Month: October 2022

I don’t think an off race is necessarily great for the soul or a profound learning experience unless you find something along the way that generate those outcomes. Often a rough race is just that. Nevertheless, it was somewhat frustrating to not be “on” for race day. It happens.

My primary goal races this fall were the 12K road championships in New Jersey last month and the upcoming Indy Monumental Marathon. The XC championships in nearby Boulder would be final tune up and hopefully a feather in my cap, an opportunity to win another medal team (hopefully gold) and individual medal (any would do).

I was definitely buoyed by the 15K road race in early October, arguably the second best race of 2022, with an 87% age grade at mile high elevation, converting to approximately 90% sea level. So the fitness was there. Leading up, I had been tired and maybe off a bit but things clicked that day and I felt ready. The next two weeks were the best of this training block and I got in two 20 milers both with some marathon pace work–running sea level goal paces at altitude for 6-7 miles and feeling pretty strong.

Ten days before the XC champs I went to the race venue at Harlow Platts Park and did a fartlek-progression effort of 4X5 minutes at CV effort and 3X 2.5-3.5 minutes at V02. And I felt strong. However, at a week out (following my last 20 miler of the cycle) I felt a little achy when I got home and by was coughing. By Sunday I knew I had a cold. It was mild at first, with just some gunk in my throat but on Tuesday night I couldn’t sleep well. It wasn’t covid, but maybe the RSV that is going around. I took it easy for the rest of the week, hoping I’d be over it by Saturday. I wasn’t.

I lined up for the 2 PM start, 75 degrees, feeling a little out of sorts, not out of body but my head was not there. I would set the pace with teammate Mark, Tim wanted to his own thing and run for the win. We started out fine and my breathing was fairly good through about 1 half mile, but Mark picked it up and after that it was mostly a gradual slide backward. I picked off a few runners on along the lake and up up the first hill (just before the mile) and as planned accelerated on the long (400 m) downhill.

I nearly caught Mark and was only a second back. My heart rate average was a reasonable 145 through the mile. But by the bottom my breathing went to hell, and I knew the last 3K would be rough.

Turns out my HR had climbed to the 160s, which is above V02 max, just under my maximum of about 165. And I would run the rest of the way under this duress, even though my pace had slowed to tempo on on this already slow course (6:50s). I held onto 4th for the age group through two miles but a sea level runner caught me and I didn’t have much fight. I tried to keep in contact over the hill and accelerated again, but could not hold that effort and fell back.
With three of us in the top five I knew we had the team title locked which was great. However, with just 400 to go another runner from Boulder–who I think has only finished ahead of me once in 8 years (and that was my first race back here in 2014, on the same course no less, when I wasn’t yet altitude acclimated).

I finished roughly and commenced hacking, wheezing, and sneezing for the next 24 hours. The effort set me back four days, symptom-wise. Fortunately, however, I bounce back by Sunday afternoon and have gradually improved since then.

We took the team title, which was a big goal. That’s three wins and a third for the team on races I have done this year and we take 2nd in the best of five series for 2022. Not 100% what I wanted, for this race or for the series but that’s racing. Some days you are on fire and some days your lungs and throat are on fire.

I’m not sure where the future holds for the team racing, let alone the USATF Grand Prix Circuit but no doubt I’ll be lining up for some races next year.

Actually last week was not a huge one volume-wise with 65.8 miles, but I did have two big lifts. I was very tired from the previous week, when I ran 71 miles following the 12K race and East Coast trip.

Following that I took Monday off from running and only did 20 minutes on the bike trainer to flush out my overtired legs. The week included two very easy 6 mile trail runs and no actual workouts (interval or tempo runs). However, on Wednesday I did 22+ miles in 3 hours (at sub 8s), which was necessary for next month’s marathon. So backed down a bit, but certainly was not a recovery week.

On Sunday I had a 15K training race.

I call it a training race because I’m kind of worked through it with minimal cutback, but the effort is more than just a workout. It was an equivalent to a mid-term test and my plan was to run about two miles a little slower than goal pace, then see if I could settle into a stronger pace and see how long I could hold it.

There are often several half marathons a week in Colorado, and I often do a half during marathon build-up. I also like the idea of doing a 15K or 10 mile because those are not quite as taxing as a half. It gives you just as much information but recovery is much quicker.

The Race

The event was Denver’s version the Hot Chocolate 15K (they also offered 5K and 10K) at Washington Park, a few miles south of downtown. Wash Park is one of the best places to run in Denver and I thought the timing for a test effort was ideal.

The course is fairly flat with some rolling, but it has less than 200 feet of vertical over the 9.3 miles. That’s as good as it’s going to get for a circuit type course here. Race day weather was also about as good as possible, 53 F, a little humid and overcast, with little or no wind.

They started the 5K first and there were many thousands in that race, going off in waves. Forty minutes later the combined fields of the 10 and 15K races lined up with about 1600 runners. I lined up near the front, in the past this event had offered prize money and enough to draw in some elite runners. I felt safe lining up in the 2nd row. The goal was to run 6:30-35 pace for 2 miles and then into the 6:20s with the hope to break 60 minutes (6:26 pace), which would be a very good day at altitude (86% age grade).

After the initial shuffling around over the the first few hundred meters I tried to keep my pace and effort in check as we wound through the park and passed the mile in 6:33. I found a pack of four other runners in the second mile and tucked in with them. As we rounded into the mile 2 (12:00) one of the guys just ahead moved ahead so I took the pacing duties. He was the only one who went with me, running a couple steps behind as we picked off a few fast starters while a couple packs ahead pulled away.

Tamara my cheerleader said I was in 18th, but I knew several of them would be running the 10K. And sure enough I saw the lead groups make the turn around; the guy I had been running with said he sort of wished he had run the 10K instead of 15. We ran side by side through 5K (19:51) and onto the 1st Avenue out and back. He gapped me by a bit on the long almost straight 1.5 mile stretch from the turn around to Speer and the second turn around near 6th avenue. A woman runner was about 5-6 seconds ahead, holding a steady pace. We hit a couple 6:20s in there and I knew I was under 1:00 pace! And feeling decent. Just before the turn-around at about 5.5 miles the road dipped under a wide under pass (at least 200 meters wide). I stretched out my stride and caught the woman as we made the turn.

The next 1.5 miles was a gentle climb (about 80 feet), so would offset the net downhill we had enjoyed for a few miles. My pace slowed but I kept up the effort, although told myself that the half way point is 10K, not 7.5K. Came through 10K in just a tick under 40, 38:58 on my watch (38:59 officially). And felt pretty good through 6.5, but then I could feel the labored breathing come on as we had a hill just after turning off Speer Boulevard/ 7 miles in.

Soon we merged with the 10K runners, those running slower than 10 minute pace. There was a bike lane to the left of the lane the runners were taking, so rather than dodging and weaving around a relentless stream of slower runners on the course I took the bike lane, and that was a good choice. And I only merged when I had to as we moved to Downing Street at mile 8. I was laboring pretty hard at this point, and if it had been hot or if I had gone out any faster in the early stages I would have slowed considerably. Here it was only somewhat of a slowdown with a 6:34. A guy passed me (moving at low 6s) with about a mile to go, which gave me some focus even though he was pulling away. The 9th mile was a 6:27 and I managed to kick in at 6:05 pace to finish officially in 59:33.

So 6:24 pace. I’m pretty happy with that! 87.05 age grade and depending on which altitude conversion factor you use, it’s arguably 90% (NCAA conversion formula would have it at 90.2%). If I use a 10 second/mile slow down that’s still 89.6%. So I’m calling it 90, which is as good as has been this year with the Syracuse half and altitude mile in Boulder as the other races in that range.

Fitness-wise it puts me onto a realistic sub 3 hour marathon range and that’s the primary goal for this fall.