Polite inquiries. Well-intended advice. Wrestling with important questions like "Have I prepared enough?" and "How much tapering should I do?"

Yes, the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon are less than a week away and all these things abound.

I know the answers differ for every runner, but for me they are as follows:

I am nervous. I am underprepared. And tapering? Taper from what?…

As a side note to a recent family vacation, I spontaneously decided to run the Beaver Creek Half Marathon.  Not necessarily because I love races, but because I realized that in one week I’m expected to complete the Pikes Peak Ascent and my training runs have fallen grotesquely short on both distance and difficulty.  This race boasted one of the most beautiful courses in the Endurance Race Series at an altitude of approximately 8,000 feet and a total of 1,400 feet of climbing. On a whim, I…

“The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon still need volunteers and they know that Jack Quinn Running Club members are up to the challenge! Every JQRC member who volunteers will receive TWO (YES TWO!!!) run credits for each day they volunteer.  FOR THE ASCENT (Saturday 17AUG) we need at least FIVE JQRC  volunteers to work on the summit of Pikes Peak (sweat check, finisher medals, etc.) AND FIVE JQRC volunteers to be course marshals from tree line to the summit of Pikes Peak. FOR THE MARATHON…

Tapering – it’s something some runners love, possibly a magical world filled with rainbows and chocolate and ice cream off in the distance dreamed of during long runs in the bulk of training, or something runners hate, loving every single step of their last long run before the dreaded period known as the ‘taper’.

While I know plenty of people that covet the taper, counting down the days towards its commencement, I am of the opposite party – I (hmm not quite hate, but let’s go with it)…

Normally I would probably start tapering at about this point.  This year, however, hasn’t been a “normal” training year and I don't feel like I've put in the work as in years past.  Two weeks to go until the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon (yes, the Double) and I have yet to get above Barr Camp.  It's probably too little too late, but decided to drive up to the summit to get in a 3-2-1 today.  We knew the Peak did get some snow yesterday evening, but much to our surprise we found an ice rink…

After having such a blast at the 12K Summer Roundup, I took heed to one of my previous blogs and allowed myself to recover appropriately. It was about ten (10) days with no physical activity because of illness. I did not panic knowing the Pikes Peak Accent was five (5) weeks away at that time. So on my first day back after suffering from those bad allergies I told myself "Just Build Your Base!".

My goal was to run the stairs at my place of work on Schriever AFB. Stair running has been…

This is not a race report. There is nothing about my race, my tactics or how I felt riding my bike. This is a reflection of the series and how having something as simple seeming as the Ascent Cycling Series can become the focus of the summer. It's also about development as a rider - both in skills and confidence.

There's something fun about racing a series. It's more then just go out and suffer one time, then done. There are second chances to make up for a bad race and the…

“Izquierda o derecha?” I shrieked, pointing to my color-coded bib. Right or left?

I was at a critical point in my race in Quito, and there were three courses: marathon, half-marathon, and 8-miler – I needed to know which way to turn to complete my chosen half-marathon course.

I have no doubt that the volunteers said something to the effect of “If this is your first lap, turn right. If this is your second, turn left.”  What I heard, however, was “turn…

I’m back east this week and had some spare time so thought I would take an excursion up to Mount Washington.  I really didn’t know a lot about the place other than it’s the Northeast’s highest peak and many of the local elite runners head there at the beginning of June each year to compete in the Mount Washington Road Race.  I now understand why they run up the auto road and not the trails!

Before heading up, I did do a little searching on the web and found some brief descriptions on…

For years on many runs, I’ve asked myself, “WHY?” Why do I spend hours upon hours, miles upon miles working and enduring pain, frequently to come to an injury? (Knock on wood that won't happen again this year!) I started out my Pikes Peak running with that thought – why in the world am I doing this? When I could be peacefully wrapped in a dream? When I wouldn’t have to be trudging after my mom, vowing to myself that after this ‘stupid’ Ascent, I’ll never set foot on this dumb mountain…

     After big races, I've been known to go through a bit of a low spell. It seems I get focused on some event for so long that when it's over, regardless of a positive or negative outcome, doldrums hit. Fortunately, I'm not alone in this as several of my friends have expressed similar feelings of "post-partum depression for ultrarunners."…

Most local runners are familiar with the two XTERRA events down in Cheyenne Mountain State Park, the XTERRA Marathon of Trail Races (42K/21K/5K) in the Fall each year and the XTERRA Cheyenne Mountain Trail Run (24K/12K/5K) in the Spring.  But did you know that XTERRA actually runs a trail run series nationwide?  The two CMSP races are actually part of the Colorado Series. …

Anyone who has ever followed me through a technical section has had the privilege of overhearing my method for cleaning the tricky lines. Even now, I still talk myself through everything - simple reminders to look where I want to go, breath, relax and flow. Might be annoying to everyone else, but it serves me well, especially on a course like yesterday! It doesn't matter how many times I've ridden something - I'm always repeating those phrase.  I know what I was getting into - four laps of…

I never thought in my wildest dreams my training would ever be impacted by allergies. I thought I had a summer cold or hey fever and it felt as bad as when I had pneumonia a few years back. The impact it had on my life was shocking. It really through me for a loop.  I had to miss three days of work...yaaaay! The first sign was a sore throat and I was like wow two days…

For a few tense minutes we weren't sure we would even get to Silverton for the start of Hardrock.  Shortly after leaving Old Colorado City and heading up the pass towards Woodland Park, we were greeted by a three foot wall of mud and water and sticks and rocks and other cars.  Scary stuff.  You can see my award winning documentary on the flood over here.

We were hit by another car but escaped with only minor damage.  Three…

(This is a little later then I wanted and may not be as much use now. I was hoping to get it written and posted Tuesday night but had something come up.)

I am gonna do something a little different for this post. Instead of tips on racing and riding, I want to look over the course. I've heard a lot of people talking about the course and how happy they are that there is no Medicine Wheel in the race. Well, it is true that Medicine Wheel is one of the hardest trails in the park. But we…

The week started off with a solid finish at…

It's bound to happen to every rider at some point in time. The mid race crash that throws you mentally. I know I've had my fair share of them - frequently crossing the line covered in dirt and dust with some blood mixed in for good measure. It doesn't happen as much as it used to, but sometimes I need the wakeup call to ride my bike smart and focus on what I'm doing.

Well, this was the wake-up call race at Palmer Park. With just me and Kelly N on the starting line for the…