Photo of Susie as she crosses the finish line!! Love the smile Susie!!

Congratulations to the following MHM who completed the Snowman Stampede race at Cherry Creek State Park last weekend

20 miles:
Barb Essess 4:08 (Barb is in the final stages of preparing for the Rome Marathon)

10 Miler:

Jeff Spiegel 1:36:40
Susie Wargin 1:23 (PR)
Steve Uccello 1:14:23

** Team uniforms shipped on Friday and should be here mid week!!

*** If you would like to read about my training week in Arizona with MHM athletes Steve Uccello and Jonathan Nixon click on the “Coach Pete” blog link on the right hand side of this blog

Susie’s race report write up follows. Keep these race reports coming as all of us learn from each others experience.

212 Degrees

Let me start by saying I never, and I mean never thought I’d be a “long distance” runner. In fact, I recall an argument with my husband three summers ago when he brought up a duathlon featuring a 5K run on both sides of a bike. I told him my body and knees could never handle more than a 5K.

For once in his life, he was right and I was very wrong.

In January, I ran in Frosty’s Frozen 5 at Chatfield. It was the 2nd race in the 3 part Winter Distance Series. It was my first 10 mile race and only the 2nd time I’d ever ran that long. I finished in 1:27:17 and the Alfino’s raved (that’s what we pay them for right?). Having never gone that distance, I really didn’t know what was good or bad for an “I’m never going to be a long distance person.”

Last weekend (4 weeks after Frosty’s), I concluded the series with another 10 mile run in the Snowman Stampede at Cherry Creek Reservoir. This now marked the 3rd time I’d run 10 miles in my life. I had been very diligent with my training and even lucked out with my last long training run being in Tucson where the altitude is low and the streets are flat.

I went into the race gunning for a goal set by Kathy of 1:25. I felt very relaxed and prepared. It was much warmer than Frosty’s (by about 25 degrees at least) which I was pretty psyched about. Frosty’s and the Jingle Bell run in December were in the single digits and teens at race time.

I started towards the front. I don’t know why I do this because I always get passed and it would probably serve my ego better if I was at the back and doing the passing. Must be that Type A thing. I still passed a few on this one.

When the siren sounded I took off. I started a new race practice in December with the Jingle Bell of putting off my MP3 player for as long as I could. I wanted to really get a feel for my body: listening to my breath, checking my form and my mind. In my last two races, I was able to wait until the last couple miles before I really wanted those tunes.

This time, I never touched the play button.

Mile 1 was a little climb out of the Marina, onto the road and out to the sidewalk along Dayton. At the 1 mile marker , I pressed the lap button on my Garmin and saw 7:43. “Holy crap” I thought – did I press start late? I knew I didn’t. I began to wonder if I was going too fast and pushing too hard too early.

But I felt really good and I kept thinking about the video Pete sent out last week: 212 degrees. I could go slower, but that would be less than 212 – I wanted to leave it all on the course this time.

At the 2nd mile marker, I clocked a 7:46 mile and I thought “Man, at this rate I could win my division.” That didn’t happen, but it was a nice thought for two miles in. I was still feeling strong.

Mile 3 was uphill a bit and I kept my heart rate in check. I have never worn a HR monitor during a race before and I really used it to help figure out where I needed to be – the difference between 211 and 212 degrees and then also 220 degrees where I didn’t need to be! Mile 3 was 8:02.

During Mile 4, things flattened out and I started to follow a gal I’d been passing back and forth during miles 2 and 3. I felt comfortable… too comfortable. After an 8:09 Mile 4 and an 8:20 Mile 5, I suddenly thought, “What am I doing letting her set my pace?” I took off and let her try to catch me the rest of the race. Mile 6 clocked in at 7:55.

She did pass me once more in Mile 7 but it didn’t last long. I could tell (rather hear) she had been giving everything she had to catch me. Poor thing.

I ate a gel block after Mile 3, 6 and 8 ½ which seemed to work well for me. One word of advice though: in colder weather, make sure those things are fresh out of the bag. I had 3 blocks that had been in a baggie since the week before and that was just long enough to harden them up in the cold and they were a bitch to chew. I about hyperventilated after the 3rd one. Lesson learned.

Somehow I just kept cruising. I kept an eye on my HR and just tuned into myself. I was up against me, no one else and I knew I was going to beat my goal. I’m really crappy at math though, so I had no idea how much I’d beat my goal by.

Many times I do races alone, but this time I knew my family would be waiting at the finish line. I know it’s a pain for spouses and kids to come out, find parking, etc., but what a huge difference it made during that last mile knowing they would be there when I came in. Our kids are 8 & 5 and think I’m nuts for always working out. They don’t understand now how much it meant, but someday they will.

The final 200 yards to the finish was uphill in the Marina (for those who have done tri’s at Cherry Creek, you know how fun that is coming out of the water). I couldn’t see the clock until I rounded a corner and couldn’t believe my eyes: it was on the final seconds of 1:22.

I sprinted and finished with a time of 1:23:04. I didn’t come away with any hardware (14/90 AG and 88/362 Overall), but I did walk away with a deeper understanding of myself and what I need to do to fuel even more improvement.

1:23:04 – that meant I averaged 8:18/mile which was 28 seconds faster per mile from a race I did just 4 weeks earlier. As I look back and try to figure out how it happened, it boils down to these things:
• No music (or beat) and totally in tune with myself
• I got away from comparing myself to what anyone else was doing
• Heart rate monitor
• Support at the finish line
• Most importantly: the thought of 212 Degrees. If you haven’t watched that clip, watch it. Then watch it again on the eve of every competition you have this season. It doesn’t take much to make a huge difference in your results. I didn’t improve that much physically in four weeks, but I did improve that much mentally.