Williams Canyon

The realization that I'm on spring break hit today, as I was able to smugly grin and turn my 5:15 alarm off instead of snooze.  I'm looking to have two very low-key days in preparation for Wednesday's 2 x 4 mile workout.  Definitely accomplished that this morning.

Stef had never been to Williams, and I had offered to show her.  Straightforward day, straightforward run.  Made it to Rampart Range Rd. and turned around.  Nice way to loosen up after the weekend - 78 minutes, 6.3 miles, 1,700'.  Tried out the new Inov-8 X-Talon's.  As usual, I love their fit.  I feel it gets me much closer to the trail than even my RocLite's.

I think I found a new energy drink.

Took a long look at the current PPA and PPM start lists last night.  Lots of interesting stuff there, especially the rookie flatlanders with predicted times of 1:40 for PPA.  Looks like Kimmel is doubling, too.  Judging by her predicted time of 2:33 in the Ascent, she plans on getting after it this summer.  No other doublers seem capable of breaking 8:00, let alone 7:00.  We'll see how many comp entries come in between now and Augusts.

State Radio - one of those bands that I somehow passed over for years.  Making up for lost time with them these days.

Declaration

I declared war today.

Yeay med tent

While I've had seven months to grumble and groan over last year's disappointing performance on Pikes Peak, today was the first day I could actually do something about it.  Clicking the 'submit' button not once, but twice, felt like a declaration of war against the pile of rocks that lives just a few miles to my west.

After a surprising 2:44 in 2009, I decided to put all my eggs in the Ascent basket last August.  Three hours, twenty-one minutes later, I found myself sucking down O's and belligerently snapping at medical staff.  My grand blowup began early - likely at the beginning of the W's - but the wheels didn't fall off until A-Frame.  Mile splits of 20, 25, and 43 minutes ensued.  Carnage.

I had it all planned out.  I was going to click off a sub-2:40 Ascent, hop in a car and pace JT in Leadville that night.  I had even tentatively planned on drinking the Leadville Kool-Aid.  A sub-2:40 would have been fast enough for me to walk away from the Ascent and give this 100-mile craziness a shot in 2011.

The taste that bonk left in my mouth, though...it ate at me.  I did make it out to Leadville to pace JT.  I did fall in love with the idea of the race, the atmosphere, the challenge...but in the back of my mind, I knew I still had a score to settle with my 14,110' backdoor neighbor.  At the same time, I felt I wanted to mix it up at least a smidge, so I began thinking about the round-trip.  I was soon talked into the double, and it's been on my mind ever since 2011 came around.

The game plan now is simple.  I'm going to crush the Ascent.  I'm going to come back the next day and see if I can beat my old Ascent PR on the way up.  A strong performance on Pikes in August will allow me the 'closure' I need to tackle Leadville in 2012.  That mountain is in trouble - today I just made it legal.

Incline super easy yesterday.  10 miles easy today (8:35's) on the Santa Fe.  Giving the legs one more day to recover before I hit up 1000's around the rez on St. Patty's Day.

Part of my training routine will include this - at least it will tomorrow!