May 2015

Running

May started a lot how April ended. I could run a little bit, but it still hurt, especially if I went farther than 2-3 miles. I had resigned myself to at least hiking the first 25 miles miles of the Quad Rock 50 mile race I had signed up for back in January. I whipped myself into decent hiking shape.

Hike

Event notice

Then the rain came, flooded everything, and postponed the race from mid-May to mid-June. This was pretty good news, at least for me.

Hell or high water

Then in the middle of the month, without warning, something happened. My knee pain had been gradually improving with physical therapy from Rocky Mountain Rossiter, but it suddenly just disappeared. I was running pain-free for the first time in months. I cautiously ramped up my mileage, not really believing what I was feeling, knowing in the back of my mind that the next step would bring doom. But it never did. By the end of the month I did a 20 mile run with 5,000 feet of ascent.

Ridge

Melissa's first Horsetooth summit

Horsetooth Mountain time lapse

Arthurs Rock

Am I ready to run the most challenging 50 mile race I’ve ever done? Well, yes and no. I don’t have the fitness to race hard, so I’m not even going to try. I think I do have the fitness to complete the race (which would be quite an achievement by itself), so that’s what I’m shooting for. I plan to take it pretty slow, but stay ahead of the time cutoffs. It’s going to be brutally hot, which is going to slow things down even more. I may not make it, but I believe I can.

Month Workouts Total Dist Avg Dist Total Ascent Avg Ascent
January 27 274.15 miles 10.15 miles 34486.2 feet 1277.27 feet
February 10 86.31 miles 8.63 miles 12141.1 feet 1214.11 feet
March 12 57.27 miles 4.77 miles 12320.9 feet 1026.74 feet
April 12 96.01 miles 8. miles 14028.9 feet 1169.07 feet
May 17 128.92 miles 7.58 miles 19814.3 feet 1165.55 feet
Total 78 642.66 miles 8.24 miles 92791.3 feet 1189.63 feet

Running 2015 5