Ric Rojas

Final showdown for men 55-59: the Eerie Erie 5k, penultimate race in the Colorado Runner Racing Series. I need to NOT get soundly thrashed (again) by Heath Hibberd and Devin Croft. And I need to beat any "rogue" 50-59 year-olds who might cost me the points I need…

I’ve been chasing the Colorado Runner Racing Series “yellow jersey” since January.

I was feeling sick, tired and weak when I got to Potts Field for a key final track workout before heading to England for the British Championship 5k for Old Gits who Really Should Know Better.

The plan was to get up at 3am on Sunday to drive 2 hours to the spectacular Garden of the Gods 10-miler, race 7 in this year's 16-race Colorado Runner Racing Seies.

But common sense - actually tiredness - prevailed, and instead I found myself chasing glory instead of series points as a late entry in the Sunrise Stampede at Longmont. The race was on Saturday, a mere 30 minutes up the road, and was TWO miles instead of ten.

No, not quite what you expect to hear, especially at my age chasing a sub-5 mile and super-fast 5k.

What Ric means is I need to make sure my easy runs are...easy. And yes, the pace has been creeping up again. Even on Sunday's run at Magnolia and especially over the last couple of days, I've been finishing them at a brisk pace. I do start slow, but then finish as if they are tempo runs.

The result: feel-good on the trail; dead-ish legs when I get to the track for my quality workouts.

Like most runners who can also ride a bike but swim like a soggy pipe-cleaner, I've often thought about trying a triathlon and immediately given up on the idea.

Another big factor has been the sheer amount of training triathletes do; not for me. And yet...

my Tuesday started with a 7.30am warm-up for a nicely intense track session with Ric Rojas: a series of alternating 400s and 200s with 200m jog/walk recovery between each effort, starting easy and getting progressively harder.