Week Ending May 21, 2011

This was a good week of running although it did not start out so great. I ran in the Colfax Half-marathon in Denver on Sunday and ran like crap. I just could not get the legs to turn over and kept running 5:55-6:00 miles. I finished in 1:19 and I think that is my slowest half marathon ever. I spent the next few days both pissed off and wondering what the hell is going on? I had now run two very bad races in a row. I did not think my training was going bad, so I did not know what was going on. Was there a reason? Was I hurt? not eating properly? fatigued? just getting old? Nothing seemed out of line and I have to wait to see how I run in my next race. Monday was a moderate 10 miles. On Tuesday I ran a very easy double of 4 and 4. On Wednesday I ran on Pike's Peak and got caught in a very cold rain. As I drove up, it started to rain a little/drizzle. I never know what the weather is going to be like over there so I always take gloves and a long sleeve with me. I decided to put on the long sleeve and carry to gloves. I actually enjoy running in the rain and I took off up the trail. After a bout 25 minutes, the rain came down harder and the temperature was dropping. I planned to run a workout of 10-12 x 3:00 uphill and wondered if I would make it. I didn't know how cold it was farther up hill and wondered if the rain was going to turn in to sleet or snow. So I decided it would be smart to turn around once I reached Barr Camp. I only ran about 6 more minutes before turning around because it started pouring and was getting colder every minute. I really wished I had turned around 10 minutes beforehand and was lucky to have the long sleeve and gloves. I was soaking wet and freezing as I ran downhill. I got to the trail-head in record time and stripped off everything except my shorts before getting into the car. I had the heat on and was still shivering the entire ride home. And of course, my side of town had pretty blue skies and not a cloud overhead. I'm very happy I turned around when I did and am also thankful that I'm not dumb enough to force myself up a trail in a cold rain just because I have some workout in mind. Thursday was my long day and I ran 20+ miles. Friday was another double: 10+ in the morning and an easy recovery in the afternoon. On Saturday I ran a moderate 10. Even though I had a crappy start to the week and a crappy midweek workout, I have to say it was an okay week. 86 miles for the week.