The CPTR 50 was this past weekend and I executed my training and game plan nicely. The two weeks leading up to the race I only put in approx. 15 miles each week and wanted to have my legs fully rested from the several months of training. Six days before the CPTR I went out for a easy 6 hour mountain bike ride to give the legs a nice long easy workout.

Race Day: True to my nature I camped out and slept in a cold tent to keep it real. Race day morning was in the 20’s and I knew that it would be good running weather -the colder the better for me. I took it easy the first 10 miles and was hanging near the back (after all I had 50 miles to warm up), soon I realized that I should pick up the pace just a hair so I could make the cutoff time for the 2nd loop back out. I quickly dropped my slower running mates and soon enough I was at the turnaround point for the 2nd 25 mile loop with over an hour to spare. Feeling fine and not at all affected by the elevation I headed back out to finish the last 25 miles. I maintained a steady pace throughout the rest of the day and finished in under 11 hours with a lot of energy left. I could have pushed the pace on the last 6 miles harder and finish with a better time, but why? By not digging into my reserves I will recover quicker and will be able to quickly move on to my next training phase with a stronger and healthy body.
-Peace