Cheyenne Mountain 25k Race Report

This whole running thing is fun.  Races like today's definitely help remind me of this.

Cheyenne Mountain 25k Trail Race
16.8 miles, 2,146' gain/loss

3rd place, 1:59:08

When I first heard of this new race at CMSP, my initial reaction was one of skepiticism.  After all, two other races (Xterra Marathon and Fall Series) just sprung up in the park within the past two years.  The amount of trails in the park are limited, so there was nothing new here as far as I was concerned.  However, the timing of the race was good - Collegiate Peaks falls two weeks later - so I signed up for the 25k a couple of months ago.

Cheyenne Mtn 25k (looking south)

It was during a reconnaissance mission of the course five weeks ago that I originally aggravated my hip, and only in the past week have I finally seemed to have gotten back to full strength.  Needless to say, my last memory of CMSP was not an amiable one.  I did, however, get a good feel for the layout of the course that day - numerous tight, twisty turns.  Steady yet gradual climbs and descents.  Long stretches of groomed trail interspersed with rocky, technical sections.  I normally welcome technical courses, but nursing my injury had me worried that this would be too much too soon.  Turns out it was fine.

My plan was based on the desire to build patience, test my fitness, yet leave me fresh for CP50 and minimize the risk of re-injuring my hip:

• Easy up the initial climbs (miles 1-4 or so)
• Move into a better position on the north loop's descent (miles 5-8)
• Crank up Talon on the south loop (miles 9-12)
• See where I stood at the top of Talon.  Shut it down a little if possible (miles 13 - finish)

Things unfolded according to plan.  This video, courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports, shows I was comfortably in 7th place at the half mile.  Early in races, I will pay close attention to the breathing patterns of those around me.  A goal I usually have is to "sound better" than anyone else.  It helps me relax during the critical first few minutes, where a race can't be won, but can surely be lost.  I knew that Peter Maksimow and Tommy Manning wouldn't be coming back to me - they've both qualified for the U.S. mountain team before - but the other guys were all unknown quantities.  I just followed my plan and ran my race for the first half.

As we topped out on the north loop, I had caught sight of Paul Mann, who was the last person between me and the two leaders.  I estimate I had given him a good 25-30 second spot by the one mile mark.  One thing I love to do in trail races such as this is try and figure out others' strength's and weaknesses.  I noticed that I didn't seem to be gaining much on him during the uphills and open spaces, but the downs and rocky spots were where I would reel in substantial distance.  Once I made contact with him at mile 5, I tucked in behind him, chatted with him for a little bit, and passed him on a longer downhill stretch.  I suspected the rest of the race would be lonely.  I was only somewhat right.



As the miles clicked by, I just focused on form and steady effort.  I expected to be a good three or four minutes behind Peter and Tommy, but then I started to get conflicting messages.  One person said they were much closer, another said maybe more like five or six.  I was hoping that at the very least, I could keep the gap from growing any larger as I turned up the north loop at mile 8.5.  By now, I was passing many 50k runners, who had started a half hour before us.  Only one girl with an iPod in didn't try moving over for me; everyone else was extremely cool about it.  I took a peek ahead at one vantage point and saw what looked like Peter and Tommy, and they were MUCH closer than three minutes.  I took a glance at my watch, and looked again when I got to where they had been and the gap was only ninety seconds.  I was thoroughly confused - had I cut the course?  Were they just screwing around?  Was I actually running THAT well?  I dismissed option #3, but found myself with a little extra motivation to keep cranking up this stretch to see if I could make contact with them.  In fact, at the last switchback before the top of the south loop, I looked up to see that they were only about 10 seconds up on me.  I yelled at them to get their asses in gear as they had no business dogging it like that, and that's exactly what they did - BOOM.

Once I hit the long downhill from the top of Talon all the way to the finish, I couldn't see them anymore.  I knew I was sitting on a very large lead over 4th.  And frankly, I had worked my tail off to get up the hill.  So, I just shut it down into a doable gear and coasted home.  I was able to catch a peek of Peter and Tommy one last time just before the finish, and they had re-opened about a 90 second lead on me again.  The last few miles were relaxed and comfortable, and I began looking ahead to the looming 50-miler.  A nice touch was finishing in 1:59...it just sounds so much better than 2:00.  The 25k ended up being a good 16.78 miles on my watch.  Luckily, I was familiar enough with CMSP to know well before the finish that it was running quite long.

At the finish, I got world's longest massage.  It must have been 45 minutes long.  I got to catch up with a bunch of friends - Peter, Tommy, Amanda, Christoph, and 50k runners Brendan Trimboli and Brandon Stepanowich to name a few.  The post-race food was top-notch: catered chicken/pasta/salad from Carrabba's.  We hung around long enough for awards and to see the top 50k'ers finish.  Definitely a well-run inaugural event.  Low-key, yet with many nice little touches such as well-stocked aid stations.  It's hard to have fun when it's 35 degrees and blustery out, but I did just that this morning!  Can't wait to try my legs at 50 miles in two weeks! 

Race Article from Pikes Peak Sports

Results  

Mile splits:  7:52, 7:16, 7:13, 7:45, 7:38, 6:19, 6:34, 6:23, 7:07, 7:10, 8:07, 8:05, 6:37, 6:45, 6:45, 6:59, 6:02

I'll leave this entry on a light note.  Let the good times roll say the twenty year olds.

All.Systems.Go.

2 x 5 miles @ Mary + 15 on the Santa Fe today.  Averaged out to 6:25's, HR kept creeping up throughout the workout.  I felt great, though.  I noticed the hip on my last two uphill miles, but it wasn't painful.  I think another week of running full mileage/intensity on the flats and I'll be 100%.  Hopefully, that happens before Cheyenne Mtn, but I'll pull the plug on that one if I have to.

I've been gone for a bit.  I was hoping to stall on this entry until I had all the pictures from my latest little adventure, but most of the pictures will have to wait.

Nokhu Crags in the summer

Nokhu Crags in winter :)

I've had a lot of fun climbing Colorado's mountains over the past years - it has definitely grown from one of many hobbies to a pastime right up there with running.  I've had the opportunity to climb some pretty cool peaks in the summer, and have been itching for more winter opportunities over the last year or so.  While I've climbed a few peaks in spring conditions, I thought it best to take an actual winter mountaineering class.  Combining formal instruction with appropriate experiences is the best preparation one can take.

atop Lake Agnes

My buddy Michael is climbing Denali in June, so he put this whole thing together through his Army post in Ft. Carson.  Four of us and two instructors drove up near Mt. Richthofen, the highest point in the Never Summer Range north of RMNP.  There, we practiced rope skills, self-arrest, rudimentary avalanche awareness and rescue for two full days.  On the third day, we climbed up to about 12,000' on Nokhu Crags via a pretty nifty coulior.  It averaged about 45' on the upper reaches, but what made it so much fun was that it kept twisting and turning.  We couldn't figure out where it would end!  There was one class 3+ mixed move just shy of our turnaround point.  Otherwise, it was simply an opportunity to work as a rope team in a true alpine environment.  Our instructors, Trevor and Carleton, were top-notch instructors and great guys to boot.  If you're looking to learn more about winter mountaineering, this is the way to go!

where I ran Sunday

I was able to sneak in a run on Sunday - beautiful outing on a freshly powdered timber road near Cameron Pass.

Lemmings

Finally got a real-feeling workout in again.  Went 2 x 4 miles @ 6:35's on the Santa Fe yesterday.  Well...anyone that has run on the Santa Fe gets it - the northbound miles were in 6:40-6:50, while the southbound miles clicked off around 6:20-6:25.  Totaled 10 1/2 miles.  This is nothing to write home about - my original workout called for 12 miles with a little more intensity.  Given the battle I've been staging with the hip, though, I was pretty happy to finally put in a day that made me feel I wasn't losing ground.

The next "milestone", if you will, happens when I no longer have to modify workouts to accommodate for it.  Each day for the past week, I've had to gauge about how far and how fast I can go without pushing it over the edge.  For instance, I'd normally put in around 75 easy minutes today, but I'll probably tone it down to something in the 45 minute range instead.  I can still tell there is some inflammation, but it's trending downward.

Damn.  Talking about how I'm a gimp sucks.

Little Bear - Blanca ridge in July

Woke up in a cold sweat yesterday morning.  In my dream, I was attempting the LB-Blanca double traverse in winter conditions.  (I gave it a whirl this past July, but we aborted due to crazy wind)  That in itself isn't exactly brilliant.  When I realized the stupidity of my attempt, I took a look back to see that a couple dozen others had decided to follow me and didn't want to turn around.  Not sure about the moral of that story.

I have been daydreaming about mountains a LOT lately.  Combination of being gimpy and having too much time on my hands while proctoring CSAP tests - I just walk back and forth in silence for a couple hours a day.  I suppose all the daydreaming will eventually spawn some new stupid activity.  Actually, I KNOW it will.  Tentatively looking at a seven-summit run in the Sawatch on June 17th-18th.  23 miles, 18k of gain.  I'm guessing 18ish hours.  (Huron/Missouri/Belford/Oxford/Harvard/Columbia/Yale)  Lemme know if you're interested.

Birthdays are OK.  If for no other reason, people will rally for you.  Had a nice little crowd join me for $.75 tacos last night.  I got to hear a bit about Brooks's "W" in Kansas.

These guys need to put out some new stuff.  Can you figure out what town they speak of?

Walking a tightrope

5 and change on the Santa Fe trail today.  My mileage for the week stands at a whopping 15.  Good news:  hip felt OK this afternoon.  I knew it was there, but no pain.  It seems I can do flat surfaces at low intensity for now.

So what HAVE I been doing this week?

• 800mg of Ibuprofen 5x a day.
• Icing 2x a day.
• Stretching 2x a day.
• Weights.
• Praying to various gods, deities, idols.

This is a scary time.  On one hand, I may be back to a normal workload within days.  In that case...I can't believe I lost any sleep over this.  However, there's always the risk of making things worse.  Tracking it down, I now think the intensity of my pickup 2 weeks ago in Cheyenne Mtn State Park may have been the immediate cause.  Running hills (albeit slowly) for the next three days probably aggravated it - but it wasn't until that stretch that anything felt wrong.

Five weeks till CP.

Forty school days left till playtime.  I'm already conjuring up a few adventures.  My short list:

• Find a class 4 route between Snowmass and Capitol Peak.  I wonder if Cave Dog would tell me his route...
• Trinity Traverse.  (Arrow, Vestal, West Trinity, Trinity, East Trinity)
• Huron/Missouri/Belford/Oxford/Harvard/Columbia/Yale in one shot.
• Blanca's Gash Ridge, possibly linked up with the Blanca/Little Bear traverse.

Any takers?

Achillies Heels

We've all had that one special day.  One where every step you ran, from the first to the last, was pure bliss. One that made you love everything about running.  One that made you believe you will run every single day until you die.

Too bad we don't always feel that way.  The fraction of life that DOESN'T involve running tends to throw innumerable wrenches into our best-laid plans.  I've traditionally held up well against many of said wrenches, but my kryptonite...my de-railer...has hit me head-on this past week.

Weather and terrain seem to be a major player in the excuse sweepstakes.  Luckily, I've felt impervious to mother nature.  Maybe it was my upbringing in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I ran 10 miles on this day, so getting through ones like this were no problem this winter.  (La Crosse also afforded me the opportunity to run on this day - my buddy and I even intentionally ran at 4PM to just to see if we could do it)  Mountains?  Altitude?  Whatever, just run slower.  Adjusting to altitude only sucks for a little bit.  Visiting my parents in Colorado during college meant dealing with that adjustment multiple times a year.  I couldn't afford to just quit training, so I just dealt with it.  Wind?  I remember this story from my high school coach upon overhearing a teammate of mine remark "the wind SUCKS!"  His response:  "No, Kelly.  The wind sucks for Edina."  In other words, the conditions are the same for everyone.  It's how you react to the conditions that matters - any bit of adversity can be an opportunity to separate yourself from your competitors.

The stress of work and the real world also seem to derail a good deal of people.  I get it.  Back when I made good money sitting in front of a computer all day long, I sometimes found myself struggling to get out the door.  I just didn't get excited about doing anything after work...I just wanted to go home and stare at a wall.  When I sucked up my pride and went into a profession for which I actually had a passion, I found that I could work twice as hard, give ten times the emotional energy, yet still be ready to rip off a hard hill run when it was all said and done.  I attribute this to the fact that teaching might take a toll on me unlike anything I ever experienced in the corporate world, yet whatever I get in return makes me feel alive!  That, in turn, gives me that extra motivation to run immediately after work.  More common than work doldrums are the personal and relationship stressors that people deal with.  I've had my share, trust me...but I've found that when I run, I relax.  I think things through.  I escape my demons.  Years ago, when I went through a divorce, running was the one thing I could count on.  Even when I'd torment myself for the other 23 hours of the day, I knew I would have a stretch of time where I would feel at peace.  Safe.  The stresses of life have always pushed me TO train harder.



I wish I could say that I'm invincible.  Tough as nails.  This brings me to this entry.  Here's the problem:  I see weakness in myself when presented with scenarios such as the one I'm in now.  My left hip has been bugging me for the past week or so.  At first I thought it was ITB, but now I'm beginning to think it may be Greater Trochanteric Bursitis?  (I'd never heard of it until today, when a PT friend of mine suggested I jfgi and find out)  Anyhoo, I took three days off last week (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) to see if it would go away...and it did seem to bother me less every day I stayed off it.  However, today I felt it throughout much of my run.  At this juncture, the pain does seem bearable - something I can run on for a few weeks if I had to...but the thought of having this nagging injury for the next five months is unfathomable.  When I'm dinged up, I lose all motivation to train.  Could I bike?  Swim?  Ice and stretch?  Absolutely.  Do I do everything I can to heal?  No.  I don't know why I struggle with this part.  I think, "eh, I'm a gimp, so why even bother doing anything about it?"  In the face of a potentially serious malady, I can't believe I could even think this way for an instant.  But...I do.  Henceforth, one of my goals shall be to "do better" with the little things like stretching and icing.

Thing is, how do you measure this?

6 miles, 800' to 1st tunnel with Haven this afternoon.  Hip bothered me throughout, and definitely more at the end than the beginning.  Going to try flat surfaces for the next two days.

Cale turns 6 tomorrow.  That thought in itself is big.