back on track

I intended on running yesterday’s Collegiate Peaks 50 Mile Trail Run in Buena Vista, CO as part of my training for Leadville. My training through mid-March had been quite good, but then it fell off a cliff. Despite several 20+ mile runs and one 32 mile run between January, February, and March, my pathetically sporadic running schedule over the last month and a half didn’t give me a great deal of confidence for completing a demanding 50 miler. The race consists of both 25 mile and 50 mile distances. The course was a single 25 mile loop with 4700 feet of climbing per loop, so after the first loop you can call it a day or head back out and travel the same loop in the opposite direction. Last weekend I told Adrienne with a good degree of certainty that I would just do 25. But for some strange reason, I started to think I could do the 50 as the week went on.

The weather forecast looked hideous. It was calling for snow and 22 degrees at the start with rain, thunderstorms, and 43 degrees by mid-afternoon. Fortunately, the forecast was wrong. We had blue skies the entire day. The course was in perfect condition. There wasn’t even snow on the trail—what a treat. And I’ve run on a lot of pretty courses, but this one took the cake. The mountains here in Breckenridge are beautiful, but the Collegiate Peaks are much more stunning as they abruptly shoot skyward from out of the high plains. If you ever get the chance to run this race and the weather looks decent (twice before they’ve gotten dumped on with three to four feet of snow), then by all means, sign-up.

I smartly ran the first loop very conservatively. I walked the big uphills, drank a lot, and took in some calories (for the day, I ate 2 Snickers Marathon Bars, a ton of M & Ms, potato chips, a chocolate chip cookie, a ridiculous number of bananas and I drank water and Heed). I felt pretty good after a 4 hour and 53 minute first loop, so I decided to go out for the second lap. I stopped at my car, changed my shirt and hat, and took off back up the mountain. After the first lap I actually said to someone that the reported 4700 feet of climb seemed exaggerated. Well, I felt every bit of that 4700 feet and then some on the return trip. My legs and feet really felt pretty good the whole way. Until somewhere around mile 35, I thought I had a chance at breaking 10 hours. My legs were tired, however, so I was happy to slow down and work my way to the finish. I crossed the finish line in 10 hours and 46 minutes. I was extremely pleased with my run and it puts my training right back on track.