The Summer Roundup Trail Run is in the books. The course was different then anything I’ve done before. I can’t remember ever repeating a loop, except on the track. I went out feeling great, and really pushed the first lap and unfortunately, I pushed too hard. I just felt like running fast, something that doesn’t happen often, so I went with it. By the third time up the hill my legs were complaining. You’d think by now I would have learned my lesson. Ah well, I loved the first half and accept the second as a consequence. The nice part of having loops is that we got to keep coming back to the crowds along the course. I really appreciate all the cow bells, way to goes, and great jobs from the volunteers and spectators. They really help me keep my enthusiasm going. Next up in the Triple Crown is the Pikes Peak Ascent in August. Between now and then, I have the Barr Trail Mountain Race, one of my favorites.

I made it to Barr Camp a couple weeks ago for the first time since I broke my collarbone a year ago. I had a strange run. Going up I was running my usual pace for a training run. Coming down I was much slower. I approached the part of the trail where I tripped and was almost walking. I just didn’t want to run through there. I made it safely past Lightening Point and headed down, only to come across a recovery team from EPSCAR. It was a sobering experience; one I hadn’t encountered before. Back to slow running as I thought about running, accidents, and the vagaries of life. Later I was doing hill repeats on Hydro Street and after the sixth one I jokingly hollered out, “I’m too old to be running these.” A running friend hollered back, “I’m too old not to be running these.” I laughed and realized he was absolutely correct. I love to run, and hope I can do the Triple Crown when I’m in my 80s. I’ll have to get permission to leave early so I don’t keep the volunteers out there waiting for me, but that is my goal. The only way to reach that is to keep running, fast or slow, uphill or flat, across the snow at the top of the Peak, or in the sand in The Garden, It’s all about running, smiling at the joy of being outdoors and enjoying our beautiful area.

The best part of today’s race was when one of my Mighty Marmot teammates passed me. Without doing anything but running ahead of her I had motivated her to run faster. Maybe that should be my goal, run as fast as I can at the start, so all the kids can catch me at the end when my legs aren’t moving so well. Hmmm, not a bad philosophy for running. I’ll have to cogitate on that.