Race Plans for 2018

I’ve got to give fellow blogger RunBeckyRun for inspiring this post with her 2018 race plans. You can read her blog here:

RunBeckyRun Blog – Looking Ahead to 2018

I’ve always found it easier to stay motivated while training by doing 2 things – creating a race calendar for the year and signing up well in advance for a long race that will force me to stay in decent shape. As of right now here’s my current 2018 race calendar, barring any injuries, illnesses, or unexpected vacations.

Snowman Stampede 5K/10K – Feb 24 (Saturday) –
Normally I don’t sign up too early for races in January-March since I have a terrible time committing to consistent training when it’s freezing, icy, and always dark out when I’m not working. However if I am able to stay in decent shape this looks like a fun 10K along the Platte River in Littleton. I ran a Super Bowl Sunday 5K last year in the same area and it did help jumpstart my spring/summer racing just to see where I’m at in my fitness.

Platte River Half – April 8 (Sunday) –
Just like the 10K in February, this may be a little premature in my training to throw in a half marathon. But if the spring snowstorms hold off then another race along the Platte River could be in order! From what I’ve read this would be a fairly fast race as it follows the river’s downhill grade from Littleton into Denver.

High Line Canal Run 5K/10K – May 12 (Saturday) –
I’ve run the High Line Canal race for the last 2 years and it never gets old. In fact my first high school cross country race took place at DeKoevend Park and it’s always been one of my favorite places. This race is fun as they discount your entry fee if you sign up for both races which I did 2 years ago. (10K first followed by the 5K) After that race I swore I’d never run back-to-back races again….but we’ll see if I feel stupid when I sign up.

Federal Cup 5K – May 19 (Saturday) –
This 5K is tagged as the most affordable 5K in Colorado – so of course I had to add it to the wish list. The race takes place at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, CO on the same weekend as the high school state track and field meet which is right across the street. As a kid I was always dragged to the state meet as my dad was a coach for Rampart High School in the 90s. Since then I’ve always loved watching this meet and if I run a 5K across the street, maybe my wife will let me stay and watch a few events.

BolderBoulder10K – Memorial Day May 28 (Monday) –
I haven’t had the pleasure or even opportunity to run the BolderBoulder since 2013 after my first marathon. Finally I don’t have any vacations, family trips, or work trips planned over the holiday weekend so I’m hopeful to make the return trip back to Boulder. As a bonus I may be able to get my wife to jog/walk in one of the later waves with my parents so I can meet up with them after my early wave race. I’ve always wanted to go through the race at a slower pace and take part in all the crazy fun festivities (kiddie pools, slip’n’slides, random food “aid” stations, etc.)

Revel Rockies – June 3 (Sunday) –
I’m not sure I’ll run the Revel Half this year if I run the BolderBoulder 6 days earlier, but I really want to get a preview of the course if I decide to run the marathon in 2019 or 2020. As an added benefit it’s nearly in my backyard so I’ve driven the highway many times and the altitude wouldn’t be a shock for me. Since moving up to Conifer I’ve felt the urge to run as many local races as possible to be a part of the mountain running community.

Slacker Half Marathon – June 23 (Saturday) –
I’ve run the Georgetown to Idaho Springs half several times and always heard that this was a good tune-up for the race as it finishes in Georgetown. I think if I don’t run the Revel Half then I’ll sign up for this race instead.

Indian Hills Fun Run – July 4 –
Another race that I’ve run the last 2 years. Someday I’ll post a race review of the race but I’ll do a quick recap of my experiences. The first year I was in the lead for most of the race and then at 2.5 miles I missed a turn and ended up at the finish line after about 2.9 miles. Backtracking to my missed turn cost me any chance of winning so of course I came back in 2017. Last year I memorized the map and took the lead after a mile and never looked back! My first victory in a long time!! I cannot wait to return to defend my title and spend the 4th of July in Indian Hills to enjoy their pancake breakfast and parade where you actually get to spray the firefighters as they go by!

Conifer Elevation Run 10K – July 28 (Saturday) –
My first race in my hometown last year and boy was it fun! The 10K takes the neighborhood access path to Meyer Ranch for 3 miles of trail running with some serious hills. I loved it and came away with the win – although I don’t expect it to be as easy this year as there are plenty of talented runners in the area. I think they were all busy last year and I got lucky.

GTIS Half – August 11 (Saturday) –
Georgetown to Idaho Springs (GTIS) is my ideal half marathon. It has the mountain vibes, small town friendliness, beautiful views, and a fast course! Anytime I take to the start line in Georgetown I feel like a personal best is possible – it was 2 years ago when I last ran!

FORTitude10K – Labor Day September 3 (Monday) –
I missed the inaugural race last year but am excited to see that Colorado’s greatest college town, sorry Boulder, is starting a traditional race like the BolderBoulder. With the on campus stadium as the finish line I can’t wait to take a trip “home” and run the streets that helped form the runner I grew to be during college.

Hoofin’ It Through the Hollows 5K – October, date TBD –
This has become my traditional year-end race since moving back from Ohio. It’s another race run on the High Line Canal Trail and DeKoevend Park but this time it’s full of zombies, ghosts, and vampires! Unlike most races it’s run in the evening at dusk, with jack-o-lantern mile markers and post race s’mores. The festivities of this race never get old!

I’m sure this list will gradually be modified throughout the year but having a written record will help add some accountability to my training and commitments.

Until next time….Happy Running!

Personal Post – Buying a House

With the cold weather, early setting sun, and flu season in full swing I’ve had a hard time with training lately. Sitting at home has given me time to reflect on the big events that I’ve had this year – engagement, marriage, adding second dog our family, hedgehog babies etc. I figured the first one that I’d write about while I was stuck inside at home was….my home.

It’s no secret that the housing market in Denver (and all the nearby suburbs) is absolutely crazy right now. When I first moved back to Denver from Ohio I could have bought a nice  “starter home” at $250K. Over the three years that I rented various apartments/condos that quickly changed so that by late 2016 when I started seriously looking for a home to buy it was hard to find anything below $300K. So much for my budget….

Throughout the fall and winter of 2016 the cycle started up… Finding a decent house online , calling my realtor, and even if I was lucky enough to tour it I always found under contract a day later. On only one other house was I quick enough to get in an offer. Sadly the house went under contract for another offer another $10K higher than mine. Everyone that was looking for a starter home was outbidding the other prospects. Not exactly the ideal time to be a young adult. Luckily my girlfriend showed me a home in the mountains in late January that had been on for a month and I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised by the house as much as the fact that I had actually seen the listing 2 months earlier at $20,000 more than it was currently listed. In fact when I saw the listing in November I had like the home but knew it was nowhere near my budget. Of course I was suspicious as I had learned that the only homes that stayed on the market for over 2 weeks were either terribly over-priced for their value or had some structural flaw. But I put aside my suspicions we both went to tour the home as the owner had used it as a rental for a few years before he decided to renovate the interior and sell.

Upon first driving up to the house I wasn’t exactly happy. The siding was falling apart, the driveway was icy/hilly and then when we walked the yard we saw all the trash. Apparently the previous owners were hoarders so the yard was full of random junk, pikes of wood, tools, glass, nails, and even some makeshift outhouse…but that’s another story. The interior was a different story. The floors had be replaced, the kitchen appliances and cabinets were new (although somewhat crooked), and most of all the place was cozy and had unique character that I hadn’t seen down in the city. After talking it over with my girlfriend we decided to put in an offer that was at the top of my budget but fairly below the seller’s current listing price. We didn’t hold our breath when we sent in the offer with our personal letter.

Amazingly 24 hours later our realtor sent us an email that the seller had countered at only $5K higher. Time to sign the papers and get a home! Remaining few weeks were full of small stresses until we finally got the keys. Having the well tested, having the septic inspected, walking through with the home inspector and having him tell us the siding and even upper deck were no good and needed to be replaced immediately. There was also the small stress of proposing to my girlfriend after that inspection, but like I said – another story to come later. By the time I got to the final closing I knew that I was signing up for a project…but just like running, I like a challenge. Bring it on!

So to summarize, just under a year ago, I bought my first home in the mountains west of Denver. I knew it’d be a project house and almost every week we’re trying to improve something that’s worn down or broken. The worn away siding still remains, the upper deck didn’t fall when we stood on it, but most of all – we found a place to call home. Over the past year we’ve added so much to this house – even had our church service day to help make a dent in cleaning up the junk from our yard! Little by little our dream home is started to take shape and best of all – we get to say that we made it ourselves (with a lot of hard work and family & friends to help!).

Every now and then when running stories, reviews, thoughts aren’t coming to mind I’ll update on some of the progress we are making with our house. Just like training for a race it’s a slow but consistent process and in the end I think I’ll be pleasantly surprised with the final product.

Until next time – Happy Running.

Addiction?

Not exactly a running post but wanted to share my personal thoughts:

I’ve been pondering on this post for quite some time now as it can go so many different ways. The word addiction comes with a negative connotation – drug addiction, alcohol addiction, cell phone addiction, heck even food addiction. In fact when I Googled the word “Addiction” most of the top results talked about a mental disease/disorder despite harmful consequences. When I first started thinking about this I preferred the secondary definition – “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.” In my world addiction didn’t always have a negative connotation.

I’ve told people that I have friends that are addicted to certain activities (working out, motorcycles, cycling) or certain foods (vegan, quinoa, cold brew coffee). At one time or another I’ve classified myself as addicted to running, working out, eating healthy, video games, the list goes on and on. As I thought over this definition and word for the past few weeks it led me to question – are all people addicts? Are we all craving something that makes us feel better, give us control, or give use the regularity/consistency we need? Or has the word addict been taken from a serious medical classification and been overused by non-addicts, but people with serious passions?

After digging deeper and deeper I’m still unsure if it’s an exaggeration to call myself an addict when there are no harmful side effects to my addictions. I don’t want to downplay the seriousness that certain addictions cause in people’s lives and their families’ lives. My wife and I have become addicted….er….enthralled with watching A/E’s show Intervention which follows real addicts around to document their illness before their family confronts them with one last ultimatum – get help or be left without their family/resources. The people in these shows are truly and blindly addicted to their substance of choice whether it be meth, cocaine, alcohol, or even can-duster. It’s hard to put myself in their shoes as it seems ridiculous that they can be living in seemingly dirt-poor conditions while spending hundreds, if not thousandths, of dollars each week to maintain their addiction. The addictions have a hold of their mind and it’s beyond their own mental will-power to break and they need outside help.

Beyond these serious cases of addiction I can’t help but realize how many different ways everyday people are addicted, or at least very reliant, or certain substances. Scroll through the TV guide and you’ll see these highlighted in the show titles. Obesity due to food addiction, gambling addictions in sports, casinos, etc., heck look at all the dating shows for people addicted to love!

With the start of the New Year I took time to sit down and think about my addictions/personal passions. Instead of making a few empty resolutions I wanted to figure out which passions I wanted to work on and which I wanted to cut back on. Here is my list so far:

• Running – spoiler alert I don’t want to cut back. I did see a bunch of people post in December that they hit their 1,000 mile goal for the year. I’ve added that goal without having a serious plan to reach this goal so we’ll see how it goes.

• Coffee – I’ve grown to love coffee over the past few years but this was an addiction I want to control. Less coffee at work, less coffee and money spent at Starbucks, and more fresh ground coffee at home.

• Eating healthy – Every year it’s on my list to work on and for me healthy food is a passion, but not one that’s stuck permanently no matter what I try. Too often eating Chik-fil-A or making a homemade pizza is easier than looking up wholesome recipes and making a full shopping list for 2-3 days at a time.

Ice cream between 2 cookies – does it get any more healthy?

• TV/Sports – 2-3 years ago you couldn’t walk into my house in the evening without some sports game on or Sportcenter playing on ESPN. If, on the rare occasion, a game wasn’t on I’d often have the TV on to some random show or movie even if I wasn’t watching. Moving to the mountains has already helped start to cure my addiction to the TV and in the coming year I don’t want the latest score of a game be a higher priority than spending time with my wife, or family, or friends.

• Camping/Backpacking/Hiking – I’ve been addicted to the mountains for years now and I love spending time outdoors, but with buying a house last year I barely spent any time adventuring.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

• Writing – Clearly I’ve been working hard in January on adding this to my passion list and am hoping it will take the place of watching too much TV.
• Work – don’t get me wrong, I love my job more than I can explain. Sure some days are stressful and coworkers can sometimes drive me crazy but whenever I look back at what I do, the team I work with, and I can say “I help build a spacecraft” it just leaves me astounded that I’ve been blessed with such an opportunity. Still, I want to make sure that work does not become my addiction or #1 priority. My faith, my family, and my wife will always hold those top spots.

I think it’s important for everyone to take stock of the passions/addictions in their lives and figure out if these are in line with your life goals. Someone once told me to look at your bank statement and see where your money is going – that’s where your priorities are, whether you like them or not.  Too often I think people today, myself included, are addicted to wasting time and yet complaining about all the things they want for their lives. It’s easier said than done, but one of my biggest goals this year is to stop this addiction in my life (stop daydreaming about things I want) and to get out there, put in hard work, and make something for myself.

At the end of all this reflection I came back to the big question that started this whole post: why does it seem everyone has this thirst to have some addiction to hold onto? I came across an online article where Dr. Scott Peck, a psychologist, wrote in his 1991 book Addiction: The Sacred Disease that “At birth, humans become separated from God. Everyone is aware of this separation, but some people are more attuned to it than others. They report feeling an emptiness, a longing, what many refer to as “a hole in their soul.” They sense that something is missing, but don’t know what it is.”. My personal beliefs as a Christian align with this viewpoint that human beings are flawed with sin and that creates a separation from our maker which we all feel even without knowing where that feeling derives.

Other people may attribute that emptiness to other outside factors. In the same article by Huffington Post where Dr. Peck gave his explanation, Anne Wilson Schaef had her own thought. She felt that addiction is “a pandemic American disease driven by our high-stress culture.” I can see that as a factor as well, but it does lead me to ask – where is this extra stress coming from? Other addictions? Unresolved Issues? Or is our daily world just filled with unavoidable stress? I’ll leave it for my readers to decide on their own, but  I will close with one of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis. Whatever your opinion – I hope you all take steps to work on developing your healthy addictions and cut down on any that are hindering you.

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

Until next time, Happy Running!

Product Reviews – Honey Stinger Gels, Chews, and Waffles

Flash back to 2008 and I was in my freshman year of college, still an inexperienced high school cross country runner and I had decided to run the Pikes Peak Ascent the next fall. In order to register a runner had to previously run a half marathon to determine their wave for Pikes Peak. I set out to run the Crossroads Half Marathon in Fort Collins and had no idea what to expect as my longest races (and training run) was about a 10K (6ish miles). It was in this race that I learned to respect distance running and the nutrition that was needed beyond water/Gatorade at aid stations. I started fatiguing at around mile 10-11 and some fellow racers suggested I take some gel packs at the next aid station – I had never tried them before but I followed their advice. By this point my mouth was dry and I desperately needed something to give me a boost. I vividly remember the orange gel hitting my mouth and giving me an instant shot of mental and physical energy. It didn’t magically cure everything and I still had to walk a bit in the last mile of that race but my lesson was learned.

Over the next months and eventually years I began experimenting and researching the different gels, chews, pastes, etc. For the Pikes Peak Ascent I used a combination of Hammer gels and Gu gels with relative success. The one issue I had was finding the few flavors from both companies that didn’t completely turn my stomach or make me sick while running. I had a narrow list of 1 flavor of Hammer gel and 3-4 flavors of the Gu but even those flavors still weren’t the easiest to take mid-race. After that race I tried gummy chews in my long training runs as I’ve always been a die hard fan of anything gummy – gummy bears, worms, sour patch kids, sour Trolli worms, even gummy vitamins! This area was a lot more successful in the flavor department – my stomach never turned with any flavor I tried of PowerBar chews or Clif ShotBloks. However I did learn that on longer runs my body could only take a certain amount of Caffeine, which was added to some of these chews. On one particular 12-miler I took my PowerBar chews which had a raspberry juice filled center with caffeine. I didn’t think much of it until mile 9 when my stomach took a decisive turn and I spent the next mile trying to jog, scoot, skedaddle my way to the nearest port-A-potty. By this time my list of products that I’d trained with was long enough to begin to rate.

My 2009 nutrition grade sheet:

• Hammer Gel – B (easy to digest, not too thick, but limited on flavors I enjoyed)
• Gu Gel – B- (fairly thick, plenty of flavors to choose from, does pack good nutrition)
• Clif Gels – C- (a few good flavors but many upset my stomach)
• PowerBar Gels – C (strong flavor but not the right combination of nutrition that I needed)

• PowerBar Chews – B- (great flavor, but the caffeine had disastrous results mid-run)
• Clif ShotBloks – B+ (good flavors and easy on my stomach, the blocks were a little too big so I’d only do half at a time and they were hard chews so I spent a lot of time trying to chew it down before it was safe to swallow while also running)

From 2009-2011 I ran three more half marathons and another mountain race of a similar distance. Each other these races allowed me to further refine my fueling strategy and narrow down what my body handled best. By 2012 my safest option was 3-4 ShotBloks to take in halves after the race midpoint and then 1-2 gel packs, typically the chocolate or berry flavor made by Gu. This combination led me to what I consider to be my breakthrough race in the half marathon distance in the 2012 Denver Rock’N’Roll Half Marathon. With the proper training and fueling plan I had a super smooth race and finished feeling strong in a time of 1:26:43 – 6 minutes faster than my previous PR and close to 20 minutes faster to my first half marathon in college when I hit my first “wall.”

I know this was a lot to read and a lot of build-up to get to product review for this post, but I think it’s necessary to show how long it took me to find a combination that worked well for me. This also doesn’t mean I’ve found the solution for every type of distance runner so don’t be afraid to try different products, flavors, forms for yourself. Between my 2012 half marathon PR and my 2013 first marathon I still was searching for a gel packet that I felt confident wouldn’t make me sick. I’d found a few Gu flavors I could handle but I wasn’t comfortable relying on them on any training run or race past 13 miles. It was at that time that my research paid off and led me to a company out of Steamboat Springs, CO – Honey Stinger. According to their website they used “honey, a natural form of energy and antioxidants, as the main carbohydrate source for all products.” This instantly sparked my interest as my go-to breakfast before any race was a honey-butter toast combination. So I decided to go to my local running store and try out a few of their product – I bought a few gels, gummy chews, and a protein bar.

The gels were unlike anything that I had previously tried before from any of the other companies. With honey as their primary ingredient the consistency wasn’t as thick and foreign which made it easier to swallow mid-race. The honey also added a natural sweetness and, as a simple form of sugar, was easy for my body to absorb.

• Gels – A- (I need to leave room to improve on their full line of flavors)

Next up were the chews – I bought one regular flavor and one with caffeine, against my better judgement. As far as the flavoring went – both were great and didn’t have a strong overall honey taste but it was still easy to digest. Even better was the fact that the caffeinated flavor didn’t cause any GI issues mid-run or post run. I think this may have been due to the fact that their caffeine comes from natural green tee. The final item to note was their size and texture, the only problem I currently had with my go-to Clif ShotBloks. Unlike the Clif product, the Honey Stinger chews were round, about the size of a nickel and were much softer than the ShotBlocks. This made it much easier to chew and swallow while struggling to breath mid-race or mid-run.

• Chews – A+ (their current flavor list already has me hooked and there’s nothing more that I can ask)

I also bought a protein bar in my early taste test and at the time I used it after strength training at the gym. I won’t grade it on this post for it’s effectiveness in respect to distance running. I’ll just say that it was an awesome bar and packed with flavor and nutrition – love it.

Over the past few years I tried more and more of Honey Stinger’s products and honestly have grown to love them all – even their Wildflower Honey. I’ve added one other piece to my long race-day nutrition list other than their gels and chews – both of which I use during the race. For my pre-race and sometimes post-race I love to have their chocolate waffles. The combination of the honey and cocoa flavor is a great boost of energy to get me started while also not leaving my stomach feeling heavy and overly full. There is one downside to their waffles that I cannot stress enough – they are hard to not snack on all the time. I’m almost forced to buy 2 boxes on every order so that I can keep one box with my running gear and one box in the kitchen because they are the best snack at any time of day.

• Waffles – A (good, simple flavor, and always a perfect addition to any fueling setup)

I’ll still keep experimenting from time to time with different hydration/nutrition products that sound/look promising but for the last 5 years Honey Stinger has continued to be my go-to product. They continue to try new flavors to all their product lines and always produce a quality product. On top of that they are a proud local Colorado company that sponsors many athletes worldwide and I’m proud to be a Honey Stinger Ambassador. If you’re looking to improve your training/race nutrition I’d highly recommend giving any of their products a sampling!

Oh I forgot to mention – Honey Stinger is dog approved!

Until next time – Happy Running!

2015 Colorado Marathon Race Report Part 2

Picking up where I left off…

I came through the half marathon ahead of schedule at 1:30:00 and although the first half of the race felt smooth I could tell my body felt more taxed than it should have at the midpoint of the race. As we once again exited the canyon over the next few miles I maintained pace, but the hot sun seemed to suck the energy from me. All I could seem to do was compare how I was feeling now to the race 2 years ago and the signs were all pointing in the wrong direction. I felt more fatigue, I knew the walls that still lay ahead, and along with the knowledge that my training wasn’t where it needed to be I knew I was in trouble.

There’s a hint of pain in that smile

Once out of the canyon at mile 16 my pace slipped to 7:05/mile and through mile 19 it took all my energy to keep the pace from slipping further. Again I made it over the hill between mile 19 and 20 but I could feel the fatigue and the wall hitting my legs again. One of the racers running with me tried his best to keep my mind in the race by telling me to push through it and that I’d feel better soon enough. Unfortunately he didn’t know that my lungs were still somewhat raw from their recent bout with pneumonia and that my legs where going numb. Miles 20 and 21 came in at 7:23/mile after I pushed through every mental barrier with all I had left, I knew deep down I was through….

About that smile…..it’s gone.c

Another downside to the race in 2015 was the course change due to construction on the riverside running/bike path. For the marathon this year runners were sent onto the main streets through northwest Fort Collins until they ended up near Old Town once again. To make matters worse this meant there were more uphills and instead of winding trails to keep my mind distracted runners were left with mile-long straight stretches of asphalt road. Mile 22 sunk to 7:50 and as I made the transition off the trail and onto the road during mile 23 I was completely tapped. I had to walk. Again…..

Unlike 2013, I didn’t have my roommates to run with me or motivate me at this critical point. All I had was myself trying to will my legs to keep going and after 23 miles my mind gave in to what my legs demanded and I walked. I’m not going to go into detail about how much I walked in the final three miles but let’s just say I had plenty of time to talk to people on the side of the road and encourage stronger runners as they went past. Another thought that I dwelled on was to question if I had made the wrong decision by not switching into the half marathon considering my training/health struggles in early April. Luckily by mile 26 I hooked onto another runner who held a conversation with me and pulled me out of my walking misery. With his help we both made our way to the finish at a respectable jog – each of us finishing not exactly at the time we had wanted.

I finished somewhere around 3:17:39. I lost over 20 minutes in the second half of the race, never a good race plan.

Now that I was no longer living in Fort Collins I took a longer time to stay at the post-race area and enjoy the scene. The race had a great seating area to enjoy the standard post-race brew while listening to local musicians playing on stage. After listening to 2-3 groups play some songs I willed my legs up and painfully dragged them across downtown to the parking garage to get my car and go home. I had a date with my post-marathon donuts in Littleton at Lamars Donuts (a tradition I think I’ll keep for all my longer races).

Looking back at my 2 marathon experiences and it’s hard not to see all the ways I failed to hit my goal in both. In 2 races I had experienced improper training, lack of mental preparation, physical injury, and health issues. Deep down I know that my race goal of 3:05 is possible for my running ability but unlike training for 5Ks and 10Ks one small issue whether in training or during the race in a marathon can cost minutes. I hope to run another marathon in the next few years but right now I’m working on establishing a new training schedule balanced with work, family, and other responsibilities. My 2 experiences have taught me enough lessons that I will no longer sign up for such a race without being 100% ready mentally and physically.

Until next time….Happy Running!

2015 Colorado Marathon Race Report Part 1

Recovery & Training

After having knee surgery to repair the flap tear I began slowly working back into running in the fall of 2014. I was now living in a condo in Littleton, CO that backed up to several of the main bike paths/trailheads for SW Denver. It was a great spot to rehab my knee, begin my build up of mileage, and to explore all the neighborhoods.

By winter I was running 4-5 times a week (pain free!) and had my Sunday long runs up to 12 miles. Besides high school cross country this was the most consistent my mileage and training had ever been. So, once again I got the itch over Christmas to see how strong my knee was and I decided to challenge myself once again. By January 1, 2015 I was officially registered to run the 2015 Colorado Marathon – my redemption run from 2013. Honey Stinger added some extra motivation for me in 2016 by accepting my application to become an ambassador for them! Their energy chews and waffles had always been my favorite add-on when shopping at REI and I came to find out their energy gels didn’t turn my stomach like most other brands would. The sweet honey flavor helped avoid this problem and got me the fuel I needed for the hard training ahead! Plus they were a local Colorado company out of Steamboat Springs, what’s not to love?!

Injury and a few years of maturity after college opened my eyes to proper marathon training and before I signed up for the race I committed to do a hybrid of Hal Higdon’s marathon training program. The main hybrid part came from my base mileage already being well ahead of the week 1 plan as well as adding my own speed/interval training to a few hard workouts. This time around I hit 15 miles by mid-February, a definite improvement from 2013 when I hit that distance just 30 days ahead of my race.

One of the areas that I’ve always struggled with is not running every day at a harder pace, even my long runs. In high school and college this was managed by running with friends and training groups so that I was forced to run at a conversation pace. But whenever I run by myself I get caught up in pushing myself, running negative splits, and seeing how my legs feel. Again, my old injury humbled me to the point that I committed to running my long runs at 35-60 seconds per mile slower than my race pace. I was determine not to burn out my legs and possibly overwork my joints to cause another injury. Through mid-March, everything was looking good. I had my share of tough runs, mental barriers that fought back, and even plenty of good days. Most importantly – I was hitting my training plan every single day.

Come late March, after a week of runs in the spring rain I came down with a cold, I wasn’t sure what I had but when I went in to work that day I gradually got worse and worse until I was forced to go home. I was bedridden for the next 3 days with  chills, a fever, muscle aches, and what felt like my asthma (but on steroids). I missed my 18 mile long run over the weekend and all the training runs leading up to Sunday. By Monday I went in to the doctor and got the bad news – I had walking pneumonia and would take likely another week to get my lungs back with proper medication.

It killed me that this meant I was going to miss my 20 mile run as well the following Sunday. In total I was forced to miss 9 days of training and then had to ease back into running the following week. All this with only 30 days left before my race – right when my training plan has me scheduled to start tapering. I was forced to abandon the Hal Higdon training plan this final month and was building up in mileage back to 12 miles with two weeks before my race. I considered switching to the half marathon, changing my goal time, and even dropping out, but this race was more than just a chance to hit a goal time. It was my first big race back after my injury. It was my goal for the previous 5 months. I wasn’t going to back down or surrender because of this cold.

Race Day – May 3, 2015

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t filled with nerves the week before the race. Or if I said that I slept great the night before race day. Or if I said that I didn’t have any doubts at the start line. Never the less, I decided once I got off the bus that I was going to shoot for the 7:03/mile Boston Qualifying pace and see how long I could hold it. With my longest run being 16.5 miles I was sure the last few miles were going to hurt again, but if I didn’t commit in the first part of the race I’d never have a shot.

Having run the race 2 years earlier did teach me a few useful things. I brought some fluids/food for the bus ride up the canyon to help get my breakfast in my body at the optimal time. I had a fueling strategy in place for the rest of the race that consisted of a variety of Honey Stinger chews and gels which I had used in training. Best of all – I brought several layers to keep me warm as all the runners sat next to the river waiting for the race to start.

Right at 6:30am, the gun went off and the exciting journey began once again for me down the Poudre Canyon. This time I was careful to keep my first two miles right at 7:00/mile. As my legs loosened up I let a little bit off my self-restraint and ticked off six straight miles of 6:50/mile pace. One of the hardest concepts for me in the marathon is having to really hold myself back in the first half of the race. It’s hard not to get caught up running with others around you as well as just running freely when you have to constantly tell your legs to slow down even when it feels easy. I tried my best and ran miles 9-11 back around 7:00/mile – I was a little worried that I’d run too hard and would burn out at the end like in 2013.

Through the half marathon I was right at 1:30:00, I was over 2 minutes ahead of goal pace and felt solid. Little did I know the demons that lay ahead….

 

Running While Injured

Picking up where my last post left off in May of 2013 I had just completed my first marathon. After a few weeks off I slowly worked back into running and adding miles as I had also signed up for the 2013 BolderBoulder on Memorial Day. Again, probably not the best decision since it was roughy 21 days after my marathon. After graduating it was my last race planned before I packed up and moved to Ohio to start my post-college job.

The race went off better than expected and I ran my fastest BolderBoulder time when I started the race just hoping to run well. I think the miles I had been running in my marathon prep were really more appropriate for a 10K anyway. There was one peculiar thing during the training that I had started to notice during the tail end of my marathon training – my left knee was sore/swollen after several of my runs.

The swelling and pain began to become a more common problem after the BolderBoulder. Every time I went for a jog I’d start to feel something in my knee catching on what felt like the bone and this would happen always at 1 mile into my run. While moving to Ohio in late June I decided to take time off of running to see if ice and rest would help alleviate this pain and get rid of the problem. From July through November this cycle repeated itself – I’d take almost two full weeks off of running, ice up my knee, massage the area that hurt, and then once the swelling/lump seemed to no longer hurt I’d go for a run. Just like before 1 mile in I’d start to feel that grabbing feeling when extending my knee, almost like the tendon was catching on something. It always started as a bit of an irritation by it quickly would swell and become painful. I tried everything I could think of to manage the pain – KT tape, knee braces, compression socks, but nothing solved the problem.

During this 4 month period I went to the doctor and had X-rays taken to try to see if there really was something wrong. The X-rays didn’t show anything and frankly the doctor didn’t seem to be able to determine anything wrong as I couldn’t replicate the pain and swelling while just standing in the office and bending/twisting my knee. His solution was to take extended time off from running to get the swelling down – not exactly the most helpful news as I’d already been doing that “solution.” By late November I received news that I was going to be returning to Colorado for my job as they were closing the Ohio branch. I took this opportunity to really take a long time away from running, longer than any stretch I had done since middle school. Moving, starting a new job, and the Christmas vacation helped keep the thought of running at bay but I really underestimated how much I think about and long to run. Luckily by January my legs were rested with over 45 days of being run-free and the swelling/pain seemed to be gone.

While taking time off I also researched as much as I could on my injury and ways to be able to run. I was convinced that I had Baker’s cyst in my knee (the cause unknown) and I decided I would try minimalistic shoes as well as a little barefoot running in my Vibram shoes to help strengthen my feet and alleviate the strain on the rest of my body. In the springtime I really eased into the jogs, going no more than a mile at a time early on, being consistent with my stretching and cool-down work barefoot in the grass, and icing after every run. For quite some time this kept the pain at bay while I could still feel what I believed to be the cyst in my knee every time I did a post-jog massage.

  

Naturally after 3 months of taking it easy I was getting antsy so I began to start pushing some speed work and tempo pacing back into my runs. Pretty soon after that the clicking pain in my knee returned and I was demoralized. My two options seemed to be either quit running because the doctor couldn’t figure anything out or to run super slow and short and never race again. I decided to go to a doctor in Colorado who specialized in athlete injuries, hoping he’d have the solution. Once again in his office we did the same twists, turns, bends, etc. and he was left with the same conclusion that he couldn’t detect anything wrong.

He did say that if I’d want to schedule an MRI he’d go along with it and after a week of contemplating I did just that. A week later I got a call from my doctor and he told me he had interesting news for me at the MRI follow-up. There was a flap tear in my left knee’s meniscus and this had led to the development of two cysts which became inflamed any time I had been running.  The other good news was that this surgery could be relatively simple depending on the size of the flap once they were inside my knee.

Fast forward to the end of August 2013 and I had the surgery and the flap ended up being small enough that they went with the simple method of shaving the flap off to smooth out the meniscus. To my surprise the doctor told me he wanted me to start putting weight on my knee that very day, so I was walking (slowly) around the house the remainder of the week.

Within 2 weeks I was steadily adding stationary biking to my routine and even ran around a local track. It was a relief to be able to run again without having to worry – the first time in over a year. Post-op my doctor did say that my knee would probably never return to 100% of where it was before the tear but I should be able to resume running like before. True to his word I’ve been able to run without significant pain since the surgery. However whenever the weather is changing my knee does swell slightly and it is always the first thing to tighten up in cold-weather runs. I feel this is a happy trade off compared to the alternatives that I was considering before my MRI.

To this day I have no true answer as to how I came to have a flap tear in my knee. It could have been while running during my marathon training, playing basketball at the rec center, or some other minor event but I’ll never know for sure. Being injured did come with some positives in my life. I spent a lot of time weight training when I was in Ohio. I learned other ways to stay in shape and round out my fitness. I learned to listen to my body and not to just ignore nagging pains. It’s important to take care of your body and be in-tune with everything it’s telling you. I think this can also be beneficial during races when your brain is telling your body to slow down because it hurts. If you truly know your body well you can learn to ignore your brain (from time to time) and break through those barriers!

Until next time, Happy Running!

Race Recap – 2013 Colorado Marathon

During the my time off from posting on my running blog I surprisingly still managed to find time to run…..a lot. Thus I’ve got a few race recaps to catch-up on:

Flash back to the winter of 2012, I’m in Super Senior year at CSU for engineering,

running with the Facebook CSU running club, and working hard to find a job after college.  Since I had run the Pikes Peak Ascent right after graduating high school I

somehow got the stupid idea that I should “up the ante” and run my first marathon just a few weeks before graduating college. So in the lull of Thanksgiving break I signed up for the Colorado

Marathon in May of 2013.

Training

For a somewhat casual runner such as myself the marathon represented a big milestone. Much like a first 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon it’s an natural, progressive step up in distance but unlike all those races the marathon presents another set of challenges that must be addressed before the actual race: proper race fueling, even pacing for 26 miles, avoiding the wall, mental fatigue, and serious time dedicating to training. The marathon also has a bad reputation….

Being the somewhat introvert that I am I did manage to keep this problem minimized to just my roommates and small CSU running club.

Looking back at my Garmin data several years later I realize just how naive and crazy I actually was when I registered. My goal was to run a Boston Qualifying time which had just been recently lowered for my age group to 3:05:00 (roughly 7:03 per mile). I never used a training log or training program, I never had a set number of goal miles to hit per week in the training build up, and never even ran a consistent schedule from January-April. In fact it wasn’t until late March that I realized I was going to need to get in some runs longer than a half marathon.

Stupidly, I really “bore down” in the last month and managed 2 of those “long” runs. Both were relative disasters according to Garmin’s logbook and my memory. The first was a 15.5 mile run almost 30 days before the full marathon which wasn’t all that bad until mile 14. My body clearly wasn’t used to running anything longer than a half marathon and almost instantly my legs starting revolting and felt like bricks. This was another reminder that I needed to fuel properly early in my long runs in order to keep my energy up past mile 13.

2 weeks later (yes, 2 weeks before the actual race) I decided to go for 20 miles…and ended up with about 19.75, close enough. Once again college Corey wasn’t the brightest bulb and he decided to try to run mile splits close to race pace. This plan worked through 16 miles, but inevitably I blew up and ran the rest of the run at over 9 min/mile pace. The morning of this run I decided to drop a large bottle of water at a big tree in a local park that I’d be passing through when at mile 15. Somehow somebody must have seen me and thought a bottle dropped at 6am under a tree was suspicious because when I came back to the park almost 2 hours into my run the bottle full of much needed hydration was gone. So we can also cross fueling strategy off the list of things that I hadn’t fully understood when I signed up to run this race. Other than those 2 long runs I kept up with my typical training runs ranging from 3-7 miles roughly 3 times a week. Not exactly the consistency or mileage one would hope for when they are a rookie to the marathon. Up until race day I think the only successful thing I had done was to understand my goal pace.

Marathon Day – May 5, 2013

Happy Cinco De Mayo! But seriously, what 22 year old college kid is up before 4am on Cinco de Mayo to go run 26.2 miles? One of the nice facts about the Colorado Marathon is that it’s located in my college hometown – Fort Collins. Marathon runners meet in Old Town (downtown) and are bussed 26 miles up the Poudre Canyon to the race start line giving 90% of the course a nice gentle downhill grade. One of the not-so-nice facts is that 6am in early May is not exactly the warmest time to be dropped off beside a river wearing running attire. For over an hour I did my best to keep warm while an endless stream of buses dropped off the remaining runners. Sometimes catching the first bus is not the best idea but I was grateful to be at the start line ready for a new challenge.

By 7am we were off and all running down the Poudre Canyon and it was amazing. Weeks and weeks of nerves were released when the race started and I tried my hardest not to let the adrenaline and downhill grade affect my early pacing. Despite all that my first 8 miles were between 6:46 and 6:59/mile. I was really trying to hold back and it felt like I was running slow and staying mentally fresh but unfortunately I wasn’t hydrating and refueling as much as I should have while feeling fresh. The early miles through the canyon provided breathtaking views as daylight broke.

Miles 9 through the Half Marathon point all went off just as smooth with my times between 6:50-7:02. At this point any time my watch went off I counted the time under goal pace as seconds in the bank that I could use in the later miles. I did my best to get some energy gel in my stomach along with water over the next few miles and as we exited the canyon and began our entrance into the city. Miles 13-18 had gone off all around (or below) my goal pace without significant cramping, stomach issues, or leg pain. I was feeling great!

Mile 18 is a significant mile for the Colorado Marathon as you’ve exited the canyon in the past few miles into the sunshine, which also meant the end of the steady downhill grade and you could see the upcoming hill at mile 19. I plowed on and made it over the one “big” hill of the entire course, not so bad. Mile 19 – 7:09 minutes. 6 seconds over my goal pace, no biggie, there was a hill to account for this minor slowing. Outwardly I was telling myself this but inwardly the accumulation of miles had begun to fatigue my mind and my brain couldn’t help by worry that I was slowing while my body told it that I was working harder to keep up. Miles 20 and 21 returned right around goal pace with the returning downhill slope and  with the knowledge that I had one last trick up my sleeve  at mile 21 (I hoped) – my roommates.

Before the race I had mentioned roughly where the course would be coming through town if they felt like coming out to support. I was expecting to see them near the elementary school before the course hopped off the road and back onto a running trail following the river. Mile 21 came and I didn’t see anyone I recognized, once again my mind took another mental hit. Mile 22 – 7:13, I was now hurting and starting to worry that I was going to hit the wall any second. As I passed under a bridge at the mile marker I was shocked at what I saw – there were 3 of my roommates! They had pulled off the side of the road after seeing the race leaders come through that rea and once seeing me, Ryan (dressed to run) hopped on the trail while Ben and Josh cheered and then headed to the finish line.

With Ryan at my side I gave him the news “Dude, I’m bonking” and he gave me a confused look. Up until then I don’t think I had ever used this word or even knew what it meant. At that moment it was all my mind could muster – bonking. AKA My body hurts, I’m out of gels, I can’t do the math to figure out my goal pace, I’m hitting the wall, I’m an idiot for not training better. For the next 3 miles Ryan ran with me and did the best he could to keep me at a respectable pace. Here’s how it went in my memory:

Mile 23 – 7:25. Withdrawing from the saved time bank. Mental fatigue in full effect

Mile 24 – 8:11. All those fast miles saving time from early in the race, gone. My main focus now was to keep Ryan’s feet in front of me and just hang on with him.

Doing my best to hold it together mentally, but there’s definitely no chance of smiling

Mile 25 – 8:28. I stopped to walk while passing an aid station and it took everything in me to get going again. Boston Qualifying was gone and with it was my mental drive to push on. Luckily Ryan pulled me through to get me to that last stretch.

Mile 26 – 8:55. A few more walk breaks and mercifully the course marker pointed me off the riverside trail and into the final stretch to the finish line in downtown Fort Collins – Old Town. Ryan pulled off here – thank you for dragging my dumbass those last 3-4 miles. Being known as the runner of my group of friends really made it hard on my pride when I literally could do nothing but walk while at the end of a race. The marathon can find a way to strip you of those things you think you have under control or take pride in.

Finish – 03:08:44. Done. Dead. Tired.

Post Race

I grabbed my medal, enjoyed a few moments downtown with the post-race celebration, and walked with Ryan to my car. He was going to need to drive as my legs were not going to be listening to me for quite some time. We stopped off at Lamars Donuts – got an iced coffee and box of donuts – and within an hour I was asleep on the couch (box of donuts lying on top of me). No Cinco De Mayo celebration for this hombre. The amount of lactic acid in my legs was remarkable the next few days as a stumbled between classes on my final week of college. Serves me right for not training properly. Reflecting back on it now I have several thoughts on my race:

• I really liked the Colorado Marathon course. Running through the canyon for the first 16ish mile was a breeze as it kept the temperatures cool and shaded while also provided breathtaking views next to the river. Finishing in Old Town provided a great post-race celebration for everyone and a perfect backdrop for me to lay down and pray that I never had to get up again.
• As disappointing as missing out on a BQ time was in the following years I’ve come to realize how lucky I was to even hold that pace for almost 22 miles. I was in fair shape, but definitely hadn’t training with any consistency to be ready to run hard for 26 miles.
• The marathon has a reputation for a reason. Even with proper training everyone must battle the fight between their body and mind when they run out of energy and hit some sort of wall.

Well I guess you live and learn! More to come on my blog catch-up posts from 2013 until now!

Happy Running!

 

New Year – Older Me

Once upon a time this was a blog for a college-aged me to talk about running related topics while taking an Online Writing course at CSU. Looking back at it I got to write on something that I was passionate about but the requirements of the class definitely forced my hand on the amount of posts, topics, formatting, informality of posts, etc. I think that’s why I stopped writing posts pretty quickly after I finished the class. Fast forward 5 years and here we are:

• Graduated College
• Ran my first marathon – Colorado Marathon 2013
• Moved to Ohio for work
  

  Goodyear Airdock in Akron, OH

• Unable to run with unknown knee issue
• Moved back to Colorado after Ohio plant was announced to be closing (6 months after starting there)
• Finally got knee issue diagnosed and repaired (meniscus flap tear in my left knee)
• Ran my second marathon – Colorado Marathon 2015
  

  Colorado Marathon 2015 – In the heart of my neon phase – a terrible, terrible addiction.

• Lived in 3 apartment/condos before finding a slightly roughed-up cabin in the foothills west of Denver
• Met the love of my life in 2015 and by at the start of 2017 I proposed, was engaged,  and lucky enough to be married all within the first month of moving and living at our new home 
• Adopted two dogs with girlfriend (now wife) from local shelters
  

  Oakley (Blue Heeler) and Bindi (Red Heeler Mix) love posing for Christmas photos!

After all that I’m settling into a somewhat organized life again now as a husband, dog-dad, home-owner, and (still) runner! Now I’m left to figure out where I should take this blog…there are currently a few obvious options. In 2018, I’m lucky to be a Honey Stinger Hive Elite Athlete, my 3rd year representing Honey Stinger, as well as a first time Nuun Ambassador. Even with my lack of results in the last few years Honey Stinger has stuck with me as an ambassador and I’m grateful to be able to represent a local Colorado company. I’ll definitely be posting product reviews, race reports, and thoughts for both Nuun and Honey Stinger.

      

I’ll try to chronicle my journey after college with running my first marathon, my knee issues which lasted over a year without an answer, and other running and life highlights since then. I think I’d also like to chronicle the struggles and victories of living in a fixer-upper house as that is almost always an entertaining story. Beyond that I’m trying to keep this blog and open and flexible as possible. I could write about my other passions – camping, backpacking, Ultimate Frisbee, life with my wife, hiking 14ers, my attempts to eat healthy and workout beyond running, etc.. I get that  Vlogging on YouTube is now the more popular and conventional method but I clearly don’t have the face or personality for that so bear with me. I’ll finally be able to through in bear puns and dad jokes so that should make up for the lack of Face-to-Face interaction.

So with that I’ll end this brief update post and see what the power of social media can do to get readers and visitors back after nearly 5 years of inactivity. You will all be my biggest motivation to return to writing and posting in 2018. Happy New Year!

 

Mile High Rush

Almost a month ago I had the unique opportunity of lining up outside Civic Center Park and the US Mint in Denver alongside nearly 15,000 other runners. While the temperatures may have been near freezing the energy of this group getting ready to participate in the Denver Rock ‘ N ‘ Roll 1/2 Marathon and Marathon was enough to keep me warm. While waiting in my designated corral for the sun to (hopefully) rise and the gun to go off I had a chance to reflect on what a crazy ride I went through to get here and what adventures would lay ahead over the next 13 miles. But let’s wind back a few weeks.

In the middle of September I just happened to be browsing the Brooks ID (Inspire Daily) website, as is my usual routine being part of their program, and came upon a new “tweet”. From time to time they send out Twitter alerts for free entries into Rock N Roll races since they are one of the primary race sponsors and  this Twitter alert was for Denver, only an hour away! Long story short, I was chosen as one of the members to receive a free race entry and, with a little less than 3 weeks until race day, I had to get back to some serious training. Over the next two weeks I upped my weekly mileage as high as my body would allow and peaked with a rough 10 mile run with just over a week until race day. Unfortunately, changing your weekly mileage is an easy way to get yourself injured and I found myself with a sore left foot that never fully healed after my last 1/2 marathon in August as well as a mysterious pain behind my left knee. Still I was determine to make it to the start line and represent Brooks so I did my best to rest, ice, and even was able to try out some KT  therapy tape. (I’ll have to do a review on it later)

   

The day before the race I drove down from Fort Collins to pick up my packet and of course the weather was miserable; 3o degrees and snowing. Just yesterday I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt wondering how long 70 degree weather in Colorado could possibly last during the fall. Luckily Brooks had a station after packet pickup and I purchased a pair of their new seamless arm warmers to go with my ID jersey. On race morning I awoke at 5 AM to once again make the drive down to Denver and was even lucky to snag the same parking spot from the day before amidst thousands of other runners driving around downtown. Thankfully, the rain/snow from the previous day had stopped and the forecast called for a sunny and warm 40 degree day which wasn’t much of an improvement. Once again I was at the start line wearing my singlet, shorts, arm warmers, gloves, and headband wondering what was about to happen over the next few hours. As soon as the gun went off the elites were followed by Corral 1 which I was lucky to be a part of based on my predicted finish time (1 hour 35 minutes). Quickly I realized my knee pain wasn’t going to go away, but the cold weather served to numb the joint all-together. For the first two miles I took my time and was even able to talk with a few other runners, one was recovering from back surgery and had actually placed in the top 10 of the original Rock N Roll Denver race.  

The course layout also helped distract me for the first several miles as we wove through downtown Denver passing the Pepsi Center, Union Station, and Coors Field before heading out of the skyscrapers towards City Park and the Denver Zoo. Eventually by mile 4 the sun was high enough to start providing warmth and the cool air kept me from sweating and overheating, maybe this cold day wasn’t so bad after all! After winding through the park at around mile 9 we were greeted with some surprising hills but more importantly a GU station to refuel. After taking my predetermined energy supplements my body was holding up quite well so I began to roll after mile 10, maybe the bands located around every mile marker were helping!

Just past the 11 mile marker participants of the 1/2 marathon had to bid farewell to their marathon counterparts who would turn south for another 13 miles or so. At this point I was greeted by the same man from mile 2 who once again began to chat with me, see how I was doing, and to offer words of encouragement. From here the course took us back into the heart of downtown and, even better, started heading downhill. My last 2 miles were the fastest of the race as I felt myself flying through the streets, rounding the corner at the Colorado State Capitol, and seeing the finish line only 200 meters away.

While my time of 1:33:42 was not a personal record I couldn’t help but feel that this was one of the best longer distance races that I have participated in. The course was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the bands along the way were encouraging, and the other participants were very friendly and inspiring. This is what make running and other runners special to me – great experiences can happen anywhere!

Happy Running! – Corey