Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Like most runners, I'm a morning person. I'll get up and greet the sun at the end of a run without question. It's a great start to the day and usually the quietest time to run. Very little traffic - empty trails. The city has yet to waken. Yesterday, however, I headed out in the evening. Why? A hoped for call off never happened and I had no choice but to run after work. I hadn't wanted to get up early enough for a long run before work and was willing to take a chance on the evening.  So when I got home from work, I dashed through with putting away my stuff and changing for my run. A warm layer or two in my Osprey Rev 6 and I was ready to go. And I had a chaperone. Nick was willing to join me on my run, trundling along either ahead or behind me on his fat bike. While I don't usually worry when I run in the morning - after all it's getting lighter and warmer usually - it was nice to have him around. The darkness of night is a different animal then dawn. Light vani...

After the debacle that was the Rescue Run, I was honesty a little worried about the first race in the Winter Series. I knew the course would be challenging, with patches of black ice in spots. I knew the hills - both up and down - would be stressful for my hamstring. I didn't know how bad thought - I'd done a few super short, super slow runs over the week and I could feel my hamstring on every stride. In short, I had no expectations at all and was feeling rather concerned about having decided to do the long series. And then the snow came. Friday we got nearly five inches in the Canyon and instead of being smart, Nick and I went and played on the Fatties. Fun sometimes overwhelms smarts... And with the snow, the entire race picture changed for Saturday. The races wasn't going to be fast at all. It would be decided on who's was the smartest and most prepared for playing in the fresh snow. I wasn't so worried about my hamstring and was looking forward to the challenges...

We've all that that nightmare of showing up for a race and somehow missing the start. Get busy talking, stuck in the portapottie line - whatever. You watch your event take off from the starting line, helpless to catch up and be a part of it. I know I've had that dream many times and always make sure I get to the venue with enough time to take care of business prior to the start. So I'm not entirely sure what happened on Friday... My time management skills need a bit of work! Nick, Cam, Amber and I got to the park with plenty of time. I headed out for my warmup, wanting to make sure my right hamstring was as loose and warm as I could get it in the 15* weather. I knew I'd have to run smart and probably quite a bit easier then I'm used to at the Rescue Run. The warmup went well. I actually felt pretty good with just a little tightness in my hamstring. Feeling optimistic, I was jogging past the fenced in dog run area when I decided to glance at the time. Yikes!!  9:...