PP Marathon - defending champion is racing

Just my hunch, but when I saw Matt Carpenter near the Summit yesterday - he was not out for a Sunday morning stroll.  More on that later in the post.

With less than 4 weeks now till race day weekend, it's crunch time for training.  Not just for me, but for all involved.  So, Barr Trail was loaded with people yesterday - I recognized quite a few of the elite local athletes hard at work.

Saturday I ran the local "Classic 10K" race - setting a new PR (of 43:20).  While I am very pleased with that, I know that with specific training for that I could do better.  That's not my focus right now.  However, looking at the results of that race - there was a lot of speedy people - had to run sub 7 minute miles to get 140th place.

After attending an outdoor wedding Saturday afternoon and getting drained by the heat, I went into yesterdays run tired and lacking energy.  But I need the high altitude and Barr Trail familiarity - especially up top.  So, I drove up to the Summit.  The goal was run down 6 miles, then come back up.

The highlight of my run was not in any way what I suffered through and was able to do - which in itself was good for me and hopefully will pay off - but it was who I saw on the trail and the work / effort they were putting into it.  Several elites I definitely recognized - others I saw I could just tell they were good and surely will be near the front on race day(s).

About 1 1/2 miles on my way down - the only runner that passed me (the same way I was at the time going) that day came cruising by.  Not sure who he was, I saw him later on his way back up, just above Barr Camp - might have been Sage Canaday, but I'm not 100% sure. 

I wanted to get down the 6 miles at about a 10 min per mile average - so as to a) not trash the quads, b) see if I actually could, c) not fall like last weekend.  Answer: success to all 3.

Just over 2 miles down the trail was when it got really interesting.  Simon Gutierrez was cruising up - impressive to see and almost unfathomable to realize how fast he was going, until no more than 2 minutes later Matt Carpenter went cruising up the trail - almost effortlessly. 

I'd be really curious to know how the rest of those 2 guys runs played out.  If Matt caught Simon, if Simon had just passed Matt.  If they even knew they were both on the trail.  Above tree line you can see a lot of the trail - I'm guessing they were very aware of each other there.  It was very interesting to see them putting such a good effort into it.

As of now, Matt is not on the Competitive entry list.  But I'm convinced that it is only a matter of time, plus, with him being in the race - I'm looking forward to seeing the marathon field in action on race day.  It's going to be tough to not just stop and watch the action instead of focusing on what I need to be doing - that is: me still going up while they are flying down.  The other thing I'm curious to see is when GZ updates his prediction list, or posts a poll as to who can guess what race number Matt Carpenter will wear.

Back to my insignificant run..... As I got below tree line the next 2 other speedy locals of note I saw were Peter Maksimow (in full, woolly beard - very impressive and hard to miss) and a little later, my pick to win the Ascent, Ryan Hafer.  Literally dozens of other speedy people out there too - men and women, masters and young guns - all putting in great work.  As mentioned: inspiring and yes I am jealous of many of them.

So, down 6 miles I eventually arrived - went down to the "1/2 mile to Barr Camp" sign, stopped for a moment to empty the shoes and eat.  As (somewhat) easy as it was to come down, the complete opposite went into effect as I tried to go up.  I eventually made it, not a spectacular or even impressive showing at all - I'm attributing it to being a little weary from the race and the heat exposure the day before.  I hope to do better on race day (in both directions).

A 3 hour round trip (1 down, 2 up).  By the time I got back up to the Summit, I was starving - donuts seemed right, so a couple went down nice and quick.  While enjoying those I think the altitude got to me and I decided to get a little more suffering in.  So, I went back down the trail another mile and back.  Figuring I was already there, that it takes time and money to get to the Summit and I need all the training I can get.

Surprisingly - I didn't leave any dna samples on those 2 miles.  But coming back up, especially those 16 not so "Golden Stairs" - I was hurting and seriously considering what benefit I was trying to achieve and tacking on 2 more miles - that ended up taking 35 minutes.

All said and done - it was a good day of training and people watching - with close to 5000 feet of elevation gain and 3 1/2 miles on the race course.  Getting excited about race day - but recognizing for sure that I have much more work to do.