Rock Canyon Half Marathon

To kick off our "Half Marathon-a-Month" we started with the Rock Canyon race, which we plan to end with in 2011.  We've run this race before, in addition to other races in the Pueblo area.  Our times are always better than expected, which some people attribute to the lower altitude.  I have a hard time believing that this little change makes such a difference...but, whatever, we were faster.

The race is pretty flat.  I think it's relatively uninteresting in terms of scenery, but I like that hills are few.  There's an intense short hill at the last 0.2 mile, where at my pace too many people push to the top.  However, if you walk the hill or find a slow, steady stride, you are more likely to finish strong.  You'll often see people that sprint this hill walking at the top.  There's a combination of sidewalk, asphalt and trail.  Duane thinks the sidewalk portion is just enough to really get a strong stride.  He also enjoys the scenery of the Arkansas River along the course.  He describes the toughest portion as being between mile 5 and 6, and on the return at 9 and 10.  It's an opened area where you can see a half mile ahead of you.  It's the most windswept and loneliest portion of the course.  

I finished with a strong 1:59:59, which definitely isn't a half marathon PR.  However, I ran this race 10 weeks after giving birth.  I was figuring I'd be somewhere between 2:10 and 2:30 based on my training runs.  I secretly hoped to be between 2:00 and 2:10, so I was pretty happy with my time.  I ran my entire pregnancy and started back to running earlier than my doctor recommended, but I went with what felt right for me.  I was overdressed for a relatively warm December day and I probably would've been more comfortable running with water.  But, other than these things the race went smoothly.

Duane finished with 1:21:24 in seventh place overall.  It was his half marathon PR, which is bittersweet at the start of our half marathon-a-month journey.  He was hoping for 1:24, but has been training harder and stronger than in past years.  His performance was better than expected, and he really wouldn't change anything.  Though, being that Pueblo is such a fast course, this won't be a race he uses for predict times in the future.

 At the finish, Duane received a metal for second in his age group.  I, also, had a "metal" waiting for me....

With a wet diaper...of course....

In January, we plan to run the Rescue Run 10K in Palmer Park and begin the Winter Series.  However, we are still looking for a half marathon.  Unfortunately, we've only found races that require traveling...and neither Aspen nor our pocketbook are ready for travel.  We may run our own half marathon at the end of January to make up for it.