Racing Miles.

One thing my Leadville training plan is really lacking is any kind of competition.  That lack has me thinking about what races I can do in the months leading up to the big dance.

The question is two fold really:

1. Are there races which fit well into my training program and
2. can I afford to run them?  

There is one race which satisfies criteria 1 and one race which I can convince myself satisfies criteria 2.  

The Desert Rats Trail Festival in Fruita in April really fits well into my training program.  On back to back days there is a 50 mile race and a half marathon in the desert in western Colorado.  I'm familiar with the course and it would give me the opportunity to try out fueling options and see how much my form has progressed since my first year of ultra running.  With the form I have now, I think I might go under 10 hours on the 50 mile course.  Meaning that my total time would be less than double my time in the 25 in 2010.  The problem with the Fruita 50 is that the financial burden would be close to $2000 for the week.  Kind of steep for a training run.

The Keys 100 is the the race I'm starting to convince myself is affordable now.  For less than $1000, airfare and race entry are covered.  Car rental seems to be coming in around $250, but there are public transportation options of which I could avail myself.  Then there's lodging.... 

Aaaargh!  Never mind.

This is so freaking frustrating.  

I wish there were a running scene in Bolivia.  There isn't.  It's just me, a bunch of angry dogs, and people who give me weird looks.  The longest race I've heard of is 20 kilometers long and I was injured when it went down.  There are others, but they're more destination events for wealthy European and American running tourists, and they don't fit into my training schedule for Leadville anyway.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll enjoy reading about your racing miles - it keeps me motivated.
Jay

Guess I've gotta come clean

Ever since crossing the finish line at Run Rabbit Run last year and thinking to myself, "I could actually keep going," I've been thinking about doing a 100.  I haven't said much about it (here) because I haven't really wanted to say anything "permanent".

However.

Monday my wife accepted a new position with a new institute.  In fact, she's the boss.  Now we are one hundred percent set for the next several years.  When we moved, we'd hoped that she'd get set up with a job like this one sooner, but she just needed a bit more time.

This means I've got time to run.

Look at that buckle...

Today I was looking at the website for the Keys 100, an ultra that starts in Key Largo and goes to Key West.  I first came across this race when Googling for "Florida Ultras" some time back and I mentioned it to an old friend - Running Moose.  They haven't opened registration for next year's race yet, but I'll be one of the first entrants for sure.  Hopefully he will be too - I haven't seen Mr. Moose since High School...

Anyway, the reason I mention all of this stuff is that I was reading race reports this morning from the 2010 race and came across the wiki of Jonathan Savage, 2010's Keys 100 winner.  He's got a report from the race, but his wiki has so much more.  Really useful stuff for runners.

So now I have 2 race goals for the coming year.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there.
J