I think adding in weight training is paying off my legs feel stronger on the hill repeats of late. Today was a good workout. I just have to rebuild my milage base back up to ultra running status.Time is ticking away until Pikes Peak. Next test up will be a 30k trail run in June.

Less then 90 days until Pikes Peak marathon. Ran more hill repeats yesterday at St. Edwards Pk.Enjoying the cooler temps. Going to put in 11 miles today. Have to start ramping up the time on legs. Finished the content for my May e-letter yesterday, so feel good about that. Hope to have it ready for a send before Monday. Still playing catch up on the weight loss train. Have to get off at the minimum 25 lbs. by Pikes time.Been taking 2 steps forward 2 steps back and just maintaining.Talking with TWV leadership today so have to get mentally ready for that.

Ran with my training group at noon. A quick 2 miler. Luckily the temps. were a little cooler today with  some breeze. Ran another 4 miles at 6:30 felt really smooth thru the first 3 but tightened up on the last mile. Overall not a bad day.

Started to train specifically for Pikes Peak marathon yesterday. a hot and humid day. Didn’t get out early so ended up doing hill repeats at St. Edwards park in the heat of the day. Managed 2and a 1/2  slow repeats on the east side of the ridge. Man am I out of shape.Could excuse some of my lame effort to the H&H, but still have a ton of work ahead of me to be ready by August.

This last weekend was a quick weekend getaway to run the Avenue of the Giants marathon in Northern California.The marathon is run on a narrow two lane road through the Giant Redwood trees. It rained on Friday and Saturday, but for race day the skies were clear and it actually got a little warm.Nothing as warm and humid though as the recent days here in Austin.The race was basically 2 out and backs of a half marathon each. The first half was run on a section of road that had a number of potholes to navigate. Nothing too bad but you did have to pay extra close attention. I knew this was going to be an ugly effort for me because I wasn’t trained adequately.I did alright through sixteen miles but slow jogged and walked the last 10 miles. I had given some thought to switching to the half marathon when I picked up the packet, but thought even if I have to walk in I would just soak in the scenery.The most powerful thing of the day was hearing one of the redwoods topple. I was just past mile 19 and heard a tremendous roar and then an enormous dust cloud off in the distance within the forest.Not sure how often these things topple, but WOW!There is one fallen tree that measures 385 feet long( appx. 30 stories) and two people could easily walk on top of it it side by side(not saying you should).If you visit you can check it out in Founders Grove.This marathon had been on my A-list for a couple of years now and I highly recommend going.If I was to go again I think I would run the 10k and leave more time to hike around.My girlfriend Jen being the smart one opted for walking the 10k just to experience the trees.A smart option indeed!  Another nice thing about Northern CA is that there are no large towns and it has escaped commercialization so far.A nice place to stay(albiet a little pricey on marathon weekend) is the Myers Inn in Myers Flat.Lindy and Luther are the Inn keepers and they will spoil you. They serve one “kick a**” breakfast as Lindy liked to say.Cool people.Next up for me, as far as big races go, will be Pikes Peak in August.