Money Changes Everything

Motivations come in every imaginable form.  You can fill in the blank; “I run for ____________.”  The older I get, the more motivations I need to pull myself from my cozy bed in the mornings to go run.  Since I was selected to the Runners Roost Team, I am committed to racing several races this year.  Nothing focuses your training like signing up, and paying, for a race.  It is all commentary until you toe the line.

This week I registered for two races, the Colfax Marathon, which will be held on May 18^th, and the Running of the Green, which will be held on March 16^th.

This will be my fourth running of the Colfax Marathon.  To mark the occasion, on Saturday morning I ran 21 miles – two laps around Cherry Creek State Park.  The temperature at the start of the run was 21 degrees which, with the wind chill, felt like 17 degrees.  About ½ an inch of snow fell during the 2:52 that I ran.

It is amazing how difficult it is to start that second lap.  Each mile takes you away from your car.  There is some mental math I do as I approach the point of no return where turning around and retracing my steps equals a full lap.  But I made a commitment and David Rothenberger was game, so we set out in the cold and snow.  There weren’t many souls out running in the park, but we did see some footprints in the snow. 

As the reason for the long run is time-on-your-feet, and not pace, the total running time was slightly less than what I expect to run Colfax in.  The effort justified the plate of two eggs over sweet potato hash browns I devoured when I got home. 

It has been 20 years since my wife and I last participated in the Running of the Green – Lucky 7 K road race.  It was pre-kids and we ran it with some friends.  It was so long ago I couldn’t find the race results, but I can tell you I did not make the podium and we all went out for brunch afterwards. 

So, here’s wishing you an injury-free year and success at whatever races you choose to run.