Partner Perspective: End of Summer Race Recaps

 Fall has officially begun and I find myself wondering where the summer has gone!  The past few weeks have certainly flown by and our busy schedules have no doubt contributed to this sentiment.  We're just one week away from the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7th!  Here's a peak at some of our summer races leading up to it:

Classic 10K

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Colorado Springs, CO

We moved to Colorado Springs just 2 weeks prior to this race. We immediately joined a Tuesday night running club, Jack Quinn’s Running Club, at the recommendation of a couple colleagues. What better way to get to know my new home than to hit the ground running...literally! The altitude definitely took some getting used to and there are certainly more hills here in Colorado Springs than Hampton VA so this race was a great challenge. As I approached the finish line I was happy to see Nick cheering and to have him join me for an extra push to the finish line.

Jess’ Results

Age group finish: 17

Overall finish: 274

Finish time: 51:04

Approximate # of Participants: 650

Nick

The good part about this race was that it was flat.  Sadly, that didn't change the feel of dry, heavy breaths that lacked the needed quality to sustain a quick run.  Luckily, this race did introduce us to the Greenway trail which is the only area locally where we can run over 10 miles without climbing 2,000 feet.  
Breathing was difficult but I enjoyed the opening act to our Colorado Springs running experience.  The race was well run and there was a great turnout of locals.  

Top Ten 10 Miler

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Colorado Springs, CO

This was a point to point ten mile race. It started on the track at Grace Athletic Stadium, lead down the Templeton Gap Trail to the Pikes Peak Greenway, wound up and down the Pikes Peak Greenway and finished at the Colorado College Stadium. Ten miles of gorgeous Colorado Springs trails! To top it off, I felt great during this race and ran negative splits :o) In fact, I felt so good afterward that I biked and swam that afternoon too (I'll be doing a triathlon later this month). The running community in Colorado Springs is wonderful and very competitive. This combined with some spectacular scenery of the trails and adjacent mountains just added to my enjoyment of this race. I didn't go into the race with particular expectations but based on my finish time and how good I felt during the race I'm hopeful I can run close to this pace for the Chicago Marathon in 2 months and maybe just maybe qualify for Boston! This race was a great confidence boost.

Jess’ Results
Age group finish: 5 
Overall finish: 75 
Finish time: 1:22:12 
Approximate # of Participants: 233 

Jess enjoyed a great race and I was unlucky to miss her on my turn back up the trail.  She was too quick for me today!  My goal was to run 6:15 pace for this race in order to set a pace standard for what I wish to run at Chicago in October.  I went out at 6:30 for the first 5 but was unable to claim the required negative split in the end.  Finishing in 1:03:30 I was content with the effort and confidence grew running at altitude.  Both Jess' and I met some local runners during and after the race as well, it was nice to find some running buddies!

American Discovery Trail Marathon/Half Marathon
Monday, Sept. 3, 2012
Colorado Springs, CO

I treated this race as a long run in my preparation for the Chicago Marathon and thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Labor Day by putting in some labor of the running sort. The race started and finished at America the Beautiful Park and went along an out and back course on the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail with gorgeous views of the front range Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak.  This race was a little more challenging than I had expected...the look on my face approaching the finish shows it.  As I waited for Nick to finish the full marathon, I had fun cheering on other race participants and sharing Marathon Bars with other finishers.

Jess's Results
Age group finish: 5
Overall finish: 120
Finish time: 1:56:19
Approximate # of Participants: 450

I was jealous of Jess this day.  I raced in the full marathon and was utilizing it as a long run prior to the Chicago Marathon.  I had a simple goal:  to run comfortably hard.  The pain during this marathon came from the 13 to 18 mile mark but I was able to refuel and have a quicker last 8 miles fading for a nice period of time.  Unfortunately, I became the sickest I've ever been when running a marathon during this race and it culminated with a nice projectile show after the race.  I was content running a relatively comfortable 3:05 which I hope catapults my training for Chicago.