A run through time

This weekend's adventures took Rebekah and I to the tiny ski town of Salida. Some of you readers who pretend to ski may have heard of Monarch, Salida sits very close to there. Also sits close to Leadville and Buena Vista, home to some very tough upcomming trail runs for me.

Anyways, it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done. About two hours from the Springs, driving directly into the Rocky Mountains. On the way there we stopped by the Royal Gorge, a ginormous canyon and suspension bridge. I was standing behind a very secure fence but still scared shitless at how deep this canyon was. Great stuff though, and I can't wait to return to take a train ride through it.

We drove into Salida hoping to find a cheap hotel for Fri night, and we stumbled onto some sweet rental cabins, less than $40 a night! Great mountain views, plus it had a liquor store on the property. Went into town for some grub at Amicas Pizza & Microbrewery, yum yum. Try the Porter, it rocked!

Back to the hotel for some college hoops, good and bad to see Bradley upset Kansas. Good, 'cuz Pitt will have an easy time with them. Bad, 'cuz I'd have loved to see them whoop Kansas.

Up and at 'em early the next morning. Rebekah was running her first half marathon, and I was in the marathon, and both started at 9AM. Races were started by a direct descendent of Zebulon Pike, which was pretty cool.

I went into this race thinking it was gonna be pretty easy. Dirt roads, only 26 miles, how bad could it be? Damn, was I in for a surprise.

The first quarter of the race was a steady climb that gained about 2000 feet. The race started around 7500 feet, so oxygen was already pretty scarce. Still, I started slow and was feeling pretty well as the 6.5 mile aid station came and went.

The course continued on the dirt road, but as the altitude got higher the conditions got worse. Lots of snow and ice. I'm sure it would have been a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains, but they were invisible due to all the storm clouds enveloping them. But that was off in the distance, and here in Salida the sun had came out and warmed everything up. So the ice began to melt, which would make the second half miserable.

Anyways, the run went out to the ghost town of Turrett. Only one road in, very far from civilization. No electricity or running water. No cable TV. Needless to say, nobody lives here in the winter. There was a small aid station at the turnaround, hosted by the local cycling club. Had some homemade chocholate chip and rasin cookies, good stuff!

During the first 13 miles I had been constantly out of breath, been hot, been freezing, slipped on ice, and got my shoes soaked when that ice melted. So yeah, I was having a good time. And I was also keeping a decent pace, hitting the halfway point in about two hours. Thought I'd easily break four hours, as I figured since the first half was all uphill, the second half would be all down hill.

Even kept up a killer pace through the 17 mile aid station. Not only was I sure I was gonna go under four hours, but I thought I might even catch Rebekah. Then the aid station worker told me that the course was a little different, and pointed me off on a rugged jeep road.

That's where the fun really began. The sun had beaten down on this trail all day, and it was muddy as hell. The kind of mud that your shoes would get sucked down a few inches with each step. And the entire stretch was tough, rolling hills. And then, after a few miles on the trail, as if conditions hadn't been weird enough, it started snowing. My pace was suffering, as I had added about five minutes per mile through the shiggy, and I was sucking due to the hard effort and lack of oxygen, but I was having a blast.

With about five miles to go I started worrying about the five hour mark, and how I better get going so as to not have a slower time then High Beams (who ran 4:55 at Austin). Yes, she looks for the most pansy, easy, lame-o, downhill marathons out there and I look for the most difficult mountain runs I can find, but on principle I had to make sure I beat her time. And I was worried for a bit, as the drop from the altitude back to Salida-level was a very technical and long downhill, reminded me a lot of the Hill of Life, but about three miles long. I suck at running that kind of stuff, but I soldiered on. And the last mile was back on a dirt road, so I was able to pick up the pace and finish with a blistering 4:47, nearly a full two hours off my PR, and still well ahead of HB.

So a great run, in shitty conditions, half of it between nine and ten thousand feet. Good times! And Rebekah also kicked ass, finishing her first half marathon in 3:20. About 40 minutes faster than I thought she'd finish. The farthest she's ever run, and it didn't come under easy conditions.

On the drive home we stopped in Canon City to check out the prison museum. Great stuff! Saw the gas chamber, lots of contraband, learned about the high security Super Max prison in CO that houses Tim McVeigh and the Unibomber and a bunch of other questionable folks.

Can't get stupid Blogger to upload photos, so you'll just hafta go here and see 'em for yourself. I'm off to bed, need my rest for tomorrow's tomfoolery with the Denver hash!

See Rebekah's race photos here.

View brownie's race pics here.