ilanarama: me, The Other Half, Moab UT 2009 (marathon)
[personal profile] ilanarama
Saturday was the Imogene Pass Run: 17 miles (plus two blocks) from Ouray (7810 ft) to Telluride (8820 ft), over 13,120 foot Imogene Pass. That's over 5000 vertical feet up in 10 miles, followed by over 4000 feet down in 7 miles, most of it on a rough and rocky 4WD road. It was the most awesomely fun race I have ever run.

to trail cut

On Friday night I rode up to Ouray with my friend Kristin. We had dinner with Karah, who I had met through the Runner's World website and who I was sharing a room with, and then went to the orientation slideshow. Afterward, Karah and I soaked in our hotel's outdoor hot springs tub and scarfed down our dinner leftovers. Cold pasta, mmm.

Saturday morning was cold but mostly clear, and the forecast was for perfect weather. Ouray sits in a steep-sided bowl of mountains so we were still in shadow at the 7:30 am start; I don't think I was in the sun until about mile 6. I wore shorts, a thin technical t-shirt, a thin silk long-sleeve shirt (which I removed around mile 7), and the chip timer that Karah and I immediately nicknamed the "LoJack" for its similarity to a house-arrest ankle bracelet. I wore a small hydration pack with about a liter of water, three gels, some dried fruit, toilet paper, a hat and gloves (which I put on at the summit but took off after maybe a mile), and my rain jacket (which I didn't wear on the course but needed on the bus on the way back to Ouray). Some people had stranger things in/on their packs.

me and karah start

The gun sounded, and off we went - all 1100 or so of us. This is the largest race I've run so far, and it was a kick to be surrounded by so many people! We poured out onto Highway 550, then cross-country up a steep hill to the Camp Bird Road - whammo, not even a mile in and already I had to slow to a walk. Fortunately, once we got to the Camp Bird Road the grade eased. Relatively speaking; the first 5.5 miles have an average grade of 6.8%. Of course that average includes flat sections as well as 11% grade hills! I think I ran about 75% of this section, with an average pace of about 13:30 per mile. I had hoped/guesstimated that I could make between 12 and 15 minutes per mile, so I was happy.

drinking cup curve dcc down

More photos, climbing Unconformity Hill around mile 4: the ants go marching three by three, hoorah, hoorah!

Then we crossed a bridge and turned sharply uphill, past a lovely old Victorian house that was the Camp Bird Mine's superintendent's residence, and started to really climb. We switchbacked through the forest and came out into the sun. We crossed the board that had been laid over Imogene Creek as a temporary bridge, climbed some more, and finally reached the Upper Camp Bird aid station at 7.7 miles and 11,235 ft, which was pretty much treeline.

mile 6.5ish upper cb 7.7

The 2.2 miles between the Victorian house and the aid station climb nearly 1500 feet - an average grade of 12.7%. I walked probably 75% of this - my average pace for these miles was about 17:40. Still, I had wanted to reach Upper Camp Bird in less than 2 hours, and I got there in 1:54 by my watch, yay. (Anyone who doesn't get there in 2 hours 30 min after the start is DQ'ed and turned back.)

At this point, the climb gets simply ridiculous: the easy bits are "only" 15%, interspersed with 20%+ sections. Of the 2.3 miles to the summit, I think I ran maybe 50 yards, in the single flat spot around mile 9.3. My average pace here was about 26:30. Pretty much everyone around me was walking. Interestingly, during the first part of the run I found myself passing people while running but getting passed while walking. Up above 12,000 feet I was passing people while walking. I think I was just more adapted to altitude because of all the backpacking and thirteener climbing we did this summer. Still, I felt like I was going to puke - partly because I hadn't felt like eating early, and then made the mistake of grabbing the M&Ms at the aid station near mile 5. I ate one M&M and my stomach said NO.

headwall looking back

switchbacks final grind

And then...all of a sudden...I was at the pass! Amazing! You know that wonderful feeling you get when you've made it to the top of a mountain on your own steam, either hiking or bicycling, and you're at the TOP and you DID IT and WOW? It was fabulous. I felt fantastic. Suddenly I didn't want to puke anymore. I grabbed a cup of hot chicken noodle soup from the aid station volunteers, and it was the best thing I'd ever tasted. (They also had Twizzlers, which I took some of, cookies, pretzels, M&Ms, and gigantic bottles of ibuprofen and aspirin.) I looked down at the switchbacks I'd just ascended and felt all goosebumpy happy. I'd done it! I was on top of the pass!

summit

Despite the gorgeous weather, it was windy and chilly on the pass. I put on my long-sleeved shirt and my gloves before heading down. I had wanted to make the summit in less than three hours, and I had done it with about six minutes to spare.

Now it was time to go down. It was 7 miles downhill to Telluride, at an average grade of 11%, and let me tell you, steep and rocky downhill is just as hard (in a different way) as uphill. I didn't take any photos on the way down, because I was too busy trying not to fall on my butt, but the official photographer got a shot of me here just after the summit. You can also see a lot of the descent route on the large size picture of this shot I took from the Telluride mountain gondola after I finished.

I averaged about 11 minute miles and made it to the finish line with a time of 4:10:42, 19th out of 73 finishers in my age group. I was hoping to get in under four and a half hours, so I'm really happy with that time.

All the photos on my Flickr page are here.

Congratulations!!

Date: 2008-09-08 08:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] traveller42.livejournal.com
Great news on your time for the run. I don't know that I could do as well.

The pictures are great.

thank you

Date: 2008-09-09 12:43 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
and can I have one of those beers?

Re: thank you

From: [identity profile] traveller42.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-09 12:18 pm (UTC) - Expand

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Date: 2008-09-08 08:41 pm (UTC)
ext_8892: (Default)
From: [identity profile] beledibabe.livejournal.com
Gorgeous shots! I love that route.

Congrats on the excellent times!

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:43 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! It's such a beautiful place, and we were blessed with awesome weather.

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Date: 2008-09-08 09:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com
Congratulations on finishing in one piece and ahead of schedule!

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:44 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thank you very much!

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Date: 2008-09-08 10:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] revbiscuit.livejournal.com
That's fantastic! Well done. And the pictures look brilliant, too. I really wish I could have been there. The scenery looks beautiful, and you are so right about the sense of accomplishment. It looks like a really tough road.

It was curiously reassuring to read about what you said about running downhill, especially off road. I find I'm really tentative when I do it, and I find it really hard going, LOL. I'm still waiting for my ankles to get a bit stronger. Hope springs eternal, as they say.

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:47 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
You gotta come out for next year's run. I swear, it's totally fantastic, just amazing. And tough, OMG. I am not going to have any patience with people whining about little 200-foot hills now.

And yeah, going down steeply is very hard on the quads, and the rough terrain makes it a lot slower because you need to watch where you are going. I got good advice from a trail runner's forum: widen your stance (insert joke about Senator Larry Craig here), squat a little, watch the ground several feet ahead of you, and use your arms for balance. Try not to brake yourself unless you have to.

I noticed that most of the people who passed me downhill were bigger and heavier runners, so I think a lot of it is just momentum!

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From: [identity profile] revbiscuit.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-09 07:29 pm (UTC) - Expand

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From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-09 07:39 pm (UTC) - Expand

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Date: 2008-09-08 11:16 pm (UTC)
ext_2366: (Default)
From: [identity profile] sdwolfpup.livejournal.com
Congratulations! That's a fantastic accomplishment. :)

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:48 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thank you!

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Date: 2008-09-08 11:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mondschein1.livejournal.com
Yay! That is amazing! Also, those photos are utterly gorgeous, and I'm sure they don't even do the scenery justice.

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:48 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! And yeah, my photos are just what I could manage to take while trudging up the mountain, and the lighting was kind of wonky in the early part of the day. The area there is really spectacular.

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Date: 2008-09-08 11:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] riverlight.livejournal.com
Oh my god, good for you. What an amazing thing to have done!
And that's an awesome time, seems to me!

Every time I look at your pictures I want to come to Colorado. God, how beautiful.

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:51 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thank you very much! I think I am kind of "front of the middle of the pack" - the overall winner came in at 2:18:38, and the top female at 2:40:28 - tenth overall, and an hour and a half less than my time. So there were some astonishingly fast people out there.

And yeah, Colorado is pretty damn beautiful.

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From: [identity profile] riverlight.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-09 11:27 am (UTC) - Expand

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:36 am (UTC)
starfishchick: (Default)
From: [personal profile] starfishchick
Oh, way to go! You must be so proud!

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:52 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Hee, I am, I am. When I hit the summit I got this smile on my face like you wouldn't believe, and I kept grinning like an idiot all the way down, thinking, "I made it! I made it over the %$#@! pass! I made it!"

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barkley.livejournal.com
Congrats for meeting your goals and doing so awesomely! I love, love, love that picture of the very steep incline right before the summit with the people trailing up in a single file. (And I love that you took a camera with you! *g*)

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:54 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thank you! I was actually impressed with how many people were snapping pictures along the way. Some of them were even stopping and posing while their friends took pictures of them, and then swapping the camera back and taking pictures of their friends. One guy apparently ran with a (big!) video camera and finished in around 5 hours.

And I thought of you when I took the "LoJack" picture.

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From: [identity profile] barkley.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-09 03:44 am (UTC) - Expand

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] malnpudl.livejournal.com
Holy freakin' WOW, woman! You are, indeed, every bit as awesome as I've always believed you to be -- and then some. \i/

Remembering your magazine piece from your last sailing voyage, I can't help wondering: Are you thinking of doing any paid writing in this field?

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:58 am (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Aw, thank you. And you know, I hadn't actually thought about it, but maybe I will start looking into it.

I was thinking about you and your massage table today :-) I got a massage this afternoon and wished I could get one every day!

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Date: 2008-09-09 02:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] de-wynken.livejournal.com
Excellent! Imogene is scary enough driving down, let alone running. You rock :D

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:30 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! Actually, I would be more scared in a vehicle, I think...

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saramwrap.livejournal.com
Very cool! You're such a superwoman. :)

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:31 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
I leap tall mountain passes in a single bound!

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Date: 2008-09-09 05:08 am (UTC)
ext_3244: (Default)
From: [identity profile] ignazwisdom.livejournal.com
Well, that sounds like kind of a nightmare to me, but YAY YOU and congratulations on kicking that mountain's ass!

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:32 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! And heh, just you wait, you keep up your running and pretty soon you're going to start thinking, "hmm, maybe I could go to Colorado and do that Imogene run..."

YOU ARE INSANE

Date: 2008-09-09 05:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] askesis.livejournal.com
Also, inspiring. I knocked down 20 continuous minutes this evening - a lifetime first.

Re: YOU ARE INSANE

Date: 2008-09-09 06:53 am (UTC)
ext_181967: (Default)
From: [identity profile] waider.livejournal.com
Dude! you made it! well done!

Re: YOU ARE INSANE

From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-09 03:45 pm (UTC) - Expand

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Date: 2008-09-09 06:53 am (UTC)
ext_181967: (Default)
From: [identity profile] waider.livejournal.com
holy crap and go you. awesome achievement!

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:46 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thank you! I may not be fast but I'm, um, endurant?

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Date: 2008-09-09 08:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bungo.livejournal.com
Wow. Now there's an event worth taking a camera along with you. Awesome.

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:46 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! Yeah, a surprising number of cameras among the runners.

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zebra363.livejournal.com
Wow. Incredible photos. What an experience that must have been. It almost makes me feel like training (I've never run 17 miles, let alone so much uphill!) and doing it one day myself.

I really like the idea of a race from point A to point B, instead of a course that puts you right back where you began.

Congratulations!

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:48 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Oh, you should do it! It's actually more of a power hike than a run, at least for people back in the middle of the pack like me. And yeah, it's nice to have a point-to-point, especially running from Ouray to Telluride which are 50 miles apart by regular road - there's something very cool in doing it by foot.

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Date: 2008-09-09 12:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delurker.livejournal.com
I'm impressed!
The route looks absolutely gorgeous, too.

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:52 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! It's really a beautiful place.

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Date: 2008-09-09 01:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jeddy83.livejournal.com
Hey, congratulations. It sounds like you had a great time.

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Date: 2008-09-09 03:53 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! I did have a WONDERFUL time.

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Date: 2008-09-09 06:41 pm (UTC)
ext_7889: (Default)
From: [identity profile] helkamaria.livejournal.com
Congratulations!

What fantastic scenery to be running in.

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Date: 2008-09-10 04:14 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Thanks! I think this particular mountain range is the prettiest in the state.

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Date: 2008-09-09 09:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] goldispikes.livejournal.com
As always, I am impressed. You're such a badass mountaineering adventuring powerful woman!

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Date: 2008-09-10 04:17 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Aw, hee, thanks. I have to say, there is nothing like the feeling of standing on top of the pass that you got to by your OWN TWO FEET to make you feel like the LORD OF THE UNIVERSE.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-09-10 07:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skuf.livejournal.com
Oh, why do I have no self-discipline :o) ? I want to run races like this! I hadn't thought about people carrying packs for longer runs - but I have thought about, if you don't mind the TMI, how I'm going to handle my small and shy bladder on a ½-marathon. Running 10km while needing to pee was possible, but sure sucked - longer does not seem like an option. I'm going to have to teach myself to pee in the forest with runners zooming by, aren't I :o/

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Date: 2008-09-10 04:26 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
I think it's more common for people to carry packs on trail runs than on road races. For this race, where the weather can change quickly and be extremely bad (one year there was over a foot of snow at the pass!) the rules recommended that people carry hat, gloves, and jacket, and stated that if the weather was poor, at the Upper Camp Bird aid station they would turn around and DQ anyone not carrying these. It was pretty obvious the weather would be great, but I carried the stuff anyway, just in case, and partly because I thought it might get colder and windier high up.

As far as bladder issues go - amazingly on this race I didn't have to go even once, although since our motel was literally 1 block from the start, I was able to pee several times just before the race started. However, I saw people dashing off into the bushes constantly! There was only one single toilet available just past the summit.

On the marathons and half I have done, there have been porta-potties at various intervals. I remember on my first half, I did have to run off into the bushes and pee once because the toilets were only at the beginning and halfway. On my first marathon, I had to go twice, but fortunately there were portable toilets, although I did have to wait for one person at the first one.

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From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com - Date: 2008-09-10 05:10 pm (UTC) - Expand

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Date: 2008-09-10 05:34 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Lordy, Lordy! I am in awe... Forget the camelbak, I would be carrying an oxygen bottle :-) Well done, Ilana! Thanks for posting pictures of one of my favorite spots on Earth.

Eric W.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-09-10 07:55 pm (UTC)
ext_59397: my legs (Default)
From: [identity profile] ilanarama.livejournal.com
Hee, I actually thought about it, sort of - I have these mini-oxygen spray bottles I got as a promo at the Outdoor Retailer show last year. They spray 90% O2 plus a scent - I've got one grapefruit and two peppermints. I thought maybe I should bring them along and spray them into my face above 12,000 feet but fortunately I reconsidered. :-)

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ilanarama: me, The Other Half, Moab UT 2009 (Default)
Ilana

July 2024

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My running PRs:

5K: 21:03 (downhill) 21:43 (loop)
10K: 43:06 (downhill)
10M: 1:12:59
13.1M: 1:35:55
26.2M: 3:23:31

You can reach me by email at heyheyilana @ gmail.com

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