Week Ending October 30

Mon - 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Tues - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.
PM: 11 miles track. 2 mile warm up, then 3 x 2 mile with half-mile jog between reps, two mile c-d. Met Brian and jogged out the warm up with him. Sam, a triathlon guy, jumped in on the last couple of warm-up laps looking for a workout, so I ended up running with him. Goal was to run 5:40 pace to see how that felt vis-a-vis a half marathon effort, and the answer is that I ain't there just yet, especially at 5,000 feet. Splits went: 11:05 (5:38, 5:27), 11:01 (5:34, 5:27), 11:09 (5:31, 5:38). First and second intervals were pretty smooth, but last mile of the final one was a big old grind, which was discouraging.

Weds - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. First big snow dump of the year, and it was a big one. Ah, yes, the joys of breaking trail.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. At least the trail was somewhat broken in.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,800'). Towers with Pete, Slush and Celeste. Towers had been plowed to Westridge which was nice. Last section to the top was pretty hard going, but as always in the snow, a great workout. Clear skies and bright stars as I left the house and then awesome views of the low cloud base over Fort Collins from on top of Towers as day was breaking. As much as I hate getting out of bed at 0 dark 30, the running is nearly always awesome as night turns to day, especially with expansive views to the east.
Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. Snow looks like it will be gone in a day or two.

Fri - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Sat - AM: 26 miles (3,400') easy. Ran around the reservoir from my house via 38e, Centennial, Lory Rd to East Valley Trail, then Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long. Worked it a bit around the south side of the reservoir after a slow start, then met Pete at the top of the 'A' on Centennial and ran conversationally from there. Dragged arse up Towers. Felt gimpy all the way up my right leg through the second half of the run, from my ankle to my glute, which was pretty unpleasant. Not a great run by any stretch of the imagination.

Sun - AM: 25 miles (6,400') easy. Chubby Cheeks Marathon route: Rock - Southridge - Audra - Rock - Soderberg - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Mill Creek - Howard - Arthurs - Valley - Sawmill - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Secret - Westridge - Wathen - Spring Creeek - Falls. Went easy with my neighbor Mike, and while I dragged a bit on the last big climb up to Westridge, I felt 100% better than I did yesterday, which was a pleasant surprise.

Total: 102 miles (17,600')

Got the email from the folks in San Fran that I'm off the waiting list and free to register for the 50-miler in December. Figured I'd wait until my long runs this weekend to see if I want to commit the time, money, and effort. I've never run the coastal trails in Marin, and I'm sure they are thoroughly breathtaking, but this race is about the competition and the loot. There will be a ton of fast guys there looking for a slice of the $30k that's up for grabs, so there's really no point in heading out there unless I think I've got at least an outside shot of getting on the podium.

While my runs weren't great this weekend, the Sunday run did at least feel easy enough that I think I'm getting to where I need to be with regards to durability. There's still time to work on speed, but this close to the race my legs have to at least feel like they are approaching a state of preparedness to go the distance at a hard effort. Feeling things open up on the second long run of the weekend suggested that I may be getting there, so I guess I'll commit the entry fee funds tonight and then if I have a good weekend next weekend, I'll commit the airfare funds too. It's a roll of the dice with so many talented guys in the field, combined with my sub-optimal build-up, but I'm a gambling man and I guess I'm feeling kinda sorta like I'm ready to let rip.