gaspin' and lost in the aspen

So... this was the race that I can pretty much throw away as far as results. 

Though it was a perfect day!

Started off very strong - powered through 3 miles of uphill, and then constant uphill and downhill for the next 2-3 miles until we hit a fork in the road and a few of us took the wrong turn.

The positive of getting lost was that I avoided the ill-fated raceday photo.  This is the most they got of me!

Unfortunately, the wrong turn led us down 2 miles of downhill trail until we realized "Hey, this isn't right at all".  So, back we go the 2 miles uphill and find where we went wrong.  It was about 7-8 of us that were pacing for about a 1:24 finish for the 15k (9 minute mile).  

I had one of these 5 minutes before the race, and then one 5 miles in. I would've had more if I knew I'd be running 13 miles..regardless, tasty and did the trick! Thanks again, Sarah!

None of us had any idea how much we actually ran extra, but we guessed around 4 additional miles - putting us at running 13.3 miles. Impromptu half-marathon, much?  

I finished in 2:02.. so if it was a half, then that's awesome news for my half next month which is...exactly where we raced today (8000 ft altitude, same trails/uphill & downhill battles . In conclusion - great training run today.  Also, it was extremely gorgeous to run through the aspen groves and see the views of mountains in the distance. 

Afterwards, we enjoyed a few beers and then I decided that it's time for a new pair of trail running shoes. 

I love New Belgium so much.

I've noticed a few weeks ago that the seams were coming apart on my Pearl Izumi's, and then today I saw that there wasn't much tread left.  It has been a lovely 15 months with these guys.

I'll probably still wear them on shorter trail runs.

So - I was torn between the Adidas Raven Boost and the Brooks Cascadia 10.  The Adidas were comfortable but had some weird shoelace that made me concerned about it becoming undone in the middle of a run; and the Brooks just seemed more durable and comfortable.  Here they are!

Pretty BA, right?

Oh - also we got a cool water bottle and shirt from the race today.

Last year, the Gaspin' logo wore off the water bottle quickly, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen again.

Scarlet and Grey!!!

So.. time to rest a little bit. Foam roll for days. But, now I'm more motivated to PR on the half marathon, a 1:24 would have put me in or very near to the top 15 overall for females today. Time to get back at it!

But first.. candy corn.