Pueblo Spring Runoff

Everyone who reads this blog is aware of my upcomming Hardrock attempt. And while that is certainly #1 on my mind and I've been working like an animal to prepare for it, I've also caught the Boston bug recently. The plan was to do Hardrock and then drop down in distance to qualify for Beantown at this December's Tucson Marathon. However, due to my recent switch to trail running (and, more specifically, ultrarunning), the days of me easily running a 3:10 marathon have long since passed me by (I do have a PR of 2:55, FYI).

So even though I'm getting in my share of the long stuff for HRock, during the week when I do normal mileage I've been trying to pick up the pace. Not easy to do when a lot of your runs are up places like Barr Trail, but I have been getting a little speedier lately.

So my goal at this morning's Pueblo Spring Runoff 10 miler was to see how far I could keep 7:15 miles. Despite setting a record high of 73F and getting a sunburn on yesterday's 22 miler around the Air Force Academy, down in Pueblo this morning it was cold, snowing, and howling with a nasty wind. I figured 7:30 miles would be more realistic and would have been satisfied for sub-80, the weather was that bad.

Hit the first mile in 7:20. I thought I was going to be around 8:30, so it wasn't too bad. Decided to pick things up and see what I could do. Fellow CRUD runner Rick (Stinky Fingers) and I ran together for the next few miles, and they flew by. At the five mile mark, even though we were holding a good conversation, our split was just under 34 minutes!

Despite running into a retarded headwind from miles six to eight, I was able to hold well under seven minute miles the rest of the way, finishing the race in 1:08:28. 6:51 per mile, even after that super slow first mile. I need to keep 7:15 pace to qualify for Boston, so I was super happy with my performance. On top of it all, I won my age group!

Congrats to Katie, who finished in 1:41. Just a few weeks ago she ran her first ten mile race, the longest she had ever run at the time and on an easier course with better weather, in over two hours. She has her first marathon in less than two weeks, and I think she'll be able to finish it.

Good times at the Shamrock Brewery after the race, where I had a peanut butter and bacon cheeseburger, washed down with a few Irish Red Ales.

Oh yeah - plugging my ten mile time into the Runner's World performance calculator, I should be able to run a 3:09:58 marathon right now...