School took over my spare time. At least my spare time to post. Finished the summer semester. Phew! 8 weeks is short and intense.
Track practice has been rained out more than it hasn't in the last few weeks. We've had crazy thunder, lightning and rain storms and they've been rolling in between 3 & 6 pm making it tough to predict how quickly they'll pass. And some of them have been lingering most of the night. So not much to report from the track.
I've kept up with the running even with school taking so much time. Will attempt to do the same now that I am back to work after 5 weeks of vacation from work.
Last Saturday we ran from Goose Gossage Park. I don't love running from there. The trail is paved in asphalt or concrete nearly every direction and the scenery is pretty average for Colorado Springs. Did 11 miles in 1:48 and change. Was a difficult effort but I was glad to have covered 11 miles. I haven't run that far since the Pikes Peak Marathon last summer. Close, maybe 10 but not more than that.
So yesterday we were in the Garden. Even a bad run in the Garden is a good run. It's an insuring place to be. And I had a good run yesterday. It was hard because the garden is always hard. Did two laps - one took us outside the park via Balanced Rock and back up Ridge Road - otherwise known as the "No sh*&" hill. It's a doozey. It's long, steep and deceiving. I have no shame about the fact that I had to walk part of it. Second lap kept me in the park entirely. Did 10 miles in 1:46 and change.
Fascinating to me that I ran only one mile longer last week on the relative flats. The Garden is all hills - rolling and some steep. But I don't do flats very well so it's not really a surprise. Yesterday's run in the Garden was euphoric and the first really good run I can remember in a while.
So training is going well, as is the fundraising. I'm just a few dollars shy of raising $1000 more than my minimum requirement. Thanks again for all your support.
