Leadville Mosquito Pass Marathon
The race marked my fifth time toeing that starting line. I felt ok and
ready to run decent. Who would show and contend today? I started the race with
a controlled up-tempo pace and soon had a small lead over second. I tried to
pay no attention to pace and focus instead on maintaining the up-tempo pace. Finally,
at mile 4 going up the Burro Trail on a switchback I was able to get my first look
and time measurement on my lead. I had about a 1-minute lead and was rolling along,
I just had to keep it up.
Soon I quickly rolled through Veneer Aid and started down Bombardier. I
still was not pushing the pace, just trying to maintain. Once down to Adelaide
Park I was able to get a second reading on my lead. It was about the same. I
made the conscious effort to not push the pace. I had to maintain. 2 miles
later I started up Mosquito Pass. I felt a little sluggish. The previous month
of training had been decent but it also had been recovery from injury. I was
strong, but not strong enough yet. I had to power hike a few more times than I
would prefer. This slowed me up a bit but my lead was strong and was slowly
growing.
At last the trail’s grade gave way to the pass and I summited in about
2:07. I had a few minute lead now over 2nd place: Chris Mocko. I
turned around and started the decent. I was unsure on my lead now as I was
surrounded by runners from the Heavy Half. I just had to maintain. This was my
mantra.
I ran along clicking off the miles then in Adelaide Park I finally was
able to check my lead. It had dwindled down to less than a minute. While I had averaged
pedestrian 6:30 miles on my decent Chris had lit 5:30 miles and had eroded my
lead down to 150 yards. I headed up Bombardier towards Veneer. 1 mile later Chris
passed me. I still felt ok and figured we would be in an all-out race to the
finish. Instead, Chris took off and I never saw him again. After making it
through Veneer I hammered down the Burro Trail thinking maybe I could catch
Chris. Instead a lone runner came running up the trail.
A runner had inadvertently taken a wrong turn and was now off course.
Being tired at the end of the race I was unable to grasp this simple concept
and wrongly thought that maybe I was now in 3rd. What was I
thinking? I slowed my pace and started racing the runner. After 5 minutes of this,
I realized it was pointless. I was indeed in 2nd. The momentary lapse
in judgement had cost me a few minutes of race time. I soon dropped the runner,
who I think was starting to realize his dilemma, and raced down the finish in 2nd
place in 3:45.
I wore the HOKA ONE ONE Challenger ATRs. They provide the needed
support, stability, and cushion that I need. Feet feel great, although the legs
are sore from the 6,000 feet of elevation gain/loss.
Training is going well. I’m recovered from the hamstring injury of
April and will now be racing a bunch. Stay tuned for some new races!
