Countdown to Jemez 50K

It honestly seems like yesterday when I signed up for the Jemez 50K. And here I am, just days away from running that race I've been training so much for over the past few months.

Training for the most part has been solid. My body, not so much. Never have I been 100% over the past 5 months. And never have I logged in so many miles and vert feet this early in the year. Yet I've somehow stay pretty consistent with my training. Not sure what any of this means or says but I'm sure to find out Saturday morning.

Part of me is feeling extremely confident. Part of me is honestly a bit freaked out. And for two reasons. 1) How will my L.Quad react race day? It just hasn't been 100% for 3+ weeks now. Not sure why either. Rest, ice, stretching just doesn't seem to help it out much. Hasn't impacted my actual training too much but it has impacted my original game plane which leads to my second concern. 2) How will this all impact me for the upcoming San Juan Solstice 50M? I've tapered much more then I wanted to going into the Jemez 50K. Was initally going to use this as another long run before the SJS50 but the damn quad has forced a few extra easy/rest days. Days I could have used to get stronger for my first 50 miler.

Yeah, this whole ultra thing is new to me, but that's a terrible excuse to not perform to the best of my ability. Still, it's frustrating having so many unknowns around my training. At the same time, I'm so freakin into getting this figured out and making it work.

On a lighter note, I had the pleasure to pace my friends wife, Becky and her friend, Robin, thru their first marathon yesterday. The gals, who just picked up running less then 2 years ago decided to make Colfax their first marathon attempt. Over the past year I've shared my knowledge and love of the sport with them so when they asked for a little help, I was more then happy to do so.

Met the girls just shy of mile 20. Both of them looked strong and were cruising along at a 10:30 pace. I simply ran with them offering up encouragement every few minutes and helping them with water and gatoraide whenever needed. By mile 22 1/2, Robin started falling off. I knew that the 17th Ave hill near mile 23 was approaching and with the girls now running different paces, I was caught up on who to pace thru that mentally tough section.

Decided to run up to Becky and get her thru the 2 block stretch. You could tell the last thing she wanted was to run up that hill but she ran it like a champ and I knew the last few miles for her would be easy sailing. Mere seconds after reaching the top, I made a sprint back down and got Robin motivated up the hill. 2 steps of walking followed by me yelling out "get your ass moving" was all Robin needed to make it up the hill smoothly. Motivated her in thru numerous "I gotta stop running now" and let her enjoy the final .2 miles on her own. Outside of a few steps thru aid stations, these gals ran the whole distance

Congrats ladies, it's a hell of an accomplishment!!!