I thought my first blog would catch some attention if a reference to poo was involved. Today I ran the Collegiate Peaks 25 miler. Temps were in the mid 30's to start and rose to mid-60's. It was a gorgeous day to run.

I had heard from some friends who have run the race that there are quite a few sandy sections. They were accurate. While the climbing wasn't too bad, I went out really conservatively. I started to have some stomach issues around mile 21.

The majority of the course is downhill after mile 18. I had a couple pretzels, ate one GU towards the middle and sipped on GU Brew from my hydration pack. I ate a typical pre-race dinner of pizza the night before and had some oatmeal with chia for breakfast. Not sure what precipitated the emergency stop at mile 22. Nevertheless, equipped with a paper towel (a trick I learned from a fellow trail runner who will remain nameless) and a stick, I hiked back behind a bush and did my business. After that, the last few miles flew by.

The finish was partially dirt road and a little bit of single track which I wish there was more of rather than sand. The race was well supported and everyone was super friendly. Collegiate Peaks is a great tune-up for the Ascent and I will most likely be back. Maybe try the 50 miler?