It’s all down to the last week. One week. Taper week. The last few weeks and months of training will have to be enough. It’s time to shorten the runs and take it a bit easier. A recent message from the Incline Club advised that now is not the time to push it… including the simple summation: “the hay is in the barn.”
One more day on the Peak and then I will spend the next week anxious, nervous, and excited. Of course I will look back at the past few weeks and second-guess some of the training days. Should I have spent more time on the trail, skipping some of the road runs? I know I should’ve spent more time on the Incline. I will repeatedly check the extended weather forecast…plan and re-plan my clothing strategy.
Pikes Peak has humbled me. I have shelved my original goals. My prediction time of 4:30 is unlikely. .. even as I’ve felt stronger with each run on the Peak, I’ve modified my goals while tackling various portions of the trail: 4:30 went to 4:45 during a particularly painful jaunt from Barr Camp to A-Frame. 4:45 to just under 5:00 was my next concession during the last 2 miles of my first (and only) full training Ascent. And finally, last week, running top down from the summit, I concluded that I just hope that I can have a solid performance and feel strong on my first attempt at the Pikes Peak Ascent.
Update: current weather forecast for next Saturday – sunny and warm! I will be checking summit conditions daily!
- one of the first training runs, near perfect day on the peak
another run, not so perfect day.. but in all, we've been lucky. I know things can and have been worse. much worse.
