Canyonlands Half Marathon 2016

This year marked my third year running the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, Utah. Because of this, I probably won't delve into too many details. It was my first half back in 2013, so of course I love it and recommend it - if you're looking for a more descriptive post on the course, check out last years post. Otherwise here's a quick little recap and some pictures:

I've been in marathon training mode since December, but unfortunately, have just really been struggling with speed, so I wasn't really sure how this was going to go. I took some time off from any form of speedwork last fall, and am just having trouble getting back into the swing of things. Don't get me wrong, I am running A LOT (I've already put in over 600 miles this year), but the speed I had in the first half of 2015 is just not there. Needless to say, I knew a PR was out of reach (especially since my PR is on a super fast course). Therefore I decided to settle in on a goal to run this at goal marathon pace of 8:00-8:10. Ideally, I also wanted to beat my time from last year of 1:45:43.

My friend Kellee had a cabin reserved in Moab and offered to let me stay with her, so I drove down on Friday night before the race (as opposed to last year where I drove up the morning of). I got into town a little before 6:00, picked up my packet and then went to meet her and some friends for dinner at the Moab Brewery. After dinner I stopped by City Market to find something for breakfast the next morning (I really should start thinking ahead about these things) and then headed back to our cabin to get everything ready for the next day!

The plan on Saturday morning was to meet our friend Stuart at the bus pickup at 7:45, so we got up around 7 and got ready, heading out around 7:30. We found a parking spot and started walking towards the buses. And I realized... I FORGOT MY RACE BIB. Seriously. The one thing you cannot forget at a race, and I forgot it. Luckily, I had driven, so I told her to go ahead and I'd run (drive) back to the cabin and meet up with them later. Thankfully I had plenty of time....but I felt like a serious mess.

I drove back, scrambled through my bag, finally found the bib, and then headed back to the race start. By this point, I didn't even try to find a good parking spot and ended up just walking about 3/4 mile or so to the buses before getting on and heading up to the start. Meanwhile...as I'm sitting on the bus, I realized, I also forgot my Garmin. Clearly I was having some issues this morning... I think I've been racing too much - I don't take enough time anymore to make sure I have everything! :) Oh well, I still had my FitBit Surge which does have a GPS on it, so I wasn't super concerned.

Once I finally made it up there, I went to go look for Kellee and Stuart on "the rock" (see last years post)....but there was NO ONE sitting on the rocks this year. Apparently sitting on the rocks is no longer allowed (end of an era!)...so I wandered around until finally Kellee spotted me (thank goodness I was wearing my hot pink and coral North Face jacket). We sat on some ground rocks (not the same...seriously you have to have run this before to understand the importance of the rocks!) for hours (literally) until it was finally time to start walking up to the start. I decided to go do a quick warm-up before squeezing my way back into the crowd just before the gun went off.

Kellee, myself, and Stuart before the start!

The starting line! (Photo by Kellee)

Post warm-up, pre-race Selfie!

I ran into another Skirt Sports Ambassador!

The race started just like it had in past years. The very beginning has a steep downhill and I always go out fast on it (it just feels so good!) before settling into a steady pace. My coach told me to go out running 8:10's for the first 3, then drop it by about 5 seconds per mile every 3 or so miles. Sounded like a reasonable plan to me. Unfortunately, I was not able to execute this very well...

My first few miles went well: 8:06, 7:52, 7:54. Despite having a few faster-than-goal-pace miles, I felt good - I was running hard, but not too hard - manageable for a half. There was a slight headwind, but it didn't feel too bad. Unfortunately, the longer I ran, the more the wind seemed to pick up. I ran mile 4 in 8:18. Slower than I wanted, but I figured it was only one mile, I could make up for it. Then Mile 5 was 8:38. Uh-oh.

The race curves through a canyon so I kept hoping that we would turn in a new direction that would block the wind. No such luck. My next few miles averaged in the 8:30-8:40 range. Not what I was going for. Meanwhile, while I normally do not think of this race as being all that hilly, the wind made every single uphill feel more uphill than it should. I kept hoping I could pick up my pace. But again, no such luck.

Stole this from the Moab Half Marathon website - cool picture of the course!

Managed another good race picture this year!

Finally, it was time to exit the canyon around mile 11. This did mean a change in directions, and I do think we managed to get out of the wind a little bit, although I was too far gone to really pick up the pace. I finished mile 12 in 8:35 as I turned off the main stretch of road for the last mile before the finish. I tried to pick it up as best as I could and ended up finishing in 1:50:45 - a little over 5 minutes slower than my goal time.

I had heard this race could be windy, but the 2 years I had previously done it (2013 and 2015) I was lucky to not have any. The only good thing about the wind was that it kept me from getting too hot like the previous year. I'm not sure what is more hindering: heat or wind? Honestly, they're both pretty tough...at least I didn't have both?! But, despite the wind, it was still a gorgeous day in Moab, and a good training run for my upcoming marathon!

All Finished!

RACE STATS:
Race: Canyonlands Half Marathon
Location: Moab, Utah
Distance: Half Marathon (13.1 Miles)
Date: March 12, 2016
Elevation: 424' Loss, 341' Gain
Bib Number: 292
Weather: 50's-60's and WINDY
Gun Time: 1:51:01
Chip Time: 1:50:45
Average Pace: 8:27
Overall Rank: 280 of 1801
Gender Rank: 98 of 718
Division Rank: 25 of 189
FitBit Splits: 8:06, 7:52, 7:54, 8:18, 8:38, 8:32, 8:40, 8:36, 8:22, 8:43, 8:31, 8:35, 8:29.

Later that afternoon we went for a hike at Mill Creek Canyon - it was gorgeous although there might have been several unexpected water crossings!

Week in Review 3/14 - 3/20 (Marathon Training)

After my awesome weekend in Moab, it was back to training starting with a local group run to celebrate Pi Day and ending with another road trip west - this time to Monument Valley, which is located a little over 4 hours southwest of me, right on the Utah/Arizona border. There's a group, called Grand Circle Trails that puts on stunning Ultra Marathon's in some pretty amazing places, so when a friend asked if anyone wanted to go with her to volunteer at the Monument Valley Ultra, I decided to tag along! The views were definitely one of a kind and I was happy to check off another place from my bucket list! It's amazing how many scenic locations are within less than 1/2 days drive from me that I haven't been too yet - must keep working towards seeing them all!!!

Running
Total Weekly Miles: 52.12

Monday

Easy 6

Actual: 3.14 mile Pi Day run with the Mesa Monument Striders run club + 3.03 warm-up / cool-down.

Tuesday

Rest or Xtrain

Actual: Rest

Wednesday

9 Miles with 3 x 1 Mile @ 7:45, 1:00 Recovery

Actual: 9.5 miles with 3 x 1 Mile @ 7:30, 7:30, 7:35, 2:00 Recovery. I didn't mean to do a longer recovery, just didn't double check my plan beforehand. Otherwise, I was very happy with how this went!

Thursday

Easy 7

Actual: 7.15 at Connected Lakes with Loki, 9:44 average pace. He had so much fun!

Friday

Long 16

Actual: This was originally scheduled for Saturday, but since I was driving to Monument Valley that morning and then volunteering all afternoon, I moved it to Friday after work (thank goodness for daylight savings!!). 16.11, 9:53 average pace.

Saturday

Easy 6

Actual: Because of said Monument Valley trip, I only managed to get in 3 miles, 12:31 pace (the left picture was still on the drive, the run was on trails and sandy dirt roads).

Sunday

10 with 10x20 Second Strides, 1:00 Recovery

Actual: 10.16 miles, 11:07 pace at Monument Valley before we headed back home. The first half was on the Wildcat Trail, the second half on the dirt road that runs through the park. Gorgeous! I did do 3 unofficial strides...but forgot to do the rest (I did the first 3, then was going to do finish them after I got over a big hill, but forgot!).

Week in Review 3/7 - 3/13 (Marathon Training)

Another week of training down, and as far as running is concerned, this time of the year is just about perfect (minus some really WINDY days). It's light enough to run after work AND the weather has been great - 50's and 60's! 

Running: 
Total Weekly Mileage: 48-50ish running only, 53.23 including hiking

Monday

Easy 6

Actual: 7.14, 10:17 pace. If I did the exact mileage I had prescribed for the week, it would put me at 49 miles... I wanted 50...so I added a mile today! Took Argie for 1 mile, then dropped him off and picked up Loki for the remainder. Loki and I went up to the park and worked on "not pulling" on the leash. He's getting better!!

Tuesday

9 with 4 x 3:00 @ 7:30 pace

Actual: 9.16 miles, 9:13 average pace. Ran from the Botanic Gardens to Connected Lakes and back. 4.75 easy, then 4 x 3:00 @ 7:25, 7:26, 7:27, 7:30 with 2:00 recovery and then cool-down. So Happy I got all of these at or under pace!

Wednesday

Easy 7

Actual: 7.14 miles, 10:21 average pace in The Monument. Ran Serpenets Trail up onto Rim Rock Drive for an out-and-back with 1200 feet elevation gain and GORGEOUS views!

Thursday

Rest

Actual: Rest

Friday

Easy 5

Actual: Morning 5 with Loki, 9:36 pace. Added some strides to get my legs ready for Canyonlands Half!

Saturday

Canyonlands Half Marathon

Actual: Canyonlands Half Marathon - finished in 1:50:45 (race report coming soon!). I was shooting for 1:45 but unfortunately there was a strong headwind almost the entire time! I kept hoping it would go away, but alas no such luck. Still a beautiful day though! I also went for a hike later that afternoon - about 2 miles into Mill Creek Canyon which ended at a gorgeous waterfall!

Sunday

Easy 8

Actual: I stayed in Moab Saturday night and woke up early on Sunday to go hike to Delicate Arch in time to catch the sunrise. It was glorious! That run/hike was about 3 miles (mostly hiking, but I did run some of the downhills). After that I headed over to the Windows area of Arches National Park for about 2 miles of hiking and taking pictures, followed by 3 1/2 miles of running on the road which was also glorious! I love Moab! Last, I took the pups for a walk after I got home...so ended up with 9.5 miles of running and hiking throughout the day!

Weight Loss:
Starting Weight: 133.3
Ending Weight: 130.8
Weekly Loss: 2.5
Kind of surprised about this weeks loss - once again all motivation is gone. I think I'm just beginning to really question if it's worth it. Getting to 125 and maintaining is SO difficult for me!

Week in Review 2/29 - 3/6 (Marathon Training)

Well I finished off February with my second highest mileage month EVER, so that was pretty exciting. I ran 211 miles. This was only the third time that I've ever been over that 200 mile mark and first time in a year, so I'm happy with that. I still don't feel like I'm seeing huge improvements in my speed, but I'll continue to keep working towards it. I have Canyonlands Half Marathon coming up on March 12th which will be a good test to really see how I'm doing.

I also made a few decisions in the past week. I decided to switch my "goal race" to The Colorado Marathon on May 1st, 2016 instead of my originally planned Salt Lake City (April 16th). I truly believe Colorado is a faster course and I think mentally that will help me a LOT. I ran it last year for fun, so I'm excited to give "racing it" a shot this year. I'm also not 100% decided on this, but I'm thinking I may change my sights away from the BQ, and instead just focus on trying to PR. I think if anything, that will keep me from going out too fast in the beginning. All of this of course may change as May draws nearer, but just my thoughts for right now!

So without further ado, last weeks training:

Running
Total Miles Ran: 54.94

Monday

Easy 6

Actual: 6.07 miles, 9:39 pace.

Tuesday

8 with  8 x 1:00 @ 7:15 pace, 2:00 Recovery

Actual: 8.51, 9:35 pace. Speedwork paces: 6:57, 7:12, 7:19, 7:21, 6:54, 7:02, 7:04, 7:11

Wednesday

Rest or Crosstrain

Actual: Rest

Thursday

Easy 9

Actual: 9.05, 9:39 pace. I was coaching at Girls on the Run that afternoon, so ran from there over to the Matchett Property - an area where I used to run a lot before we moved to the west side of town. It was kind of fun to run there again!

Friday

Easy 6

Actual: 6.05, 11:45 pace. Hit up the Lunch Loops after work for some AWESOME trail running as the sun went down. It was heavenly.

Saturday

Easy 16

Actual: 16.18, 9:36 pace. This was tougher than I felt like it should've been since I've been doing 20's. I think it was just mental though. I decided to just run from my house over to the farm roads north of town and unfortunately a bunch of farmers were out burning their fields, which was rough. I also got a fair amount of hills in (for a road run) - 358 feet of elevation gain.

Sunday

9 w/ 10 x 20 second strides

Actual: I kind of forgot about the strides...joined some friends for a 9 mile trail run in Dominguez Canyon. Another GORGEOUS run and Loki had a blast!

Weight Loss
Starting Weight: 133.6
Ending Weight: 133.3
0.3 Loss - woohoo! In all reality though, I did not eat very well the second half of the week, so I'm just happy my weight didn't go up!

Week in Review 2/22 - 2/28 (Marathon Training)

Another week of training done! This was supposed to be my highest mileage week this training cycle, BUT unfortunately, my cold was really getting to me on Tuesday so I ended up taking an unplanned extra rest day. I then spent all week trying to make up for it - which I not entirely did, but somewhat did (I missed a 10 mile run, but only ended up less than 5 miles short of my goal - so I guess that's a win!).

Running:
Total Miles Ran: 55.71 + 2.3 run/walking at Girls on the Run & walking my pups = 58.01

Monday

Rest

Actual: Rest

Tuesday

Easy 10

Actual: skipped - feeling sick :(

Wednesday

Easy 7

Actual: 10.12, 9:48 pace. The start of trying to make up for missing Tuesday.

Thursday

9 w/ 8x20 second strides, 1:00 Recovery

Actual: 9.43, 9:30 pace. Strides: 6:39, 6:42, 7:15, 6:52, 6:55, 7:33, 6:58, 7:46. While technically the pace of strides doesn't really matter, I was happy to see some in the 6:40ish range - it's been awhile since I've seen that! I also got in 1 mile run/walking at Girls on the Run practice.

Friday

Easy 6

Actual: 7.09, 10:20 pace. Another extra mile to make up for missing Tuesday.

Saturday

20 with last 5 @ 8:25 pace

Actual: 20.04, 9:38 average pace. Last 5: 8:33, 8:36, 8:42, 9:24, 8:55. This was a tough one for me - I joined some friends for the first 10 which made that go by somewhat fast, but the last 10 not so much. And trying to do my last 5 at 8:25 pace...yikes, that was hard. You can't win them all though! Later that afternoon I took my dogs for a 1.3 mile walk.

Sunday

Easy 8

Actual: Headed over to the Moab area with Loki for a trail run at the Klondike Bluff's where I met up with some other local runners. 9.03 miles, 13:26 average pace. This trail has dinosaur prints in the slickrock (bottom right photo) - how cool is that?

Weight Loss: 
So I randomly got motivated again this week. We'll see how long it lasts (I REALLY want it to last until my marathon though...I would love to get back to 125 by then. Or at the very least, get close.
Starting Weight: 134.8
Ending Weight: 133.6
Total Weight Lost: 1.2 lbs

Snowman Stampede 10 Miler

After two months off, I was going through racing withdrawals, so it was no surprise I found one to run as soon as our Runners Roost Racing Team Kick Off Meeting was scheduled (interpretation: the meeting was in Denver, Denver has a lot more races than rural Western Colorado).

The Snowman Stampede 5 and 10 Miler was held Saturday, February 20th at the Hudson Garden's in Littleton (south Denver). It's a unique event in that the different distances are offered at different times, so if you want, you can actually race both. I seriously contemplated it, especially since I needed to get 16 miles in this day anyways...but my coach advised me not to...which was probably for the best. I'm not sure how you fuel for something like that anyways (what do you do in between races?).

Therefore, I settled on the 10 Miler with a long warm-up and cool-down. As I mentioned previously, I hadn't raced since early December's Winter Sun 10K, so I was pretty excited for it. Unfortunately that excitement commenced when A.) I found out I-70 through Glenwood Canyon was closed, and B.) I was getting sick. LOVELY.

Now an interstate being closed probably doesn't sound like that big of a deal to most people....but most people don't have to traverse the Rocky Mountains to get to a race. Unfortunately for most races, I do. The next closest route added 2+ hours. No joke. Thankfully, I managed to get off work a few hours early so I could make the now 6 hour drive (normally 4). I actually ended up making really good time (not the case on my return, but that's besides the point), and rolled into Denver around 8pm. I stopped off in Arvada to meet a friend so I could borrow her Runner's Roost Racing Singlet (I would not get mine until later that afternoon and was excited to represent Roost at my first event this year!). After that I made my way to Broomfield with a stop at Noodles and Company for a late dinner before finally getting to my parents house and heading to bed (not before setting up my #FlatRunner of course).

#FlatRunner!

The nice thing about the multiple distances in this race is that the 10 Miler didn't start until 10:15am. That meant sleeping in until 7:15 the next morning (sleeping in for a race day anyways). I really could've slept at least an extra hour too, had I not been planning a long warm-up. I left Broomfield around 8 and made the 40 minute drive from the north suburbs to the south suburbs and arrived before the 5 milers had even begun. We had to park about 1/3 mile away, so this actually worked out well as I had plenty of time to walk from the car, over to packet pick-up, check out all the vendor booths, wait in line for the bathroom, then walk back to shed layers before starting my warm-up.

I then did my 3.3 or so mile warm-up, finishing with about 20+ minutes to spare before the race. In all reality, having 20 minutes in between the warm-up and the start probably negates the whole "warm-up" aspect...but it helped ease my nerves as it left me with plenty of time to circle through the bathroom line again and meet up with some fellow Skirt Sports Ambassadors for a photo:

Skirt Sports Ambassadors!

Now...getting close to the race, I realized I forgot to mention problem B.) I was getting sick. Yeah... so I went to California the weekend prior and after missing a connecting flight ended up in airports and airplanes for an entire 24 hour period. Not really surprisingly that I could feel myself coming down with something. Of course I woke up Saturday with it the worst ever. I was super congested and coughing like a maniac. And losing my voice. So much fun. Well if there was anything good that can come from this, it was that I now had an excuse to not go all out and "race" it, like I so much hate doing (running fast hurts). So there's that! I did set a loose goal of finishing in under 1:30:00.

When the gun went off, I decided to just run hard, but not crazy hard. I needed to be able to breathe and was hoping to not have to cough the entire time. So that's what I did. The course ran a short loop around part of Hudson Garden's before exiting onto the paved river trail that runs along the South Platte River. As we headed out, we were running against the wind, but thankfully it wasn't too bad, and even felt nice to have the breeze. I was happy to see I was running slightly faster than expected given my condition for the first half: 8:22, 8:35, 8:24, 8:30, 8:29.

Starting! Can you spot me?

Just slightly after the 5 mile mark we turned around and headed back for the remainder of the race. I was feeling pretty good, and had high hopes of continuing in the 8:30 range and maybe finishing in under 1:25. Unfortunately, other plans ensued. After we turned around, we were no longer against the wind, but running with the wind. Normally, this would help. However, it was HOT. Mid-60's and sunny. This may not seem hot to most people... but I've been running in cold weather for the past several months (and in general, am just not a "hot weather runner"). Mid-40's was my warmest temperature since then. So immediately the heat just started getting to me. I managed to hold on to my pace for mile 6 (8:21), but after that it was pretty much over. I struggled. I did what I could to keep going as best as I could, and finished the last 4 in 8:56, 9:17, 9:21, 9:02.

About 1/2 mile before the finish...barely managed to smile!

I ended up finishing with a total time of 1:28:22. Considering I was sick and not feeling great, this was an okay time, although I know I could do better. But...it was still a good experience and I had fun racing again! I also had fun representing Runner's Roost at my first team race (although I missed the team picture - next time!) and meeting a few other Skirt Sports Ambassadors!

RACE STATS
Race: Snowman Stampede 10 Miler
Date: 2/20/2016
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Distance: 10 Miles
Bib Number: 33
Weather: Mid-50's at the start, 60's at the end.
Gun Time: 1:28:31
Chip Time: 1:28:22
Average Pace: 8:51 minutes per mile
Overall Rank: 117 of 322
Gender Rank (F25-29): 42 of 187
Age Division Rank: 8 of 22
Garmin Splits: 8:22, 8:35, 8:24, 8:30, 8:29, 8:21, 8:56, 9:17, 9:21, 9:02

Course Map

Later that afternoon we had our Runner's Roost 2016 Team Kick-Off, where I got all of this awesome new gear:

I really can't wait to represent Roost this year! They are the best running store in Colorado and support more local events and runners than any other store in the state - so if you're looking for a running store - check them out! I got my first pair of "real" running shoes here back in 2012. I've been running in the same road shoe since then with no injuries...so I'd say they did a great job! :) My only wish is that we had a store on the Western Slope (we have NO running stores over here much to my dismay).

And although I complained about the LONG drive, I really didn't mind the views so much and even made a few stops on my way home to get some pictures:

Week in Review 2/15 - 2/21 (Marathon Training)

After my long weekend in California, I was pretty motivated to get all of my miles in this week even though I could tell I was coming down with a cold...let's hope I don't regret that.

Running:
Total Miles Ran: 55.83

Monday

Easy 7

Actual: 7.12, 10:18 pace. Explored a new route in the Redlands - this will be great for hill training!

Tuesday

Easy 5

Actual: Easy 5 around town, 9:57 average. No pictures from this one :(

Wednesday

9 Miles w/ 6 x 2:00 @ 7:30 pace, 2:00 recovery

Actual: 9.12 in 1:23:29, 9:09 average. Paces for the 2:00 speedwork: 7:31, 7:24, 7:22, 7:28, 7:28, 7:35

Thursday

Easy 6

Actual: It was raining, so I hit the treadmill for this. 6 miles, 9:52 average pace.

Friday

Easy 7

Actual: I was driving to Denver after work, so I had to squeeze this in before work and ran out of time. Only got in 6, 10:00 pace exactly. Took Loki and he had fun!

Saturday

16 Miles - 10 Mile Race w/ warm-up and cool-down

Actual: 3.3 mile warm-up, 10 mile race (the Snowman Stampede - finished in 1:28:22, 8:43 pace), 2.7 cool-down. I could tell I was coming down with a cold after my trip to California and of course I woke up Saturday with it BAD - so this was a little rough. It was also really hot for part of this. Later that afternoon was our team kick off for the 2016 Runners Roost Racing Team and we got all of our new gear!

Sunday

Easy 6

Actual: I spent most of the day driving back from Denver, but stopped in Montrose for 6 miles up into Black Canyon National Park! 1000' of gain and loss, 10:35 pace.

Weight Loss:

Okay, so as I've been mentioning, I am slacking here. HOWEVER, I think I've come up with a plan to get myself motivated again! Stay tuned for next week's post!