Spring? How Does That Work?

The forecast is finally, FINALLY, trending in the direction of weather that does not, in description, require the qualifiers awful, terrible, freezing, and bullshit.  I am also finally kicking whatever virus lodged itself in my system.  The two coinciding is fortunate.  While it is late, and I will be going into Quad Rock much less prepared than I had wanted, I think the time I have before Bighorn will now hopefully be spent on some trails.  The Greenbelt has grown quite tiresome of late.

May is going to be busy, but in a very good way.  And some good weather will help hope spring eternal.

I have mulled over the events in Boston for a week now, digesting my emotions and thoughts regarding what happened.  And the best thing I have seen or read the past week was from Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run Boston in 1967.  She registered for the race using her initials to disguise her gender since women, at the time, were not allowed in the marathon.  A few miles in, a race official following the race saw Kathrine in the pack of runners, jumped in the race, grabbed her, and screamed, "Get the hell out of my race!"  A few runners around her grabbed the race official, tossed him not-so-gently to the side, and then formed a pack around Kathrine so she could finish the race unmolested.  Later, she would say, "If you are losing your faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."

I have always felt a pull toward Boston, as I am sure a lot of runners have.  The marathon is something that has always scared me.  I think the issue was I never wanted to just run a marathon.  I can do that.  I wanted to race a marathon, and the thought of training properly for it seemed daunting and tedious and perhaps like something I did not particularly want to do.  And even if I did prepare well, 26.2 miles is a long time for any number of things to go wrong.  And, at 6'1" and 165 pounds, I am not exactly built like a prototypical marathoner.  I was decent over shorter distances on the track, road, and cross country course because I was strong and fairly fast.  The marathon is a different animal entirely.  So I skipped it and went to trail racing were my natural strength again played to my advantage.

However, it is time to make my foray into the marathon.  And having done the longer races, I now have a better understanding that 26.2 miles is not an eternity.  After Bighorn, I will start doing what I can to get ready for a marathon in August or September.  Boston registration opens in September on a to-be-determined date.  Therefore, the marathon I am considering, on the recommendation of Patrick, is the Mesa Falls Marathon in Idaho August 24.  It is not the fastest course, but it can be used as a qualifier, and it has a half associated for Elizabeth to run.  All I have to do is run 3:05.  If I'm in decent shape by the end of the summer, I can do that.

Hopefully, this time next year, I will be checking the Boston Marathon off my bucket list.

Updates

I have been down to Moab and back since the last post.  We were graced with fairly poor weather during our trip, enduring blizzards and downpours going to and coming back (Vail Pass was a shit show), as well as enjoying the coldest weekend in Moab in weeks (highest temp we saw was 59 degrees, very briefly).  It was good to catch up with guys.  It was good to sit around a fire.  It was good to sleep in my tent.  And it was good to get in some trail miles, both on foot and on bike.

Chris and me running Porcupine Rim.

Wasn't feeling super hot, but a good view can make up for it.

The "Three Amigos" (me, Chris, Brian Knight) present for a Delicate Arch sunset.

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park.

Epic mountain bike ride on Porcupine Rim.  Jeremy and Hisch enjoy the view.

Taking a break, assessing bike damage (among us, we would take care of three tires, two chains, and one rear shock).  L to R: Cosmo, Hisch, Brian Knight, Jeremy, Matt.

A reunion of Wyoming's 2004 Men's Cross-Country team.  L to R: Matt Hudson, Brian Harnisch, me, Jeremy Thompson, Chris Schabron, Brian Knight, and Nick Cramer.

I came home from Moab and spent three days on my butt feeling pretty poorly.  I am not sure what got into my system.  I felt very light-headed, nauseated, and very, very tired.  Then, Wednesday night, it just quit and I immediately felt better.  I am a renowned hypochondriac, so I wondered if I wasn't just thinking it up.  However, I got word from my friend Sid that he suffered from a similar illness this past week.  There may be a little bug going around.

Feeling that way left my running last week unfulfilled.  The weather still is not helping most of the time.  And by last weekend, I was more concerned with eating my weight in breakfast foods at Easter brunch than I was with getting in some miles.  However, I came back strong this week and polished off some quality miles with a 16:40 5K here in Laramie, which, when converted, would be good for a 16:16 or so at sea level.  Considering I have done exactly one tempo run this year, I will take it.

Start of Jackalope Loop 5k, Laramie.  Record number of participants.  Pretty decent weather (for once).  Photo by Wendy Perkins.

Third mile, feeling the beers from the night before.  Photo by Wendy Perkins.

After the race, Elizabeth and I went for a hike in Curt Gowdy State Park.  This is Hidden Falls.

Hiking buddies!

Balancing rock on El Alto trail.

Curt Gowdy from Scenic Overlook.

The weather is once again supposed to be undesirable the first half of this coming week.  Spring, where for art thou?

Week of March 18 - 24
50 miles (36 run, 14 bike) in 8' 19" (4'49" run, 3'30" bike)

Week of March 25 - 31
17 miles in 2' 02" (sick)

March: 184 miles in 24' 55" - 170 run (21' 25"), 14 bike (3'30")
Year to Date: 534 miles in 65' 12" - 409 run (55' 23"), 125 bike (9' 49")

Week of April 1 - 7
59 miles in 9' 01"

Gear: Asics Speedstar 6 (327 miles), Asics 2000 Trail (209 miles), Saucony Peregrine 2 (400 miles), Asics HyperSpeed 3 (114 miles)