Steamboat Springs, CO

Half Marathon #22

Steamboat Springs Colorado

We have been snow skiing several times in Steamboat.  We like it there.  We often stay in a townhome on the mountain where we can step right out of the room onto the slope... and then ski right down to the room when we want to come in.  It is very nice and we are terribly spoiled.  I have never been there in the summer though.  So, I thought it would be fun to make Steamboat my June race and visit in the summer.

Steamboat looks quite a bit different in the summer than in the winter.  For one, there is no snow on the ground.  That seemed odd to me.  And there were lots of people out doing outdoor things.

I was headed out to Seattle for another course at The Kois Center.  Since I make my way out there multiple times per year, I am trying to combine my trips out west, so I made a stop in Colorado on my way to Seattle.  The race was on Sunday,  and the course did not start until Monday, so I was able to head out to Steamboat on Saturday and have plenty of time to see the winter wonderland in the summer, race the next day and still make the course comfortably.

The flight was uneventful.  I left super early.  The flight was at 6:00am from Tampa, direct to Denver.  Then a tiny little plane to Hayden where I was picked up by the Storm Mountain Express... the same transportation that we take when we go skiing.  The only difference this time, was that there were only two other passengers, whereas there are at least twenty when we go skiing. 

 The driver was one of the same drivers that has driven us before.  He is a super nice guy that has lived in Steamboat for some thirty years and is very knowledgeable about all things in Steamboat.  If you want to know the best restaurants, night life, hotels, or back country ski venues, he would be your guy.

The one thing that he said during the trip from Hayden that has stuck with me was: "People come here for the winters and stay for the summers."  I am certain that if Valerie had been with me, she would want to move there after seeing the summer there.  Truth is, I think she wants to move there now as it is.  Maybe I should not let her see these pictures or read this blog.  Please, nobody tell her any of this. 

 
The driver took me right to the front door of my hotel and I checked into Hotel Bristol.. right in downtown Steamboat.  It is a quaint, old hotel with tiny rooms, but it was comfortable and two blocks from the shuttle stop that transported us to the start, and four blocks from the finish line.As you can see, the room was small, but there was a hot tub.  Of course, I did not utilize the hot tub, but it was there.









I needed to get to the expo and pick up my race packet, so I headed out to the bus stop, and the bus was just leaving.  I decided to simply walk to the next bus stop, and of course the bus was just leaving.  That happened three times before I just decided to walk.  It was only about two miles and the weather was amazing.  It was about 70F, the sun was shining and the scenery was beautiful.  Here are a few pictures I took along the way.

  I have never seen so many mountain bikers.  They were out in force.  It was like everyone in town was out riding their mountain bikes.  I made it to the expo, which was at a ski rental shop, the Ski Haus.  I thought that was funny.  I even considered renting some skis just for fun.  Actually they had totally transformed the ski rental shop into a bike and kayak rental shop.  It was pretty interesting.  After receiving my race bid -- number 1111, I walked over to the grocery store, picked up some groceries for my dinner and race day breakfast, then headed back.  After getting back, I realized that I had not yet run my obligatory mile for the day, so I headed out for a run.

My run was terrible.  I ran 1.09 miles at a 8:32 min/mile pace, but i felt terrible.  I had a headache and my chest was tight.  I was a bit dizzy and breathing heavy and could not seem to breathe very well.  I was nervous that this is how I would feel on race day as well.  So, back to my room to hydrate and rest.

Race day started early, but there was a two hour time difference for me, so it was easy.  I got up at 4:00am and got some breakfast in me and made sure everything was moving.  Then off to the transport to the start.  The bus to the start left at 6:15am and it took about 30 min to make it up the mountain to the start... but the race did not start until 7:30am.  So, now we are up the mountain at the start milling around, trying to stay warm as it was about 40F.  There was one ray of sunshine eventually peaked through the mountain peaks and was beaming down on the road.  About ten of us here huddled in the ray of light pretending that we were comfortable and just stopping in this one spot to stretch our calves on the uneven pavement on the side of the road.  Somewhere around 7:20 the sun made an appearance over the mountain and gave some level of comfort to the starting line. 

The race started right at 7:30am and we were off.  The start was somewhere around 7200 ft in the air.  The race had a net downhill, but several ups and downs and arounds.  The finish was back in downtown Steamboat which I learned was about 6700 ft. elevation.  The first mile was super cold.  We ran downhill a bit and tucked in behind a mountain that shielded us from the sun.  My fingers were frozen.  I warmed up about mile three, but I started to struggle in the run.  I was breathing OK, but a realized I had a headache and my legs were heavy and sluggish.  Mile 1 -- 7:31.  Mile 2 -- 7:44, mile 3 -- 7:52, Mile 4 -- 7:44, then I blew up or bonked out or ran out of gas or hot the wall.  I recognized clearly that this would not be a PR race for me.  My miles got more difficult and my legs got heavier.  People began to pass me, I was still feeling my head throbbing and I could not make myself go any faster.  The sub 7 minute miles became 8:29 and 8:30 and 9:41.  One mile was even 10:01.  The finish could not get there fast enough.  I concentrated only on sticking one foot in front of the other.  It was ugly. 

Finish time 1:54:40.  I was not happy, but at the same time, I was thrilled to be finished.  I walked back to my room, took a shower and laid down until my shuttle was ready to take me back to the airport, where I flew out to Seattle for the week.When I sent this picture to Valerie, she responded with, "I love that it looks like you have wings!"  I thought those were my wings and I finally found a good photographer.  Truth is, I needed some wings for this race. 

Training has been rough for the last two weeks since this race.  I have had calf pain, stiff and sore legs and a super tight IT band.  I have struggled every day since this race.  But, I am starting to feel a little better.  I am hoping that pushing through the training will pay off for Alaska.  We leave Wednesday.  Valerie, the kids, my mom, and our "other child" Coral.  Wish me luck. -- almost half way!