End of the 10K race. Courtesy of http://www.pikespeaksports.us/

Saturday I ran the 4th and final race in the Pikes Peak Road Runners Winter Series.  This series is in its 33rd year, and is comprised of a variety of trail races in and around Colorado Springs.  The last race was a 10K, and it was my first official 10K race (running that is... I've walked the Bolder Boulder 10K several times).

It felt really great to finally run a 10K, and made me realize that I really can continue to add distance, working my way to a marathon and beyond.  A year ago when I couldn't run 200 yards without stopping to catch my breath, I would never have believed it.

It was a beautiful sunny Colorado day, and even though most of the course was covered in snow/ice, the Vivobarefoot Neo Trails (with Yaktrax for the more slippery first half) performed really well.  The course was hilly, with a couple of pretty long grinds.  On two of those, I switched to a fast walk when I realized my "running" was slower than walking!  Regardless, I finished with a 1:12:31, against my personal goal of 1:15:00.  What really helped was a little pull from a really nice guy Andrew (in pic above).  We had been passing each other off and on most of the race, but at 4.5 miles in and working our way up another hill, I asked him how his VFF's were gripping on the course.  Being a minimalist runner, I'm always looking for those running in non-traditional shoes :-).  Anyway, our conversations inbetween grabbing what oxygen we could provided a nice distraction, and I think we both kicked up the pace in the last mile. Thanks Andrew!

Also, before I forget, many of these pics come from Tim Bergsten at Pikes Peak Sports..  Tim runs an awesome site, takes amazing photo's and videos.  If there is a race going on, you can count on seeing him there.. thanks Tim!

Here is a quick recap of the first 3 races:

The first race was a 3.3M true trail run. Another gorgeous Colorado day in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. A lot of single-track, that happened to be covered with some pretty slick ice and some fun downhills.  Ran this in the Neo Trails and Yaktrax. Finished in 39:19 For a full report click here.

This little girl pwned me.  Courtesy of http://www.pikespeaksports.us/

The second race was a 4 mile out and back along Fountain Creek in Colorado Springs. Basically packed dirt/gravel and pavement.  Gradual uphill heading out, and downhill coming back...wee! First run in the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves and they were fast and comfortable.  Finished in 41:01.

Race #3 finally lived up to the Winter Series name. This was a 5 mile race, and when I arrived it was 18 degrees, the wind was blowing 20+mph, and it was snowing sideways!  Fortunately it was an out and back with the wind behind us on the uphill. Needless to say, it was pretty cold on the way back. This was also a day dedicated to running for Sherry Arnold, which made it pretty special.  I also posed for a pic with two other runners running for Sherry... I later found out that Tiffany (in the middle) writes a great blog at  iRun-4-Mom.  Obviously, this was another run for the Neo Trails.  For more, click here.  Ran this 5 miler in 58:13.

Heading into a blizzard.  Courtesy of http://www.pikespeaksports.us/

Which brings us back to the last race yesterday.  Leading up to this one, I was a little nervous, as I had only run farther than 6 miles one time before, and that was the Wednesday before this race.  Now I'm excited to run more, and am looking forward to the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day.  I have always enjoyed walking this one, and now I'm hoping to run it, ideally as close to 60 minutes as I can.

What a great day, and a great way to end the series!  Besides looking forward to longer races this year, I'm also looking forward to the Fall Series put on by Pikes Peak Road Runners this fall too.  Here's to further and faster in 2012 :-)

Happy Trails!


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"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."
-Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile