Week Ending March 16

Mon - Noon: 7 miles (1,800') easy. Ran up Horsetooth with Danny on a pair of pins that felt super spry. Gliding.
PM: 4 miles easy. Jogged for half an hour on the Mason Trail while Alistair was at soccer practice.

Tues - 10.5 miles intervals. With the Salida Marathon coming up on the weekend, I kept this one light. Workout was: mile, 800, 800, mile, 800, 800, 2 mile. Splits: 6:18, 2:54, 2:50, 5:57, 2:57, 2:50, 11:58. Had planned on getting out for a bit of a jog in the afternoon, but the weather was so cataclysmic I didn't force the issue.

Weds - 7 miles (1,800') easy. Jogged out a casual Horsetooth summit on my lunch break.
PM: 6.5 miles (800') easy. Snuck out for a twilight spin on the Milner Mtn loop, enjoying the killer south-side views of Horsetooth; perhaps my favorite vantage point.

Thurs - AM: 7 miles (1,800') easy. Jogged a super easy Horsetooth summit in place of my usual Thursday AM tempo session in a continued bid to give the legs a break before Salida.
PM: 8 miles (1,800') easy. Pushed out an easy effort up Towers in 34:30, which was surprisingly fast given the distinct lack of effort. Always a good sign. This was the first daylight Towers TT of the year, which brought out a solid 25+ runners.

Fri - AM: 7 miles (1,800') easy. Super easy Horsetooth summit with Danny before heading out to Salida in the afternoon.

Sat - AM: 28 miles (3,800') race. Salida Marathon in 3:06. This was my sixth running of the Salida Trail Marathon, on the slowest iteration of the course, and low and behold I managed to pick up a PR. Ran pretty much in lockstep with Josh Arthur the whole way round, which was probably the main reason I was able to stay solidly on the gas for the duration. Gave up the win in the last mile, being out-kicked by five seconds, but hey, a PR at the age of 39. Yeah, I'm not complaining.

Collegiate Peaks money shot across the Arkansas Valley. 

Sun - 6.5 miles (1,500') easy. Jogged a few super light miles with Abby on the Columbine/Rainbow trails under Methodist Mountain at the northernmost terminus of the 250-mile Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. I was nursing a pretty serious hangover, but the gorgeous weather and mellow pace helped soothe matters.

Total: 91.5 miles (15,100')

Kind of a balancing act this week. I wanted to keep on the mileage while also giving my legs a bit of a rest before heading out to Salida to race, so I basically bagged the workouts for the week. Unfortunately Sunday was a bust due to an overzealous Saturday night, so I didn't quite hit the triple digits I wanted, but I think I'm big enough and wise enough now not to sweat such trivialities. Three years ago I would have made sure to find the extra 8.5 miles.

The race itself turned out to be a two-man affair and while it was moderately disappointing to not pick up the win, running a 90 second PR on my sixth crack at the course has to be considered a win. If nothing else it is a result that has given me a renewed sense of purpose with my training heading into the spring. Despite the fact that I'll be racing as a master come June, I still believe that I've got the tools - on the right day - to bring home that damn Western States Cougar. Rule number one: you've got to believe.