Running Goals for 2016

You might've seen my post this week about a student who asked if I would ever climb Mt. Everest. I gave an explanation that culminated in "no" (family, cost, life vs. death, etc). She proceeded to tell me about how a few of them were watching the Everest movie and decided that I was the only person they knew that would ever be able to, because of my determination and endurance. While I have no intention to ever climb Everest, I'm humbled and flattered. It also made me realize how much my students see, and possibly admire, about my training and goals. We lead by example, and I feel that the reason I am successful as an educator is because of this, coupled with the fact that I'm endlessly inspired by many of them...just as much as they may be inspired by me. To teach, you need to be able to learn, to re-evaluate yourself, and to change accordingly.

But, this post isn't really about teaching. It's about goals, some of those goals inspired by the young people that I work with everyday.

I've been training for the Colorado Marathon. It is my current goal, and I'm hoping to finish around 3:35 to more than clear my Boston QT of 3:40, thus landing Duane and I in Boston to celebrate our 10th anniversary at the Boston Marathon. After all, we hiked a 26 mile slot canyon for our honeymoon. Maybe for our 20th, we'll take on a 50 miler or 100 miler (if you do the math, that would make Duane really f'ing old). But, I've been slowly chipping away at mileage along the trails and on the treadmill in the hopes of having a great race. I was close at ADTM with a 3:42. The course was hillier, and it was really the first marathon that I had actually trained for. I used the "Run Less, Run Faster" training plan, and I just don't think it was the right plan for me. Now, I'm running almost daily under the guidance of John O'Neill. My running is stronger, and my body is well conditioned, now that I've added some strength training to my weeks.

I've also been kicking around the idea of completing the TCR, this year. I've never actually finished TCR, because the year that I tried, the Ascent was cancelled mid-race for terrible weather. I've decided that I will, at least, register for the Ascent. I'm just not sure that my body needs to run the Garden 10 Mile six weeks after my marathon. This way, I'll be ready to run the Ascent, but can decide on the Garden 10 as the time approaches. I'm looking forward to hitting a lot of trail during the summer, on my feet and on wheels. I'd like to earn a PR at the Pony Express (and not break myself, this time). I'm thinking that some Pikes Peak training can help complete that goal.

I will also be going back to Shoshoni to complete my RYT 500 training. I started this journey in 2008, the same year that I tried TCR, so it seems like a great year to finish both. I also am hoping to solo summit James's Peak (13er), during that time. It was an amazing and beautiful adventure that I had in between babies. I look forward to making that journey, again. So, I won't be climbing Everest, but I do have a couple of mountain challenges to attempt this summer. I'm grateful to my students, who have so much confidence in my abilities, for giving me the final push towards deciding that I can do this again.

Rim Rock Marathon Relay 2015

I most recently raced in the Rim Rock Marathon Relay, again, with Duane. We ran the race back in 2011, when Aspen was tiny. Duane really wanted to win this race. We've been close and our times aren't far off, but it looks like we'll be needing to return for a big win. I have no problem with that.

We rented a house that was close to the bus pick-up on race morning. This was nice, because Duane was able to leave a bit earlier to catch the 1st leg bus, and I left about 15 minutes later. The wait was in the Fruita Community Center, which was so much nicer than waiting outside and in our van forever at the last Rim Rock we ran. The 2nd leg bus seemed to leave much earlier, this time around. I had a 1:30 wait until my leg of the race.

The beginning of the second leg was a bit confusing. The 2nd leg runner was chip timed, but there was no starting mat. I only wanted to find one to make sure that I was starting in the right place, mostly because the relay start changed this year. The 2nd leg started about 200 m sooner and actually ended a lot farther, so it just seemed suspicious and I didn't want to make a major mistake. I also really didn't want to start my run at the bottom of a rather steep hill.

I ran a couple of brief warmups (the morning was VERY cold), used the bathroom a couple of times, sat in a warm bus, and chatted with other relay runners to pass some time. I was super grateful to meet a couple that were waiting for their son (the lead runner) and 1st leg of their relay. The mother was able to drive Duane down to the starting line and we were so grateful for that. Otherwise, the 1st relay runners wait for the very last relay to be bused back to the start.

I caught the dad that started out before me pretty quickly. I didn't hold the lead for very long as a faster marathon runner soon took the lead. After another two miles or so, I was passed by a male team. I held around a 6:15/mi pace until around mile 7. I just started to decide that no one could actually catch me. This was somewhere on a big sweeping stretch of road where you can see about 1.5 mi in front of you. I'm pretty sure the next female saw me and committed to passing me at that moment. When I hit the section of switchbacks that lead out of the monument, I was surprised to see people behind me. I didn't realize it was a female, until she passed. I knew it must've been a coed team. This was about 3 miles from the finish. Within the last mile, I was passed, once more, by a male runner.

I finished knowing that I was the 4th relay runner to pass, and 5th overall. While I know this was good, I was disappointed that I allowed myself to slow down around mile 7. I relaxed into an easier pace, because I didn't want to cramp up and be unable to finish. I probably could have maintained a slightly faster pace, but maybe I just wasn't ready for that super downhill 13.5 mi of road.

After the race, we enjoyed the festivities that are now centered in downtown Fruita. We didn't stay throughout the awards, because the family was antsy. This was unfortunate, because it turned out we were the 3rd team. The 2nd place team consisted of both the 3rd and 4th place runners. The male runner that passed me in the last mile was the 1st leg of the team in front of me. I wish that had been more clear. We don't normally leave before awards, but sometimes it's hard with little guys.

We plan to return and run next year. Overall, I've been racing each week this fall and I'm looking forward to taking a couple of months off. I'll probably take a little bit of time off of running, completely and get back to racing in 2016. This weekend is my last race of the PPRR Fall Series on the Red Leg/CRC Women's team. After that, I'll be vegging out until my age group promotion at the end of December!