Turkey Trek – Post Race Recap!

November 24, 2014February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 2 Comments

Saturday was finally the day! The day for the Turkey Trek, duh! You all read my pre-race report and my story on the failed attempt to bike the course. If you didn’t, you can check that out here.

This race was by 3W, the company I am an ambassador for, but I had already well-fulfilled my volunteer requirements so I just decided to run this race for fun. However, like normal, once I got there, I saw that they needed a little help and jumped in at registration.

Lined up at the start. I’m in there, peeking around someone!

It was actually a perfect day for a race – weather wise! Especially in the middle of November. It was about 47 degrees, bright and sunny! Once the registration line was through and everyone was settling towards the start line, I joined the pack to get ready to run.

Ready to go in the Skirt Sports!!!

This race wasn’t chip timed, so to make timing easier, they staggered the men and the women start times. The men went first and the women followed three minutes behind. Some people in the crowd complained, but really it’s not that big of a deal. It was kinda fun for me to see how many guys I could catch, even if that sounds mean (reverse Skirt Chaser?).

The course started from the Long’s Peak Regional Park on the Ralston Creek Trail around the Blunn Reservoir in Arvada, CO. The first quarter mile was dirt and then you met a concrete path for the remainder of the race. The course was actually really hard! The first mile or so was a gradual up hill and then you got a few rolling hills. But at about mile two, you had a mile long hill up some steep switch backs! It was brutal! After the crazy hill, the rest was an overall decline, but there was a few small hills towards the end.

My Race:

I wasn’t sure how this run would go. I actually hadn’t run more than four miles in a row since September!!! Don’t judge! I’ve just been battling injury, motivation and a busy schedule. So going for a 6.2 mile race was a long shot. My only goal was to complete it (and maybe under 60 min).

Those first three miles killed me. The mile long hill was so rough! The only thing that kept me going is I knew there was the Egg Nog Chug Challenge was at the top!

Drinking my egg nog – It was pretty hard after you’ve been breathing hard up a huge hill!

When I stopped to chug, a bunch of people passed me, and the competitive person in me was screaming but I held her down and told her to shove it; I was just here to run for fun!

I finished my glass of egg nog, ran a few feet to the water station to wash it down. I DID NOT PUKE! Hooray!

But for the next half mile or so I was definitely burping up egg nog. Too much info??

The rest of the race was cake. It was over decline, and there an equally steep hill on the other side of the reservoir, but we got to go DOWN it this time. We encountered a few more tiny rolling hills but my legs were pretty dead after that ginormous hill so they felt like mountains.

That took a lot of energy!!

In the last mile you run by the Fill Your Pie Hole Challenge that the 2K people did. They had leftovers and I was so tempted to eat some pumpkin pie, but I was exhausted running wise and knew that if I stopped, I wouldn’t be able to get going again, so I ran to the finish.

For not running more than four miles in over two months, I finished in less than 60 min (54:59) – even with an egg nog chug stop! I actually prepared very well that morning: I foam rolled, ate a good breakfast (hard-boiled egg and muffin – one of my favorite pre race meals), and got plenty of sleep (I’ve been so tired lately, I fell asleep on the couch by like 9pm like a lame-o hahaha).

Overall:

Like always, 3W put on a great event. Well organized, fun, good after race food (Bobo’s Oat bars, burritos from Evol, apple cider), plenty of sponsors, and fun activities!

It was really cool to see the girl who one the free race entry from my blog and there was also three people who I had given away race entries to at local run clubs. I loved sharing the experience with them AND two of them placed 1st and 2nd overall in the 10k and the third run-club-giveaway-winner placed in his age group!

Father’s Day Classic 10k – Post Race Recap

August 1, 2014February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 6 Comments

Welcome to another way-past-date race recap! The week following the Trail Ragnar in Snowmass, CO, I did another race with 3W Races. This race actually took place on June 15th and benefited the Arvada Community Food Bank.

The Father’s Day Classic held in Arvada, CO was my first 10k race in a looooong time. Or at least the first one in a long time that I was actually trying hard. I really wanted to race this one, you know what I mean, runners?

I wasn’t entirely sure how well I would do. I had already had a pretty rough/fun/busy weekend before Sunday hanging out with some friends. And to top that off, I had re-started a lifting routine a few weeks before. The Wednesday before the race I did a bunch of straight leg dead lifts, knowing I would be sore, but thinking that it would be gone by Sunday.

I was wrong. Sunday rolled around and I was still very sore and very drained. I did make sure to foam roll the night before and warm up before the race.

I had stayed out pretty late the night before, so I barely rolled out of bed before making it to Arvada. I definitely did not do my normal pre-race routine. I don’t even remember if I had my coffee!

I got to the race and being an ambassador, I saw that they needed some help with registration, so I just jumped in a for a few before race time started.

Finally it was race time. I lined up with the rest of the racers, plugged in my iPod and started running!

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At the start of the race. I’m on the far right, white shirt and white visor

All the 5K and 10K people started at the same time, so it was really hard to judge my pace since the 5K people were going a bit faster. I’m also a “competition counter”, as I call it. As I’ve been getting faster I pay attention to how many people, mostly women, are in front of me. It’s especially easy for out and back courses or courses with a lot of turn arounds.

This course had a lot of turn arounds and I was watching how many people were in front of me. With the 5K and 10K being mixed, I wasn’t sure of my competition, so I just kept trudging along, my muscles screaming at me!

At about mile 2

Finally, we got to the point where the 5K people went right and the 10K people went left. We ended up on a local trail called the Ralston Creek Trail that was surrounded by shady trees and nice houses. We ran up to a point, turned around and ran back to where we separated from the 5K people. That last mile back to the meet up point was torture! It felt way longer than a mile! I also was thinking that even after the meet up spot, we would have another half mile or so left.

Fortunately, after that was only a quarter-mile or less. Phew! I rounded the last corner and brought it in!

Little did I know, a lot of the competition I was counting had turned right with the 5K people and I was 3rd overall female! My time wasn’t my PR, but it was pretty competitive compared to my PR. I was extremely happy with my results.

3rd Overall Female!!

After I was done running, I grabbed some food (barely eating it because I didn’t feel too well after running that hard) and waiting for the rest of my 3W Ambassador friends to cross the finish line. I chatted with a gentleman that had been right behind me for the entire race, right up until the last mile. He jokingly said, “I didn’t think you were ever going to let me pass you!” He was a new 3W Runner and we chatted about how he had just done an ultra ragnar team in Chicago. I love meeting new people at races and now he’s a regular at our events!

hanging out with fellow ambassadors

The event finished up with a fun mile run. Being father’s Day, there was also a car show at the same location, Apex (a local recreation center that I used to work at as a teenager).

Delorean! Let’s go back to the future!

After it was all said and done, I helped take down everything and clean up and headed to a local brewery with a few fellow ambassadors!

All in all, great day! I highly recommend this race in the future (the link is at the top of the page), although it is a 3W Race, so I’m a little biased! But, what can ya’ say! It’s a great company run by great people!

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See how much fun we have! Only a portion of the 3W Ambassadors, this is a collection of the ones at the Father’s Day Classic

Prairie Dog Half – Pre Race Review

March 20, 2014February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 1 Comment

I wanted to do this race last year but never got around to it. Now there’s four of them! Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, all located on different courses to switch it up! Each has a half, 10k and 5K option!

I missed the winter option – I was no where in near good enough shape to do it and I think I was out-of-town anyway. But after my last race, the Erin Go Braugh, I realized how out of running-shape I am in and vowed to get back at it and set my sights on the Spring Prairie Dog! From now, it’s a little under a month away!

BUT if you are already in half marathon shape because you HAVE been running, unlike me, AND you live in CO, you should run it! Mostly because I can give you a discount code and I can meet you!

EVENT: Prairie Dog Half (10K and 5K)

DATE: Sunday, April 13th, 2014

TIME: Half starts at 8am, 5K at 8:10am, and the 10K at 8:20am. Finish line closes at 11:30am, so make sure you run your half marathon in under 3.5 hours!

LOCATION: 13150 W 72nd Ave Arvada, CO US 80005. If you’re familiar with the area, this is at the APEX Rec Center where, actually, I used to work as a teenager!

GOODIES: Half marathoners get a medal and a tech t-shirt. The 10ker’s and 5ker’s get a t-shirt. And there’s a something else all participants get at the end..but it’s a secret! I promise it’s worth it! Also, when you run a 3W race, there are lots of ambassadors and volunteers taking photos and they are always available online (via Facebook) for FREE! I’ve actually gotten some pretty sweet race photos taken of me in past events!

COURSE: It’s through the Arvada neighborhoods and it’s relatively flat. There’s a couple of hills, but not too bad if you’re a CO native!

Extra information: Check out the event website HERE for other things I didn’t cover. And if you bring five non-perishable items (canned veggies and fruit perfected) for donation to the Arvada Community Food Bank you get entered into a raffle for sweet prizes like gift cards, new shoes and other items! Here is also 3W’s Website.

(Side note: there is a Virtual Option for the out-of-staters! However, I can’t get you a code for any virtual races, sorry!)

3W’s Heart Throb 5k – Post Race Recap

February 16, 2014February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 6 Comments

It’s a little over a week since my first race of the year, but I’m not about to get off track again and miss post-race recaps this time around! So here it goes, the post-race recap for:

The Heart Throb 5k, by 3W Races, at Memorial park in Arvada, CO

I did this race last year in virtual form, and I was excited to get to do the live version this year, especially after becoming a 3W Ambassador.

The day before the race, I helped load up the truck that takes all the things you need for a race to the event location. Joined by the race directors and owners of 3W, James and Michelle, and two other guys, we played a live version of tetris to get everything in the truck.

Michelle is super organized, knows exactly where everything is kept and where everything goes and has check lists for each event/race to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I’ve run MANY, MANY races over the years and I’ve volunteered a few times as well, but now I have a new view of the racing community – behind the scenes! It’s quite amazing what goes on to prepare for a race that most of us never get to see. From promoting the race to packing up the truck, knowing how to set up a course, coordinating the workers and volunteers ON TOP of then actually running the race itself, there’s definitely a lot that goes into races.

After the truck was packed to the brim, I said goodbye and see you tomorrow!

Saturday morning game quick and early for me. I really didn’t want to get out of bed – it’s becoming a pattern because I’ve been so exhausted lately. But I eventually threw back the covers and got dressed, which is actually a pretty important topic for this recap. The whole week prior to this event it was FREEZING! In the negative double digits. BRRR! Plus, the heat in my house was not functioning. I was really tired of being cold and even with the forecast listing a balmy 37 degrees, I was so sick of the cold, I ended up wear TOO many layers, thinking that the temperature wouldn’t reach that 37 in morning during race time. Oh well.

All the Ambassadors. Photo Credit: 3W

I finally arrived to the scene, picked up my packet and mingled with my fellow ambassadors! It’s definitely a new feeling for me…I usually show up to races in one of two fashions. Either, 1) With family or friends, and I get to hangout with them before and after the race or 2) I show up alone, and mindlessly walk around until the race start, taking off pretty quickly after I’m done. This time, I may have showed up to the race alone, but I had plenty of people to talk to before and after the race, as there’s a total of about 30 ambassadors for 3W, and I hung out for a good long while after I was actually done racing! It’s pretty awesome! Definitely a new experience.

The starting line. Photo Credit: 3W

We all wished each other luck, took a group picture (I feel like we’re part of an exclusive club – oh wait, we are), and meandered over to the start line. Given all of us ambassadors run at completely different speeds and some had their children with them, or ever a friend that was a first time racer, we all filed into the starting line at different spots. I chose my normal spot: the front 1/3 of the queue line, but not right with the first lines of people.

Photo credit: 3W

I had no intention of running hard or trying to break any world records that morning, I just wanted to run, with people around, and with no pain to boot! So when the gun went off, I just followed my feet.

I started off slow and steady, trying not to think about all the people passing me. I just concentrated on the sound of my feet hitting the icy road. (It was really only icy in small sections – but that’s part of living in CO). I didn’t bring my music with me this day, I just wanted to hear all the people around me and remember why I like racing so much.

Photo Credit: 3W

I didn’t feel like I picked up the pace, I was just going with the flow of my feet, but before I knew it, I was the one passing others left and right! I finally made it to the turn around, waved at the race director, and then took off back down the road. Woah! There really wasn’t that many people in front of me! As I ran back to the finish line, I passed my fellow ambassadors going the other way, and we cheered each other on as we high-fived over the two-way dividing line.

I rounded the last few corners and saw the finish line and decided to just go for it! I picked up the pace, hearing foot steps behind me, and even though my lungs and throat were burning from the cold air, I was almost done and I wanted to finish strong!

Photo Credit: 3W

I crossed the finish line and looked at the race clock, 26 min and some odd seconds…not even close to my PR by any means, but not too bad for just getting over my “injury” and not racing for a while.

I let my fellow ambassadors (it’s weird when you know all the volunteers at a race) clip my timing chip off my shoe and grabbed some water and a banana. I stretched as other ambassadors came up and said “good job” or “man, you really took off” or “I was soooo tempted to catch up to you.” And I was thinking was, “I didn’t even run that fast.”

After discussing which after party to go to (there was two options – Fuzzy’s Tacos for 99 cent margaritas or Arvada Beer Company for buy one get one free), it was time for the awards and guess who placed 2nd in her age group?