Well, the first run of the Triple Crown is less than two weeks away.  The Garden of the Gods 10 miler is probably my worst event.  So on Sunday, I decided I better get some road running in to see how the tires worked on asphalt and concrete.  This meant running the entire 10 mile course for my Incline Club run. Have I told you how much I hate roads?

Since I'm the guy who sends off all the Incline Club runners every Sunday morning, I am always the last to leave.  Gotta put all the papers back in the car after everyone gets signed up.  Then I head out for my run.  I usually end up passing a number of my fellow ICrs as I make my way to some trail head. But no trail head today, just GOG.

With the temperature in the mid 50s at 8:00AM, and mild winds, it was actually a pretty good day to be on a 10 mile run.  The prescribed run was to be Barr Camp.  But a few of us decided that today was the last, best chance to get the Garden done before the actual race.  So I headed East towards the Garden to hammer out something I would consider respectable.  At the 5 mile mark, I am just South of 40:00.  This is PR pace for me.  Huh?

As I head back, I see lots of people I know training for the GOG race.  Some are Pikes Peak Road Runners, some are training with Colorado Running Company, and of course, my IC friends.  I felt good, and heard many call my name--some saying I should stop walking and others saying I am running fast.  I guess it's all relative. 

As I reach Balanced rock on the way back, I realize I am easily going to hit a PR on this course. With about 1.25 miles to go, my watch is at 1:09 and change.  I plow through the last good downhill and back up El Paso.  I finish with a PR.  What the hell??  Tired? Yes. Do I want a donut?  Yes (I ate 2). Here's to hoping I didn't race the GOG 10M on May 29 when the actual race is on June 12.  OMG!

The Garden as I drove home on Sunday.  Yeah, you can see why people like to run here.

I highly suggest you run this race at least once in your life.  It is beautiful!  Click here to register