Just for the Hill of It

Or not.  I debated doing a hill workout this morning, but decided against it since I'm doing a long run (15 miles) on Friday.  No sense in overdoing it.  So, I ran an hour (c. 6 miles) at marathon race pace.  I didn't start out to run race pace, but I was on race pace at two miles and decided to hold it there.  It felt pretty comfortable.  And, it's early in my train-up.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll need to recalculate race pace before May 6 (Colorado Marathon).  As Martha Stewart would say, "That would be a good thing."

For those of you looking for a little inspiration to kick your training into high gear, I'd like to suggest a documentary that I watched last week:  "UNBREAKABLE: The Western States 100."  The film covers the 2010 Western States 100 and focuses on the competition among four of the world's best ultra runners: Kilian Jornet, a two-time Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc winner from Spain; Hal Koerner, a two-time Western States champion from Oregon; Anton Krupicka, an elite ultra-marathoner from Boulder, Colorado; and Geoff Roes, another elite ultra-marathoner from Juneau, Alaska.  For those who don't know, the Western States is one of the most celebrated ultras on the planet.  The race starts at Squaw Valley, Calif. (Lake Tahoe) and continues through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Auburn, Calif.  The race footage is thrilling, the interviews with the principals are informative, and the scenery (along the course and at the home bases of the four runners where they are profiled) is gorgeous.  The documentary is directed by JB Benna and is available from Journey Film at their website:  http://www.journeyfilm.com/servlet/StoreFront

Over Thanksgiving, I watched "On the World Stage: A Spectacular Mountain and Extraordinary People,"  the commemorative DVD for the 2011 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon.  The Pikes Peak Ascent starts in downtown Manitou Springs, Colorado, and winds its way up the eastern slope of the mountain, gaining 8000' of vertical in 13 miles and ends at 14,115'.  The Marathon, held the day after the Ascent, turns around at the summit and returns down the mountain to the start.  The commemorative DVD is relatively short but adequately captures the grueling nature of the races.  It is available at: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/order.htm  (This race is on my bucket list.)

I've (obviously, see bucket list above) never run the Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon, but I've been to the summit.  The first photo below shows me at c. 13,000'.  I would say hiking, but I'm (again, obviously) sitting.   Probably wondering what I was thinking when I decided this would be a good idea.  This was August, 2007.  The summit was already socked in and it was only just after noon.  Before the afternoon was over, we'd hike through hail, sleet, and rain.  The second photo shows the wife and me at the summit.  It was in the 80's that afternoon down in Manitou Springs.  It was 35 degrees at the summit.  We didn't stay long!