Literally hours after not finishing Steamboat, I wanted sign up for something. The Bear Chase 50K in Lakewood and the Denver Marathon quickly crossed my mind. Thankfully I listened to the much more rational sounding wife and gave it a week before pulling the trigger on either. That week was enough time to realize that I was both physically and mentally tired to put myself thru another 3 to 4 plus hour race.
With the short term goal of trying to get fast again, I decided to sign up for the Fans on the Field 10K.
Going into this race, I knew I had little speed in my body. Based on my training runs over the past few months, I was figuring I had run my in-town 6 mile distances around 45 minutes on average. While the average time didn't bother as it hasn't been my focus, not knowing what my body could handle at a fast pace did. It had been well over a year since I tried running fast on pavement for anything greater then 3 miles.
I picked up my race packed Saturday afternoon just to get a feel of the parking situation as some 3K plus were expected to partake in the races. On Sunday morning, Michele and I arrived to a very packed parking lot some 30 minutes before start time. This gave me enough time water a few plants, get in a solid warm up and place myself near the front of the pack.
(Pre-race crowds)
The race start was delayed some 10 minutes due to long lines at packet pick up. As I waited near the start, it dawned on me that I've only run this distance once before. The 05 or 06 Bolder Boulder. I had an "A" wave start and I also had a long weekend of booze in me. I recall my first mile coming in at 6 flat followed by a decent vomit in my mouth. Yes I vomited in my mouth. I think I finished that race in like 37/38 minutes.
The race got underway and was pretty congested on the tight Platte River Trail. I just settled into a pace I felt was very controlled for the next 3 miles. Coors Field came and went and there I saw the 3 mile marker at something like 19:30/45. Not much effort exerted to reach this time. At this point I had the intentions to pick it up for the second half of the race but for some reason held back till I reached mile 4. Mile 4 and I kicked into another gear.
Kicking it into another gear was short lived as it was at this point that we merged with the untimed 5K race that started 15 minutes after the 10K race. The next 1/3 of a mile consisted of merging thru strollers, kids and Bronco jersey wearing folks. Then to further slow things down we entered the Pepsi Center. The amount of running spent on the court was short lived and most of the journey thru The Can consisted of running up and down hallways and opened doors.
Finally we exited and an open spaced road led us to and thru Invesco and to the finish line.
40 minutes and 15 seconds. The course per my Garmin, along with a few other peeps Garmins indicated the route a bit longer then 6.2. I saw everything from 6.35 to 6.55.
(My gosh I dislike the Broncos so much!)
I found Michele quickly after crossing the finish line. Instead of getting some food into my system, I headed straight for the Avery tent and threw down an IPA before 10am. It wasn't a Dale's but I wasn't picky. We waited around an hour so I could pick up this gem.
The race itself was interesting I guess but not a race I'd run again. I hardly noticed Coors or Mile High as I was just focused on running. I did notice The Can due to all the sharp right and left turns. The merger with the 5K runners could have been set up better to avoid all the criss-crossing that occurred.
As for my time, I was very content with it. Initially, I wasn't sure if a 40 minute time was possible. In hindsight, I could have easily ran the first 3 miles 30 seconds quicker without it impacting my next 3 miles. I could have also red lined it more over the last 1.2 miles. Biggest plus was how good I felt right after the race. As dumb and obvious as this may sound, it was shocking to see how quickly the mile markers come and go compared to all these longer races I've been running. It's like I had this mind set that I was at either 10,000 feet in elevation or that I had 800 feet of climbing to do over the next mile.
These shorter races really do nothing for me, but I do love training for them. So I'll continue to focus more on speed and try to knock out a few more shorter before a Thanksgiving race.
