You would think that with all this time off I have right now due to my job taking a seasonal hiatus for the Spring season, I would be blogging it up like crazy...
Fortunately, due to some fantastic weather in the High Country, I have been able to get a whole bunch of miles out on the dirt and even threw down for an unexpected race. So, I guess we will start with that one. Just a week after the Whiskey 50, tons of local friends were getting ready to line it up both East and West of Eagle at the Front Range 60 in Denver as well as the 18 Hours of Fruita in, well, you guessed it Fruita. Jealous of all the suffering these friends were about to experience I decided Friday night to pack up the gear and head down to Denver for the Front Range 60 "half-marathon" race which was just over 30 miles in length. I would have really liked to get down there for the full marathon race, but due to financial constraints of not working and the 8am start time, racing in said event just wasn't feasible. With a 2pm start for the halfsies, it made for a perfect out and back day trip to Denver to race, grab some goods at Whole Foods, and indulge at Tokyo Joes post race.
We got there just in time to catch the first group of finishers from the full marathon coming through the line. Fellow Bach Builders racer Ken Boyer finished in a blistering time just over 4 hours to take 6th place in his group. Way to go Ken!! This threw his average race speed at just below 15mph. Crazy! At that point I knew this course was going to be a fast paced hammer-fest. Edwards local Tyler Eaton came in just over 4 and a half hours despite having some cramping issues on lap 4 of 6. At this point the heat was settling in. The temperature in Denver was 60 degrees at 8am for the start of the full. By the time we lined up for the half, the standing air temp was already breaking 80 degrees. Eric Rubottom and I lined it up in our respective age groups, and at that time realized that our competition included licensed Pro riders. The thing about ultra-endurance races is that you rarely see a structured ability level designation. Ages are commonly split up but if you can race for 50+ miles, event organizers don't really consider you a beginner or intermediate racer. That being said, the start of our race was HOT! I was able to hang for all of a half mile with riders such as Kevin Kane and Mitch Hoke in my field.
The course sure was fast and fun. At 10 miles a lap, there were only 4 legitimate "climbs", 3 of which were less than 2-3 minutes in length. The only sustained climb was a gradual 10 minute haul which finally dropped down into a shaded, sandy section of the course. The toughest part of this race for me was the amount of sun exposure each lap which hit you about 90% of the time. Factoring the sun into the equation, race temps sat around 95 degrees for over 2 hours. Not knowing anything about the course I was shooting for a time of 2:17:00. I ended up finishing in a time of 2:12:22 good enough for a 14th place finish. For a last minute decision to race on an absolute 2 hour max interval format, I was pretty happy with the results. Not to mention, after being hit with some big cramping issues late in the race in Arizona, I was able to adjust my Infinit Nutrition blend to include some additional electrolytes and focus more attention to a steady intake through the duration of the race. The plan worked and not once did I feel even the slightest hint of a muscle twitch.
Eric Rubottom had a great race, throwing down a time of 2:05:58 good enough for 13th in a large field of 25 in his age group.
Next race - The Original Growler, 64 miles of some of the sickest singletrack I have ridden to date! Also, becoming my longest race to date...
TMP
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