ASCENT
Saturday started a little bit off even before the race. I got there around 6:10 and had a much harder
time finding parking than in previous years.
It wasn’t a real problem, just messed up my rhythm.
The temperature was pretty mild right before the start, so I
was able to check all my stuff in the summit bag and still feel comfortable
waiting around the last 10 minutes. The
forecast was for a sizzling 85 degree high in Manitou and upper 40’s on the
Peak. That wouldn’t present too much of
a problem for the Ascent, as you’re climbing away from the heat, but cooler
temps and cloud cover would have been nice.
One of my favorite parts of the Pikes Peak races is
listening to America the Beautiful as you’re staring up at first rays of sunshine
hitting the finish line, 8,000’ above.
It’s definitely a unique experience.
I tried to place myself in a reasonable spot, not too close,
yet not too far from the front.
Unfortunately on the Pikes Peak races, more than on any others, people
either have no clue how to pace early on, or they just don’t give a damn about
the other runners. Right from the gun some
people were barely moving while others were trying to zip by all around. I know this sounds arrogant, but it was
pretty clear that most of these runners should not have been sprinting at this
stage. There’s nothing more distracting
and annoying than running along someone who’s gasping for air, 1 mile in and
300’ up in a race with 12 more miles and 7,500’ more feet of climbing. Seriously, what are these people thinking?
Pace per mile is meaningless for this race, so I take my
Garmin off of auto lap, and manually click the check points based on Matt’scalculated pace chart, which I had clipped to my shorts. Unfortunately, I managed to hit the Stop
button instead of the Lap button at Ruxton.
I lost about 5 minutes on my watch by the time I noticed, which wasn’t a
big deal, but just another little thing to throw me off.
I’ve always had to walk with the pack up parts of the W’s,
but this year seemed so much worse. I
don’t know if I was further back, or if people just went out faster than in
previous years. Additionally, there were
a handful of runners that were just plain jerks. Like the drivers that make stupid moves to
get around you when you’re stuck in a long line of traffic and everyone is
going at the same pace anyway, they insisted on repeatedly elbowing their way
in front of people. I honestly felt like
pushing a few of these guys (yes, they were all guys) right off the steep edge
of the trail. It was hard to keep my
cool, even though I had no doubt I would pass them permanently soon
enough. I had thoughts of waiting for
them at the top – “hey dumbass, you were in such a big hurry earlier, what took
you so long?”
I tried to be pretty respectful as I passed, when an
opportunity arose. After the W’s, we
spread out a bit more, but it wasn’t until close to No Name Creek that things
cleared up enough to run my race, at my own pace. Before that, I had to shuffle behind others,
than make quick sprints around when I could – not an ideal start, and based on
the split timing at No Name, it’s clear I was even further behind in the pack
than I would normally like.
At least after the W’s, no one passed me, all the way to the
top. I picked runners off one by one,
especially on the runnable sections. I
even managed to pass Dave, a runner I know from Lakewood, before the 7.5 sign,
much earlier than in previous years. I
was hitting all the splits from the top of the W’s through Barr Camp at 5 minutes
behind. A-Frame was 7 minutes back, and
then the time just kept piling on. Even
with the time I’ve spent on Mt. Bierstadt and Guanella Pass, I was feeling the
altitude above tree line and got pretty light headed at times.
I pushed really hard on the top section and probably had a
top 30 time from the A-frame up, but it wasn’t enough. I stopped looking at my watch after the 1 to
go sign. The 3:00 goal was long gone,
but I still thought I could at least beat last year’s time. Just in case, I didn’t want to depress myself
with reality. I kept passing people,
even two guys in the last 100 feet because I was pushing so hard, but when I
looked up, the clock read 3:12:06. Two
minutes slower than last year, 12 minutes slower than my goal. I was pretty bummed. I hung out at the top for a while before
finally boarding the van and then the bus back to Manitou.
I’m still disappointed with the time, but somehow, I managed
to place 10 spots higher up than last year (from 83rd to 73rd
(out of 1,641)) – bit of a consolation.
As Saturday wore on and I busied myself with eating,
hydrating, and household chores, I gradually refocused my attention away from
the mediocre Ascent and onto the next day’s Marathon. I decided that despite my better judgment, I
would push hard from the start to be in a better spot for the W’s and see if I could
maintain it going up. The last two
years, I’ve been 10 minutes slower on the Marathon ascent, but who knows –
maybe I can pull a rabbit out the hat tomorrow.
Sunday morning started better than the previous day. I got a good parking space and had plenty of
time to mill about the start line. I was
even able to pose for a picture with Arlene Piper – the first female EVER to
complete a marathon – the 1959 Pikes Peak Marathon.
I placed myself closer to the front than for the Ascent and
once the gun went off, I pushed harder than I have on any of the previous PikesPeak races. It worked! I didn’t feel too bad by the time we hit the
base of the W’s and unlike the previous day, I was able to run with everyone
around me at an appropriate pace, with minimal walking. This kept me going at a good pace all the way,
but made it much harder to pass people as they were closer to my own abilities. Despite the tougher competition, I managed to
keep passing runners all the way up.
I brought 5 gels and a bunch of S-caps and did a great job
of fueling and hydrating all along. I
augmented the gels with M&M’s, Jelly Belly’s, and craisins at the aid
stations. Using the larger (20 oz) bottle
this year also paid off, as I didn’t have to fill it as often. I really forced myself to drink as I knew the
return would be oppressively hot and I didn’t want a stupid mistake like
dehydration to ruin the day.
I really pushed hard above A-frame and ran even more than
the previous day. Fortunately, I was
also feeling better, with no real altitude symptoms other than shortness of
breath. I passed more people above tree
line but as I got closer to the top another runner was slowly gaining on
me. I think he provided some extra
motivation because I was going to do anything to not let him pass me. It worked.
He got to within less than a minute, but never overtook me.
Shortly after I turned around, I was passed by a guy who
looked like he was sprinting for the finish.
I don’t like being passed, but there was no way I was going to even stay
close to this guy so I pulled over and watched him fly by.
The top half of the descent is by far my favorite part of
this race - legs and lungs feel a great sense of relief; you’re finally running
again instead of power hiking; all the uphill runners cheer you on as you pass;
and you get to bound over the rocks like a mountain goat. Every single runner yielded and encouraged me
along. I was having a blast!
Now if ever there was a race tailor made for a face plant,
the PPM descent would be it – lots of rocks, loose gravel, tired legs,
altitude, oncoming traffic, etc. This
being my 3rd descent, I have somehow managed not to hit the dirt a
single time, though I’ve certainly taken my share of hits on other races. Maybe it’s because I’m so incredibly
conscious of the danger. Quite honestly,
leading up to the race, I can’t even imagine how I’m going to be able to run
back down. I keep having visions of
doing a face plant on a big boulder.
While the first half of the descent is my favorite, the
second half is just plain work and perseverance. By the time you get back to Barr Camp, the
scenery is gone, there are no more cheering runners, the temperature rises, and
all that boulder bounding has taken a serious toll on the legs. I kept checking my time as I passed the mile
markers – 8, 7, 6, etc. It was going to
be much closer than I was hoping for. I
would have to average 8 minute miles, and that’s exactly what I was doing. I could make up an extra minute or so once I
hit the pavement, but that wasn’t much of a safety cushion. I just couldn’t push much harder without the
fear of blowing up. You would think that
13 miles with almost 8,000’ of loss would be pretty fast, but as hard as I was
pushing, it took 1:49:26 for the descent.
That’s more than 8 minutes/mile – a pretty pedestrian pace on most courses.
Mercifully, clouds moved in during the bottom part of the
descent and I even heard some thunder, though I never got to feel any
refreshing moisture. I managed to pass 5
runners on the way down and was feeling pretty good about not being passed since
right after the top. Unfortunately, just
after coming out onto the pavement by the Cog, female no. 5 went flying
by. I tried to keep up, but was just too
fatigued. She beat me by 25 seconds, and
I didn’t care. The cheering crowds were
awesome along the last ½ mile of the course and I crossed the line in
4:56:34. I broke my 5 hour goal!
After milling about the finish line, getting my shirt and rehydrating, I slowly made my way back towards Memorial Hall, ready for some food. On the way, I saw the massage tables set up in front of the library and treated myself to an awesome 30 minutes of pain and pleasure. Once I finally made it into Memorial Hall, I glanced at the printed results and got a most pleasant shock – in addition to the great 36th place finish (out of 707), they had me listed for a 1st place age group award! As it turned out, I was actually 8th out of 103 in my age group, but the 7 in front of me got top 10 overall, or top 5 masters, so I rose to the top of the age group awards – sweet.
After eating and more hydrating, I realized it would be
another 1 ½ hours till the awards ceremony, so I went home, showered, changed,
and hydrated some more before coming back.
Even though it ate up a good part of the afternoon, I’m glad I came
back, not only to get my plaque, but to celebrate all of the incredible running
achievements of the day. The winner was
from Japan, and I sat next to a gal from New Zealand, who was the 10th
overall female.
The improved ascent time from the Marathon also nudged me up
in the Triple Crown of Running series – 5th place in the Masters
division!
An awesome day, following a somewhat disappointing day made
for a great weekend. I probably won’t be
doing either the Ascent or Marathon for quite a while, but I feel like I can
now walk away from the Peak with my head held high.
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