Rocky Mountain High: the Colorado Colfax Half Marathon!!!

I've complained and moaned about the altitude, my lack of training and how slow I am, but apparently I'm totally full of shit because I had an AWESOME RACE yesterday!!! I felt great, had a lot of fun and ran my way to a new personal record of 2:37:42!!!!

I wasn't particularly psyched about the race because a point to point course along one major road didn't seem too exciting. I had picked this half because it fit into my schedule and I thought I needed the confidence booster before heading into my marathon training. The other reality was that I had to work both days before the race so I wasn't going to get much rest, and when I registered it also didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to make the expo and pick up my packet. I had a moment of panic when I realized that I was working the entire time of packet pickup and I really didn't have any friends that I could ask to go to the Convention Center and do it for me (I mean I do have friends - I'm not a COMPLETE loser - but no one who lives close enough to not make the trip an imposition). I have to say a HUGE thanks to AlexB the complete stranger from my online triathlon community who grabbed my packet for me. I posted my dilemma on the Colorado forum and shockingly had three offers from folks to get it for me ... BT'ers are the best!!!

Anyway, I got off work at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night, picked my packet up from my online friend, and made it home around 8. By the time I walked the dogs, ate some pasta, and got my race clothes and gear all together - it was almost 10 p.m. The race started at 6, and we were supposed to be there by 5 which means I was looking at an alarm clock going off at 4 a.m. which is VERY early for Jenn. I was still lying in bed stressed that I was still awake at 11:30 so in the end I was running on very little sleep.

I actually made it to the race on time - well 15 minutes late which is on time for me - and I wasn't feeling a lot of stress which was nice. I met several friendly folks while walking to and milling around at the start including a girl racing in the same skirt as I was (turns out she does a lot of sprint tris and we talked about good places locally to run and ride), another gal in a skirt who joined me in my quest to find the gear bag drop, and finally a cool chic in the portapotty line who's currently training for IronMan Kentucky. Despite the fact that I'm NOT a morning person, I'm always in the best mood when I'm racing and far more social than normal.

Speaking of portapotties there was a HUGE SNAFU with that!! There were approximately 1700 people in the half which started in City Park but only four portapotties. After I dropped my gear, I went to relieve the call of nature and found two massive lines, each snaking towards two portapotties staged separately near the start line. By this time, it was about 20 minutes to race start so I just jumped in line. As the starting time loomed closer, there was talk in the line of trying to find a tree to pee on/around, but honestly there was nowhere in sight where you could've peed without being blatantly in the open and risking a ticket from a cop. When the race participants started to actually toe the start line, there was still at least 200 people in line and as a group, many of us had decided "hey, we're wearing chips, our time doesn't start till we cross anyway." After a dude with a jet pack - yes, seriously he was called "Jet Pack Man" - flew 30 feet into the air over our heads, the race started and the runners headed out. As the fast runners went by, a race volunteer came up and yelled, "there's 30 portapotties 100 yards that way!" We looked to where he was pointing then took off sprinting to the spot where a truck was literally dropping portapotties on the ground. As quickly as they were off the truck, someone jumped right in. Me and IM Kentucky laughed saying, "well I guess this sprint is our warm up!!" So after emptying my bladder I jogged to the now empty start line and began my race a full 7 minutes after the gun!! It was such a crazy scene that I had to laugh, you would have thought it was a time trial start given that people were one by one heading out of the portapotties and towards the start :) In fairness to the race, they sent out an email apology today for the screw up in not having enough to accommodate the runners.

So with an empty bladder I was off!! As I mentioned before, the race started in City Park - home of the Denver Zoo and the Museum of Nature and Science - but quickly headed to Colfax Avenue which is the longest continuous street in the U.S. The full marathoners had started 13 miles east in the suburb of Aurora and all of us were headed towards the mountains and the Colorado Mills Mall in Golden. For people not familiar with Denver, there are a lot of sketchy neighborhoods along Colfax and it's not uncommon to find homeless folks, hookers and drug dealers along certain stretches. However, it also goes through the heart of downtown, past the Capitol, within view of Mile High Stadium and the Pepsi Center and along several small interesting business districts. This was the second year for the marathon whose goal is to highlight the diversity of this street that stretches for over 26 miles. I was reading an article today in the Denver Post and apparently the Denver Rescue Mission had a team of former drug dealers and homeless who trained for the marathon ... very cool!

Early on it was interesting because as I mentioned before, the main field of runners were minutes ahead, so I was passing walkers and slower runners for the first two miles at the same time that speed demons who had been in the portapotty line behind me were sprinting by. I felt really short of breath early on which was the effect of the altitude, but after about 15 minutes I fell into a good rhythm. I had decided to do a 4 minute run/1 minute walk ratio (courtesy of the Penguin's Marathoning for Mortals) and my first two miles it was keeping me under 12 minutes so I was just praying I could keep up the pace. The first section of the half went through the Capitol Hill area with lots of little shops, the occasional B&B, bars, etc. There weren't a ton of spectators out, but the ones who were there were very enthusiastic. It was actually a clear day and the mountains loomed spectacularly in the distance which was an awesome sight because it had been kindof smoggy earlier in the week and the mountains were obscured.

As for other runners, it was pretty spread out so there was a lot of times where I was running on my own which was fine by me. I never race with my iPod so I just enjoyed the experience and occasionally would chat with someone along the way. At each intersection, the police were keeping cars from crossing Colfax and at one point another runner said, "Hey that cop back there was totally checking you out as you ran by!" I asked him if the cop had been cute and whether I should go back, but we decided that there were plenty of intersections ahead and lots to choose from :) From mile 3 on, I kept seeing a lot of the same people. During my walk breaks they'd pass me, but then I'd catch up etc. I always love that about a race and I firmly believe that back of the pack folks are waaay cooler!!

When we hit downtown there was a nice downhill right in front of the Capitol, after that was a slight climb as we crossed over I-25. By the time we crossed over the interstate I had to pee again in a BAD way. At the next stop there was quite a line for the 3 portapotties, but I knew I had no choice but to go. As I waited in line, the girl who I had checked my gear with ran by and we waved and I thought to myself "damn I'm losing so much time!!" After checking my splits, I lost almost FIVE minutes at this stop - but what do you do?? I have a nervous race bladder and it's just a reality. I ran the next mile however to try to make it up a little. Soon after my lost time, we detoured off Colfax and around Sloan's Lake Park. I should mention that by this time the wheelchair marathoners had caught us, so occasionally the bikers escorting them were coming through telling us to stay right for the chairs. It's always humbling to see athletes pushing themselves along and even more humbling to realize they had already gone 13 miles farther than me!! After running the path around Sloan's Lake, we headed back to Colfax and were along the most enthusiastic part of the course through the suburb of Lakewood. Lots of volunteers, people cheering, the occasional band, folks with cowbells etc. By mile 8, I realized that I was doing well and on track to beat my last half mary time. I still felt great and there was only an occasional twinge in my knee but nothing to write home about, and I was still keeping my miles under 12 minutes. I was having a lot of fun, keeping pace with a lot of the same people, and just enjoy the view, the neighborhoods and the infectious spirit of the volunteers. I should even mention that along some of the "sketchier" stretches, there were folks out who had that homeless, drugged out look who had smiles on their face cheering the runners on. It was a cool thing.

At mile 10, I realized that I was far ahead of my projected time and that if I cranked out a decent 5K I might even be pushing 2:30. But unfortunately this is where the climbs started. I still felt great and I wasn't in any pain, but it was mostly uphill at this point. There's a huge hill around mile 11 that you can see looming in the distance and it was definitely tough! Right around this time I also passed the girl with the matching skirt that I had met prior to the start of the race, she was walking and I was still running. Actually, towards the end I noticed that I was passing several folks who had stayed ahead of me early in the race which made me think I had paced myself well. At the top of the evil hill there's a great down hill from 11.5 - 12 that was a nice relief ... almost to the point where you wanted to put your hands in the air and go "Wheee!!!" But then at the bottom of the hill it was a climb all the way to the finish. You can see the mall up ahead of you and you know the finish is there, but I was at the point where I couldn't push any harder. The last 1/4 mile was pretty much torture and I was actually saying out loud "Don't walk, you can do it!" There were plenty of spectators there to cheer me on but I was panting so hard I just wanted to finish before I passed out!! With the finish line in sight I tried my best to sprint and when they called my name I had tears in my eyes!! I couldn't believe that I had just ran a 2:37!!!

I was a little dizzy as they cut my chip off and handed me my medal, but I pretty much chugged a bottle of water and then felt much better. I grabbed my gear and immediately headed to the Heineken truck to redeem my free beer because I had definitely earned it on this run!!!!

After having several Panera bagels, drinking my beer and getting any free swag I wanted, I jumped on the bus for the ride back to City Park. My legs were a bit stiff, but honestly I felt great. I remember how after my first half, I could barely walk that afternoon, and the next day every step was painful ... and this time around I'm clearly in much better shape. So all in all it was an excellent race and I had a lot of fun. My official finish time was 2:37:42 which corresponds to a 12:02/mile pace and is a full 1o minutes faster than my last half marathon. In looking over my mile splits (for those not race savvy, that's how long it took me to run each mile) I was incredibly consistent and I was actually faster at the end than I was at the start ... even with big massive hills!! Mile 1= 11:55, 2=11:27, 3=11:56, 4=12:02, 5=17:05 (damn that long pee line!), 6=10:39 (ran the whole mile to make up time), 7=11:46, 8=11:55, 9=11:40, 10=11:48, 11=11:44, 12=11:45, 13=11:05

It is a little daunting to think that this is only half the distance that I'll be going in Chicago, but with every race I'm starting to realize that I have far more potential than I give myself credit for!! So I say BRING IT ON!!!

[edited to add: by the way, I also killed a toenail at this race!! Just noticed today that my 4th toenail is turning black ... I thought that only happened at marathons???]