Spokes

For some reason every time I know I have to wake up early the next day, I can’t sleep. I set my alarm the night before for 4:45 AM and went to bed around 10. I woke up just about every hour on the nose and looked at the clock. By the time 4:15AM rolled around, I just laid in bed and waited for my iPhone to tell me it was time to get up. Buzz….It was time to get up. My pre-race plan I rolled out of bed virtually exhausted and put on my battle armor for the day -- shorts, socks, compression, t-shirt, jacket, and my signature trucker hat. I had loaded up my car the night before with all my gear and nutrition so I was good to go. I kissed Julie on the forehead, she wished me luck as I left to go grab some coffee, pick up Chris and carpool to the race. We made it up to Horsetooth about an hour before the race start. Since we carpooled, we were able to park about 100 feet from the start line. This was clutch because outside it was 37 degrees, raining and windy. View close

In solid Tim fashion, I pushed my last 50K a little hard, and my right hamstring started giving me issues the following week. Despite all my stretching, the soreness was a little much to run hard so I dialed down the intensity a bit. The weather helped me out a bit the next weekend, with a solid late spring snowstorm, forcing me to run some different terrain and give my hammy a break. Sunrise over Arvada Reservoir on a morning run It still blows my mind that I am running a marathon and a half-marathon distance run every weekend. My brain is finally to the place where the thought of 25-26 miles is not a huge deal. April "Showers" run with Chris on Magnolia Road in Boulder I met with Junko, my pseudo mentor, this past week and talked through some more Leadville race strategy. Nutrition, training, how to stay awake all-night, and lessons learned topped the list. She did say something that got to me though. She asked how far I run before I start feeling fatigued a

The sense of nervousness I normally feel prior to races wasn’t there as I looked up at the expansive Cheyenne Mountain in front of me. The sun had risen about an hour ago and there was a slight chill in the air, but I knew it would warm up soon. This was my third time racing at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, so I knew what to expect in terms of the trails there. It was the home of my official first trail marathon finish a couple of years ago. Race Start Line Racing here is like a flash back in time to the simpler days of trail races. While Leadville and the North Face 50K were huge events with multiple sponsors, big tents and food, the Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race featured a folding table check-in, great volunteers and a 50K field of less than 100 athletes. I got there early to have some coffee and take my time getting my gear together. I’m sort of a spaz before races and it seems like it takes me forever just to throw on some shoes and my hydration pack. I headed over to