In place of Moab.

At mile 8.85, heading south and home.

Moab was to be a training run on a beautiful course. The spring snow storm prevented the location, but it sure couldn't get in the way of a training run on a beautiful course.

I did the 13.1-mile course for the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon.

Having run the event a couple of times in past years, I had no difficulty staying on the same course.

And a splendid day it was. I kept my HR pace in the mid 120s from beginning to end, pace at a little over 12:00. I pondered for a while whether to do a negative split pace, doing the second half (return trip) at a faster tempo. In the end I took Coach's advice seriously and maintained a slow pace.

The result was a time much longer than what I hope will be a competitive time in Fort Collins: 2:41:00. But it felt good. The distance was absolutely no issue. All along the running was effortless, and even approaching mile 12 and 13 I knew I had a lot of strength and energy remaining. For fun I sprinted the last half mile; because it's a slight uphill grade at the end, my breathing went anaerobic at the finish. It felt good to be stretching out.

A couple of weeks ago I thought I'd lost a toenail on a long run. It was a bruised, bloody mess, painful enough that I had it checked by the family doc. Though I keep my blood sugar levels in good control, damage to feet is not such a good scenario for someone with my health concerns.

Today the toenail was no issue whatsoever. For some reason, it's looking healthier, and I'll be quite surprised if it comes off (as it was certainly threatening to do). Feet and legs felt strong and resilient today.

Temperatures started out in the low 40s; by the time I returned to my truck, they'd climbed to the upper 60s. It didn't take long for yesterday's snows to clear, and the roads on the course were dry and soft.

Haystack Mountain directly east, visible through the winter trees, left.