Running the Colorado Trail

So I figured out the way to make me run just about anything-- tell me "it's pretty".

Seriously.

I am running a trail marathon next month in Wisconsin with my friend Jim, so I asked Steve to look at the elevation map (oy yoy!) and give me a trail run out here that was comparable in elevation change and all. While I know that my ultimate goal is Ironman Wisconsin, I wanted to be prepared for the marathon next month.

Steve said, "You should run the 1st and 2nd legs of the Colorado Trail."-- SOLD! I have heard so much about how beautiful the run is and I wanted nothing more than an excuse to do it. There was, however, a stipulation. For safety's sake, I had to find someone to run it with me, but I could choose whatever date in June to do it.

Enter Andrea. Friend of mine and sufferer in Moab with me. She is training for Ironman Louisville and said she'd be up for it. Awesome. We decided on June 17th. For logistical reasons, we decided to go up and back the first leg instead of doing legs 1 & 2. As far as distance, there were varying reports on exactly how far the first leg was. First I heard 12 miles, then 14, then I read in a book 16.8. Hmmm... not really up for 34 miles of mountains...

We met early in the morning to start off of our little jaunt. It was supposed to be a nice (hot) day, so water wan an issue. We both wore water backpacks, a double-water belt, took hand bottles and some water-filtration tablets. I think we were prepared.

The Colorado Trail starts with a steady climb up Waterton Canyon. I had never been there and it was beautiful running through the canyon at sun-up.
As we ran, we talked about our goals for the day. Andrea had said her legs weren't with her that day, so really any long-run distance would be fine with her. I said I wanted to do at least 20 miles and I would be happy. I figured that 20 miles would be pretty good prep for the marathon next month. We decided that, if we separated, I would go up, turn-around somewhere between miles 10 & 13 and catch her on the way back down. That way, if anything happened, she would find me on her way up and/or I would find her on my way down. About mile 5, I decided to go ahead.

I continued up the canyon past the dam without seeing it. It was there that the road got a little steeper, then about a mile later, the trail started.
It was gorgeous! And up, up, up! I wasn't sure if I was going to really make it, but then it leveled off for a bit. Phew. Wait more up. And that is how it went.
About mile 7.5 you hit a high point, then some downhill, then more steady climbing. It was fun, adventurous and gorgeous views everywhere.

In my guide book, it had said that a campsite at mile 9 would be the last place to get water in a dry year, so I stopped there to refill some water bottles in the stream. It's not a proper trail run without drinking from Mother Nature, now is it? (Don't worry, mom, I used purifying tablets. I was totally safe, just like when I used to go backpacking.)

But, it wasn't a dry year. After this, there were plenty of stream crossings...... and I hated them. I hate getting my feet wet, so I am going to have to work on my stream traversing abilities to be a "real trail runner".

I kept going up, up, up.
I hit the 10-mile mark.
After this, whatever I did was "bonus". But I was feeling the love and didn't want to stop. I hit mile 11. Thought about turning around, but then saw this...So beautiful. I couldn't stop now.

Around mile 12, I ran into a hiker. She was awesome and happy to see someone. She had been out there since 5:30 a.m. I decided she would be my turn around point.

And then it started, the downhill! Oh, it was ice to have gravity on my side again. So, I clipped along. The dread went away and I was "flying", although when you looked at my pace, I wasn't really flying. That's the thing about trail running, it's hard. And when you think you have everything going in your favor, you still have to worry about footing, falling, rocks, rivers, twisting ankles, everything. So, "fast" is not necessarily "fast", but it is fun!

Not too far along and I found Andrea. She was heading up and we were happy to see one another.
She told me her legs had been hurting, but it didn't show. She is a great downhiller. We stuck together for the rest of the trail.
Awe, back in the canyon. Plugged back along Waterton Canyon and back towards the dam.
Wait a minute-- how did I miss this on the way up?They were letting out water from the dam. Very cool.

Now, 6 more miles down the canyon. Without the steep grade, it made running a little bit harder, but got her done. It helped with the pretty views.
Soon, we were back at the road we started out, in desperate need of some relief. 24 miles up and down a mountain can take a toll on the body. So, off to the Platte River for a quick dip.

Who needs ice baths when you have the frigid waters of the Platte?

It was a long, hard run, but the views and the experience made it totally worth it. 24 miles with more elevation gain/loss than I will see in Wisconsin made me feel pretty prepared for my run next month. I am not saying I'll be fast, but I am more excited than ever to do it!

** Note: Shortly after getting home, I received an email stating that Waterton Canyon would be closed after August 2, 2010, re-opening in the Spring of 2012 due to a major construction happening in the canyon.

Training "home"

With the temps (and water temps) warming up, it was time to get back in open water. That being said, this week was return to the reservoir week for me.

Last year, it was our first season in triathlon and our first season in Colorado, so we really had no idea where to train, especially when it came to swimming in open water.

We tried Cherry Creek (ew! don't go there!), the gravel pond (awesome-- but far away) and Grant Ranch (good again, but limited hours)... and then we found the reservoir. Only 15 minutes from home (10, now that we know the shortcut) and open all the time. It's clean, it's beautiful, but, oh yes, it is cold. Take the bad with the good, right? I did not realize this at the time, but it is a mountain fed res, so the temps are always much colder than any other swimming hole.

On top of the water, there is a path around the res-- 8 1/2 miles. Conveniently, we had a lot of swim/run bricks last summer, so this worked out perfectly for us and spent a lot time running on the trail. Coincidentally, it simulates the majority of tri run courses we have been on-- hot, no shade, relatively flat.

Now that we are more versed in road riding, the Aurora res sits right on Quincy, a long, hilly road with little traffic heading east. It is perfect for our training rides leading up to Wisconsin, as the course is supposed to be hilly.

This picture doesn't make it look hilly, but trust me, it is.

I didn't realize it till I was there, but when I returned to the reservoir this week to train, it felt like "home". With the majority of our workouts taking place here in our first season, we learned a lot about tri training, our limits, our relationship and each other. It really felt like where it all started for me/us. It was nice to train in the familiarity and return to something that I hadn't been to since last August.

Oh, and I can't forget the best part. After a good workout, be sure to stop at the roadside stand (@ Gun Club & Quincy)...

...and get yourself a breakfast burrito. Only $3.25 and oh, so good!

Yum!

Kansas 70.3

Leading up to our trip to Kansas... I wasn't really sure what to expect. I feel like Knoxville was a good warm-up race and just kind of showed me how different the variables in a race can be. And the more I learned about Kansas, the more I didn't really care for it. The weather for one- hot, humid and windy is what was predicted. There were hills on the bike.Ugh! Can't I just have one flat, fast and fun race? Please? But, I will say I was surprised with it all.

We arrived in Lawrence on Friday after flatting on the highway (tip: call 511. Some nice passerby did so for us. Otherwise, we might still be out on the highway). The weather was hot, hot, hot and humid to boot. I went for a light jog Saturday morning and came back dripping with sweat. Man, this was not looking good.

Saturday was spent checking in at the expo, putting our bikes in transition, scouting out the bike course and finding out that wetsuits were not allowed the next day- ahhh! The venue in itself was in a campground and you were allowed to park and had to walk to everything from there. Note: If you can avoid it, don't bring the kids.

Scouting the bike course:

Lincoln felt like I did about the course-- kinda boring.

Sunday-- off to the race! We got there uber-early, only to find out that every triathlete and their brother had gotten there even earlier. Had to park and shuttle in. On the shuttle, we learned that the ice-water gods had come down and blessed Clinton Lake lowering its temperature to 77.5 degrees-- that's 0.5 degrees lowers than what we needed it to be to be allowed to wear our wetsuits-- yay! No drowning for Randi today.

Despite our early arrival, it also seemed like there was "just enough" time to check-in, drop our stuff in transitions and get prepared. Either I am getting better at this or... In transition, I met some other cool ladies. 1. that was from Madison, so we had lots to chat about and 2. that was doing Madison this year for her first IM, too! We agreed to look each other up and become fb friends.

This tri was by far the largest with 16+ waves to start. I was in wave 11 and Ross was in wave 15, so I stuck with him till my wave was called. The swim went good and was pretty uneventful-- in a good way. No anxiety and managed to swim relatively straight. I tried to draft as much as possible, but the water was not so clean, so it made finding bubbles even harder.

Out of the water, up into transition went pretty seamless. Again, I must be getting better at this or... and off on my bike.

Don't know what it was, but I felt like I pretty much rocked my bike. Biking has always been my "challenge" for tri and today, it came pretty easy to me. I can probably thank my coach for this, who has worked with me onmy bike form, fielding many, many questions and sent me up to the mountains I don't know how many times, just to make my legs stronger.

As I was passing the dam, I saw what I thought were hawks circling and I wondered if they were jayhawks-- we were in Lawrence after all. I later found out that they were turkey vultures. Yikes.

The hills, too, came pretty easy. I think it was a combination of the fact that (a) Knoxville was much hillier and (b) the hills were very similar to the road out by our home. I also found a guy who would climb every hill standing, so I stuck with him for motivation. (Turns out, he's from Englewood, so he knows how to climb.) When I got towards the end, there was a long hill coming up the backside of the dam. We were about 2/3 way up the hill and I looked over at a guy-- "I got no more gears left" he said to me. I felt so bad for him. I was doing ok, I was still in my big chain ring.

The thing that wasn't rock star about my ride was my back. My back started to ache on the ride. I took some ibuprofen, focused on my form and hoped that it would be ok when it came time to run.

Coming into the second transition, it was off my bike and onto the run. Here was the big test-- how would my back be? Fail. It hurt. Bad. I managed to run the first mile before I had to stop, stretch and walk some. From there on out, it was run/walk and massage my back. I had a horrible first 6 miles of my run. As I passed each aid station, I would ask for ibuprofen, nope. On top of the pain, it was hot. You didn't feel it so much on the bike because of the crosswind, but man-o-man could you feel it on the run!

As I was hitting my second lap (mile 6.5ish), my back loosened up. Yay! I was tired and hot, but now I couldn't blame my back for how I finished the race. Amazingly, my legs felt good, so off I went. I spotted someone wearing Rocky Mountain Tri Club gear and I cheered for him as I passed him.

The best thing about having a crappy first lap would be that my second lap made me feel strong and confident. I was passing a lot of people and just trying to plug along and get her done. Towards the end I was run, run, running and then would have to walk to take a breather, then off to run, run, running. (My goal for the next one is not to have to stop and walk-- just keep going, even if it is at a slower pace.)

So, here's the part that will show you how non-competitive/clueless I can be. I crossed the finish line and had no clue of what I finished in. I know the clock time was somewhere around 6:26, but I had no clue what my actual time was. I had to stop someone who was also in my wave and ask her. Clueless, I know. We guessed at our times and I thought I might have finished in under 6 hours-- yay for me! That would be a pr.

I found both Nikki and Ocky from my masters swim. They crossed shortly after me and it was nice to celebrate our finishes after a long day. I found Courtney, too (my new transition pal), and she had also finished and was happy. Congrats to her on her first half! Chrissie Wellington (mega-tri-superstar) had even handed her her medal. How cool! Chrissie must've been on potty-break when I crossed. Bummer.

Me, happy to be finished.

I waited for Ross and got a shot of him finishing. He crossed the line and Chrissie Wellington gave him a pat on the back- again, jealous.

It was a long, hot day and we were both glad to be done!

A big THANK YOU to Gary and Diana who watched the kids and allowed us to race!

Training with the fam

This past weekend I spent with my family (minus Ross and the boys) up in Michigan remembering Grandma Bea. Grandma Bea was a wonderful woman who touched all of our hearts with her kindness, loving spirit and zest for life.

While the weekend was devoted to being a celebration of our grandmother, the best way we could spend it was to be with one another. Grandma (and Grandpa) are the reason that we are all here. They raised two wonderful daughters, who in turn, fostered families of their own all based on what they learned from my grandparents.

Grandma Bea's grandchildren and great-grandchildren (minus Morgan, Hunter and Lincoln)

Family has different meanings to different people, but for me, whether they know it or not, they are my rock. I draw strength from my family and their support is unmeasurable. People have asked why we are doing Madison for our Ironman. It’s not the easiest course, nor the fastest. It can be hot, humid or downright freezing cold. The bike (my hardest discipline) is supposed to be very technical—so why Madison? The only real reason we have is: it is because my family will be there.

With a full weekend ahead of me, I set out to get a few good workouts in and try to involve my family as much as possible. While they have been more than supportive of our training efforts, sharing the “complete Ironman experience” (ie, training and day) with them has only drawn me closer, so I was looking for ways to further share the experience of training with them.

Workout #1. Swim Workout. First, I asked my super-awesome-swimmer niece, Olivia, if she wanted to swim across Grand Lake with me. She was game for swimming some of it with me—she is only 10, so the whole way would be too much. Knowing that it was a grand adventure, but probably not the safest with boats in the water, we recruited a canoe escort to tote water, the camera, provide support and keep me/us safe from possible motorboats.

Support crew: Cousin Melissa, niece Olivia and nephew Mathew.

They were awesome. Generally, Mathew is quite afraid of the canoe when they boat too far out in the lake, so canoeing all the way across was quite a challenge for him.

It was rocky and hard. I fastened my Garmin to the front of my suit, so I could get a distance and figured I would swim across the lake OR until my Garmin beeped 1 mile—whatever came first.

Swimming across, I tried to focus on a cabin and shoot for it, but I was getting tossed around a bit by the waves, so I think I changed my focus a few times… oh well. More than once I heard “Aunt Randi! Aunt Randi!” (Mathew) “You wanna turn around?”. To which I answered,. “Not really, is that ok?” And he agreed. What a little trooper. Melissa did her job, too, by singing with the kids and keeping them entertained.

What a great cousin!

I swam into shore, turned around and then back out to the canoe, which had stopped for a rest pretty far from shore. My Garmin read about 1.8 miles. Huh? I guess I hadn’t felt my Garmin when it hit 1 mile. Oh well, I guess I was in for a longer swim than planned. Onto the swim home. It was a tad bit easier, but not too much. The canoe knew where the cabin was, so I was just content following behind the canoe.

About 500 yards or so from the end, Olivia jumped in the water and swam right up to me like a little fish. Awesome! Now I had someone to swim with and it made my day. I kept her right to my right-side and we swam in together.

We approached the dock and the whole family was hooting and hollering for us. Cheering us on! It was so fun to see everyone out there to greet us after our hour plus excursion. I am pretty sure that it lifted Mathew’s spirits, too—who I am sure was exhausted by this point.

It was a lot of fun to have that support for everyone: Melissa, Mathew and Olivia for canoeing and me and Olivia for swimming. Not only did I achieve a great deal, they also did as well and I was so proud of them.

Me and Olivia once it was all over.

Workout #2. 14 Mile Run. While I tried to recruit as many as I could, asking people to run “any part of 14 miles” was quite intimidating to most, but I managed to have two takers—Auntie and my cousin Justin.

We started out as a threesome and ran a mile out and back from my Grandpa’s home. Auntie is a special person to me who I don’t get to see enough of.

Then, Justin and I grabbed our waterpacks and bottles and headed out for a beautiful run. Justin has been logging time, not miles, running around the nature center by his house, but he was pretty sure he was up for it. And boy was he ever! Justin was an excellent running partner. Very chatty and more than happy (and capable) to run whatever pace.

Both of us had spent time during our summers growing up playing along the water and in Rogers City, but neither had run along the path as much as we did today. It was neat to run through the terrain where both of our parents (and grandparents) had grown up and explore it as much as they would have living there 18+ years. It was beautiful.

The route was a side of Rogers we don’t normally see in our short visits and even less now that we are out of state. We ran through the forest outside of the city and onto stretches where we gazed at Lake Huron. On top of that, me and Just got some time to connect and I got to learn a little what is going on in his brain. Fun stuff.

As we got to the end, we found my favorite finish line—Grandpa Art. Who just told us that we were crazy (and shy-ed away from my sweaty kisses) in a lovingly, grandfather-ish way.

While my family may not realize it, but their willingness to involve themselves in my adventures—whether it is as partakers, care-givers, supporters, canoers, or just plain telling me that “you are nuts, but you can use my shower anyway”—means more than they will ever know.

My family rocks!

Rev 3 Knoxville Half Ironman

So, what's Rev 3 you ask. It is pretty interesting. A relatively new company that looks like they are trying to brand themselves to excel in many aspects that Ironman is criticized for. Rev 3 is more focused on being family friendly, having big purses for pros and amateurs, lots of attention to detail, making the races feel important, etc. And, I will say from my experience, they did a good job at it.

First, family friendly. Hello, we show up at the expo and there is this:My kids were in heaven. And, since this was also the finish line. And right outside of our hotel. Perfect way to keep them entertained while we were racing.

Second, they really pay attention to detail and try to make the racers feel important.

Since we were racing on Mothers Day, and I was a "mom", I was given a special gift of a new race belt and pink Trakkers visor (triple yay! for me because (1) I love visors, (2) I had lost my Trakkers visor earlier this year and (3) did I mention it was pink?). On top of that, my number was coded pink so that everyone knew I was a mom and cheered for me accordingly on race day.

Then, Ross and I went down to bike check and we found nameplates in our transition spots. How personal. It was like we were pros, only not really cuz the pros actually had banners with their pictures by their transition spots (not to mention $30,000 bikes which we did not).
Then, Ross and I went down to check out the river we would be swimming in. Gorgeous.

And then we decided to take a car ride and see what the bike course was like. I was already excited because I liked the greenery of Knoxville and I was anticipating a very pretty course. I was right.
Since there was no elevation on the website, I figured it would be a fairly flat course. Boy, was I wrong. Someone told me that "the car ride is worse than the bike", that helped ease any nerves, but again, they were wrong. :)

Ross and I were really lucky to have my parents there to help with the kids, both when we were figuring out the logistics and also when we were racing. For me, it was really special because they came all this way to both watch us and to help us out. That amount of support is priceless.

That night, we got a good meal in us and off to bed. The morning came and it was a quick 10 minute walk to check on our bikes in transition, then off to the water. Again, gorgeous.

I like to think of this as the calm before the chaos.

The start was exciting to watch. The pros (all 50+ of them!) started ahead of us in two waves. Then, the elite amateurs. Since the olympic distance was the *featured* distance at this race, everyone gunning for money was in those waves and this would be basically the only time I saw them all day. Then it was Ross' wave and then mine.

The start was probably the most aggressive start I have ever been in. There was a lot of pushing, shoving, kicking, but I held my own. I think I even swam over someone at one point. I have had problems in the past with anxiety in these types of starts, but I kept my nerves and my heart rate in check and just did what I could. I am actually pretty proud of myself for this because this was one of my bigger fears going in. Plus, I had not been in open water since last August and I was happy with how fast and easy I fell into my groove. We swam upstream to the turnaround. Even though the dam was shut off, I was secretly hoping for a current to make the second half go faster, but didn't get one. Oh well.
Got to the end and hopped out of the water onto a dock, ran up the dock, through the boathouse, across the street to transition. Whew!

Coming out of transition is where I saw my dad and boys. This made me so, so, so happy. I thought this would probably be the only time we would see them all day since it is pretty hard to time when we would be in transitions and herd the boys there, make them wait, etc. So I stopped and gave them a quick kiss and was on my way.

Now, the one thing I will have to say about the bike is that it is hilly. Whether you were in the city of country. Hills, hills, hills. 56 miles of hills. While I figured my net time would be slower than on a flat course, I think that I actually did better than others (of my similar ability) on the hills. I say this primarily because when I would pass people, it would be on the hills. And I was able to climb them standing whereas others sat the whole way. This made me happy.

Coming back into transition I saw... NO WAY! My parents and kids. Yay! I changed quick and ran out to see them. More kisses and my mom said, "Ross has a few minutes on you". I shouted back, "That's ok, he started a few minutes before me".

Ross heading out for the run.

At this point, I was hurting. My back had started to tighten up on the bike, so I took some ibuprofen in transition. Now, my back had full on ceased up. I stopped and stretched and then tried to run. Still hurt. Continued to stop and stretch, run, pain, stop, stretch until I found the right stretch that alleviated some of the pain. By mile one, I had stopped 5 times, but found one stretch. After that, I would run (slowly b/c of the pain) and stop about every 3/4 of a mile. About 6 miles in, the pain got to be manageable so I didn't have to stop. Then it was a matter of ticking down the miles. One by one. Just get 'er done.

I will say the one thing I did not like about this course was there were many turnarounds and out-and-backs. While I did like them because I got to see Ross at each one, they played a big part on my mental, especially towards the end. Around mile 11, you were running back into transition area and, instead of turning and running towards the finish, you had to continue running up the road for about 1/2 mile and turn around and run back (ugh!). But the WORST one was once you ran back to transition, up and around it, up another hill and then were heading to the finish (where you could see the finish line) you had to take a left and run UP a hill for about another 1/3 of a mile. (Come on! Could you not have found 2/3 of a mile to add on (a) in the middle of the course and/or (b) where it was a bit more shady and/or (c) a little flatter and/or (d) where you weren't in eyesight of the finish???) But, I saw Ross as he was coming down and that is all I needed to make it to the end.

So, I am on my way down the hill and I see- no way!- my kids again, waiting for me. They take my hands and get to run down the finish line shoot with me! And there was Ross at the end, waiting for me. So, it was the perfect finish for me. My parents and our friend Anthony (who had done the Olympic distance), were there, too. Ross and I both felt good and we both finished!

After the race, we had some food, stretched and went to check our times. Considering the conditions, the hilly course and how I felt and my crappy run, I was thinking I was probably out there 6:30 or so. Our times ended up being 6:05 & 6:07, so I was more than happy with that.

Plus, I got to see my kids and parents at each transition point. It's not easy to entertain little ones, but my parents did an excellent job! Here's my dad in action:It was such a treat to spend the weekend with them and I am grateful for all that they did with us.

To top it off, Knoxville was a pleasant surprise. I loved the greenness of it, the river, the people, the cute areas of town, the numerous fountains for kids to play in, everything.

Before I knew it, it was time to take my little bears home from the Smokies.

**Thanks, too, to Sonja who supplied me with some of the pictures above.