A race preview, more weather bitching, lesson learned

Seeing a half-marathon on the race calendar for Denver the first weekend of April made me happy. I became especially happy after sending in the entry form. For $40 I get a point-to-point course, train fare from the finish line back to the start, a long-sleeved technical T-shirt, lunch, and a gauge of just how far I've fallen out of shape.

For the sake of perspective, I ran 1:31:25 at the Quad-City Half-Marathon in September 2007, 49 seconds short of a PR. It's roughly 19 months later and if I'm within five minutes (or 30 seconds per mile) of that time, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Amazing how my standards drop like a stone in the river, but I could call myself a victim of circumstance. Last October I did a half-iron in Arizona, then planned on taking a little time off. "A little time" became the better part of two months, as I relocated for a new job, then took weeks to get used to the change in terrain and altitude; 7,200 feet above sea level is a world of difference from around 500 feet.

Even before the relocation, I signed up for the St. Louis Marathon. My roommate, Tripp, offered to procure lodging and transportation; i.e. we were going to drive the Great River Road to the Loo and crash at his friend's place. Want to make God laugh? Make plans.

So the moral of this story is, don't sign up for April races if there's any chance outdoor training will suck. Now, Molly (mollyzahr.blogspot.com) lives in New Hampshire and has done a psychotic amount of training on her bike trainer and has toughed out gobs of snow-blown miles on the run, in anticipation of Saturday's Half-Ironman California. Good for her. If I had one-tenth her mental fortitude... well, I tip my cap her way. I wish... And as I said, I'm never signing up for an April race.

Why? Because the winters on the high plains extend deep into April. I had no idea how the winter weather would wear on me. I did a tempo run in the gym on Tuesday, as I walked home in snow showers and determined the best thing would be to run inside. I wore my shades as I walked across campus to the gym later that day. Today I rolled through nine miles on the streets of the Gem City in 1:16, and it felt... tolerable. Looking ahead, this is what I have to deal with for the weekend:

ANOTHER LATE WINTER STORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND THE
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY NIGHT
.A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES THIS
WEEKEND...SETTING THE STAGE FOR A POSSIBLE HEAVY SNOWFALL EVENT.
THE BULK OF THE SNOW WILL FALL FROM LATER FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH
SATURDAY EVENING. STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THE SNOW...
CAUSING CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.
WYZ059>070-031100-
/O.CON.KCYS.WS.A.0007.090404T0000Z-090405T0000Z/
CONVERSE-NIOBRARA-SOUTHWEST CARBON-NORTH CARBON-SNOWY RANGE-
NORTH LARAMIE RANGE-LARAMIE VALLEY-LARAMIE RANGE-PLATTE-GOSHEN-
CHEYENNE FOOTHILLS-PINE BLUFFS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...DOUGLAS...GLENROCK...LUSK...RAWLINS...
HANNA...MEDICINE BOW...CENTENNIAL...GARRETT...LARAMIE...BUFORD...
HORSE CREEK...WHEATLAND...GUERNSEY...TORRINGTON...CHEYENNE...
PINE BLUFFS
346 PM MDT THU APR 2 2009

WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING
THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON
A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING
THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
SNOW...POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL DEVELOP FRIDAY NIGHT AND
CONTINUE ON SATURDAY. STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL PRODUCE BLOWING
AND DRIFTING SNOW ALONG WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES. BY LATE
SATURDAY AFTERNOON...NEW SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES WILL
BE POSSIBLE...WITH THE HIGHER AMOUNTS MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
EAST OF THE LARAMIE RANGE.
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.