MAN!

Hills, hills, hills. So, after coming down from the mountains and running Mt. Falcon, I headed out on Monday and took off up APEX trail. My legs were a bit spent. I climbed consistently getting to the top of the Enchanted Forest trail in around 28min. As I started descending, my legs were what I like to call, "Completely pissed off at me." After descending so hard the previous day down Mt. Falcon, all I felt were the knots that formed in my butt and IT bands. So, a nice easy descent down APEX trail, and stretching. I took it real easy Tuesday (3miles) and feel much better today. I will do a flat 6-7 today at lunch and put in some builds to keep my speed honest. Adrienne and I are going to run Mt. Falcon this afternoon, but that will be a nice trot for me and a good workout for her. Her running is really coming along and it is fun to watch her get excited about racing.

We will be heading up Mt. Evans this weekend, but I do not know how far we will be able to make it. The road will be covered in snow, but hopefully the wind has kept it hard packed and runnable. I am tempted to jump in a 5k downtown this weekend (Sunday), but I will have to see how I feel after Mt. Evans. Until next time!

Mountain Goats

Our anniversary weekend up in the mountains was great. Just a nice time to hang out and not worry about anything (except our puppy, Guinness). We ate a lot of good food, and ran a good amount as well. It was the first time that we have cooked a live lobster! He was pretty tasty, but probably a bit angry about becoming dinner. I will have to see how the crew did out in Florida this weekend at St. Anthony's Triathlon. Steve Pye's Practical Coaching group and Jordan Jones are all racing out there. Hope they did well!

While up in Edwards, I went out to see if I could get to New York Mountain on the West Lake Creek Trail. Well, there is still a lot of snow out there! I got up the trail about three miles and decided that falling into my knees over and over again really wasn't the best way to go for the day. I turned around and flew down the hill eating it every few minutes when my flailing legs found a soft spot and sunk in. After down the trail, I decided to put in a good mile up to the East Lake Creek Trail and see if the conditions were any better. A nice 6:30 uphill mile later and there I was. The conditions were not better, but I climbed to the top of the trail and called it good. Down I came and somewhere over an hour, I was done. The following day I headed out of the house and up the Mesquite Trail. This trail is STEEP and then connects to a fire road that takes me to the other side of the neighborhood at SingleTree. I am not sure how far it was, but I ran hard and felt good. A nice couple of days at altitude in the steep hills. That should be some good training for the upcoming season.

After we got back to Denver on Sunday, I decided it was a good time to hit up the 8mile Mt. Falcon run. Initially, I figured I would take it easy on the way up and see how I felt. I was running pretty easy and hit Turkey Trot at 13:30 so I thought, "What the heck, let's see how the 8mi turns out." I picked it up a bit, but found that my legs were pretty tired from the previous day's jaunts. I hit the Gazebo in a few ticks under 25min. I was pretty winded at this point, but continued on at a bit slower a pace toward the parking lot. I got to the parking lot in 35:00 even, and was feeling much better. I have been working on my downhilling so as not to get my butt kicked in the races this summer. I came back parking lot to parking lot in 23:30. So, 58:30 for the run, and that seems reasonable for a training day. I slowed it up a bit in the last mile or so, because that kind of pounding in training is really not a good idea. I am planning on doing that race in a month or so, so I will see what I can do then. I am pretty confident the whole thing can be done under 55:00, but that is cutting a good amount of time. I am looking forward to racing and it is coming soon! I will probably do Falcon again today, but nice and easy, and a bit longer (13ish). The hills are still a bit rough, but I think I will be a lot smoother by the start of the season.

A Slow Week...

Well, I decided to take a week a bit easier and gain some of the benefits from the work I have been putting in. My legs were getting tired all the time, and that is a good sign to just take is easy for a few days. The past couple days have only been around 3 miles each. I should get in a good double today and then something moderate for Thursday. It is Adrienne and my 3 year anniversary today. We are heading up to Edwards, CO for the weekend and we will leave tomorrow night. I am a very blessed man to be married to her! Her running is going great as well. A nice tempo the other day at around 7:45pace. Her first running race is coming up on the 17th of May.

I posted a schedule of races I expect to do this season. Hopefully I will get most of them in, and we will see how the whole trail racing scene goes for me. I am excited to get racing!!! I am sure I will still get in about 60-70 this week, but the past two days were graet for the legs! There are some other races that I would like to do, but I am not too keen on traveling very much this year for racing. Just stay local and have some fun racing all the guys here in CO and getting to know who is out there. No one knows me yet, so it is a nice way to come in. I will post after the weekend. I am excited to run up there, even though there is still a huge amount of snow.

Crazy Colorado!

It was 80 degrees two days ago, and yesterday it was snowing like crazy and 25. Now that is a bit crazy. My achilles is feeling much better and I am grateful that it was never sore itself, just tight. The knot in my calf was the problem, and I have been rolling that out and icing in the creek quite a bit. So, 16 in yesterday. I ran a tempo at lunch along Cherry Creek and the Platte River. Six miles in about 36 min, but it really was more of a comfortable pick up run. The first and last miles were slower, so I was moving alright in the middle. I think I am capable of racing my upcoming 10k in Santa Barbara around 5min pace. But, we will see. I have not done any speed work, just hills and some faster flat runs.

Training is going well though! I will probably get in about 75-80 this week with two really easy days (6, 8), just to make sure the leg was O.K.. I will be incorporating more hills on a daily basis, and that should get me ready for the trail racing season. I am looking forward to racing in the hills and I am feeling more and more confident about racing. It really has been awhile. Zeb, McGurk and I went out last evening in the snow and did APEX trail nice and easy. I was tired from a pretty long day of running and a tempo, but it really was just running as usual. My legs are tired today, but I think that in a couple of weeks with more hills, I will not notice them quite as much.

There is one world team slot open in Vail this summer. If I can win a 5 mile uphill race, I can get the slot to Switzerland. It is a goal, but I am not going to completely focus on it. If I can grab the slot, I will train specifically for Switzerland. Who knows really:)

I will put in a hill run today, and then get in something a bit easier for Friday. Saturday will be long and in the hills again, and then something moderate for Sunday. I will keep you updated.

Finch

A long weekend run, but it's all good

Well, the weekend was long, but a great run. It ended up being 19, and amazingly I felt strong and good the whole way through. It really helped with my confidence in my fitness and I feel great about where I am at with climbing. The climb was about nine miles long, and it seemed nice and easy the whole way. McGurk, Zeb, and I took the run on, and everyone did great. I think that I will be climbing quite well by the time races start up in June. My achilles was tight this morning, so I will have to watch that. Other than that, I am feeling great and am ready to put in some more miles this week. As long as the achilles stays loose, I should have a good week with some nice hills and long runs. If it is hurting, it is time to take a couple days off with some icing and massage. Time will tell. I am just happy to see that all this running is paying off big dividends and that I will most likely be ready to race at a high level.

More updates this week, but for now...SST/DST

Sleep? What for...

So, we have a new puppy and he is awesome! He was really sick the first day at our home so we had to go to the emergency Vet to get some fluids put in him and give him an anti nausea shot. Since then he has been much better, and is readily finding everything he can to chew on and pull off shelves, beds, and the like. Sleep has been a bit scarce over the past couple days, but Guinness is sleeping better at night now and Adrienne and I are catching up.

This is my week back to running and the beginning of a new build. I am not sure where this build will end up over the next 3-4 weeks. I did not get almost anything in on Monday, due to the Vet visit. Since then I have put in a solid hilly 14 up in Boulder, and a nice 9 along Bear Creek yesterday. This morning I got in 8 (6 on the treadmill) with some quarters and a half at 5:20 pace. I felt good and it was nice to stretch it out a bit. I did not do much at that speed, but I will probably bring it in every once in awhile to keep the legs peppy and ready to throw down if they have to. McGurk has an 18 miler planned for Sunday morning, which should be a challenge. I am looking forward to it though, and it will be nice to get out and go long again. So, without a Monday, the schedule I have looks like 79mi. I am going to have to cut some of those out because that is just too many being only six weeks in and off a rest week. maybe 70 or so would be more reasonable.

I will post a map of the run after we get through it. It is a nice run down a hill, along a creek and then back up, up, up. I am feeling strong but tired. Tuesday's 14 was pretty difficult, but the pace was faster than it should have been. I have been running mid 6's and for altitude and long runs, that really is pushing it a bit on the legs. The cardio is great right now, and I am hardly working, but the legs are still getting used to the miles. I will be a runner again, soon.

A Nice Week

This last week was a nice easy rest week. I only did two miles on both Monday and Wednesday. I still ended up with 52 miles on the week, and that was a good thing. It was my fifth week running and I had done enough in the prior weeks to warrant an easy week and reap some of the benefits. I still feel great and I am anxious to race. I found a 10k the week Adrienne and I are in Santa Barbara, so that should be fun.

Saturday I ran with McGurk for 13 miles. We had a good run and we have similar goals for the season, so it will be fun to get together more often. He is a great climber, so we will be heading to the hills soon! There are few things I love more than climbing! I finished the week with an early nine Sunday morning, prior to going to church.

This week should be a good week! We got our dog yesterday, so I am sure sleep will harder to come by. He (Guinness), a Vizsla, was great last night. Just a short bit of barking when we put him to bed in the crate, and then he calmed down and went to sleep. He should get more comfortable over the next couple days and be all good! I think I will aim for 65-70 this week and see how it goes. I feel good and I think that is more than reasonable. Maybe a build to 85-90 over the next three weeks. I will be talking to Joe about when to race, and I will be getting in a couple of hill days each week. Most likely Mt. Falcon during the week, and a hard hill run at higher altitude on the weekend.

Adrienne did Mt. Falcon on Saturday and felt pretty good. She got in about 90min and that is pretty amazing for a former sprinter and long/triple jumper. She is doing great, and we are going to be doing the Vail Mt. series together this summer.

Updates for the good ones this week!