Friday, May 17, 2013

Summer event season warming up

With the Greenland 50K in the rearview mirror, several more events are now on the horizon. The summer event season is now getting into full gear. I will be running the Colfax Marathon this Sunday, will ride the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic next Saturday, and the Longmont Sprint Triathlon the weekend after that.  The events will get progressively more difficult as the summer rolls along. I am excited about the Colfax Marathon. I will be running in a relay with my family but will actually the the whole thing so that I can pace with (I was graciously granted permission from the organizers).  It is a very pleasant event and take you into different parts of Denver than the Denver Marathon in the fall. I really enjoyed this course when I ran it in 2011. I've also run the half marathon twice, but they seem to change that course fairly regularly. We will be embracing our Scottish heritage this year and the would family will be running in Clan Fraser shirts and kilts. Should be sweet.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

First ultra completed


Greenland 50k
Larkspur, CO


My first ultra marathon is now in the books. It actually was not as difficult as I had expected.  The weather could not have been better.  It started out sunny and in the upper 30's and quickly warmed into the mid-50's.  Despite several inches of snow earlier in the week, the trail was dry and in excellent condition.  

The race started promptly at 7am and headed south on a wide dirt path.  I don't now why, but I had trouble regulating my breathing and had a tight chest for the first mile.  I don't usually get nervous at the start of events, but it sure felt that way this time.  By Mile 2, we reached the point where our looping course would eventually intersect with the path we were on.  I was
feeling good by now and had finally gotten into a rhythm.  Our first aid station (one of only two) was at around Mile 3.  It was also at this point that the course began its 400 climb east to the top of the route's main hill.  From the top, the course turns north and rolls along the ridge line until dropping down a gentle northeast slope.  The trail briefly climbed a smaller hill before skirting along the west side end then dropping down into the wide flat expanse near the turn around.  When I reached the turn around, I was about 8 miles in and felt pretty good.  I now have three more circuits of the course to go. The trail leading south to intersect with the original trail paralleled the original trail before climbing up a small hill which the original trail had skirted to the west.  I now knew that I had a small, medium and large hill to climb as I made my loops and I wanted to be sure I had gas in the tank when I started the last lap.  The next two loops were pretty uneventful.  I continued to feel
strong and never had to stop and walk.  The biggest excitement was a large coyote the crossed
my path about 20 feet ahead of me.  As I started my fourth and final loop of the course, I was starting to feel a bit tired.  Just prior to reaching the aid station at the base of the large hill, I noted that I'd just past the 26.2 mile point (marathon distance) and was now, with each step, was runner further than I had ever run before.  I finally had to walk most of the big hill on this final ascent.  Fortunately, once I began the descent, I was able to runner rather swiftly down the trail, maintaining the pace almost all the way to the finish.  It was a great feeling to cross the finish line.  A personal best in distance and I was able to complete the
50K(31 miles) in less than 6 hours.  You can see my data here.

My next runner event will be the Colfax Marathon.  At this, it should seem like a piece of cake.  The next big challenge will be in September when I attempt my first 50 mile trail run.  Can't wait!






Place
Bib
Name
Hometown
Age
Sex
Time
Pace
Time
In Sex
Division
In Div
85.
127
James S. 
Denver CO
37
M
5:51:12
11:19
5:51:09
69th
30 to 39
24th

Friday, May 3, 2013

50K Eve

I'm now on the eve of my first "ultra".  Admittedly a 50K in not much of an ultra, but it is an ultra nonetheless.  I'm not too worried.  I trained well and the weather looks like it is going to be nice.  The Greenland 50K in Larkspur, CO is supposed to be one of the easier, faster 50K races in Colorado.  Ultrarunning Magazine’s annual “Year in Review” has revealed the Greenland 50K as one of the fastest ultras in the nation in 2012.  Hopefully this bodes well for me. The toughest part is that I'll be running four loops and I'm sure that I'm not going to be thrilled at the start of the 4th loop.  Overall, I'm sure it will be fun.  http://www.greenland50k.com/