Marathon this weekend, Ft Yargo here I come

Well since my last post I've had a very enjoyable ski trip to Colorado with a little side trip to Leadville to check out the scene for August.
Skiing was a blast and a welcome change from all the running. Coupled with the major benifit of giving my ankle some rest. Not a lot of movement in a rock hard ski boot. Spending 5 days at altitude also reinforced my plan to get out to the Colorado area two weeks before the race if possible, minumim of 6 to 7 days. It took at least 4 days to really adjust and that was without trying to run, I blame the snow and my ass being worn out from skiing. Nothing to do with me being slightly lazy or hung over on Sunday when I should/could have run. I feel I was much better served saving my energy for the afternoon spent sledding, walking back up the hill was a killer.

 On Tuesday afternoon before flying back I made a quick run over to Leadville to see what the center of all the action was like.
No doubt about the altitude issue, the joy of starting at 10,152 and then dropping off to 9987, oh what a nice easy start, lets not think about the fact that it is an out and back course which means a slight uphill drag for the last 14 miles. This just gets better and better.
 As for the town itself it's a small high mountain town that no doubt will be completely dominated by the crowd for the Race Across the Sky. Should be a great buzz there for the weekend.

Well being that I managed to not do myself any injuries I would rate this as a most successful trip and look forward to my next trip to Colorado in mid August.

For now my focus is back closer to home, this weekend was absolutly perfect for running and I'm happy to say that the ankle feels like it is coming around. No major runs this weekend but it was great to get out in the sunshine and run around the neighborhood for a few miles. Even if Alan did offer some encouragement to join him for a pint at Stienbecks mid run, very tempting I must say. I may have to change my Sunday routes so I don't get side tracked by the brunch crew or just get my ass out earlier so I can participate.
Taking it easier than usual this week to be ready for the Ft Yargo trial marathon on Saturday, going to be my peek distance so far, the trick will be to also run a few miles on Sunday afterward. I'll get to find out how well my ankle has healed. Looking forward to running the first 13 on Saturday with Wayne, will be good to have company. Also appears that the weather is going to cooperate and be dry and cool, 40s at worst.
Time to wrap up with a great Chinese proverb I came across today in Runners World, very appropriate,

"A journey of 100 miles begins with a single step".