Running in Colorado has its ups and downs...

Colorado is a great state to train for any race.  However, I learned from my pancake flat marathon that no matter where you run in Colorado, it is almost impossible to run without elevation gain or drop.  My run Sunday was proof positive.  I dropped close to 200 feet in elevation in 16.5 miles but considering I dropped nearly 500 feet in elevation by Mile 8, you can see that the steady incline home from there was not fun and may not seem to make a lot of sense for Marathon #2 of mine, a mainly downhill course for the American Discovery Trail (ADT) Marathon on Labor Day.  That point to point course has a drop of 1280 feet.  But looking closer at the map there are a couple of quick 50 to 100 foot climbs that are going to be difficult and that mental toughness will be needed.

So news and thoughts from the past week:
The wife, Andi, and I celebrated 5 years of marriage.  Like running in Colorado; marriage has its ups and downs but I am more up than down with my lovely wife of 5 years.  We had a great weekend and enjoyed Saturday evening and night with just us two.  It feels weird not having Sophie around at all times but an occasional 12-18 hours without her once in awhile is not a bad thing for sure.

I signed up for the half marathon, Dog Days of Summer 5k/10k/Half in Westminster on July 27.  I don't know what to expect.  Right now, my goal is to finish in 1:50 or better.  However since I am not tapering and just using it as a fast training run.  If I get 1:55, I don't believe all hope is lost.  If I am struggling to get 2:00 hours, I may be lucky to get 4:00 hours come Labor Day for ADT.

I got some new shoes and paid over twice what I have for any pair of shoes in my life. I have spent $65 for shoes, but $136 seems exorbitant.  Oh well, I was tired of blowing out the pinky toe of all my previous running shoes and had noticed any others I have tried on are just too narrow from the start so I went with a pair of Saucony Pro Grid Hurricane 15 Wide 10 1/2.  I was bold enough to get 20 miles on them over the weekend without breaking them in at all.  My toes and feet are a little sorer than normal but I attribute this to them not being broke in at all.

I have three goals for this week.  Get my speedwork ramped up by doing some Yassos, do some MTYs and don't settle for anything less than 40 miles.  I have been doing MTYs and plenty of marathon pace mileage but have been hovering in low to mid 30s for my distances every week.  I would like to peak around 55 and the only way to achieve this is to not miss runs like I know I have.   Last goal is to eat better.  I have been falling back on fast food, desserts and fatty foods over and over and saying next week.  Fortunately I am smart about it and only have got up to 169 once.  Otherwise I have been in the 165-167 range during the mornings.  My goal is to be 162 by race morning on the 27th and 155 by Labor Day week and 157 by Labor Day (from carb and liquid consumption).