This week my legs are sore!  After racing this past Sunday at the Steamboat Springs ½ Marathon, it is time for a little recovery.  However, I really wanted to do the Rev3tri ½ Ironman instead, but the realities of family, work and other life obstacles made it a better choice to stay local.  It all worked out for the best as I brought the family with and we stayed through Monday.  

I really tried to rest up for this race since I am racing every weekend in June and wanted to do well.  I am basically using my races as speed work and intensity and my weekdays are for recovery.  I used this strategy last year and it seemed to pay off.  After a small 20 min run and swim on Sat morning, we headed up to Steamboat, checked in, and played in the hotel pool before bed. 

The morning of the race I was feeling great.  This year there were about 1100 starters for the sold out ½ marathon, and I know it sounds crazy but I really wanted to win it.  After bussing up the canyon to an elevation of 7200 feet, the gun went off and we were on our way for the point-to-point 13.1 mile run back to town.  Right away I took the lead and my first mile was 5:42 and I was feeling great, I just kept pushing and got a few time checks from the lead mountain biker following me.  My Sugoi Timex running singlet (www.sugoi.com) worked awesome as well as my Saucony Fastwitch 3 racing flats (www.saucony.com).  At mile 4 I was ahead by 1:10 on 2^nd place and after mile 9 I was ahead by 1:30, then took my one and only Power Gel (www.powerbar.com).  Unfortunately, that was when an unusual pain in my left thigh began.   I tried to ignore it and kept pushing on.  At 2 miles to go, my lead was shrinking, but I still was keeping good speed.  I hit the tape in 1:18.29 in 1^st Overall, while second place was about 40 seconds behind!  Soon after finishing I sat in the ICE COLD Yampa River for a good 20 min soak which 48 hours before was all snow.   It was a great trip and would love to come back next year!  Next up is Ironman Kansas 70.3 where my wife and I will both be racing!

The finish!

Also, a huge congrats to my fellow Timex temmates who have posting very impressive results in the last few months.  It’s an honor to be part of such a well rounded and fast group of athletes year after year!

Thanks for reading,

Tim