Going Up?

Well, seeing as how my longest run this year was maybe 10 miles, Saturday caught me by surprise. I had planned to head out and do 13 miles in Waterton Canyon. Waterton is a great out and back, slightly up on the way out with every half mile marked. I was feeling great on the run and started thinking about doing the extra 5 mile loop after the dam. The 5 mile loop is on a single track up in the trees (Colorado Trail). By the time that I reached the dam I realized I was averaging an easy 6:40 pace and felt as though I had just started my run. So, up I went. The trail is beautiful past the dam and it was over before I knew it. I continued on down the canyon and finished 18 miles feeling great! Sometimes these runs have a way of catching up with you later in the day, but not this time. I averaged 6:40 pace on a hilly run at altitude. Probably the best run I have had since I have been in Colorado. Finished the day doing yard work and drinking beers with the neighbors around our bonfire in the backyard. Not bad!
An easy week coming up since I have gone 50, 50, 60, 75. I will do somewhere in 55-65 this week with one long run on the weekend. Then start the build to 85 or 90 over the next month. Hopefully in a few months I will be a 100 consistently.
I have decided that I am going to do Mountain Racing this season. There are a lot of trail and mountain races here in Colorado, so I am going to take advantage of that and see what I can do. Who knows. It is just nice to be healthy and enjoying training! I really do love running.

Miles of Trials

I remember this feeling - and I like it! So, although the miles are not too high yet, the build is still a struggle. I started four weeks ago with 50 and followed that week with another 50. Last week was 60miles, and this week is panning out to be 70-75 depending on how I am feeling by Sunday. Not bad. My legs are just tired! They loosen up once I get going, but getting out of bed takes a touch of concentration. I do get up at 4:30am, so that might have something to do with it as well.
I think I am going to try and run a 5k next month and see how it goes off the miles. I will talk to Joe and see what he thinks. The Bolder Boulder and Cherry Creek Sneek are popular races out here, so I should try to get into those and see how the racing goes. I will not have much speed yet, but I should be getting rather strong! I want to run the Mt. Evans Ascent. It is at the end of June and covers about 14.5 miles. You end the race at around 14,200 feet elevation. That should be a nice one:) I do love to climb!
So, probably 10 more today, 13 tomorrow, and Sunday is currently up in the air. I'll keep updates coming, and we'll see if I can handle those hundred mile weeks.

Trials of Miles

Well, here we go again. I am going to try and keep up with the blog this time around. I have been taking business classes and am currently making the decision of whether I start studying for my CFP or get into the Financial Advising profession. I am leaning toward completing the CFP first, and then entering into the profession. There are many reasons, but I still have to run it by a few people that know a lot more than I do, and have lived through the experiences involved in starting a Financial Advising career.

I started building the miles back up after my last injury. For a guy that was not often injured, triathlons brought on a new meaning of patience concerning not training. Joe Mendleson (my coach), and I have decided to start up the base phase again and rebuild whatever it is that I lost throughout those triathon years. So, new shoes and the Trials of Miles begins. I started light on the first week back. Then 50 miles, and 50 again. That was the first three weeks. I do not even know what the first week was - pretty much remembering what it is like to run every day. I was ambitions last week (week 4), and put 70 on the schedule. Like any smart runner does, I listened to the body and got in what I could (58mi). This week has 70 on it again and we will see how the body handles it. I had a great run yesterday though. The second run of the day was only 5.5 miles along a beautiful creek by my house. I averaged just under six for the run (which I have decided is not bad for altitude), but ran the last three miles at 5:30 pace through a single track. I was happy about that and it felt just fine! I am thinking about building up to 100mi/wk and then bringing it down a bit to race some. Who really knows what's in store, but I am curious at the times I can still run. Right now, I would not even venture a guess. We will find out!