Rudolph's Revenge...terrible play on words

So, I haven't written in a while, so much has changed running wise. I was diagnosed with asthma last month (finally, the cause to my bronchitis that wouldn't go away for a year) and Advair is an amazing drug! My runs have been awesome lately, and on Thanksgiving I tested myself to a 4 mile race at the United Way Turkey Trot. 41 minutes later, I was hooked on racing all over again.

This weekend, I ran the 10K Rudolph's Revenge race at Chatfield State Park. Revenge is an understatement, more like Rudolph held me down on the ground and beat me repeatedly with that dang red nose. The race started out nice enough with only a few issues (I forgot my watch so had no idea what pace I was running, it was FREEZING outside, broke the string on my tights, and took 3 tries to make it to the starting line with my timing chip attached). I was holding what appeared to be a good pace at the 5K turn around point, and then the hills started coming, one after the other...for the last 4.5 miles of the race. Now, maybe if they were just hills (the 10k course was an out and back over the Chatfield damn) it would have been OK, but it has snowed 3 times in the past week, so said hills were snowpacked, or covered in loose powder, no wonder so many people had ice tracks on their shoes (mental note, must look into these). I finished the race in 73 min, and wasn't last!

I've decided the only way to vindicate myself at the next race in the series (Frosty's Frozen 5, I will run the 10 mile course) is to get outside more. While the treadmill has helped me build up to a comfortable 9/10 min pace (Turkey Trot was a prime example), I'm not getting the hill and weather conditions workout that I need. I'll be putting my new winter running gear to use this week and hitting the streets, back to my roots if you will :)

Up next: Frosty's Frozen 5 (10M January 2008); Snowman Stampede (20M February 2008); Greenland Trail 50k (April 2008)

Long "Weekend"

Wow, today is a strange day - I had Tuesday/Wednesday off for the 4th and Jack's surgery and now being back at work feels like a Monday, but I have a 1/2 day tomorrow...so it'll be a long weekend again! I'm changing my goals a little for next summer as C and I have been watching a lot of Man vs Wild on the Discovery Channel and I'm absolutely terrified of becoming lost in the wilderness and having to drink water from animal dung. Thus, I think I'm going to try to train for the Leadville 100 in August of 2008. It's a race with a 30 hour time limit, and you see actual people every 10 miles. A little safer? I hope. Yesterday I went for a long trail run, about an hour on an out and back with a few really good climbs. I was about 1/2 a mile from the parking lot and feeling good - good enough to not pay attention to the trail, and managed to trip on a rock - on a down hill mind you - and found it the best idea to bail out in a bush on the side of the trail. A few cuts to the ankle, a mild dose of road rash on my arm/back, and a little headache later I was ready to go. Now, the question is...am I REALLY cut out to be a trail runner/ultra marathoner? I am probably the clutziest person I know, so all I can think is this is going to be interesting!