Athlete Race Recap: Love Can Be Cold

Once again, Susan Doberneck took to the trails for Ascent Runs’s Winter Trail Series on Saturday, February 10, 2024 in Carson City, Nevada!

Love Can Be Cold was the third event in this series.  (Susan also ran the first two events, which were the Cold Turkey Run back in November and Run with Rudolph in December.)  

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Susan chose to run these events during the Winter season as a way to challenge herself, have some opportunities to connect with the running community, and to give herself something to look forward to.  These months can definitely feel long and it’s easy to feel demotivated or uninspired in this season.

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In terms of challenging herself, Susan certainly did that!  This 8.5-ish mile course included 1,500+ feet of elevation gain on trails that were covered in snow. This was the first time in several years that Susan has done a longer trail run.  Though she felt nervous before the race began, she did not let that nervousness deter her from giving it a go.  

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Susan did finish DFL (Dead [fill in the blank with a strong word that begins with ‘F’] Last), but she finished.  Most importantly, she finished healthy and without injury.  She actually recovered from this race very well considering how tough it was, which really shows that the hard work that Susan has been putting into her training is paying off.  (Improved recovery is one of the ways we can gauge an athlete’s adaptation and responsiveness to training.)

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Congratulations to Susan for pushing her comfort boundaries and daring to do something with such a high degree of challenge!

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