After my PT told me NO MARATHON this weekend, I had in my head that I would run the half marathon. I figured I should be able to run a half, I have already ran 20 on very tired legs so this should be NBD (no big deal). After wearing more supportive shoes all week and massaging my leg I thought I would be good (enough) to go.

But just to be sure I took my foot out for a 6 mile test run this morning. It wasn’t good, in reality it seems to still be getting worse. I am really starting to think no Colfax at all. I am not that bummed about missing Colfax but FREAKING OUT that Ironman is just over a month out and I can’t run 6 miles without stabbing pain in my foot. I have to try to keep my focus on the final goal of finishing IMCDA but it is hard to walk away from a marathon I had planned on running.

One way that always makes me feel better is to look for future races when I WILL be able to reach my goal. Running in the USA is sort of my race porn and today I started looking for post Ironman marathons to make up for missing Colfax. Wise? Maybe not but it helps me focus on the future instead of dwelling on my present.

Two that spoke to me were the Silverton Alpine Marathon on August 25

And the Aspen Backcountry Marathon on August 26

Both will be tough trail marathons and sound like great training for a 50k….cause I WILL heal and be totally fine training for ultra…..right?!?

Now I just need to decide about Colfax….to race or not to race.

Even though I can’t run the full Colfax Marathon I am trying to get excited about the half. The best way for me to get excited about a race is to do some prep work.

The half is known for being “flat and fast”

Source
I’ll take it! The course looks like it will be well supported and packet pickup is at Mile High Stadium where the Broncos play.

The best part is that the race start is about a mile from my house and the race finishes right through my hood!

I am trying desperately not to get the injury blues. I HATE not being able to do the things I want to, but it’s so silly because there are lots of things I can still do. I can’t think too much about missing the marathon yet without getting upset yet so I will focus on the things I can do.

I can look forward to open water swimming on Saturday. We swim at Grant Ranch in Littleton.

It’s SO much better than swimming in a pool! I love being outside.

 It’s also great to get practice sighting and get used to cold water.

I can also get in a long ride on Saturday since don’t have to save my legs for a full marathon. I think I will try to run the half marathon and quit if my foot starts to hurt too bad.


Do you get the injury blues? If so how do you avoid them?

I try to remember that even though training for an ironman is a lot of work, it’s NOT my job  and it’s supposed to be fun. I got a great reminder yesterday when a good friend sent me this video

Love Brooks! Another favorite of mine is Ironman vs. Ultra Runner

I grew up in Oregon so dealing with the rain usually isn’t a big deal to me. I actually love running in the rain, but cycling is another story. You see I didn’t start cycling until I moved to Colorado.

I did know how to ride a bike and owned a hybrid bike, but I rarely used it unless on vacation and NEVER in the rain. Since starting triathlon I have spent a lot more time on my bike. Lucky for me it doesn’t rain very often here in Colorado

This morning Cory and I got up bright and early to head down to Greenland Open Space for our first 25k.

 We got to the race easily, with plenty of time to wait in line for the port-a-potties and watch the 50k start. One of the coolest things about this race was being out on trail with people racing an ultra. I also liked that this was a no frills race, we picked up our packets that  comprised of a number, chip and a tech-t, don’t need much else.

I left my camera at home so I don’t have many pictures from the day(whoops) but I did catch  few before the start on my phone.

The race started on time and was small, all things I like. We knew that there wouldn’t be a lot of support on the course so we both carried our own water. There was an aid station at mile 3.5 and 7.7 of each loop. The volunteers were super nice and took great care of us. This race is made up of a 7.5ish  mile loop with a little added to the beginning and the end. So the 50k racers had 4 loops, we had 2 and there was an 8 mile race that ran the loop once. I realized that I liked running the loop twice but would have gone crazy having to run it four times (two loops good, four loops bad). It was fun to be out on the trail getting passed by the wicked fast 50kers and a few 8 milers bringing it in and cheering on the 50kers making it happen out there.

The race went fairly well, I had some pains in my legs and feet but that shouldn’t be surprising at the end of a high volume week. It was also hotter than I expected, but it was nothing compared to RAGE. I finished in just under 3 hours and added a few extra miles to round out our day. I enjoyed the race and would do the 25k again but I don’t think I would want to do the 50k.

After the race we went to packet pickup for Boco Loco, grabbed lunch, some ice for ice baths and my first mocha coconut frappuccino of the year, SOOOO good!

Now it’s time to recover as much as possible for tomorrows 102 mile ride. I did squeeze some Mexican food in today but no margs for me today, maybe tomorrow!

I LOVE Day in the life posts…seriously, you all should do one, they are so fun to read. I decided I wanted to do a day in the life post to capture what a day looks like for me during Peak Ironman training.
 
Are you getting sick of hearing about peak training yet (and I am only on day five)? If so, you should probably stop reading until mid-June when I will start complaining/going crazy about taper.

So this was my day yesterday, it was a fairly normal day for me so I think it was a pretty good representation.

3:55 am – Alarm goes off for the first time, groan, hit snooze and try not to contemplate “accidently” turning off alarm.

4:15 – Second and third alarms go off, crap, must get out of bed NOW!

4:20 – take dogs outside, feed dogs, get down a cup of coffee and half a luna bar for first breakfast (yes I am a hobbit), find workout clothes, incidentally they are still sitting in a laundry basket not folded or put away but at least they are clean!

• 3 mile warm-up
• 10 x 800 at half marathon pace with 3 minute recovery
• Cool down 1 mile

Instead of going into Saturdays race completely unprepared (like I often do) I decided to do a little recon work to know what I am getting into.

So I looked up the weather:

Looks like PERFECT running weather, SCORE!

Then I looked up the course and elevation:

Nice wide trail, gentle elevation without being too flat, sounds good to me! Two loops also doesn’t seem bad, IMCDA has a two loop run so it will be a great trial run in that way. The 50k is 4 loops, I don’t think I would want to do that! There is a drop bag station at the turn around (aprox. Mile 8) so I will need to think if I want to leave anything there. Aid stations are at miles 3.5 and 7.5, I am more of an aid station every mile kind of girl so I will need to carry my own water and gels.

The race starts at 7:30 and we are picking up our packets race morning so that means an early start for us.

The only thing I need to figure out is how we are going to get our additional 5 miles in. I don’t feel right continuing to run on the course when we only paid for the 25k and I doesn’t feel like it counts if we get too long of a break before finishing. I may have to suck it up and run on the trail. Now I am really looking forward to this race, all except the 4:30 wake up call.