2022- ONGOING RACING LOG AND BLOG- keep up to date with my ongoing racing schedule, race and training photos, and upcoming events

BELOW IS MY ATHLINKS RACE HISTORY SUMMARY: 

https://www.athlinks.com/athletes/198714970/results

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2021 COMPETITION AND PERFORMANCE SUMMARY--   

I DID 32 RACES IN 2021 FROM MARCH TO DECEMBER.  

  • 1 -4 MILE.
  • 4 -5K'S.
  • 6 -10K'S.
  • 1 -5 MILE.
  • 3 - 10 MILES.
  • 7 -HALF MARATHONS.
  • 3 - 30K'S.
  • 1 -7 MILE.
  • DID THE BARR TRAIL MOUNTAIN RACE.
  • 3 - MARATHONS.
  • 1 - 17.1 MILE AT IMOGENE PASS RACE.

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MY HIGHLIGHTS OF 2021----

  • 32 HIGH CALIBER RACES.  
  • I COMPLETED SEVERAL LONG TRAIL RACES AND BIG CHAMPIONSHIP RACES ALL OVER THE NATION.
  • I DID THE DOUBLE AT THE PIKES PEAK ASCENT AND MARATHON WEEKEND, 
  • I QUALIFIED FOR THE 2022 BOSTON MARATHON AT CHICAGO MARATHON-I SUBMITTED MY APPLICATION FOR ENTRY- GOT ACCEPTED IN.  
  • I COMPLETED (5) USA TRACK AND FIELD COMPETITIONS AND TOOK HOME $275 OF USATF PRIZE MONEY.  
  • I COMPETED IN THE USA TRACK AND FIELD MOUNTAIN RUNNING 10K CHAMPIONSHIPS IN OREGON AND WON 2ND PLACE USATF 50-54. 
  • I RACED IN HAWAII- OAHU AND MAUI, OREGON , DISNEY RACES IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, AND RACED IN UTAH FOR XTERRA NATIONALS .
  • I WON $200.00 AND 5TH OVERALL AT XTERRA NATIONAL 21K CHAMPIONSHIPS IN UTAH SNOW BASIN. 
  • I GOT MY 3RD WORLD TITLE DIVISION WIN AT XTERRA HAWAII IN MAUI AT THE WORLD TRAIL CHAMPIONSHIPS 21K,  2018, 2019, AND 2021.  
  • I WON MY 3RD DIVISION TITILE IN MAUI HAWAII AT THE XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
  • I MAINTAINED TREATMENT AND OPTIMUM CARE OF MY LEFT KNEE TO KEEP IT WORKING TO OPTIMUM LEVELS FOR PERFORMANCE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR OF RACING. 
  • I WON THE 50-54 AT THE VAIL SERIES.

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RACE #1-- RESCUE RUN 10K--  3rd OVERALL-  3RD OVERALL MEDAL AND $25.00 PRIZE MONEY.  

NEW COURSE THIS YEAR AT PENROSE (BEAR CREEK PARK)- ROLLING HILLS ON THE SNOWY TRAIL.  

Weather: 12 degrees at race start, snowing; trail covered in snow.  

3 1 M50-54 466 Gerald Romero
50 M Colorado Springs CO 0:42:54 0:42:55 0:42:54 0:06:55 19 rescue runs completed

*THIS WAS MY 19TH RESCUE RUN COMPLETED.
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I MADE IT ON THE COVER OF THE ATRA BILLBOARD USED IN TEXAS AND THE ATRA TRAIL
CONVENTION IN DENVER IN JANUARY OF 2022- WITH NANCY HOBBS. IT WAS AN HONOR TOO 
GRACE THE BILLBOARD WITH NANCY FOR ATRA.  THEY USED MY 2018 PIKES PEAK ASCENT . 






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RACES #2 AND #3---- WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON WEEKEND-- THE DOPEY CHALLENGE -ORLANDO FLORIDA- WALT DISNEY WORLD.

5K, 10, HALF MARATHON, FULL MARATHON, -THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY- JANUARY 6, 7, 8, AND 9.  I AM COUNTING THE 10K AND HALF MARATHON AS RACE #2 AND RACE #3 AS I RACED THESE 2.  I DID 5K AND THE FULL MARATHON BUT DID NOT TRULY RACE THE 5K AND FULL MARATHON, 5K WAS A FUN RUN AND JUST USED THE MARATHON AS A LONG ROAD TRAINING RUN WITH THE QUEEN.  NOTE- RAN THE 10K AND HALF MARATHON NOT FEELING 100%.  





















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RACE #4-- JANUARY 23, 2022-- THE YETI CHASE- 10K- MORRISON, DENVER- BEAR CREEK LAKE

THIS WAS A COMPETITIVE RACE IN THE 10K WITH PRIZE MONEY TO THE TOP THREE AND DIVISION AWARDS.   COURSE-- ROLLING PAVED ASPHALT AND SIDEWALK BIKE PATH. 
 

OFFICIAL CHIP TIME-- 39:11

OVERALL-- 14TH

1ST PLACE- 50-54 AWARD

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RACE #5- SUNDAY- FEBRUARY 13, 2022--  THE SUPERBOWL HALF MARATHON- COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO-- FROM DOWNTOWN UP THE SANTA FE TRAIL AND BACK TO FINISH AT MONUMENT VALLEY PARK.  

It is a gentle upslope up North with a few short gentle hills and a gentle downslope coming back South with a few short hills coming back with a mix of hardpacked gravel trail, asphalt and a lot more concrete with all the new trail renovations over the years.  

THIS IS NOT A CHAMPIONSHIP RACE OR PRIZE MONEY RACE BUT THIS HAS GOOD LOCAL COMPETITION AND HAS RACE AWARDS.  

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TRAINING--  Maintaining constant miles through the Winter, getting ready for the Boston Marathon and building up my legs and bone density with road training.    You will see me on any given day hitting miles in the Garden of the Gods park all through the park roads for 5-8 mile runs.  And it is very tough for a high caliber athlete like myself training though the winter-  you have short days with limited daylight, you have to deal with cold training weather off and on.   And when it snows, its hard to get quality running on a snow packed trail.    When the snow melts, then the trails get trashed and then you still cant train because of the mud and then the trails get trampled on by peoples feet, mountain bikes, or horses which then makes the trails filled with ruts and holes.    Over the winter is usually when athletes may take some time off or tone down the training, but I kept constant, just lowering the amount of high level workouts and keeping up with trail running and workouts and continuing to take care of my left knee with subliminal training, using my Donjoy web reaction knee brace to keep my patella properly tracked and KT taping my left knee for races.   Continuing with my racing year starting out with the Rescue run and ongoing races with just getting done with the Las Vegas Half marathon and 5k weekend.   So the racing never stopped with training geared right now for Boston with a lot of hilly roadwork right now and hilly trail running with ongoing races in between.   Utilizing my training mask to train my lungs and diaphragm and wrist weights to strengthen my arms and shoulders and burn more calories during training but only for slower runs when I am not working on quality or speed.    When I use my principle of maximized training-- you do things to make you train even faster- for example doing a decline on the treadmill to push you even faster than doing a tempo on flat at 0%.  

I am continuing my vegan diet - no meat, no dairy, no eggs, and only certain vegetables for performance.  I do Plant protein, keep up a lot of carbs ,  and maintian proper testosterone levels.    Livestock raising is the most destructive and wasteful use of our land and water and a huge contributor to land, air, and water pollution.  I am a strong supporter of protecting our land and water and stopping animal cruelty.  

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RACE #6 AND #7-- FEBRUARY 26 AND 27-- LAS VEGAS 5K AND LAS VEGAS HALF MARATHON-- 

SATURDAY NIGHT -FEBRUARY 26TH-- LAS VEGAS 5K AT FREMONT-  7TH OVERALL-- 18:21-- 5:54 PACE-- ALTITUDE WAS APPROXIMATELY 2,100 FEET HERE.  I WON THE 50-54 PODIUM.  

SUNDAY NIGHT- FEBRUARY 27TH-- LAS VEGAS HALF MARATHON--  ON THE STRIP -- 

1:24:31-- 84TH MALE-- 89TH OVERALL- 6:27 PACE-- 4TH PLACE PODIUM 50-54-- I FELT SLOWER TODAY -THE LAST 5K MY PACE SLOWED DOWN.  

THIS IS ALWAYS A BIG TIME A-RACE- ITS LAS VEGAS, 13,344 RACERS IN THE HALF, TOP 3 AND DIVISION AWARDS, COMPETITION FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.  

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RACE #8-- SATURDAY-MARCH 12, 2022-- 5K ON ST. PATRICKS DAY-- DOWNTOWN COLORADO SPRINGS-- 

18:56

21st male over all ; 22nd overall.  

1st 50-54 podium

course back downtown springs acacia park, South on Tejon, back up North to Cache Le Poudre, and back South to the finish.  

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RACE #9- SATURDAY- MARCH 26, 2022-- BEHIND THE ROCKS 10MILE--MOAB, UTAH-- 

4TH OVERALL MALE 

1:20:42

1ST MASTER

Tear drop out and back on a soft sandy dirt road with slick rock scattered throughout, and uphills and downhills at about 5,200 feet for the high point.  It was hot and dry.  What was tough on this course was the soft sandy footing through the course.   Not a championship race and no prize money.  Only 1 deep in awards.  I had a 40 year old chasing me on the way back so I had to lay the smack down on the jabronee in the last 4 miles of the race and stayed in front of him by 10 seconds at the finish.  

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RACE #10 AND RACE #11-  WALT DISNEY WORLD SPRING TIME SURPRISE RACE WEEKEND--- EPCOT, FLORIDA- 10K AND 10 MILE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

High humidity for both races on a mix of road and sidewalk with a lot of turns in both races.  Mostly flat racing with some gentle inclines and a couple of gentle hills on off ramps and bridges.  Disney brought this race weekend back after not holding this race weekend in many years.  There was still some good competition in both races.  No prize money or any kind of a championship.  Runners from all across the nation was represented in both races.  

RACE #10- SPRINGTIME SURPRISE INAUGURAL 10K--  

7TH OVERALL OUT OF 9,000

1ST -50-54

39:12-- 97% HUMIDITY

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RACE #11- TOWER OF TERROR 10 MILE-  

1:04:28

1ST -50-54

13TH OVERALL OUT OF 10,000

6:27 PACE-- 90% HUMIDITY

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RACE #12--