Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Last year's CMTR was one to forget. Between a stressful week where I spend most of my spare time in the hospital - as well as my work hours and not being focused on the race, it all lead up to my first ever DNF. Hard to take after such a fun racing at the 2016 CMTR and missing the 2017 event with my eye, but I vowed to learn from the mistakes I'd made and come back stronger and smarter. Most important would be to fully be in the moment, focused on the task at hand. Troubled skies but a clear mind. That’s the only way to approach this weekend Last year was the 25k. One lap of the figure 8 course. This year? Since it's the year of the ultra, I figured I'd do both laps I'd missed. The 25k I'd signed up for but wasn't able to race in 2017 and last years DNF. Yep, back to the 50k. Of course, after having just finished the Rattler 50k in some interesting conditions, I'm not gunning for a specific time or place. Just to run smart, try for a negative sp...

I have signed up for the Rattler Trail Races in Palmer Park four times. I've gotten to run only twice. Why? Well, there was the blizzard in 2016 that necessitated canceling the race when I was planning on running the 50k. In 2017, I was going to race the 25k only to have my eye flare up and not be able to run for a month prior to the race. Finally, in 2018 I was able to race! Only to have biting wind and cold, with a dusting of snow and ice to keep things spicy. For 2019, I opted to try my luck at the 50k again. Bad weather can't strike three times, right? Wrong. Well, kinda wrong. There was no blizzard like in 2016 - at least at the start of the race. The brilliant sunshine of 2017 was only a glimmer of hope while I was driving over to Palmer Park. And while the wind wasn't quite at bad as 2018, the conditions on a whole defined adversity. The clouds descended onto the park, covering everything in mist. The temperature was hovering just around freezing - cold enough to...

Maybe. After leaving Moab without riding Ahab, Nick had one trail on his mind. Moore Fun. We weren't going to pass through Fruita without riding Moore Fun! It worked perfectly into the not really planned plan that we had. Ride bikes, find our condo and then meet up with the local running group for one of their group runs. But first, ride bikes. we got to the Loma parking lot and started getting organized to pedal. Because it was spring break on the front range, there were plenty of people already there and riding. Amazingly, even with how full the parking lot was, we didn't see to many people when we started riding. Maybe because we took a different trail to get over to Moore Fun, but everything seemed so quiet. But anyway, Moore Fun... I have a love-hate relationship with the trail. It’s the technical challenge that we are lacking on the front range, but sometimes so far outside my wheelhouse that I struggle. There are times that I feel like I have the flow to be able to ride ...