Just a quick note to say that I’ve signed up for the 2011 Pikes Peak Ascent fulling intending to run it barefoot again. I’m so glad I did the race last year even though I missed the first wave qualification cut off by only 5 minutes, so that I had the right qualification without having to run another race.
This year the main goal will be to make the first wave cut off time…but I have a feeling that won’t be a problem at all. At this time last year, I could barely run a couple miles on rocky terrain, while this year I’m starting my training with my feet in their toughest shape ever. After a nice break over the holidays, I’ve been training the Kenyan way (as much as I can) and running much harder on all my training runs so my legs and lungs are also starting to get back in shape as well. As the months pass, I expect August will have me in great shape to best the first wave qualification time by quite a bit. However, I don’t expect to PR this year. I’ll probably need another year or two (or more!) for that. But weirder things have happened. Last year, I didn’t expect to be able to run the Ascent barefoot and ended up doing it within 5 minutes of my target time, so you just never know.
Here’s hoping for a great training season. Best of luck to all of you as well.
Shoes Are Cheating…bring it on.
