The 10K at 10,000 Feet

Sunday we traveled to Vail to run a 10K at 10,000 feet.  The day started with scraping a pretty good layer of frost from our windshield...in August!  By the time we got to Vail the sun was shining and it was promising to be a great day.  We boarded the Eagle Bahn gondola and began our ascent to the starting point.  It's always exhilarating to be at the start of a race.  People are pacing around, some go for warm-up runs, others stretch.  At 8:45 we made our way down to the official starting area.  We dropped our bags and found a spot in the crowd.  I like to begin near the back; I know there's no need to try and keep up with the elite athletes who hover at the front.  The announcer counted us down ten seconds  and we were off.  I found it hard to find my pace.  The nervous energy, the people in front and back, the sound of their breathing made me start off at too quick of a run.  I like to start pretty slow, allowing for a good long warm-up and then I pick it up a bit.  Not in this race.  After bottlenecking at the first entry into a forested area, the trail sloped down and down and down.  Again, hard for me.  I'd rather climb and climb and climb right away.  So I got fooled into thinking I could go fast.  When we did get to the climb I walked.  I didn't feel too bad since all of the people I could see in front of me were doing the same.  At mile 4 the descent began again and not any time too soon.  I thought I was going to puke for most of miles 2 and 3.  I finished 10 minutes slower than my 10K runs out on county road 25 but that's okay.  The views from the top of Vail were stunning.  The flowers still showed their colors and the sunny day was the real draw of this race.  What a fun time.  And by the way, 10,000 feet is no joke.  It's hard.