June 3rd- June 8th

"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  The difference is the discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons." - Jim Rohn

"Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought nor sold, but its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold." - Muhammad Ali

Seemed like it was a more than 1 quote type of week.... The list of quotes is growing faster than I am using them anyways.

Monday:   

10 AM:  6 miles averaging 7:30 pace.  Easy lap of Davidson Mesa and Harper mid-morning. Super chill especially when I started due to be really stiff from the weekend but loosened up nicely about 2 miles in where things were clicking as they should. Going to be an interesting week.

4:30 PM: Studio Red class at VASA with Paula followed by 25mins in the sauna.  Starting to increase the sauna time as the race gets closer.

Tuesday:  

6:30 AM:  10.3 miles averaging 6:25pace.  Joined the Boulder Track Club for the Tuesday morning track session, can't remember the last time I did a track workout. Forgot how much I do enjoy them even though the hurt like hell. Here was the general structure.

Session: Warm-up/Cool down 2-3 miles + strides

1600 @10k 3 min rest
2x400 @ mile - 3k pace 90 rest
1200 @5k pace 2.5 min rest
2x400 @ mile - 3k pace 90 rest
800@3k-5k pace 2.5 min rest
2x400 @ mile - 3k pace 90 rest
1600 @ Tempo/GMP pace

1-2 mile cooldown

4:30 PM: 35mins in the garage gym.  Easy random lifting in the garage after work. Not structured due all the running this week.  Mostly upper body and core work.  Followed this up with 20mins in the hot tub.  Why is it that 20mins in the hot tub at 104 degrees feels much harder than 20mins in the dry sauna at 200 degrees?  I still can't figure this out.

Wednesday:

3 PM:  9.3 miles w/ 500ft averaging 7:35 pace.  Link Lake loop from Sterns Lake. The plan was to run over to the big hill and do 4x4mins hard up it but after the first one I pulled the plug due to shit legs from the track yesterday. Just jogged out the 1:10 instead which is fine, I still got in some great work yesterday that was not planned.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope.

7:30 AM:  11.5 miles w/ 2500ft of vert averaging 9:50pace. To the summit of Green Mountain via Bear Canyon. On the way down did a bunch of 1-2 min fartleks trying to work the quads. Had a few sub 6 min miles in there coming down. Yes it worked.  The quads were somewhat shot after this.

--  Got to work today around 10am and this was in the parking lot, yes that is an In-n-Out semi dishing out hamburgers for everyone.

4:30 PM: 35mins in the garage gym.  Just random upper body lifting in the garage gym to do some sort of lifting this week. Nothing structured again until after Western, doing just enough so not to loose to much strength the last few weeks of the build up and taper.

Friday:

7 AM:  12.1 miles averaging 6:35pace.  Easy warmup then 3x2 miles hard with 3min rest between then easy jogging until I hit about 1:20 total of running. The plan was for 4 reps but bailed on the last one, legs are shot from this week and was surprised I lasted for 3 of them at the paces we were doing which was between 5:20-5:50. Prob will not be productive at work the rest of the day.

11 AM:  Walked 1.7 miles in 25mins.  Easy lunch time dog walk since I was working from home today and Paula is in Snowmass for the weekend doing Ragnar with friends.

4:30 PM:  45mins at VASA for Studio Red HITT class this evening.  Another 1.5 miles of sprinting on a manual treadmill, which is the case in every one of these classes.

--  Got this in the mail today.  Thanks JT!

Saturday: 

8 AM:  23 miles w/ 4800ft of vert averaging 10:50pace.  3 laps of Walker Ranch. Just cruising covering the miles working on calories and hydration. Think I failed on hydration, it was only 80 degrees out there so not that hot but still got somewhat dehydrated at the end. Need to be better for Western. Outside of that everything else held together nice and it was an enjoyable run. Wish I would have thought about Walker Ranch earlier in the training cycle for it is the perfect trail for Western States training.

4 PM: 1.5 mile dog walk with Venus since Paula is gone this weekend.

Sunday:  

7 AM: 15.2 miles w/ 4000ft of vert averaging 11:20pace.  3 laps of Sanitas. Love doing these lap runs to use my van as an aid station and not have to wear a pack. Dan joined me for the first 2 laps and ran into George and Tracy on the third lap. LOTS of people out there when I got done. I am toast after today, ended up falling asleep on the couch when Paula and I were watching the show this afternoon. LOL

3 PM: 1.5 mile dog walk with Venus.

Total Weekly Numbers

Peak week is in the books.... got in more than I thought I would so very pleased on the week.  3 hard workouts mixed in that mileage from Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Needless to say I am wiped this Monday morning as I am typing this but everything held together.  One more bigger week then a full on taper.  Almost there.

May Recap

 Just chugging along... wish I had more miles under my belt in May but it is what it is... returning to the office has taken a little bit of a toll on training this month as I try to refigure all this out.  Been 5 years since since I have had to go in regularly.

May 26th- June 2nd

  "There's great value in being able to step back and laugh at yourself, at life, and at attitudes. Laughter helps you put everything into perspective." - Jim Henson

Monday:   

Skipped the last run today for my quads are so shot that I was having issues just getting in and out of the bed in the van.  Think most of it is due to the fall I took during yesterdays run landing on a rock on my left quad basically giving me a bad charlie horse.  Waited for check in to tell them that I would not be running so that someone on the waitlist could go then hit the road for home.  Drove about 12 hours today pulling over at a rest stop about 50 miles west of Rock Springs, WY where this was in the parking lot.  Should have gone over to see if I could get any free gels but wanted to go to bed.

Tuesday:  

Hit the road just before 6am to finish out the drive home getting home about noon.  Was super happy to have the drive over with and to be home.  Spent the rest of the day unpacking and just being a bum.  I was wiped.

Also had this waiting for me when I got home from JT.  Thanks bud!

Wednesday:

10 AM:   6.3 miles averaging 7:50 pace.  Easy cruise on the Rock Creek trail after visiting a supplier near there this morning. Quads are still jello for the most part. Not recovering very well from the weekend for some reason.

4:30 PM:  45mins at Studio Red HITT class at VASA with Paula.  The plan was just to move light weight and not push to hard but about halfway things loosened up and it was game on.  Followed this up with 20mins in the sauna right afterwards.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope... forgot

5:30 AM:  35mins in the garage gym before work.  Just a bunch of random lifting today to get something in on a busy day.  Bench press, Pull-ups, Plate Ground to Overhead, Calf raises, and GHD Sit-ups.  

3:30 PM:  7.8 miles averaging 7:20pace.  2 easy laps of Davidson and 1 lap of Harper followed by a bunch of strides. Feeling better and better by the day so that good but the chaffing on my neck from my pack that I got over the weekend got worse when I woke up this morning, now there is a bunch of blisters around it as well. So strange.

Friday:

10 AM:  7.4 miles w/ 400ft of vert averaging 7:30pace.  Costco loop plus a small loop around Superior to get closer to 1 hour. Really starting to feel better, especially the legs. Now I can go make them sore again tomorrow doing a 20 mile long trail run.

--  I may have signed up for another 100 on Sept 27th in Nebraska if anyone is interested in coming out to pace.  Hit me up if your game.

4 PM:  45 mins at Studio Red HITT class afterwork then followed that up with another 20mins in the sauna.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  20 miles w/ 5300ft of vert in 4:03.  Easy 4 lap of Santias. Felt great today which really surprised me considering how shitty the legs have felt all week from camp last weekend. Donne and Dan joined me on the first 3 loops then Chris joined as well for loop 4. Of course we made Donnie puke on lap 4. LOL.

Sunday:  

7:30 AM: 12.6 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 7min pace.  Boulder Track Club Sunday run. More hilly route than normal for this group which was great for my training. Just hanging onto the front group and of course it turned into a progression run with the last few miles being the fastest, always does.  Here is a short video of the front group heading back while the middle group is going to the turn around.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week overall considering I took 2 days completely off to drive home from CA and just to recover.  At the time I was regretting taking the days off but looking back at the week and seeing how well my runs went this weekend I made the right choice.  Last bigger week this week then a normal week followed a full on taper for 2 weeks.  4 weeks to go.

May 19th - May 25th

"If you always do what interest you, at least one person is pleased." - Katharine Hepburn

Monday:

10 AM: 4.75 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy cruise from the office. Super chill for the legs are shit today from the weekend. Just trying to get some of the junk out of them before the upcoming weekend. Got this in between meetings at work.

4:30 PM: 35mins lifting.  Easy lower body lifting at VASA while Paula got on the treadmill. Just went through all the lower body machines doing 3 sets of 10. Lots of waiting around due to how busy the gym is the time of day, hate that and miss being able to pop in here at 10am.

Tuesday:  

5:30 AM:  35mins in the garage gym.  

Warmup: Rowing, Crossover, mobility.

All upper body today doing super sets for major muscle groups. Did chest, shoulders, back, and a little bit of arms. Really efficient way to get in some good work in a short time frame.

4 PM:  8.2 miles averaging 7:10pace.  Easy 2 laps of Davidson Mesa and 2 laps of Harper. Just a late afternoon cruise in super strong wind coming out of the west. Half of each loop against the wind and half pushing from the back. Just adding some miles for the week.

Wednesday:

10:30 AM: 7.25 miles averaging 7:20 pace. Easy 2 laps of Davidson Mesa and 1 lap of Harper again. Just an easy place to hit up before heading home to finish the afternoon working from home before heading to CA for Western States training camp this afternoon.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope, traveling this week.

7 AM:  7.4 miles w/ 1000ft of vert averaging 9min pace.  Cabin Loop outside of Fruita on the way to CA for Western States training camp. Super chill jog taking some photos and videos before driving another 10 plus hours today.  Made it just outside of Reno to bed down for the night tonight.

Friday:

9:30 AM:  6 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 9min pace.  Easy trail run in Donner State Memorial Park on Donner Pass. Basically a lap of Donner Lake with an out and back up a hill. Neat little park that is worth checking out when driving down I-80 to CA, just over the NV state line. Felt pretty damn good today.  

Rest of the day was figuring out where I was going to camp in the van tonight.  Ended up in the grocery store lot in Foresthill, CA which was great since it was only a 3min drive from where we are meeting for camp in the morning. Second photo below was my view out the side window as I chilling out in the evening eating dinner.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  31 miles w/ 7000ft of vert in 6:15.  Western States Training Camp!!! Robinson Flats to Foresthill. This was a crazy section. I was not expecting the 8400ft of downhill we did in this section and did not expect the 3 canyons that we crossed to be that steep. I was humbled for sure. Coming from Colorado one thinks that canyons can't be as hard as mountains but that is completely wrong. The canyons are going to be a bitch come race day. They will be from mile 40 to 60 during the race, I plan on being totally in the pain cave when I come into Foresthill on race day after doing them.

Sunday:  

8 AM: 18 miles w/ 4000ft of vert in 3:15.   Western States Training Camp! Forest Hill to Rucky Chucky then hike out to Dusty Corners to catch the bus back to Foresthill. This section is really runnable but there is another 5000ft of downhill in this section too which smashed my quads even more, that is over 13,000ft of downhill in 2 days. Did do a hard superman fall and landed on a rock on my left quad which hurt like hell, had to walk it out for a mile or so. This will be the first section that I can have a pacer come race day. Looking forward to it.

Total Weekly Numbers

This quote hit home for me this week...  been pushing so much in all aspects of life that I feel like I am drowning and honestly about to just give up.  I really need to keep this in mind the next month as I try to balance getting ready for Western and how much more time work takes with going to the office most days.  I can't let myself drown per se.

"Once, I saw a bee drown in honey, and I understood."

— Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek philosopher and writer. (I take this to mean that we should be careful with what we desire—even, and especially when, it’s good for us. If we don’t develop good self-awareness or practice restraint, and I believe this holds true whether it’s training, work, or virtually any other aspect of life, even the sweetest things can “drown” us before we realize it.)

Not a bad week of training overall, could have been better.  Did miss one weight session this week and as you will see next week I did skip Monday's 22 miles to start driving home due to how bad my legs felt after the weekend.  Need to really focus on running downhill hard the next few weeks so hopefully I don't have these issues come race day.