NicoleWhy race?
This past Saturday (May 6, 2023) I ran the Take 5 in the Garden 5-mile road race. The course is all within the Garden of the Gods Park, a city park in Colorado Springs. I ran this race back in 2019 but with COVID and other race goals in subsequent years, I hadn’t been back. Because I’ve been running somewhat consistently in the hilly Piedmont region of North Carolina (Raleigh) for the last several months, and two weeks ago I ran the Tar Heel 10 Miler – a hilly course in Chapel Hill, I signed up for the race. Why not take advantage of some of my running fitness and do one more road race before I formally switch to bike training to get ready for Bike MS at the end of June.
Returning to altitude and racing within a week was going to be an experiment. I’ve always noticed a sizable benefit for going down to sea level, but I don’t have much experience going the other way. Fortunately, weather conditions were fantastic with temps in the low 50s, sunny skies, and a light breeze. Pikes Peak still had enough snow cover to contrast well with the blue skies and red rocks of the park.
With the park being only 15 minutes away, I didn’t have to get up at a crazy early time and the drive over was easy. I wanted to get to the race site early enough to get in at least a couple easy miles before this race, so we got there at 7am, an hour before my start time and just as the “Double Take” race (9.5 miles, mixing road and trail races) was underway. We happened to park next to Rudy’s coworker and her wife who were running the trail version. It was nice to meet them! Then Rudy and I headed off for an easy jog through Rockledge Ranch and the adjoining neighborhood for my warm up.
I made the obligatory porta-potty stop before the race, then headed to a few rows back of the front of the corral with about three minutes to go. The 5k and 5 miler were starting at the same time, and based on previous experience, lining up near the front was appropriate. At 8:00 we were off!
The course
This is a hilly course with around 600 feet of gain (and loss!) over the 5 miles, so it was not at all easy. The race starts with a tiny downhill slope to get the legs turning and then quickly switches to a long uphill (0.8 mile) that averages near 6% grade but has some 8+% section. After that it’s a fast downhill section with a few steep bumps, then back up a good chunk of that section (3% average), and then a rolling downhill to the finish line.
Being that it is a relatively short race and the downhills provide a little heart rate recovery, I felt comfortable pushing the pace up the first hill. Well, comfortable to be quite uncomfortable, because I had no idea how it would feel racing at 6000ft after living 9 months at 400ft elevation and only being back for 6 days. Furthermore, I’m definitely out of practice on long and steep downhills. I am glad I knew the course really well and was also able to look out and enjoy the magnificent views that are in the park.
How I fared
I ended up running only a tiny bit slower than I did in 2019. I finished as the 7th female and 1st in the 40-49 age group. That always feels good. For comparison on the altitude effects – granted there are hill contributions as well, but… – I ran the Tar Heel 10-miler at an 8:33 pace (humid weather in the low 60s) and the Take 5 in the Garden 5-miler (10 degrees cooler and a lot less humid) at an 8:38 pace. My average power output via Stryd was 211 vs. yesterday’s 214, whereas in a 10k in March (290 feet of gain) in NC I was able to average 219 and run an 8:05 pace. Being at 6000+ feet certainly slowed me down some.
For a “recovery” from the race I rode 40 miles on Sunday as Bike MS training is now in full effect!
Nicole
