Wow, time continues to blow by! My running has been solid but not quite enough. The last two weeks have included 17 and 18 mile runs which have been nice but the consistency hasn't been where I want it to be. However, I did take my camera on one of the Antelope Island runs so enjoy the recent pics!
Seriously though, I can't wait to lay down some sick miles on actual dirt. This current warming trend has me stoked for the next couple of weeks as my miles will go up. The last two weeks I've totalled 67 miles which over a two week period is not enough. I'm reminding myself it's still February however with a 50 mile race coming up in a month I really need a couple of high mileage weeks in preparation.Anyway, congrats to all who participated in the Moab Red Hot 50K last week. I have horrible memories of getting lost during the race and wrecked knees after the race. If you participated I hope your experience was better than mine. I really need to suck it up and go out there and use it as a training race. I just have issues with a "training race." If I travel to an event and pay good money I'm going to race the dang thing, end of story. I'm probably too prideful though and need to chill out and just do it. At least you ran on something other than snow, which I haven't done much of. Lets hope the trails start opening up soon!
The mtn loop was up next and it was incredible! With 1211 ft gain on a beautiful 3.1 mile 100% singletrack trail, it was brutal. Most of it was a burly hike up and and semi-wild downhill rumble filled with fun and snow. I kept thinking that I had a long way to go and tried to pace myself but I just kept feeling great and cruising along. I felt from the start there would be little if any competition since the entry list for the 25k was so low and I was right. I loved the 5k mtn loop and I was excited to take off my snowshoes for the last 10k (the race mandated snowshoes for the first two laps).
The 3rd lap might just have been the easiest. Without the snowshoes and still feeling great I cruized. I had put on a pair of Yaktrax for traction and I motered away passing 50k runners and otherwise having a great time. I pushed hard but even 24hrs after the race I feel fine except for my hips are a little sore from having to alter my gait while running with snowshoes. My final time was 2 hrs and 55 minutes over a 15.5 mile course. I finished in first place although I would have rather had some competition because I felt I could have gone faster. It was my first race in a long while so I was very happy with how I raced. The 25k distance is perfect for this time time of year and I hope next year to see a larger group of runners with some deeper competition as this race rocked! Thanks to Kahtoola for coming out and demoing all their snowshoes. I sure had a great time. 