I’m stuck at home today not feeling well and figured I’d catch up on the handful of race recaps I’m behind on.  Up first is the Collegiate Peaks 25M on May 7th.  Due to a BLM re-route, the race was actually 25.7 miles, and boasts about 3,000′ of elevation change.

I was pretty confident about this race, as the weekend prior had been the Greenland 25K, and I thought the build-up would bode well for me.  Unfortunately, in the end, that would not be the case.

Pete and I rolled into Buena Vista on Friday afternoon after taking a leisurely drive through Breckenridge and stopping at one of my favorite places: the Crepe cart!

We had a room booked at the Thunder Lodge, checked in and headed to the Community Center to pick up my packet.  We decided to walk over, as it was only about a mile away, and brought Shae along with us.  As it turns out, there was a lovely dog park near the Community Center where we let Shae run around in.

Fast-forward 12 hours and I’m toeing the start line feeling excited and ready.  I was unprepared for the actual gun shot that signaled the start of the race, so as we headed out of BV my heart was already pumping!

I spent the first several miles with a Roost teammate – Kaitlyn – before hitting the first aid station around mile 6.  At this point I started to get nervous.  My legs and lungs were already burning and feeling quite heavy.  I started to get pretty down on myself, wondering why I wasn’t firing on all cylinders.  The only theory I could come up with was the extra effort I had put in the weekend before at Greenland, due to all the snow on the course.

Kaitlyn took off after the first aid station and a couple of miles later another Roost teammate – Courtney “CoCo” – passed me.  We chatted a bit and she made mention of the beautiful course and surroundings.  Ummm, hello Amanda, you’re in the MOUNTAINS and it’s GORGEOUS and you’re RUNNING!  Stop worrying about feeling crappy and enjoy the day!

So, that’s what I did.  I stopped looking at my watch and started enjoying the incredible course and views of the Collegiate Peaks.  I still felt like poop most of the race, but I was mentally encouraged and looking forward to seeing Pete and Miss Shae at the finish, not to mention a couple of friends from Minnesota who were ironically in town and came up for the weekend.

I finished up the race in 4:40:10, good for 17th female and 8th in my age group.  Not the finish I was going for, but I can’t complain about the stats after feeling sub-par.  Plus, it was a great experience to have to fight both physically and mentally through a tough race as I prepare for the big LT 100 in August.