Bacon Strip

This morning I went out for a 10 mile run on the loop known locally as "The Bacon Strip". I met Cat and 5 other runners there, and most of us did a 10 mile loop on the hilly dirt county roads northeast of Fort Collins. Three people, including Cat, went for 15 miles. I chose the short route.

The Bacon Strip has some good hills and is a challenging run, probably an ideal training run for road races, because the hills are similar to what you might encounter in a road race with tough hills.

I started out the first half hour feeling like my legs were still dead, but after an hour I warmed up and started pushing the hills a bit. Finished in an hour and 26 minutes, not bad for me, sub-9 minute pace for 10 miles. I felt strong and was able to pick up my pace when I wanted to. Maybe there's hope.

The problem with ultra legs is that they tend to not warm up for a very long time, so if you're trying to run short and fast, you don't warm up until the end. Not sure what the solution is to that. But who cares?

Speaking of bacon, we did see two snakes on the run today. I don't think either one was a rattler, they didn't look like it to me. One was a big, dried, dead snake wafer that looked similar to a strip of bacon, just needed some Cheese Whiz, and the other was a real, live, close to 3 foot snake, squirming across the middle of the road, and it didn't have the triangular head of a rattlesnake.

It feels very strange to be done with my run in just an hour and a half, not to mention having double digit miles in that time. I think this shorter, faster running will be perfect for me to get through this period of ultra burnout. It might even help me get some speed back in my legs. Soon the guys will have to worry about this old lady chicking them again. Are you listening, Felix?

When I got home I rode my bike about 10 miles just to relax my legs after the fast running pace.

This was the first weekend we've had where we had more sunshine than rain. This is what it looks like in town these days, green, with flowers growing everywhere.
I love spring in Fort Collins. Yesterday Dennis and I went for an early morning run through the streets of Old Town, something we haven't done in years but we used to all the time back in the days when we first moved here, when we lived on Mountain Avenue. We ran through the neighborhoods of old houses and pretty yards with flowering trees and gardens. Then we went out to breakfast. It is so nice to have time for a normal life.

My only exception to normal is that I am in sauna mode now, during the month of June I do have to get in the sauna several times a week to get ready for the heat of Death Valley, so I don't wilt if I'm out there on the course looking after the runners. I cannot wait to get out there, I love that place.

Soon we will be going up to our cabin for a few days, and I'm hoping the snow has melted enough to get up on Silverheels. The Buffaloes will be so happy to go back to their mountain home.

Estes Park Marathon in 2 weeks. After that, I'm considering the Mountain Avenue mile in August!