Shifting Gears

After spending most of my year training for mountain races (or at least longer races with substantial hills), I awlays like to shift my focus for a few months and work on speed. Since my base is good from all the high volume training I do in the summer and fall, I am able to transition to flatter trails and get in some tempo efforts. With that in mind, I will again race the Prickly Pear 50K at McAllister Park here in San Antonio in March. Although I’m not a fan of the 3 loop set up of the race, I find it difficult not to run the only ultra in San Antonio. Plus, I really like to support Bill Gardner’s races, and he always throws a good party. Also, I still have this notion that I can/need to run a sub 5 hour time there. I was right on pace last year until an unexpected bathroom break during the last loop derailed my race. So, I will be back again this year, hoping to break 5 hours. While I’m not abandoning my Bandera and Government Canyon runs, I am trying to log my longer stuff at McAllister and on the roads. It’s a nice break mentally as well as physically, not having to deal with the hills and rocks. And I know that once Prickly Pear is over, I will once again begin to focus on the harder stuff, as I have several gnarly races in the mountains on the slate for the spring and summer. Until then, you can most likely find me running in circles on the blue trail at McAllister Park.