Logging the Downhills

These past two weekends have been focused on running downhill. Why you ask? Well, the Saint George Marathon loses 2,560 ft over the course of 26.2 miles. Talk about a quad burner. So to prepare some of the group from the MHTC decided it would be good to get in some long stretches of downhill miles in back to back weeks.

August 3rd we decided to head up to Rollins Pass Road just outside of Winter Park. We were told that this road mimics the same downgrade of the STG course but in just 13 miles. Little did we know that we chose the wrong side of the pass to do this one, but it was still a great run nonetheless. Since we needed 2 cars for the trip (one to take to the top and one to have at the bottom) we met at the crack of dawn in the Run Colorado parking lot to carpool up.

On the way up we discussed our strategy about how to tackle the road. All of us had different distances on our training calendar and we knew the road was only 13 miles long. Earlier in the week Mike had given us some advice not to run the whole thing completely down as it could open us up for injury and a long recovery period if we burned our our quads too much. So we agreed to park a car at mile 11 on the road run a mile up and then the rest down. But as we started driving up Rollins Pass Road we realized that it was taking us a long time. There were lots of bumps to maneuver around making it slow going. So we parked the car at mile 9 and agreed to run more than one mile uphill. I had planned on running 3 up and then 12 down, but as I neared 2.5 miles I was exhausted. The altitude started getting to me and I knew burning my legs out going up would not work well going for going down. Thankfully the lady I was running with agreed and we turned around to head down the hill.

Why I love this gorgeous state. Run Colorado!

The scenery was BEAUTIFUL! Which kept our minds off of what we were doing. And before we knew it we had caught up with part of our group who didn’t run as far up as we did. But this time the feet had begun to hurt a little and I was getting tired, but the company kept me going. Soon enough behind us came the rest of our group and we ran down the rest together. We ran into a group of mountain bikers and stopped to ask if they could take couple pictures of us. And in true bRUNke fashion I ended up standing on an ant hill. And not just any anthill, an ant hill that had biting ants. I tried to ignore it but soon enough the shoes and socks were flying off and I was jumping up and down to get them out of my clothes. Once that got all sorted out we trekked onward. The last mile was the toughest. My legs were shot. I started feeling every rock through my shoes. It was getting hotter. I just wanted to sit down. And then in our sites was the car! WAHOO!

Progression of ants in my pants...

As we were standing there stretching and regrouping another one of our MHTC members was driving down the hill. I guess great minds think alike. I ended up grabbing a ride home with her because I had a commitment in Denver that I needed to get back for, which was  good thing as the rest of the group didn’t make it back until 5pm that night. Talk about a long day.

The first thing I did when I made it home was hit the foam roller of pain. My legs screamed at me the whole time, asking why I was torturing them even more. But I attribute rolling out to not being as sore as I would have been if I had just stretched. But all that stretching didn’t keep the soreness away. I took Sunday off (mostly because I wanted to sleep in). Monday I still didn’t feel like running. So Tuesday I forced myself to get out on the road. It was only 4 miles but my legs talked the whole way. Wednesday I forced myself out again and again the legs talked. This made me nervous about running the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon that Saturday so I contemplated not going to track Thursday morning as the workout was hills. But I knew I needed the miles so I went anyway. And thank the lord I did! Something about that workout completely loosened up my legs. Friday I took as a rest day to prepare for Saturday’s downhillish “race”.

Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon Race Report:

Some of the group at the start line

Second year doing this race and I still cannot figure out if I like it. Don’t get me wrong, the course is great, the support is awesome, overall it is a well put together event, and I have PRed each time I have ran it. But logistically getting up there is a hassle. You have to get up ridiculously early and take a bus to Georgetown from either Idaho Springs or Evergreen. And then if you park in Evergreen (which we did this year) you have to wait for another bus after the race to take you back to your car.

I didn’t have a plan other than to run how I felt for this race. But I got a nice reminder from a fellow runner that morning that I shouldn’t fully race it and hold back a bit to prevent injury and decrease my recovery time. Those words were in my head from the moment I crossed the start line to about mile 12 when there was a possibility of me PRing. This race was fun until about mile 10 when I started to get grumpy. It is at this point that you think the finish line is just around the next turn, but when you get to that turn there is another and another and another, until Idaho Springs about smacks you in the face. I kept chugging along until I saw the mile 12 sign and I looked at my watch. If I kept my pace I would have finished a minute faster than my previous PR. So naturally instead of listening the words of wisdom I heard earlier in the morning and kept my same pace I pushed it. My legs were feeling good and my breathing was under control so why not? I came flying into Idaho Springs (at least I felt like I was at my sub 9 pace) and I was feeling good. About a quarter mile out from the finish line I was stopped dead in my tracks because some ahole decided he needed to leave in his car. Right in front of me. Thank goodness I had dropped a headphone when I got into the town so I was able to hear the car before I saw it otherwise I  might be a pancake on the ground in IS right now. Not going to lie I screamed a few profanities at him (as did the people behind me) and he proceeded to sit there in his truck instead of driving away.  After about 30 seconds of screaming at him to move he finally did. But it was too late. I had already lost all my momentum and still had a quarter mile to bang out. Somehow I managed to cross the finish line in 2:05 exactly. A 2 second PR!

Congrats to everybody from Run Colorado and the MHTC who ran great races! We had quite the crew out there this year!

MHTC/Run Colorado GTIS FINISHERS!!