Awards

After a climb up the incline, I spent a few hours this morning with the award designers, and I think you will like what we came up with for finisher's medals! I may post a picture when they come back, but they are very nice, in my opinion. I am realizing that it may be hard to please everyone, with everything, but we are doing our best to make it an enjoyable and nice race for each and every participant.

I have worked today on loose ends, such as creating the posters for advertising, contacting committee members about specifics, and figuring out the bibs. I also sent the shirt designer some artwork to begin and hopefully, quickly complete the shirt designs. It will be simple this year with the logo and some other text. Like I mentioned earlier, we are hoping the shirt is versatile yet simple enough to wear running or around.

Back to the incline...it is an attraction for athletes in the Springs. In a nutshell, it is a one mile climb, straight up the side of Pikes Peak. It snowed last night, so the dusting of that beautiful white stuff made it such an amazing jaunt up that crazy mountain. We took pictures - I'll post them soon.

Running Groups

So I got to thinking about my last blog and meeting new people...I should've put something in there about finding a running group in your area. I feel that one of the best aspects of running is meeting new people and the relationships that develop on a run. It is amazing what you end up talking about after 3 hours of running...leave it up to the imagination! Anyways, if you are going to be running the marathon or half marathon it may be a good idea to find a group. I find that I get excited to go running with my friends and look forward to meeting them for the next challenge. I trained for my first marathon completely alone, and although it was quite the accomplishment, those long runs got lonely sometimes. Some of you may like to join a group once or twice a month, while others may enjoy it several times a week.

If I weren't directing the race this year, I would be tempted to run the relay. It would be a blast to train together and do some races pre-relay with a team. The school I teach at currently has two teams getting ready for this race, and I love to hear about their plans.

As you can see by the recent pictures posted, I love to run with my husband and my friends! I have met so many amazing people through running.

Training

So...if you are running the full-marathon, I would imagine that you are starting to work back up on mileage - even if it is to prepare for your "official" training program. Since we have just over 5 months left, it is a great time to start getting back into the swing of training, or to begin amping up those miles if you are a first timer. (Great marathon for first timers with several aid stations!) If you are running the half-marathon, you can begin as well. It never hurts to work up those miles slowly. I prefer to take months to enjoy the process!

Relay runners...start thinking about who is running which leg! All of the legs on the race are different, from distance to terrain. You can check out leg descriptions on our website under the "Relay" section. Remember, leg 2 may be the longest and hilliest, but it is really beautiful as well. There are benefits to each leg. If you don't have a complete team, start asking your friends, even if they don't run. If they begin to train now, they will be very comfortable with any of the distances.

Have fun with your training, meet new people, and enjoy the outdoors!

Finisher's Medals and Shirts

This week someone asked, "Do the half marathoners receive finisher's medals?" Of course they do. Marathoners, half marathoners, and all relay participants will receive a medal this year!

I have also had several questions about shirts...this year we are doing male and female shirts. The men's shirts run slightly large, but the women's shirts are true to size. For all three races, the male shirts are "denim" blue which is a blue-grey and the women's shirts are navy colored. Both of the shirts are a cotton/polyester shirt so they can be worn to run in, or out and about to show off your accomplishment!

America the Beautiful Park

We will be having our committee meeting at the park tomorrow to figure out arrangements. According to the poll, so far, many would like to have a larger crowd at the finish line, so we will be working on rearranging a few things to make this happen. I also have found it interesting that placing the medal around each finisher's neck is important! This is something we can do as well. If you haven't voted yet, be sure to get your vote in so we can be sure we cover what is important to you!

Super Busy!

I know I haven't been writing much about the little details lately, but there has been a lot of work going on. The committee has been busy doing odds and ends jobs to prepare for race day and even, prerace day. All of those "little" jobs add up to a lot of work that goes into putting on a marathon, especially considering most on this committee have full time jobs. I think the thing that keeps many of us going strong is knowing that the runners really appreciate it! :)

Many locals have begun their training for either a spring or early summer marathon, or a local series. It seems like running is back "in the air." Three weeks ago I did a wonderful, relaxed, trail run from downtown Colorado Springs to Bear Creek. A group of us ran through Bear Creek to Section 16 to Red Rocks to Garden of the Gods, and finally to where we started! It was gorgeous and the trails in Colorado can't be beat. Utah is a close second. People have called and asked about the marathon and marathon relay course. (They are the same course.) There are brief descriptions of each leg on the marathon relay page of the website. I tell each runner that the course is a gradual decent; however, if you are running the leg on the AFA, be prepared to do rolling hills. You will have your ups and your downs. To me, they seem to be quick up and quick down - as opposed to long and gradual. The beauty of this leg can't be beat as well...keep that in mind!

Personally, I am training for the San Diego Rock-N-Roll Marathon. I figured if I was going to do a marathon this year it should be early enough to be done and be able to focus efforts on ADT during summer. Training for a marathon is such an exciting experience, whether it be your first or your tenth, or I am sure your hundredth! I ran ultras last year and enjoyed the challenge of distance over speed. I believe as runners we go through cycles of interest, whether it be a distance, a speed, a terrain, or something else completely personal. Ultras were a whole new challenge, but I really missed doing speed regularly and actually started to crave it. Plus, my family really missed me when I was running long runs on Saturdays and Sundays each weekend. :( So I decided to do a marathon this year and possibly do ultras again later on in life. I keep saying that I would like to do the Leadville 100 by the time I am 40, especially after crewing for a friend this last year.

Enjoy a trail or two in the next few weeks! Get out and run with a friend! Indulge in the time change...in the afternoon!