Pikes Peak Ascent - RunHalf Marathon

Went within a minute of this time on my own 2 weeks ago.
2 weeks ago went out slower and got faster as I went, to the point of making up almost 4minutes on the Skyrunner pace chart in the last mile alone, but it's very hard to do that with folks all over the trail.
In the race, went out faster than finish-time pace, and eventually slowed down. This is the nature of getting to a trail with 500 other folks at the same time, and trying to pass at such high altitude on the steepest rockiest trail. Was pleased I adapted to both these extremes, kept my head in the game, dialed in the nutrition, and got the PR.

Got to Hydro 2mins ahead of 4:15pace, at 14:xx, and was still within 2mins of 4:22 pace at the Bottomless Pit sign. But by A-Frame watch was off and it was pushing and fighting to get to the top but not blow up/cramp completely out. When stymied by the crowds I stayed focused on big picture and got'er done. Gotta be happy with that.

The ONLY way to go faster at this point for me is to run more and work to hike just a bit faster up high. To do so I must lose weight and improve my overall running, and then spend more time at Altitude so that I can run and hike faster up high.
Even so, I flew by folks in the last 2 miles, including both the people who had passed me in the first mile after treeline.
I'm all about "Positive Self-Talk" and use a lot of Mantras, like the Tarahumara's "Easy, Light, Smooth, Fast" etc. but up high with the fog of Altitude closing in "F*#king Fight!" as an exhortation was working great. :-)

Walked through finish chute, got my Medal and kept walking. Told Sweat-Check folks my number and kept walking so that by the time they found it I was at the top of their oval not the bottom. They tossed it up and I continued walking directly to the Van line. One van was filled as I got there and when it pulled out we filled the next.
Had another Saltstick and offered a couple to folks in the van and had no cramping on the way down. Yeah!
Got a few grapes and saw Jay at Glen Cove. He hadn't subtracted 30mins from the finish-line clock time so was happy when I told him, especially because he's wave 1 qualified now. We tried to hit the school bus right away but it was full 2 folks in front of us. Luckily we filled the next one almost immediately and got going off the Mtn.
Had a Mass Transit Ale and a Cookie at the Tent after getting my shirt, and talked to Jay a little more, hit the Motel after talking to Mom on the phone.
Just jawed and showered and ate a strange Subway El had got- Chipotle Mayo and Yellow Peppers when I'm just a Light Mayo, Lettuce and Tomato kind of guy.
Hit the town later. Alison was really funny, but we were done by 9:30 and back at the Motel and already in the Pool before 10. Rain finally came and shut down the "Incline Dream" and then real suddenly everyone wanted to hit the hay. I was up before 6:30 and brought Sonic Breakfast Burritos home.


Biking the USA Pro Cycling Challenge "Ride of Champions", through Garden of the Gods and along the Prologue course, with Radio Shack, Saxo Bank, HTC-HighRoad, and LiquiGas riders, (which I WON from the local Newspaper) the day before did have an impact, but I PR'ed at 50, and still see room for improvement, so I'm pretty psyched.
Intrigued by Kent's 11mins to Hydro- he ran 3:48. Will have to train over and over on the lower portions of the course and need to ask more folks where on the course they run.


Mental effort was a 4-5, really kept my head in the game, and passed everyone I possibly could above treeline, dancing along rocks on the edge of the trail at times. Results show I finished 2 seconds behind someone but I didn't see anyone and I actually think that's a guy I passed right at the end. Mmm.
Have found myself wondering if I maybe could have gone harder, but remembering the sudden jolts of cramps I got a couple/few different times (groin (surely from the Biking) and Calf (although VERY slight or that would have been the end!)) in the last 1.5miles tells me effort was excellent and well meted out, and while "Could I have gone harder?" might be a no, "Can I improve?" I believe is a yes!
As for the Race eval... look this race is unique. Yeah, the Aid Stations get farther apart as the Altitude increases, exactly what you don't need. And again, Cirque was out of Gatorade, not that I needed it, but others were asking and I know how deadly that can be if you need it and they don't have it at 13,000ft and a mile to go.
But the Volunteers do incredible work to get anything to the middle of the Mtn and us and it all back off. So the crowding, and aid stations running out, and the date of the race being on the cusp of bad weather on the Peak, those are givens.
I've worked hard to dial in my nearly self-sufficient Nutrition strategy, and I think the HydraPour system is a winner and hope it is adopted with multiple pour-stations per Aid Station.
All told this race goes off unbelievably well, and I always especially say "Thanks for coming out" to the Search and Rescue folks... cause someday we may actually need 'em!