Boulder Rez?! This was definetly not the Colorado race I was picturing for myself. When I think of Colorado, I think of the world's best runners, training at altitiude, harsh tempertures, glorious sunlight, and rugged terrain. I was so excited to train in a way that prepared me for lots of "hard". I wanted to get one of the hardest states under my belt before trying to grow family and to allow life to slow down.
I signed up for Vacation Races Rocky Mountain Half Marathon. I was excited to try running at altitude, at an incline, while in a national park. How cool and hard would this adventure be?! I researched all there was to know about this half marathon. From what I gather, you run up a mountain for about 5 miles, then the last 7 miles are a glorious downhill feat. Downhill doesn't mean easy. In fact, downhill is normally extremely hard on your legs and joints. But of course.. I am up for the challenge! It would also be another national park to check off my list of must-sees. I was so excited to train, grind, and demolish this half.
TRAINING FOR VACATION RACES ROCKY MOUNTAIN HALF MARATHON
This is my ninth half marathon, so you could say I am pretty comfortable with the distance. This doesn't mean that I don't have to train... I do! I include anything past seven miles a "long run" and I still have to fuel for them. But race day doesn't daunt me like it has in the past. It's more of a moment of, "I've laughed, I've cried, I've trained, I'm here, ready or not". I've grapled with the bad days and the good days that come with training. I've gone through sickness, sleepiness, fatigue and I've also expeienced incredible health, energy, alertness and outstanding workouts. Training is just that, a journey.
This training season, I was a bit more lasize-faire; I didn't have specific speed days or hills days. I had mileage goals each day, and depending on how I felt would determine what road I'd run on. I have two extremely hilly, challenging, full-sun trails which is what the majority of my training consisted of. I also had access to a long, flat, shaded trail when I was sick or experienced the extreme ninty degree days. I also had access to a treadmill, a track, and multiple gyms. I am telling you all this becasue I literally would chose where I'd run the day of, with the goal of getting as much hill training under my belt as possible. I can confidently say I rarely ran indoors and I rarely ran the shaded route. If you're from Westerville Ohio, you probably know of Towers Trail, Ohio-Erie Trail, and Alum Creek Trail... those were my beloved go-to's with some road running intermixed.
I was extremely consistent with weight lifting and yoga. I lifted weights three times a week and did yoga every other day. Yoga looks a bit different compared to past years of my life; consisting of more functional yoga rather than inversions and backbends. Yoga has a ton of emphasis on mobility as well as balance. These components are very important to healthy running. At the beginning of summer, my strength training was mostly low rep, heavy weight. Half way through the season I transitioned to hypertrophy training, due to plateauing in my strength endeavors.. and also, summer ;).
My training season had a lot of flexibility due to trips to Europe, Chicago, hosting guests for multiple weekends and normal summer activities. But I don't ever let "business" be an excuse to affect my training, ever. I am extremely consistent and will go out of my way to accomplish the days movement goals.
I ran my long run up to eleven miles, then began to taper. I can typically go on for miles past eleven feeling the same. I get more fatigued training up to mile nine or ten. It's that time commitment of 90 minutes than mentally and physically challenges me. So once I trained up to eleven miles, I tapered and was ready for race weekend.
That was until I recieved an email cancelling the Vacation Races Half Marathon. We got the news two days before leaving for Colorado. In my head, I was not going to let forest fires stop me; we were still headed to Colorado and I was still planning to run, someway, somehow. Surely I could run virtually around a cool route and collect my 13.1 checkmark. Although I depise virtual races (what's the point of these anyways?!), I was willing to accomodate because I felt physically prepared for an uphill five mile course with a seven mile downhill. I could absolutely find a more flat course and maybe even PR?!
I had an even better idea of researching other half marathons in the area, and that is when I came across Boulder Rez. This one was appealing to me because it catered to tri-athletes. They hosted events in Colorado, Utah and Montana. They probably had some pretty cool routes to run! A medal and tee shirt was included in registration too. The only thing left was verifying that they too wouldn't cancel the race. I recieved an email response from the race coordinator saying they were moving forward with the run and that was all I needed.
I signed up for Boulder Rez Half Marathon with just that information. And, off we went..
PLANS? WHAT PLANS?
Due to the cancellation of RMHM (Rocky Mountain Half Marathon), I had cancelled our dinner reservation and any additional time spent in Estes Park. There was no reason to drive to the Rocky Mountains now that neither Mike nor I were running. Dinner was originally going to be an italian cuisine; one where I knew I could get protein and carbs. Now, we had no plan!
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:45 am on Friday. It got delayed three times, after I had been up since 4 am (planning to do a short shake-out run of three miles). I completed my run to see our flight was now taking off at 9:45 am. We adjusted our depature from our house, slept a tiny bit longer, and headed out the door. Because I thought we'd be in Denver by 10am mountain time, I was relying on finding a breakfast spot to start my carb load. You know, the eggs and toast with potatoes and fruit kinda meal. Since we were delayed we didn't land until almost noon. Normally I would have been starving by this point, but I had been dealing with diarrhea all morning from "Lord knows what". I swear, I haven't had tummy troubles in years and then before my big unknown weekend, my gut desides to rear it's ugly attitude. I was having issues all morning. So when we got to Denver, we drove 45 minutes to Boulder and found a spot that both Mike and I thought sounded good. We had to be in walking-distance of Dry Bar since I had a scheduled hair braiding appointment. Our options were burgers or salads. I know eating a high fat burger would do nothing but make me lethargic so we opted for the salad place. I tried to stay relatively low in both fat and fiber. My salad came with bread (yes!) and I added pita chips. Again, not ideal becasue I was planning on a big breakfast.
We picked up packets at Fleet Feet and ventured around Boulder. I think I got just the right amount of activity in because I was tired, but not exhausted. We had zero dinner plans due to not being in Estes Park, so we found a spot close to the hotel and headed there around 6pm. It was a traditional grill with different apps and proteins. I was very nervous to upset my stomach again, so I stuck to what I eat pretty consistently. I started with bread, of course. We ordered steak tartare and meatballs for an appetizer (high protein) and I ordered a steak and vegetable as my main course. To a normal person, this doesn't sound very carb heavy but for myself, a type one diabetic, this is more carbs than I normally eat. Although carb loading is important, blood sugar regulation is even more important for a successful race and energy levels. My body doesn't produce the hormone to break down carbs; so if I "load up" and are unable to manage my bloodsugar, then the carbs don't do a whole lot except become excreted through urine. So when comparing your meals to mine, please be aware I have extra layers to support. I was in bed by 8 pm ready for a successful day ahead of me!
RACE MORNING
We woke around 5:20am with plans to leave at 6:30am. My race started at 7:25am and it took about twenty minutes to get there. I don't like arriving to races too early to just wait around. I bolused for 30 grams of carbs right when I woke up. I was waiting for my bloodsugar to start dropping before having the carbs, but with the adrenaline and nerves I knew this wouldn't be the case. I hovered at 130 for an hour after I bolused, how crazy! I took my breakfast with me in the car and planned to eat it before my race. Since I had insulin on board, I had to eat becuase I would drop within twenty minutes of running. It's a fine balance of not spiking and not crashing.
I opted out of wearing my vest due to the fact there would be water and gatorade every 1.5 miles. Since I don't normally carry water with me, this was actually more than what I trained with! My vest was going to add bulk and fear of chaffing, so I left it behind. I grabbed my trusty waist band instead and filled it with one caffineated Maurten (used during all of training season), two SIS gels (used on and off during training season), and a new MUIR gel (I just had a ton of them at home). I also carried my pump with me; I've never done this before but I am so glad I decided to. More to come on that..
I wore new shoes that I've only ran in three times. The reason for this is because last week, my Brooks started to not support my knees. It was due time for a change as these shoes are well over 500 miles this year and have already been through a training season before Colorado was even a thought. I bought new Asics and absolutely love them. They are completely different than any shoe I've ever trained in; a neutral shoe with lots of cuishon. That is the exact opposite of what I normally run in (stability/support shoe with less cuishom). I also wore my trustee Lulu Lemon tank top (I have one of these in every color) and Vitality biker shorts. I like running in these Biker shorts becuase I never chaff in them and they don't move around.
About ten minutes to start, I consumed a Honey Stinger waffle and 1/3 of a banana. My number was still hovering 130 which was crazy that 3 units of insulin still didn't bring it down. I am so glad I waited and fueled close to the start because my number was almost perfect the entire race. I set my pump to activity mode for two hours and headed to the start line.
READY, SET, GO!
Mile one (and six)
"Feeling good, feeling good". I felt good. It immediately went up a hill and continued to incline, but was paved and pretty. We got to see the sun rise over the resevoir water and it was stunning. That was then we appoached mile two....
Mile two (and seven)
The paved road immediaely turned into gravel and rock. No where in my sight did I see paved roads in my future. In fact, I just saw inline and rock. What did I sign up for?! I guess this was my first try at trail running. I immediately pulled back from my 9:40 pace to 10:00 pace. I have had past broken ankles and wrists from falling and I was petrified that this was my next injury to happen. My eyes were glued to the road; I was no longer enjoying the view.
Mile three (and eight)
Still gravel, but now were going up. The hills weren't straight up; more curvy, which made the incline feel less steep. My legs were honestly not tired here. I felt awesome. My number was gradually rising to 160 now. I thought maybe this would level out eventually so I did nothing.
Mile four (and nine)
The gravel road started to turn into dirt; this was a little more relaxing to my mind. I could actually look up! I took my first gel, the Maurten caffineated. I was ready for an energy boost becasue I could tell I was at elevation. My breathing was getting a little short and fatigue was setting in. But in my head, I kept telling myself in two miles I'll be half way done. That thought process was so helpful.
Mile five (and ten)
This was when I started to struggle. Mile five. Yes..... five. Why so early?! It was one hundred percent due to the elevation. The terrain was dirt and trail was flat now; the only reason for fatigue was the elevation. I managed to maintain a consistent 10:20-30 pace and tried to catch my breath here. The bummer about this stretch of the race was that my legs weren't tired... my breathing was off. I finally understand what people mean when they are training in thin air.
Mile six (and eleven)
What goes up, must come down.. and thank God for these downs! Two, very very large downhills saved my body and mind. It was truly what made me decide to run lap two (making this a half marathon). I felt so good coming down the hills and approaching the end of the first lap. I thought, "If I can just make it through the tough mile five, I'll be OK"
Mile six and a half (mile twelve to thirteen)
We approached the "paved illusion" starting point and I saw my husband! He was cheering me on and even ran for about 15 seconds with me! I looked at him and said "one more lap!" I was feeling good and ready to do this shit again.
Mile nine
This is traditionally my least favorite mile; I always get tired and realize I have more than a 5K left so it's a mental battle. But this mile nine was a breeze. Yes I was on the rough terrain again, but the uphill portion literlly felt fine. I was a bit slower than 1030 by this point becasue I didn't want to trip on the rocks from fatigue and lack of coordination. I took my second gel, a SIS apple flavor, chugged some water and gatorade and trugged forward.
That was what did it to my gut. I had to take a little pit stop for about three minutes. Luckily there were plenty of restrooms around the resevoir. I hopped off the trail and went for a bathroom. This easily added five minutes to my time, due to it being off the trail and the fact this wasn't just number one (ok, we're runners...we talk about this stuff ok?).
Mile ten
And that elevation kick in the ass returned; this time, much harder. This was a stop-and-go kind of mile. I probably walked about three times for sixty sessions each. These small walk breaks were needed to breath; my legs weren't tired and my energy was fine. The elevation was causing breathing to be weak and overall make this mile extremely hard.
Mile eleven to the end
Those two downhill portions of the run were greeted with open arms. By this point, I was SO done with this race! As I approached the finish line, I kicked it into gear and finished super strong.
Additional notes of the race experience and course
This course had zero support. Since it was mostly trail, there was very little area for any bodies to cheer you on or have extra entertainment. So you really need to dig deep for motivation and mental toughness.
There was fueling every mile and a half. Each fueling table had water, gatorade, and random gels. Yes, they didn't have just one type of gel; rather, they laid a ton of gels on a table for you to choose as you approached the booths.
Almost everyone was run-walking this race. Maybe my road runner mentality made me feel weak for walking at all; but observing so many around me doing this as their race-day strategy was eye opening. Oh, the differences between road runners and trail runners are countless.
All the medals and tee shirts were the same between races so there was no one regulating if you stopped early or decided to run a full marathon. So I could've signed up for the cheapest option and just continued my run!
The race directors and staff were extremely nice.
It was a small turnout; probably between 800-1,000 people running.
THE AFTERMATH
This is when I really started to struggle. After retrieving my water and medal, I almost fell over from feeling faint. I managed to hobble to a porta potty and use the restroom (for the twentith time the last 24 hours) and simply breath. Once leaving the loo, I sat on a bench and my husband found me. I could barely lift my head up. I truly felt better putting my head on the table and focusing on breathing. It was crazy; every time I started talking again I'd get winded. The elevation was messing with my whole body. I probably laid on the bench for a little over thirty minutes. Once I felt strong enough to get up and walk, we left. There wasn't a huge afterparty or anything to really keep me there. I honestly just wanted to get back to the room, shower, and lay down.
DIABETES MANAGEMENT
I mentioned earlier that my numbers were hovering a 140-150 range before running. This is fabulous, but the problem was that I had taken insulin expecting to eat 30 grams of carbs. My blood sugar didn't respnd to the insulin becuase of my adrenaline, but I knew it would respond immediately starting exercise. Anytime insulin is "on board", exercise makes my blood sugar drop so fast. I avoided that by eating my 30 grams of carbs right before lining up for the race. Not ideal due to not having time to digest or use the restroom, but this strategy worked for my blood sugar. As i fueled on the course, I noticed my number going up very slowly.. 160....170...180... As soon as it hit 190, I whipped out my pump (first time carrying it on me) and I took a full unit of insulin. I did this because I knew I had about 25 minutes left in my run and I would need to give a correction dseage anyways. This also worked out in my favor, as when I finished the race my number was 140 again. I am so happy I brought my pump with me to dose because it saved me from going high and feeling sluggish. It also provided me a sense of comfort that I could control my diabetes for the next few hours.
I am so proud of myself for completing this race. It was my plan to cross off Colorado, a tough state with hills and elevation. I had trained and was determined to accomplish what I set out to do. But it's also worth noting, that no matter how much you prepare for your race day... something will happen. And the best ability is flexibility. I am grateful for a healthy training experience and race day. I am grateful I fueled the way I did to support the energy output needed. I am grateful for my husbands paitence and support. I love this sport and will forever remember this weekend.
BOULDER AND BEYOND
Now, let the fun begin!
Saturday
After resting post-race, we got ready and set out to find a well deserved beer and food. We stumbeled upon Avery Brewing and I am so glad we did! This cute joint was off the beaten path but I had lots of room for outdoor tables, entertainment and parking. We saddled up outside with beers and some protein (I ordeered smoked turkey + salad and Mike ordered wings + chili). We truly relaxed and kicked back. It was lovely.
We drove through the University of Colorado and walked campus. I wasn't too sore but my heart rate was still acting up so everything was a bit slower for me. The campus was beautiful. Since school is out for the summer, it was pretty tame. But imagine going to school and seeing mountains in the background?! I was in awe.
We ate dinner downtown at Spruce Farm + Fish. I was originally very excited about this restaurant because the entire menu was farm to table. They had oysters and lots of seafood. When we arrived, we were less than impressed with its very dated decor and feel. The restaurant still had carpet! We didn't let the vibe get us down and enjoyed the food. I ordered oysters and salmon; Mike ordered a bison meatloaf which he loved.
We ventured downtown a bit further and got another glass of wine at a local winery. We were so exhasuted we ended up not finishing the wine; but it was great to relax outside and watch more runners (ironic) race around the town square.
Top: my medal, my lunch at Avery Brewing, my sour beer at Avery Brewing
Middle: Sightseeing the Rocky Mountains, my calorie burn
Bottom: enjoying a glass of wine watching a road race, tuna tartare appetizer from Spruce, salmon seasonal salad from Spruce
Sunday
Sunday we slept in, thank God! I needed one day of not setting an alarm. We headed down to the hotels' gym to stretch, move and do some band work. Moving really helped loosen up my muscles. Tight was an understatement!
We headed to Skratch Labs Cafe for breakfast. I had no idea that Skratch Labs had a kitchen! I'll be honest, I don't use their products often. My go-to hydration is LMNT or Nuun, simply because I have been using these brands for a long time. But when I realized that Skratch had a kitchen devoted to fueling runners and bikers for their adventures, of course we had to stop! The menu was small in terms of variety; but they had options within those items. For instance, I made a rice bowl for breakfast. I chose kale, egg, pork, hummus, sweet potato and avocado. They also specialized in rice cakes, which were basically a homemade version of a cake made with rice. They had different flavors of these ranging from savory to sweet. The drink menu was a bit extensive with fun coffee options as well as free Skratch Labs hydration! The cafe had a store full of Skratch products too.
We headed to Chatauqua Park for our hike. We had many recommendations from friends and locals to check out some of the gnarly hikes here. We were up for a challenge. I was careful to state we were not up for a "scramble" or a "climb", but a trail that allows us to be very much on two feet. Staying on two feet sounded good to us. The park ranger recommended we do Royal Arch. This hike seemed short to us, but once we got started we understood why he deemed it as challenging. We gained 1,700 feet of elevation during this hike! Almost the entire thing went up. So once at the top, we stood underneath the arch, drank some water, rested, and ventured back down. This entire experience took almost 4 hours. The hike was tough in itself; but add elevation into the mix, and we were going pretty slow. But it was another beautiful experience I am so glad we did.
Post hike, we headed back to the room ro rest before dinner. We ate at River and Woods Restaurant; a quaint house with a backyard decked out with tables, strung lights, and covered tents. This was our favorite restaurant of the trip. We ordered a charcuterie board to start, which has three cheeses and three meats. I ordered the Caesar salad with chicken as my main. Could you tell I missed my salads the past few weeks while carb loading?! Mike got gnocchi verde; you got it... gnocchi, verde sauce, and a beef brisket. It was the most interesting and delicous combo. We didn't have any alcohol here, but the cocktails around us looked devine.
River and Woods Restaurant: Caesar salad with chicken, large charcutterie board, dining area
Monday
Mike and I both worked remotely on Monday. I called it quits by noon, just enough time to check out a gym and pick up lunch. I got a lift in at One Boulder Fitness. It was a smaller gym but had everything I needed including barbells, leg presses, dumbbells, a t-bar, and a lat pull down. They had a seperate room for cardio, too. After my full body lift, I walked through Pearl Street to grab lunch at Avanti. Pearl Street is a downtown shopping area with restaurants, stores and activity. I found myself here a lot throughout this trip. If you're wandering through, be sure to check out stores like Prana, Free People Movement, and Cotopaxi. These are all stores that you may know of, but I find it a treat stumbling upon an actual storefront. I ordered food at the Mediterranian spot inside Avanti Food Hall. I was pretty hungry at this point so I ordered the fattoush salad with double chicken shawarma with a side of hummus + veggies. I was so full after eating, they absolutely took care of us!
That concludes our trip to Boulder and my race recap of Boulder Rez Half Marathon. It was a challenge in itself, but the trip, training, veiws and opportunity to travel somewhere new with my husband always makes these moments worth while!
BOULDER MUST-SEE'S
FOOD
Skratch Labs Cafe - cafe focused on sports nutrition and health
Avery Brewing - outdoor/indoor running
Spruce Farm and Fish - farm to table restaurant with an emphasis on seafood
River and Woods- farm to table restaurant with a back patio, healthy cuisine
Avanti Food Hall- food hall in the heart of Pearl Street, offering different cuisines and a roof top bar
WORKOUTS / GYMS
One Boulder Gym - full gym with barbells, dumbbells, machines, cables and cardio
HIKES
Royal Arch Trail (Boulder) - hard hike with steep elevation (1,700ft gain)
WELLNESS/SELF CARE
Dry Bar Boulder - braids for race day
SIGHTS
Rocky Mountain National Park - an hour from Boulder, Estes Park
Pearl Street- cute shopping and dining in downtown Boulder
Colorado State University
SHOPS
Pearl Street - shopping and dining
HALF MARATHON CHECKLIST
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