Yesterday was my second attempt at a marathon since I started running less than two years ago. I can't believe I waited as long as I did to go this distance, but I guess I didn't plan on my 4-5 month hiatus at the end of last year. Hopefully I won't wait so long next time, but I'll talk about that at the end.
Skip to "Race Day" if you want to skip all the pre-race blah blah blah.
I decided to leave work early Friday to drive to Buena Vista (or as they say it "Byoona Vista," yuck). It's only 2.5 hour drive, which in California, doesn't seem like much since that might get you to L.A. or San Diego, Vegas... but here in Colorado, 2 hours puts you in the middle of wilderness and often feels much farther than when driving in Cali.
Skip to "Race Day" if you want to skip all the pre-race blah blah blah.
I decided to leave work early Friday to drive to Buena Vista (or as they say it "Byoona Vista," yuck). It's only 2.5 hour drive, which in California, doesn't seem like much since that might get you to L.A. or San Diego, Vegas... but here in Colorado, 2 hours puts you in the middle of wilderness and often feels much farther than when driving in Cali.
When I got in, I decided to go straight to the campsite I found online with the best reviews and was also one of the cheapest I could find from Google. Perhaps better options lied in Salida, but that was about 30 min away and I wanted to be as close to the start of the race as possible so I wouldn't have to wake up so early. I went to Arkansas River Rim Park. And while their website needs some work, the campsite was nice and had good views of the mountains and was right next to a river. The guy who ran it was really nice and they had a washer and dryer to do laundry as well as showers included in their price and nice bathrooms. Definitely a place I would spend extended time to run nearby.
I decided to go to the pre-race meeting that night, mostly because I had never been to one, and I was hoping people would ask questions I would never think to ask. I felt like a dork for being there, but it did ease my nerves a little, mostly getting affirmation that I had no time limit to do my 25 miles. Only the 50-milers had to get back to the finish line in 5.75 hours for their first 25 mile loop before turning back and doing the loop backwards.
Race Day
The start of the race was a mile of pavement at a very slight incline I didn't really notice. It wasn't so bad and I tried not to go too fast and kept my heart rate below 80% max. It was hard though, one day I'll be in better shape and able to go faster while my heart rate stays low. I always start in the very back of the pack and passed a few people while a few others passed me, so all in all I probably didn't alter too much from my original position.
We finally got to a good steady climb up a dirt road, but I really love climbing in the beginning of runs and kept my slow and steady pace. After that it was a lot of rolling hills which are my absolute favorite.
We finally got to a good steady climb up a dirt road, but I really love climbing in the beginning of runs and kept my slow and steady pace. After that it was a lot of rolling hills which are my absolute favorite.
However, mile 5-8 I really started to cramp up with side stitches and mile 8 brought on some serious nausea and periods of light-headedness and dizziness. That stuck with me whenever I did any serious climbing, which between miles 8-11 were basically rolling cliffs, short but so steep I almost came to a stop I had to go up so slowly. And then miles 14-18 was a big steady climb you can see at the end of the race on the elevation profile. So all those times made me feel like absolute crap and I had to walk most of the inclines.
Mile 14.5ish was aide station 3, and I was glad to see we were so far along before the final incline because I knew mile 18 is where it ended. I had previously thought it was a 6 mile incline, so to learn it was less than 4 miles was relieving. The last 4 miles, from aide station 2, there was a girl I started conversation with and she tagged along with me to the third station, which was really nice and made me feel not so alone. We talked the whole time and the distraction was much needed and rid my nausea and wobbly eyes. After that though, she charged ahead and I knew I would not be able to keep up. It was getting quite hot by this time and I had to strip off my long-sleeve Arc'teryx shirt to make up up the 4 mile incline. I also tried to poop hoping it would help my nausea but I kept getting stage fright, so I gave up. Even though I greatly wanted to throw up, I kept reminding myself what Jake would do in that situation and how mad he'd be to lose those calories. So I held it in to the finish line.
Finally light at the end of the tunnel, aide station 4 and the end of the incline. I didn't feel too terrible, 18 miles in, and was happy for steady decent back to town. I knew there were a couple clips of climbing to look forward to, but I felt pretty good by that point that I could do the next 7 miles with a good time. Very surprising.
Around mile 21 I saw the girl in pink who stuck with me earlier and knew her hips were preventing her from going much faster, but asked if she wanted to push through the last 4 miles with me anyway. She declined and cheered me on ahead which felt really nice, so I did. After some super tiny but steep climbs, it flattened out and was kinda tough but not as tough as uphill and I was almost grateful for the boring non-technical dirt road. Not many pictures after this point (well, none), because after mile 20, it hurts to even think about anything, let alone try to take your phone out for a picture. At this point, it hurts more to walk than to run, so you just have to shuffle along as best you can.
Around mile 21 I saw the girl in pink who stuck with me earlier and knew her hips were preventing her from going much faster, but asked if she wanted to push through the last 4 miles with me anyway. She declined and cheered me on ahead which felt really nice, so I did. After some super tiny but steep climbs, it flattened out and was kinda tough but not as tough as uphill and I was almost grateful for the boring non-technical dirt road. Not many pictures after this point (well, none), because after mile 20, it hurts to even think about anything, let alone try to take your phone out for a picture. At this point, it hurts more to walk than to run, so you just have to shuffle along as best you can.
Right after this picture, about 18.2 miles in, I saw the first 50-miler come back around. Half mile after that was number 2. Everyone was pretty nice and some of them felt so welcoming, cheering on the rest of us 25-milers to the finish. I really love the trail running community.
So finally, mile 22ish, aide station 5. Poured some cold water on me, drank the rest, didn't feel like eating anything since even water made me feel sick, and trucked along, knowing it wasn't much longer to the finish. The worst had to be behind me.
Soon after, I saw a lot of mountain bikers and a mile from the finish some hikers, a couple of them could have been racers who finished far before and came back to cheer on the stragglers like me. I finally got a lot of "Almost there!!" and my watch confirmed it, but when you're that tired, even 1/3 of a mile feels so far and inside you're screaming "Stop lying to me!!" and you believe it will never end! But I crossed a bridge, felt great, sped up, turned a corner and I could see the end! I sped up some more, not knowing where on earth I was getting that energy, and started hearing the claps and cheers of everyone hanging around the finish. Victory! They even noted I had a smile on my face at the end and gave me a medal and took my time. They didn't have a big clock for me to see my official time, but I stopped my watch and it said 5:51, I was so happy! Some time is sure to be added to that for the auto-pause at aide stations and stripping down and trying to poop, but anything revolving around 6 hours makes me feel so great. I was sure I wouldn't do nearly as well as my first and only other marathon in San Francisco, but I did just about the same, about a 14-min mile.
I wasn't sure what to do with myself after, so I sat in the grass, noting that I didn't feel nearly as bad as I did in SF, and tried to stretch what I could, know I'm supposed to, but so bad at actually doing it. I decided to wait around for pink shirt girl and cheered her and others I passed into the finish.
So finally, mile 22ish, aide station 5. Poured some cold water on me, drank the rest, didn't feel like eating anything since even water made me feel sick, and trucked along, knowing it wasn't much longer to the finish. The worst had to be behind me.
Soon after, I saw a lot of mountain bikers and a mile from the finish some hikers, a couple of them could have been racers who finished far before and came back to cheer on the stragglers like me. I finally got a lot of "Almost there!!" and my watch confirmed it, but when you're that tired, even 1/3 of a mile feels so far and inside you're screaming "Stop lying to me!!" and you believe it will never end! But I crossed a bridge, felt great, sped up, turned a corner and I could see the end! I sped up some more, not knowing where on earth I was getting that energy, and started hearing the claps and cheers of everyone hanging around the finish. Victory! They even noted I had a smile on my face at the end and gave me a medal and took my time. They didn't have a big clock for me to see my official time, but I stopped my watch and it said 5:51, I was so happy! Some time is sure to be added to that for the auto-pause at aide stations and stripping down and trying to poop, but anything revolving around 6 hours makes me feel so great. I was sure I wouldn't do nearly as well as my first and only other marathon in San Francisco, but I did just about the same, about a 14-min mile.
I wasn't sure what to do with myself after, so I sat in the grass, noting that I didn't feel nearly as bad as I did in SF, and tried to stretch what I could, know I'm supposed to, but so bad at actually doing it. I decided to wait around for pink shirt girl and cheered her and others I passed into the finish.
After that I thought I would take a short nap or just lay down in my car and see if the nausea would go away. I woke up almost two hours later and still felt sick but decided to get my lunch and see if it made a difference.
I ate a wrap and had the most delicious Coke in my life and chatted with some ladies around me who walked the entire course. Before I finished eating, winner of the 50 miler came in! It was guy number 2 I encountered at mile 18.5 and his final time was 7:15 I think. So crazy! While I'll never be that fast, I hope to get better at these marathon and soon ultramarathon distances. One day!
Which this race really made me realize I'm not ready for 50 miles this year. I push myself too fast and I need to learn better training habits before I take on something like that. I think I'll still do a 50K this year and it'll be a good first ultra, but there's a reason people don't go out and do 50-100 milers with 2 years of running experience. I would love to think I'm that one badass in the world, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who have done that or similar and could handle it. But I don't think it would be smart for me to do so.
Instead, I'll see if I can fit as many marathons and 50K's in the next year and maybe two years from now I'll see about fitting in training for a serious ultra. This race made me see that even though I was really disappointed in myself this year and I slacked a lot on training, and I fell into a slump, and I wasn't sure what I was doing with myself, that I still kept up fine. I might have done this race around 15sec/mile slower, but it was also 8000-9000 ft higher in altitude, and I wasn't feeling great most of the run, and I still got roughly the same time as before. That's not so bad at all.
I ate a wrap and had the most delicious Coke in my life and chatted with some ladies around me who walked the entire course. Before I finished eating, winner of the 50 miler came in! It was guy number 2 I encountered at mile 18.5 and his final time was 7:15 I think. So crazy! While I'll never be that fast, I hope to get better at these marathon and soon ultramarathon distances. One day!
Which this race really made me realize I'm not ready for 50 miles this year. I push myself too fast and I need to learn better training habits before I take on something like that. I think I'll still do a 50K this year and it'll be a good first ultra, but there's a reason people don't go out and do 50-100 milers with 2 years of running experience. I would love to think I'm that one badass in the world, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who have done that or similar and could handle it. But I don't think it would be smart for me to do so.
Instead, I'll see if I can fit as many marathons and 50K's in the next year and maybe two years from now I'll see about fitting in training for a serious ultra. This race made me see that even though I was really disappointed in myself this year and I slacked a lot on training, and I fell into a slump, and I wasn't sure what I was doing with myself, that I still kept up fine. I might have done this race around 15sec/mile slower, but it was also 8000-9000 ft higher in altitude, and I wasn't feeling great most of the run, and I still got roughly the same time as before. That's not so bad at all.
My GPS watch created this. How cool is that?!