On Saturday night, I ran the 60k at Reveille Peak Ranch. I love that race. However, on Saturday afternoon I was still feeling like I'd rather stay at home with Joe and the girls than leave by myself, drive up to Burnet, and stay up all night running.
In the end, of course, I'm glad I went. I felt like I was able to push myself to keep running much better than I was able to a few weeks ago at the Colorado Bend 60k. I know that I still have a ways to go to get back to the ultra-ready type of fitness I've had in the past. But maybe my plan of "racing my way" back into fitness is showing some results, anyways. I've also been doing one hill repeat workout a week, which I hope will pay off as well.
According to my GPS, this year's course was 34.5 miles. (A 60k is the equivalent of 37.2 miles.) The ranch is under construction, and the course had to be re-routed slightly, so I wanted to go back to my old data to see whether it was drastically longer than in previous years. I can't compare it to my GPS data from 2017, because my watch had died mid-way through that race. However, in 2016, my data said the course was 35.4 miles, so maybe it's always been a bit short.
If this year's course was shorter than last year's, that's sad for me, because that means I'm not only slower than I was last year, I'm even slower than my times indicate:
2018 - 7:59:23
2017 - 7:30:14
2016 - 7:57:01
2015 - 7:43:20
2014 - 7:39:31
2013 - 8:11:00
Ultimately, the wins for me are that I was able to keep running during the race -- although I definitely slowed down on the final loop -- and that I was able to come into the finish strong. I'm nervous about this weekend's 50k, because unlike Reveille and Colorado Bend, Alamo City will be in the daytime heat, and it's 5 loops, which will be tough mentally. At least it's at a beautiful place where I have happy times running with Joe and the Rockhoppers. And I know where I can get a cold beer after I finish!
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