The next few weeks will be heavy on the mileage before I start tapering in advance of the marathon. This week I'm running 46 miles in 8 days.
I ran the Georgetown-Idaho Springs Half last Saturday - it was a great day in the mountains (starting temps in the 50's, finishing temps in the 70's). Great crowd (it felt much bigger than last year) and an improved post-race expo. For the money, this is one of the better 1/2 marathons in Colorado. It costs about $40 - I'd pay $50 if they gave you a medal after finishing though. In lieu of medals, this race provides t-shirts to finishers. All of the money goes toward the local high school, so it's for a good cause.
I ran at about the same time (2:08) as last year - disappointing as I was hoping for a better time but I ended up running with a painful side stitch for the last 10 miles which really slowed me down. I normally do not have trouble with side stitches - I chalk it up to the "extra" fuel that I ate/drank right before the race - a couple of bananas, a couple of Powerade bottles, water, coffee and cereal. On a normal run I'd eat some fruit and cereal, that's about it. In hindsight, I was hydrating well in the days before the race, and that's all I really needed. One of the reasons I did this race was to get myself in a "race routine", so I'm glad I did it.
My next race is the Boulder Backroads 1/2 Marathon, which is unique in that 85% of the course is on dirt roads - easier on the body. I'd love to PR that race... I've been disappointed with my recent 1/2's and I know I can do better.
I was up at 3:15 this morning to do my 16 mile run... only 2 more "long" runs left (18 & 20 miles)! I didn't expect to see anyone out at 4am, but I actually saw 4 other runners in the first hour of the run - believe it or not, I saw more runners that cars. Rock on, Colorado!
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