Salida 13.1

Ran the Salida Run Through Time Half Marathon this past weekend without any lingering ill effects. I have run the full 26.2 course the past two years and managed to get hurt each time so this year I opted for the simple,mostly road,out and back half marathon course to be safe.

Well, it didn't turn out to be quite as I expected. The course was changed from mostly smooth road to mostly gnarly,rocky,steep and precipitous single-track. When I found out about the course change before the race I was extremely dismayed. The race director even advised the half marathon racers to maybe consider switching to the full course as the 1/2 course was going to be very difficult. I did consider this but my plan all along was to run the 1/2, have fun, and most importantly, do not get hurt.

So as Brooks called it, I was committed to doing the JV run.

The weather could not have been nicer for Salida in mid-March. Hardly any wind, not even a breeze really and the temps were well above freezing. It was warm enough that I had no qualms about wearing shorts and actually debated between the long sleeved shirt or a short sleeved one. I opted for longer as I'd rather be a little warm than cold.

Since I was running the half, I did not carry any liquids with me but instead just had one Hammer Gel in my hand to have an hour after the start. The first aid station was a bit out there (55 minutes) and in hindsight I wish that I had carried water, but really it worked out okay.

Took off probably way too fast with everyone else. The first two miles had a little hill but was mostly flat. After that it got busy climbing Tenderfoot, around Tenderfoot and through other unknown parts of Chaffee County.

The course was tough. Probably the toughest 13.1 miles of trail anywhere. But it ws fun and I would actually love to run the course again. Maybe next year.

I finished in 15th place, 3rd in my age group with a time of 1:56:06. Not too bad. All I can say is that I never backed off.

My next run I think will be the Desert Rats 50 miler in April.