Week ending May 27

Monday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1000ft of gain; 4 miles, Reservoir Ridge, 750ft of gain. No more smoky haze from the Hewlett Gulch fire, so I didn’t have to suffer a burning throat over the first mile or two until getting to high ground. The IT-band feels great, which is to say, I can’t feel it at all. Ran from the department this afternoon and came across a rattler basking on one of the rocks. After taking a second to assess a way around him, he slithered off down the hill. 

Tuesday: 12 miles, Foothills trail and Reservoir Ridge, 2500ft of gain; 4 miles, Reservoir Ridge, 750ft of gain. Still felt fresh on the morning run today, more so over the last hour. It was really hot this afternoon, around 90 degrees, but there was a nice breeze to make it bearable. I think I’ll use these afternoon runs as heat training for Bighorn.

Wednesday: 12 miles, Foothills trail and Reservoir Ridge, 2500ft of gain. It was really hard to get out of bed today, and it took a good 4 miles until my muscles got warmed up – definitely a high mileage week!

Thursday: 12 miles, Foothills trail and Reservoir Ridge, 2500ft of gain; 4 miles, Reservoir Ridge, 750ft of gain. Tuesday redux. Felt a little more tired on the morning run today, but I always wake up before hitting the halfway point right in Reservoir Ridge. For the past few mornings, it’s pretty much been myself and the same few mountain bikers sharing the trails. The far end of the Foothills trail is quite lonely!

Friday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1000ft of gain. I’m considering a trip up to Wyoming to run the Wyoming Marathon. I’ll run it as a training race for Bighorn; I’d be running it in the midst of peak mileage weeks, and without the benefit of a taper I don’t really know what to expect. Took it nice and easy this morning and everything feels fine, so it’s looking like a go.

Saturday: Off. Drove up to Cheyenne for late registration at the pasta dinner and then crashed overnight in Laramie. 

Sunday: First place in the Wyoming Marathon in 3:06:46, ~1750ft of gain, all above 8,000ft in the beautiful Medicine Bow National Forest. Despite strong winds, I had an awesome race and laid down a time only a few minutes off the course record. I’d say I’m in prime condition for Bighorn. Report soon to follow.

Totals:

Mileage: 90 miles

Elevation gain: 13,500ft of gain

This was an awesome week on all fronts: a successful research group presentation on Friday, a week of solid mileage, and I won my first marathon.