Full Moon, Soccer, and Another Race...

Not too much has been happening on the running front lately.  I'm still recovering from Leadville, but have had two decent weeks of getting back into the groove with regular runs.  No real training, just getting out the door and seeing what happens.  I'm looking forward to the New Hampshire Marathon on 10/1, and have pounded more pavement in the last two weeks than I have all year.  I don't have any big goals for this race other than run a somewhat decent time, have fun, and see just how much of the race I can run on the dirt shoulder.  My parents live on the lake that the course encircles, so we're looking forward to visiting with them.  I'm also excited to see and spend time with my long-time high school friend, Brian.  He's coming up from Virginia with his family and he'll be running the half!

Last weekend was the kickoff to the youth soccer season and my duties as a ref are going into effect for the next seven weekends.  With other commitments crowding the weekend, I decided to take in the full moon and hit the local trails at night on both Saturday and Sunday.  I'm sensing this will be the standard plan if I want to get my long runs in during soccer season.

Saturday night was a solo run under the lit up sky.  Twenty slow miles cruising the trails and never once took out my light.  It doesn't get much better than that.  I was loving the feeling of gliding through the night and joining the party with all the critters out there.  There were many places along the way where shadows were cast upon the trail, but I've mastered a style of running that resembles dancing on hot coals.  It no doubt looks quite goofy, but it's effective at keeping me in a vertical position.

Sunday night was a group run coordinated by my friend James.  We hit up the Bluffs Regional Park in Lone Tree and did a couple laps.  He's got a great group of guys from all running abilities meeting there on full moon nights. Two were Pikes Peak Marathon veterans, one had run the Estes Park Marathon last June as his first....and one guy had never run more than 2.8  FLAT miles.  He rocked the hilly loop for a new long run PR!