One down and Two more to go!!  Great race this weekend in the Garden of the Gods.  I love all the races that Ron Igen puts on, these are all top notch events.  His races are truly for the runner!  Starting with a great first year expo, it never gets old to hear Bart Yasso speak about his past experiences.  I first saw him speak two years ago at the Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon, very inspirational speaker.  What I also like, is that he was involved with the whole race, he was at the start with us and was congratulating runners when they finished.  Also, how cool is it that he handed out the awards, I wish I was faster!!!  Anyway, for my first time running the GOG, it was a great experience, bibs were cool ( I like when they put your name on them), great shirts, the high school aid station volunteers all did a wonderful job, nice finishers medals and for all of those fast enough, the awards were awesome (again, I wish I was faster!)  Last but certainly not least, is my biggest pet peeve in a race...........port-o-potties! Finally a race with ample outhouses!  We were in port-o-pottie heaven! Bladders and bowels were emptied with ease!!!! All other race directors please take note, if your wondering how many you should have at your race,  call Ron!!  Alright, sorry about my "pottie mouth"  but you can never have too many!

Panel of great Colorado runners

Blurry pic of Bart Yasso

Well now the race,  I didn't run as fast as I wanted to run, but I did run what I expected to run.  I don't know if that makes sense, but I was really hoping I would be able to somehow pull off 70 minutes or less, but with all my training this year being geared for Pikes Peak I just didn't have enough speed to do well in this race(I should have drunk more of Tim Bergsten's PR coffee!)  I thought averaging a 7min/mile in the Garden would be tough and about 4 miles into the race, I knew it wasn't in the cards.  I would run well on the hills and pass other runners, only to have them do the same to me on the flats and downhills.  All my other teammates ran well and It was great seeing them out on the course.  I ran just behind JT until balanced rock and on the next hill he was gone.  He ran a great race and I think he was on his second beer when I crossed the finish line!  How about that wind for the first couple miles, I thought I was running backwards a couple of times.  Having played basketball all my life and always wished I was a few inches taller, but for those couple of miles I was wishing I was many inches shorter, a few pounds lighter, so maybe I could cut through it instead of feeling like a sail on a boat.  I do have to say, it was nice coming back with the wind at our back and it did make it a bit cooler. I managed to come in 1:13, but since my bib came off because of all the wind, I had to carry it in my hand for the last 3 miles.  Right at the end a guy was coming up on me fast at the finish line, so I had had to run hard the last 100 yards and when I crossed over the matt, I had my bib to the side, so it didn't register my time.  I then walked back by the finish line to see some friends and when I got close to the matt it registered me at 1:21.  Luckily I know John Garner and  I asked him if he could go back to video and get my right time.  He sent me a pic on facebook of my finish with a funny note, why my time didn't register.  Thanks John!  The new chip timing system is gonna be great and can't wait to see how it works on the Peak.  Just don't run with your bib in your hand,  it doesn't work very good.   I just want to say congratulations to all the Incline Club runners who all did well.  Too many to mention but Louise Kriel, Yvonne Carpenter and Kerry Page all placed top in masters female.  It's great to see people who you train with, have success in races. Dan Cockrell who is off to a great year hit a PR of 1:11 and will probably do the same on the Peak as well.  Thomas Dinwoodie who we almost had talked into running, with his hair down, cap, jeans and a case of Keystones on his shoulder (imitating Keith Stone) decided against it at the last minute and instead got some great pictures of the runners.  I had my sister, brother in law and  nephew from Phoenix and some other good friends who all ran the 5k.  Most took home some hardware.

PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners

Photo by Tim Bergsten

John Garner sent this to me...how not to wear a bib

Louise, Yvonne and Karry getting awards

My friend Bill Bennett who did his first GOG 10 miler, had a great race and finished 1:36.   This from a guy who at first didn't think he could break 2 hours.  Great Job Bill!!  He is already training on Bear Creek.

Friends before the race

Bill finishing his first GOG!

Well my training has been going pretty good, I have managed a couple trips up to the Peak.  Couple weeks ago a bunch of us from the Incline Club  went from Elk Park, to the Summit.  I was able to do a 1:24 from Barr Camp to the Summit.  Funny story before we got up top......we were waiting at the toll booth on Pikes Peak Highway, it was closed for Hill Climb practice.  They said it wouldn't open up till 9am, Matt and Yvonne Carpenter were a couple of cars ahead of us .  All of a sudden, they did a U turn and took off back toward Manitou.   Little did we know,  Matt went back and caught the 8am Cog Train up to Mt. View station (couple miles from Barr Camp).  He ran to Barr Camp, then to Summit.  He then got back on same train that he took up and rode it back down.  I would love to see the look on those people's face. 

Thomas Dinwoodie, Melissa Bay and Tim Barry

at Elk Park

Tim Barry finishing up

You gotta have a donut when you summit

Took a video of our short Incline Club tempo run up Barr Trail last Thursday.  Workout was shortened due to the GOG 10 miler.  I got Chaz La Londe who just got back from climbing Mt. Everest.  Pikes Peak must seem like an ant hill to him.  Great Job Chaz!!

Tuesday, I finally had a whole day free so I wanted to do a full Ascent, with an easy back down.  I have never done the whole thing from start to finish.  Went up with a soft goal of maybe running a 3:06- 3:11.   I knew just running the Garden my legs would be tired but I kinda wanted to see where I am at from a training stand point.  I printed out the splits for a 3:06 ascent from Matt's Pikes Peak Pace Calculator and took off.  I carried two big bottles of water so I wouldn't have to stop at Barr Camp.  Well long story short I got to Barr Camp at 1:36 which is about 90 seconds slower according to the calculator.  I was dissapointed, kinda wanted to be ahead at this point and I knew my toughest section was coming up, Barr up to A Frame.  Came into Bp sign about another minute down, I usually run all of this section but it's a slow run, so since I was behind, I wanted to try somthing different I would hike the rocky steep sections and try to run the flatter stuff faster.  I actually had one of the best splits for me on this section using that method. However, I do find that once I give up the run it is much harder to get back to it later.  Legs were getting fatigued last 2 miles (wow! what a surprise!)  Barr Camp to Summit was 1:38 for total of 3:14.  I was a little bummed I couldn't get closer to 3:10, more dissapointed in my first 6 miles to BC, but anyday on Pikes Peak is a Good Day!!!!!

I had my ritual Pikes Peak Donut, a cup of coffe and headed back down.   The coffee isn't nearly as good as Tim Bergstens Podium Coffee!  I was surprised at how good I felt on the way down.  I'm usuallly trashed at this point but I think I fueled and hydrated well on the way up so going down was actually nice.  I stopped at Barr Camp and said hello to Teresa real quick and was soon back on my way.  Everything was great until I took a header in a nice soft rocky section of trail.  Usually when I fall I just grind some skin off and it looks worse than it really is but this time not much blood but this one hurt.  Every part of my body hit a rock, I just layed there a few minutes moaning hoping nobody would come upon this mess.  Eventually got up took a pic and started runnning again.  Not too much damage done, but I hope that is the last of those for the year.  Nice soak in the creek and home for a nap.

You gotta!

Well great job to all who ran the Garden of the Gods 10 miler!  Time to prepare for 2nd race in the Triple Crown.  Gonna be nice to get back on the trail,  train hard and try to stay vertical.