Moab Winter Sun 10K

The Moab Winter Sun 10K just might be the perfect end-of-the-year race. It's a great size, an awesome course for a PR (even with the giant hill at mile 2), and they have tons of fun giveaways afterwards. Plus only living an hour and half from Moab now, makes it a perfect little getaway race for December.

You may remember that I ran this race last year in what was freezing cold, snowy conditions. Even in those conditions, I still managed to run a PR by a long shot (previous PR was 56-something) and I ran this in 51:25. I was stoked and definitely planned to come back this year.

Despite the fact that there was once again no sun again this year (maybe next year??), at-least the weather was MUCH warmer and without snow. The temperature was in the 40's, which is honestly perfect running weather. I rode down to Moab with some friends who I was also planning to stay the weekend with. After missing the I-70 turn off to Moab, and driving an extra 40+ miles, we made it with just enough time to check in at packet pick-up, get on the bus to the start, and then get in line for the bathrooms. Unfortunately, despite getting in line for the bathroom with 15 minutes to spare, the line was moving SO slow, and I just barely made it through with 2 minutes to spare. The only problem with this was that I had no time to warm-up. So I did a quick couple of strides before joining the masses getting ready to start.

This race isn't chipped timed, so I wanted to make sure I started pretty close to the front for the most accurate time. The gun officially went off about a minute or two after 10:00am. I started off strong, but a little too fast, as I looked at my watch and was running a 6:00-something mile. I pulled back a little but tried to keep it strong.

Mile 1: 7:29

As I heard my watch beep for mile 1 and saw 7:29, I told myself, "There's no way I'll be able to hold this pace for 5 more miles." But I also wanted to keep running strong, as I knew there were 2 hills coming up including a really big one right after mile 2, and I wanted to bank some time since I knew I would slow during those. There was some significant downhill at the end of mile two, so I picked the pace up a little more.

Mile 2: 7:13 (Woohoo downhill!)

As mentioned above, right after you hit mile 2 is a pretty big uphill. I definitely slowed on this quite a bit, but told myself to just keep running strong. I also knew after this hill it was all downhill, which kept me motivated to run hard up the hill. After the hill is a gentle downhill again, so I was able to make up some time, and I was surprised to see I still managed another sub-8:00 mile.

Mile 3: 7:55

I was able to catch my breath and pick up my pace again during mile 4. There was a girl who looked like she could be in my age group that I was kind of leap frogging with. She had passed me around mile 2 and I passed her during mile 3. She passed me again.

Mile 4: 7:17

By mile 4, I was honestly in shock that I now had multiple miles under 7:30. My goal for this race was sub-50:00 which is an 8:02 pace. I've been doing speedwork and tempo runs for the last month, but still hadn't been running miles anywhere near 7:15-7:30 (technically my speedwork has me running this pace - but only for a lap or two around the track and then I recover before doing another - running this pace consistently is a whole other ballgame).

Mile 5: 7:26

During miles 5 & 6 I started to slow a little. I still knew I could finish strong, and by this point I knew I could for sure run sub-50:00, but I also knew I was getting tired! I kept at it and continued on. The course leaves the road and goes onto a paved bike path somewhere during this stretch. I tried to keep my pace up as much as I could.

Mile 6: 7:22

Right around the 6 mile mark, the course cuts across some grass on the way to the high school track. I got onto the track and picked my pace up as much as I could. I managed to pass the girl I had been leap frogging earlier again, and sprinted as much as I could for the last 300 meters where I then finished in 46:29. SO much faster than I ever thought I was capable of running! 

Race: Moab's Winter Sun 10K
Distance: 10K (6.2 miles)
Date: 12/06/2014
Elevation: 107' Gain / 587' Loss
Bib Number: 68
Weather: Upper 40's and cloudy (in other words - PERFECT racing weather)
Official Time: 46:29.9
Average Pace: 7:28 minutes/mile
Overall Rank: 66/396
Gender Rank: 14/249
Division Rank (F20-29): 5/41
Garmin Splits: 7:29, 7:13, 7:55, 7:17, 7:26, 7:22, 6:09 (last .2)

So overall, I really like this race (I think I said this same thing last year)! The few hills on the course give it some challenging terrain, but the overall net downhill allows you to really push yourself and run hard. I know I ran this race just about perfect - I finished feeling like I had truly given it everything I had, but also finished strong. I ran faster than I even thought capable - running at a faster per-mile pace than my current 5K PR! This race left me feeling SO much better and more confident about my goal to Boston Qualify next year.

Despite running 5 minutes faster than I did last year, I ended up with the same age group placement - 5th. I tried not to be, given my huge PR, but I honestly was a little bummed about this. I was really hoping for a podium finish (definitely wasn't expecting 1st or anything - but I thought I could've at least gotten 3rd). However, looking at the awards, the next fastest girl in my age group ran 3+ minutes faster than me - so I honestly didn't even have a chance at an age group award. But, I've said it before and I'll say it again, since I clearly need the reminder - winning is really all about who shows up that day - seeing as I've placed in races where I've ran a lot slower than this! So maybe next year!

After the race we hung around for the raffle, where I managed to win a gift card to Zak's (a really good local restaurant)! Then we all went to the Moab Brewery for lunch with a bunch of different folks from Grand Junction, before heading to our hotel to check-in.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus in Moab, which is officially my favorite hotel in Moab now (except their in-season rates are over $200/night - so I probably won't be staying there anytime between March and October...). After checking-in, we went and explored Moonflower Canyon and a little bit of the Behind the Rocks area, before getting dinner and watching the Parade of Lights that night.

On Sunday we had an awesome breakfast at the hotel and then went for a hike to Corona Arch before heading home. I loved this hike - it's about 3 miles and would be a perfect hike if I ever brought friends/family to Moab. While we were there, there was also a group of people repelling down from the arch, which was pretty cool to watch.

So without further ado - lots and lots of pictures:

No sun at the Winter Sun!

This was the only picture I got with my bib.

Me with Randee, Rochelle, and Jeni before the start!

Results!

Finish line!

Most of the Grand Junction runners!

Exploring Moonflower Canyon

Behind the Rocks area

Corona Arch

There's a section on the way to Corona Arch with tons of Cairns. It's tradition to add a rock when you hike this!

Watching people repel down from the arch. Pretty cool!

Jeni, Rochelle, and I.

Petroglyphs

Exploring Western Colorado: Dominguez Canyon, Rattlesnake Arches & The Colorado National Monument

Whew, I am a bit behind on my blog posting. Back in October I did a little exploring close to what is now our new home. On October 12th I went and checked out some of Dominguez Canyon. On October 25th, Scott and I set out to try a hike I had been eying for awhile now: Rattlesnake Arches. Then on the 26th, I went with some friends to the Colorado National Monument. So here's a brief description and lots of pictures.

Dominguez Canyon

I had planned to go up to the Grand Mesa this day for a trail run through what I had hoped would be some gorgeous fall foliage. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans, as the Mesa ended up getting a lot of snow the night before my planned excursion. So, I made a last minute change and met my friend Lori, who lives in Montrose at Dominguez Canyon instead. Dominguez Canyon is situated about half-way between Delta and Grand Junction. I had never been here before, so it was fun to explore this new place. The trailhead is also only about a 20 minute drive from Grand Junction which is nice. I also think this canyon could be good for running almost year round (although definitely would be HOT in the summer!). We ended up running about 9 miles, but you could definitely get more miles in if need be, as we turned around when there was definitely still more to explore.

Rattlesnake Arches

Rattlesnake Arches, just west of Fruita, holds the highest concentration of natural arches outside of Arches National Park. So naturally, I really wanted to do it - especially with it being so close to home. The only downside is that it can be a very long hike, and it's a lot of up/down/up/down...but definitely worth it! It's a great hike to do in fall or spring, although despite it being almost November when we did this, it still got incredibly hot!

To sum it up briefly, Scott and I started just before sunrise. The route heads mostly west through and over several different canyons. There was one section on the trail that freaked me out a little - you have to walk over some steep slick rock that is literally on the side of a cliff. Scott helped me through that though (I don't like exposure) and we continued on. Finally after what felt like FOREVER we reached the first arch! We then spent some time going to all of the different arches before stopping at one for some lunch and then heading back.

Hike: Rattlesnake Arches
Location: Fruita, CO
Date: 10/25/14
Weather: Sunny and HOT
Distance: 15 Miles (there are shorter ways to do this hike, but they require either a high clearance, 4WD vehicle or floating the river.)
Elevation Gain: 3,297 Feet

Sunrise over the Grand Valley

This was our lunch spot! It echoed a lot!

This was the section that seemed scary because you had to walk along the slick rock here (on the other side of the bush in the lower right corner) - which was not flat in the slightest.

Colorado National Monument / Serpent's Trail

The next day I went into the National Monument with my friends Taryn and Melissa. We hiked Serpent's Trail which is a 3.5 mile round trip out-and-back hike with about 700' of elevation gain, before driving through the monument and stopping at some of the various sights. I ran Serpent's Trail several times over the summer - it's really close to town and gives you some nice elevation gain.

Pictures from the hike:

At the top of "Serpent's Trail"

View from the top of Serpent's Trail. Love this picture!

Pictures from the drive through the National Monument:

So there you have it. All of these hikes were within about a 20 minute drive from home, which is pretty cool! I am loving all of the trails close by and most of them are fairly accessible in the winter as well which is really nice!

Global Hope 5K, Turkey Trek 10K & Turkey Trot 5K

I ran a few shorter races in November, and didn't have a chance to recap on them, so I'm just going to do a real short post covering them:

Race Recap #1: Global Hope 5K

On November 1st, I ran the Global Hope 5K - a fundraiser for a non-profit based out of Broomfield that supports orphans and abandoned children in Romania, India, and Kenya. I've been donating to this organization for a few years now and support a child in Kenya, so I wanted to be a part of this inaugural event. I also helped design the T-shirts which was fun!

The race was held in Broomfield, so I made a quick trip over to the Front Range for part of the weekend (it snowed a lot on Sunday, so we just drove over for Saturday morning!). I had raced the Broomfield Days 5K about a month and a half prior and finished in 24:48, and knew I wanted to try and beat that time and maybe even shoot for a PR. My previous PR time of 23:50 was set in April 2013 at the Redline Westminster 5K. I was pretty sure that course was short, so I've been trying to beat this time ever since so I can truly feel like I earned the PR time.

Race morning was fairly chilly, but sunny out. My friend Amy decided to come join as well, and despite her not running on a regular basis right now, she is a naturally fast runner and is usually pretty good competition, so I was hoping to beat her. I thought beating her would be easier than a PR, but I ended up wrong on that account.

After a few warm-up strides, it was time to start! I started out fast with all the front runners, but after looking at my watch and realizing I was running a sub-7:00 minute per mile pace, I decided to pull back a little. I didn't want to wear myself out in the first mile. I slowed to mid-7:00 and ran the first mile in 7:31. The next mile I slowed a little more than I wanted to and ran that in 8:03. Despite thinking I could beat Amy since she said she hadn't been running (I don't know if I believe her though - how can you be so fast without training??), she was a bit ahead of me. Over the course of the 3rd mile I tried to catch up with her and did for just a short while until she passed me again about 1/2 mile from the finish.

With about 1/4 mile to go, I sped things up as best as I could and finished in 23:50 - matching my previous PR exactly (although at least this time I feel like I can count it), and coming in 4th female and 1st in my age group (but technically 3rd in my age group because the 1st and 2nd were overall winners - not sure how to count that though). In general I was really happy with my pace at this race, although I wish I could've kept the second mile under 8:00. I also didn't quite beat Amy - she finished in 23:46 (figures!). (Although as I'm posting this over a month later and have now run a 10K at a faster pace - I do think I probably could've pushed myself to run this a little faster! Now I know!!).

STATS:
Race: Global Hope 5K
Distance: 5K / 3.1 Miles
Date: 11/1/2014
Elevation Gain: 83 Feet
Bib Number: 4024
Weather: 45 and Sunny
Gun Time: 23:53
Chip Time: 23:50
Garmin Time: 23:53
Average Pace: 7:42
Overall Rank: 15/111
Gender Rank: 4/58
Division Rank (F20-29): 1/10 (Amy was grouped with the "overall winners")
Garmin Splits: 7:31, 8:03, 7:38, 6:34 (last .1)

Overall I enjoyed this race a lot. There was a good amount of people, but not too many which made racing this easier (as opposed to having to go around a lot of people in crowded races). I liked the course - it went around Broomfield, although there was a bit of a hill right around the 3 mile mark which was tough (in general it was not a tough hill - I just hate having one so close to the end of a race). The race was well organized and I liked the shirts (although I may be a bit biased on that). I hope to do this again next year if they put it on again (dependent upon weather - since I do have to drive over the mountains for it!).

Amy and I before the race!

Amy beasting out a 23:46 finish!

Myself coming in for a 23:50 finish!

Finishing!

Amy got 3rd place women overall, whereas I got 1st in Women 20-29.

Course Map

Elevation Profile

Medal!

Race Recap #2: Turkey Trek 10K

There was a bit of a mix up with the awards at the Global Hope 5K, and so I didn't get to take my award home with me that day. 3W Races, the company who organized the race (while it was a fundraiser for Global Hope, they had 3W Races help put it on) ended up mailing it to me about a week later, along with a comp entry into the Turkey Trek 10K in Arvada on November 22nd. I was about to try and find someone who wanted to take the comp entry, until I realized I was actually going to be in Denver over the same weekend - so figured - why not do another race!?

My mom came with me to the 8:30am start. I picked up my packet, dropped off some canned goods (they were raffling off some good prizes if you brought canned goods and/or participated in the "Egg Nog Chug Challenge"), and then did a mile or so warm-up before lining up at the start. The race was not chip timed (kind of surprised about that), so they did 2 waves to help break it up: the men started first, followed by the women, 3 minutes later. I started towards the beginning of the women.

The gun went off and I headed out. The first section is actually slightly uphill. It was probably better this way, as for once I didn't end up going out too fast. I ran the first mile in 8:25 - actually slower than I wanted (I was hoping for around 8:00 miles with the exception of mile 3, as I knew it had a HUGE hill). Mile 2 had a few downhill sections - 7:59. About half way through this mile, I saw it. The Hill. It was huge. I knew there was going to be one, I just didn't realize it was essentially going to be an entire mile long! Atleast I saw it ahead of time. I powered through it as best as I could and ended up with a 9:18 mile. Not too bad considering (I really wish I had a picture of this hill though!). 

The good news is that "what goes up, must come down," so miles 4 and 5 were pretty speedy: 7:47 and 7:46. Unfortunately by mile 6, I was feeling it. I was trying to keep my pace at around an 8:00 minute mile, but I just couldn't do it. I finished mile 6 in 8:18, right around the time a girl who looked about my age passed me (more on this later). I did speed up a little once I saw the finish line and ran the last .2 at a 7:33 pace - coming in at 4th place in my age group (yep - the girl who passed me at the end got 3rd...figures).

Overall this was a fun race. I liked the Thanksgiving/holiday spirit. Had I not been going for time, I think the "Egg Nog Chug Challenge" would've been fun/interesting to attempt (you had to drink 5 oz of Egg Nog at the 3 mile mark). In general, this probably isn't a race you want to go for time on anyways. The hill at mile 3 really was rough. Even with the downhill, I don't think it can make up enough time to accomodate for such a large hill. The event was well organized, I like the shirts (although mine is too big - the website said they run small, so I ordered a medium and of course it's too big), they had some decent swag and a fun environment. I didn't stick around too long post-race, as I had a million things to get done that day (as is every time I go to Denver), but I enjoyed it. I wouldn't drive over the mountains JUST for it, but if I happened to be in town again next year, I would consider doing it again.

STATS:
Race: Turkey Trek 10K
Distance: 10K / 6.2 Miles
Date: 11/22/2014
Elevation Gain: 340 Feet
Bib Number:
Weather: 50's and Sunny
Gun Time: 51:32
Garmin Time:51:34
Average Pace:
Overall Rank: 43 / 245
Gender Rank:  11 / 158
Division Rank (F19-29): 4 / 43
Garmin Splits: 8:25, 7:59, 9:18, 7:47, 7:46, 8:18, 7:33 (last .2)

I thought these signs were funny... a few yards past the "Egg Nog Chug Challenge"

Almost finished!

Course Map

Elevation Profile - mile 3 was BRUTAL!

Race Recap #3: Grand Junction Turkey Trot 5K

During the past two years when we were in Montrose, we started running the Turkey Trot that the San Juan Mountain Runners put on. The Montrose Turkey Trot is a low-key "fun-run" (no bibs or official times). When we moved up to Grand Junction, I knew we had to keep the "Turkey Trot" tradition going, so myself, Scott, and my dad all signed up for the Grand Junction Turkey Trot. This one is a lot fancier than the Montrose one, which I'm not sure if I like or not. It's nice to get bibs, t-shirts, and chip timing, but it's also more of a hassle, and as you'll read in a bit, the chip timing was pointless since there were so many people I could barely run, let alone shoot for a PR.

My original plan was to go for a PR...but a few things factored into my changing my mind at the last minute. For starters, I forgot my garmin. Without it, I'm not very good at pacing myself. Secondly, by the time we were getting close to the start, I was also starting to realize just how many people there were and just how far back we were from the starting line. So I made an executive decision not to actually "race" this one and instead just enjoy it. Scott was running as well, and we haven't run together in a race since my first 5K, so I thought it would be fun to run together.

The race started at 9:20, but it took us atleast several minutes to actually work out way up to the start line. The timing was interesting because there weren't mats, so I didn't realize when we had officially started. The crowds were crazy, but we did our best to go around. I have no problem with walkers in these events, but I wish they would start towards the back - the entire first mile of this race was weaving in and out and around people. It was a nightmare. 

I do think the course was kind of fun. The race started at 3rd and Main, so you run right down the middle of the downtown streets. Despite the map online showing that we were supposed to go down 11th, we actually ended up going down 13th, and then up towards the Lincoln Park track where I do a lot of my speedwork at. The course then goes around 3/4 of the track and then heads back the same way. By this point, we were finally able to run consistently which was nice. I could tell we were still running fairly slow though.

Finally we were back onto the downtown part of Main Street and decided to pick up the pace. At the very end, they divide chip timed runners from everyone else, and as soon as we saw this we started sprinting. Of course since Scott has longer legs he beat me during the sprinting, despite me giving my best effort (although just barely), and we finished in 32:43 - definitely not my fastest time, but it made for a nice Thanksgiving morning run!

After the race we snapped a few pictures and then headed home to start cooking!

Despite all of the crazy congestion, I will still probably do this next year if we're in town - but mostly just because I like the concept of a race on Thanksigving morning. I would hope that they would organize it a little better next year (perhaps allow the "competitive" / chip timed runners start earlier than everyone else), but who knows. It is a fundraiser for the local fire department, so just going out to support them is fine by me. I also liked the shirts a lot, although I probably should've ordered a medium instead of a small (also loved how they gave the option to order a women's cut shirt for only $1 more - neat idea I haven't seen yet!).

STATS:
Race: Grand Junction Firefighter 5K Turkey Trot
Distance: 5K / 3.1 Miles (although several people indicated that the course was long)
Date: 11/27/2014
Elevation Gain: 30 Feet
Bib Number: 10
Weather: Cold! 30's and sunny?
Official Time: 32:43
Garmin Time: N/A (Forgot my garmin - the horror!)
Average Pace: 10:32
Overall Rank: 259 / 461
Gender Rank: 114 / 241
Division Rank (F24-29): 19/32
Splits: Unknown

Course Map - stole from my Dad's garmin data since I forgot mine.

Elevation profile.