Samson Martinez

2016 REVEL Rockies Half Marathon
Published: June 16, 2016, 1:32 p.m.
  1. Overall Rating

    5/5 Stars

  2. Describe your race day.

    3:30 AM wake-up call came really, really, really, really fast!!! Did I sleep??? I think so... But, my wife & I are early risers so that was not really so much of an issue once we remembered the reason for the early rising! The bus ride to the starting line was pretty much uneventful until we arrived at our destination and saw all the shiny silver spots in the distance indicating it was going to be a cool start :) Thanks to the Revel folks, though, we had the necessary 'tools' in our bag to keep us warm until the start of the race...

    The race: I should've known better than to start out so fast!!! Our plan was to break the 'magical' 2-hour barrier and barely missed it!!! The course itself was amazingly beautiful, or at least when I could summon up enough oxygen to remember where I was!!! Ha! I was hyperventilating by mile 6 or so, mostly of my own doing. I couldn't keep my eyes off of the mountains, the terrain, the quaint little towns we rolled through... just beautiful!

    Overall, the experience was fantastic and we would absolutely run it again! I'm not getting any younger so hopefully my wife & I can be back next year to break that 2-hour mark.

  3. Did you PR?

    I did set a PR but only by a tad over a minute!!! Struggling to break that 2-hour barrier!!!!

  4. How would you describe the course?

    The scenery is the best I've ever seen! I mean, it's Colorado, for crying out loud!!!! :) The downhill definitely presented its unique challenges and I'm certain we can break that 2-hour magic number the next time around. How many times have I mentioned that 2-hour thingy???

  5. Tell us about your training.

    We didn't train quite enough. Mostly followed our regimen of 3 short runs during the week and a longer run on the weekend. 30 to 40 minute runs during the week and anywhere from 5 - 10 miles on Saturday or Sunday. We never really did any sustained downhill training which we will do next time. And, most definitely, I think I'll run with the 2-hour pacer until almost nearing the end and try to finish out strong.

  6. What advice would you give future runners?

    Train, train, train. Get to Colorado with enough time to get acclimated to the elevation. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I love the fact that we drove to Colorado from Texas - about 14 hours. We did the trip there in two parts, staying in Amarillo one night and driving the rest of the trip the next day. We drove the ~15 hours back to Texas in one fell swoop on the way back and it's totally doable. No issues there. For race day, the typical rules apply - nothing new on race day, the right shoes are definitely a must! Weather was amazing, just a bit cold at the start but nothing overbearing.

  7. What fun things did you do in the area before or after the race?

    We were lucky to meet up with friends from Texas (fellow runners) at the starting line. You can actually blame her for recommending the race to us :) I mean, who doesn't want to run in Colorado????

    We came from Round Rock, TX and, hopefully, we will be there next year breaking that, yep, 2-hour time!!!!

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