Double RR: Red Rocks Elementary Fun Run and Boulder Backroads halfMarathon

I have been out of a job for the last month. The stress has been a lot, but I have had more time to spend with my kids. My wife is substitute teaching to make some money and I get to be Mr. Mom. So last Friday, my daughter elementary school had a Fun Run for the kids through the streets of the little town of Morrison, Co (where the school is located). We walk from the school with all the kids to the start line. The PE teacher is wearing a very funny had. He is clearly having a blast. I wish I had his job.... My daughter is in Kindergarden. All the girls line up. I ask how long the run is. "About a mile". OK, so I have a 3 years old also and a 1 year old in strollers. I give the 3 years old to another mom and decide to jog the mile with the jogger next to my 5 years old. Isabella stops a couple of times along the course, but does complete the mile. I guess I should have checked how long it took. At the end the kids get to sing and dance in the town square, before going back to school. What a fun idea!

Just on the same day I had decided to sign up for the Boulder backroads HalfMarathon (www.boulderbackrods) for that Sunday (9/28). It's a very popular race in this area which is run at about 5200 feet altitude. I had trained for the last 6 weeks, while looking for a job and working as Mr. Mom. My mileage was a little short on my long runs, but considering I had run a HM at sea level back in college in 1h18' I figured I could go 1h25' at altitude if I felt good.
I get to Boulder Resevoir and find out there are more than 1800 people signed up.
It's a beautiful Colorado fall day. There are 5 hot air ballons up in the air and a small backpipe group plays to entratain the chilly runners. With ten minutes to go I move toward the start. I am surprised not to see more people trying to get to the front of the crowd. So I do. I decide to start at 6'30" and see if I can keep it. I start running with an older guy and ask him what pace he is planning on running. He says 6'20" but he is breathing harder than I am so I decide to stay with him. At mile 1, we catch a woman that seems very serious. I decide to start running with her. I guess that was a good choice, because we pass the "6'20" guy and some other people. We end up running the whole race together. The pace is constant at 6'30"/35" and I am feeling OK. Then mile 9 is downhill, I look at my watch and we ran it in 5'35". "Ouch" I say. She looks at me and says: "I like downhills".
My muscles are starting to complain about the fact that I did not run long enough during the 6 weeks of training. As we pass mile 12 another downhill is coming and she accellerates. I can feel that if I try to keep up with her I will cramp, so I don't.
The last half mile is very tough, but I complete the race in 1h24'02" and she is 16" ahead of me.

I am happy considering I did not train much and that the race was not flat and was run on dirt.

Now I just have to start working again. But for this week I will be Mr. Mom.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I have been asked to start writing in the run section of this site, starting in November, so you will "see" me around quite a bit. I am excited about the opportunity!

Enrico in CO
Triathlete, Runner and ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Lakewood, CO