Steamboat Marathon: Previewing the Course

I'm spending a relaxed day in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, trying to consume plenty of carbs and not wear myself out with too many activities before tomorrow's race.

One activity that doesn't take much energy at all is driving the course route, so I took the opportunity to get a better sense of what I'll be experiencing tomorrow. The race starts near Steamboat Lake, at an elevation of 8,126 feet. While the temperature up there was around 60 degrees, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Here's a photo from nearby Pearl Lake:

Beautiful! But of course I won't be running through snow: the road itself is completely dry. What I am more concerned with is exactly how steep the hills were, and whether the elevation profile I mentioned a few days ago is accurate:

Based on this profile I had surmised that there are four major climbs. It also looks like there are two steep downhill sections, after Mile 2 and Mile 4. Driving the course, I could confirm that, but also get a sense of exactly what I'd be dealing with. None of the uphills looked especially difficult. The hilly section near the end in Mile 21-23 will be hard because of its position in the course, but it's really not very steep at all. I also am not especially concerned with the steep downhill sections near the start. I handle steeper hills at home without much problem. But one thing I hadn't noticed previously is that the downhill that starts Mile 24 is also quite steep. That might be a tough to handle on tired legs that late in the race. Fortunately it will be over fairly quickly.

Other than that, this course looks to be nearly as spectacular as the Big Sur race. I took some pictures of the course, but since I'm not planning on taking pictures during the race this time, I'm going to save them for tomorrow's recap.

What I'm really looking forward to in this race is the long, gradual downhill from Mile 5 through 20. The hill is so gradual it almost looks level, but every step will give me a nice little boost. Some of the tiny bumps on that elevation profile really are hills rather than just GPS artifacts, but they're small enough that they should just add a bit of variety to the course. This section is also probably the most beautiful -- winding through farm country with a swollen river running past the road, and snow-capped mountains in the distance. There are cattle in green fields punctuated by purple and yellow flowers, under a blue sky with just enough clouds to make it interesting. Even if I don't perform well in the race, it should be a fantastic experience.

It's down to hours...

Steamboat Springs weather forecast for tomorrow morning

For the past few weeks I've been checking the weather in Steamboat Springs, Colorado almost every day, trying to figure out what it will be like when I finally get to run the marathon there. Today I'm in Steamboat Springs, so I can see for myself. In fact, 24 hours from now as I write this, I should be running.

Right now it's about 38 degrees outside; tomorrow it should be a bit warmer (although perhaps not at Steamboat Lake where the marathon starts—1,300 feet higher in elevation than the town). I'm not as concerned about the weather at the start of the race, where it should be cool and very runnable, as at the finish, where it could be starting to get uncomfortably warm for a marathoner. The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 80 degrees!

The race starts at 7:30 a.m., and the temperature at that time should still be in the 40s. I imagine I will shed my sweats at the starting line and wear gloves for the first couple miles, if at all. Then it will be shorts and a singlet all the way to the finish. If all goes as planned, I should be halfway through the race by 9:15, when it will still be below 60 degrees. By 10 a.m., nearly 20 miles in, the temperature will start to be a bit uncomfortable, especially where the course is not shaded. There aren't a lot of tall trees in this area, so I don't expect much shade. If I've met my goal, I'll finish by 11 a.m., with a temperature of 67 degrees. That's tolerable, especially given the fact that there's no humidity here. But I will need to be very careful to hydrate; that's going to be the key to the race.

The other concern is elevation: The race starts at 8,126 feet and descends to a still-lofty 6,728. I really can't be sure how exactly I'll handle that. I got my first taste of running at elevation yesterday. We were on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and we were running late, so I gave Greta my pack and ran about 2 miles to the car so I could drive back and pick Greta and Nora up at a different trailhead a half-mile from where we were. The run felt good, but I was a little lightheaded at a couple of points.

From what I've heard, the first few miles of a run at elevation can be a big of a shock, but after a while you're able to adapt. Let's hope that's the case, otherwise I may be disappointed in the results.

For now all I can do is carbo-load and try to stay well-rested. There are gorgeous mountains all around me and I need to avoid the temptation to hike up them! Tune in tomorrow and you'll get my report on how I did.

Marathon preview run

With 5 days to go before the Steamboat Marathon, today it was time to do a preview run. Ideally when you do a marathon preview, you wake up at the same time you're planning for the race, eat the same food, and wear the same clothes. I didn't do all that today, but I did want to try out the new shorts I had just bought from Race Ready, a pair of LD Easy shorts with a whole array of webbed pockets in the back for gel packs.

I brought along 7 gels (which I wouldn't be eating) to see how it felt to run with the shorts fully loaded. As it turned out, I probably could have carried twice that amount, along with my car keys and someone else's car keys. Seven gel packs worked quite well -- better, I'd say, than a SPIBelt, which is what I used to carry my gels and camera at Big Sur. I won't be carrying a camera at Steamboat, so I think these shorts will work great. There was very little bouncing, everything stayed in place, and yet when you need a gel, they slide easily out of the pockets.

The plan today was to run an easy 2 miles, then 2 at race pace, and 2 cool-down miles. Race pace, at least for the first 20 miles, is 7:40 per mile, which is actually a pretty fast pace for me even when I'm running only 6 miles. But then again, I don't regularly run any routes in Davidson that have a net elevation loss of 1,300 feet!

Todd and Chad joined me for the run, and as is often the case in group runs, it's always a bit of a challenge running slowly enough during warm-ups and cool-downs. Everyone seems to tend towards their natural pace and not really do a true warm-up pace. So we ran the first two miles at an 8:30 pace, definitely faster than I wanted to go. As it turns out, Miles 3 and 4 of our regular loop are mostly downhill, so these worked great for the marathon preview pace. We ran Mile 3 in 7:32 -- a little fast. Mile 4 was proceeding at about the same pace, and then we reached the only uphill segment of the two miles. Since there are a few uphill segments at Steamboat, I wanted to maintain the pace even on the uphill, just to see how it felt. As it turned out, I ran it too fast, and we sped up for the second mile of preview running, completing it in 7:21. That's good, because I was quite tired after this section, and if we were truly running marathon pace, I shouldn't be breathing hard after just two miles!

Once again, we ran the cool-down miles a little too fast, 8:29 and 8:21. Then Todd and Chad started picking up the pace even more for the final third of a mile into town, and I decided to slow down instead, finishing up at an 8:51 pace. That's more like it. I felt good after the run, and although I didn't run at exactly the pace I wanted, it was good to run with friends one last time before the race. Tomorrow I'm getting on a plane for Colorado!

Details of today's workout are below:

Marathon Math

The Steamboat Marathon is a bit of a mystery to me. While the course is mostly downhill, it's also at a fairly high elevation, ranging from 8,200 feet to 6,700 feet. Although I have spent a lot of time in the mountains, I've never run at altitude, so I don't know how exactly I'll perform.

The plan is to arrive in Colorado three days early to give myself a bit of time to acclimate to the elevation, so hopefully that won't affect me too much. Hydration will be another problem because there are only nine aid stations on the course, compared to 15 at Big Sur. My plan this time is simply to take two cups of water at each station, walking for a few seconds if necessary to make sure I get enough water.

But the biggest question of all is how to handle pacing. Here's the elevation profile of the course, taken from a runner's Garmin plot from last year:

As you can see, it is primarily downhill, but there are four significant climbs, in miles 2, 4, 21-23, and 26. They may not look like much on this chart, but they are all around 100 vertical feet, which is nothing to sneeze at. Based on my experience at Big Sur, I don't expect the first two hills to be much of a problem. I'll be fresh, and the key here will be not starting off too fast. The last two hills, however, will be very tough, especially considering the pounding my legs will have taken during the first 20 miles, including 18 miles of downhill running. It will also be starting to warm up, with temperatures possibly in the low 60s.

My goal is to run a 3:30:00 marathon, which is an 8:01 pace per mile. While most marathon coaches would advise a relatively even pace for a marathon, obviously I will want to take advantage of the downhills on this course. But how fast to run on those hills? My average pace for the first 20 miles of Big Sur was 7:53, but I was quite tired at that point and slowed dramatically over the final 6.2 miles. But those first 20 miles featured over 1,200 feet of climbing. With only 200 feet of climbing in the first 20 miles of this race, I think a 7:53 pace would be much more comfortable. In fact, I'd like to shoot for closer to a 7:40 pace. That would give me a 7-minute cushion for the final six miles. I could slow to a 9-minute pace and still finish under 3:30. Or if I'm feeling really good, I could finish a bit faster. Unless the elevation and hydration issues turn out to be a large burden, I don't think a 7:40 pace is unreasonable. I ran a couple of the downhill legs at Big Sur faster than that. If it does turn out to be too challenging for me to maintain that pace, then I probably wouldn't be able to run a 3:30 marathon on this course no matter what strategy I use.

If I make it to the top of the hill at Mile 23 still feeling strong, then I think I will finish the race strong. Mile 21 was where things started unraveling at Big Sur, but I still had several major hills to contend with before the finish. At the end of Mile 23 at Steamboat, there are 2 downhill miles and one big climb left, and I'll have just finished the biggest climb of the race. But even if I'm not feeling great at that point, assuming I have a few minutes worth of cushion left, I may still be able to run a sub-3:30. Hopefully in that case I'll still be able to gut it out to the end.

Details of today's workout are below:

Preparing for a mountain marathon

One week from now, with any luck, I'll have finished my second marathon, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Here in North Carolina it's hot and steamy even early in the morning when I usually run. But in Steamboat Springs, they actually got some snow last night! The overnight low for next week is slated to be around 40 degrees, but it could end up being much colder than that -- perhaps even below freezing. Generally it warms up during the day, but I'll need to be prepared for a chilly start. As in Big Sur, we'll get bussed to the starting line, and although the wait at the start won't be quite as long, it will still potentially be very cold.

With that in mind, I decided to head to Goodwill to see if I could find cheap, warm clothes that I could just throw away at the starting line or a short distance into the race if necessary. Although Goodwill doesn't have a "sportswear" section, they do have sweatpants mingled in with "slacks," and fleece jackets in the "sweater" section. I found a pair of sweats and a very nice (if bright red) fleece jacket from the Grove Park Inn (one of the nicest hotels in the state), for about $8. Score! I still have an extra pair of $1 gloves from Big Sur, so the total value of my race-morning discards will be less than $10. If it turns out not to be so cold or the bag-check is easily accessible from the start-line, I might actually even get away with keeping some of these items for next time.

The rest of my gear for the race will probably be similar to what I wore at Big Sur: A singlet, shorts, shoes, and socks. I did order a pair of shorts from Race Ready that I might decide to wear during the race. Their shorts have a series of back pockets that can hold up to 14 gel packs (I'll only be carrying about 7), which means I wouldn't need to wear a belt at all. Depending on when the shorts arrive, I may end up wearing them during the race. One big change from Big Sur: I will not be carrying a camera. This race is all business as I try to break 3:30 and qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Details of this morning's run are below:

Are race photos worth it?

In most big races, a professional photography outfit has photographers snapping pictures of the runners at several points during the race. Then after the race, you get an email with links to proofs of your pictures and an offer to purchase them. In my case it's usually easy to resist because either you can barely see me in the photo or I'm in some horrifically unflattering pose. But occasionally there's a real gem.

Looking strong at Elizabeth 8K, not looking so strong at Big Sur

I really like these two pictures, for entirely different reasons. The photo on the left, from the Elizabeth 8K, shows me looking quite strong. I think I'm fairly close to the finish, with a good-looking stride and good posture. And I'm absolutely drenched with sweat; that shows what it's like to run a good race. The photo on the right, from the Big Sur Marathon, shows me in a very different light, around Mile 22 when I'm nearly totally exhausted and reduced to walking. I think it says a lot about what it takes to complete a marathon.

But I don't think I like either picture enough to buy it -- at least not at the prices they're being offered at right now. Carolina Snapshot actually has a fairly reasonable deal for an individual photo: $14.99 for a web-resolution individual image. Depending on what "web resolution" is, I can imagine myself going for that deal. But not for an 8K race I was using as a tune-up. MarathonFoto has a $14.95 offer for a 5 X 7 print, but the cheapest digital photo is $44.95. If I bought a photo the main thing I'd be using it for is to share on blogs and Facebook, and I'm certainly not going to pay $44.95 for the privilege.

If either of these companies offered a reasonably-priced web-resolution photo, say 800 X 600 resolution, for 5 bucks, I probably would have bought one of each, and maybe one or two more from Big Sur. Instead, they've priced me (and I'd wager, thousands of other runners) out of the market. I'd love to see a race photo company try that out; I'd like to think they could do better than they do with their pricey $70 framed photos.

Details of today's workout are below:

2 Tempi

The plural of "tempo" in Italian is "tempi." My training schedule this week had me running a moderate-paced 8 miles yesterday and a 5-mile recovery run today. So naturally that means I actually ran a hard 5.5 yesterday (plus warm-up and cool-down) and a hard 6.38 today (with no warm-up or cool-down). That's okay, it makes up for the 3 X 1600 meter intervals I won't be running tomorrow.

What made me do it? Peer pressure. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are DART group runs, and both yesterday and today, some folks showed up who wanted to run fast. Yesterday, it was Jeremy and Matt, and today it was Adam. Yesterday, after I warmed up with the 1.39-mile run into town, we started out at about a 7:45 pace, and just got faster with every mile. By the end, Jeremy and Matt left me in the dust and I "decided" that my last three-quarters of a mile would be a cool-down while they cranked out something like a 6:30 pace for the final mile.

Today, I told Adam I wanted to take it easy, which ended up being around a 7:30 average pace for the whole DART loop, with a 7:10 thrown in on one of the miles for good measure. Uh, I don't think that counts as "easy." While neither of these runs was quite at race pace for the 10K distance, but they were both hard efforts—solid tempo runs.

With just a week and a half to go before the Steamboat Marathon, I'm getting into serious taper mode, which means shorter runs of equal intensity. Tomorrow I won't be running at all—I'll use my spin class as a cross-training recovery effort. My long run on Sunday will be just 13 miles, and all next week I'm only doing recovery runs. So this week I'm only going to log about 38 miles, plus an hour-long spin class that's roughly the equivalent of a 6-mile run. Next week I'll do even less, only about 28 miles before the race. The idea is to be well-rested, but not lethargic, come race day.

Details of the past two days' workouts are below: