Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Event: Castle Rock Trail Festival
 

Today was my big goal race for the summer -- a half marathon at the Castle Rock Trail Festival. I've been feeling well-prepared for the distance, but a little under-prepared for the hills. Luckily, this is a rolling area (which is one of the reasons why I picked this race), and most of the hills were short.

At mile #9, the woman directly in front of me tripped and face-planted. I watched it all happen, seemingly in slow motion -- she had many out-of-control steps before she actually went down. I stopped to help her up (which took her a while), and her chin was busted open and bleeding. Yikes.

I gave her a paper napkin I had in my pack (for the blood) and I stayed for a bit; but other than asking "are you OK?" (obviously not!), I wasn't sure what to do. Another woman seemed like she was going to stay and walk with her. So I told them I'd send someone back from the next aid station (which I did), and then I took off. I feel like a horrible person admitting this -- but I didn't want to forfeit the good race I was having.

I asked the EMTs at the finish if they knew her status; they said she was able to finish and then went to the ER for some stitches. If she finished the race instead of getting a ride from the next aid station (which was about 0.75 miles from where she got hurt), maybe her condition wasn't too awful. And maybe I'm not too awful for continuing on after the couple of minutes I stayed with her. :-P

I'm happy with the pace I was able to maintain throughout most of the race (10:25 overall). The 13th mile had a L-O-N-G hill, and I finally threw in the towel and walked a bit -- just couldn't keep going.

I was ultimately ~3.5 minutes back from the #3 and #4 finishers in the F40-49 class -- maybe I could have closed that gap if I didn't walk at the end. Garmin says the time I spent stopped with the injured woman was two minutes.

Stats:

#63 / 192 -- Overall
#21 / 103 -- Females
#5 / 30 -- F40-49

Splits: 9:46 , 10:03 , 10:54 , 10:07 , 10:25 , 9:53 , 10:10 , 10:47 , 10:17 , 10:49 , 10:26 , 10:11 , 11:46 (awful hill at the end!), 4:20 (0.44 miles)

My time today was faster than my previous two half marathons, which were both on the road or paved trails, with much less climb:

7/27/2014 -- 2:30:28 (+122m climb)
9/21/2013 -- 2:24:42 (+65m climb)

So, overall, I'm very happy with how this went! Sticking to my training plan very consistently was a big factor. And, I hate to admit it, but being ~10-20 pounds lighter than in recent years was probably helpful, too.


(I'm the red dot.)

C • Awesome! 7

Final pre-race taper run.

- Walked a quarter mile to warm up.

- Easy three-mile run, with four 30-second pickups during the second mile.

- Walked a bit more to cool down.

And now off to the Gondolier to have spaghetti & ravioli with my buddies Dave and Cynthia. :-)

- Membership expiration reminder emails.
- Two membership renewals (database update & email confirmation).
- Miscellaneous email follow-ups (jerseys, annual meeting plans, etc.).
- White Ranch course input to Joe & JP.

It's taper week before my trail half-marathon this Saturday. Nice full moon out, augmented with headlamp. At the arboretum loop:

- Walked 0.25 & jogged 0.75 to warm up.

- 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 minutes of fast effort with two minutes of walking rest in between.

- Jogged one mile and then walked a bit to cool down.

Yoga class at the rec center.

Today I vetted Joe's Green course at White Ranch.

I got my usual "alpine start" at about noon and occasionally heard some thunder in the distance, but luckily I didn't get rained on -- it was actually pleasant enough for short sleeves.

I wasn't cursing Joe by the end of the course (unlike last year, when I started cursing the course setter long before I was finished), so I think this course has an appropriate amount of length & climb for White Ranch. ;-)

2:07:50 total time (including stops for photos, notes, etc.)
1:40:23 moving time

White Ranch view from Green #6: