Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Getting excited…..for the Run Through Time

Cory and I are trying to finalize our plans for this Saturday’s Half Marathon. We will be running the Run Through Time trail half marathon in Salida, Colorado. In my great planning for this race I didn’t realize it was 150 miles away from Denver, whoops! Looks like we will be taking off on Friday and staying the night in Salida. I am excited though because I have never been there before and it sounds like it’s beautiful.

I am a bit nervous about how difficult the course will be, it’s mostly technical trail, very hilly and sometimes covered in snow. This is my first official trail race as well, I am trying to get used to racing on trails so that I can complete a ultra later this year, but I am just SO SLOW on trails that I am not sure I will make the time cut offs. I am hoping this race will teach me a lot and hopefully build some confidence.

Acording to the race director the trail conditions are:
2 mile course is 100% dry. The half marathon course was 95% dry as of 3/4 a.m. There are some hard packed snowy spots on an uphill in the half marathon from mile 8-8.5. This may be muddy race day. The marathon is ~80% dry as of 3/3. Marathoners will very likely encounter sections of mud and a little hard packed snow and some ice between miles 5-7. Miles 13.5-19 are 60% snow, with some ice spots in the marathon. This snow was ~2” deep untracked on packed tire tracks on 3/3. Marathoners follow the half marathon route to the finish for the last 6.3 miles, so marathoners will encounter a snowy uphill with mud at mile 21-21.5.
We expect a warm week of weather and some of the snow and ice will melt this week.
That doesn’t sound too bad for the half but there is some snow in the forecast. But I figure the more difficult the better, the second half of the ironman marathon won’t be easy!

Have you ever done a long distance trail race? Any advice for a beginner?

Waterton Canyon Trail 14ish miler

Cory and I were excited to try out the Waterton Canyon Trail. We had heard really good things about it but it’s been closed so Denver Water could dredge Strontia Springs Reservoir.

The trail just recently reopened and I was excited to hear that the trail was clear of ice and snow. The trail is flat and easy for about 6 and a half miles up to the reservoir after that it connects up with Colorado Trail so you can make your run as short or as long as you like.

It was sunny and in the thirties when we started but the wind was bitingly cold. It was nice to get into the canyon and have some protection.

It was beautiful and not as packed as I thought it would be, we only saw a few other runners and mountain bikers.

We got to the dam where we were told in the summer big horn sheep gather, and kept heading up the canyon.

Where we ran into this:

And this

And much more of the same. We set out intending to run 16 miles but were walking more than we were running through the snow so decided to cut it a bit short and head back. We made it 14.5 miles and called it a day. I am sore but happy to have gotten some miles in.

Tomorrow has a swim bike brick on the schedule, I hope it won’t be too windy!

How was your Saturday?


Week 17 Ironman Coeur d’Alene Training

Last week was a recovery week and it felt great to only have one workout a day and have a little extra time. Because it was a recovery week we didn’t have brick workouts this weekend, instead we started out with a 63 mile ride on Saturday. 
One of my favorite new things this our Belgian waffle maker. We use Bob’s Red Mill whole grain organic waffle mix with egg whites.
They are great fuel before big weekend training!
After fueling up Cory and I met some friends to take on the Harvest Moon bike course plus some. There were seven of us, five that are doing CDA and two that are taking on Canada. It was nice to share stories about training and form mini pelotons against the crazy wind. 63 miles is the farthest I have gone this season and was extra difficult given the wind, but it was still a good ride. 
On Sunday we got up early to head down to the Highline Canal Trail to run 12 miles. The trail was icier than we expected but was still a nice run.
The pictures never do the ice justice as we are focusing on not falling instead of taking pictures.
I have to admit that I am ready for spring weather but the fact that we have less than 4 months until Ironman and less than 2 before our first half!
I took a Peanut Butter GU with me to try, everyone says it’s good and they are right, I loved it!
Getting 12 miles in before 9:30 am felt great and gave us a great excuse to get Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwiches. We were in a time crunch because we wanted to hit up a triathlon expo in the afternoon. It was fun to hear some workshops on swim form (most helpful), transition set up (only helpful if you are very new to the sport), run form and recovery tips (very helpful, especially since they let us use recovery boots for 10 minutes). The day was supposed to end with a swim but I forgot a suit, whoops! just extra rest for me. 
Next week starts a new training block and back at it full speed.
Monday Rest day
Tuesday am: 6 mile hill repeats
pm: 3000 meter swim
Wednesday am: 75 min spin class
pm: Yoga
Thursday am: 2900m swim
pm: 60 min tempo run
Friday am: 75 min spin class
pm: strength training
Saturday 16 mile trail run
Sunday Swim 2250 yd/Bike 2 hr brick (not sure how this is going to work with wet hair and cold weather, would hate to have to do this on a spin bike!)
pm: strength training
As always I will do my best to fit it all in and enjoy the journey!
What does your week look like?


Holy Crap Colorado!

You would think I would be used to it but now, I have lived in Colorado for almost three years now. But I just can’t get used to the crazy weather here. It was over 60 degrees yesterday and this morning we woke to poring snow with 2-5 inches accumulation.

I am hoping that we are getting all of this snow out of the way now so March will be nice a warm, wishful thinking I know.

It is supposed to warm up again for this weekend, so i hope this will all melt by then.

I have a 60 mile ride on the schedule for Saturday and would really like to not spend 4 hours on my trainer.

I am a wussy about riding in the cold, won’t go out in anything lower than 40 degrees. I know I could get better gear and be more comfortable but I am just too cheap. I also won’t run in anything less than 10 degrees, I know some people will head out in almost anything but it just hurts too much and I wold rather head inside to the treadmill or trainer.

What are your boundaries, or are you hard core and will go outside in just about anything?


CTERman Virtual Triathlon

Jason from Cook Train Eat Race is hosting a virtual triathlon to support Shape up America.
From his website: I partnered with Shape Up America last year to help raise funds for the non-profit which is committed to raising awareness of obesity as a health issue and to providing responsible information on healthy weight management. As a person who believes that the health of America is jeopardized it is a welcome sight to see an organization take on such a personal subject and try to help.
While the challenge started on February 13 you can still sign up late and participate. I am excited to participate for the great prizes but mostly because I think it’s a great cause.
I will complete the 140.6 triathlon tomorrow, and I kinda bummed it’s going to be over so quickly.
Anyone else participating in CTERman virtual triathlon? Any other fun challenges out there?


Snowman Stampede 10 mile Race Recap

On Saturday Cory and I ran the Snowman Stampede 10 mile race. This is the third and final race of the winter distance series, you can read about the first two here: Frostey’s Frozen 5 miler and Rudolph’s Revenge 5k 2010 I did race Rudolph’s in 2011 but failed to write a recap.
These races are well run but getting a bit boring for me. I train a lot along the Platte River Trail and have raced this course six times now. Next year may need a different off season focus. But this years 10 miler went ok, I made a few mistakes in the race that I hope to learn from for more important future races. I am happy that all these little races are over and that I have nothing shorter than a half marathon (or sprint tri) on the schedule until the off season!
I was still a little sick but wanted to beat my only other 10 mile time of 1:35:56 for a PR, I really wanted to run it with 9:15 mm or less, I would have loved to come in under 1:30 but wasn’t sure that could happen since I am still a little sick and didn’t taper at all for this race. I came in at 1:32:57, according to my garmin the course was a little long, 10.23 miles, leaving me at 9:05 mm. Not quite my A goal but still a PR.
My big mistake was not taking a gel, I had some with me but left them at the start in my jacket. I didn’t have any pockets so decided not to take one because, 10 miles isn’t that far, right? Lesson learned, 10 miles isn’t that far, but I still bonked in that last 3 miles. I had to argue with myself not to stop and walk, I was tired and empty. I think a gel would have solved this issue at mile 7. So next time, I will take gels, more than I think I need, just in case.
Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the event. Cory and I were both racing solo and neither wanted to carry the camera. To be honest I didn’t even think about bringing it with us, these races are tune ups and just really don’t seem like that big of a deal, but I do wish we had some photos. Cory got a PR as well with 1:12:27 almost 2 minutes off last years race. It must be all those long slow runs he does with me that is making him so fast 😉
This week is a focus on recovery so happily no crazy two-a-day work outs. I will be back later to report the weeks workouts but something that I have finally figured out is that when coach gives us “recovery weeks” he only means the work week is recovery, the weekend is still smashfest fun…..
What is your favorite distance to race?
Mine has to be the half marathon, feels like a big event without totally wiping you out. I also really like the half ironman.
Hope you are enjoying your Presidents Day!


Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

It’s been a while since I have updated, whoops, many things are to blame. Work, family and sickness got in the way but I am ready to get back to regularly scheduled programing.

I would love to say that while my blog has been quite that I have been hitting all of my workouts. Sadly that is not the case, I caught a terrible head cold that without rest turned into an even worse chest cold. I pushed through with training while most of my symptoms were in my head but when it moved to my lungs I couldn’t do anything without horrible coughing fits. I ended up having to take a full four days off training. While I know that it’s not the end of the world, I don’t feel great about it and those four days were torture. I have been back at training since last Wednesday, with lots of biking, some running and a little swimming. I am still a little under the weather but am back at it full steam. My hope is to get all my workouts in as planned this week and race well on Saturday at my 10 miler.

My general plan to get over colds is always the same and includes:

  • Get at least 8 hours of sleep
  • Drink 96+ oz of water a day
  • Take vitamins and drink Emergen-C
  • Drink green tea
  • Eat whole healthy foods

What are you go to strategies to get over colds? I would love to hear your list!

Week 15 of IM CDA looks like this:

Monday Rest day
Tuesday am: 8 mile Interval Run
pm: 3050 yd swim (how romantic….)
Wednesday am: 75 min spin class
pm: 60 min pilates
Thursday am: 7 mile steady state run
pm: 2900 yd swim
Friday am: 90 min spin
pm: strength training or yoga
Saturday 10 mile race with 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down
pm: 2.4 mile swim
Sunday double brick: Bike 25 miles with a short transition to running 2 miles. Repeat twice, maintaining high level of effort.
pm: strength training

Weekly Totals:

Swim: 6.2 miles 3.5 hours
Bike: 100 miles 6 hours
Run: 31 miles 5 hours
Strength or yoga 3 hours

137.2 miles and 17.5 hours

Did you notice the romantic valentines day spent on the treadmill and in the pool? What are your plans?

City Ten Miler

This morning Cory and I were about to head out the door to drive to trail to get our 10 mile run in wen I had the weirdest thought. I wanted to run in the city. I always want to run on trails, get out of town, and run somewhere new. I think it’s a bit funny that I wanted to live right in Denver but I am always trying to get out of town when running or riding. But this morning we laced up our shoes and headed out into our own neighborhood for once. It was fun to take a little tour of downtown Denver on foot.

We ran past the art museum

we ran along the Cherry Creek Path before heading back home

Conference Center

and back past the art museum. We ran an 8 mile loop before stopping quickly at home to pick up Winston for the last 2 miles.

It’s nice to take the little monster out to get his exercise too.
Overall it was a good run, my legs felt good and felt mostly light and easy. The best part was it was confidence building. We have been riding many 50+ mile rides and running miles in the double digits without difficulty a lot recently. I feel like I could complete a half ironman at this point in my training. I know that I couldn’t do it fast but I think I could do it. Now I just need to work on merging speed and endurance before my race in April
Do you have confidence building workouts?
Big training plans for tomorrow?
I will be riding 53 miles of big hills then a 30 minute transition run, hopefully it goes well!


Week 12 Ironman Coeur d’Alene Training

Yesterday I woke to howling winds, mid thirty degree weather and a three hour ride on my training schedule. Normally this would have been an obvious choice to jump on my trainer and enjoy a few movies while pedaling away. The problem was that I am (already) sick of working out inside and knew I wouldn’t be able to really push myself and get a good workout in. I talked my husband into heading to REI to buy toe covers
These things really did help keep my feet fairly warm. We left for our ride from REI and rode down to Chatfield Reservoir.
The first half of the ride was really fun and it was only breezy.
The second half was honestly miserable, it was very gusty. It was difficult to keep my bike up right, I was scared about being pushed off the path a couple times. But I was happy to get it done!
This weeks focus is recovery so workouts are much fewer than normal and this week, I’ll take it!
Monday Rest day
Tuesday am: 60 min Interval Run pm: 60 min strength training
Wednesday am: 120 min spin class and 60 min pilates
Thursday 2700m swim
Friday 60 min easy yoga or pilates
Saturday 35-45 mile hill bike workout, I really hope the weather holds so we can be outside and 30 min transition run
Sunday 10 mile trail run, hopefully on a trail
Do you take easy or recovery weeks while training?
I never have in the past but now I am trying to incorporate them into my training. It’s very important to me to avoid injuries if at all possible in 2012!


Frosty’s Frozen Five Miler Race Report and Chia Winners

This morning Cory and I headed down to Littleton CO for a five mile race.
Last year Cory and I signed up for the Winter Distance Series as well. Todays race was the second of the three races you can read about previous races here Rudolf’s Revenge 5k 2010, Frostey’s Frozen Five Mile 2011, Snowman Stampede 2011. We ran Rudolf’s Revenge 5k in December but I don’t think I wrote a race report on it (fail!)
I HATE racing shorter distances so I always question why I sign up for them but I had a really good time today. It was not too cold in the low 40s and it was a small race with about 600 people participating in the 5 mile portion.
I was a little sad because in December my parents were with us and mom ran the 5k, she is still working her way up to 5 miles and signed up for the 5 mile portion of the Boulder Spring Half but wasn’t ready yet today.
So it was just Cory and I, fun but definitely not as fun as when more family is there. Given that we were both racing we didn’t bring a camera along.
These pictures are from last year when Cory ran and I cheered because I had the flu. The course was the same just a little less snow this year.
Both cory and I got PR’s today Cory ran it in 34:03 and I finished in 43:07. My splits were pretty even, even the two miles that I couldn’t get my lap button to work!
My average pace was actually faster than last months 5k and I was rocking a cold this week. I hope this means that all the speed work is finally doing something for me.
Earlier today I used Random.org to choose the Chia winners:
First up was #17 Ashley!
and #11 Kate
Congrats ladies, please email me your address to bethcn at gmail dot com and I will send you your Chia Seeds!


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