Although I know there's value in it, there is a part of me that feels kind of silly writing a race report for the Summer Roundup.  Why?  I purposely treated it like any other day - I didn't go to bed early the night before, did no special hydration, didn't dwell on my splits or feel the need to memorize the course in the preceding week.  I didn't taper for it, didn't wear racing flats, didn't do the standard pre-race warmup routine.  I just showed up, ran, and had a great time with my Purple and Gold brethren.

Not to say I didn't run as hard as I could when I did.

But from a training standpoint, I'm nowhere near race-ready.  I won't be at any time during the course of this year, as far as I can tell.  That's OK, though.  I have simply (subconsciously, I guess) decided that to try dialing in to the last 1% of peak performance when my first 99% severely lacks is nothing short of ridiculous.  Kinda like your neighbor.  You know the guy.  Somewhat overweight sortatriathlete.  Hates running, but likes to hammer his bike.  Super proud of the $20k he just dropped on a new carbon-fiber frame that's 6 ounces lighter than his last one.  Convinced this is the key to faster race performance.  Nevermind cutting out the extra beers and donuts.  That's where I'm coming from - why bother with the little things when I'm not dialing in to the big things?

The roundup.  The gun went off.  I ran hard.  I finished.  When I looked at the results, I saw some familiar names near mine - a sign that I am continuing to gain fitness.  I moved up a couple of spots in the Triple Crown standings as well - from 18th to 13th.  I would expect that trend to continue once the Mountain is added in there.  Maybe I'll crack the top 10.  One can hope.

It IS a nice feeling to be 'returning to form'.  Whereas in March I couldn't even fathom an eight-minute mile let alone another sub-3:00 PPA, I now know that barring anything stupid, I'll be back there by next year.  2015's calendar has already been filled with what I hope to be some strong performances by this soon-to-be 40 year old.  There's still plenty of 2014 left for rebuilding that foundation of fitness, though.  Pikes weekend is part of that process, and with the Roundup in the rearview, it's time to start wrapping my head around "America's Ultimate Challenge".