Katie Benzel's Posts - Pikes Peak Sports2024-03-29T08:08:28ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwinghttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2797447831?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blog/feed?user=3ks45ecrft866&xn_auth=noThat Mountain, Thoughtag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-09-08:5021591:BlogPost:7799612017-09-08T03:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p>Slightly belated race report here! Excuse my tardiness: As if my summer wasn't crazy enough trying to train for a mountain marathon while caring for an infant, I decided to switch jobs a week after the race. It certainly hasn't been boring!</p>
<p>I did a couple of easy runs in the week leading up to the marathon -- a jog through Palmer Park with the Attack Pack on Tuesday and a Monument Valley shuffle on Thursday, then took it easy on Friday and Saturday. As I wrote before, my nerves kicked…</p>
<p>Slightly belated race report here! Excuse my tardiness: As if my summer wasn't crazy enough trying to train for a mountain marathon while caring for an infant, I decided to switch jobs a week after the race. It certainly hasn't been boring!</p>
<p>I did a couple of easy runs in the week leading up to the marathon -- a jog through Palmer Park with the Attack Pack on Tuesday and a Monument Valley shuffle on Thursday, then took it easy on Friday and Saturday. As I wrote before, my nerves kicked in around Friday night and it was hard not to get scared. </p>
<p>A funny thing happened, though -- once I laid out all my clothes and gear Saturday evening, the nerves melted away. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528650?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528650?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>On a gear note, after a final look at the weather on race morning I actually ended up leaving all my extra clothes except my windbreaker and gloves (Buff, long-sleeve shirt, arm warmers) out of my pack, and that turned out to be a really good decision. I did bring along way too many snacks, but that's a lot lighter than extra clothing :)</p>
<p>Anyway, race morning arrived, and I caught a ride with a few Attack Pack members and positioned myself with the other wave 1 marathoners. (Why I was put in wave 1, I'll never know.)</p>
<p>These people belong in wave 1:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528997?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="175" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528997?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806530035?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="175" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806530035?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806530505?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="175" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806530505?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Anyway! After many hugs and high-fives, fellow Attack Packer Molly and I set out on our great adventure, purposefully positioning ourselves toward the back of the first wave.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806531350?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806531350?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>When I started out on this journey, I thought it would be awesome to beat my time from 2012 (for the record, that was 7:12). With the mountain in front of me and 13 miles to climb, I decided that finishing, ideally rubber-side down, would be my only real goal for the day. I started taking in calories early in the form of Skratch and the huge pile of snacks I brought along. </p>
<p>I'm not sure if it was excitement, adrenaline, nerves, or what, but I struggled to get my breathing under control in the first mile. Then my fingers swelled up by mile 2. These things seemed worrisome, but there really wasn't much to do but keep going. Miles later, they both resolved. Molly slowly sped away from me as we approached the top of the Ws. </p>
<p>It was great to see familiar faces at Barr Camp and sample from the smorgasbord of snacks available there. I had brought my own pickles, but I was happy to see them available. I think I took a handful of grapes each time they were offered -- it's like nature's Gu. </p>
<p>Above Barr Camp was the first time I started to struggle. Usually this is a strong point of the race for me -- I can usually start powering past some flatlanders as my altitude training kicks in. However, having been put in the first wave may have messed with me here. There were still plenty of people moving better than I was coming up from behind, which affected my mental game. I eventually shut it out and just kept pressing for A-Frame. I felt weak and slightly queasy.</p>
<p>That's where my fortunes turned around. After forcing myself to take in more solid food (maybe grapes aren't nature's Gu after all), I started feeling better. I finally began to pick off some racers ahead of me beginning to struggle. I even managed to jog some of the flatter sections above treeline. It was fun and inspiring to see my faster friends start flying downhill toward the finish. Uphill runners have to yield to the downhill during the marathon, so I had to stop quite a few times in narrower sections.</p>
<p>I finally popped out on top at 4:45, my slowest Ascent by a good 14 minutes, but I didn't even care. I was on top of the world. I hugged Fossil teammate Michael Everson, grabbed even more grapes, and prepared for the downward spiral.</p>
<p>Let me say this up front: I am not the most graceful downhill runner. I had met up with fellow Marmot Christina at this point in the race, and we were able to run some of the portions down together. She was nursing a sore ankle and even fell a couple times during the descent and hurt the other one, but even still, on the nontechnical sections she would start to pull away. </p>
<p>On the section above Barr Camp, I had fallen into a good rhythm with Christina and Alan Flolo, who was also nursing an injury. We were chatting about this and that when I took my eyes off the prize for a second too long and my face rapidly made contact with the trail. It must have been a pretty epic crash, because everyone around me stopped to make sure I was OK. As soon as I made sure all my teeth were firmly in place behind my now-bloody upper lip (phew!) and all my limbs were functioning despite some scrapes and bruises (double phew!) we set off on the last half-mile to Barr Camp, where I knew help was waiting.</p>
<p>I'm not quite sure what I looked like when I got there, but I made quite an impression. Theresa Taylor checked out my face and said nothing seemed to be seriously wrong. I grabbed some more pickle juice, even more grapes, and stood for a second in the hose spray to cool off. The Barr Camp volunteers erupted in cheers when I said, "I guess I had better just keep going." This was the home stretch, and my husband and baby were waiting at the bottom for me. Time to stop wasting time!</p>
<p>I made it down the rest of the trail without further incident, thankfully. I started getting really excited when my feet touched pavement at the top of Ruxton. Despite my aching body and the fatigue of everything I'd accomplished so far that day, I felt my steps quicken.</p>
<p>I can't really describe the feeling of returning to Manitou Springs after completing such a thing as the Pikes Peak Marathon. Triumph, elation, pain, exhaustion ... and on and on. As I got closer to the turn to the finish, I started recognizing faces and voices. Someone offered small cups of beer, and I grabbed one, saying "I've been waiting for someone to say that for 13 miles!" </p>
<p>And just like that, it was all over.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806531977?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806531977?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806534316?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806534316?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Seeing Lance and Johan right before the end was powerful. I have the best support crew in the business! As I stepped across the timing mat and stopped my watch, tears welled up. I crossed the finish line in 7 hours and 36 minutes. </p>
<p>I am grateful for the ability to be out on mountain trails again. I am grateful to my husband for stepping up with our son to give me time to train. I am grateful for amazing training partners who push me and help me stay consistent. I am grateful for Tim for letting me be a Mighty Marmot again, and for the team sponsors that so generously supported us. I am grateful for a healthy body (even though I tried really hard to break my own face). </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806534912?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806534912?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a></p>
<p>The aftermath wasn't as dire as I was expecting. After about a week, my face looked normal again. Two weeks later, running starts to feel better. I have a lot more free time on the weekends now that driving up the Pikes Peak Highway isn't always on the agenda. </p>
<p>I'm not 100% sure what my next goal will be, but completing this marathon has given me so much confidence. Bring it on! </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806535455?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="200" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806535455?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a></p>
<p></p>On doing hard thingstag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-08-19:5021591:BlogPost:7756882017-08-19T02:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533582?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533582?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"></img></a> My nerves are getting to me today. The Pikes Peak Marathon looms large, and although it's something I've done before, it's a rather big something to be doing on a summer Sunday. </p>
<p>My son is 11 months old today. I knew in March that signing up for this marathon was a big reach, especially as I recovered from a c-section. But I used it as fuel. It was my motivator through…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533582?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="250" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533582?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-left"/></a>My nerves are getting to me today. The Pikes Peak Marathon looms large, and although it's something I've done before, it's a rather big something to be doing on a summer Sunday. </p>
<p>My son is 11 months old today. I knew in March that signing up for this marathon was a big reach, especially as I recovered from a c-section. But I used it as fuel. It was my motivator through the winter, pulling me out the door when my body felt flabby and alien, logging as many miles as my body would permit, struggling up hills I used to breeze up, lagging behind the friends I longed to run alongside. </p>
<p>But even though it was hard, I kept going. To feel alive. To reconnect with nature and my friends. To make my body strong again. To set an example for my son. To regain mental clarity and focus. Because it's there. Because I physically could not spend any more time in my house. So many reasons.</p>
<p>I laughed, I cried, I yelled, I persevered. </p>
<p>Since September 18, 2016, I've covered over 1,200 miles on my own two feet. </p>
<p>On Sunday, I'm adding 26 miles to that total.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Let's light this candle.</p>Races, planned and unplannedtag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-08-07:5021591:BlogPost:7753602017-08-07T22:20:15.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p>So in the interest of not dying during the Pikes Peak Marathon coming up in less than two weeks (um, yikes), I decided to put my minimal summer training to the test the past two weekends in a race setting. </p>
<p>The original plan was to spend July 29-30 at Barr Camp with my husband and the baby. We'd backpack up Saturday morning, spend the night in our tent, I'd wake up at some ungodly hour on Sunday to summit, and then we'd pack everything up and head down. Sounded like a grand adventure,…</p>
<p>So in the interest of not dying during the Pikes Peak Marathon coming up in less than two weeks (um, yikes), I decided to put my minimal summer training to the test the past two weekends in a race setting. </p>
<p>The original plan was to spend July 29-30 at Barr Camp with my husband and the baby. We'd backpack up Saturday morning, spend the night in our tent, I'd wake up at some ungodly hour on Sunday to summit, and then we'd pack everything up and head down. Sounded like a grand adventure, a good first backpacking foray (dinner and breakfast included = less stuff to bring!), and a great way to get some good mountain mileage in while still having family time.</p>
<p>Then the sky decided to open up and rain all weekend.</p>
<p>As a Plan B, I jumped into the Pikes Peak Ultra 30k put on by Mad Moose Events. At almost 18 miles and over 3500 feet of gain, it would be a good mix of running and power hiking on some of my favorite trails in the region. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521098?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521098?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>As always, Mad Moose Events did not disappoint. The course was well marked and challenging, the aid stations were excellent, the swag was on point, and a great time was had by all. The cloud cover stayed low, creating ideal cool and humid racing conditions. My previous judgment of my abilities ("slow but strong") held true on this course, though i was able to run more than I thought.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521740?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521740?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>The next weekend was the La Luz Trail Race, a run that's been going on for over half a century in the mountains to the east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I saw a friend post about the lottery opening up in May and decided to throw my hat in the ring. Lance read an article in a mountain biking magazine that listed Albuquerque among top trail towns in the southwest, so he was eager to try it out as well. I was picked in the lottery (they only have 400 spots available) and we made plans to head south.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806527312?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806527312?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>The stats on this trail sound pretty similar to Barr Trail: average grade of 12%, 4,500 feet of climbing in 9 miles, technical rock sections. Overall I found the first 6.5 miles of La Luz more runnable than the first few miles of Barr. After that, you get to a section called the "rockslide," which is basically a talus field that you cross multiple times as the trail switchbacks higher and higher. After that, there is a literal staircase made of concrete, then a few more long switchbacks at a steeper and steeper grade till you pop out on top.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533844?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="200" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533844?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>I pushed myself pretty hard for those first 6.5 miles, since this was one of my last hard training opportunities before PPM. I was trying to get by with just Skratch for fuel, since it's easier to drink than try to eat solids while running uphill and breathing super hard. I'd had success with Tailwind before, but recently switched to Skratch since it tastes better. However, I started feeling lightheaded at that 6.5-mile mark, so I made myself eat some Honey Stinger chews. I think that saved my race effort. Lesson learned on fueling, though I won't be pushing quite as hard on the uphill at Pikes since it's a much longer race. </p>
<p>Regardless of the fueling mishap, I enjoyed the 9-mile sufferfest push to the top and felt like it was a good semi-final training effort. The views were incredible all the way up, the trail was epic as it snaked its way through the craggy Sandia Mountains, and there were several encouraging people along the way (including one with BEER half a mile from the end). It had about the most low-key start line I've ever seen: a line of tape across a paved Forest Service road and a guy with a microphone and a speaker. "We have chip timing this year," I was told at packet pickup, but it was a gun start, chip finish. </p>
<p>Just a little high-altitude tuneup and I think I'll be as "ready" as I can be. This summer has simply flown by. I chose a hell of a goal for my comeback year - here's hoping I don't regret it in a couple of weeks!</p>Slow Motiontag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-07-25:5021591:BlogPost:7742042017-07-25T22:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p>So by now I've learned that keeping up with the blogging is much harder this year than it was last time. Sorry, Tim! </p>
<p>Anyway, less than a month to go before we all toe the line to take on The Mountain. (Hoping our trials against it are more successful than those against the Game of Thrones character by the same name.) Since I last checked in, I've raced twice: the Summer Roundup Trail Run, aka the second leg of the Triple Crown, and the Barr Trail Mountain Race, aka the scrappy little…</p>
<p>So by now I've learned that keeping up with the blogging is much harder this year than it was last time. Sorry, Tim! </p>
<p>Anyway, less than a month to go before we all toe the line to take on The Mountain. (Hoping our trials against it are more successful than those against the Game of Thrones character by the same name.) Since I last checked in, I've raced twice: the Summer Roundup Trail Run, aka the second leg of the Triple Crown, and the Barr Trail Mountain Race, aka the scrappy little brother of the Triple Crown. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521633?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521633?profile=original" width="737" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Carrie and I ran the Summer Roundup together. I didn't have any real goals except to stay consistent. To my surprise, my third time up the big hill was my fastest, according to Strava! </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521821?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521821?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I had similar plans for the Barr Trail Mountain Race: go out there and have fun. I ran this race with Kristy Milligan, a friend I had lost touch with since she stopped coming to Attack Pack runs. We finished just under 3:00, my slowest BTMR time yet but probably one of the most fun roundtrips I've run. Kristy took a small tumble toward the end but we both escaped the mountain mostly unscathed and earned our official finisher shirts by beating the cutoffs.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521966?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521966?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>This year, I was lucky enough to serve on the BTMR race committee. We worked out logistics (there are a lot when a race goes to 10,200 feet halfway up a mountain), sampled food and brews from our sponsors Manitou Brewing Co. and Front Range BBQ (for posterity!), ordered some excellent merchandise (see super sweet hats!), crafted the handmade awards, and <a href="https://www.coloradorunnermag.com/2017/06/15/barr-trail-mountain-race-to-award-more-prize-money-to-women/" target="_blank">created a little controversy</a> along the way. It was a blast!</p>
<p>I'm proud of what we did. Gender inequality in work, life, and sport has been going on for untold decades, so we decided to take a small, symbolic stand by upping the women's prize purse by 20 percent. In doing so, we stirred up quite a bit of lively discussion, which was the point all along. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806522817?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806522817?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Directly after the race, my husband, baby, and I hopped on a plane to a family reunion in Montana. Johan had a blast meeting his extended family, including his great-grandma! Lance and I even got to steal away for a mountain-climbing date -- our first in years -- while relatives watched our son. That hike was the extent of my exercise for the week, with the exception of some sprints in the traditional family foot races. I don't consider myself a sprinter by any stretch, but managed to notch victories in the 50m and 100m adult women's races, and the mile (open to all age groups). </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806523009?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806523009?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Re-entry has been painful for a number of reasons. I had another good day above treeline on Sunday. This weekend I have another big Peak weekend planned. Trying not to freak out that only three weekends remain.</p>
<p>At this point, I know I can survive the PPM, but it might not be especially pretty :) I'm feeling strong but slow right now. I still have a couple nagging muscle/nerve issues to work out, but I've enlisted a PT friend to help. Just gonna keep plugging away and hope The Mountain is merciful next month!</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520233?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520233?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I've also vowed to keep up the storied Attack Pack tradition of fueling with doughnuts. How many Marmots can you spot?</p>Training Rounduptag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-07-05:5021591:BlogPost:7717002017-07-05T23:05:33.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p>No time like the present (and a long holiday weekend) to really get serious about this little jog up and down a mountain, right? </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528818?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528818?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p>Carrie and I formed an ambitious plan to double up longer efforts this weekend with a Rampart Reservoir loop on Sunday and a high-altitude marmot scramble on Monday. She rounded out the weekend with a long bike ride on Saturday, and…</p>
<p>No time like the present (and a long holiday weekend) to really get serious about this little jog up and down a mountain, right? </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528818?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806528818?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Carrie and I formed an ambitious plan to double up longer efforts this weekend with a Rampart Reservoir loop on Sunday and a high-altitude marmot scramble on Monday. She rounded out the weekend with a long bike ride on Saturday, and I ran the Palmer Lake 4th of July fun run on Monday, pushing my son in his stroller.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806531240?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="250" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806531240?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-left"/></a> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533208?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="250" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806533208?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" class="align-right"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Needless to say, today we are tired.</p>
<p>However, I'm happy to say that I escaped the mega-training weekend mostly unscathed; in fact, some nagging ankle issues are actually nagging LESS now than before.</p>
<p>Rampart was slow and steady - we enjoyed the scenery and stopped for a while to soak our feet in the icy creek before heading back to the car.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806534027?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806534027?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806538156?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806538156?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>On Monday, I felt good above treeline, despite not having gone beyond Barr Camp in the past two years. We chose Elk Park to the summit for the route, and it was good to revisit one of my favorite trails on the Peak. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806544064?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806544064?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Next up is the Summer Roundup, which should be pretty straightforward. I miss the old course that more closely resembled the Mad Moose High Drive Challenge, but I vow to have as much fun as I can on the three-loop course. But because I'm trying to balance my training with my husband's mountain biking, I'll probably tack on some bonus miles Sunday rather than trying to negotiate for a Saturday run, as well.</p>
<p>Creative scheduling is imperative when working with a small child in the mix. To make my weekend work, I took advantage of Monday, when not much would be going on with my job and day care was open, to drop the baby off and take off up the hill. I hope to get up above treeline two or maybe three more times before the big dance, taking more days off if I have to.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806545339?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806545339?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>And that ... will have to be enough. Because, well, because summer is happening, and it's a busy one! Get out there and explore some new trails!</p>
<p>And don't forget to make time for beers with friends!</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806546046?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806546046?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>Anatomy of a Comeback Yeartag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-06-20:5021591:BlogPost:7669662017-06-20T04:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520354?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520354?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520645?profile=original" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><span class="font-size-1"><em>At the 2017 Super Half-Marathon</em></span></p>
<p>The Garden of the Gods 10-Mile Run has come and gone. Last time I ran it felt like another lifetime ago, AND it was a different course, but it was still hard not to compare my…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520354?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520354?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520645?profile=original" target="_self"></a></p>
<p><span class="font-size-1"><em>At the 2017 Super Half-Marathon</em></span></p>
<p>The Garden of the Gods 10-Mile Run has come and gone. Last time I ran it felt like another lifetime ago, AND it was a different course, but it was still hard not to compare my performance to my "past me" time, despite it all.</p>
<p>The dialog that comes up around and about pregnant and postpartum women is interesting. I ran through my whole pregnancy, so it felt like everyone assumed I would bounce back "<em>so</em> fast" and "lose so much weight breastfeeding." A lot of people repeated these phrases to me, I think to be encouraging, but when it didn't happen like I expected, I only became more discouraged.</p>
<p>Like I said in my <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/10/11/running-while-pregnant/?utm_term=.6ae0c636d5ab" target="_blank">recap of running while pregnant</a>, it's such an individual journey, especially after the baby is on the outside.</p>
<p>Nine months later, the scale is still stuck at a place higher than I'm used to seeing. I'm still not back in my prebaby running shorts, and I might not be for a long time.</p>
<p>All this is OK. The result is more than worth it. I've made peace with it, and I'm much less harder on myself now than I was when I was first starting back. It just didn't happen quite as fast as I expected it to. In the whirlwind of new parenthood, running was my connection to my social circle and was something I did just for me, but sometimes I struggled mightily when the miles didn't tick by like they used to.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the Garden race. Carrie and I had run the dress rehearsal a few weeks before, so I knew all the fun we had in store, especially that hill in mile 8. Woof. We ran the dress rehearsal at about a 10:00 pace, so our only goal for the race was to beat that time. When we reached the halfway point in about 45:00, I thought, if we run a negative split, we can beat my previous time and that will prove I'm back for real!</p>
<p>This new course is MUCH harder to negative split, it turns out, and we came in about 3 minutes slower than my previous time. However, we ran the whole thing together, pushing each other (I think we each doubted our ability to keep up with the other), and staying pretty consistent. Our 1:32 is something I'm really proud of and another notch in my comeback belt.</p>
<p>Those old times will fall if and when they're meant to. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the miles as they start to go by a little easier, and I'll treasure my "me time" and time with friends on the trails.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520645?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520645?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a>To echo Carrie's words from her race recap, I couldn't have done all this without the stellar, supportive Colorado Springs running community. We've truly got something special going here.</p>Marmots and Motherhoodtag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-06-05:5021591:BlogPost:7634892017-06-05T18:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520850?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"></img></a> Dusting off the ol' blog to announce that I am once again an active member of Purple and Gold Nation, the Mighty Marmots, the Triple Crown Runners! It's an honor to serve as your retread for the 2017 season.</p>
<p>Where we last left our hero (<a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">2012</a>), I was 28 and had a boyfriend and lived in an apartment. Since…</p>
<p><a href="http://corunco.com/" target="_blank"><img width="200" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806520850?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200" class="align-right"/></a>Dusting off the ol' blog to announce that I am once again an active member of Purple and Gold Nation, the Mighty Marmots, the Triple Crown Runners! It's an honor to serve as your retread for the 2017 season.</p>
<p>Where we last left our hero (<a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">2012</a>), I was 28 and had a boyfriend and lived in an apartment. Since then I've acquired a house, a husband (same dude, though), and this little charmer right here:</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521791?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806521791?profile=original" width="550" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Johan (YO-hahn, as in Johann Sebastian Bach) entered the world on September 18, 2016, and completely rearranged our hearts, minds, sleeping schedules, and priorities. Running was the last thing on my mind for weeks after he joined our family. However, as my body healed and the new-baby fog faded, I yearned to be back on the trails with friends. I figured since I ran until <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/10/11/running-while-pregnant/?utm_term=.bed64fb1924f" target="_blank">almost 39 weeks of pregnancy</a>, bouncing back should be no sweat, right?</p>
<p>TL;DR version: Nope, nope, and nope.</p>
<p>With my doctor's OK, I did my first run at four weeks postpartum. I had a C-section, and she encouraged walking right away to help heal. Because I was so fit before his birth, she said I could work up to brisk walks and slow runs pretty quickly. I started with one to two miles per week and slowly built up to more. My pace was even slower than it had been in the third trimester, but I tried to ignore that and just keep plugging away.</p>
<p>Only now, almost nine months later, am I starting to see hints of the runner I was. That has been frustrating and eye opening, but I'm glad I didn't let frustration get the better of me. Consistency has been the main way to see gains: Even when I was huffing and puffing the entire run, I kept showing up. This is all made possible by an extremely supportive husband and the wonder that is the BOB stroller.</p>
<p><img src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/lib/js/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/img/trans.gif" width="560" height="315" class="mceItemMedia mceItemIframe"/></p>
<p>Regardless of the fact that I don't quite have my mountain legs back, I chose a big goal for my comeback year: the Pikes Peak Marathon. Stay tuned to hear how I find enough time to get in quality miles on the mountain, go to work full time, be a good mom and wife, and allow my husband to get in a hefty amount of weekly miles on his mountain bike, as well. </p>
<p>Good thing we are used to not sleeping anymore!</p>Moab Red Hot 55k - way late race reporttag:pikespeaksports.us,2015-03-16:5021591:BlogPost:6389462015-03-16T23:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516271?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516271?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p>I figured I would dust off the ol' blog to write a little about my first ultramarathon. I ran the Moab Red Hot 55k in Utah on February 14, 2015. </p>
<p>I know I've written about them before, but I would be half the runner I am today without the help of the <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">Attack Pack Running Group</a>. They are always game for a…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516271?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516271?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I figured I would dust off the ol' blog to write a little about my first ultramarathon. I ran the Moab Red Hot 55k in Utah on February 14, 2015. </p>
<p>I know I've written about them before, but I would be half the runner I am today without the help of the <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">Attack Pack Running Group</a>. They are always game for a run, no matter how long or hard. They push me to be better when I'm at a low point. They inspire me with their strength, determination, and physical accomplishments. There's no way I would have made it 34 miles through the desert without the encouragement and support of this group. </p>
<p>Wendy Stalnaker, one of the crazier members of the Pack, was the one who had this race on her radar. We had been talking about it off and on for a few months, so I had already started trying to increase my weekly mileage before finally pulling the trigger and signing up December 14. We were unable to persuade anyone else to take on the challenge with us, but we found out that Brianne Pierson, fellow <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/2014-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners" target="_blank">ex-Purple-and-Gold-Marmot</a>, was planning on racing, too.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516667?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516667?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Wendy and I spent a lot of time battling snow, ice, and mud on the trails around Colorado Springs as we increased the length and difficulty of our runs. Our training peaked with the CRUD Ponderous Posterior Fat Ass "race" around Mount Herman in mid-January. We spent more than 6 hours floundering about in the snow, ending up with a total of 22.5 and 24.5 miles, respectively (I tacked on a "bonus" 2-mile loop that Wendy wisely skipped). The photo above is us with a ribbon marking a turn that we almost missed.</p>
<p>I managed to run 55 miles on my heaviest week, which was about as much as my life and work schedule allows for. There were a lot of days where I would show up to Attack Pack runs an hour early to get in some "extra credit." I went from running four days a week to six. I devoured threads on the Trail and Ultra Running Facebook group. I ran at lunch and after work, sometimes in the same day. I read Hal Koerner's book cover to cover. I practiced fueling and hydrating. I crammed as much as I could into the winter weeks. It felt like before we knew it, taper time had arrived. </p>
<p>For my final "long" run, I chose a loop around Greenland Open Space: 8 miles with a few hundred feet of gain. Nice and mellow. About 5 miles in, I felt an uncomfortable twinge in my right Achilles tendon. Pretty soon it was a full-blown ache. I finished the loop. When I woke up the next morning and it still hurt, I began freaking out. I was due to leave for Moab in four days. Would I even be able to race now?</p>
<p>I iced, NSAIDed, stretched, and elevated the heck out of it and tried to be positive. How could this happen on race week?!</p>
<p>My physical therapist friend Aaron reassured me that I should still give it a try because I had trained so hard. He promised he would "put (me) back together again" afterward, if it came to that. Physical therapists who are also runners give out questionable advice. </p>
<p>My husband and I arrived in Moab, where they had been experiencing some unseasonably warm weather (and DRY trails!). He quickly threw himself at the new singletrack mountain bike playgrounds that have been built in the past five years, and I sat around a lot reading and trying not to worry. Wendy and her husband arrived, and we got in a 3-ish mile shakeout run on Friday morning to see how we were feeling. She was getting over a stomach bug from earlier in the week, so neither of us was running at 100%. My Achilles seemed not to mind the flat riverside trail too much.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806517090?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806517090?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Most beautiful shakeout run ever! </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806517256?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806517256?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>The Colorado Springs crew sporting our cool race trucker hats at packet pickup Friday night: Keeler North, Brianne Pierson, Katie Benzel, and Wendy Stalnaker.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806518673?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806518673?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806518992?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="375" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806518992?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="375" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;"/></a>And here we are the next morning, ready to run. Or at least, ready to try to run. The morning was chilly, but it was supposed to get up into the 70s by the time I expected to finish. I ditched my gloves and my headband with Lance right before the gun went off. I wore the long-sleeve shirt until the top of the first climb and then stowed it in my pack. I had taped up my Achilles as a precaution using KT tape. (Wendy's husband pointed out that it said "KT" on my leg so people would know who had just passed them. I joked that it was so people would know whose body they found.) </p>
<p>The race started, and the worry melted away. I was going to go as far as I was physically able to, and that was all I could do. I started slow and steady and kept my footsteps small and even. It was easy to do on the wide dirt road the course starts on. There were no singletrack bottlenecks all day because of the wide-open nature of these trails. (At one point, there were several jeeps blocking the trail, surrounded by their drivers, who were all smoking, but that's another story...) I just focused on making it from one aid station to the next.</p>
<p>I would love to write a detailed report about exactly how many calories I consumed and when, but I just don't have that kind of memory, especially a month later. I brought mostly Honey Stinger products with me (chews and waffles), along with pretzels, nuts, and some Tailwind packets. I mixed that with water I got from aid stations and carried it in the little yellow bottle in the front pocket of my Nathan pack. It was really nice to have something other than water to drink, plus it was a good way to bank some extra calories. I took the advice of the race personnel and pushed both fuel and hydration early and often. As a result, I felt great the whole time, at least from a fueling perspective. I have struggled with stomach issues in other races, but not this one. I took bananas and oranges at almost every aid station, which I loved. The one time I felt lightly nauseated was after taking a few sips of Sprite at the final aid station. It just didn't sit well, so I dumped it out and continued on with Tailwind and water.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618425?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618425?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I texted Lance from an overlook at about 11 miles that I was still in the race and doing fine. I was running happy -- my stomach was happy, I felt nothing from my Achilles, and I was enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery I had ever run through.</p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622637?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622637?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I met a delightful girl from Flagstaff named Emily at about this point. It was her first ultramarathon as well. We stuck together for about 15 miles total. She made those miles fly by! </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806519326?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806519326?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Emily loves Utah!</p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618444?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618444?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a>This was nice and encouraging at about mile 18.</p>
<p>The slickrock sections were the hardest. They began in earnest after I started kicking it with Emily. Most of the surface was off-camber, meaning you're running with one leg slightly lower than the other. It begins to take a toll after a while. This is also when the course markings became harder to spot as the trees got farther and farther apart. Sometimes a flag would be tied around a rock placed in the middle of the "trail." I was pretty good at spotting these flags after my experience running the local Fat Ass race and used to skills to my (and Emily's) advantage. I was able to send a text from the aid station at about mile 23 that I was still alive, which is when the course got especially gnarly.</p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618520?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618520?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I definitely lost speed on these long stretches of painful running. There were also some pretty large climbs to conquer. I just tried to stay focused and keep moving as best as I could. My joints and quads started to ache a bit because of the pounding on slickrock, but my Achilles stayed quiet, which is nothing short of a miracle. I felt fine in my choice of shoes (Brooks Cascadia 9) for this course, though road-running shoes wouldn't have been bad on this terrain. The Cascadias gripped the slickrock nicely.</p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618602?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684618602?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a>Those people standing in a group were using some pretty colorful language that I did not disagree with. </p>
<p>I slowly pulled away from Emily, wishing her well as I went on ahead. She kept having to stop and stretch various body parts. I sent a final text to Lance from the final aid station. I wasn't sure exactly what mile marker I was at, but I thought I had about an hour of running left at that point. (It ended up being a little over an hour.) I was in no man's land having just run farther than a marathon for the first time in my life.</p>
<p>Eventually the slickrock petered out, and we were running on a dirt road again. I was happy to find that I could still run at a decent pace at this point. The sun kept beating down, and the clouds that provided a little relief in the morning burned away. It started getting hot, and I wanted nothing more than something cold to drink.</p>
<p>The Poison Spider section of the trail contained a few sandy parts, but those didn't faze me much from all the training in squishy snow and mud all winter. As the miles ticked by and the finish line (supposedly) grew closer, I kept seeing people walking up the trail toward the runners. "You're almost there!" they kept saying, but the finish line was nowhere to be found. Eventually one woman said, "You have 1.3 miles to go. I know because I tracked it on my watch." I passed some guys in that last mile who said, "Do NOT let us pass you." That gave me a little more gas in the tank to finish strong. It was disorienting, though, because I couldn't hear or see the finish line until it was, quite literally, right in front of my face. </p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622819?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622819?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>This is the shot that Lance got of me finally coming in to the finish line. </p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622922?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622922?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a>And here we are, proud ultramarathoners! Wendy finished as the 12th woman overall. I finished ... much later, behind her and Brianne. My time was 7:38, which I am more than happy with -- an average pace of 13-ish minutes per mile, according to my watch data. For going into my first ultra with a possible injury, that is just fine by me. <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/254964388" target="_blank">Here is the Strava track.</a></p>
<p>I would highly recommend this race to anyone, with a hefty warning about the slickrock and route-finding. A big group of people in front of me ended up missing a turn and getting lost for 15 minutes or so. With proper training, the slickrock is manageable.</p>
<p>It was pretty well organized (though the parking directions didn't mention that there was a mile-long walk from the parking lot to the start line), and the aid stations and volunteers were wonderful. The sense of camaraderie around me was palpable -- everyone was really friendly and seemed to truly want all the other runners to succeed. </p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622089?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684622089?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a>My friend Scott Spillman, who now lives in Morrison, Colorado, ended up winning the 33k race. Alex Nichols of Colorado Springs notched another victory in the 55k, making it a good day to be a Front Range runner in Utah. This is one of my proudest running accomplishments to date, even bigger than the Pikes Peak Marathon from 2012. </p>
<p><a width="737" height="552" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684621399?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" target="_self"><img width="737" height="552" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2684621399?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>You bet I'm going to be wearing that trucker hat.</p>Oh, hey!tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-10-12:5021591:BlogPost:3797082012-10-12T22:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497880?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497880?profile=original" style="padding: 5px;" width="737"></img></a> <em>Me (3), Carly Keller (2), and Kelly Ping (1) took home the goods for F25-29. With the awards ceremony a few months after the races, we runners had a chance to actually look presentable for the photos.</em></p>
<p>My legs have healed. The <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/tcr/index.htm" target="_blank">Triple Crown of Running</a> is mostly a memory. I checked the…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497880?profile=original"><img class="align-full" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497880?profile=original" width="737"/></a><em>Me (3), Carly Keller (2), and Kelly Ping (1) took home the goods for F25-29. With the awards ceremony a few months after the races, we runners had a chance to actually look presentable for the photos.</em></p>
<p>My legs have healed. The <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/tcr/index.htm" target="_blank">Triple Crown of Running</a> is mostly a memory. I checked the website multiple times in September, but never saw the full series results posted. Then this Wednesday, my girl Kelly from the <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">Attack Pack</a> asked me if I was going to the TCR awards dinner. A quick check of the website showed me somehow, miraculously, in third in my age group (F25-29). I was <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/race_results/2012_tcr_series_by_age.htm" target="_blank">fifth overall in the age group</a>, but the top two ladies won overall awards, which bumped me up to third.</p>
<p>YEAH LEGITIMATE HARDWARE!</p>
<p>Props go out to the rest of the 2012 <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">Pikes Peak Sports.us Triple Crown Runners</a>: Five out of the six of us took home age group awards. The Beagle is a winner every day, so he didn't need any additional laurels. :) Amazing work, everyone. Hope to see you on the mountain (or off!) again soon.</p>Pikes Peak Marathon Race Reporttag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-08-23:5021591:BlogPost:3610992012-08-23T22:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496714?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496714?profile=original" width="720"></img></a> Above: Victory soak in Fountain Creek. Photo by Christian Murdock. Below: Don and me, the only Pikes Peak Sports.us Triple Crown Runners who signed up for the marathon! Photo by Phoebe Blessing.<br></br></em></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497853?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497853?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"></img></a> We've come full circle. I started blogging…</p>
<p><em><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496714?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496714?profile=original" width="720"/></a>Above: Victory soak in Fountain Creek. Photo by Christian Murdock. Below: Don and me, the only Pikes Peak Sports.us Triple Crown Runners who signed up for the marathon! Photo by Phoebe Blessing.<br/></em></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497853?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497853?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>We've come full circle. I started blogging about my training for the Pikes Peak Sports.us Triple Crown Runners with <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">a picture of me in the creek</a>, and here we are again.</p>
<p>I hadn't been this nervous the night before a race in a long time -- probably since before my first marathon, for which I was woefully undertrained. (Evidence of that <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/photo/2mar?context=user" target="_blank">here</a>.) Race performance and the quality of the experience can be affected by any number of things on the day, but it seemed like the <a href="http://pikespeakmarathon.org/" target="_blank">Pikes Peak Marathon</a> had countless intangible factors ready to trip its racers up (often literally).</p>
<p>Sure, I could stumble and bloody up my knees in a trail race in the PPRR fall or winter series. That would mean, what, half an hour of painful running? I could get dehydrated on the <a href="http://adtmarathon.com/" target="_blank">ADT marathon</a>. Aid stations pop up much more frequently when you're running a flat course with good accessibility. This event just seemed that much more extreme than anything I had attempted before.</p>
<p>I'd also never undertaken an organized athletic endeavor that would take me this long. I hadn't done a full ascent or a full descent in training (whoops!), so I only had estimates to hint at how fast I could get it done. I knew a "good" time for me in training to Barr Camp was just over 2 hours, and from A-Frame to the summit was 1:15, for example. </p>
<p>The weirdest part of the whole day: As soon as my feet hit the dirt at the end of Ruxton, all the nerves fell away and I was able to focus on the task at hand: climbing the mountain I see every day.*</p>
<p>*We are so lucky to be able to train on that mountain, by the way. I don't think I'll take it for granted again after hearing racers from Albuquerque and Canada describe their typical training runs, which top out around 10,000 feet.</p>
<p>This was another extremely well-run and -organized event by Ron Ilgen and the <a href="http://www.thetcr.com/" target="_blank">Triple Crown</a> crew. The aid stations were fantastic. I stuck around for about a minute at Barr Camp sampling all the goodies the crew had to offer. (My favorites were the dill pickles.)</p>
<p>My 4:31 Ascent time wasn't blazing, by any means, but I felt strong the whole time. I ran the first mile and the flat bits before Barr Camp, but after that I fast-hiked it up to the top, like I usually do. (JT, let me know when you start fundraising for your next walkathon; we could make a lot of money.) I stayed steady with fuel and hydration -- small quantities, but often, which I've found works best to maintain my energy level. My watch read 2:44 somewhere between Barr Camp and A-Frame when Killian blazed past my group. It felt like yielding to the downhillers in the top 3 miles added quite a bit of time, both in time stopped and loss of momentum. It was a bit of a disappointment to come in several minutes slower than my Ascent time from two years ago, especially with feeling so strong at A-Frame. That's the only small regret in an otherwise fantastic race, though, and the downhill runners ahead of me were always going to be part of the day. There wasn't much I could have done about them, except to go out much faster and be among them myself!</p>
<p>I turned around and swapped gear with my friend <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/TessAhern" target="_blank">Tess</a>, who was awesome enough to be my summit support crew. I traded my hydration pack for a small handheld bottle because ditching extra weight seemed prudent. I also put on some gloves to prevent trail rash on the palms, should I nosedive. I didn't know what to expect for the descent, so I just started running. I turned both ankles (right twice, left once) below A-Frame, but not seriously. I saw a couple of spills that resulted in runners dropping out, but I again took the advice of a race vet: If you hear someone sliding, don't look at them, because you'll probably fall, too. (I did, however, make sure they were OK.)</p>
<p>I gave Teresa a big hug my second time through Barr Camp (5:50 total time elapsed); she was my favorite person at that moment. I bypassed the smorgasbord that time, though, because I had finally realized I was going to finish a lot closer to 7 hours than 8 hours. She told me to push fluids because it was getting hot down below in town. The mister at Barr Camp and the hose guy at Bob's Road were wonderful, and at the subsequent aid stations I just started throwing cups of water at my face instead of drinking them.</p>
<p>I kept eating, too, but not as diligently on the way down. When I got to three miles to go, I realized it was muscle fatigue, not dehydration-related cramping, that was causing the pain in my quads, so I kept going on diluted Gatorade alone. I've run those three miles so many times I just put my head down and got it done. I was amazed that I was able to keep my mental focus throughout the downhill: I watched the footing closely and concentrated on my steps.</p>
<p>That pavement ... wow. I knew it would hurt, but that was in the abstract. What a cruel way to end a race. At least with the Barr Trail Mountain Race, the paved section is very short.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498183?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498183?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><em>Coming into the finish on the f#$*@& pavement. Photo by Elizabeth Amarena, who also bakes a mean almond cake. And by mean, I mean delicious.<br/></em></p>
<p></p>
<p>The things that got me through it were (in no particular order):</p>
<ol>
<li>My friend <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/JodyDerington" target="_blank">Jody</a> and her dog running with me from the houses until the curve at the end of Ruxton.</li>
<li>The shot of PBR from <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/brownie" target="_blank">JT</a> and the hashers.</li>
<li>Knowing my boyfriend and friends and beer and real food and beer and icy creek water and beer were a mile away.</li>
<li>Pure stubbornness.</li>
</ol>
<p>I have never been happier to see friends as I was at the finish line. I finally met <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/AmyPerez" target="_blank">Amy Perez</a> during the course of this race (she was on the <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-pikespeaksportsus-triple" target="_blank">PPS.us TCR team last year</a>), and her encouragement meant a lot to me, as did her "I'm so proud of you" and hug after the finish. (Amy is a certified badass.) LB, who missed almost a whole summer of camping trips because I was always training for this damn thing, was my biggest fan. Mike, my high school friend from North Carolina who had been thwarted by altitude sickness the previous day at the Ascent, was back to his usual self and generous with the praise. <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/BillBeagle" target="_blank">The Beagle</a> was there, as well as a healthy chunk of the <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">Attack Pack</a>.</p>
<p>I'm still processing the feeling of finishing this race. I've had a mild obsession with both the Ascent and Marathon since I first read about them in 2006, when I moved here. Like hiking the Incline, it seemed another example of "crazy Coloradans" being "extreme," but not something I would ever attempt on my own.</p>
<p>The proof is in the pudding (side note: my legs still feel like pudding): I hiked up and ran down in less time than it took me to summit Pikes Peak via Barr the first time (plus 30 pounds, minus 3.5 years of running strength).</p>
<p></p>
<p>Full Splits (Segment/Total Elapsed):</p>
<p>Top of Ws: 47:42</p>
<p>To No Name: 22:44/1:10:26</p>
<p>To Barr Camp: 54:44/2:04:10</p>
<p>To A-Frame: 59:27/3:03:37*</p>
<p>To Summit: 1:27:55/4:31:32*</p>
<p>Descent: 2:41:10*</p>
<p>Total: 7:12:42*</p>
<p>* denotes an official chip time; the others are estimates I pulled off my watch</p>
<p></p>
<p>Will I run it again? I honestly don't know at this point.</p>
<p>What I do know: I'm damn proud of this accomplishment, and that's enough for now.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In closing, some <a href="http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?action=site.login&RaceOID=20952012M2&LastName=SCHWING&BibNumber=840" target="_blank">hilarious race photos</a>!</p>YES!tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-08-20:5021591:BlogPost:3606802012-08-20T20:34:46.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496597?profile=original"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496597?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"/></a>I will write about this in more detail soon enough, but for now ... HOLY CRAP I DID IT!</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496597?profile=original"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496597?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"/></a>I will write about this in more detail soon enough, but for now ... HOLY CRAP I DID IT!</p>Here Goes Nothingtag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-08-13:5021591:BlogPost:3577362012-08-13T19:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516856?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516856?profile=original" width="720"></img></a> <em>The Attack Pack and friends ready to take on the Falcon Trail in the dark.</em></p>
<p>Whenever I sign up for new race distances or athletic endeavors, I always envision feeling far more "ready" when race day/week/month actually arrives. The time between signing up and executing stretches on forever, week upon week of mythical training runs cascading into the future,…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516856?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516856?profile=original" width="720"/></a><em>The Attack Pack and friends ready to take on the Falcon Trail in the dark.</em></p>
<p>Whenever I sign up for new race distances or athletic endeavors, I always envision feeling far more "ready" when race day/week/month actually arrives. The time between signing up and executing stretches on forever, week upon week of mythical training runs cascading into the future, after which I will arrive in a different place than where I started.</p>
<p>I guess I should have figured the <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/" target="_blank">Pikes Peak Marathon</a> would be no different, and I would once again feel like I will be winging it. I've done all I can do at this point, and I'm going to have to trust that it was enough. "The hay is in the barn," and all that.<em><br/></em></p>
<p>The <a href="http://trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">Attack Pack</a>, inspired to help one member train for the <a href="http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/page/show/311976-leadville-trail-100-run" target="_blank">Leadville 100</a> a few years back, started incorporating a night run into the summer schedule. It's usually around Rampart Reservoir, but after the Waldo Canyon Fire, we had to pick a Plan B for August 3. The Falcon Trail on the AFA is of a similar length, and with military IDs from some of our members, we were allowed on base at night.</p>
<p>Of course I ignored all the "check the batteries in your headlamp" suggestions helpfully posted to the group's email list, so my light was a little dimmer than would have been ideal, but that forced me to keep pace with the front of the pack for most of the 14 mile run. There was a lot of starting and stopping to keep everyone together, which hurt by the end, but made the parking lot beer taste even better. More pictures <a href="http://trailrunner.us/Pictures.aspx" target="_blank">here.</a></p>
<p>I rested all day on the 4th, feeling a little beat up from the previous night's run, then on the 5th I drove to Elk Park with a couple of group members for a final workout to the summit. I was able to keep a really steady pace above treeline, and I crushed my time from Father's Day. That erased a lot of the doubts I was struggling with the previous week. So something is going right.</p>
<p>Beagle, Don, JT, and I got together for some <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">Pikes Peak Sports.us Triple Crown Runners</a> beers last Thursday. I hope we collectively do better at the races than we do at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brewers-Republic/148079988535656?ref=ts" target="_blank">pub trivia</a>.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516966?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806516966?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>This past weekend I accomplished the oh-so-important Sea Level aspect of training, visiting North Carolina for a wedding. I guess I will get some last-ditch altitude exposure when I pick my friend Mike up at the top after the Ascent.</p>
<p>Get some sleep, everybody. Six days!</p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p><em>Me (not in running clothes, for a change) and my friend Pranita from high school at her wedding.</em></p>The Doldrumstag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-07-30:5021591:BlogPost:3526292012-07-30T23:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496079?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496079?profile=original" width="720"></img></a> <em>Me and LB on our way up <a href="http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=bier1&peak=Mt.+Bierstadt" target="_blank">Mount Bierstadt</a>, July 22</em></p>
<p>During every training cycle, especially for a new distance, I hit the skids mentally. I'm considering the <a href="http://pikespeakmarathon.org/" target="_blank">PPM</a> a new distance, even though I've run…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496079?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496079?profile=original" width="720"/></a><em>Me and LB on our way up <a href="http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=bier1&peak=Mt.+Bierstadt" target="_blank">Mount Bierstadt</a>, July 22</em></p>
<p>During every training cycle, especially for a new distance, I hit the skids mentally. I'm considering the <a href="http://pikespeakmarathon.org/" target="_blank">PPM</a> a new distance, even though I've run marathons before, because this one is going to take me quite a while longer to complete. I'm sure this is normal for most athletes, even professionals from time to time.</p>
<p>I start to doubt that I'm doing enough. I wonder if I'll even be able to finish the event.</p>
<p>These thoughts don't help when you're trying to haul yourself up the top four miles of Barr Trail, and that was my training run on Saturday. I felt pretty good physically, but in my head, I couldn't get it together.</p>
<p>This is definitely the low point. But I've spent quality time above treeline this season (see above). I've logged some good miles. I'm much stronger than I was when I did the Ascent in 2010. I've just got to get over the creeping doubts.</p>
<p>On Sunday, the day after my disappointing (but not really) run, I slept in, baked a cake, went to hot yoga class, and watched the Olympics, all of which put me in a much better mood.</p>
<p>In other positive news, I got my stitches out on the 23rd, and I've been much happier since then. Even though my finger still resembles Darth Vader without the mask.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498221?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498221?profile=original" width="360"/></a>So all kinds of advice and encouragement would be welcome at this point! I'm also starting to think about my race-day fuel and hydration plan. Carry a hand-held bottle and try to drink it down between aid stations? Carry my hydration pack and deal with the extra weight? <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Pay</span> Enlist friends to wait at the top for me to switch out gear?</p>
<p>I am also vowing in this public forum to get more sleep in the next three weeks. No excuses.</p>
<p>And, in closing, here's a picture of me running the only other race I will run this summer besides the <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/tcr/index.htm" target="_blank">Triple Crown</a>:</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498902?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498902?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>Photo by <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten" target="_blank">Tim</a> at the <a href="http://www.active.com/running/colorado-springs-co/america-the-beautiful-5k-2012" target="_blank">America the Beautiful 5k</a> on Friday. I ran it in about 25 minutes. It was a small race (this was its inaugural year), and each participant got two (two!) shirts.</p>
<p>But who needs multiple race shirts when you have a sweet <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners</a> singlet?</p>Slice of Lifetag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-07-18:5021591:BlogPost:3461022012-07-18T23:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497679?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497679?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> <em>Upward! Upper Barr Trail, July 15</em></p>
<p><em><br></br></em> It has been an eventful few weeks. I've got to get back in the rhythm of writing here; since the fire, the words don't flow like they used to. It put things in perspective. Nature doesn't care about human life. (Actually, anyone who has hiked the upper reaches of Barr Trail knows that nature doesn't care about…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497679?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497679?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><em>Upward! Upper Barr Trail, July 15</em></p>
<p><em><br/></em> It has been an eventful few weeks. I've got to get back in the rhythm of writing here; since the fire, the words don't flow like they used to. It put things in perspective. Nature doesn't care about human life. (Actually, anyone who has hiked the upper reaches of Barr Trail knows that nature doesn't care about humans. But that's for later in the post.) This past Sunday, I drove past the burn scar on U.S. 24 for the first time since the fire, and it was pretty stunning. It's going to take a long time to rebuild, but I know we can do it.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498226?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498226?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>We made it home from our 1,800-mile road trip in time for the <a href="http://www.summerroundup.com/" target="_blank">Summer Roundup</a>, which was good. Even completely exhausted and with tight legs from sitting in a car for so many hours, I was able to take about 5 minutes off last year's time. Makes me wonder what I could have done at full capacity, since I'm a much stronger hill runner this year, but oh well. My only goal was to finish it, given my ridiculous schedule.</p>
<p>The bad thing about <a href="http://www.rcgov.org/" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.rcgov.org/" target="_blank">the</a> <a href="http://www.bismarck.org/" target="_blank">places</a> <a href="http://www.medora.com/" target="_blank">we</a> <a href="http://www.hardinmt.com/" target="_blank">visited</a> in the week prior to the race was they were all at lower altitudes. The good thing about them is most of them were humid. When race morning dawned overcast and a little soupy, I didn't mind as much as normal.</p>
<p>It was great to see everyone from the <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners</a> and the <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">Attack Pack</a> after being away and to reconnect with the running community. I am glad the event went on, despite everything. Most of my people did quite well.</p>
<p>The week after the race, I settled back into my routine: running with the Pack, eating vegetables and food that didn't come out of windows, cutting back on the coffee, going to yoga. A few members of the Pack and I planned to hike up to Barr Camp on Friday, July 13, camp for the night, then run to the summit early Saturday before coming all the way down. I was looking forward to it, because I've never attempted the whole mountain at once, up and down.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504262?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504262?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>Thursday morning, I was getting ready to blend up one of my beloved post-run (and pre-run, and pretty much any time) <a href="http://vegasport.com/recover/performance-protein" target="_blank">Vega</a>, banana, and almond milk smoothies with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-76BC-SmartStick-200-Watt-Immersion/dp/B000EGA6QI" target="_blank">a beloved kitchen tool</a> when tragedy struck.</p>
<p>Four to six stitches later (I lost count), I was out for the camping trip. However, the doctor only instructed me to take 48 hours off exercise. I made it about 46 before going on a 12-mile run in my neighborhood with a friend. Sunday, of course, needed to be a peak day. I drove to the top with another friend and her coworker for an improvisation on the 3-2-1 that we made up when we got to A-Frame: down 3, up 2, down 1, up 2 for a total of 8 miles. I was dragging pretty badly on the uphills, partially because of the longish run the day before. The workout was a good one, though, and we avoided the mental hangup inherent in the 3-2-1: once you get to the top, where your car and the coffee and the donuts are, you have to go back down two more times before you can use any of these things.</p>
<p>I've never completed the 3-2-1, mostly for that reason. I hope to in a couple of weeks, though.</p>
<p>This weekend I hope to hike up to A-Frame and run down on Saturday, then hike a 14er with friends on Sunday. I get my stitches out on Monday, which I am beyond excited about. (Even simple tasks are made difficult by the loss of the use of a finger -- even an insignificant finger.) <em><br/></em></p>
<p>Now it's really time to buckle down and make these weekends count! I'm feeling good, overall. I'm going to increase my mileage over the next few weeks and make the Incline a weekly routine.</p>
<p>Oh, and I'm going to stop trying to cut off body parts with a blender. That's not in the training plan.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504809?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806504809?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><em>Chelsea, me, and Brandon after our 3+2+1+2. I need to start matching my outfits to my finger dressing.</em></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806505301?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806505301?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><em>Messages to the firefighters at the end of the Pikes Peak Highway.</em></p>Trying to Find the Wordstag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-07-06:5021591:BlogPost:3427622012-07-06T04:33:59.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497949?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497949?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" style="padding: 5px;" width="750"></img></a> This is where I was when the Waldo Canyon fire started. Eight miles of hiking and a four-hour drive away from home. Miles and miles away from cell phone signal. Utterly alone except for the one person I hiked in with. LB and I both had hectic weeks, so it was nice to get out in the woods and breathe.</p>
<p>When we turned on our phones on Monday after reluctantly driving the…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497949?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497949?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a>This is where I was when the Waldo Canyon fire started. Eight miles of hiking and a four-hour drive away from home. Miles and miles away from cell phone signal. Utterly alone except for the one person I hiked in with. LB and I both had hectic weeks, so it was nice to get out in the woods and breathe.</p>
<p>When we turned on our phones on Monday after reluctantly driving the washboarded country road from the trailhead back to the highway, the news crashed in. During the long drive back to Colorado Springs, we wondered what things would look like, how the thing had started, if any of our friends had had to leave their homes -- but it was all fairly abstract. When we got to Canon City and turned north on Highway 115, what had looked like a cloud turned out to be a gigantic plume of smoke, and we stopped talking.</p>
<p>I was on edge all week in a way I can't really explain. My apartment wasn't even that close to the evacuation zones. Partly it was a feeling of helplessness: I donated money, but I couldn't take time off to volunteer. The smell of smoke was everywhere, along with that awful plume signifying acres of our beautiful hills -- now known as "urban-wildland interface" in wildfire terms -- being consumed. The windows of my unair-conditioned apartment stay open pretty much all summer. I drive up and down I-25 to get to and from work, so I would pass the burning area several times a day. I couldn't shut it out.</p>
<p>I tried to keep as much of my routine as possible, including running. The smoke on Tuesday morning made my lungs burn, so I cut my Bear Creek run short. It had shifted by Thursday, so I was able to run with a couple of the ladies from the Attack Pack. Yoga classes helped a little, but the stress relief was temporary.</p>
<p>Friday, we left town for our summer vacation, and while it was hard to leave a city still in crisis, I looked forward to being distracted. Since then, we've driven about 1,200 miles, passed through six states, and visited lots and lots of family members. I ran in both Dakotas, and I'm planning to run a trail tomorrow in Montana. The lower elevation of all the points on our trip won't help me much with the Roundup, but at least my mileage hasn't fallen off too badly.</p>
<p>It will be good to be back home, to run a race on familiar trails with familiar people, and to draw on the strength of our community. No words will ever be enough, but I feel deeply for those who lost their houses, for the firefighers who worked tirelessly to save everything they could, for the journalists who worked around the clock to keep everyone informed and safe. When it's time to rebuild my adopted home, I plan to be there.</p>
<p>And one of those times is upon us: I'll see you guys on Sunday for the second leg of the Triple Crown.</p>The I-Word, or Always Go to the Running Storetag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-19:5021591:BlogPost:3393872012-06-19T19:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497945?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497945?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" style="padding: 5px;" width="750"></img></a> <em>Me, Sharon, Sharon's dad, Don, Don's doughnut, and Bill at 14,115 feet on Father's Day.</em></p>
<p>I feel good about my training from the past weekend. On Saturday, a few Attack Packers and I ran from Soda Springs Park, up the Incline, past No Name Creek a little ways into the Experimental Forest, then back down Barr Trail. It took us right around two hours to do the…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497945?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497945?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><em>Me, Sharon, Sharon's dad, Don, Don's doughnut, and Bill at 14,115 feet on Father's Day.</em></p>
<p>I feel good about my training from the past weekend. On Saturday, a few Attack Packers and I ran from Soda Springs Park, up the Incline, past No Name Creek a little ways into the Experimental Forest, then back down Barr Trail. It took us right around two hours to do the whole thing. I think my Incline time was in the low 40s, which is about as good as I've gotten so far this season with sporadic use. Plans are in place to add it back in as a weekly workout, though!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners</a> teammate Sharon had emailed all of us to see if anyone was interested in a ride down from Pikes Peak's summit on Sunday at noon, so I decided to take her (and her very generous father) up on it. Her father said he ran his last Pikes Peak Marathon two years ago (!). Sharon's own history running the peak is incredibly inspiring. It's like a family of superhumans.</p>
<p>Anyway, having spent most of the day Saturday after my morning run drinking beer with friends in Denver, I decided to give myself an extra hour of sleep and chose the route from Elk Park to the summit instead of cranking out a full ascent. The highway was open early, so I was able to buy a punch card and make it to the trailhead by about 7:45 a.m.</p>
<p>The Elk Park trail is so beautiful. You start off with sweeping views of the city and surrounding hills, descend into a dense forest, cross an alpine meadow (I love alpine meadows) and a few makeshift bridges, become convinced you've followed the wrong trail (if you're me), only to pop out behind Barr Camp to see Theresa Taylor's smiling face about an hour later. I stopped to check in with her and to snag a pancake and a hunk of that salty, delicious garlic bread, then turned my attention to the rest of the journey.</p>
<p>I made good time (well, for me) between Barr Camp and A-Frame. When I got there, a woman told me that a man from the Incline Club (doing a 3-2-1) had just told her there were 40- to 50-mph wind gusts at the summit. Great. (See <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/gog-race-report?xg_source=activity" target="_blank">previous post</a> for feelings about wind.)</p>
<p>Anyway, my fears of being blown off the face of the mountain proved unfounded. Most of the trail was pretty well protected, with the exception of an area just above the 2-miles-to-go sign. The only problems I had above treeline were lung-related, which is new to me. I tend to do pretty well in altitudes, but I'm chalking my shortness of breath up to being tired and it being my first time up there this season.</p>
<p>I made it up shortly after Don and the Beagle and just before Sharon. It was awesome to see familiar faces up there; I was practically giddy. (Maybe that was the lack of oxygen combined with the euphoria of being done.) I have never been on a running team before, so this kind of connection is new to me. I saw a "JT" scrawled in the Barr Camp logbook from Saturday, and I'm sure Phoebe was off on a mountaintop somewhere, too, this weekend. Go team!</p>
<p>This brings us to the I-Word: injury. After I made it back to earth, I noticed some tightness and twinges inside my knee on my right leg were getting worse. I figured it was because of the weekend's tougher workouts and it would go away. When I woke up on Monday, I still felt it, so I knew I needed to check into things. I took my shoes to the Colorado Running Company begging for a solution.</p>
<p>Turns out I was pronating in the <a href="http://www.brooksrunning.com/Cascadia-6/120085,default,pd.html" target="_blank">Brooks Cascadias</a> I had been running in for a few months. Lots of my friends run in Cascadias and love them, so I bought a pair off <a href="http://www.runningwarehouse.com/" target="_blank">runningwarehouse.com</a> and went to town. I wear custom orthotics, so I thought that would enable me to wear a more neutral shoe than CRC recommended for road use. But the problem arose as I pushed my road shoes aside post-Garden for more rugged runs. Apparently medial support is a thing that I need a lot of. Sorry I neglected you, CRC! I've learned my lesson.</p>
<p>So they recommended I run in my road shoes (even on trails.. what!) until my leg feels better, and then break in some <a href="http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain-running/wildcat-womens" target="_blank">La Sportiva Wildcats</a>, a much beefier shoe with better all-around support. I think I caught this before it turned into a true injury. I've tried to push through other aches and pains in my short but intense running career -- and those left me sidelined for weeks at a time.</p>
<p>Some people have great biomechanics for running. I am not one of them.</p>
<p>Even with the leg pain, I'm glad I got out on the peak this weekend, because I'm about to set off on a few weekends of traveling. This weekend, LB and I will backpack into the wilderness to see <a href="http://www.sangres.com/features/wheelergeologic.htm" target="_blank">some cool rocks</a>, and after that we leave on an 1,800-mile roadtrip through the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming to see family over July 4. I imagine, like on all vacations, my running volume will drop a bit, so that will give me time to heal completely. When I get back, it is ON. I mean, after the <a href="http://www.summerroundup.com/" target="_blank">Summer Roundup</a>, of course.</p>
<p>Below are a few more shots from my run/hike on the Peak on Sunday. Get out there, Colorado Springs: It's not as hot in the high country!</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498665?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498665?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806511216?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806511216?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806511660?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806511660?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806512094?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806512094?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a>One of my favorite views on the whole trail: the route zig-zagging back down, showing your progress.</p>GOG Race Reporttag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-12:5021591:BlogPost:3355412012-06-12T19:55:13.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497591?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497591?profile=original" style="padding: 10px;" width="720"></img></a> This is the only shot any of the photographers (in this case, Tim) managed to catch of me during the <a href="http://www.gardentenmile.com/" target="_blank">Garden of the Gods 10-Mile Race</a>, as far as I can tell. As you can see, I appear to be having a one-woman party about half a mile into the race while everyone else is focusing on the task at hand.…</p>
<p></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497591?profile=original"><img class="align-full" style="padding: 10px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497591?profile=original" width="720"/></a>This is the only shot any of the photographers (in this case, Tim) managed to catch of me during the <a href="http://www.gardentenmile.com/" target="_blank">Garden of the Gods 10-Mile Race</a>, as far as I can tell. As you can see, I appear to be having a one-woman party about half a mile into the race while everyone else is focusing on the task at hand.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497715?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497715?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>I have never been a particularly photogenic runner, which is why I enjoy racing with the Attack Pack. The group's <a href="http://trailrunner.us/About.aspx" target="_blank">policy</a> on showboating: "Showing off for a camera is much better than trying to look cool. No one looks cool while running." (Except, perhaps, <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ridiculously-photogenic-guy-zeddie-little" target="_blank">this guy</a>.) (Photo at left, from the Super Half-Marathon, is courtesy of John Garner. Something similar may or may not have run on the cover of the Long Run that month.)</p>
<p>So, back to the race. I woke up at 5 and heard the wind. It's hardly ever windy at 5 a.m. Excessive wind is not my best condition to run in. Grumble grumble. I fueled up with a slice of peanut butter toast and half a <a href="http://vegasport.com/prepare" target="_blank">Vega Sport</a> smoothie (1/2 scoop powder, 1 banana, 4 or 5 ounces of milk). When I arrived at Memorial Park, I slugged down some of Tim's "P.R. Coffee" at the PPS.us booth while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive.</p>
<p>Having never run this race before, a P.R. was guaranteed!</p>
<p>I didn't even have a real time goal going in, except maybe to beat 1:30. That wasn't a huge priority for me, because my wave in the Triple Crown was predetermined by my Ascent time from 2010; I just thought it would be cool. I knew I wanted to do the first 5 miles at a comfortable pace so I would have some gas left for the last half. When I realized the wind was coming straight from the north, which would mean it was head-on during the longest climb (or what seems like the longest climb, anyway), I was not encouraged.</p>
<p>Did I mention wind is not my favorite?</p>
<p>That aside, I had a good race. When you do the <a href="http://www.gardentenmile.com/training.htm" target="_blank">PPRR Garden training runs</a>, running the actual race is like assembling a puzzle. You already know all the pieces; it's just a matter of putting them together in the right order. On my solo dress rehearsal, I had skipped the mile-plus bit between Memorial Park and Balanced Rock, thinking that would be the easiest part. What I forgot about was there is actually a little hill on the way back to the finish line, which was probably the most difficult one to push through all day as I saw my fake goal was close at hand.</p>
<p>So, as far as the numbers go, I made it to the 5-mile mark in about 45:50, then hit the finish line at 1:29:01, which my Garmin told me was about an 8:48 pace. For me, that's downright respectable, especially on such a hilly course.</p>
<p>Sharon touched on the community aspect of Colorado Springs in her post-race post, and I couldn't agree more. I bumped into former co-workers, current running buddies, past running buddies, and on and on. It was fun skimming the results afterwards for people's names. The running community here is great, and you never know what can happen during a race. I scored my one (and only, to date) freelance writing gig during Winter Series IV in 2011. (Another windy, hilly race, I might add.)</p>
<p>I didn't get a job this time, but I did find some of my PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners teammates consuming beverages out of someone's trunk on the streets of Manitou just after the awards ceremony, which Tim was also nice enough to document. (I think JT had already wandered off in the direction of the Townhouse Lounge.)</p>
<p>I like this team.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498134?profile=original"><img class="align-full" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498134?profile=original" width="737"/></a>Manitou doesn't <em>really</em> have an open container law, right?</p>
<p></p>Preparationstag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-06-05:5021591:BlogPost:3298412012-06-05T22:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497780?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497780?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="325"></img></a> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498044?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498044?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="325"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Here are a few photos of the miscreants I spend my Tuesday, Thursday, and occasional Saturday mornings with,…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497780?profile=original"><img width="325" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497780?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="325"/></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498044?profile=original"><img width="325" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806498044?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="325"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Here are a few photos of the miscreants I spend my Tuesday, Thursday, and occasional Saturday mornings with, <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">the Attack Pack</a>. On the left are what I would consider the "core" members in Ute Valley last March, at our end-of-season breakfast potluck just before the Garden training runs began -- the ones who will show up on the Pikes Peak Greenway trail on cold, snowy mornings. (The core fluctuates a little, depending on where we meet.) On the right is the group from this morning. We are primarily a trails group for most of the year, but we are considered the "middle-of-the-pack road group" on the <a href="http://www.pprrun.org/docs/2012_Garden_Training_Runs.htm" target="_blank">official Garden runs</a>.</p>
<p>(Josh, group leader, appears to be wearing the same shirt in both photos. Ha.)</p>
<p>This is the last week for Garden training runs, obviously, because <a href="http://www.gardentenmile.com/" target="_blank">the race</a> happens on Sunday. I ran 8 of the 10 miles of the course on my own this past Sunday as a dress rehearsal, and felt really strong while doing it. That combined with a Waldo Canyon run on Saturday and a couple of hot yoga classes wrecked me for this morning's run, but I have a feeling if I taper off toward the end of this week I'll be ready to go on Sunday.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806499190?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" style="padding: 5px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806499190?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>Sunday was also a good reminder about another thing I need to keep in mind this week: nutrition. (That's all weeks, really, but especially race weeks.) LB and I went out for a huge Indian feast on Saturday night, which was awesome at the time, but added a few pit stops to my dress rehearsal. So I'm trying to make my lunches look like the picture on the left this week (kale, cucumber, red pepper, carrot, raw broccoli, lemon juice, and a little bit of Annie's dressing). (Eating at your desk is a drag, but bringing really good food helps!)</p>
<p>In the past few months, I've become very interested in making my own running fuel and using more whole foods on the trail. Ever since I found out there is such a thing as "sugar belly" (thanks, Runner's World) when your stomach becomes upset because it can only consume so much sugar (i.e., gels or my old standby, <a href="http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks/1260?utm_source=active&utm_medium=logo&utm_campaign=fastpak_promo" target="_blank">Shot Bloks</a>), I've been exploring new methods of fueling.</p>
<p>I made some imitation blueberry muffin <a href="http://www.larabar.com/" target="_blank">Larabars</a> for a backpacking trip and was really happy with the results. I used <a href="http://userealbutter.com/2012/04/11/homemade-blueberry-muffin-larabar-recipe/" target="_blank">this recipe</a>; it's just dates, cashews, dried blueberries, lemon zest, and the innards of a vanilla bean. I got all the ingredients from <a href="http://www.mountainmamanaturalfoods.com/Welcome.html" target="_blank">Mountain Mama</a>, but I'm sure Whole Foods has them, too. I am considering trying different flavors and cutting them into small bits to eat while running. The last batch kind of fell apart on me, but I'm learning how to troubleshoot.</p>
<p>I also have <a href="http://myvega.com/team-vega/brendan-brazier/biography" target="_blank">"Thrive" by Brendan Brazier</a>, which includes recipes for natural, vegan (no animal products whatsoever, including dairy, eggs, and honey), sports nutrition, and I found some other promising tidbits on the blog <a href="http://ohsheglows.com/" target="_blank">Oh She Glows</a>, like <a href="http://ohsheglows.com/2010/11/12/fruit-and-nut-energy-bites/" target="_blank">this one</a>. If I come across anything revolutionary, I'll be sure to post it here, though everyone has their own perfect fuel. One tip I heard (from a friend who heard it from an ultrarunner from Flagstaff [which has a huge badass running community like ours]) was to use red potatoes with sea salt. That got me through a <a href="http://www.runpikespeak.com/" target="_blank">Barr Trail Mountain Race</a> one year.</p>
<p>I just mentioned a lot of vegan recipe sources, though I'm an omnivore. Plant-based diets are gaining traction among elite athletes like <a href="http://scottjurek.com/" target="_blank">Scott Jurek</a>. I find my energy level is best when I eat a variety of foods, most of which are plants and few of which are processed. I would be alone in my household in going vegetarian or vegan, and I do all the cooking, so making the full switch while keeping everybody happy (everybody = me and LB) would be labor-intensive at times. I do what I can and try to stick to the "everything in moderation" rule, or <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/vegan-before-dinnertime/" target="_blank">Mark Bittman's "vegan before dinnertime"</a> model sometimes. And I'd say I cook full vegetarian meals for dinner four to five nights a week. I have a vegan friend whom I got to dinner parties with sometimes, so I'm getting pretty good at vegan desserts. I highly recommend the <a href="http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2052" target="_blank">Whole Foods recipe for carrot cake</a>, but next time I would ship the Tofutti and make it with <a href="http://www.chow.com/recipes/10856-vegan-fluffy-buttercream-frosting" target="_blank">this frosting</a>.*</p>
<p>*Just because something is vegan does not mean it is healthy!</p>
<p>I am bummed that prior commitments will keep me from hearing <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/group/roadtrailrunning/forum/topics/runner-s-world-magazine-s-bart-yasso-to-speak-at-first-garden-of-?xg_source=activity" target="_blank">Bart Yasso speak at the Garden Expo</a>, but I'll see you and my fellow <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners</a> bright and early Sunday morning at Memorial Park!</p>Am I Forgetting Something?tag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-05-30:5021591:BlogPost:3276822012-05-30T20:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497671?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497671?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" style="padding: 10px;" width="750"></img></a> Oh yeah. Cross training. I feel like I used to be better at it. But when I was training for my last "regular" marathon (the <a href="http://tobaccoroadmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Tobacco Road Marathon</a> in Raleigh, NC, on March 18), I settled into a groove: four runs a week, three yoga classes a week, rest day (or maybe two). I used to lift weights or swim laps or go to…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497671?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-full" style="padding: 10px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497671?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a>Oh yeah. Cross training. I feel like I used to be better at it. But when I was training for my last "regular" marathon (the <a href="http://tobaccoroadmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Tobacco Road Marathon</a> in Raleigh, NC, on March 18), I settled into a groove: four runs a week, three yoga classes a week, rest day (or maybe two). I used to lift weights or swim laps or go to a spin class or ride my bike to work at least once a week during previous training cycles, but for all the reasons I listed as impediments to training I mentioned in my <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/quality-quantity" target="_blank">earlier post</a>, those habits have fallen by the wayside.</p>
<p>So my Memorial Day weekend mountain biking trip to Fruita with my boyfriend (we'll call him "LB") was somewhat of a humbling experience. A single 8-mile ride four weeks before the trip does not a training regimen (nor mountain biker) make. In the four days we were there, I rode twice. Hills that LB would blaze up on his single-speed left me a panting mess in granny gear.</p>
<p>I say this was humbling because my workouts are typically, shall we say, more consistent than his. (He rides on weekends with the odd post-work jaunt from time to time. I do something active [run, hike, Incline, or yoga] almost every day, and sometimes I squeeze in a double workout day.)</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806510718?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806510718?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>Are the muscles used in biking versus running really that different? I have no idea. My two Western Slope trail runs went well, which was heartening. If you're in the Fruita area, I highly recommend the <a href="http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/MCNCA/pdf.Par.78226.File.dat/devils%20cyn%20web.pdf" target="_blank">Devil's Canyon [PDF]</a> area. There's a nice network of trails there, including one <a href="http://www.trailrunner.com/state_trails/co_devils_canyon_trail.htm" target="_blank">around the rim</a> that features some great views. I was able to run from the trailhead back to our hotel on the south side of Fruita, another bonus. I also did a shorter run on the Moore Fun trail, part of the <a href="http://geminiadventures.com/new/images/Festmap25mile.jpg" target="_blank">Desert RATS 25/50-miler</a> course.</p>
<p>So I won't get too wrapped up by my performance (or lack of) on a bike this past weekend. I've read enough Runner's World (and run enough races) to know that the best way to train for a specific race is to simulate race conditions, so back to Barr Trail and Garden of the Gods I go this weekend. The first race of the <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/tcr/index.htm" target="_blank">Triple Crown</a> is next weekend, of course, and I'm eager to wear my shiny new <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners</a> singlet. (I've never been on a running team before!)</p>
<p>I've shifted perspective a bit since my last post: Instead of being freaked out, I'm excited about the challenge awaiting me at the end of the summer. (In my next post, I will probably have gone back to being freaked out.) Either way, in the end, I'll get to call myself, as teammate <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/SharonAnneGreenbaum" target="_blank">Sharon</a> says, a <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/milestones-some-minor-some-major" target="_blank">round-tripper</a>.</p>
<p>How are all of your summer adventures going so far?</p>
<p></p>Quality > Quantitytag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-05-24:5021591:BlogPost:3258452012-05-24T00:00:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497954?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497954?profile=RESIZE_320x320" style="padding: 10px;" width="300"></img></a> This is me on my first trip to Barr camp for the season this past Sunday. (Please excuse the overexposure. With my pack loaded up with avocados for <a href="http://www.gazette.com/articles/strong-100011-pike-five.html" target="_blank">Neil and Teresa, the caretakers of the camp</a>, I had no room for a camera besides my cell phone.) I went with Josh, Ramsey, and Brian, three…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497954?profile=original"><img width="300" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497954?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"/></a>This is me on my first trip to Barr camp for the season this past Sunday. (Please excuse the overexposure. With my pack loaded up with avocados for <a href="http://www.gazette.com/articles/strong-100011-pike-five.html" target="_blank">Neil and Teresa, the caretakers of the camp</a>, I had no room for a camera besides my cell phone.) I went with Josh, Ramsey, and Brian, three friends from the <a href="http://www.trailrunner.us/Runners.aspx" target="_blank">Attack Pack</a>. I was pretty tired that morning, for a <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/addendum?xg_source=activity" target="_blank">couple</a> of <a href="http://www.focusonthebeer.com/2012/05/friendly-reminder-about-battle-of.html" target="_blank">reasons</a>, so I didn't do much running on the way up.</p>
<p>Why hadn't I made it farther up the trail than the top of the Incline before now? Any number of reasons. I have a job that can demand long hours, I have a boyfriend, I like to travel, I like beer, all my friends are getting married, sometimes I get lazy, and on and on.</p>
<p>I wasn't worried about my lack of Barr Trail time so far this year until Ramsey emailed the group looking to schedule a Peak run, and I started looking at the calendar.</p>
<p>Because of my regular Tuesday/Thursday morning run routine with the Pack, I know I'll be ready for the Garden of the Gods 10-miler and the Summer Roundup. I ran the Summer Roundup last year, so I've got a handle on it.</p>
<p>It's the <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/" target="_blank">marathon</a> that's concerning me. Not just any marathon (which is a feat in and of itself). THE marathon.</p>
<p>When I began this endeavor, I had a grand vision of all the weekend runs I would knock out to fortify my legs for 13+ miles of downhill torture: 3-2-1s. Runs to A-Frame and back. Elk Park. Bottomless Pit. Hitching a ride to the top and running all the way down. But between backpacking trips, family vacations, and the never-ending weddings slowly filling up my weekends, I know now that I have to make the most of the days at home.</p>
<p>I'm not expecting to be competitive at the marathon by a long shot, but I would like to finish the thing with a smile on my face and not in a wheelchair. August 19 will be here so quickly. Several of my fellow <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners teammates</a> have echoed these thoughts. Anybody else freaking out a little bit? Any advice?</p>Addendumtag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-05-21:5021591:BlogPost:3249482012-05-21T22:55:07.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495077?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495077?profile=original" width="639"></img></a> Me captured by <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten" target="_blank">Tim</a> on my way to coming in first in my age group (25-29F) in Saturday's <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.net/cgi/race-results.php?rname=Run%20to%20the%20Shrine%205K&year=2012&month=05" target="_blank">Run to the Shrine 5k</a>. Yay! Way to not show up, fast ladies in my…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495077?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495077?profile=original" width="639"/></a>Me captured by <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten" target="_blank">Tim</a> on my way to coming in first in my age group (25-29F) in Saturday's <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.net/cgi/race-results.php?rname=Run%20to%20the%20Shrine%205K&year=2012&month=05" target="_blank">Run to the Shrine 5k</a>. Yay! Way to not show up, fast ladies in my age group. :) My first age group victory!</p>
<p>This is an auspicious beginning to the <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/tcr/index.htm" target="_blank">Triple Crown</a> race season.</p>My Brief Brush with Greatnesstag:pikespeaksports.us,2012-05-17:5021591:BlogPost:3232372012-05-17T18:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495314?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495314?profile=RESIZE_320x320" style="padding: 10px;" width="250"></img></a> For the record: I'm not a fast runner. I'm a solid middle-of-the-packer who sometimes makes it into the top third in my age group. Part of that is the remarkable running community in this town. You people are talented, and more ambitious runners keep arriving all the time. (Take my friend Scott Spillman, who moved to town late last year. He won the …</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495314?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495314?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>For the record: I'm not a fast runner. I'm a solid middle-of-the-packer who sometimes makes it into the top third in my age group. Part of that is the remarkable running community in this town. You people are talented, and more ambitious runners keep arriving all the time. (Take my friend Scott Spillman, who moved to town late last year. He won the <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/inaugural-super-half-marathon-and-5k-family-run" target="_blank">Super Half-Marathon</a> and the <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/video/interview-with-take-5-in-the-garden-5-mile-winner-scott-spillman" target="_blank">Take 5 in the Garden</a> this year. I hired that guy at <a href="http://www.dailytarheel.com/" target="_blank">the student newspaper</a> at the <a href="http://www.unc.edu/index.htm" target="_blank">University of North Carolina</a>. I now refer to him as "my fast friend.")</p>
<p>So! May 2010. I had signed up for my first (and only, to date) <a href="http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/" target="_blank">Pikes Peak Ascent</a> and had no idea how to begin to train for the thing. A friend of mine told me about a new race at the <a href="http://www.cmzoo.org/" target="_blank">Cheyenne Mountain Zoo</a> called <a href="http://www.cmzoo.org/guestInformation/events/runToTheShrine.asp" target="_blank">Run to the Shrine</a>. I had been to the zoo once, so I knew it was in the foothills, but I had never seen nor heard of this shrine. I signed up a few days ahead of time, looking forward to a challenging 10K. My friend kept mentioning the hill, but I still wasn't concerned, for some reason. I wrote a flippant Facebook post about the race the night before, saying, "I hear there's a hill."</p>
<p>Driving up to the zoo the morning of the race, I began to see the error of my ways. I looked up ... and up ... and up into the hills at a conspicuous pointy gray building. Oh. That hill.</p>
<p>Crap.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495780?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495780?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>I had been doing some "Rogue Incline Club" workouts (where I borrow the <a href="http://www.inclineclub.com/home.htm" target="_blank">Incline Club</a>'s prescribed hill workout for the week and do it on my own at a different time), which were helping my hill capacity immensely. As the gun went off, I set a goal: Let's see if we can do this thing without walking.</p>
<p>I kept it steady on the way up. The original course had the high point just before mile 3. (They have since changed the course. See Garmin screen shots A and B for comparison.) I was thrilled to see the turnaround at the top. Running down was awesome. I kept picking off people, including some who looked to be 25-29-year-old <a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496820?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 10px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496820?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>women, some of whom had been playing leapfrog with me all the way up. Right at the end, I passed my final mark, stopped my watch, and tried to catch my breath.</p>
<p>After checking out the post-race festivities for a short time, I headed home. My time wasn't a PR by a long shot, so I was feeling ambivalent about the race, though it had been a good workout. I didn't realize the grade of the hill until I downloaded the data from my Garmin. I felt better about my effort.</p>
<p>I didn't realize how strong that effort had been until Tim posted <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.net/cgi/race-results.php?rname=Run%20To%20The%20Shrine%2010K&year=2010&month=05" target="_blank">the results</a> a few hours later: second in my age group, ninth woman overall. My final mark had been a 27-year-old woman, whom I beat by 1 second. Sorry, Sonja Demuth. This is a close second to the "best race" I wrote about on the <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/page/the-2012-pikespeaksports-us-triple-crown-runners-team-page" target="_blank">PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners team bio page</a>.</p>
<p>In 2011, when the course was changed to include a 4-mile hill instead of a 3-mile hill, I didn't do as well. Plus, I think more of you fast-running people had heard of the race by then. I didn't quite make it through without walking that year (though I was coming off an injury and a painful first marathon). The photo at the top of this post was taken on my way up the hill in 2011.</p>
<p>I'll be returning to the Shrine on foot on Saturday, but I've chosen to do the 5K this time -- the plan is to run to <a href="http://www.barrcamp.com/" target="_blank">Barr Camp</a> on Sunday with <a href="http://trailrunner.us/" target="_blank">the usual suspects</a>. Because it's on pavement, it's great practice for the <a href="http://www.gardentenmile.com/" target="_blank">Garden of the Gods 10-miler</a>. I don't expect anything great for 2012, but 2010 will stick with me as the time I almost came close to winning something.</p>
<p>Sort of.</p>THE COLORADO RELAY: 9 runners. 200 miles. 32 hours. 0 sleep.tag:pikespeaksports.us,2011-08-31:5021591:BlogPost:2357002011-08-31T19:30:00.000ZKatie Benzelhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/KatieSchwing
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495629?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495629?profile=original" style="padding: 3px;" width="720"></img></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-1" style="color: #808080;">Team photo by Christian Murdock. Other photos by Katie Schwing.</span></p>
<p>This adventure started with a conversation with a coworker. She had found this event, the Colorado Relay, and was putting a team together. I volunteered, mostly because I wanted to skip a year of the Pikes Peak Ascent but still spend…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495629?profile=original"><img class="align-left" style="padding: 3px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806495629?profile=original" width="720"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color: #808080;" class="font-size-1">Team photo by Christian Murdock. Other photos by Katie Schwing.</span></p>
<p>This adventure started with a conversation with a coworker. She had found this event, the Colorado Relay, and was putting a team together. I volunteered, mostly because I wanted to skip a year of the Pikes Peak Ascent but still spend my summer working and training toward a big goal.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496890?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 3px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806496890?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>One by one, people started dropping out. Ascent registration was right around the corner, and our team was falling to pieces. When the coworker threw in the towel, I started organizing my own team.</p>
<p>Gathering and keeping members is probably the hardest thing about doing an event like this. It's one thing to get yourself there on time, registered, with the right gear, etc., but to make sure eight other adults are doing the right things at the right time ... yeah. We were originally an all-female ultra team, but we added some men down the road, ending up with the team name "Badass Ladies and Some Dudes." We started August with one nine-person team and ran the race with six of the original nine.</p>
<p>On top of that, the Relay directors kept changing it up, including on race morning when we were greeted by an email full of last-minute changes and new directions. Last year's race was 174 miles; this year's race was just shy of 200 miles. The organizational effort here was like a part-time job at times.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497127?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 3px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806497127?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>But we all made it to Breckenridge in one piece ready to run. A full team is 10 runners, so we worked it out so three of ours ran an extra leg. One girl got pretty sick, so another ended up running five legs, or 35 miles total. Other than that, no one got injured and everybody felt pretty strong (except for some brief stomach issues, which everyone dealt with). We had four runners and one driver/photographer in one car and five runners in the second car. It was really only too crowded when the cars were "off" and all five had to squeeze in together, especially at night when it was raining and we were all trying to get some sleep but not get soaked.</p>
<p>The route ran from Breckenridge over Boreas Pass, then looped back around to Frisco, mirrored I-70 and US 6 for awhile, then followed a bike path east on CO 82 toward Snowmass Village, finishing on something called the Rim Trail. It made for a pretty dramatic finish as you could see runners popping out on top of a hill, switchbacking down the hillside, then running up the road to join their teams and make it across the finish line all together.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806510866?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 3px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806510866?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>Right before we sent our runner over the Georgia Pass leg (1600 feet of elevation gain up to 12,000+ feet), thunderclouds rolled in and it began to rain. Kelly, the runner, said the first couple of miles were like running up a river, but she didn't get struck by lightning, so we were happy about that. After that it rained off and on until about 11 p.m. when it cleared up. The following day was hot and sunny -- too hot at times.</p>
<p>My legs were 7 miles, 10 miles, and 7 miles, or 24 miles and change for the weekend. One of those happened about 4 p.m., the second one was 9 p.m. (in the rain), and the third was at 6:30 a.m. (my preferred time to run). I took the team back to downtown Frisco, from West Vail to Avon, and from Glenwood Springs south almost to Basalt.</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806511103?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" style="padding: 3px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2806511103?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>Overall it was a good experience, and I would participate in an event like this again. We had a few qualms: no aid stations at all (we were told there would be 4); poor course markings, especially at dusk; not enough shirt sizes; last-minute changes. Also they gave us our commemorative pint glasses at the beginning instead of at the end, so we ended up breaking two on our journey across the state.</p>
<p>The team socks were bought on a whim the week before the race, but everyone ended up running at least one leg in them. The dudes especially seemed to enjoy them, and they made nice compression socks for in between legs.</p>
<p> </p>