JPSC elevation- 7,000ft-9,998ft-7,000ft

- Was a race far more intense than I thought. I woke up that morning feeling pretty good. When I got to the PCMR parking lot, I felt pretty stoked to get this thing going . Warm up went super great, drills went smooth and it was time for the start.  When the gun went off I went up to the lead pack. There was a guy who shot off like it was a start to a 5k on the track.  Keep in mind this is a 16 plus mile race, eight miles up and eight miles down, 3k elevation gain to the top, and to top it off a complete scramble to the peak. Hands and knees to the top of the 10,000ft peak. I let this guy go thinking he’d die in the first 8k. I remained with the top 4 guys in the chase pack. As I started climbing the peak, I could see the leader and there was hope. I reached the top and started my way down. I’m not the fastest down hill runner…Something I have been working on for a while. I have a MEAN history of tweaking my ankles on trails. So I think a huge factor is the fear in the back of my mind of going down out of control. Which I think is how these dudes run. Was able to finish decent…not what I wanted. Ranked 2^nd overall in the Triple Trail Challenge after the steeple chase.

Park City half elevation 6700-7100 ft.

The two days I had leading up to the P.C. Half was pretty rough. I was suffering from the flu.  I was in bed all day for those two days before (Thursday, Friday) and rolled out of bed 4 am Saturday morning and made my way to the race site. It was pretty cold that morning. It felt like a fall morning. During my warm up, my bones felt achy, and bridle. I made it to the start line, and saw Brad, and Steve. Two great runners. The gun went off and we all started pretty slow, our first mile just under 5:40.  It was nice starting a half that slow, especially with the way I was feeling. About 5k into the race, Brad opened a gap from us and went. I wanted to hang back and made sure I used the little energy I had wisely. Half way through the race Steve was rollin’ .  I tried to hang with him, but remained about 100m behind. I finished 4^th overall in 1:18, and 2^nd in the Triple Trail Challenge behind Steve.  I was stoked just finish a good tempo/workout/long run. Next race is the mid mountain marathon. I have been looking forward to run this for two years. I get super stoked on running this!! I’ll keep you posted. Hope everyone’s racing is going freaking amazing.