Weeks Ending April 15 & 22 + Horsetooth Half-Marathon

Not the greatest or most consistent training weeks the past two weeks.  Long story short; I haven't been feeling well (again) and finally went to the doctor.  The suspicion is that I may have gallstones.  I'm going to have an ultrasound next Monday to see.  If so, then it sounds like I get to go ahead and have the damn thing removed.  Very fun.


That's my excuse this week.


Mon. April 9 - 5.5 miles in 37 min (6:47 pace).  Quick and easy morning run in Cheyenne.  Down the Greenbelt, made a lap around the lake at Mylar Park, and headed in.


Tues. April 10 - A.M. 4 miles in 28 min (6:52 pace).  Morning run on the Greenbelt.


P.M. - 8 miles in 51 min (6:18 pace).  Tuesday Night Tempo.  Ran to Washington Park, then hit a good 4-mile tempo with Mr. Martisius.  The tempo felt very relaxed, and I hit it in 22:43 (5:40/mile).  Cool down run home.


Wed. April 11 - A.M. 4.5 miles in 32 min (7:00 pace).  Quick morning run.  Cedar to Curtis to 9th to Garfield.  Makes a square.


P.M. - 7 miles in 57 min (8:08 pace).  Chris Schabron was in town so he and I did some catching up on the Headquarters-Browns-Summit loop at Happy Jack.  The weather went south on us a bit, but we survived.


Thurs. April 12 - 11 miles in 1:40 (9:05 pace).  I decided to try the Pole Creek-Headquarters loop.  I got up there a little late, and the weather went south and got a little chilly.  Add to that me being pretty tired and sluggish, and this run wasn't a whole lot of fun.


Fri. April 13 - 7 miles in 50 min (7:04 pace).  Lunch run on the Greenbelt.  I was only going to do four miles, but I loosened up pretty well and kept going.


Week's Miles: 47
Running Time: 5:53
Year to Date: 651 (71:55 running time)


That weekend, I went to Cheyenne for Coach Schopp's memorial service, and didn't run thanks to awful weather and my stomach issues.


Mon. April 16 - 4 miles in 30 min (7:30 pace).  I didn't go to work because I felt so bad, but I had to get out and do something.  These were four pretty miserable miles.


Wed. April 18 - 4 miles in 29 min (7:15 pace).  I finally started to feel a little better, but these were pretty awful miles, too.


Sat. April 21 - 11 miles in 80 min (7:16 pace).  Trudge loop with Horsecow and Rachel.  A beautiful day and me finally feeling better = a great trail run.  Ended up moving a lot better and faster than I anticipated.


Sun. April 22 - 18 miles.  Horsetooth Half-Marathon.  I almost no-showed given my issues the previous week (and lack of running), but having dropped $70 on the entry fee, and the fact that I was feeling better, I decided to give it a whirl.  Dad and I drove down that morning and arrived about an hour before the start.  I did a simple and short warm-up, and then found Mr. Delaney on the start line.  It was an absolutely gorgeous morning down in Fort Collins.

The start.  Photo: Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan.

The race started and it was immediately down to a lead pack of about 10 runners.  I felt comfortable tucking in at the back of that group.  I planned to try to take it easy on those first two climbs (Dam Hill is a 9.6% grade after all).  Jason took it out pretty hard, but I tried to relax and let it flow.  I felt pretty good on the first climb up from the stadium, but as I crossed the dam and started Dam Hill, my chest tightened up and I got a slight sense of panic, thinking it would maybe not be the best day at the office.  

Jason runs away with it from the start.  Photo: Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan.

Me trying to hang on across the dam.  Photo: Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan/

At that point, Brianne Nelson passed me and immediately gapped me by 10 seconds or so.  I must admit, there is a little part of me deep down that really doesn't want to get chicked.  It may be a little sexist, but it's there.  But Brianne is a stud, and ran the first half of that race very well.  I figured at that point, if she gets me, she gets me.  I'll accept it.


However, coming off the dam, I started to feel better and found a good groove.  As we started on the flat before Bingham Hill, I ran into Nick Clark who was running on the other side of the road.  We said hey, then he taunted me a little. "You're not going to get chicked today, are you?" he said with a smile and nod up ahead of me toward Brianne.  I responded by saying, "I don't know, we'll see."

Brianne kicking my ass.  Photo: Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan.

I did finally catch Brianne about halfway up Bingham Hill.  We worked together for the next half mile.  I thought, well, I guess I'll be running with her the rest of the way.  I was pretty comfortable at that point, and she was running strong (she would eventually finish 11th overall in 1:20:35).  However, as we approached the turn onto the bike path on the Poudre, we were caught, and passed, by another runner who was running about 10 seconds faster per mile than we were.  I made the quick decision to just go with him, so I shamelessly tucked in behind him until I adjusted to the new pace.


The last five miles or so are on that flat, paved bike path, so the pace kicked down from ~6:10 to ~5:55 per mile.  We fought a slight headwind, but I once again found a nice groove and the other runner, Luke, and I ran side-by-side for most of the way.  We rolled up another runner who blew up pretty badly, and then continued the fine art of throwing proverbial jabs at one another.  


With a mile to go, I was trying to decide when and if I should or could make a move to drop Luke.  I surged a little with about half a mile to go, but Luke covered nicely.  We started to hear the cheers of the crowd at the finish which told us we were almost done, and also dumped a little adrenaline into our systems.  Luke and I accelerated and kept shoulder-to-shoulder.  About 150m from the finish, there was a pretty sharp, near 90 degree turn into the finish straight.  Luke had the pole position on me, and I've never been great at sharp turns (I'm a little too tall).  I just tried to stick to his shoulder around the turn before throwing down.  At that point I heard Jason yell, "HUNGRY DOG!" and I went for it.  I conjured up some of my old track speed and put almost two seconds on Luke at the end.  It felt awesome to kick like that again.  I've missed the hell out of that kind of speed.

Old dog can still throw down like a boss.  Photo: Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan.

I finished 9th overall in 1:18:45.  I'm pretty dang happy with that.  Jason, of course, not only won, but set a new course record.  I think his powers lie in his mustache.

I mean, seriously, look at that thing!  Photo: Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan.

Week's Miles: 37

Running Time: 4:20

Year to Date: 688 (76:15 running time)

Gear: Asics Sky Speed (320 miles) Saucony Peregrine (303 miles)