A Day in the Bridgers and a Thank You Note to My Running Partner

Some days are a great reminder of why I love to run trails and even more of why I love that my husband has taken an interest in participating with me in my sport.  Saturday was one of those days.

I was hoping for a long run on trails this weekend and without doing loops in the same section that is hard to do in Billings. We also don't really have trails that are good to train on for our big runs this year like Moonlight on Mt Ascension and The Rut.  Except for Phipps Park, there aren't many hills and none of the hills are very long.  Red Lodge is our closest option but they got a foot of snow in the lower elevations earlier last week.  It's too early to enjoy trails there yet so we decided to see if we could find anything in Bozeman since we knew that at least the M Trail was clear.

Mitch settled on Sypes Canyon which is in the lower foothills of the Bridger Mountains and we could run to the M Trail if we wanted.  Spoiler...we didn't.

It was a gorgeous day.  I think the temps were somewhere in the low 60's, but it was humid and felt a little too warm.  The start of this run was so much harder than I expected.  Don't get me wrong.... one should expect to struggle on an uphill climb but I hadn't taken in to account that I had donated blood a couple of days before. 

This sign is such a good reminder.  This is about 3.5 miles (and 1500 feet) up the trail at the junction where we could have chosen to go toward the M Trail, down the other way to Cottonwood or up the hill further toward Mount Baldy.

We chose "up the hill" to Mount Baldy because why not add a few hundred feet more of elevation.
The pictures below are on a fairly steep climb but the camera never seems to capture that.

 

 A few minutes after the above pictures were taken, we were hit by a thunderstorm.  It poured rain and dumped sleet/mini-hail.  We had just got over a very steep section and I decided we should turn around because I was afraid the rain would wash down that part of the trail and make it too slick to get down it.  We missed the top of Mount Baldy because of this decision.  I didn't care so much then but in retrospect I am a little bummed.

We could tell that it rained much harder on the rest of the trail than where we were because the trail was so much more saturated on the way down.

Mitch took this great puddle shot.  Note:  For the most part I tried to jump over the puddles to minimize damage.  I ran through just this one for the sake of the picture and it was on part of the trail that was degraded sandstone and not as susceptible to footprints.

Running back down the hill was so much fun.  Most of it was a nice grade that you could do a comfortable speed and just technical enough to keep your mind occupied. 

We ended up with 8.3 miles which was less than I was hoping for but with the 2200 feet of climbing and plenty of stopping to talk to other hikers/runners, those 8 miles took over 3 hours.  We had a contest to see who collected the most mud.  Mitch won even though he had washed off his legs at one of the creek crossings about a half mile from the finish.

We are both wearing Dirty Girl gaiters.  Everyone that runs trails should have a pair of these.  They do an awesome job of keeping the debris out of your shoes and they come in such fun designs.  I would be a product ambassador for them if I could figure out how.  They are one of my top favorite gear for trail running.

Because the last little section was thick, stick-to-your-shoes mud we had to stand in the irrigation ditch by the car to get the mud out of the tread on our shoes.  This meant we went to lunch, walked around Bozeman and drove all the way home with wet feet.  Note to self:  always bring back up shoes and socks.

Last week a friend of mine had her last day at the place I work.  I went down to say good luck and as always we got on the topic of running.  She often comments on how great it is that my husband runs with me.  She says, "You have a built in running buddy."  She's right and I think it is long over due for a public thank you.

If not for Mitch, I know I would not train in the epic places I get to go.  Could I?  Yes.  Would I?  Probably not.  He does much of the route planning when we go out of town, always drives and is a constant companion and friend on our journeys.

Thank you, Mitch for being my running buddy and blog camera man.  Without you my blog wouldn't have as many great pictures, nor would the pictures be from such beautiful places.  Thank you for being my cheerleader, support crew and even my companion at countless races and training runs.  Thank you for taking me pretty much everywhere I want to go and for making it fun when we get there.  Thank you for sitting in breweries in every town even though you don't drink beer.  Thank you for being there in places that are just a bit scary and for always being willing to carry the bear spray and run in front.  Thank you for always encouraging me even when I'm feeling down about myself.  You have been the best friend and running buddy a girl could ask for.  I love you and if the world didn't know it before, they do now.

 

Last Best Beer Run 5K "Race" Recap

I am not a fan of the 5 or 10K distances for races.  I'm not sure why, but maybe it is because I'm not fast.   I may not like the 5K, but I LOVE craft beer and this was the finale event for Billings Craft Beer Week.  Let's see... Running and Beer.  Yep, I'm in.

I would like to thank Travis Hutchinson who is a local member of our running community, Competitive Timing Guru and the RD (race director) of this event.  I don't know if Travis has ever put on a race before but I'm sure this one had to be a challenge, particularly in a city with open container restrictions.

Packet pick-up for this event was at Last Chance Pub and Cider Mill.  This is not one of my usual hang-outs but they have pretty good food and a lovely atmosphere.  If you haven't been there, I recommend it particularly during the cold season when they have the fireplace going.

A little fun a packet pick-up - Trying to win a prize for posting on Instagram

We did not get great weather.  It rained like crazy all day Friday and turned to snow by Saturday morning.  Thankfully it was more of a drizzly snow that didn't stick and tapered off mostly during the run.  Unfortunately, I think the chill kept away some of the runners and the after party definitely suffered - not drawing in as many non-runners as I am sure the RD would have liked.

Mitch doesn't drink beer and didn't want to run the no-beer 5K so he volunteered to ride his bike as a course sweeper.  Since he was the only cyclist that didn't bag out, he was also the race leader.  He got to be first and last in a race!  How many people can say that?  Thank you, Mitch for being a volunteer.

The concept of the race was to drink *4oz of beer at the start and then hit 5 "aid" stations along the course where you drink a *4oz cup of beer (two at one location) before moving on.  I didn't take my phone on the run because of the weather but this is the beer station at the start, hosted by Yellowstone Valley Brewing.  They served Huckleweizen - not my kind of beer but I was glad they picked something "light."

Other local breweries that were awesome enough to dedicate time and beer were High Plains (Laurel, MT), Montana Brewing Co., Canyon Creek, Thirsty Street, Uberbrew and Carters.  At the finish line there was also the Last Chance Pub and Cider Mill and Red Lodge Ales (Red Lodge, MT).  Angry Hanks was supposed to be there but for some reason they did not make it.

I did not experience any issues, but there were some hiccups for the front runners because there needed to be a volunteer or at least some arrows at a couple of spots along the course.  Mitch wasn't able to clearly tell which way to go and neither could the runners which resulted in them taking a somewhat revised route. By the time I got there, there were volunteers at those areas so we were sent the correct direction.

I got precisely 3.11 miles.  I think my finish time was about 32 minutes.  I forgot to turn off my watch right away so I stood around for a minute or so before I looked down at it.  Strava has me with a total running time of 28:36 (9:21/mile) which doesn't include the time I was stopped to drink beer.

Running with beer in my belly was harder than the eggnog mile we did this winter (which wasn't easy either).  As soon as I started running the beer was working its way in to a foam that instantly made me feel full.  I started out at a fast pace because I wanted to push myself.  I didn't look down at my watch at all during the run but based on effort I know I was giving it a good pace.  After the first mile though, I was slowing down.

Overall it was a blast.  My only wish was that I could have run with someone since it was more of a fun run than a competitive event. 

The swag is great.  I love the t-shirt which has a cute design and is soft, comfy material.

At the finish line, we received a *5oz glass and we were allowed to fill it as much as we wanted at the after-party.  I didn't drink very much after the run because my gut was a mess of beer foam already and I needed lunch.  This glass might be one of my favorite finisher awards ever.

I hope the Last Best Beer Run comes back next year.  If it does and I am around that weekend I will definitely be back.

Today is long run day, it is nearly 9:00am, I haven't picked my route and I am still sitting in my pajamas. It is time to get moving.

On another note, Mitch and I both got rejection letters for the Bridger Ridge Run.  It is a long shot to get in the first year on the lottery.  If it works out, perhaps we will volunteer some time this year since we now have nothing going on in August and I've already put in for the time off.

Have a great week!

*Denotes correction from original draft

Race Recap - Revel Mt Charleston 2019

In case you missed it, the post covering most of our trip to Vegas can be found here:
http://www.runwhichway.com/2019/05/our-vegas-adventure.html


Revel Mount Charleston - April 27th, 2019



Click Image to visit website

We arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday evening so we would have plenty of time to visit the Expo on Friday.  On our travel day we put on over 30,000 steps between the airport and walking the Strip that evening.  I think this detail is important later.

Friday, April 26th

Even though we went to bed after 2am on Thursday, we got up by 7am on Friday.  This was planned because we wanted to get to bed very early since we had to get up around 1:00 am to be ready to catch our bus to the marathon start. We figured if we didn't get much sleep and got up early enough that getting some sleep the night before the race would be easier.  It was, but in retrospect it probably wasn't a good strategy.

Race Expo - UNLV Cox Pavillion

The Expo for Mt Charleston was a little bigger than the one for Revel Rockies which we did last year.  It was well organized, had several vendors and was held in a very spacious building.  The volunteers working the packet pick-up were helpful, friendly and efficient.

A few things worth noting about the Expo:

• There were quite a few vendors including Aftershokz, doTerra, Sprouts and several places to buy GU, electrolytes and gear.  We bought some salt tablets (since we forgot ours), a few GUs and a hat for me.
• There was an information booth with details about the race and you could get a wrist band for the beer garden after the race in case you didn't want to carry your ID.
• There were photo booths where you could hold up signs for fun pics (we didn't participate in it this year).
• They had a "tattoo station" with temporary tattoos
• The Expo was scheduled from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm which reduced the crowds significantly.
• Sprouts gave out free snacks (bananas and such).  I liked that they did this and I think it would have been a great idea for them to have food trucks on site.

Awesome Swag -

Good swag is fun to get!  We do quite a few events that give little to no swag so when we do a race that has plenty of goodies it makes my heart happy.  I'm not sure why this picture is sideways since I've tried rotating it a couple of times.

The GOODR sunglasses are my favorite swag and since Mitch doesn't care for how they fit I got two pairs.  We got to pick from blue and black frames and I now have both.  Revel is etched small on the lens.  I have to say that the bottle of probiotics is the most unusual thing I've ever got in a swag bag.
Note: The Trail Junkie sticker wasn't part of the swag.  I picked it up at the Nevada trail runners booth.

Course Preview -

After the Expo we drove out to preview the course as is our prerace tradition.  Revel Mt Charleston is a point to point course that starts at the Mt Charleston Lodge and runs downhill on a two-lane road for 21 miles before turning towards the city.  The views are pretty but we didn't get pictures.

When I say "downhill" I really mean it.  This race has over 5,000 feet of elevation loss.  There are a couple of small up hill sections but they are brief and not significant.  Many people complained about them but I didn't think the hills were nearly as rough as the one big hill in the middle of Revel Rockies.

Click Image to visit Revel Mt Charleston website

While we were out on the preview drive, we took a little side trip up another hill.  There are some great trails in the area so we went for a short excursion on the Robber's Roost Trail.  We didn't go far since we'd already put too many miles on our legs. 

We had dinner at the Draught House where I had beef stroganoff that was delightful.  After that we went back to our hotel and hit the sack by before 8:00 pm.

Saturday, April 27th - Marathon Day

We paid an extra $40 each to ride the bus from the Strip to the start line.  Our recollection from Revel Rockies was that the long ride on a school bus was uncomfortable and they had really nice buses for people that bought the premium ride.  It was convenient to drive a few blocks down the Strip to the hotel where the bus picked up rather than across town where the free buses were.  While they were more comfortable than a school bus, they weren't as "fancy" as the ones we saw in Denver last year. 

I was pretty irritated that we spent the money.  1.  They didn't even bother to check receipts to make sure riders had paid for the ticket.   2.  They used the same bus service for the free ride and we would have had the same kind of bus either way.  It was almost a complete waste of money.

At the marathon start, Mt Charleston Lodge was kind enough to open their dining room so runners could stay warm and sold coffee and hot chocolate.  We pulled up a small spot on the floor and waiting for the start.  Unfortunately, they love dropping runners off an hour or more before the start, which I'm sure is so everyone gets a chance to use the porta-potties.  Mitch recognized John Fegyveresi - a Barkley Marathons finisher from 2012 (we've seen the documentary a few times).  He wasn't 100% sure so we didn't go say hello, but later looked him up to verify that he was in the race results.

My Run -

To get a Boston Qualifier I would have needed to run 8:22 minutes/mile for the full duration of the race.  I knew going in that I wasn't going to get it.  I just wasn't running that fast in my training.  But I had some secondary goals I was shooting for - a 4 hour marathon (9:07 min/mile) seemed attainable.

Immediately I had trouble with getting my legs to turn over with any speed even going downhill though keeping a pace around 8:45 was sustainable and I did so comfortably as soon as I got over the first hill which came within the first half mile.  The temps were in the 50's - comfortable running weather.  That was short lived.  The temps were in the low 80's by the time I was done.  I really don't mind heat, but it does slow your pace especially when you don't get time to train in it.

Aid stations were set up every two miles.  They all had water and PowerAde and the latter stations also had GUs and/or fruit.  Two of the aid stations were out of cups by the time I got to them and I was about mid-pack. The volunteers did a good job improvising and I was thankful I decided to wear my hydration vest.

I hit the proverbial wall at mile 12 - SO. EARLY.  I was still maintaining a 10'ish minute/mile pace and hoped to get past the bonk in time to still pull off a 4 hour time but things only got worse.  My pace got progressively slower, I had to take more walk breaks and it hurt to lift my legs to run.  By my final mile my pace was in the 14s and I finished in 4:41:38.  It was slower than Revel Rockies last year and no where near any of my goals.  I don't think the impact of this hit me until days later.  I was very tired but thrilled to be done and excited to have another marathon in the books so at least I enjoyed the afterglow a bit (even though I don't look like it in this picture).

The finish line at this race was hands-down better than Rockies and they even kept all of the vendors and booths up through the end of the race.  Rockies was starting to dismantle well before the last runners came in and I think that is bad business when you advertise a certain course time.

The food at the finish was pizza and by the time I was there, it wasn't worth eating.  It is the same thing they served at Rockies and you would think that they would figure out by now that pizza doesn't keep well.  They also had snow cones for sale and the beer garden served a variety of Lagunitas.  I wasn't walking well so I relaxed in the shade of their tent and enjoy my beer before heading to get my drop bag where I kept the sunscreen.

Then I headed over to the finish line and watched Mitch run in.  He did awesome and it was dang hot by the end of his day.

Overall, Revel Mt Charleston was a great event.  Well organized for the most part (not counting lack of cups at 2 aid stations) and the course was one of my favorites as far as road marathons go.  The Revel races are put on by a company called Brooksee, LLC and their races are designed to be fast.  Mt Charleston is currently their fastest course and I agree that the elevation loss was a perfect grade to have been right for me to get a great time had my day gone better.

I know several "runner errors" that sabotaged my efforts for this run -

• I did too many miles of my training through the winter on my treadmill which was old and the paces weren't accurate.  It also meant I wasn't getting nearly enough downhill miles to prepare for the beating my body would take on this course.
• My sleep strategy leading up to race day was poorly executed.
• I put on roughly 50K steps (that's almost a marathon) in the two days preceding the race so my legs were tired going in.

Unavoidable elements that also influenced my day include the hot temperatures and airplane travel that was required to get there as well as work stress & travel that disrupted my training schedule in the final weeks.

I've never been as beat up physically after a marathon as I was after this one.  The first couple of days after I had to be very cautious while walking because my quad would just give out causing my leg to buckle at random times.  It took about 5 days before I could move around without pain.

As some time has passed and I've had time to digest the unfolding of my goal race for the year it has been a hard reality to come to terms with.  I trained for this one event for 32 weeks.  I followed a plan specific to helping me hit the paces I needed for a Boston Qualifier and though toward the end I felt my speed was still lacking, I knew I was closer to getting there.  I was faithful to the plan with some exceptions due to illness and made some modifications for work travel but even if you count those times, I did 26 weeks exactly as prescribed.  I ran 6 days a week and during the peak of training was putting in over 60 miles/week.  I ran in the dark.  I ran in the cold.  I did long miles on a treadmill.  All of it with just this one goal in mind.  For over a half of a year I ran, ate, slept and breathed running with the hopes of getting a time to qualify for Boston and in the end I came up short.  Way short.  I didn't even hit a time that made me feel like it was attainable and I'm having a difficult time being okay with it.

I know I need to go back to the drawing board.  I need to reassess and determine what I can do to improve. There won't be a next time without a back-up plan, that much I know.  I've done 6 months of training and put all my eggs in one basket this season and I don't have a secondary race planned to see if I would do better given different circumstances or a better day.  I'll walk away from all that training empty-handed this year and that's a mistake I won't make again.

So here's to learning from it all and using those lessons in the future.  Now I get to move on to trails and crazy distances in the mountains with my husband.  At least these blog posts will get infinitely more interesting and have prettier pictures.

While I really don't love race pictures and Revel's were no exception, here are a couple from Mt Charleston because you can see the beautiful views that I didn't take the time to get shots of during the race.

Today we are putting our application in for the Bridger Ridge Run lottery.  Wish us luck!

My Biggest Week!

Training week runs from Monday through Sunday.  In that aspect, I am at my biggest mileage week at over 60 miles after today's run (exact number unknown until I've completed today).  But the big deal for me is the week from Sunday through Saturday.  Since I did my long run on Sunday last week and Saturday this week, I hit 75.5 miles in 7 days!

I am officially tired, sore and constantly hungry.

Here's what that looked like:

Sunday:  18.6 miles - Swords Park    Mitch ran 15 miles too.  He dropped me off at the airport end of the trail and started from the other side.  We've done this a couple of times and its great because we can run our own pace and still see each other from time to time.  We did the last 7 miles together.  My overall average pace clocked in at 10:51/mile but most of my spits were in the low 10s.
Punxsutawney Phil made an appearance.  He's a long way from home.  (Actually a rock chuck is not quite the same thing as a groundhog but this is my story and I'll tell it how I want).

Monday:  10 miles - Shiloh Rd (Big Ditch Trail) at a 10:27/mile avg. pace.  I did this one after work and I dressed too warm for the weather.  This trail isn't much to look at so I didn't bother to take any pictures.

Tuesday:  3.4 miles - Zimmerman Trail    Yay!  The some of the trails are dry enough to run on!  I was mad at myself for not bringing a belt to carry my phone for pictures.  Mitch and I enjoyed a leisurely run/hike and then went out for dinner.

Wednesday:  9.6 miles - broken up in to two runs    This one was supposed to be a 3/3/3 (3 miles each done at a certain pace) but I was getting tired and it can be difficult to give up my entire evening to run when I have that many miles to do after work.  I got up and did the first half in the dark and then finished it with a treadmill run after work with a little speed thrown in.  I was trying to complete a challenge on Zwift anyway, but I wasn't excited about the treadmill when the weather was nice, but I admit that it is handy to be able to cook dinner while I'm running.

It was a beautiful morning for run -

Thursday:  10 miles - 2 out & back laps in the neighborhood.  I decided to take this one very easy.  It was cold and rain/snowing so I tucked my hands in to my jacket and refused to look at my watch the entire time.  It's so easy to feel like I need to push faster if I can see how slow I am running.  My goal was to run the whole time, including the hills at as easy of a pace as I could make myself do.  I kept telling myself "slow and steady, take it easy."  I managed an average of an easy 10:50/mile pace and only walked in a couple of spots for a few seconds.  The pace was what I was hoping for.

This is what 10 miles running in the rain does to the end of a braid:

Friday:  4.4 miles - Phipps Park   We've been waiting so long for this trail to be runnable again (Mitch's favorite).  In the winter we ran the steep climb for hill repeats often until the trail became to slick and then eventually too deep to run.  Now it's mostly clear with a short section that is till too muddy but otherwise perfect!   I love when the dirt is a little tacky because it's so much easier to run down than when it's completely dry.

Pause a moment here to look back at the first picture in this post.  There was quite a bit of snow still on the ground.  It's amazing how quickly it melted!

Saturday:  20 miles - Swords Park to the end of Zimmerman Trail and back.  Mitch and I did this together even though he was only going to do 18.  It was a long day.  I had already forgotten how much harder it is to do long runs on trails and overall it took us over 5 hours because we did a bit of walking and a few stops.  We are both sun burnt because I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that I need to wear sunscreen.  I can't think of a better way to spend a beautiful, spring Saturday with my husband.  We took time for a little photo shoot along the way:

 

 

While this was a big week for me, I have to give Mitch a shout out!  He topped out the last 7 days with over 47 miles and that is a huge week for him too.  I'm very proud of him.

 

 

 



If I'm following my plan to a "T" then I would start tapering now.  Unfortunately, my training plan is a week ahead and assumes that my race is in 3 weeks. I have 4 weeks so I need another peak week.  I'll be traveling for work again and that makes getting the miles in pretty difficult, but I will do my best to get in a good run every day and work in some speed since my training plan hasn't incorporated that in a while. Next weekend I will run an 18 miler on Molt Hills to simulate race day and make sure I'm good with the gear choices I've made and then.......... it's taper time.

It's Been Redundant But I Can Finally See the Light

The last few weeks I've spent many miles between the treadmill and the path at Swords Park.  Montana experienced an insanely cold February with sub-zero temps more days than above.  I'm beyond grateful that I have a treadmill at home even if I hate to run on it.

 

But sometimes I just have to get outside and brave the cold no matter what or I will lose my mind.  I have put many miles on the path at Swords Park because they usually plow it.  However, a snow storm followed by strong winds made the trail quite challenging if I beat the plow there.  You can't see much of me because it was -4.  Even my eyeballs were frozen.  Why do I live where my eyeballs freeze?

Looking back over my Strava, the last ten days have literally been Treadmill, Swords Park, Treadmill, Swords Park, Treadmill, Swords Park......

The redundancy is starting to get to me.  On Sunday I had 18 miles to run and had planned to run Molt hills in to town but as Mitch was driving me out to the start point I had to change my game plan.  The sidewalks were in bad shape from the snow and had ice slicks from the melt off that was just starting to happen (finally).  My plan B was to run Swords Park.  It's only about 3.25 miles from end to end so that would mean doing about 3 out and back trips.  Ugh.  But it was a beautiful day and there were lots of runners out there.  Even Mitch went out and did 13.6 miles on his own!

Swords Park is also an easy place to meet after work to get some miles in.  Sometimes the views are pretty amazing so I shouldn't complain so much.

There is light at the end of tunnel finally.  Spring weather is on the horizon and we are starting to warm up.  This weekend is Run to the Pub half marathon in Bozeman and the forecast says it will be in the upper 30's.  Perfect.  I don't have any goals for this race.  In fact, I have a 21 miler that I will be doing the day before so I don't expect to have much left in my legs. 

I just ordered a new pair of running shoes.  I love the Brooks that I have been wear testing but they aren't great on down hills.  Since my marathon is all down hill I had to choose an alternative.  I have a pair of Topos that I love for working out.  They have a funny split toe so they look like deer toes.  The ones I ordered are similar to Altras in that they are zero drop and have a wide toe box.  I can't wait for them to get here.  Sadly they will arrive the day I'm leaving for Bozeman.

I also got a new cookbook.  Has anyone else tried a Hungry Girl cookbook?  I love her recipes which I usually get off the internet.  I made the Sloppy Janes last night and they were really good.

 



Have a great week!  I'll see you after the race this weekend.

Throwback (should've been) Thursday

I wanted to run this post yesterday as a "Throwback Thursday" since I'm recapping an old race from last season.  But I have come down with a nasty chest cold and last night I was too sick to focus on writing.  I was in bed at about 8:00, which is just crazy talk.

Last spring I attempted to get my Boston Qualifier running the Revel Rockies Marathon in Colorado.  I chose this race because of the total elevation loss and the proximity to home. 

Denver is about a 9 hour drive from here.  I love Denver and I'll take any opportunity to go back.  It is such a cool city (I wish I had more pictures of places we went downtown like the brewery and the 16th Street Mall).

While we were visiting there was a street fair.  We walked around the capital which was next to the park where they held the street fair.  It might be one of the worst areas for druggies.  It's not a place you would typically want to sit down in the grass because you don't know what you might get poked with.

We hung out and listened to some music.  Mitch has a habit of making faces at me when I try to take his picture.  I reward him by posting it on my blog.

Denver is loaded with running trails.  I thought it was cool that one we went on the day before the race went right next to Six Flags.  I really should've gone to the amusement park while I was there.

Voodoo Doughnuts... solely a good reason to visit Denver or Portland in itself!!

The Revel Rockies race had a decent size expo.  I'm sure it is small in comparison to places like Chicago or Boston, but it was the biggest one I've been to.  We had fun taking pictures.

The race started so early.  Gun time was 6am which meant that buses were loading at 3am.  It was super chilly on the mountain where we started.  Mitch and I found a spot next to the generator to stay warm and inhale exhaust fumes.  The race gave throw-away gloves in our packets which came in handy (pun intended).

Mitch and I both ran this race, but separately since I was looking for a specific goal time.  I stepped in with the 3:40 pace group, which gave me a little buffer time for my BQ.  I ran on pace easily for the first 13 miles.  But my pace group took off well ahead of me and even the 3:45 and 3:50 pace groups passed me long before the 13.1 mile mark.  I thought I had fallen off pace.  This got in to my head and I let it take over.  Looking at my splits later, I was well on track to hit my BQ with room to spare if I had kept that pace.  Stupid head games.  And what pace group takes their people out at a 10 minute fast pace in the first half??  Add that to the fact that there was a significant uphill at the half-way point and my race took a nose-dive.  I couldn't keep pace any longer.  I walked a lot in the last half and finished with a 4:30 time.  It was a great time and a huge PR, but way off my goal for a BQ.

The weather was perfect for the whole race and the scenery was amazing.  It's a beautiful course for a road race.  I could handle this one again, but my strategy would be much different if I were aiming for a certain goal.

Revel races have photographers all along the course.  They took pretty good pictures and they are free, which I think is awesome.

Once I was finished, I knew I would have some time to kill before Mitch would come in.  I sat on the ground in the beer garden and enjoyed my free beer.  I skipped the food tents at the finish line.  They had a couple of food trucks and a tent with free pizza and I think a couple of other things.  I wasn't really interested in eating yet.  My biggest complaint about this race was that they were taking all of the food stations down at the finish line before the finish cut-off, which meant that back of the pack racers didn't get the option to eat (and took away my option to eat after waiting a little while).  This is a HUGE no-no in my book.  If someone comes in to the finish within the advertised end time of the race, they should get all the perks that the first finishers get.

I was so proud watching Mitch cross the finish line!  This was his second Marathon and the first one he had done without me to encourage him. 



I wish I could remember other details such as what the aid stations were like, but I really only recall the one at the half-way mark and I don't remember it very well.  That's what happens when you wait 8 months to write a race recap.

This race wrecked me.  That much downhill running is rough even for someone that trains on down hills all the time.  The next couple of days were painful.  I remember when we got to our hotel after the race, we laid down in bed and took a 2 hour nap.  We were both spent.

However, that didn't stop us from taking in some beautiful trails in Colorado the next day for "recovery."

There was just  a little bit of vertical gain on this trail.  That's how you counteract a down hill marathon, right?  Climb steep hills?  However, what goes up, must come down.  That was the hard part!

Where this monument stands is crazy.  Its on an outcrop of the mountainside.

It was also my birthday weekend while we were there so I got to eat at Joe's Crab Shack and drink margaritas.  Life is good and I am so spoiled.

This year, the Boston Marathon upped the qualifying times to get in which means I now have to finish in 3:40 with a little cushion just in case.  I'm making my attempt at another Revel race, but not this one.  The Revel Mt. Charleston has faster finishing times overall.  It's still a long shot to get there, but I'm going to give it everything I've got.  Too bad the race isn't after my birthday in June.  I go into another age bracket and would get five extra minutes.

If you could go anywhere for your birthday dinner, where would you pick?

Favorite place to get donuts?