Salida Run Through Time Marathon - Race Report

Time: 3:49
Distance: 26.29 miles
Effort: Hard
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & Warm


I learned a lot today at the fifth annual Salida Run Through Time Marathon. Here's a partial list:


1. 4:15 a.m. is a hard time to wake up.
2. Many gas station convenience stores don't sell peanut butter
3. Naps before races are cool.
4. Dirt road/off-road marathons in March in Colorado can be messy.
5. A top ten finish feels good.


My alarm did, indeed go off this morning at 4:15 a.m. so I could make the 3 hour drive to Salida and have plenty of time to relax, drink, eat and make 16,253 trips to the port-o-let. Unfortunately, we are a little short on provisions here at the house, so en route to Salida I was on an early morning quest for peanut butter to round-out a pre-race feast. I finally found some at the third place I stopped. Who knew peanut butter could be so illusive. Pork rinds and donuts, no problem - they're everywhere.  


I rolled into Salida around 6:45 a.m., and felt beat. My brain was telling me I needed a cat nap...even a five-minute one. So, I pulled into the Stone Bridge river access park just outside of town, set my alarm and slept for 20 minutes. It was perfect. The nap sharpened me up and swept out the cobwebs. On to Salida...


After picking up my number, I ran into JM at the pre-race briefing..The RD explained the course marking color code, thanked the sponsors and gave us an update on course conditions. "How do you feel about dirt, mud and snow?," he asked. He went on to assure us that, as expected, we would see a lot of all three. He was not wrong.


The race started at 9 a.m. sharp along some railroad tracks on the east side of the Arkansas River. The announcer ordered racers to their marks and quickly set us off. The run began on a dirt road, taking us up and over our first hill and dropping us down to a paved road, which we followed for 2-3 miles before it turned to dirt. The good-condition dirt road climbed steadily up through a canyon to an aid station and the half-marathon turn-around spot. The marathoners continued climbing another mile or two until the road began to undulate a bit, giving us a healthy dose of downhills to go with our climbs. Through miles 8-13 was where the mud was the worst. It was mucky and wet, with the occasional stick-to-your-shoes variety. Fortunately, there were enough snow/ice sections to keep the shoes from getting too weighed down with mud.


At about the 10.5 mile mark, Tim Parr came running up the road toward me. The course does an out-and-back to the ghost town of Turret. Parr was running at a good clip and had 3-4 minutes on the next closest guy. 


I continued slip-sliding down to the 12-mile mark and the turn-around, located (of course) at the bottom of the muddiest hill we'd seen all day. After a quick water bottle re-fill, I turned around and retraced my steps for 5.2 miles. Somewhere in here I met up with Brownie, easy to pick out among the runners due to his trademark hat and Pabst Blue Ribbon shirt. I continued on to  the 17.2-mile mark, where an aid station awaited and race volunteers pointed runners left down a snow-covered two-track trail.


Fortunately, in the last day or so, someone had managed to get a Jeep or other four-wheel drive vehicle up this road - no small feat given the foot-plus of snow that covered the two-track. The vehicle's tire tracks gave us a decent surface to run on as the trail proceeded through four miles (or so) of rolling hills and three miles (or so) of steep, muddy and rocky descent back down toward Salida. 


At about mile 24, the Jeep road dumped us out on a good-quality dirt road, which snakes up Tenderfoot Mountain or "S" Mountain from Salida. I had a scare right about here when I thought I went off course. I stopped at an intersection and looked around for the previously-ubiquitous red ribbons. I hustled over to a trailhead parking area looking for a course marker. Nothing.I looked up and remembered an trail junction about a hundred yards and a hundred feet back up. I returned to the intersection, prepared to climb back to the last junction. Thankfully, I found a course marker, sort of hidden in the shrubs on the right side of the road.


Frustrated by the unplanned pause in running and determined not to be caught from behind, I started cruising, running the last two miles (downhill) at around a 6:10 pace.


At last, the road dumped us back down to the railroad tracks the race start. The finish, though, was on the other side of the river. I kept up the pace and crossed the Arkansas River on the bridge at the end of Main Street. A few spectators were waiting and pointed me to a circuitous sidewalk which led me under the bridge and along the river to the finish at the Steamplant Event Center in the heart of downtown Salida.. 


I ended up in ninth place overall, second masters. Average pace: 8:42. 3,917 in elevation gain, according to the Garmin. See the data here.


My plan today was to run the whole thing steady and treat it as a training run. I was probably using that plan more as a pre-race excuse than anything - giving myself an out in the event things didn't go well. All-in-all, things went well. I'm still learning how hard I can push things without melting down. I definitely had a few difficult spots, but pushed through them and kept moving. Much learned today, my first full-length marathon (the Breckenridge Crest Marathon two years ago was actually 24.5 miles).


The top five looked like this:


1. Tim Parr - 3:13
2. Andrew Henshaw - 3:18
3. Nick Clark - 3:19  (Taking Round One in his 2010 Throw-Down with Ryan Burch)
4. Ryan Burch
5. Keri Nelson


Had a good time post-race hanging out, eating some great post-race food and catching up with JM, who also had a good day, taking 12 minutes off of his previous year's time, despite this year's poor course conditions. Nice job, Jim!


Many thanks to the Chaffee County Running Club for putting on a great race!

Friday - Off

Even with the plans to run easy tomorrow in Salida, I figured a day off was wise.  It's been a mellow one.

New ultra coming to the Front Range in October - the Bear Chase.  Looks like they will have a 50K, a 50-mile and a half marathon.  Now we have three close-in ultras -the Bear Chase, the Dirty 30 on June 5 in Golden Gate State Park and the new North Fork 50 on July 17 in the Buffalo Creek area of the Pike National Forest.  Pretty cool.

Green Mountain - Uphill

Time: 1:13
Distance: 5.75 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Cool & clear


Knowing the trails would have a new layer of snow, I wanted to get out early before things got sloppy. Got to the trail a bit before 9 a.m. and took the last available parking spot at the mouth of Gregory Canyon. After a quick pit stop at the trailhead, I set off up the Gregory Canyon trail with a pair of microspikes in my hands.


Near the Ranger cottage, I fell in behind a train of runners, consisting of Brandon, Jeff, Mike and a friend of Brandon's, moving steadily uphill. After quick introductions, Mike led us up the rest of Gregory and onto the Ranger Trail and then onto the summit of Green. The pace was steady, but not pushing it, as my time to summit of about 45-46 minutes attests. Still, the pace was just right for me today as my legs were feeling pretty flat.


After a few minutes on the summit snapping pics and chatting (and, for me, strapping on the microspikes), we headed back down. Jeff and Mike hung a left at the four-way to run up Bear. Brandon and I headed back down Ranger for the descent to our cars.


Saw a post by Jim M. pointing to some pics on the Chaffee County Running Club website (scroll to the bottom) showing the snow-covered course of this weekend's Salida Run Through Time Marathon. Looks like the race might be, at least in parts, a bit of a slog. Still, I'm looking forward to running in a new place and staying off the paved roads!

Sanitas Valley - Recovery

Time: 49:06
Distance: 6 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Cool & snowing


Late afternoon jog from work up Mapleton Avenue to the Mt. Sanitas Open Space park. In the park, I ran up the Dakota Ridge Trail, then back down via Sanitas Valley and returned to work via Pearl Street (with a brief stop to pick up and Illegal Pete's burrito).  Part of the run was amidst a near-white out with big fluffy snowflakes falling fast and sticking to my black tech shirt. Ahhh, the wonders of nature...

Treadmill - Speedwork

Time: 1:00
Distance: 8 miles
Effort: Hard
Body: Fair
Weather: Indoors


A brilliant blue-sky morning gave way to a cold, gray, snowy afternoon. After such great weather this weekend, I wasn't up for slogging out mile repeats on a windswept chunk of pavement.  So, to the treadmill!


I did 2 miles of w/u at 8:00 pace, then 4x1 mile.  The first 3 mile repeats were at one percent incline (6:00, 5:52, 5:44). The last mile repeat was at 5:39 at no incline. Did 400m recovery in between the repeats, some jogging and the last one with some speed walking.  The 5:44 and 5:39 hurt. 1-mile c/d.  My legs felt flat the whole run. Nothing was easy.  Still, got it done and felt good afterwards.  Followed it up with 15 minutes of core work.

Stagecoach - Whittier Gulch - Beaver Brook - Elk Meadow Loop - Long Run

Time: 3:21
Distance: 20.39 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny and beautiful


Out the door at about 6:15 a.m. for a long loop from home. Felt the early morning chill as I stepped out the door and wound my way through the neighborhood streets to the trail that leads up to the upper parking lot of Elk Meadow Open Space. Here the first rays of the sun were just striking the lot as I jumped on Stagecoach Road for the climb to its apex before dropping down toward Whittier Gulch.

Morning sun on Elk Meadow Park sign at the upper parking lot.

After beginning the descent down Stagecoach toward Whitter Gulch, Mt. Evans and its sister peaks came into full view. Just like yesterday morning, the massif was ablaze in the morning light.

Mt Evans from Stagecoach Road

Soon I was at the intersection of Stagecoach and Whittier Gulch Road. I hung a right and began the 3.17 mile, 1,514-foot ascent of this mostly dirt/gravel road. The climb felt good, as the top 3/4 of the climb was bathed in sun. The road snakes up via a series of switchbacks and ends at Highway 103, also known as Squaw Pass Road. Directly across 103 from Whittier Gulch Road is a trailhead that leads into the Beaver Brook Watershed, which is comprised of U.S. Forest Service land and a Clear Creek County Open Space park. When you put this area together with Elk Meadow and the other national forest land in the area, there's a 20-mile wildlife corridor  from Evergreen to Mt. Evans.

Upper Meadow of Beaver Brook Watershed

The conservation of this property has an interesting and fairly recent history. A unique combination of forces came together to protect the area's 5,000 or so acres. It took the combined determination and skill of the Mountain Area Land Trust,  Clear Creek County Open Space, Great Outdoors Colorado and, I recall, then-Rep. Mark Udall and then-Sen. Wayne Allard. In addition to some swell hills, forest and creeks, the property includes one of the City of Golden's small reservoirs. Very scenic. The place has a few trails/dirt roads that a great for running and exploring. And, it's just 4-5 miles up Hwy 103 from Evergreen.

Standing this morning at the upper meadow, I was pleasantly surprised to see a very well-packed trail heading down through the meadow toward the forest below. I was feeling great running through here. I could feel the trail running mojo coming back. I had one of those running moments on this descent, where suddenly everything just feels good. A wave of a full-body chill washed quickly over me. A runner's high? I was listening to FoCo's very own Drag the River when it happened. A perfect moment.

A spur trail I explored while running down the main packed trail in Beaver Brook

A frozen Beaver Brook Reservoir looking west

Beaver Brook Watershed - looking west from the east entrance

From Beaver Brook, I headed east down Old Squaw Pass Road to its intersection with Hwy 103, which I followed down to the north side of Elk Meadow Open Space. Just before I was about to jump the fence into Elk Meadow, I big red tail hawk swooped down from the other side of the 103 and landed on a tree just past me.

Red tail hawk near Elk Meadow

From there, it was quick couple of miles through Elk Meadow and up Bergen Peak Drive back to the house. Great morning.


3,138 feet of elevation gain.

Upper Bear Creek Road - Easy

Time: 2:08
Distance: 15 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny and gettin' warm!


Easy and early run from Evergreen Lake up Upper Bear Creek Road to the 7.5 mile mark. Good sized group this morning with Steve G., Chris A., Lori B. and two others whose names escape me now. Ran up at around an 8:30(ish) pace and returned at around an 8:00 pace. Spectacular winter morning, with temps in the high 30s at the start and in the mid-40s at the end. The views of Mt. Evans were inspiring, especially with the morning sun lighting it up.


Felt really good to be out and moving. My running mojo has been flagging this week. Based on this run, perhaps the bounce is back...

Green Mountain & More - Uphill

Time: 1:44
Distance: 9:01 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny and fair


Upon landing in Denver after an early morning flight from D.C., I was inspired by the blue sky, bright sun and warm weather. So, I headed from DIA to Boulder for a run up Green Mountain. I had a vague idea of adding something onto the usual up-to-the-summit-and-back-down routine, but wasn't sure what to do.


So, with a pair of microspikes in hand, I ran from the Chautauqua parking lot over to Gregory Canyon and began the ascent taking the Gregory - Ranger route. Snow conditions were decent -- a little slushy, but not bad. Ran steady the whole way up and tagged the summit in 41:38. Didn't feel great, but managed to take a few seconds off my PR.


Splits: Trailhead to Green Mountain Lodge (1.32 miles, 978 feet of elevation gain):  18:31; Lodge  to West Ridge Trail junction (1.16 miles, 1,134 feet of elevation gain): 19:29; junction to summit (.18 miles, 273 feet of elevation gain): 3:38.


After a minute or two to catch my breath and take in the views, I returned down the stair steps and ran the West Ridge Trail down (and up) to Flagstaff Road. I had hopes of jumping on the Long Canyon trail, but when I got to the trailhead, I didn't see an obvious packed-out trail from the parking area, so I continued down the road a few miles and eventually jumped on the Flagstaff Trail. I followed Flagstaff to a spur trail at a climbing area and descended down to Gregory Canyon for the return to my car.


A glorious day, to be sure. It was interesting to see some people out running shirtless, and others in full winter gear hiking on the packed trails with trekking poles. Always interesting to see how different people react to the pre-spring temps.


Although I carried the microspikes the whole run, I never needed them since I didn't descend via the usual routes. There was plenty of dry shoulder on Flagstaff Road and the Flagstaff trail was nearly snow-free (although there was a little mud here and there).


3,646 feet of elevation gain.

Northwest D.C. Loop - Recovery

Time: 41:00
Distance: 5.12 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Fair
Weather: Damp and cold


Easy run from hotel up Massachusetts Avenue past all the embassies, then a right on Wisconsin Avenue (with a pause to take in the view of the National Cathedral) then a downhill jaunt through a nice neighborhood to Connecticut Avenue, then dashed by the Uptown Theater and the National Zoo, then over the Duke Ellington Bridge to Adams Morgan and a final jog back to Connecticut Avenue to complete the loop back to the start.


Due to a long work day, did this run at about 9 p.m. Everything was quiet in the 'hoods.  

Treadmill - Speedwork

Time: 1:15
Distance: 10 miles
Effort: Hard
Body: Very good
Weather: Indoors


Arrived this evening in Washington, D.C. to cold and rainy weather. No desire to get wet and cold, so the treadmill it was.


Did a two-mile w/u, then 1x5K at 6:00 pace at one percent incline, then 2x1 mile at 6:00 pace at two percent incline.and closed it out with a two-mile c/d. 


The treadmill at this hotel wouldn't go any faster than a 6:00 pace. I don't think I've experienced that problem before, but I haven't run on all that many 'mills. Is it common for treadmills to top out at 10 mph?