The first weekend of this month I ran my second marathon, Grand Valley Marathon in Palisade. It was a great weekend, as I saw several of my close friends as well.
Grand Valley Marathon is a road race that takes place at the far east end of the Grand Valley in Western Colorado. The course is an out and back route starting in downtown Palisade. Like Rim Rock Marathon , this race cruises through some of the most picturesque scenery in the state: Colorado’s wine country. Palisade contains a wealth of vineyards and lush peach, fruit, and lavender orchards that bloom in the spring: hence the race’s moniker of “Fruit and Wine 26.2.”
Before leaving for the Western Slope on Friday, race eve, my hiking buddy Jamie, whom I’d be staying with, was visiting Denver. Being both cat lovers, I suggested we visit Denver Cat Company, where, for an entry fee of $8 per person, you can sip tea and hang with, cuddle, and geek out over the 20 or so rescue cats roaming the establishment.
After hanging out for an hour and a half, I took off for Grand Junction. I stopped by Palisade first for packet pick up.
As I have with Dream Catcher Half and Rim Rock Marathon, I carbo loaded with Enzo’s spaghetti laden with marinara sauce. As Jamie was not yet back in town, I decided to do something I hadn’t done in a few years: dinner in the desert.
After picking up my order at Enzo’s, I headed straight to North Desert via 27 1/4 Road. North Desert is the broad, open expanse of land just north of town. Under the management of BLM, the area is extremely popular for dirt biking, off-roading, 4 wheeling, etc. I drove about two or three miles in, then parked my car facing west, to watch the sunset. Giddily I pulled out my dinner, only to find I didn’t have any utensils…I made do with a brand new ball point pen. Surprisingly, it was quite effective at scooping up spaghetti. It was a beautiful, calm evening; sunsets on the Western Slope never disappoint.
I headed home once it was twilight, prepped all my race gear per normal: Leadville tank, bib, Brooks shorts, Mizuno Wave Horizon shoes, basically the same apparel I wore at Rim Rock Marathon. You can call it my good luck outfit.
The marathon started at 6:30 am, so I headed to bed around 11, and woke up around 4:30 am, super excited for race day. For breakfast I consumed 2 Clif bars and drank plenty of water, arriving at the start line around 6. The sun had not yet risen, and it was gusty and cool out. I’d been agonizing over if I should wear my racing vest, and if I should wear leggings. I ultimately decided on sticking with shorts, and wearing my vest, containing GUs and gels, over my light shell jacket.
A runner friend of mine ran the marathon last year, placing second over all. He said Grand Valley Marathon is a small, old-school race: you’re provided a chip timer to place on your shoe, with total marathon runners averaging between 12-20 folks. Sure enough, as start time approached, I noted only about a dozen folks, give or take a few, gathering at the start line. My hiking buddies Trish and Cate, who ran the half marathon that started at 7, their first ever half, came to wish me luck and cheer me on. Right before lining up, a race official talked over race rules and the course. We’d be running for 2 miles east on N. River Road which crossed the Colorado River, then make our way southwest along G Road for 2 miles. Then we would continue onto the Fruit and Wine Byway, which zig zags through the vineyards and orchards, then turn around at the 13.1 mile mark.
The marathoners and I then gathered at the intersection of 3rd and Main, and at his shout of “GO!” the race began. Whereupon I did my first racing blunder… I lead the pack for the first few miles. Oops!
From start I was running at a decent pace, nothing that felt too fast. I didn’t have my Fitbit or any watch with me, so my actual pace is all conjecture. I was amazed I was leading, for I did not feel I was exerting myself at all–a side effect of all my hill running. This marathon course is flat overall, with one climb of 700 ft. or so; nothing like Rim Rock, with nearly 2000 ft. gain and loss. I kept looking over my shoulder, seeing I had distance between myself and the next runner…Yeah, you could say I was feeling way overconfident–I was. With such a small pool of runners, I felt I’d do pretty decent in this race. Never before had I led a race, and I slowed down a bit, but not enough. Just before the hill climb, the second runner started closing in behind me. He passed me on the hill, which didn’t bother me too much. Once back on the flat, I pulled back a bit, but it was too little too late. I had a new problem: I was overhydrated, and kept having to stop by several aid stations, starting at mile 7. And with every stop, someone passed me. 🙁
Despite my annoying bladder, I was still feeling good when I reached the turnaround point at 13.1 miles. Looking at my phone, I noted that, even with potty breaks, I ran this distance in 2 hours 4 minutes: 5 minutes faster than my time at Dream Catcher Half. “You’re doing great!” exclaimed one of the race volunteers. “You’re second place female overall.” So, yeah, I was still feeling pretty confident I’d run this course–flat, with fewer runners—faster than Rim Rock.
It was a beautiful morning, and by now the sun had been up for well over an hour. Turning around to race eastward, you face the looming mass of Grand Mesa, and the stretch of Book Cliffs along I-70. The wine vineyards and peach orchards were healthy and blooming, and a few locals had gathered along the course to cheer us runners on. Otherwise, the course was very quiet, very peaceful.
Unfortunately, my bladder continued to nag me, and my left knee began to whine around mile 16, a whole 4 miles earlier than it did at Rim Rock. By this point another female had passed me, so I was now in third. By mile 18, I had to walk a bit, for my left knee was stiff as a board. So lesson learned: don’t start off too fast! Duh! As I run primarily hills, this means I tend to run pretty snappy on flat terrain, sometimes to my detriment. Training wise for this race, I did include more flat work in weekly runs, but obviously not quite enough. Looking at the time as I continued on, I knew I’d be unable to achieve my (overly ambitious) finish time of 4.5 hours or under. Now I adjusted to finishing at under 5 hours. Starting at mile 19, I was all glorified walk/ run… yeah. Mentally, I was cursing at both my bladder and knee. My heart was just fine; the “engine” was running smooth but my mechanics were off this race. 🙁
At 5 hours 14 minutes, I finally crossed the finish line–a full 20 minutes slower than Rim Rock. Ouch. I’ll admit I was feeling a little disappointed as I approached the finish. But immediately upon seeing, and hearing, my friends Jamie (who drove back that same morning!), Yoli, Trish, Kale, and Cate cheer me on, I felt victorious and extremely grateful. 🙂 Without a doubt, I have THE BEST support crew.
Raising my arms in triumph, I immediately slowed to a walk. A race official placed a finisher’s medal around my neck, and removed my chip timer. Hobbling to the side, Jamie helped me remove my race vest; I was so tired the simplest tasks were difficult. We sat by the snack table run by race volunteers, where I greedily munched on trail mix. I caught up with Trish, Cate, and Kale, who all did great in their first half and 10k, respectively. 🙂 Later that evening I went with Jamie and Yoli to Ale House in Grand Junction. I feasted on fish tacos, and for dessert, fruit parfait.
The next day, Jamie and I attended the bridal shower of her friend, Sabrina. Held in the wide open desert by Fruita, it was the perfect way to cap off a great, momentous weekend.
If you’re a marathoner or avid runner, I highly recommend any of the Grand Valley races. For the spectacular scenery alone, it is absolutely worth it. And if you especially dislike big, crowded races, then this race is certainly for you. Despite not reaching my goal time, I still thoroughly enjoyed this race. Obviously, lesson learned: don’t start off too fast! Flat courses can be deceptive…pace yourself. But to be fair to myself, however, this is only my second marathon, so I’m still learning, maturing as a runner. Grand Valley Marathon truly is a little known secret of a race, which makes it special. Plus, you can feel good in that the Grand Valley race series gives back to the community as it is a fundraiser for Palisade’s unique Fruit and Wine Byway, a true Colorado gem.
~LMC
*As always, I would like to thank my friends Jamie, Yoli, Cate, and Trish for graciously contributing your photos to this post 😀. Love you ladies!