So in the interest of not dying during the Pikes Peak Marathon coming up in less than two weeks (um, yikes), I decided to put my minimal summer training to the test the past two weekends in a race setting. 

The original plan was to spend July 29-30 at Barr Camp with my husband and the baby. We'd backpack up Saturday morning, spend the night in our tent, I'd wake up at some ungodly hour on Sunday to summit, and then we'd pack everything up and head down. Sounded like a grand adventure, a good first backpacking foray (dinner and breakfast included = less stuff to bring!), and a great way to get some good mountain mileage in while still having family time.

Then the sky decided to open up and rain all weekend.

As a Plan B, I jumped into the Pikes Peak Ultra 30k put on by Mad Moose Events. At almost 18 miles and over 3500 feet of gain, it would be a good mix of running and power hiking on some of my favorite trails in the region. 

As always, Mad Moose Events did not disappoint. The course was well marked and challenging, the aid stations were excellent, the swag was on point, and a great time was had by all. The cloud cover stayed low, creating ideal cool and humid racing conditions. My previous judgment of my abilities ("slow but strong") held true on this course, though i was able to run more than I thought.

The next weekend was the La Luz Trail Race, a run that's been going on for over half a century in the mountains to the east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I saw a friend post about the lottery opening up in May and decided to throw my hat in the ring. Lance read an article in a mountain biking magazine that listed Albuquerque among top trail towns in the southwest, so he was eager to try it out as well. I was picked in the lottery (they only have 400 spots available) and we made plans to head south.

The stats on this trail sound pretty similar to Barr Trail: average grade of 12%, 4,500 feet of climbing in 9 miles, technical rock sections. Overall I found the first 6.5 miles of La Luz more runnable than the first few miles of Barr. After that, you get to a section called the "rockslide," which is basically a talus field that you cross multiple times as the trail switchbacks higher and higher. After that, there is a literal staircase made of concrete, then a few more long switchbacks at a steeper and steeper grade till you pop out on top.

I pushed myself pretty hard for those first 6.5 miles, since this was one of my last hard training opportunities before PPM. I was trying to get by with just Skratch for fuel, since it's easier to drink than try to eat solids while running uphill and breathing super hard. I'd had success with Tailwind before, but recently switched to Skratch since it tastes better. However, I started feeling lightheaded at that 6.5-mile mark, so I made myself eat some Honey Stinger chews. I think that saved my race effort. Lesson learned on fueling, though I won't be pushing quite as hard on the uphill at Pikes since it's a much longer race. 

Regardless of the fueling mishap, I enjoyed the 9-mile sufferfest push to the top and felt like it was a good semi-final training effort. The views were incredible all the way up, the trail was epic as it snaked its way through the craggy Sandia Mountains, and there were several encouraging people along the way (including one with BEER half a mile from the end). It had about the most low-key start line I've ever seen: a line of tape across a paved Forest Service road and a guy with a microphone and a speaker. "We have chip timing this year," I was told at packet pickup, but it was a gun start, chip finish. 

Just a little high-altitude tuneup and I think I'll be as "ready" as I can be. This summer has simply flown by. I chose a hell of a goal for my comeback year - here's hoping I don't regret it in a couple of weeks!