Mount Evans Ascent Recap

Last weekend I ran one of the more unusual races I have ever done named the Mt. Evans Ascent (http://www.racingunderground.com/mtevans/course.html).

What makes this unusual is the distance (14.5 miles) and where you are running (you start at above 10,000 feet elevation and finish at above 14,000 feet at the top of Mt. Evans).

I signed up for this race because a friend told me about it (she had already signed up) and I thought it would be an interesting challenge along with it fit into my race calendar.  For this race you run up a paved road all the way to the top so it is not on trail but the elevation and going uphill is what makes it tough.

Colorado has had very wet and cool conditions in the month leading up to this race so training for it has been difficult.  The highway department did not get the road to the top cleared of snow until a couple days before the race.  Typically the road opens on Memorial Day but it has been closed because of snow and also because they are going to do construction on it until late July this year. I was able to go do a training run last week part of the way up to get an idea of how I was going to tackle the race.  I went up almost 7 miles then turned around and ran back down (I carried a bottle of water but there is no other water stops along the way).  I wore winter running gear and it felt about right for conditions because it was windy and cold in spots.  My strategy for this race was to run at an easy pace and if my heart rate got too high I would power walk until it went down to reasonable level then run again.  There are a few spots in the first 5 miles that are very steep and it didn't make sense to run those areas because it would just wear down your legs.  All in all I am glad I was able to do a training run because it gave me an idea of what to expect for the race.

The day before the race we had some rain and cooler temperatures and my friend  who had signed up for the race was getting discouraged.  She does not like running in rain or snow and was getting concerned we were going to be cold and miserable.  I spent a good part of Friday trying to get her excited for the race via text.

Saturday morning's forecast was for the possibility of rain but overall good weather.  I ended up wearing shorts along with a long sleeve top.  In hindsight I could have worn a short sleeve top but I'm glad I didn't because there were no clouds so I would have gotten sunburned (the sun is really intense above 10,000 feet).  We got to the race start pretty early to pick up our packets and ended up getting a prime parking spot right at the start. 

After waiting around we finally got started at about 7:30 in a mass start of about 3-400 people.  I ran the first several miles before encountering the first steep area, power walked, then ran again and just kept that up for the whole race.  There were parts about 8-10 miles into the race where I was able to run for extended periods because the road was flat or seemed to be going downhill.  My goal was to make the 9 miles mark before the cut off which was 2 and 1/2 hours and then just to finish.  As I was running I was keeping a good enough pace that I thought I could finish in under 3 hours but my pace slowed at the end and I finished in 3:06 in 147th place out of 374 finishers and 15th in my age group.  Overall I was happy with the result.  After you finish you can hang around the top for a bit before taking one of the shuttle vans back to the bottom.  They do bring up your bag if you checked one at the beginning in case you wanted clothes or something but it was so nice out at above 14,000 feet I could have hung out in shorts and a t-shirt.

A few pictures from the race (taken by someone else):

The road ahead

Marmot!

How deep the snow was in spots

Mountain goats after the finish line

Bib and Finisher's medal

If you are interested in a unique race that will challenge you then this is a good one to try.  You need to sign up early because it is somewhat small and does sell out.  Just remember the pace on this race is slow (my pace was just under 13 minutes per mile).  I think the strategy I took is the same as most of the runners in that they ran intervals and then walked.  Some people did run up the whole or nearly whole way but I am not sure if this was the best philosophy because when I was power walking I passed people who were trying to run but just had nothing left and their legs were dead.  Note: I used to climb mountains in Colorado and other places a great deal so I have a good idea of how altitude is going to feel.  There is no amount of training that you can do that cam mimic what trying to run above 13,000 feet feels like, the best comparison is that it is like trying to breathe through a very small straw.

Most times the weather is not as good as we had it this year, one of the van drivers told us she has volunteered for 10 years and had never seen it this nice.  We got a very neat long sleeve, lightweight hooded top in addition to a goody bag along with a good post race lunch.  All in all this was a very good race for the price and very well organized.  They kept us very well informed with frequent e-mails in the weeks leading up to the race about the road conditions.

In summary if you are looking for a challenge I would highly recommend this race.

I'm still learning

It seems like when you think you have things figured out something throws you off and you have to accept and learn from it to move forward.  I was recently taught this lesson again.

After running the London Marathon at the end of April with a really good time I got back home with a cold I caught while traveling.  I thought I recovered and started preparing for the two 10k races I do in May: the Airlife Run and the Bolder Boulder.  To get ready for these I typically go for shorter, faster runs rather than the typical long marathon paced runs.  My goal for these races is to run them faster than I did the year before and I thought I was ready for them.

We had a relatively cold and rainy May and the day of the Airlife run rain was predicted.  I wore rain gear and was glad I did because it started raining right before the race and continued the entire race (it was even raining hard at times).  By the time I finished I was soaked, my time was slightly slower than the year before but I thought it was due to the rain and the fact that part of this race is on a muddy, hilly trail (you even start on the grass on the side of a hill). 

The Bolder Boulder takes place on Memorial Day and the week leading up to it I was not running well.  When I was running it seemed like I couldn't catch my breath and I had a nagging cough that would not go away.  The day of the race I had no expectations on how I would do and ran that way.  In short I felt slow and was having issues catching my breath along with a tightness in my chest during the race.  I didn't look at my watch until I was done and was glad I didn't because I was over 3 minutes slower than the year before.  I spent the rest of the day coughing so I figured it was time to go to a doctor.

The next day I went to the outpatient clinic and found out I had a mild case of bronchitis, they gave me a prescription for a couple days (a steroid so I might fail drug tests now!) along with an inhaler.  As soon as I started taking them I felt better. I ran very short, easy paced runs during this time and never got out of breath.

I thought I was done with everything and recovered so yesterday morning I figured I would go out for at least a 10 mile run.  I started out as soon as the sun came up with a water bottle in my hand that I would fill up along the way.  Unfortunately yesterday turned out to be the warmest day in May and it got hot very quickly.  I kept filling my water bottle whenever I could but I don't think I drank enough.  I ended up running 11.6 miles and I felt off the rest of the day no matter how much water, electrolytes or anything else I drank.  In hindsight I had some heat related issues because I pushed myself too hard on a day when I should not have.  In addition the previous day I was doing yard work in the sun and I probably didn't drink enough fluids so that contributed to how I felt. 

We are finally going to have some days in the 80's this week so I can get used to warmer weather running but I am not going to run really hard this week.  I feel better today and got a 3 mile run in along with some lifting this morning.

In a couple weeks I am supposed to run the Mount Evans Ascent which is a 14.5 mile run (from 9,000 feet elevation to over 14,000 feet) to the top of Mount Evans.  It has been difficult to train for this race due to the health issues I had but also because the road we run on still has snow on it!  Due to how cold and wet May has been they have not plowed the road yet even though it usually opens on Memorial Day.  We have been told the race is still supposed to happen but at this point I am not real optimistic it will.

Now that I look back on the past several weeks I should have gone to the doctor earlier but that is the benefit of hindsight.  In addition I am going to have to take some time to get used to the summer heat because we haven't had the slow build up to it like we usually have every spring.