GZ

I got out on the various off shoots of the Mesa trail with Lucy today. I had little for a course agenda, but I wanted to get two hours. I got that and about 13 miles (with some fair vertical). For most of the run, I figured I'd avoid the ice and let Lucy determine the course. We did not avoid the mud however! We were both so muddy when we got home, my son asked "that's Lucy?!" It took a good amount of bathing to get her clean.

I spent about a half an hour or so running with local ultra legend Dave Mackey. He was also out for a run with his dog and so we hooked up for a few miles. Dave has done more off the chart stuff in the last five years than most people do in their entire lives: set the record on the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim, come in second at Western States, set records at 50 milers and 100ks all over the place, done adventure races all over the world, won nearly every Satan Minion's run, nearly caught Matt C at Pikes last year with an insane descent, hold FKTs for most of the routes in Boulder, won a 350K race in Canada last year where he won some monster diamond for his wife. It is truly difficult to comprehend what an amazing athlete this guy is. His accomplishments are other worldly. And yet, he comes across as a soft spoken, quiet guy - more interested in what you are doing for training and racing than speaking about what he has done. But there is no questioning that he has a deep competitive fire down in there ... it is just hard to see it until the gun goes off. We spoke a bit about training, recent races, some of our goal races, what some other locals are doing, our families, and the like. I am excited to hear that Dave is at least considering doing the so called "Mountain of Pain" (yes, that is Pikes again). Any race with him in it has proven to not be over until it is over - and with the long descent at Pikes where he holds one of the best times, folks better not think they have put the race away with a strong Ascent.

GZ

May 16, 2024