hmmm...Salida trail half race report

hmm....that's how I feel about the Salida Run Through Time Trail Half Marathon.  I was hoping to beat my time from the Golden Leaf.  I incorrectly thought this was exactly like the Aspen race, but looking back - there is a bit of a difference.  The elevation range was 7000 - 7800 - about the same as Aspen. BUT this course had 400 ft more elevation gain and the course measures a half mile long.  Both Anne and I had 13.6 on the ole garmin.

My Golden Leaf time was 2:36 - so I was hoping for a 2:30 or better.  I finished in 2:45 - yowza!  Of course I was disappointed, but surprisingly (to me) not bitterly disappointed.  My overriding feeling is one curiosity and determination to improve on my most glaring weakness.

Salida Bound

I traveled with Anne  on this trip.  We left Boulder ~5pm and of course we got caught in a blizzard near Fairplay. Seriously, it was white out conditions and we were driving ~5mph trying to stay on the road hoping no one would plow into us.  Luckily for us, when we reached Fairplay and stopped at a gas station a plow truck driver came into the store. He was heading toward Salida and told us to follow him.  That definitely eased the stress of the rest of the trip.  It was still sketchy, but with his lights, plowing and sanding - it was a LOT better.

We hit Salida ~9pm (too late for packet pickup) and hit up The Fritz for dinner.  I LOVE that place - damn good food.  We sat at the bar and had a nice dinner and chatted with some handsome skiers.  (poor us)

We finally got to the hotel - Holiday Inn Express.  Thankfully our room was really nice and get hit the sack pretty quickly after we got there.  We both slept poorly. (typical)  But got up at 6:30 to eat and prep for the day.

They were calling for a Winter Storm to continue - so we left out plans open of whether to attempt to drive home after that race or stay in Salida another night.  We would play it by ear.

Same old - same old/ uphill = slow & downhill = not-so-slow

My pals from Summit County made the trek in the morning - Mike and Rebecca Kane and Pam M.  

The temps were in the low 30s to start - it looked like the weather could go either way - so of course I over-dressed.  I just don't have the nerve to dress correctly.  I'd rather suffer with too much on than with too little on.   This is the only picture I took that day.

me and Anne before the start - yep -i'm the short one.  hmm...kinda have a 60s vibe going on w/the headband & red socks

So here's the course profile - my garmin clocked elevation range 7000-7800 and a tad under ~2400 ft of climbing in 13.6 miles.   

The plan was to not blow myself up on the uphills and try to make up time on the downhills.  I've ridden many of these trails on my mtn bike, I was hoping the trail Uncle Nazty would be included - it's gots some of the nice chunky stuff that I love...but alas,  no UN - but there was some good tech.

The climbs really were draining to me.  I was my usual slow self and I'd watch Anne, Pam and Rebecca pull away - I just hoped the downhills would come soon.   I never saw Rebecca after mile 3, but Anne, Pam and I did some leap frog action the entire race.

me slogging on the uphill

The climb at mile 6 was steep(I recall riding up it on my mtn bike - I cleaned it but it was a lung buster on a bike) and it was faster for me to walk than attempt to run.  Tho there was a lot of downhill - it was very rolling and so there weren't many long sustained downhills.   

It started snowing a bit around mile 9 and that was the low point for me.  I couldn't get my legs to run uphill - I was worried about my mental toughness at this point.  My brain would look at the terrain and tell my legs "you could run this!"  and my legs would "oh HELL NO! we are doing just fine walking".  Everyone once in a while my legs would obey - it was probably a 50/50 deal they would listen.   I had thought by looking at the race promoter's website that it would be all downhill after mile 10 - but you can see my the elevation profile - that was NOT the case.

The only really highlights of the race for me were the downhills.

A New nickname

I was conservative on the downhills - it is still fresh in my mind what happened in Tucson and my focus is the Eugene marathon - i don't want to screw things up.   

Anne and Pam would pass me on the uphills and I would pass them on the downhills.  As I said i was being conservative, but based on where I was in the pack (2/3 of the way in the pack) - my downhill running was faster than my race companions.

I'm not saying i'm a great downhill runner - but I am competent.  Anne said whenever she'd hear someone quickly catching up to her on the downhill - she just assumed it was me. Everyone one i passed on the downhills made nice comments.  I also heard a few things from spectators "wow - look at that pace!"  "damn - the girl is flying".

I'm sure at the front of the pack is a different story - I'm sure I'd be the one moving over to let people pass.  But I'll take what I can get.  :) 

Anne gave me a great complement by saying "You look confident and in control as you are whizzing past.  You are so much faster than everyone else.  I'm going to call you the *Downhill Demon* ".    I've had a few nicknames in my life and i kinda like that one. Thanks Anne!

Aftermath

First of all - I LOVE this race and strongly recommend it.  The race course is challenging and fun (there's a marathon option too), the price is great- I recall it being around $45 and a very cool vibe all around.

I loved this email quote from the race promoter "We do not provide a finisher medal, bouquets of flowers, space blankets, etc. at the finish.  We have a light meal. All finishers get a limited edition art print card.  We are a smaller non-profit race and there are no bands, dancers, jet flyovers, etc. along the course."

My Summit County friend, Mike Kane won his AG (50-59) and also placed 15th overall.   I LOVE this picture of him - "Eye of the Tiger" pops into my mind with this pic.   His wife Rebecca (she's in my AG) finished 4th and I finished 6th out of 14 in AG.  I'm very proud of Anne - she did very well - she beat her Aspen race time!!  Pam finished strong too.

"eye of the tiger"

Mike w/his award, me standing on tip-toes giving him bunny ears, Rebecca laughing in the background

   
You know - I was feeling just "hmmm" after the race, but now after typing this all up - it was a damn fine time.  yeeHAW!