Imogene Pass Run

I'm in! I've officially registered for the Imogene Pass Run, which is on September 12th. The race registration opened today, so I registered first thing this morning. Last year, the race filled up in 4 days. The course length is 17.1 miles and runs from Ouray, CO to Telluride, CO over Imogene Pass, which is at 13,114 feet. Here is the elevation profile: I've thought about doing this race for a couple of years now, but I finally got up the courage. Hopefully, the weather is good; that time of year is very unpredictable in Colorado. At any rate, I better get in better shape! Probably a lot of training on Mt. Lemmon and other high elevation areas to get ready. Nothing like getting registered for a big race to up the motivation! That's how I roll. :)

TTR Sunset Loops trail run

Since this was the last TTR event of the season, I didn't want to miss it. Who showed up: Harry, Ken, Gene, David (from Sierra Vista), Kandi, Doug, Glenn and a few others I didn't know. Everyone was doing various options - 6, 10 or 17 miles.

I ended up doing the longest option, which turned out to be 16.3 miles. Kenny came along with our dog Taos, but he was going to hike about 6-10 miles by himself, and just meet me somewhere along the way.

It started at Sunset trailhead in the Catalina Mountains. The longest option takes the following 'figure 8' route:

1. Sunset Trail to Marshall Gulch. I ran with Glenn for most of this. I wanted to run with David, too, but he had some energy and hung with the fast guys up front.

2. Aspen Trail all the way to the top of the Ski Lift area (Radio Ridge). This trail is just so gosh darn steep, so quite a bit of hiking on this trail. However, they had cleared away a lot of downed trees since the last time I had been up. Nice. Hardly any tree hopping at all. I was by myself for most of this part; Glenn ended up turning at Marshall Gulch and only doing 6 miles, but it was good to have some company for a bit.

3. Down the Lemmon trail to the Wilderness of Rocks trail turnoff. Lemmon trail is super runnable, with lots of downhill. The trail is not too rocky, either. I came upon Kandi and ran with her for a while, which was nice. She is an Accountant, too, so we talked shop a bit. The downhill got too enticing and I really picked up speed and ended up pulling away from Kandi at some point. This was my favorite part of the run.

4. Back up on WOR trail to the Marshall Gulch trail. WOR is downhill at first, but then gets really rocky and uphill and I got really slow. I eventually ran into Kenny and Taos about a mile from the next trail junction. We hiked/ran together to the finish, which was really fun. Taos carried her pack and was such a good dog.

5. Marshall Gulch trail to Sunset trail and on back to the start. Marshall Gulch is fairly runnable in spots and very pretty. Lots of people, though.

Total time: 4 hours and 53 minutes!

Total elevation gain/(loss): 6,791/(6,878) feet. Holy Moly.

Ross and Pam rode their bikes up, so we got to visit with them at the finish, too. Pam found a 'Pleasing Fungus Beetle' to show us:

I wore my new 'Atayne' shirt, which is made from recycled materials (plastic bottles) and activated carbon (from coconut shells). I won a $50 g.c. at http://www.irunfar.com/ (thanks Bryon!) so I went to http://www.igottrashed.com/ and picked one out. The one I bought says, "Run Hard! Tread Lightly." I have to say I was really happy with the performance of it; I never overheated and it was super comfortable. I'll be buying more. The service from Jeremy was awesome. Definitely check it out.

I hope to do a few more runs with TTR next year. My confidence has risen a bit and I feel and I can take on some of the more challenging ones. I decided that I could always help out on some that I choose to not run and be of service there, too.

Kandi is going to take me (if there is water) on my inaugural trail run on Esperero trail in a few weeks. She says she is a little slow, but that is fine. I just would like to check out that trail to make sure I don't get lost when I do that run with TTR next year. So, got to see some old friends (David, Glenn) and got to make a new one (Kandi).

It was an all 'Gu' brand gel run. I really liked them! I'm trying out different gels, so next time will be 'Hammer' time. I felt pretty good during the run, so I don't think I'll be doing the Clif blox anymore.

Weekend over. Back to work. Hope everyone enjoyed doing something fun this weekend.

My favorite trail - Yetman in the Tucson Mountains

Here are a bunch of pictures from my short 6 mile Memorial Day run in the Tucson Mountains on the Yetman trail. I bought a disposable camera to use over the weekend while I waited for my new Olympus Stylus digital camera from the 'Tough' series to arrive in the mail this week. This new camera will be waterproof! dustproof! shockproof! crushproof! freezeproof! Perfect for trailrunning. Anybody who has run with me knows I had dropped my camera (or fallen on it!) too many times.

The only bummer about a disposable camera is that there is no self timer, but I finally found a nice lady to take my picture for me. It was quiet out there today; lots of mountain bikers and a few trail runners, but nobody I recognized. It was a great 4 day weekend.

Bear Canyon Loop trail run

Today, I ran 17.5 miles on the Bear Canyon loop in Sabino Canyon with David M. He had just run 18 miles the day before, so I was hoping he would have sand bags for legs and be a little slower for me, but, as usual, he was raring to go with energy to spare. Keep an eye on this guy; I am sure he is going to do some amazing things in the ultra world. Me, on the other hand...slow as molasses. Is it allergies? The iron deficiency still? Or just hills that I'm no good at? Will I ever get better at trail running? David says I'm too hard on myself; that this loop is challenging.

The Bear Canyon loop starts at the Sabino Canyon parking lot, heads out towards 7 Falls, and then goes up towards the East Fork, connects with Sabino Canyon trail, and then up to Phoneline trail. We ran Phoneline trail on the return instead of the Sabino Canyon tram road. It took a long time to do this run, but returning on Phoneline trail just takes longer than running the road back on the last part. I'm also terrible on the uphills, so I tend to walk those a lot. I have to do something about that.

Total cumulative elevation gain/(loss): 4,112/(4,229) feet

On this run, a great deal of the elevation gain is on the first half and the majority of the elevation loss is on the second half. This is my second running of this loop (first was with TTR and I had a mighty sore ankle that day). I would really like to do it more often. Beautiful. The cactus are blooming right now and the saguaros all look like they have little hats on them. :)

Lots of cloud cover out today, which was fabulous! We got a few sprinkles of rain falling on us on the last 2 or so miles, but it felt good. What a great run. I didn't feel so bad about missing the Gunnison 50k (which was today) after all. Maybe I'll do that one next year.

I ran 40 miles total this week. I hope to keep this mileage up over the summer, with some additional hill training thrown in. On June 1st (when registration opens), if I can get in, I'm signing up for the Imogene Pass run, which is on September 12th. Holy Cow. Oh, and I also signed up for the Run with the Roosters race, which is new this year, and is on July 12th. Pretty soon, I'll have my race calendar filled. That's the way I like it!

Heart of Rocks Loop hike - Chiricahua Mountains

Haven't been blogging much - I have been a little down about some things lately. Since I cancelled my Grand Canyon trip this weekend, and of course, the Gunnison 50k next weekend, I really don't have anything going on that I felt was blog worthy.

I recovered nicely from the 27 mile trail run up the Santa Catalinas a few weeks ago - I really wasn't even very sore. I did keep the mileage down that following week - 23 miles - partly due to the shorter road run I did last weekend. I'm running in the mornings before work now. Tucson is averaging 100 degrees for the high, so I, like many other Tucson runners, start getting up earlier to run and beat the heat.

This week, I ran every morning before work, totaling 30 miles. I pretty much just do various loops from my house, and up to the Rillito River sometimes. It is a nice way to clear my head for the day.

Without any big runs planned this weekend, Ken and I went over to the Chiricahua Mountains (about 2.5 hours away) and hiked the Heart of Rocks Loop. My friend Sarah and my sister Andrea had highly recommended it. We did 10 miles, with 4,714 feet of cumulative elevation gain. The high point is about 7,000 feet. It took us 3 hours and 50 minutes, not including about a 25 minute lunch break. Here I am next to 'Big Balanced Rock': Ken at the top of 'Inspiration Point':The Heart of Rocks Loop is a combination of various trails, with the Heart of Rocks trail being the center of the hike. There were all sorts of awesome rock formations that have been carved by time and wind, I guess. The hike was fairly shady, going through a lot of pine forest. The bugs drove me nuts for about the first 2 miles, but as the day heated up, the bug population dropped a bit (also there was a nice breeze at times, which kept them away).

Ken and I had a great time! It was really good to get out and hike together. He rarely exercises (well, except for the strenuous nature of his work), but he just trucks up the hills like it is no big deal, which always impresses the hell out of me. I'm terrible on the uphills. Ken will be hiking some of the big 14er's (14,000+ feet peaks) in CO this summer, which of course, I think is crazy. That's what he says about some of my running. :)

My upcoming running plans? Well, I'm still working on that, but I suppose I probably will just post them in my sidebar. I'm worried that whenever I blog about upcoming plans, they seem to fall through! Well, let's just say I have quite the adventurous running year coming up, with some super exciting races on my wish list. I'll need to get in better shape though, which will be my plan for the summer. That, and staying cool.

Santa Catalina Ascent

Well, I finally did it. I joined the Tucson Trail Runners for the Santa Catalina Ascent. But, I lost my digital camera halfway through my 2nd most epic run ever (Zane Grey would be the first, although this run had more elevation gain than ZG!). So, NO PICTURES!!!!

9 Tucson Trail Runners started - Tanja, Harry, Gene, Doug, Bruce, David, Kandi, Julie and myself. One person went about halfway and had to stop, one person took a portion of the road instead of trail. So, out of the 7 finishers, I was 5th. I wasn't last! Yay!
This is what you need to know:

Total miles: 27.4 (got lost 4 times, which added a little extra mileage on)

Total cumulative elevation gain/(loss): 12,913/(7,030) feet. When I uploaded my Garmin watch, I couldn't believe I had climbed 12,913 feet. My GPS watch battery actually died at 26.2 miles (the battery is only good for about 8 hours), so my elevation gain/(loss) didn't include the last 1.2 miles, although most of that was downhill.

Total time to finish: 8 hours and 51 minutes (includes breaks, etc). Pretty much was on the move the entire time, except in the two aid stations, where I took a 10 minute break each time. Lost a little time due to backtracking, walking in circles a few times. David and I finished about 1 hour behind the person who finished first, which was a Tanja (first time a woman finished this run in first place).

This run/hike starts at the Sabino Canyon Visitor's Center and goes all the way to Ski Valley at the top of Mt. Lemmon via connecting trails/roads. The route is:

1. Sabino Canyon tram road to the end


2. Sabino Canyon Trail


3. East Fork Trail


4. Palisades Trail


5. Butterfly Trail - wow, have they cleaned up this trail! It was in pretty good shape compared to last summer. The last mile of this trail is steep - 943 feet elevation gain!


6. Sunset Trail


7. Marshall Gulch Trail


8. Aspen trail - this portion of the trip really broke me down. A lot of money was saved on this trail by not using the switchback system - this trail is straight up, 925 feet gain in one mile. I finally said, "I can't go on, save yourselves!" But, I kept going. Can't quit now.


9. Ski lift trail?

I ran (hiked) most of the way primarily with David from Casa Grande, although for the first 15 miles, we leapfrogged with Tanja, Julie, Bruce, Harry, and Gene. After that, we ran off and on with Bruce, who saved us more than once from getting lost. We got lost 4 separate times - once we passed the Palisades aid station by bypassing the trailhead (we had to backtrack), we couldn't get a fix on the Butterfly trail at the start, we screwed up trying to find Sunset trail and had to backtrack, and then on the Aspen trail, my God, the trail just disappeared at some point. We would wander around a bit, and here would come Bruce! He wasn't feeling great that day, but sure was helpful out there.

David dealt with my complaining pretty well (I complained a little). He just kept on running - guess he figured I would to - I certainly didn't want to get lost again by myself! As always, he is a super great companion on the trail. He would carefully go through the sticker bushes; silly me, I just plowed through. I looked like someone hacked up my arms and legs. Always good to leave a little blood on the trail. :)

The finish is in the parking lot of the ski lift. How exciting to be done and come in hearing Bob B. shout "That's what I'm talking 'bout! Git 'er done!"

Thanks to Bob, MaryAlice and the other volunteers for setting up aid stations at Palisades and Butterfly trailheads. I did gels on the run (I had about 12-13?), but MaryAlice's turkey wraps (turkey breast, mayo? in a tortilla, cut up in bite sized chunks) were a hit at the aid stations. I have determined there is nothing like real food on a long run. They were GOOD.

Oh, and I saw a coatimundi in Sabino Canyon, of which I took pictures. But, I can't show them, because I lost my camera near the Palisades Ranger Station bathroom (15 miles into the journey). I've checked all the lost and found in the area; someone out there without a conscience is enjoying my pink digital camera. I just want the pictures, but, alas, I have to 'let it go'. I pretty much said I wouldn't be doing this run again (it was hard!) but since I don't have any pictures, I'll be doing it again...

I ran 42.5 miles for the week. Good thing I started to get my iron problem fixed last week. I do feel better and there is no way I could have finished today's event had I not started feeling better. And, I feel pretty good afterwards; nothing really bothering me, no real big aches and pains. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life! Feels good.

Trail run in the Huachuca Mountains

Early this morning, I joined David R., who lives in Sierra Vista, for a trail run in his own backyard. I had previously met David at the Blue Pants Racing Summer Trail Series last summer (which you can now register for this year's races here).

We had tentatively planned on running 18 miles, but I was really suffering from severe fatigue today. David, who is a Physician's Assistant in S.V., had read on my blog in past postings that I have dealt with an iron deficiency at times. After relaying to him all of my symptoms, he mentioned that it could be anemia. Bingo! All of a sudden it made sense. So, I am back to taking my iron supplements (which I had inadvertently discontinued months ago) and adding more red meat back in my diet. I should feel better within 5-7 days if that is the problem. Of course, it takes a while to really get the iron stores back up, but I can expect pretty rapid improvement if that is what is really going on.

So, we only ran 15 miles. First, we ran 9 miles on the Perimeter and John Cooper trails near Miller and Ramsey Canyons in the Huachuca Mountains. The elevation gain on this loop was 1,843 feet. There is actually a race (you can either hike, run or mtn. bike the trail) on this trail - it was last weekend - but I had never heard of it before. The views were just fabulous, although the trail was very narrow with steep dropoffs at times. I'm not so sure I'd race this trail with mountain bikers.

Needless to say, I was sucking air on this loop, partly due to the elevation (highest point 6,108 feet elevation - hey, I'm a flatlander!) but I suspect a lot of the heavy breathing is due to the possible anemia. There was one section, a dirt road, that just headed straight up for about 2 miles. I had to walk it, but at least I got to enjoy the views.

Then, we drove down to the San Pedro River area (picture above) and ran 6 more on a relatively flat dirt trail/road. This area is filled with lots of birds (Southern AZ is known for the many species of birds). I saw a whole bunch of pretty yellow-bellied ones, whatever they were. You can tell where the river (creek) runs by the line of cottonwood trees in the background of the picture above. My Garmin had locked up on me for this part of the run, but David said we ran about a 9:43 min/mile average, which I was surprised about, given my extreme exhaustion by this point. Here I am in front of a HUGE cottonwood tree:

I had a really great time! I'll have to head back down there sometime again - it was very fun and definitely beautiful country. I feel bad that I slowed David down so much, but he is so nice and friendly, that I never got the sense that it annoyed him. He was a great trail guide! He loves to talk nutrition, which is a blast for me! I don't think much could bother him today; he appears to be in love. I'm happy for you David!

I ran 33.5 miles for the week. Not bad for feeling so exhausted! There is nothing like your health when you don't have it. By the way, iron deficient anemia is common in women runners. So, note to self ladies!

A 93 degree Sweetwater Preserve trails run

With the sun beating down at 93 degrees at a little before 5pm today, I headed out on the Sweetwater Preserve trails - without a map this time. That darn trail system is a bunch of little loops (I've accidentally repeated a loop, even with a map), but I just stayed to the right and basically ran the circumference of the area for a total of 7.5 miles. I haven't done a trail run in a while and it really fixed me up mentally and spiritually. I had a hard time at first with the heat, but my body finally got with the program.

The cactus are blooming and the desert is really pretty right now! Sweetwater Preserve is loaded with saguaro cactus and the trails are pretty decent - just a little rocky and a little hilly. I just love saguaros. They are so beautiful.

I didn't do anything real amazing last weekend - just out to Tumamoc hill again for 8 miles of hill repeats and hauled a ton of large rip-rap rocks in my backyard to create a rock garden (dang, I was sore on Monday!). I ran about 30 miles for the week - was hoping for 40, but just couldn't fit it all in.

This coming weekend, I head down near Sierra Vista to join David R. for a trail run in the Huachuca mountains. Yay! I've never been to those mountains before, so it will be a treat. Not sure what we'll do; David initially suggested a 10 mile loop; when I asked if we could do a longer one, he said we could do up to 20 miles - just let him know (I knew he would be game for a longer one - he is doing the Jemez 50k in May). So, I'm not quite sure of the distance yet - we may do an out and back so we can choose how long we run depending on how we feel.

Off to watch Lost and do a weight workout. I just ate a frozen yoghurt to cool down from my run. Now if only I didn't have to work today, it would have been a really good day! :)

As soon as you state your plans, there they go...

Well, no TTR Mt. Bigelow trail run for me after all. After quite a bit of rain on Saturday, and snow up on the Catalina mountains (behind me above), the highway up was closed. So, either I chose to do the round trip unsupported (31 miles) or nothing at all, since there would be nobody to take me back down. I know a handful of TTR runners did the round trip - what a hardy bunch - with one guy (Bob B.) doing 31 miles both Saturday and Sunday!

I chose to stay in the valley instead and did another round of hill repeats on Tumamoc Hill for a total of 10.75 miles (same as yesterday!). Total elevation gain: 2,990 feet in the 10.75 miles. Good training!

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that I saw 2 deer hiding in the brush eating cactus and a baby bobcat crossing the road. It was the first time I've ever seen a bobcat.

Total miles for the week - 28.5. I think I'm offically recovered enough to really step things up again now.

I'm wearing my race shirt from yesterday's Catalina State Park trail race (isn't it cute?).

Hope everyone had a nice Easter.

Catalina State Park 10.75 Trail Race

Me and my friend Steve, the self-proclaimed 'Slow Old Goat' (although, in truth, he really is pretty speedy). It is always good to see you, my friend. Hope your travels in Bangkok go well and your shin splints are history soon.

Distance: 10.75 miles (although you can choose a 5.5 mile distance).

Finish Time: 1:40:03 (9:18 min/mile pace) Last year, my time for this race was 1:46:48 (9:43 pace). Yay for improvement!

I was 61st out of 111 people. It was a fast crowd out this year. I got third place in my age group (40-44).

Quite a few people turned out, although it had been raining hard most of the night, and up until race time. The rain pretty much slacked off for the race, although it was freeeeeezzzzing!!! I warmed up quickly on the run, shedding my rain jacket (thanks Shari for hanging on to it for me!) after the first 5.5 miles.

The 10.75 mile is 2 loops of the 5.5 mile race. Even after all of the rain, there was not much water on the creek crossings. Tucson needed it, although I think the race director was panicking a bit! The great thing about all the rain is that it really packed down the sand, so it was much easier to run those super sandy trails.

After the race, the rain clouds moved in and boy, did it really get cold! I hung out for a while, but I guess there were some problems with the race timing, so they weren't able to give awards out at the race after all. The results are all fixed and posted now. I'll have to pick my award up, which is fine! I was just thrilled to do better this year. However, they did give out prizes and I won 2 free smoothies from Robek's!

I got out of there just in time for it to really get raining. Thanks to Robin for letting me sit in her car to stay warm and for giving me a ride back to my car (I took the shuttle to the park).

Cool note: the women's technical shirts this year were actually women's cut and sizes! Steve, the RD, will be doing this from now on for the Everyone Runs races, which is a good reason to register. Good job Steve. I will be wearing it in my Sunday post (it fits so nice).
BTW, his next race, Run with the Roosters, will be on Sunday, July 12th. It will be a 5 miler near Old Tucson, and will be held at 5:15 am to avoid the heat.

If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans...

Well, I recovered pretty fast from the Bataan marathon. Although I didn't run the 5 days following the race (too much overtime at work), my legs felt great 2 days afterwards. It felt good to know that I'm improving both my racing times and my recovery times.

After taking the 5 days off, I ran 7 miles on Saturday and on Sunday, I did a 'triple Tumamoc hill' (3 trips of the 3 mile round trip Tumamoc Hill) followed by about 20 minutes of stair climbing at the parking garage next door. Tumamoc Hill is about 700 foot elevation gain up, so I did about 2,100 feet of climbing in the 9 miles. So, I got in about 16 miles the week following the marathon.

This week, I ran 7 miles on Wednesday and here are my weekend running plans:

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 11th, Catalina State Park 10.75 mile trail race. A wonderful individual took care of my race entry fee. Thank you so much - you know who you are and I really appreciate it! It is supposed to really rain in the morning, so the race should be interesting. I know there were a few spots left in the race, so come on over and join us! My legs feel ready to race.

Sunday, April 12th, TTR Mt. Bigelow Ascent - 17 miles. There is supposed to be snow encountered during this run, since we'll be headed up over 8,000 feet elevation from Sabino Canyon. Hope I don't get lost. :)

Sunday, April 19th - Possibly a long trail run in the Huachuca mountains with David R. from Sierra Vista, but I haven't heard back yet from him (could be on April 26th instead).

Sunday, May 3rd - TTR Santa Catalina Ascent - 25+ miles with a smoking lot of elevation gain. Let's just call this what it is - one big, long hike. I could only hope to run parts of this. We'll see.

Saturday, May 9th - TTR Mt. Wrightson Massacre - 10.4 miles (one round trip) is all I'll be doing, but others will be doing multiple trips up and down.

Saturday, May 15th - Grand Canyon R2R - 21 miles. This will be my first time in the canyon (I've stood on the edge of the North and South rims, but never have gone on any trails). This run is what the other runs I have just mentioned will prepare me to do.

Well, there you go. I feel good and happy today. I hope to enjoy all of my future planned runs this Spring and meet some new friends in the process. I'm watching my money, so I'm doing more group planned runs as opposed to races. If you are interested in any of these runs, e-mail me and I'll tell you more about them.

I going to have a cup of Yogi brand Kava Stress Relief tea (really makes me dream a lot!) and off to bed I go. Life feels simple in a cup of tea.

Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon Race Report - 2009!

I traveled over to Alamogordo, New Mexico on Friday, although the race wasn't until Sunday. I stayed with my brother-in-law Gary and niece Amanda on Friday night, and Gary pulled his large travel trailer onto White Sands Missile Range on Saturday so I could be by the race start on Sunday! I slept great Saturday night on the queen size bed knowing that I didn't have to worry about getting up so early and traveling to the base (either Alamogordo or Las Cruces are about 40-50 minutes from the base). Thanks Gary!! Here I am in my temporary casa before the race:

This race is to memorialize the soldiers that were forced to march long distances, without food/water in the intense heat of the jungle, when they were surrendered to the Japanese in the Philippines on the Bataan peninsula in WWII. Many died, but there were survivors who are celebrated at the pre-race ceremony.

You can shake their hands as you head to the start line. A huge flag is held up by a monster crane (the flag must be the size of my house.) 2 stealth bombers flew overhead right before the race started, looking like they would collide and then flying off to each side of us with a big WHOOSH! Guns went off, the amputees head out first (these guys are amazing!), then the rest of us. It was fairly cold at the start (around 40-45 degrees), but it sure got to be smoking hot before long. I wore this huge grey sweatshirt for about 5 miles, then ditched it as a throwaway at an aid station.

Total distance: 26.2 miles (although my Garmin calculated only 25.9)

Total chip finish time: 4:19:21 (9:54 pace) I beat my 2008 time, which was 4:35:46. My 2007 time was 4:54:03. The 2007 race was my first marathon ever. I have only raced 3 marathons and all have been at Bataan (I've also run 3 50k's as well).

Place: 9th out of 587 total civilian and military women light category. There are different categories (team, military, civilian, light, heavy (w/ a 35 lb. pack). This race does not provide overall/age group rankings.

Total cumulative elevation gain/(loss): 2,829/(2,815) ft.

This might not be interesting to some people, but I like to document my pace per mile for this race. I like to look back and see how I did to see how I can improve.

By mile:

1: 8:56 I decided I was going a little too fast (for me). I had a lot of caffeine in me. Pavement.
2: 9:10 I think the dirt road starts during this mile and continues until about mile 9. The first 6 miles are slightly downhill.
3: 9:16
4: 9:13 I saw Darryll B. of the Tucson Trail Runners as he passed me. He is the only person at the race that I knew. He recognized me and said hi, although he was careful not to trip this time (remember Pemberton...)
5: 9:11
6: 9:08
7: 9:23
8: 9:58 Beginning of the elevation gain.
9: 9:49
10: 10:55 I am on the road now, heading straight uphill. There is a HUGE misting station on this road, which we pass back through on mile 19.

11: 11:21
12: 11:31 We jump off the paved road and start on a trail/dirt road, but it is still uphill. I really need to work on the uphills. I'm terrible at them. I had to do some walking.
13: 12:08
14: 10:03
15: 8:38 Yep, I'm finally heading downhill. Feels great! I'm not able to keep up with a guy in front of me running with a 35 lb. pack. Holy cow.
16: 8:34
17: 9:52 More uphill before getting back on the road.
18: 9:45
19: 8:40 Back on the road heading downhill. I love the wall of 'marchers' headed uphill against us. They just cheer you on and it is so motivating! At this point, the runners are pretty spread out.

20: 10:00 Stopped to go to the bathroom, which I had been holding for quite a while. I was quick, though; only cost me about 30 seconds.
21: 11:51 Oh man, it starts uphill again as we veer off the pavement and head onto dirt/sand road.
22: 11:57 This is about where the sand pit (wash) is. I just couldn't run through that deep sand very well. Did a lot of walking.
23: 9:19 Out of the sand pit!! Woohoo!
24: 10:11 The wind is picking up. The forecast today was for 20 - 30 mph winds.
25: 11:27 Running into a gusty headwind. This race is cruel!
.9: 8:58 Into the chute and done! As I mentioned previously, my Garmin only calculated 25.9 miles, instead of 26.2.

Oh yeah, they also serve a real meal afterwards, either bratwurst on a hoagie or a burger and the fixin's. Yummy!
I'm already plotting and planning my strategy for next year. My goal was 4:15, so I was happy with 4:19. Even if I had run 4:15, I still would be 9th place female. So...next year I'll most likely be back. This race course is so hard, with the hills, sand and heat, and I have to conquer it! It is my nemesis.

I don't have any races planned for a while (had to cancel my CO Sageburner 50k because of money - sorry Kathleen), but I have some good long group runs coming up over the next few months, which I'll got over in a separate post.

Yay for my 3rd Bataan! It was the 20th anniversary of the march. I love this race.