Green Mountain Trail Run

Today was my first official trail run of the year - The Hayden Green Mountain Trail. This trail is considered an "easy" trail... but I have a lot of work to do before that is the case for me. 

 

There are deer in this picture, but they are pretty hard to spot

I've never gone to one of the trail runs that Runners Edge coordinates so I didn't know what to expect.  There were six of us, and the other five runners were all very good, seasoned runners (most of which run ultra marathons, two of which are training for the Leadville 100 mile race this summer).  It was a little intimidating to be the only beginning/slow trail runner, but everyone was very nice, offered a lot of tips and were supportive which made it a fun run.  Plus they would wait for me at the tops of hills or forks in the trail which kept me motivated to keep running!  It was a little windy and kinda cold (especially at the top) - but even though the sky screamed "I am gonna rain on you" it held onto the rain until after we finished.  I was glad because I was not dressed for rain.  This was the first time I did the hard part of the mountain - the jeep road.  In ultra-running, the key is to powerwalk the steep sections.  On the jeep road, I was powerwalking - which I learned is not an easy task.  Luckily there were 18-20 deer on the side of the mountain right by me, so I stopped to watch them for a minute.  They had huge ears and were so cute.  Also took a couple of pictures of the scenary. 

I'm looking forward to making the Thursday trail runs part of my training this year.     

This is almost to the top of the mountain, looking down on downtown Denver (if you look really hard you can see it in the distance)

The "Irish Marathon"



Runner's Edge of the Rockies - my running group

 Today was the Running of the Green 7k race in Denver.  Dad and I met up, and ran a mile to the starting line, a 2 mile "warmup" (which was kinda fast!), and then started the 4.3 mile race.  Finished with a mile cool down, for a grand total of 8 miles.  Our official race time was 48:18 which is awesome!

It was a beautiful day, and the St Patrick's Day partiers were up bright and early.  I saw a shirt that said, "you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning"... and there were quite a few people participating.  We stuck with water and gatorade though.

Race report:  The race started in Downtown Denver "LoDo", so there were people crowded in between the buildings so much that I couldn't tell where the start line was, or which way we were gonna start running.  People were all dressed up in green, with green hats, beads, socks, tutu skirts, gorilla costumes... There was always something to look at. 
Mile 1 was chaotic and we started off a little fast because of it.  It's hard not to run faster when you are weaving in and out of people. 
Mile 2 was still a little crowded, Dad got run over by a stroller.  This is where the course started getting hilly.  Nothing major, but not a flat course. 
Mile 3 was much like mile 2, we picked up the pace a little, however, I still got run over by a dog and his owner. 
Mile 4 was nice.  There was room to swing your arms while you run and not hit anyone.  We finally got into a groove pace-wise. 
The final stretch 0.3 miles was where things got a little crazy.  We were running on the left hand side of the road with plenty of room to the right of us, and since we were in the road there was a median on my left.  All of the sudden I heard a scream and looked next to me to see a little girl falling out of a stroller that is halfway on the median and is tipping over.  I reached out and grabbed her and held up her and the stroller.  Her dad was so worried about running around us that instead of saying he needed to get by he rammed the stroller halfway on the median and almost dumped his daughter!... we continued running the last few steps and crossed the finish line!  Well being it was a St Patricks Day race, they were serving cornbeef sandwiches at the finish line... right after we crossed the finish line I got hit in the head with a flying cornbeef sandwich... It was a crazy little race!

Breakfast afterwards was at Mona's - YUM!  Next week we run 14 miles!

Running + Hills + Wind = HARD!

One word for today's run and that word is CHALLENGING!  Wow, super tough run this week, and the furthest this far in our training at TWELVE MILES!

The run started from the brand new Runner's Roost store in Lone Tree.  It is a VERY nice store, almost too fancy for running.  I was excited to shop after the run and Dad wanted to buy some new running shoes.  First on the agenda, 12 miles.  We ran up through the trails just south of the store for the first couple of miles (the "warm-up" miles), and by up I mean consistently uphill.  We were definitely "warmed up" when we got to the first water station.  Temperatures were probably in the mid 30s (which is just about perfect for running) but the wind chill was pretty chilly.  There also aren't a lot of trees up that way, so the wind whips through that area and it is extremely windy!  At one point we ran through a tunnel where the wind was coming at us so strong it felt like we were running in place (now I know where the term windtunnel comes from - and meatloaf).  Then there was a little bit of flat terrain before, as the Coach put it, the "Rolling Hills".

Mental note: "Rolling Hills" = Rolling Uphill or Rolling Downhill (no breaks in between)

The trail on the way out was mostly a rolling downhill, making the way back mostly a rolling uphill.  Our 4:45 pace running group was full of energy today which made for exciting conversations.  We made it to the turn around point pretty easily, but the run back was definitely a challenge.  Here's an example that we thought summed up the run back.

We were running past an assisted living place, uphill of course, and at the top of the hill we could see this little old lady out for a walk with her cane.  So we keep running towards her, but she didn't seem to get any closer... for a LONG time.  It is mentally challenging (and deflating) when you are running and can't catch an old lady with a cane walking!  

We did it though, one step at a time  And finished 12.25 miles.  =)  Truly an accomplishment today.  I just wish the wind hadn't been there so that Dad wouldn't have thought running 12 miles was always this hard.  In all of the 12 miles I have run, this was the hardest 12.  But he'll see next time.  I took him to Mimi's for breakfast to celebrate finishing this run.  He appreciated the "simple things in life, like the chair". 

Next week there isn't a group run, but we are running in the Running of the Green 7k - which is the St Patricks Day race in Denver.  Wish us luck!

Oh! and Dad didn't buy shoes this week... he didn't want to take his off after the beating his feet took. =)   And I also didn't throw him in the back of his truck and drive him home like he wanted me to. Funny Dad.

momma sends me on a birthday adventure..

I got my birthday package from my mom in the mail, and in it there is a beautifully wrapped box, a funny birthday card about being "old enough now to know better than to cut my own bangs" and then a tiny envelope that says,

"Go to the address inside this envelope to get your stunning running gift, just ask for the birthday present for Courtney at the register."

My momma is a little silly, she likes to "scare" me when she gives me presents.  It's not that she scares me, just that once when she got me those grandma sweatpants in jr high... funny part is that's the kind of sweatpants I wear now at 33, yikes!  I unwrapped the gift in the box and she got me a very beautiful cast iron tea pot set complete with saucers and a tray - I can't wait to play Cinderella (anyone want to be the wicked step sisters? or have any bonnets I can put on Ben?)!

So I'm off to the running store... of course when I get there and tell the guy at the register that I'm there to "pick up a birthday present for Courtney that my mom said would be at the register", I somehow manage to get the attention of everyone in the store.  He say's "Oh yeah!" really loud, and hands me a gift card.  I have quite a clever little momma, and it definitely was a fun little birthday adventure. 

Little did my momma know, but the store she chose is the running store that Runners Edge paired up with, Runners Roost, so I get a pretty good discount there!  I ended up getting a brand new pair of Saucony Rides, and a pretty sweet asics jacket.  Very exciting!  Thank you momma!

skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads

check out the icicle on the roof!

We rented a condo up in Keystone for my birthday and a weekend of skiing and snowboarding maddness!  The condo was absolutely gorgeous!  We ate some tacos, and played Apples to Apples while we waited for Cory and Dad to get there.  We broke out the tequilia but we didn't have any ice in the fridge (or a blender)... so we improvised and made some yummy 'snowgaritas'. Dad and Cory finally made it up, and when we unloaded everything they brought we had enough food to feed an army!!! Played a few more games and then headed to bed. 

 

Saturday morning we woke up to some big snowflakes coming down pretty good, so we filled our bellies with delicious spicy breakfast burritos tossed on a bunch of layers, and called the ski shuttle to come pick us up.  Dad and Cory were already at the slopes (because they were up WELL before the sun!). 

 

After a quick shuttle ride we met up with them at the gondola to hitch a ride to the top of the mountain! As soon as we got in the gondola line the sun came out and it was obvious that we had all overdressed!  It was pretty warm. =) The ride to the top was gorgeous as the sky was now bright blue and you could see for miles. 

It was Cory's first time skiing, so Dad was teaching him and it was Owen's first time snowboarding, so Lynds was teaching him.  Cory picked it up right away and was heading down the slopes in no time.  Owen was a little more stubborn and wanted to do it himself, so there was a bit of a struggle there in the beginning, but eventually he figured it out.  And in a day he is better than Lynds and me... guess that's the difference between being 8 and being 33.

All in all it was a great day of skiing.  We finished it off with some hot chocolate and then back to the condo for lasagna and birthday brownies, hot tub and playing some pool.  It was a great 33rd birthday!

Training is coming along!

Just finished the first 10 mile long run of our training with my Dad and RER in the Ken Caryl Valley.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and I felt great!  It was my Dad's first 10 mile run in quite some time, and the longest run of our training so far.  Our coach described it as having some hills and being a bit "challenging"... that it was.

The first several miles were "ever so slightly uphill", and the 4:45 pace group maintained a steady pace. Mile 5 was a little easier as it was mostly downhill, and kind of a steep downhill in some areas. So we made it to the 5 mile turn around fairly easily, but 'what goes up must come down'... or rather what goes down must go up!  Mile 6 was a bit of a challenge, slowly but surely we made it to the top and I have to say I was glad that there was a water station there!!!  Took a little breather, got some water, and ran our little hearts back to the start.  While the last several miles were downhill, they still weren't "easy" miles.  Just like running uphill there is definitely an art to running downhill.  In fact, in terms of technique running uphill is easy than running downhill.  Maintain control with short quick steps, be light on your feet, keep your shoulders slightly in front of you, your hips and feet below you, don't "brake" with your quads and let gravity help you glide down the hill... easy right?  Well my Dad and I did our best, and finished the 10 mile run strong.

Afterwards we went to Village Inn to celebrate our accomplishment by refueling our bodies in preparation for this weeks running to come! 

No group long run next Saturday cuz we are going snowboarding for my birthday weekend!!! 33!  My cousin Cory is going to be in town and it will be his first time skiing (hopefully he won't be too sore to do a little "Stahl Shufflin")... my Dad is coming up, so is my sister and her entourage - Lyndsay, Dustin and Owen, and my sweetheart Benny! Should be a lot of fun.  My stepmom Jackie can't come but she's sending up some breakfast burritos and lasagna - yummmmmm!  And my brother-in-law-to-be is being such a trooper and watching the monster (Olive).

Time to Train

I have that same feeling of excitement as I get on Christmas Eve awaiting Santa as I wait for tomorrows long run!  It will mark the first long run of my marathon training this spring.  I am even more excited that I will be training to run the San Diego RnR Marathon with my dad!!!  I love that race (it's my PR race), and thinking about seeing him cross the finish line is almost as awesome as crossing the finish line myself. =)
It's also going to be great to see my buddies in Runners Edge because it has been too long!
My running stuff is all layed out - and I ate my pancake dinner to load up on some carbs.  Tomorrow will be a six mile run the longest run I have done in quite a few months.  I probably should be nervous, but way too excited for that. =)