winter series ii

Another weekend, another race. Luckily, the weather was much better than the previous two winter races. At the start, the temp was probably upwards of 40 degrees. The course was down on the south end of town and snow usually doesn't last long down there. The second race in the series was a 4 miler.

I had planned on wearing shorts during the race and threw some wind pants over them on my way out the door. When we got to the start, the wind was whipping across the sports fields pretty good and it wasn't pleasant. I thought I might just leave the pants on. However, once I made my way to the line, the huddled mass of runners provided a nice wind block and I shed my pants. The course was fairly flat headed north on the Pikes Peak Greenway trail. There were a few sections with some icy patches but the majority of the course was a nicely groomed dirt or concrete trail. I felt pretty good as I made the turn and walked a few steps to get some water down. I was able to run the entire course, save for a few steps trying to drink water at the turn. At the 3 mile mark, I started to feel some tightness in my knee and generally worn down. However, I kept moving. As I came off the creek and back into the sports fields, I wasn't sure what my time was. The girl who had paced me during mile 3 had blown by me in mile 4 and was no longer in sight.

I made it to the line in 42:49. It took me a few minutes to realize that it was faster than I had ran a 5K two weeks before. It then dawned on me that had I just run a 5K I probably would have beat my best time by at least two minutes. I was pretty stoked with my performance and I am definitely looking forward to the 5 mile race two weeks from now.

pikes peak roadrunners winter series

After running a race up in the Denver Winter Series, we learned that the Pikes Peak Roadrunners would also be hosting a winter series of their own. It was a no-brainer to sign up for it. It was a) cheaper, b) closer to home, and c) 4 races instead of 3. The first race was a 5K in Fox Run Park in the trees just south of Monument. Monument gets more snow than the Springs and because it is up in the trees, it stays on the ground much longer. I grabbed my new Yaktrax and headed out the door a couple Saturdays ago.

Josh and I arrived at the park about an hour before race time but we still needed to sign up. They parked us on the edge of the forest and it was nice out in the sun. The starting line, however, was about a quarter mile away in the trees. We made our way up to the start and got signed up. I hung out in the small area where there were no trees to block the sun and tried to warm up. I think somebody said it was 18 degrees at the start.

There wasn't much room to manage the crowd that had showed up for the race and I think there were still a few people signing up when they started us. We ran the quarter mile back towards the parking lot before turning into the trees. Once in the trees, the snow was pretty deep and the hills were difficult to climb. It was also hard to pass since there was a narrow track of packed snow and attempts to pass would result in post-holing in the fresh snow to the side of the trail.

I finally made it around the course in 44:08. I was pretty disappointed in the time but with the conditions out on the course, I didn't take it too hard. Two weeks until the next race so I was looking forward to a little redemption.

rudolph's revenge

Part of the Denver Winter Distance Series, we headed up to Chatfield Reservoir on December 15 to run the first of the jaunts through the snow. There was a pretty nasty winter storm that had blown through the front range the week of the first race so that made for some chilly and slick conditions. At the start of the race the temperature was somewhere around 12 degrees. The sky was clear and the sun felt awesome beating down on the course. Luckily, there was no wind blowing so it wasn't terribly uncomfortable.

Once the race began, it didn't take long for me to get a side stictch breathing in the crisp cold air. I was able to run through it but it wasn't fun. The first half of the race was on a road that had been plowed to leave a thin layer of icy snow. It wasn't too slick and made for a pretty easy run. At the turn around, where they forgot to put out water, we moved onto a bike trail. The bike trail wasn't exactly groomed and also featured a lot more hills than the road out did. Up the hills proved difficult trying to propel yourself forward at the same time sinking in a few inches of snow. The last stretch moved back on to the road and I crossed the finish line at 37:33. Nothing to write home about but it was the first race I had run since the Ascent.

back at it

Took some time away from the running since I started grad school last semester.  It's a lame excuse, I know, but working full time, going to school, and trying to plan a wedding isn't easy.  I did manage to get to the gym a few days a week towards the end of the semester.  Josh and I decided we would get ready for the Winter Series of races up in Denver that I got an email about.  We met in Palmer Park a couple times before the race to get ready.  Although I had stayed fairly active in the gym, some muscles never get touched until you start pounding a trail.  Gonna lay out a program to start getting ready for the Peak again soon and really cut some weight for my wedding, too.