Eight days after running rim to rim to rim in the Grand Canyon (about a 50 or so mile run), I toed the line for the Horsetooth Half Marathon. This was the third year in a row that I've run this race, and I was especially stoked to race this year since I've spent a lot of my miles in the last 6 months training on the race route. But after deciding to go to the Grand Canyon to run the week before this race, I pretty much scrapped any hopes for a PR half, and decided to use it as a test of how well and how long it takes me to recover from a 50 miler. I've been toying with the idea of running Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in June. But the race comes one week after the Big Horn 100, where I'll be pacing a friend for 50 miles. Since I'm no TNC, I have less confidence in my ability to tick off a marathon that rapidly after a 50 mile run. So I decided I'd use this race as a test to see if I could run a BQ time at Grandma's.
I felt great for the first nine miles. I cruised up monster mountain in a comfortable rhythm,not pushing too hard and averaging 9:30 pace for the first 2 miles, knowing that the following would all be net downhill and I could work down that time by quite a bit. The next four miles flew by in 7:45, 7:57 (hill), 7:51 and 7:51. I felt comfortable and easy running those miles, and my legs were holding together surprisingly well. I was feeling a bit dehydrated, but my legs didn't feel sore and weren't feeling fatigued as I turned onto Bingham Hill Rd. I slowed a bit on the Bingham Hill miles, clocking in 8:09, 8:26, and 8:19, and as I turned onto the Poudre Trail, I could feel my legs tiring significantly. At mile 8, I downed a Vi fuel, but feeling kind of dehydrated and not getting enough water, it hit my stomach harder than it should have and I cramped up a bit.
Mile 10 through the end were definitely rough. My legs were fatigued, and I could've used a gallon of water and each mile showed it. Miles 10-12 dragged by in 8:33, 8:49, and 8:34. I was working hard and not much was happening. Early on in mile 13, I came across Pete, running with Aero, at the side of the trail. I almost didn't recognize Aero since he was running so calmly and well, as compared to the last time I'd seen him. Pete jumped in a few paces ahead of me and I kicked it up to try and keep up with him. There was a group of runners ahead of me, and I picked up to pass them by with his encouragement. I clocked in the last mile at 8:07 and the last .15 miles at 7:41 pace - fairly pedestrian but about all I could muster on fatigued legs and hugely thanks to Pete.
I finished in 1:50:26, which I felt pretty good about. It's certainly slower than I could run on fresh legs, but I'm nonetheless stoked that my legs hung on for as long as they did. After my last 50 mile effort at Quad Rock last year, it took me months before I was running solidly again. So I'm really starting to feel like my training over the last months has been paying, and I'm hugely excited about that! I'm not convinced that I can race Grandma's at my time goal a week after Big Horn, though. I just don't know that two more months of training will get me through 26.2 miles at BQ or faster pace. I'm thinking I might have to bench my marathon goals until the early December marathon dates, once I've recovered a bit from the summer ultra trail running season.
I was also thrilled to see how much Aero has improved, his patience and calmness in the huge crowds on Sunday was huge. I hope he gets adopted out to a great family, because he is rapidly turning into a truly great dog (he's at Animal House).
I felt great for the first nine miles. I cruised up monster mountain in a comfortable rhythm,not pushing too hard and averaging 9:30 pace for the first 2 miles, knowing that the following would all be net downhill and I could work down that time by quite a bit. The next four miles flew by in 7:45, 7:57 (hill), 7:51 and 7:51. I felt comfortable and easy running those miles, and my legs were holding together surprisingly well. I was feeling a bit dehydrated, but my legs didn't feel sore and weren't feeling fatigued as I turned onto Bingham Hill Rd. I slowed a bit on the Bingham Hill miles, clocking in 8:09, 8:26, and 8:19, and as I turned onto the Poudre Trail, I could feel my legs tiring significantly. At mile 8, I downed a Vi fuel, but feeling kind of dehydrated and not getting enough water, it hit my stomach harder than it should have and I cramped up a bit.
Mile 10 through the end were definitely rough. My legs were fatigued, and I could've used a gallon of water and each mile showed it. Miles 10-12 dragged by in 8:33, 8:49, and 8:34. I was working hard and not much was happening. Early on in mile 13, I came across Pete, running with Aero, at the side of the trail. I almost didn't recognize Aero since he was running so calmly and well, as compared to the last time I'd seen him. Pete jumped in a few paces ahead of me and I kicked it up to try and keep up with him. There was a group of runners ahead of me, and I picked up to pass them by with his encouragement. I clocked in the last mile at 8:07 and the last .15 miles at 7:41 pace - fairly pedestrian but about all I could muster on fatigued legs and hugely thanks to Pete.
I finished in 1:50:26, which I felt pretty good about. It's certainly slower than I could run on fresh legs, but I'm nonetheless stoked that my legs hung on for as long as they did. After my last 50 mile effort at Quad Rock last year, it took me months before I was running solidly again. So I'm really starting to feel like my training over the last months has been paying, and I'm hugely excited about that! I'm not convinced that I can race Grandma's at my time goal a week after Big Horn, though. I just don't know that two more months of training will get me through 26.2 miles at BQ or faster pace. I'm thinking I might have to bench my marathon goals until the early December marathon dates, once I've recovered a bit from the summer ultra trail running season.
I was also thrilled to see how much Aero has improved, his patience and calmness in the huge crowds on Sunday was huge. I hope he gets adopted out to a great family, because he is rapidly turning into a truly great dog (he's at Animal House).
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