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<div>Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race 25K & 50K</div>
<div>Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs</div>
<div>April 23, 2011</div>
<div> </div>
<div>2:27:34 - 2 AG, 16 OA - distance was about 16.6 miles, 8:55 pace.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This was a new race this year. I hadn't really planned on doing it, but since the course is only a few miles from my house and I'd never done a 25K, I figured "why not"? Although I'd never run on the specific course, I had run on many of the trails in the park and knew what to expect. Well maintained dirt trails, constantly twisting and turning, lots of hills and climbing, a few areas with rocks and roots. Pretty much about what would be expected for a park located on the side of a mountain.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Here's the course layout and elevation chart.</div>
<div><a href="http://gallery.me.com/triandrea#100334/CMTRtrailexport&bgcolor=black" target="_blank"><img alt="cmtrtrailexportweb.jpg" src="http://www.epicenduranceevents.com/images/stories/cmtrtrailexportweb.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I never did any race specific training. In fact I hadn't done any runs longer than about 10 miles or so since last December. However, I have been consistently running around 40 miles per week and figured that should be enough to get me through in decent shape.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Race day morning the weather was in that area where it was hard to determine what to wear. Cloudy, low to mid 30s, and windy. Not expected to get much warmer. I made a choice at home, but brought several options in case I needed to change. I ended up with shorts and changing from a lightweight tech shirt to a heavier shirt. I wore some lightweight gloves as well. I wore my Adidas XCS cross country racing shoes. Most other people had on trail shoes or regular running shoes, but I figured this course wasn't so technical as to need a beefier shoe.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The 50K started at 8 AM and the 25K started at 8:30. I watched the 50K start, then went back to my car to keep warm for a few minutes. A visit to the potty and a short warmup run and it was time for the race to start. I had no real goals other than to try to finish under 2:30. I seeded myself a bit back from the front, but had no problem with crowding as the race got underway. A short stretch through the parking lot and up the entrance road, then onto the trails. I went back and forth with a few people in the early miles, before passing them for good. Somewhere between miles 3 & 4 I passed the first of many people in the 50K. I think a few of these people didn't make the cutoff as they were already walking.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Here I am just about to pass a 50K person. He was out there over 8 hours.</div>
<div><img alt="" class="spotlight" src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/216056_150145805050935_130522653679917_293587_6322751_n.jpg" style="width:478px;height:720px;"></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I caught up to a little group running a decent pace and stayed with them for a few miles. At the second aid station I slowed to have a gel and get some water, and they got ahead. That gave me some incentive to run a bit harder to catch them. Once I caught them the second time I passed all of them. On the big climb in the second half of the race I passed people continuously. I had a second gel just before the course got steep. Around the top of the big climb we started to have some light snow. Nothing to be concerned about, but kind of amusing for a race in late April. On the way down I picked up the pace and continued to pass people, eventually overtaking the second place woman about a mile before the finish. I was giving it all I had at the end and ran the last mile at about a 6:50 pace.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As I crossed the finish I looked down to turn off my Garmin. I saw the time was 2:27:xx, but then I also saw the distance was well over 16 miles instead of the 15.5 the race was supposed to have been. I figured it was just another Garmin hiccup, but as I talked with others after the race everyone else measured the course over a mile too long. Oh well, no biggie. We got more than out money's worth!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Drank some sports drink and some water, and waited to see the results. I ate some of the nice post-race food that was being grilled, then walked around a bit to try to stretch out. I wasn't expecting to win anything as they had announced there were only awards for the top 3 overall, top 3 in Masters (ages 35-59), and top 3 in Grand Masters (60+). That was strange ages for the latter two groups and someone must have pointed it out, because it was changed on the results page to the more traditional Masters (40-49), and Grand Masters (50+). Since it wasn't exactly clear what they were doing I decided to stick around just in case. One of my friends, Sean, was 3rd overall - and another, Don, won the Masters. So even if it turned out I didn't win anything I would just be there to cheer for them. For some reason they decided not to hand out awards until the top 3 overall men and women in the 50K finished. So we all waited almost 3 hours trying to stay warm and chatting about other upcoming races. Finally the awards were presented and I ended up with 2nd in the Grand Masters. Interestingly, the top 2 guys in the 25K tied for first, but one was officially made the winner by ,01 seconds.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>All in all, it was a nice event for a first time. The course was well marked, the aid stations well stocked, good pre-race and post-race food. Get the distance correct and hand out the awards quicker and it will be great.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs</div>
<div>April 23, 2011</div>
<div> </div>
<div>2:27:34 - 2 AG, 16 OA - distance was about 16.6 miles, 8:55 pace.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This was a new race this year. I hadn't really planned on doing it, but since the course is only a few miles from my house and I'd never done a 25K, I figured "why not"? Although I'd never run on the specific course, I had run on many of the trails in the park and knew what to expect. Well maintained dirt trails, constantly twisting and turning, lots of hills and climbing, a few areas with rocks and roots. Pretty much about what would be expected for a park located on the side of a mountain.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Here's the course layout and elevation chart.</div>
<div><a href="http://gallery.me.com/triandrea#100334/CMTRtrailexport&bgcolor=black" target="_blank"><img alt="cmtrtrailexportweb.jpg" src="http://www.epicenduranceevents.com/images/stories/cmtrtrailexportweb.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I never did any race specific training. In fact I hadn't done any runs longer than about 10 miles or so since last December. However, I have been consistently running around 40 miles per week and figured that should be enough to get me through in decent shape.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Race day morning the weather was in that area where it was hard to determine what to wear. Cloudy, low to mid 30s, and windy. Not expected to get much warmer. I made a choice at home, but brought several options in case I needed to change. I ended up with shorts and changing from a lightweight tech shirt to a heavier shirt. I wore some lightweight gloves as well. I wore my Adidas XCS cross country racing shoes. Most other people had on trail shoes or regular running shoes, but I figured this course wasn't so technical as to need a beefier shoe.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The 50K started at 8 AM and the 25K started at 8:30. I watched the 50K start, then went back to my car to keep warm for a few minutes. A visit to the potty and a short warmup run and it was time for the race to start. I had no real goals other than to try to finish under 2:30. I seeded myself a bit back from the front, but had no problem with crowding as the race got underway. A short stretch through the parking lot and up the entrance road, then onto the trails. I went back and forth with a few people in the early miles, before passing them for good. Somewhere between miles 3 & 4 I passed the first of many people in the 50K. I think a few of these people didn't make the cutoff as they were already walking.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Here I am just about to pass a 50K person. He was out there over 8 hours.</div>
<div><img alt="" class="spotlight" src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/216056_150145805050935_130522653679917_293587_6322751_n.jpg" style="width:478px;height:720px;"></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I caught up to a little group running a decent pace and stayed with them for a few miles. At the second aid station I slowed to have a gel and get some water, and they got ahead. That gave me some incentive to run a bit harder to catch them. Once I caught them the second time I passed all of them. On the big climb in the second half of the race I passed people continuously. I had a second gel just before the course got steep. Around the top of the big climb we started to have some light snow. Nothing to be concerned about, but kind of amusing for a race in late April. On the way down I picked up the pace and continued to pass people, eventually overtaking the second place woman about a mile before the finish. I was giving it all I had at the end and ran the last mile at about a 6:50 pace.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As I crossed the finish I looked down to turn off my Garmin. I saw the time was 2:27:xx, but then I also saw the distance was well over 16 miles instead of the 15.5 the race was supposed to have been. I figured it was just another Garmin hiccup, but as I talked with others after the race everyone else measured the course over a mile too long. Oh well, no biggie. We got more than out money's worth!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Drank some sports drink and some water, and waited to see the results. I ate some of the nice post-race food that was being grilled, then walked around a bit to try to stretch out. I wasn't expecting to win anything as they had announced there were only awards for the top 3 overall, top 3 in Masters (ages 35-59), and top 3 in Grand Masters (60+). That was strange ages for the latter two groups and someone must have pointed it out, because it was changed on the results page to the more traditional Masters (40-49), and Grand Masters (50+). Since it wasn't exactly clear what they were doing I decided to stick around just in case. One of my friends, Sean, was 3rd overall - and another, Don, won the Masters. So even if it turned out I didn't win anything I would just be there to cheer for them. For some reason they decided not to hand out awards until the top 3 overall men and women in the 50K finished. So we all waited almost 3 hours trying to stay warm and chatting about other upcoming races. Finally the awards were presented and I ended up with 2nd in the Grand Masters. Interestingly, the top 2 guys in the 25K tied for first, but one was officially made the winner by ,01 seconds.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>All in all, it was a nice event for a first time. The course was well marked, the aid stations well stocked, good pre-race and post-race food. Get the distance correct and hand out the awards quicker and it will be great.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
</p>
