WOW! Whatta couple hours of sleep can make!
Arrived home late-afternoon after a trail 50K, walked the Pup, showered, forced in quick calories, 7:30pm bedtime. Phone alarm buzz, Sunday 2am & it all starts again. Poor pup — no idea why we’re up middle-of-the-night. Luckily, that doesn’t inhibit breakfast feeding. Ro’s never been one to skip a meal. LOL> Race attire, electrolytes, vest packed, a cup of instant coffee. Dog walk & on the road before 3. Hour-15 to Old Square, Fort Collins — place where it all begins, Day 2 Marathon Weekend. Finished my 50 State challenge here. Fast forward 8 years, amazingly that journey’s happening a fourth time this July. 4 times around the USA! Never ever a goal… just a lotta running & life opportunities 🙂
4:15am. Dropped a pin to locate truck post-race then boarded a fancy liner hired to bus us to the Start. Upper 30’s, clear, no wind, not crazy cold. Nabbed $4 of thrift store clothes I’d leave behind (race folks donate clothing to local shelters). 2x sweater (long long sleeves to cover my hands) & stripped long johns. Kinda an elf-on-the-shelf look. LOL>
Spirits high. Body bit banged up after yesterday’s trail. Feet biggest complaint. Was running well/didn’t want to stop, ran with a rock in my shoe last 5 miles. Result? Two blisters. Decided not to lance until after today’s run. Road marathons much more forgiving, Plan — would follow a pacer today & feed off her energy, knowledge of the course. Just another long run — five miles shorter than my #50K every day mantra.
Daybreak on the rock walls of Poudre Canyon. Elf pants shed, ready ready to run. Downhill grade for miles. Adrenaline pumping. Chose the 5hr pack. Awesome pacer/lotta energy. Goal to hang first Half, see how the body feels, walk where necessary.
13 miles. 15 miles. 17 miles. Still strong. 19 miles in — said goodbye to my pace group, not to walk but to RUN. Cool temps, nutrition/hydration on-point, why not? No race for next 5 days — plenty of time to recover. So… I ran.
NEGATIVE SPLIT marathon (2nd Half faster than 1st Half), first time in my life.
Well under 5 hours — video disclaimer…. I got super emotional. It was a GREAT race… but not my fastest in years (claim in video). Ran Chicago last Fall with Sis 20 minutes quicker. Still way beyond expectation… AND a quick ride HOME, my Colorado home ❤️
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- ELF-on-SHELF
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- Poudre Canyon
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- 5-hour TRIBE
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- NEGATIVE split
Colorado Marathon
An hour-half out, two & a half back — day’s commute to Greenland Trail in Larkspur (whole lot faster cutting thru Denver at 4am). Ironically, third time at this little trail run north of Colorado Springs. 25K twice; never finished all 4 loops of the 50K event. Fair weather/sun-exposed/cold & windy — never know what ya gonna get in fringe season… not winter, not yet summer.
Arrived an hour early; bib pickup, strategically filled my pack for a full day of trail — electrolytes, water, snacks. Beautiful pink sunrise. Only miss — forgot gloves. Arm sleeves pulled over the hands would have to do. Fingers numbed but overall, wind jacket & sleeves got the job done.
100+ runners on single-track trail with long gaps of runnable ATV road. Done the distance, vert miles & elevation — it’d be mental today. Previous fail so once the sufferfest begins, doubt creeps in. Plan A… imprint new memories. Use recent run success/history/tactics to re-write the doubt.
Met a 100-mile finisher, David, this day. Tag. He’d certainly finish 50K. I’d bang out a couple laps plus gather info/strategy for my own 100-mile attempt this September. Wind picked up — 50 mph gusts — & I pushed on. Lap 3, furthest I’d ever previously managed on this course. Just a mile in & an overwhelming confidence returned. Gonna finish this lap AND the final 8-mile loop as well.
3K feet of vert, altitude thousands of feet higher than my Colorado hometown. And... for those final 8 miles of trail, SUNSHINE ☀️ 2nd Colorado finish in two weeks & another 50K.
Dog walk/shower/intake calories/early to bed. I’ve got a 4am bus to catch in Fort Collins. The Colorado Marathon. Place where I finished my first 50 State journey in 2016. Whoop whoop!
Marathon weekend only half over! May the Fourth be with you! 😆
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- Greenland General Store
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- BNSF 🚂
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- 50 mph gusts
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- Colorado VIEW
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- May the Fourth
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- ‘Star Wars’ day
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- double marathon weekend
Greenland Trail 50K
Riverboat REGALIA
Happy May Day!
Welcome to all the new subscribers from my podcast interview a few weeks back. It’s been a fun new energy! And while my blog re-boot has had an immediate ‘rewirement’ focus & 100 marathon/100-miler target… for all the folks following pre-pandemic, today addressing the blog’s second highest # of comments.
Where’s Ro? What happened to your dog?
Rowan is a couple years older but happy, healthy & active ❤️
He thanks all his fans for reaching out & asking — LOL>
Pup is now 12 years old (October birthday). Sleeps bit more, hikes few miles less (was never a runner), lot fewer teeth, still a HUGE appetite (both of us bloated during home isolation), continues to protect our neighborhood from squirrels/rabbits/prairie dogs — and also a CANCER SURVIVOR!
When I marathon-travel, Ro generally stays across the street at a local kennel (Divine Canine) — his ‘home away from home’. He’s a regular there & well-loved by staff. We used the Rover app frequently pre-pandemic but like a lotta things after that period… life changed, new norms created, new folks enter your life.
BIG things on the horizon?
End-of-month we plan to drive cross-country & spend the summer with family in New England, returning Colorado-home early August. Not sure the logistics but we’re 100% committed. It’s gonna happen. New travel carrier purchased. Ro’s first East Coast adventure awaits! Yankee squirrels be warned!
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- Mount Sniktau
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- BEST bud ❤️
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- BOW TIE gent
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- Spring SNOW ❄️
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- Christmas ’22
Rowan O’Roark 2024
