My primary concern this morning was wildlife--as in I really didn't want to hit a moose (or a deer or an elk) while driving between here and Estes at 5 a.m. I did see a sleeping moose about a quarter of a mile from home, which kind of made me happy, and I saw another one near Ward, off in the distance. I also saw some elk when I got into Estes, but I'm happy to report that there were no close encounters.
This is a small event. There were just under 300 half marathoners. There were also about 150 marathoners (always makes to see me happy to see that there are people around who are crazier than me!), and some 5k and 10k participants. Because it was a small event, I could park close, get my bib and t-shirt (a really nice one!), use the high school toilets, and, best of all, hang out in the school lunchroom before the race. It was pretty chilly at 6 a.m. in Estes, so I was really happy to have that option.
I was pretty relaxed in spite of the very intimidating course in front of me: altitude, hills, and sun. Of those three things, sun was the thing that would probably work against me most. I hate running in sun.
We started off with a few miles of gradual hills and it became quite evident that this was going to be a toughy for me. In spite of having been running in Eldora for the last week, it was obvious I was going to struggle with my breathing. Still, I hung in there and was feeling pretty good until about mile 5, when it appeared that we were running downhill but it felt like I was running uphill. Weird. I almost asked someone if were were going uphill or downhill, but feared that I'd look kind of nuts. So I pushed on a little further, but turned to walking at 5.5 miles. I let myself have a half-mile walking break, which reinvigorated me. I walked more in this race than any other, and it showed in my time.
This race had very little in the way of audience, which I've learned I really like and need. Still, it was good to have the experience of running pretty much on your own. Before I run Chicago in the fall, I'd like to have as many running different running experiences as possible.
I know for many runners, the scenery of Estes is a lovely distraction, but honestly, Estes makes me a little sick: t-shirt shops and paddle boats and dry-wall McMansions. Bleh. Very bad vibe, even if they do have Elk wandering the streets. I reminded myself many times to take in the scenery and enjoy, but I couldn't totally let myself do that.
The volunteers, were fab. There was a volunteer at mile 9 (?) who had a chest full of ice. Bless her! Man that gave me a little boost.
There was a lot of down hill in the second half of the run, which was lovely, but I was pretty burned out by then to take advantage of it fully.
So I finished in 2:35, which was close to my goal of 2:30, but as I ran, it became apparent that I am a bigot: while I am certainly not a fast runner, I usually finish with people who look fit. This time, I was "running" with overweight people and with elderly people. I kept looking at people and thinking, "I can't believe I can't outrun this person." But those people were outrunning me, or running pretty darn close to me. Obviously, I need a big does of humility here. I need to acknowledge athletes come in all shapes and sizes and ages. I need to acknowledge that even if a person doesn't look as fit as I do, it is entirely possible that they are more fit than I am.
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