already had a PT appointment set up for the following day (ironically, I thought about cancelling the appointment since my spine and hip have been doing really well lately...good thing I didn't cancel it!). I went to see him yesterday and it is one of the most painful appointments I've had in the five + months that I've been seeing him. He thinks I somehow slightly separated my shoulder. Awesome. Hopefully what he did will cure my problems and I don't have to go through that again because damn that hurt!

Makes me a little worried for this weekend. I found a half marathon in Estes Park, the inaugural year, on Saturday...but I don't know how bad it will hurt to swing my arm for 13 miles. I guess I'll find out. I have to wake up at 3:45am on Saturday to make my way out there for a 6am start time. That's insane. I suggest that they start just a liiiittle later next year. I'm excited for the race though...it should be beautiful!

I'll recap here probably on Sunday or sometime next week. Saturday will be crazy for me because after the race I have a self defense class from 12-4 at my box. Krav Maga here I come! I'm going to be one sore, tired lady!

Chat soon!

Eldorado Canyon Trail Run

View from where I parked the first time.

What a weekend! Whew! So my week didn't go exactly as I laid out in the last post. I pretty much didn't run any until Saturday when I woke up at 5 A.M. to drive the hour-ish out to Eldorado Canyon in the boonies. It felt like the boonies, anyway. I was just driving along, eating my hard-boiled eggs and sipping (chugging) my coffee, enjoying the amazing sunrise when all of a sudden I hit what appeared to be a dead end. The nicely paved road came to an abrupt stop and switched to this tiny dirt road that looked like it didn't lead anywhere other than sketchville. The voice on my GPS told me 'Onward!' so I drove on, at 11 mph (I'm not even kidding) on this tiny single car width dirt road. And then just when I was about to turn around and head to Louisville to run Coal Creek Trail, a sign for Eldorado Canyon appeared. I passed the entrance to the part, greeted with a beautiful sight of the rocks, spring, and mountains. I parked at the first lot I came to that looked official enough to be the trailhead, got my things together, and started down the road. Then I prompted returned to the car realizing I needed to be at the completely other end of the park. Doh! It was early...my brain wasn't fully functioning yet!

Entrance

I took a quick look at the map at the Visitor's Center to get my bearings, noted that the trail gains 1000ft in elevation when I was already at 6000, looked around to make sure there weren't any other cars or people lurking around, and made my way up the steps to the trail. And promptly stopped five minutes later to catch my breath. And then continued on a couple hundred feet. And then stopped to catch my breath.

I will spare you, but it continued on like that for a whole mile. Plus, as you can see, I stopped maaaany times to take pictures because it was just so dang beautiful out there! These pictures do not do it justice for the early morning light. You could hear tons of hummingbirds zipping around. I think they are the only bird I actually like. How do you hate a hummingbird?! Answer: You Don't.

These stairs annoy me by just looking at them!

Just a bunch of those awkward stairs for a bit, winding up switchbacks. You could hear the spring through the first mile, which was comforting to me, and also made me need to stop for a nature call...

I was alone out there for a long time, which made me a little uneasy because it's a completely foreign trail to me and I wasn't feeling at home. Eventually two women runners came from behind and I let them pass me and followed them running for a little bit until I couldn't breathe again. Damn altitude! They did breathe a little life into me though and it was around then that I finally got my crap together and started hustling more. At about 2.5 miles, I decided to turn around so I didn't trash my knees from climbing on these rocks and hills, and I ran 90% of the way back to the Visitor's lot. So much fun but some technical/steep/rocky downhills. There were way more people out when I was heading back down. Most were hikers but I passed a few runners. I passed one lady who told me 'DON'T TRIP.' Well thank you...now that's all I'm going to think about for the last mile down the mountain!

Beginning parts of the trail still out in the open.

Trail turns down into a cool (temperature) forest. Very pretty.



Flowers.

Selfie!



Switchbacks



Entering Boulder County or something



Where does the trail go?



Pretty cool spiral looking tree



Yup, another selfie but BY ROCKS!



Thought MAYBE this was poison ivy. I was no girl scout...



Umm, where did the bird go if all his feathers are here?



Continental Divide off yonder...





I tried to take a picture but started freaking out about a bee...you're welcome.





I tried to zoom in as much as I could so you could see downtown Denver!!




Sweaty.





Okaaaay I know I took a lot of pictures...especially of myself....



Whole30 starts on Saturday for me! Anyone joining?!



OKAY! Now that the whole photo thing is over...

So I ended up having a great time at Eldorado and I can't wait to go back and go farther! I was EXHAUSTED that night after the 5am wake up, the trail run, and standing outside most of the day watching some friends do their first crossfit competition in Louisville (they all crushed it BTW). I think I was so severely dehydrated from the elevation and the sun...good lesson for me. I just cleaned the house, ran to Costco for yummy paleo/Whole30 foods and lounged until the boyfriend's soccer game! I just love watching that man play soccer!

Tomorrow starts a new week of training and I'm going to try my best to stick to what's laid out, and maybe give my Altras a try. I'm debating if I have enough time to be able to adjust to the zero drop and use them for long training runs...we'll see. I need to start testing out the S! Caps on my runs too to see if I can handle it!

Also, I JUST signed for the Almaden Hills 50K in San Jose, CA...November 2, exactly when I need to run a 31! Woo, excited! It will be my test run before the 50 miler with challenging climbs and lots of elevation gain and loss. Supposed to be a beautiful course too.

K that's all I got!

Happy trails!