I run therefore, I am!

I ran with a cute friend of mine today. She was nervous to have me run with her but I found she is very talented. Could keep a great pace and enjoyed being with her.   Since she had to run I had to lay out at the pool with her. I made it about an hour and she could tell I was antsy. So she said we could go. Lol 

Went to the parking lot of Ben Lomond trail with Steve and did a 8 mile trail of awesomeness. I had so much fun on this trail! It went up to 9700' which is a pittly height for most trail runners. Last Saturday I did my first 13,000'er in Rocky Mountain Park. I really am amazed at the amount of tall mountains in Colorado. 32 14,000' peaks! I ran into mountain goats about 5 of them within 10'. I stopped in my tracks and was trying to pull my phone out while motioning to Steve without spooking them but it was too late. They were like white ghosts. I looked down the ravine and they didsapeared in the brush. Amazing creatures. I was dissapointed I couldn't get a pic but some life experiences you have to live in the moment without worrying about how to save it. 

I ran up around the lake with 2 miles at a 5:30 pace 

Nice and easy 10  miler. I'm calling it the KatyPerry run.  I was hot then cold, dry then wet. 

Was not planning on running this race at all. Got a call Wednesday from a pace team out of California that needed help and I got an entry for helping her get some of our pacers there. So I looked at the elevation. It starts at 10,300' and finishes with a 5000' drop. I've been doing an enormous amount of high altitude races and trail runs in the last month so I felt the elevation wouldn't be a factor.  It wasn't. I started out with a pack of 4 runners and felt super comfortable at mile 1-5:09 the pack quickly went from 4 to 2. Mile 2-5:25 3-5:35. A few flatter miles. Mile 4 was 5:24. At this point there was a runner in front of me and his form was super tense but I didn't rule him out because he had good speed. Everytime I got close behind him he would surge which to me told me he was an inexperienced marathoner. So on the steeper parts id get close to him just so he'd surge. I thought I'd wear him out on the down since every flat or incline he would pull away which showed his strength. Miles 5-5:38, 6-5:36, 7-5:19, 8-5:29. Right at mile 9 marker he completely stopped and was adjusting his shoes. I said are you ok? You have hot spots on your shoes? He said no I'm ok keep it up. And I was alone! No one behind me in sight. I still pushed hard and wanted to PR my Previous 2:31 I've had so I kept it going. Mile 9-5:36, 10-5:47,11-5:40,12-5:28,13-5:50 13.1 time was 1:13:01.  Mile 14 had a steep incline that was short but after dropping down the minute you change to up it is dramatic 6:13. I had a hard time getting rhythm after that.  Miles 15-5:45, 16-5:30, 17-5:59, 18-6:18, 19-6:00, 20-6:38,21-6:06, 22-6:17, 23-6:21. I was struggling with those miles even though there was flat with drop in each mile.   I knew I had to kick it if I was going to break my pr at this point so I pushed hard. 24-5:29, 25-7:08,26-7:40. My last miles minus 24 from 19 on need work.  My marathon training has been non existent so to hit a 2:33 today with 15-20 mile weeks is a huge boost to my ego.  I'm going to race Chicago so I really need to take it serious knowing it's flat. I'm grateful to use this course to test myself and come out with a win. I won a bear trophy and headphones and 500 bucks. Free trip! Plus I love Colorado and got to hang out with the triplets I've seen from here from the last three races we have run in together. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an 8 hour drive home. Blah. 

Ran Jordan Park Trail with my girlfriend. I'm amazed how I can barely get moving but after 3 miles I'm fine. My girlfriend ran 9 pace out and 7:30 back. Can't wait to hit Hood To Coast on Friday. Leaving tomorrow. 

Ran my first leg like a freaking bat out of hell. I'm the fastest runner on this masters team and I almost caught googles runner who had a one minute lead on me from the start. I averaged 4:42 pace and had 1500' of drop. I went from 4000' to 2500' elevation.  We gained 4 minutes lead on the Black Flag Masters group.  Our team name is Almost Dead Jocks. We will win it according to my endorphin powers. I know I was being a bit exhuberant my first leg. Will see how it goes on my second. Help me Tom Cruise I'm on fire!!

to my neighsayers I must add this is  5 days post marathon win. For shiznits! Endorphin overload