Back in the Saddle...

So as one can imagine, running a 100 mile race has a tendency to take a LOT out of you and requires some time to fully recover from. Physiologically some people will recover more quickly than others, while some might recover faster based on to the already high weekly mileage and intensity they've trained with. I was neither...

With the Rocky Racoon 100 falling dead-smack in the middle of a Colorado winter (Feb. 6th), I wasn't as conditioned and definitely hadn't trained as well as I would have liked. Simply put, this was mostly due to my lack of high mileage training weeks. In my defense, however, it's not exactly easy to wake up on a Saturday morning, look out the window and see snow, notice the thermometer showing temps in the teens, and go: 'Holy crap, I can't wait to run by myself for 5 hours in the snow today.... maybe I'll even get the added bonus of wiping out and injuring myself on some remote trail and have a hungry animal stumble upon my dumb ass!'. Obviously, I'm exhagerating to some degree, because to even become an ultra-distance runner to begin with, possessing some masochistic qualities is a necessity.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that I was absolutely WRECKED for a good 3+ weeks after Rocky. I was able to run about 7 days after the race, but just hammering out a 4-5 miler was grueling. It felt like I was running with weights wrapped around my ankles. No fun! It has only been about 2 weeks since I've begun to feel 100% again and I've been able to steadily increase my mileage. I've lacked the long weekend runs (25+ miles) that are so critical leading up to an ultra, BUT I don't have another 50 mile or longer race until the last weekend in April, so time is still on my side.

So to conclude this rambling mess of post, I am trying to say I am feeling healthy and strong again and am ready to hit the long weekend runs again. To accomplish this, I sent in a last minute entry in the the 'Run Through Time' marathon in Salida, CO. It is almost all on trails and jeep roads, and as of Wednesday, there was still a 6 mile stretch of the course that was covered with about 10" deepsnow. I'm not gonna lie though, I am actually super excited about the challenge this presents and the fact that my first long run since February is going to be a memorable one!! (Plus there is a nice beer bet up for grabs between me and some buddies...)

It's off to give the old lungs and legs a good workout in the morning! I'll post  a race recap later in the week...

Brooks