In 2019 I plan to write a blog post shortly after each actual race I attempt but since I didn’t start this website until after I finished all my races for the year, I thought I would give a quick race recap of each one. Maybe this will help you pick some races you want to do in the new year!

Run Through Time 1/2 Marathon

March 10th, Trail Race

Time: 2:43:27 12:21/Mile

Miles: 13.22, Elevation Gain: 1,730

This was my first race on the schedule since I started using a coach in October and it was only 3 weeks out from my “A” 100k race. My plan was just to have a fun, short race to  alleviate a bit of the nerves and get me in racing mode. I am not quite sure what went wrong but about 4 miles in, my stomach turned on me. I am pretty proud of the fact that I have had minimal stomach issues while running/racing and this was very strange and out of character. I all of a sudden got really cold and clammy and felt like I was going to puke and my legs turned to lead. I only felt semi decent running downhill sections, of which the race seemed to have very little of. I felt so horrible that I was contemplating stopping….for a 1/2 marathon! Instead, I just slowed down, adjusted my expectations and pushed for a finish. I crossed the line feeling like I had ran a 50k. It was such a humbling and surreal experience. I still felt pretty crappy for quite a few hours afterward but luckily there was an amazing selection of food and beverages to hold me over while I waited for my friends to cross the marathon finish line. Minus how badly I felt throughout it, I would definitely do this race again. Really fun course, beautiful area and its organized very well. And you get a fun pair of socks!

The Georgia Death Race 72 Miler

March 31st, Trail Race

Time: 14:30:18 19:14/Mile

DNF

Miles: 45, Elevation Gain: 12,880

I feel like I have definitely recapped this race experience and DNF enough in the past year. You can read about it here, here and here if you haven’t already. My biggest takeaway lessons throughout the whole year was gleaned from this race and I am forever grateful for that experience.

Bloomsday 12k

May 6th, Road Race

Time: 1:08:22, 9:04/Mile

Miles: 7.54, Elevation Gain: 380

This performance was a bit of a surprise! I had actually been recovering really horribly from my GDR DNF and the week leading up to this race I was feeling super run down and sick. I almost didn’t start but by the time the day came, I was feeling decent enough to give it a go. Bloomsday has been a race I’ve done a handful of times before and it’s always been my goal to be able to finish it in 1:10. I definitely didn’t think that was going to get accomplished this year but it did and then some! Yay for coaching and for unexpected turnarounds (and for sea level)!

Mueller Marathon 25k

June 9th, Trail Race

Time: 3:08:30, 12:24/Mile

8th Place

Miles: 15.18, Elevation Gain: 2,870

Woo! This race was unexpected. My friend Emily talked me into signing up for it about 2 weeks beforehand. Since it was such a short race and she already had things planned out, I didn’t really even look at the details. I kind of just signed up and showed up. The course itself was really different from any trail race I had done before. It was lots of gravel, sand and….grass. I don’t think I’ve ever really tried to run on grass before and especially not fast…it was interesting to say the least ha-ha. The race was at about 9,000 altitude, which I also didn’t really know until the day of and I wasn’t super prepared for the thinner air ha-ha . It also got a bit warm for my taste in the last 5 miles so I felt like I was dragging ass. On top of that, we had to pretty much end on this giant, never-ending hill! I hate RD’s that think that is ok…they can go to hell. Juuuusssst kidding, love you Mad Moose. Well, you can imagine my surprise when I crossed the finish line and learned that I had placed 8th female. I have never been in the top 10 at any race before…heck not even anywhere near top 20. Even though I knew it was a smaller, not as well-known race, I was still very exhilarated and rode that high for quite a lot longer than was warranted. I am not sure if I would do this specific race again or not cause the course was not really my cup of tea but it was definitely a fun experience!

Xterra 20k

August 5th, Trail Race

Time: 2:17:23, 11:31/Mile

18th Place

Miles: 11.91, Elevation Gain: 1,400

This was probably my most painful race of the year ha-ha. Super rolling hills, and I mean ROLLING. Like rollercoaster hills. I have never ran on that kind of terrain before and it was brutal. Especially since I had been spending the summer climbing 14ers and doing high alpine adventures instead of following my workout plan my coach had been giving me each week…don’t worry, he was at the race to internally laugh his ass off at me when he saw my wrecked and sweaty face at the finish line. He didn’t even need to tell me I told you so, I told myself. Another race I am not quite sure I would ever do again, mostly because I really didn’t like feeling like there was someone nipping at my heels the entire time. I am definitely more into the slower, less competitive, room to breathe type races.

Arapahoe Basin 7 Miler

Aug 18th, Trail Race

Time: 1:49:05, 16:60/Mile

Miles: 6.42, Elevation Gain: 2,400

I will go ahead and say that this one was my favorite race of the year. Which is pretty funny cause it was the shortest. If you have never done a Cirque Series race before, put it on your list…it’s AMAZING. For this specific race, you basically climb goat hills with some short rolling breaks in between of 2,400 feet of elevation gain in 3.5 miles as you summit Little Lenawee Peak at Arapahoe Basin. Then you get to bomb down some really fun technical terrain and awesome squishy single track to the finish. I felt like it played to my strengths and also challenged my weaknesses. It was a super rainy and pretty chilly day out but it made from some fun, eerie looking views!

Devil on the Divide 22k

Sept 8th, Trail Race

DNS

Obviously not much of a race report here but I thought I would mention it was on my list to do and I actually felt like I was having a fantastic training period leading up to it. I just had an amazing feeling run on a portion of the CDT the weekend before and was feeling really excited. Then I came down with an AWFUL sinus head cold that basically made it so that it felt like I was a balloon floating around with only lead legs grounding me. I went to bed the night before hoping I would feel better in the morning but when that alarm rang, I couldn’t get myself to agree it was a good idea to race. I went on a short 4 mile run later that evening and practically felt drunk on the trail so I knew it was the right choice but was obviously REALLY bummed. I plan on coming back to this next year if recovery from my A race goes as planned.

Indian Creek 15 Miler

Oct 13th Trail Race

Time: 3:04:45, 12:05/Mile

10th Place

Miles: 15.28, Elevation Gain: 2,530

Last race of the year and boy was it a good one! I hadn’t really settled into my training plan consistently leading up to this so I just wanted to go in and try to race as hard as I could and see where my fitness got me. My goal was to finish in 3 to 3:10 and I had to really push in the last couple of miles to get there. I actually had my very first trail race fall only 2 miles in and the adrenaline from that really helped push me for a lot of it. I’ve done the 50k the year that I had moved to Colorado in 2016 and the first loop of that race is the 15 miler so I was familiar with this section of the course. It felt so much easier this time around and I was super happy that when I crossed I didn’t have to go out for another loop. Even though the first time I had ran that section was part of a longer race, I took 55 minutes off of my previous time! I was amazed and pretty proud of myself about that.