Jaclyn writes:
I don't normally post so quickly, but Aspen is asleep and I have a little free time. We love this race. The course is mostly flat and out-and-back. It's probably our favorite because it's typically a PR and it's pretty cheap ($35). It isn't the most magnificent course we run, but we really love running it. There is a warm gym at the finish with donuts, fruit and drink to refill and you get a nice warm sweatshirt for entering (with a finishers metal this year).
The weather tends to be relatively forgiving in Pueblo for the race. This year, however, it was cold, a little snowy and really windy. We are both happy to have left Aspen at home for this one. We are also happy that we have really good winter running gear.
I finished somewhere around 1:40:30 and in the top ten of females. Without the results posted, I can't really confirm either of these things. Overall, I'm pretty happy. I had the goal to place in my age group (I placed 2nd) and finish in the top ten (not positive...but if I didn't, I was close...so that's good enough). I have never run in the front of an out-and-back style race. I didn't realize how frustrating it can be when slower runners are chatting shoulder-to-shoulder three across taking up the entire trail. Nonetheless, I found myself playing chicken a couple of times.
During the race, I decided not to run a marathon this year. Previously, I had wanted to run a marathon and olympic distance triathlon. I'll stick with the tri, but I just don't want to run 26.2 and all of the distances between that and 13.1. Instead, I've decided to work at improving my half marathon, continue half marathons and maybe find a women's only event.
