Aaron's Race Weekend

Aaron's 50 miler weekend went by fast. Seemingly faster than he ran the actual race in, which is obviously impossible. I said seemingly. It was a fun weekend, which is likely why it flew by. I'll write about the weekend here; Aaron will write about the run when his soccer season is over.

We headed up to bravura Buena Vista Thursday morning. Even the drive is beautiful.



So is my husband.



We stopped in Leadville to feed Elias. I breastfed him outside the local coffee shop, sitting on a handcrafted bench, wearing my nursing cover. Just as a 132 year old-looking gentleman walked up to us, the wind blew the nursing cover up. Why do I even bother with that thing?

We rented a house for the weekend with Matt, Kev, my parents, the Helms, and the Scheeler-Ludwigs. We had an incredible view of Mount Princeton from our front steps.



A few of us went for a hike Thursday afternoon; Elias enjoyed being outdoors. We've had such a cold spring in Denver he hasn't been able to be out much.





Elias was excited to get back to the house to play with Foster. Foster referred to Elias as 'my little buddy' throughout the weekend. Ad.or.ab.le. If he could talk, I'm sure Elias would've called Foster 'my big buddy' all weekend.



Uncle Kevin and Elias played on the deck before a delicious dinner of portobello burgers and sweet potatoes.



After dinner, the buddies bathed together. This was Elias' first on two fronts: 1. bathing with a buddy, and 2. not using his infant seat while bathing. He loved both.





We hung out on the deck Friday morning, enjoying the weather. I think it's good they make baby sunglasses, but I don't really use them for him. I use them more so for my enjoyment. Just when you think Elias can't get any cuter, throw those sunglasses on him, and, walla! He's cuter.





This is how Elias spent much of the weekend. He's very observant.



We went to the site of the start of the race in the afternoon. Dan and Aaron ran to get a feel for the course while Liv, Foster, E and I hung out at the waterpark. The buddies took a nice picture together.



Here's a shot of Dan and Aaron at the end of their run. Look closely.



We spent a little more time by the river while Aaron cooled down.













Uncle Kevin and Elias hung out on the deck again before dinner.



Saturday was an early morning as the race started at 6. We hung out at the house for a bit before heading back to the start line to watch the turnaround. Foster discovered that there is something better than having a little buddy: having a big buddy, too.



We went back to the start to watch the turnaround. Elias took a cat nap.



After Matt finished, we walked back over to the waterpark.







While we waited for Aaron to finish the last lap, Jenna, Liv, the buddies and I headed to the local brewery. Very refreshing.





So refreshing, in fact, that we went back for more after Aaron finished.



We took a few quick family pictures before going to bed Saturday night.



The buddies took a picture together, too. I smell a framer!



Sunday was Mother's Day, so, following tradition, we took photos until Mother Kathy was satisfied.





The last picture taken was of Dan, Aaron, and their boys. Very different from the other photos of Dan and Aaron years ago, drinking and playing their guitars.



The weekend was a great way to kickoff the start of summer.

Weekly Training Review: May 2 - May 8

5/2/11
Off due to prospective injury

5/3/11
Off due to prospective injury

5/4/11
P.M. 3.6 Miles
Dan, Liv and Foster came to town tonight. They got to our house around ~8:30 pm. They drove all the way from Fargo, it sounded like Foster did well, but it was still a long drive. They are in town and staying at our house for a couple of days before we head out to Buena Vista to compete in the Collegiate Peaks 50 Mile Trail Race. Dan and I went for a run this evening after they got to town to get his legs and lungs working again after the long trip.

5/5/11
A.M. 6.5
Headed out to Hidden Mesa with Dan and Liv. I was excited to show Dan this trail that I run so often. Liv was going to run as much of it as she could as well. We all three took off, Liv fell back a bit to keep at her own pace. Dan and I finished the whole loop, Liv stayed back a bit and did about 3/4 of the run. So far, very impressed with both of their running abilities.

5/6/11
A.M. ~3.5
In Buena Vista, Dan and I decided to check out the course we would be running 50 miles on tomorrow. I was not impressed. What we had run so far, was pretty tough. The first part we ran on was a steep incline for close to a mile I bet. It took a lot of energy to get up it. I think we were both a little nervous after running that section for what we would be in store for tomorrow.

4/30/11
A.M. 50 Miles
Race Day - See post regarding Collegiate Peaks Trail Run
Results: 25th out of 120 in the 50 mile
In the top 20 out of 400 in the 25 mile
The race was held at over 7,500 ft and climbed to almost 10,000 ft.
~10,000 feet of vertical change
First 25 miles - 3 hours and 45 minutes (unofficial)
Full 50 time - 8 hours and 50 minutes (official)

5/1/11
Off - Recovery

TOTALS:
Run Week: 63.6 miles
Run YTD: 688.6 miles
Bike YTD: 32.2 miles
Swim YTD: 1.62 miles

Jenny YTD: 85.8 miles
Elias YTD: 31.3 miles

Collegiate Peaks 50 Mile Trail Run

All my training has been leading up to this day. Fifty miles of non-stop running through the collegiate peaks of Colorado. Starting at 8,000 ft and climbing up to 10,000 ft, the run was two loops of 25 miles each. The total elevation gain/loss was 10,000 ft, Five thousand feet per 25 miles. Needless to say it was also the hottest day they have had in Buena Vista to date this year.

We headed down to Buena Vista on Thursday afternoon. Dan Helm had come down from Fargo, ND to run the race as well. Dan, Liv and their son Foster stayed at our house on Wednesday evening and we all headed down to Buena Vista the next morning. The house we rented was about 10 minutes outside the town.

We had a pretty lazy day on Friday. Dan and I went out and ran a bit of the course. It made me a nervous with how hilly it was.

Everyone was up the next morning to go to the start line with us. There were about 400 total runners between the 25 mile and 50 mile course. I had a great breakfast and was feeling pretty good.

Here is a shot of the gang hangin' out at the start line.



At the start line, Dan, myself and Matt Mach, who was running the 25 miler, started in the back. We were just chatting when the race started, so there wasn't much time to be nervous. Although once we started moving, I did get a little nervous. To think I would be running between 8 - 10 hours was quite daunting.

You can't see us cause we are at the back, but here is a good picture of the starting line.



Here is a passing shot of Matt and I at the start.


I don't have any pictures of the race itself as I tried to carry as little as possible. The run overall was absolutely gorgeous. The terrain was a ton of fun and the views were spectacular. You could see for hundreds of miles and long stretches of mountain ranges.

Overall, my first lap was pretty good. I was wearing my NB trail shoes, so I didn't have a lot of support, but they seemed to be working. When I'd pass some of the better runners, many would question my decision to wear such a minimalist shoe and it made me nervous, but overall, it worked out pretty well.

The first lap I ran in 3 hours and 45 minutes. After the first twenty five miles I was about 20th out of 400 for the 25 and no more than 30 - 45 minutes off the leader for the 50 miler, so I was probably 10 - 15th place out of 120 at the time.

One of the worst decision came when I met up with Jenny and family at the 25 mile mark. I cleaned out my gels and filled up with some new gels. I had been getting pretty warm and I was wearing a long sleeve shirt. I decided to take it off. One thing I should have done is put one some sun screen. I actually denied Jenny when she was trying to give me some. We'll come back to how bad of decision this was.

Soon after Dan and I checked in and checked out, Matt came in to finish the 25 miler.






Some got a little tired waiting for Daddy to get back.



The second lap definitely hurt more than the first. Lots more walking and it was quite a bit hotter. There were about five of us that kept trading off positions for about 10 miles. I started to become a little mentally drained the miles ticked on for some time. Unfortunately, the course finished on 2-3 miles of flat road, and when my feet were killing me, this was about the worst thing to finish on. The last five miles or so, my feet were hurting so bad. The only thing I could think of was getting my shoes off. The shoes I was wearing had barely any support so every step felt like my foot was actually hitting the solid pavement.

A couple of guys had passed me, but I eventually caught and we all finished together. I finished ahead of them as the video shows, but the official scores online show me finishing after them. I think there may have been some confusion with the tickets at the end. Oh well, I was just glad to be done.

Here's a shot after I got to sit down and hang out with my support crew.





And my tired feet.



And some pics of Dan finishing.







My final time was 8 hours and 50 minutes. I went in with the tough goal of trying to finish under 9 hours, which to my surprise, I did. Overall, I was very pleased with how the day went. It was a lot of fun and was a great learning experience. We had a great trip down to Buena Vista with Jenny's family coming into town, Dan and fam coming down from Fargo and Rob and Jenna coming down from Boulder. I'm pretty sure I'll continue training for more ultras and hopefully can continue to progress.

Now, back to the decision of not to wear sunscreen. The day after the race, I wasn't feeling too well. I hardly had any appetite and I was throwing up a bit. I learned about two days later that it wasn't because of the 50 mile run, but because I had extreme sunburn. For the next week, I was lathering myself in lotion trying to get my skin to heal just a bit faster. It was so extremely painful. I could barely sleep and had to take sleeping pills to make it through the night. I also ended up have some major blistering on my shoulders. Here are some pictures of my body a couple of days after.

Enjoy my stupidity!

My first race!

...Second, technically. I ran a 5k in college. I don't count that as an actual race since I was passed by a woman pushing a stroller.

I ran the 10k as part of the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins last Sunday. It went well! I had trained for it, despite Aaron continually telling me 'You don't need to train. It's only 6.2 miles. [Insert name of random people we know who are overweight] could do it, so you can, too.'

Here's a shot of Elias and I on our drive to the 7 a.m. start



It was fairly cold for being May 1st. Aaron asked if he could get a picture of the girls; this was the result:



Aaron and E waiting



My dad was the first to come in. He and I had planned on running together, as we ran 6 miles the week before together, and kept in sync with one another the whole time. Not suprisingly, though, about 3 blocks into the race, he turned around, waved, and yelled that he'd see me at the finish.



Jenna and I ran together. It made time go by fast, and we kept one another going at a good pace. Here we are right before the finish:



My goal was to finish in under an hour. Mission accomplished. Time will tell whether or not I'll do another!