Race Report: Three Creeks Half Marathon

I haven’t done a good race report in a while, so perhaps it’s time. And now, I give you the Three Creeks Half Marathon RR:

So I ended up running this race because I’d signed up for Racing Underground’s Winter Series and had to miss two of the three races. The first one (Superior Stocking Run) ended up being the same morning as the children’s Christmas pageant at church. I’d hoped to go run like a crazy person and then jump in the car and drive straight to church so I wouldn’t miss it, but it decided to snow that day so I gave up.

That same week, I learned that my girls were scheduled for a baton competition the day of the Ralston Creek Half Marathon, which meant I couldn’t possibly run it. I emailed the race organizers and asked whether it would be possible to apply that fee toward another Racing Underground event, and they were kind enough to transfer me to this half marathon instead.  (THANK YOU Racing Underground! You have no idea how much that meant–it had been such an awful week and this was one really nice thing in it.)

So, I headed to Cherry Creek State Park this morning. I wasn’t planning to race (not really, or at least not as a goal race) but hoped for a decent time because I’ve been training for a 50k and that’s a distance that makes a half-marathon feel relatively short and comfortable in comparison. It was chilly at the start (about 34 degrees) and the portapotty line was huge. I made it to the start line 30 seconds before the race started (whew!). The course itself just winds around the park. I’ve never run over there so it was kind of fun to be out on the trails. It’s also located really close to the place where I work, so on the off-chance that I ever manage to not have to hurry home for child care (maybe a morning AI meeting when the kids are in school next fall?) then I’d enjoy the opportunity run or bike there. Anyhow, out we went. I tried not to look at my (new) Garmin very often because I didn’t really have a goal.

(Why a new Garmin? Because my old one went missing last Tuesday. I’m still finding this maddening. Where could it have gone? What I know is that I wore it on a 22-miler that day, synced it with Garmin connect, and decided I was curious enough about heart rate that I’d keep the HR strap on and see if I could get a resting HR while working in my office later. I remember having it balanced on the arm of the chair, and I think I eventually moved it to my desk or something because curious poodles were being curious about it. And then?  Who knows. Maybe I took it upstairs to the bedroom because I did al little more work there after Julia woke up with a nightmare? I don’t know. Being me, which is to say a hater of all lost things (that woman in the parable who cleans her house like crazy after losing a coin, and who rejoices when she finds it? Yeah, totally me.) So I spent hours (literally) looking for it. I pulled everything out from under my bed and vacuumed, cleaned out several drawers, looked under all the furniture…you get the picture. And, nada. I use my Garmin all the time, especially for the speed workouts where I can just program them in and not worry about looking at the watch, so I finally ordered another 910XT. I figured I can still sell the old (or new) one on Ebay or Craigslist should the old one show up.)

Anyhow, I started to get in the groove about five miles in and started picking off people. I “raced” a bit with another woman with an orange Slacker Half Marathon shirt tied to her waist. The first time, around mile 8, I left her behind. The second time she caught up to me at a water stop where I was behind some of the slower runners who had started early. We probably raced neck and neck for about a mile and then she pulled ahead and stayed there. I was passing people pretty much the whole way in and felt like I was having a good day, but I think she was having a better one. Three miles later, we were done.

I finished in 1:57:16, which was good enough for 10/58 in the F40-44 age group, 72/396 females, and 191/626 overall. I was mostly shooting to come in sub-2:00, so I was reasonably happy with my time.

Afterward, I signed up for one of the free chiro adjustment things that one finds at a lot of races because I’ve been needing to make an appointment with mine and figured anything might help at this point. The doctor who looked at me noted my lower back was really tight (something I already knew). He suggested more planks and bridges, and told me to get in to see my chiropractor, pronto. He also thought I needed physical therapy because it was so tight, and thought my core is really week. I agree that my core could be better and have been trying to do core/ab stuff at least once a week. That said, I mostly think my hips are off and that–plus a lot of stress at home–contributed to the tightness. If I was really injured, I don’t think I would have pulled off a 1:57:16 half as easily as I did today.  And to test it, I did an extended-arm plank (like you’re going to do a push-up, as opposed to the kind resting on your elbows) and held it for 2 minutes, no problem. The other thing I think is contributing to the tightness is that the strength isn’t evenly distributed. I went swimming for the first time in a while and was working on my kicking–which stinks–and suspect I have, as Dimity McDowell of Another Mother Runner puts it, “runner’s butt.” Apparently there’s some part of the glutes that runners don’t use or don’t use well. Given how hard I find it to kick from the hips rather than my knees, I’d imagine that’s true of me.

Action plan: see the chiropractor, do more stretching, use the stick, maybe pull out that yoga for runners book and do some poses, and oh yeah, more planks and bridges. A massage or a way to decrease the stress would probably help too. We’ll se how feasible either of those are.

By the way, I did get to the Yeti Chase, the second race in my ill-fated winter series. That’s a fun one at Bear Creek Lake Park, and it was actually warm and beautiful out there.  Results (because you know you want to know): 52:47, good for 9/34 in my age group, 48/259 women, and 129/437 overall. (Yes, there is a yeti. Actually, there were at least two. They lead the race and then run off the course. It was funny to watch one sprint up the hill and hide behind some bushes, prompting the MC to say “runners, don’t follow the yeti” when the 5K runners took off. I’d post a picture with the yeti but unfortunately, had that horrible experience of looking at the picture and thinking “I look like that?!?” So, no.

Next up: Race the Principal 5K at the end of this month. I only need to run fast enough to beat our principal.  :P (I don’t know how fast he’s running. He may very well beat me.)  The next weekend is my first ultra: the Greenland 50K. Running friend Ryan thinks it’s a little boring for a 50k because it’s four loops. My opinion was that the first and second loops would allow me to really enjoy seeing what’s along the course and then seeing what I missed. I think loop 3 will be a lot like that too. And loop 4? I’ll probably be too tired to care much.  It’s one I’ve wanted to do for a while, so now I can. Ryan and our partner in crime, Mark, are running the Desert RATS 50K. I wanted to join them, but it was the week before the Race the Principal and I though I might be a little busy. Maybe another year.

Also, I realized i should provide backstory on the running friends: I met both at church. Mark I’ve known for years, as we both sing in choir and he also plays handbells. They joined only a year or two after we did, and we’ve been there a while. Ryan is younger but we’ve known them for a while too. Last spring, Ryan suggested we run the Epic Rocky Mountain Relay together and we were all in, along with our youth director. Ryan recruited another two friends and we had a fabulous time. That’s part of what set off the desire to do a 50K, which is why I think the three of us are doing one within two weeks of each other. But it’s also meant I can go running with them sometimes. Mark’s faster than either of us. He’s the guy consistently in the A or AA waves of the Bolder Boulder (again, literally). Wicked fast! Ryan’s faster but probably by only a minute or so. For long runs, we start off together and wait for each other (ok, wait for me) at stoplights or gates or whatnot and it works out. I think we’re all hoping to do some trail running this summer. I like the idea of having company because wildlife scares me, so I’m hopeful it will work out.