NORAD!!
Cheyenne Mountain State Park - I just can't seem to get enough miles there! Between four races (WS 2, Stories Ultra, CMTR 50k and now NORAD) and all the training miles both on foot and on wheels, I've covered every trail in the park multiple times (except for Dixon and the top of the mountain - that will come later). I've probably run and ridden at least 250 miles in the park if I was actually counting. Good thing I really love the trails and the hills there, otherwise it would have been a challenging spring. But I do - I really enjoy running at CMPS.
After Tommyknocker was postponed and I jumped in the WDF 5k, I was looking for another long run before Growler. Everyone I knew was talking about NORAD, but I'd kinda written it off since it was my work weekend. Running a real trail marathon before going to work isn't the smartest idea. But... The more I though about it, the more the half marathon appealed to me. Still a solid long run with some of the harder hills in the park. An early enough start that I wouldn't be too late for work, but late enough that I'd be able do a decent warm-up before the race. As always, if I was going to race, I was going to respect the distance and take it seriously. With it being a half marathon, I knew the paces were going to be much faster then the last few races, so the warm-up would be important. It also was good because I completely changed what I was planning on wearing afterwards! With the wind and the building clouds, a tank top with gloves was sounding a little chilly. I was cold during the warm-up with my sweater and pants on...
The course was similar to CMTR, but reversed - Sundance and the Talon loops first, then Blackmere and Cougars Shadow. And only one climb up Blackmere! Unlike at the CMTR, we started facing into the park. That meant a hard 180* turn onto the Sundance loop right away! Good thing we were all more interested in playing nice then throwing elbows. One thing I really love about the trail running community. The racing would start in earnest once we got onto Sundance. Right away, I could tell the pace was fast and it was going to be a hard day. I was in the lead as we made the turn onto Sundance, but Jane M quickly passed me after we crossed the creek bed near the parking lot. I knew the race was early, but also didn't want to let too much of a gap develop. It didn't take much to get right back on. Then the competitive mind took over - would it be smarter to stay behind and be the hunter or to pass and run my own pace regardless of what happened? After a few minutes, I decided to make the pass. I would drive the race, selecting the pace and being willing to blow up. A different style of running for me - normally in a longer race, I'm really conservative at the start.
The hard part about being in the lead? Not wanting to take those glances over my shoulder to see what was going on! I would have to rely on the auditory cues - the breathing behind me and the footsteps in the gravel to determine what was behind me. One of the reasons I will never wear headphones in races shorter then a 50k - there's so much to learn from the auditory cues that you lose half the knowledge of racing with earbuds in. We are running trails in nature! That is a soundtrack enough for me in most races. That and the safety issues with people having music so loud they don't hear faster runners behind them.
But anyways - I digress. It was amazing how "easy" the climb up Sundance is when it's the first climb of the day, not the third. I knew I didn't have the gap I wanted, so really dug deep to keep running on the entire climb. Ouch. I don't think I've ever run up the entire Sundance climb before! Usually I'm power hiking as the trail climbs away from the road. Not this time. It was a challenge though - balanceing the fact that it was the first climb of the race and in the first few miles as well, with the miles and climbing still to come. Sometimes though, thinking too hard about what is coming leads to holding back more then needed. So I put the thought of the Blackmere climb into the back of my mind and kept pushing. Across the top of Sundance, then the drop into the aid station before starting the Talon climb. I needed nothing, so waved and kept going. Since the temperatures were cool, I had opted to just go with my small hand held. There were three aid stations which should be plenty for a half marathon.
Again - the Talon climb and loop - same direction as from the CMTR. Up Talon, up North Talon, down and around South Talon before plunging back down Talon. I've managed to run up the entire Talon climb once - in the Summer Roundup 10k+ last summer. Even during the Winter Series races that climbed Talon, I usually stopped to hike on the really steep parts. With Jane still right behind me, there was no hiking this time. Just keep moving and keep the pace high. Uff. Running hills hard is still a weakness of mine. I've gotten stronger at them, but still not as smooth as I'd like. I've also noticed as I get older, the downhill running is slowing down a little. Twenty years ago, I'd blast down the hills without a care in the world, never mind the risk of fall or blowing up my quads. Not so much now! I'm definitely more aware that I don't bounce as well - I still bounce, just not with the resilience of a 20 year old!
Thru the aid station again and back onto Sundance. We started catching the 4 mile runners as well as the marathoners at this point, but Sundance is a wide enough that I had no issues. There were plenty of people wearing headphones though, which made a few of the passes a little sketchy. I know the Sundance descent really well - it's on the CMTR course, as well as the blue loop for Stories Ultra. This time, we took a Turkey Trot to get to lower Talon. The twists of Turkey Trot allowed me a chance to glance behind without being too obvious about it. Jane was still there, but a little further back then before. It was still a really close race though. There would be no taking it easy on the last loop. Past the final aid station and then onto the Coyote Run climb to Bolder Run - just like on Purple. Then turning onto Blackmere for the final climb up to Cougar's Shadow. Familarlity with the trails helped on this final loop. I knew when to settle into the pace and when to try to dig. Even so, part of running the shorter races is mental training. With the longer races there's time - persistence hunting can be a useful skill there. In the shorter race? There's not time to let up or relax at any point. It's full gas until the finish line. That's a different mentality then in the long races, but still serves well. Training to push past the discomfort of running fast, getting out of my head when I feel the pace is too high is no different then the one step at time of ultra running.
Once I got onto Cougar's Shadow, I felt like I could relax a little. But then the time caught my eye - I was close to being able to set a new course record if my stupid runners math was correct. I would have to drill it down Blackmere! I almost made a wrong turn at the bottom of Blackmere - anticipating a left onto Zook as indicated on the course map. But the arrows and flagging steered us right, the long way around. Whoops! I corrected course and continued driving hard. It made more sense to finish this way - no cross traffic like the left would have caused. I wasn't anticipating having one more hill and my legs were getting cranky. The final climb on Zook always seems bigger then it really is! It was enough though - as I crossed the finish line in 1:52:37, setting a new fastest time by just over a minute. I hadn't ever gotten much time on Jane though - she finished right behind me in 1:53:35, also faster then the prior record.
This was the final race for the NORAD Trail Run. Next year, the race changes shape to a women's only event with a 50k, marathon, half marathon and 4 mile race. While the course won't change for the half - the name and atmosphere will. I've never done a women's only running event so I'll keep an eye on the Valkyries Trail Race for next year!
I wasn't able to hang out after the race like I usually do. Just a quick cool down and then off to work. Yup. Since I wasn't originally planning on doing the NORAD race, I'd scheduled myself to work that weekend. Even with running faster then planned, time was getting a little later then I wanted. But racing hard and then working for 8 hours is great ultra training right?
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| Sunrise over the cloud bank to the east. Getting creative with the yucca! |
After Tommyknocker was postponed and I jumped in the WDF 5k, I was looking for another long run before Growler. Everyone I knew was talking about NORAD, but I'd kinda written it off since it was my work weekend. Running a real trail marathon before going to work isn't the smartest idea. But... The more I though about it, the more the half marathon appealed to me. Still a solid long run with some of the harder hills in the park. An early enough start that I wouldn't be too late for work, but late enough that I'd be able do a decent warm-up before the race. As always, if I was going to race, I was going to respect the distance and take it seriously. With it being a half marathon, I knew the paces were going to be much faster then the last few races, so the warm-up would be important. It also was good because I completely changed what I was planning on wearing afterwards! With the wind and the building clouds, a tank top with gloves was sounding a little chilly. I was cold during the warm-up with my sweater and pants on...
 |
| Start/Finish line - more clouds draped over the mountains just west of the Talon Trails. |
The hard part about being in the lead? Not wanting to take those glances over my shoulder to see what was going on! I would have to rely on the auditory cues - the breathing behind me and the footsteps in the gravel to determine what was behind me. One of the reasons I will never wear headphones in races shorter then a 50k - there's so much to learn from the auditory cues that you lose half the knowledge of racing with earbuds in. We are running trails in nature! That is a soundtrack enough for me in most races. That and the safety issues with people having music so loud they don't hear faster runners behind them.
But anyways - I digress. It was amazing how "easy" the climb up Sundance is when it's the first climb of the day, not the third. I knew I didn't have the gap I wanted, so really dug deep to keep running on the entire climb. Ouch. I don't think I've ever run up the entire Sundance climb before! Usually I'm power hiking as the trail climbs away from the road. Not this time. It was a challenge though - balanceing the fact that it was the first climb of the race and in the first few miles as well, with the miles and climbing still to come. Sometimes though, thinking too hard about what is coming leads to holding back more then needed. So I put the thought of the Blackmere climb into the back of my mind and kept pushing. Across the top of Sundance, then the drop into the aid station before starting the Talon climb. I needed nothing, so waved and kept going. Since the temperatures were cool, I had opted to just go with my small hand held. There were three aid stations which should be plenty for a half marathon.
Again - the Talon climb and loop - same direction as from the CMTR. Up Talon, up North Talon, down and around South Talon before plunging back down Talon. I've managed to run up the entire Talon climb once - in the Summer Roundup 10k+ last summer. Even during the Winter Series races that climbed Talon, I usually stopped to hike on the really steep parts. With Jane still right behind me, there was no hiking this time. Just keep moving and keep the pace high. Uff. Running hills hard is still a weakness of mine. I've gotten stronger at them, but still not as smooth as I'd like. I've also noticed as I get older, the downhill running is slowing down a little. Twenty years ago, I'd blast down the hills without a care in the world, never mind the risk of fall or blowing up my quads. Not so much now! I'm definitely more aware that I don't bounce as well - I still bounce, just not with the resilience of a 20 year old!
Thru the aid station again and back onto Sundance. We started catching the 4 mile runners as well as the marathoners at this point, but Sundance is a wide enough that I had no issues. There were plenty of people wearing headphones though, which made a few of the passes a little sketchy. I know the Sundance descent really well - it's on the CMTR course, as well as the blue loop for Stories Ultra. This time, we took a Turkey Trot to get to lower Talon. The twists of Turkey Trot allowed me a chance to glance behind without being too obvious about it. Jane was still there, but a little further back then before. It was still a really close race though. There would be no taking it easy on the last loop. Past the final aid station and then onto the Coyote Run climb to Bolder Run - just like on Purple. Then turning onto Blackmere for the final climb up to Cougar's Shadow. Familarlity with the trails helped on this final loop. I knew when to settle into the pace and when to try to dig. Even so, part of running the shorter races is mental training. With the longer races there's time - persistence hunting can be a useful skill there. In the shorter race? There's not time to let up or relax at any point. It's full gas until the finish line. That's a different mentality then in the long races, but still serves well. Training to push past the discomfort of running fast, getting out of my head when I feel the pace is too high is no different then the one step at time of ultra running.
Once I got onto Cougar's Shadow, I felt like I could relax a little. But then the time caught my eye - I was close to being able to set a new course record if my stupid runners math was correct. I would have to drill it down Blackmere! I almost made a wrong turn at the bottom of Blackmere - anticipating a left onto Zook as indicated on the course map. But the arrows and flagging steered us right, the long way around. Whoops! I corrected course and continued driving hard. It made more sense to finish this way - no cross traffic like the left would have caused. I wasn't anticipating having one more hill and my legs were getting cranky. The final climb on Zook always seems bigger then it really is! It was enough though - as I crossed the finish line in 1:52:37, setting a new fastest time by just over a minute. I hadn't ever gotten much time on Jane though - she finished right behind me in 1:53:35, also faster then the prior record.
This was the final race for the NORAD Trail Run. Next year, the race changes shape to a women's only event with a 50k, marathon, half marathon and 4 mile race. While the course won't change for the half - the name and atmosphere will. I've never done a women's only running event so I'll keep an eye on the Valkyries Trail Race for next year!
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| Cruising into the finish line, waving at the aid station volunteers Photo - Lynne Day |
I wasn't able to hang out after the race like I usually do. Just a quick cool down and then off to work. Yup. Since I wasn't originally planning on doing the NORAD race, I'd scheduled myself to work that weekend. Even with running faster then planned, time was getting a little later then I wanted. But racing hard and then working for 8 hours is great ultra training right?
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| Getting the work carpet in the finisher's swag photo this time! |
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