2nd Annual Carbon Valley Half Marathon - 1st half win!

1:26:37  1st place overall and course record

This race was added to the calendar after searching for another half after the debacle at Redline 13.1 Westminster. I had wanted to do the Platte River half and get a time on a known fast course but the family schedule wouldn't allow it on that weekend.  I opted for a second year event in Firestone, where I had luck the previous year in getting second place at a local 5K.  Knowing a bit of the area and course, I thought it could be a good fit.

I'd checked out the results from last year and was a little surprised with the slowish times from some runners I knew were pretty quick.  Maybe it had been a hot day or slightly long - I guess I would soon find out.

I used the same taper as before Redline which is really working well for me right now.  I'm getting to the end of the week feeling fresh and rested with an attitude of wanting to get after it on race day.  Timing these races with natural low weeks has also helped get in some of the required recovery which is harder to do in a normal training week without a race looming.

Redline 13.1 Westminster, 3 mile detour, tapering and small fields

DNF

While I guess this officially becomes a DNF, I think there should be a new category called DNF-LBF, the LBF for lead bike fiasco.

I'd been looking around for a spring half that would be a good gauge of current fitness, close enough to home that I could get back to the family quickly and have a sense of where my speed is at (or not at).  I even gave it a reasonable taper in the week running up to it which coincided nicely with a down week.  The stars were aligning....

The Newbie Road to Leadville 100 Trail Run - Part 1

It's official.  I'll be in Leadville on August 16th.  It was touch and go using a cell phone with patchy coverage on the east coast at 2am, but the email came through and the spot is secured.

I had to ignore a lot of the bad publicity the race picked up last year (2013) due largely to overcrowding and congestion problems. Hopefully Lifetime have sorted it out with capping the entrants a few hundred lower and limiting the stress on the race.  I've had good experiences with their multi-sport events and am going in with confidence they are putting any wrongs right.

The Leadville 100 journey has been a long time coming.  I was entered back in 2001 when it was a lottery and you had to go up to Leadville and look at the list on a shop window to see if you got in. I did. I wasn't an ultra runner then, just a very naive marathon runner who didn't really grasp what I was jumping into.  The Snow Mountain Ranch Double Marathon put paid to that with a combination of being sick on the day and totally unprepared, which led to dropping out at 35miles after some rather incredible hallucinations.  My buildup was in tatters, I was wrecked and unready to even toe the line that year.  Talk about unfinished business.

Now, years later we come full circle.  Ultras are now part of my DNA and with years of Fell running and mountaineering from my youth providing a base to draw upon, all the components are now clicking into place.

Pacing our friends Craig and Paul in 2011 was the first step in seeing the race first hand and I was blown away by the feelings and emotions of that very long day.  Even as a pacer it ranks as one of my best race experiences I have ever had, so what would it feel like to be the one participating?

Training in Boulder the tales of running 100 milers has become so commonplace that it's easy to think of the distance in a complacent sort of way.  I'm trying to remind myself of just how big a challenge this really is and to not take anything for granted in the journey to the start line.

The course profile (out and back)

I'll try and document my preparation over the upcoming months as I get closer to August and outline the good, bad and ugly of getting ready for the race. There is so much to consider in terms of training, nutrition, altitude, race day logistics, pacing/race strategy, and beyond.  In the meantime, to get you excited about the event, have a read of the following article posted by a spectator at the 2012 race. The author does a very good job at capturing the event and all its emotion.

 http://deadspin.com/5966723/boom-or-bust-48-hours-at-leadvilles-treacherous-ultramarathon

Yep

1972 Olympic 800m Final - Dave Wottle

I love getting links from folks of classic track races in past championship races.  There are some out there that are pure gold.  This is a good example.  I never knew much about Dave Wottle growing up as being from the UK I was completely surrounded by the legends of Coe, Cram and Ovett et al.

I won't spoil the ending but check out how far back he is in the early going.  What a great example of control and pacing, not to mention confidence.  Enjoy!

Community Food Share 5k Turkey Trot Race Report - Boulder, Colorado

98 days

14th Place Overall, 6th AG (30-39), 18:12

There is such a choice of turkey trotting these days.  It now seems to start a couple of weekends out and then on the day itself every small town in Colorado seems to be putting one on.  It seems everyone likes the idea of creating a caloric deficit before the feasting begins.

I chose Boulder again this year for a few reasons. I like the cause (they raised about $9K and over 970lbs of food) for the community food share and I ran 18:17 there last year when I was training for CIM and felt in pretty good shape.  That year I'd also ran the 10k in Longmont as I did a couple of weeks ago and was quicker there as well by a handful of seconds.  This would be a good test to see if I could come close to that time without all the long miles and big training block.  My big fear was repeating the calf injury I picked up in the race last year which meant sitting out CIM completely.  I was wearing the same pair of shoes so had a bit of anxiety going in.  I was hoping all the track work and foot stability strengthening was going to pay off.

39th Annual Longmont Turkey Trot 10k Race Report - Longmont, Colorado

38:04, 12th Place, 2nd AG

It's hard not to do this race. Partly, because I have absolutely no excuse as it's only a 10min jog from the house.  With no need to drive, being able to do my warm up on the way over and knowing the course like the back of my hand makes it a must do.  Plus, there is a chance of winning a pie if you place in your AG and running for pie is almost as motivating as running for a PB these days.

Last year I ran 37:54 in a stacked field and was really happy with the time even though the placing was way down the field.  It was my fastest 10k at altitude and during a really good block of training for CIM before the wheels came off a couple of weeks later with an injury.  With training going well, I was hoping for something similar this year if the conditions were good.