Haulin’ Aspen Trail Marathon - RunMarathon


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Bend, Oregon
United States
Lay it Out Events
85F / 29C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 5h 07m 36s
Overall Rank = 82/125
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 6/8
Pre-race routine:

Couldn't really sleep too well, so got up at 4am. The women's Olympic marathon was on TV, so I drank a bunch of water and watched it on TV. Drove to pick up a friend and drank a big cup of frozen coffee.
Event warmup:

A few bathroom breaks, some water, walking around a bit, and just a little light jogging.
Run
  • 5h 07m 36s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

Very, very challenging course. Felt really great from miles 1-9ish, which was uphill, but not very steep. Miles 11-13 are crazy steep (over 1000 feet combined, according to my Garmin). I had to walk quite a bit (though, so did all the other runners around me). I wasn't going to be overly concerned with walking. I was going to do it as needed... I had no PR or time goals for this race, just wanted to finish with a smile. The downhill section (miles 13-24) was really fun, but after shredding my legs on the uphill, I was hurting a bit. Had to start walking a decent amount towards the end of the race. I tried to set small goals and stick to them.
What would you do differently?:

Train more, especially on hills. This summer my training wasn't what it should have been. I didn't put in enough miles and I ran almost no trails or hills.
Post race
Warm down:

Hugged my family. Took my shoes off instantly (had stubbed the sh!t out of both my big toes... likely going to lose the nails on both). Then drank some water, some beer, ate some local bean bowl, and sat in the freezing cold creek.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack trianing.

Event comments:

The course is very, very tough. But I knew this going into it.




Last updated: 2012-01-31 12:00 AM
Running
05:07:36 | 26.2 miles | 11m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/8
Overall: 82/125
Performance:
Average heart rate: 156 Max heart rate: 179
Course: The course includes a great mix of terrain, surfaces, vegetation and views. From start to finish it is an awesome venue and we’ll provide the aid and support to help you have your best day on the trails. You’ll have at least two bridges to cross over including a covered bridge and a log bridge. You’ll cross a canal that may or may not still have a bit of water in it in August. You’ll have some nice cinder forest service roads and some great windy (as in curvy, not blustery!) single track to run on. You’ll see aspens, ponderosas, other pines and clearings of manzanitas. You’ll catch some peaks at Mt. Bachelor, Tumalo Mountain and maybe even Broken Top and The Sisters. You’ll climb for the first half of the marathon (from about 3500ft at Shevlin Park to nearly 6000 ft). There will be a couple nice short steep technical sections of single track before hitting the old forest service roads which will continue the upwards trend. At the halfway point you catch the Mrazek trail and have downhill single track the rest of the way to the finish. It’ll be a windy, fast and fun return to Shevlin Park. And the finish is soft and flat along pine needle covered paths next to the creek. You’ll end at Aspen Meadows and after you cross the finish line you’ll have the cold fresh water of the creek right there so you can cool you’re legs off and clean the dirt out from between your toes.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5