August 3rd- August 9th

"Talent without effort is wasted talent. And while effort is the one thing you can control in your life, applying that effort intelligently is next on the list." - Mark Cuban

Monday:

6 AM:  10 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy medium loop from work super chill. Legs are dead this morning for whatever reason so just an easy jog for 80mins. Did get a little better as time went on but not by much.  Super smokey outside as well which I am sure played into the way I was feeling this morning.

3 PM:  1 hour lifting..  Leg day at VASA. Starting a new program somewhat but still plan on going to Lift class with Paula now and again. HOT AS HELL OUTSIDE THIS AFTERNOON.  Temp as I was driving home after lifting.

Tuesday:  

6 AM:  9.7 miles w/ 600ft of vert averaging 7:45pace.  Lots of meetings this morning and had to go to the LAF site at lunch so ran out the door from home before working remote all morning. Super chill with the exception of the 4x30secs. Did them on a downhill to make the legs turn over a little quicker. Also discovered a new trail not far from the house that would be good for up to 3min hill repeats, not long enough to go past that.  At least it was only 55 degrees out this morning, actually had to wear a long sleeve shirt because I was cold.

7:30 AM:  Walk/Jog with Venus right after my run.  Venus duties, half walk/half jog with her. Happy dog!

--  Finished book #20 on the year.  General Gainz which was written by the owner of the gym in Alma (Cody) that I train at when I am up at the cabin for long periods of time.  Started following this program yesterday.

---  2 more post cards showed up today from JT to go on the board.  It is getting pretty damn full already.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  11.25 miles w/ 600ft of vert averaging 7:10pace.  Workout Wednesday!!! Good one today, legs were a little tired going into this but all good. Not quite the paces I would have liked to see but did cap my heart rate at 152ish which is about what I run a marathon at if possible. Paces just are not there yet like before.

20 min warm up

10x30 sec hill reps with run down recovery

jog 2-3 min

4 miles at marathon effort/working down if feeling good

20 min cool down

Legs throbbing a little bit afterwards. Need to stretch tonight.

Noon: Walk 1.6 miles with Venus in about 25mins.  Loving my new work schedule right now.  In the office in the mornings and working from home in the afternoons.  Sure that will change though.

 

3:30 PM:  1 hour at the gym lifting upper body.  

Thursday:  

 6:30 AM:  10 miles w/ 1500ft of vert averaging 8:45pace.  Easy trail jog from the Dowdy Draw trailhead doing Springbrook, Goshawk, and little bit of Folwer trail. Super chill due to legs just not being there today. Did have a rattlesnake scare too, good times. Not a lot of people out there today, love taking the day off work to go do some jogging more mid morning instead the early mornings.  Headed right after the run to DIA to pickup Paula who was flying home from being in the Outerbanks all week.

Friday:

7 AM:  6 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Easy jog from work doing a loop around the baseball fields and back. Super chill just jogging. Had to to a blood draw at 7am this morning before the run where I could not eat so somewhat fasted too for the jog. Still have some tired legs, over it.

Guess they are getting rid some of the work that janitors used to do at the Boulder Hospital. 

Saturday: 

7 AM:  14.4 miles w/ 2700ft of vert averaging 9:45pace.  Easy laps of Lions Lair and Anemone trails in Boulder just getting some trail time in. Would have gone a little bit longer to get closer to 3 hours but ran out of water and it was 93 degrees out, I was done.... Outside of overheating some, everything else was great!  Stopped by Dirt Circus in Boulder on the way home to say hi to people I knew would be there.  Always a good time.

Sunday:  

7 AM: 15.6 miles averaging 7:45pace.  BTC Sunday long run. Started late so only ran the last 4 miles with the group. Rest of the run was solo. Legs are shot today, guessing from yesterday's run. Pace did pick up once I found the group and tucked in. Funny how that happens. Rest of the day was on the couch.

Total Weekly Numbers

Wish every week was as good as this one even though more than half the week the legs felt like shit.  Good miles this week and good effort in the gym.  Kind of fell apart on Sunday though but that is just part of coming back from a hard 100 miler.  This next week will be a challenge with early morning meetings, hot temps, and just an overall busy week at work.  Doing what I can when I can.

 Little something that I came across that I saved a while back.  No idea where I got it from so can't give the credit where it is due but worth thinking about for sure.

There is no step up.

“The way you train reflects the way you fight. People say, ‘I’m not going to train too hard, I’m going to do this in training, but when it’s time to fight I’m going to step up.’ There is no step up. You’re just going to do what you did every day.”

This quote is from MMA legend Georges St-Pierre, aka GSP, who held both welterweight and middleweight titles in the UFC. On the surface, I think it could be an easy one to misconstrue, i.e., thinking that you have to go hard all the time, when, in fact, what I think he means is stepping up at the right time(s) in training so that you’re prepared to step up when it’s time to fight (or race, or make a big presentation, or take an exam, whatever it is you’re getting ready for—it’s all the same).

When you’re working toward a performance objective, you have to pick your spots and be intentional with what it is you’re trying to do on a given day. When it’s time to go hard, push yourself close to the edge and see what you can find out; but when it’s time to recover, respect that too, trust and absorb the work you put in, and ready yourself for whatever it is you need to do next. Beyond that, it also means how you’re responding when your best-laid plans get upended, something catches you by surprise, or things just aren’t going your way. Training yourself to navigate these situations is just as important as the intensity of the workouts you do.

How you show up in the arena is never a fluke—it’s a reflection of your preparation: physical, mental, emotional, and otherwise. Be honest with yourself the next time you look in the mirror.

July 27th- August 2nd

 "If you don't throw yourself into something, you'll never know what you could have had."- Amy Winehouse

Monday:

6 AM:  9.3 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Easy 3 laps of Davidson Mesa with 4x30sec efforts on the second lap. Efforts were a little rough but funny how my pace increased after them at the same effort level, like the muscles remembered how to fire better. Tomorrow's workout should be interesting.

--  Finally back to reading again after about a month of not really reading.  Finished book 19 of the year, Dirtbag Dreams about how ultrarunning came about, super interesting.

Tuesday:  

6 AM:  10 miles averaging 7min pace.  Laps at Davidson Mesa again doing a fartlek workout to start introducing some intensity again. Workout was:

20 min warm up

1/2/3/2/1/2/3/2/1 min fast/ 90 sec easy between each (think 1 hr effort and working down to 5k effort if feeling great!)

20 min cool down

Followed the plan almost exactly getting down into the 5:45ish pace in the last few intervals. Not going to lie, the first few were rough, the legs did not want to turn over quickly but they did get rolling about halfway through it. Funny how I was anxious to do a workout again.

4:30 PM: 55 mins.  Lift class at VASA with Paula. Easy leg day today.

Wednesday:

8 AM:  8.2 miles w/ 400ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Quick easy jog from the house sandwiched between meetings. First meeting was at 6am so getting out early was out, the only time I had open was between 8:15-9:30 so that is what I used. I did not want to wait until later in the day when it was super hot out again. Super chill and legs took a bit to wake up.

--  Need to start getting in some bi-weekly heat training again going forward.  20mins in the hot tub this afternoon.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope... going to give it one more week before I start sweating this.

6 AM:  8.4 miles averaging 7:35 pace.  Easy cruise before work with Taylor doing the medium loop from work. Super chill and great to catch up with him some. Little bit of tired legs from yesterday but otherwise all good!

4:30 PM: 55 mins VASA lift class with Paula, upper body day.

Friday:

6 AM:  11.2 miles averaging 6:55pace.  Long tempo'ish effort today. I was actually dreading this when I saw it on the schedule thinking it was to much but it went pretty well! Kept the efforts under control and did stop halfway through the second 5K to let the HR come down some, it climbed up a little to high and wanted to keep it controlled. The intervals were between 6-6:25 pace which is probably my marathon effort right now, I have a lot of work to get back to where I was.

20 min warm up

2x Davidson mesa 5k loops with 3 min rest between each .(marathon effort, nice and controlled)

20 min cool down

---  Took Paula to the airport today for she is going to spend the week in the Outerbanks with her family.  I was supposed to go as well but cancelled due to our dog sitter cancelling on us because of a medical issue, she is in the hospital.  Sucks... I was really looking forward to some beach time.  I will try to make it a point to go in October hopefully.

Saturday: 

6 AM:  Venus walk before heading out to run.  1.6 miles in 25mins.

7AM: 8 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Chill few laps plus some around Davidson Mesa. Today was supposed to just be a recovery jog from yesterday's workout. Felt pretty good today though.  Rest of the day was running errands including the Farmers Market which I have missed all summer.

Sunday:  

7:30 AM: 16.7 miles w/ 1700ft of vert averaging 8:15pace.  Easy out and back with BTC on Mags. First third was with the front guys, then I went a little longer, so the second third was solo. The last third I caught the back of the group and jogged in with the slow group. All at easier effort, especially the last third. Focused on fueling with 2 gels and a 45g carb bottle. Still was wiped the rest of the day and was on the couch. Hopefully it comes back soon.

Total Weekly Numbers

Pretty solid week with 2 workouts.  Going to be honest, pretty damn tired after my longer run on Sunday to the point that the rest of the day was wasted laying around on the couch.  Just tells me that I am not absorbing the work super well right now but it will come.  This next week plan has a jump in mileage so we will see how I handle that.

July Recap

 "Strength does not come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strengths." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Solid month considering a taper week and a week completely off after Hardrock.  Hardrock was basically  half of the overall time and most of the vertical on the month but not quite half of the mileage.  Needed that time off after Hardrock for sure and glad I took it but damn it was hard to get back to the routine after a week of not doing anything.  That first week back was a struggle every day to get out the door.  Feels good to finally be past those feelings and moving forward again.  The next month will be trying to get my leg speed back after basically 6 weeks of hiking up hill and jogging down.  Hopefully that will come back quickly.  Not sure what is next on the calendar but have a few ideas, more to come.

July 20th - July 26th

 "Happiness is having better challenges.  Success is having better failures.  Discipline is having better addictions." - Mark Manson

--  No blog posts for last week.  Really did not do shit all week but start a new job and stuff my face with whatever I wanted all week, basically eating like an asshole.  Don did get it done at HiLo 100, super proud of his effort and happy I got to be a part of it crewing him.  Here are a few photos from HighLonesome 100 last week.

Monday:

7 AM: 7.4 miles averaging 8:10pace.  Easy jog from work out by Sterns and back. First jog back since Hardrock taking the whole week off. Super stiff and sluggish which is expected and why I don't normally take more than 2 days off, hate this feeling. Also super sore afterwards as well. I know it will pass but hell. Also time to get back to eating correctly, been eating like an asshole for to long now.

4 PM: 33mins Easy lower body lifting in the garage gym. Squats, Romanian dead lift, calf raises, J-curls

Tuesday:  

6 AM:  6.6 miles averaging 7:50pace.  2 laps of Davidson Mesa super chill. Could feel yesterday's run still in my legs, funny how it feels like you are starting from scratch but really aren't. Hopefully the legs turn a corner by the weekend.

-- Joined the Boulder Road Runners and USATF today.  Got recruited to join their 50+ XC team and go to Nationals in Dec.  So with that said there will be a bunch of shorter races in the schedule this fall in the build up that.  Should be fun to start working on speed again verses just hiking/jogging like I have been for the past 6 weeks.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  8.7 miles averaging 7:50pace.  Easy loop from work going by Sterns lake over behind Good Sams and back. Like this loop if I have to run from work. Feeling a little bit better everyday which is promising. Trying to build this back up slowly and be smart about it.

 

4 PM:  1 hour VASA lift class with Paula- Upper body day.

Thursday:  

6 AM:  7.4 miles averaging 7:50pace.  Short loop around Sterns from work. Was supposed to do 90mins today but have some early meetings so switched it with what I had planned for tomorrow. Hour today and 1.5 hours tomorrow instead. Legs are tired, I know that will come around as I build back up but still a blow mentally.

Friday:

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Forgot this morning when I got up.  Scared to get on the scale anyways.

6:30 AM:  11.25 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Good jog until it wasn't. At about mile 9.5 to 10 my left calf started to lock up in the head of the calf and my right shin on the outside also started to lock up. Ran a little bit longer to see if they would loosen with no luck. Now sitting here they are super sore and limping around some, mostly the left calf. Frustrated... Will hot tub today to see if that helps loosen things up.

-- Hot tub later this morning which seemed to help the calves some then around noon I felt like I got hit by a truck.  WTF?  Had to lay down for a bit, guess I am still recovering.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  12 miles w/ 2500ft of vert averaging 11:45pace.  Easy lap of Green Mountain via Bear Canyon with Donnie and Dan. Super chill effort today which was much needed. Felt better after the run than before even though I was tired as hell. Still not quite there energy wise after Hardrock, I know it is starting to sound like a broken record but damn.

Sunday:  

6:30 AM: 12.3 miles w/ 2200ft of vert averaging 9:30pace. Easy jogging from Dowdy Draw heading up Rattlesnake and doing all the loops around Springbrook as well. Really enjoyed this route, little bit of everything, might be doing this one more often. Funny, I almost threw in the towel a mile in due to feeling not great but jogged it out and felt great after about 3 miles.  Paula went along and did her own 2 hour run as well, love it when we go to train together even though it is really not together.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week getting back to it.  All easy miles all week with no hard efforts but still struggled some with energy levels and a niggle in my left calf that I was able to get rid of over the weekend by using magnesium oil on it before bed every night, so weird that it worked.  Ready to get back to the grind but not sure how that is going to look yet with the new job.  My boss sits in Europe so most of my meetings are in the early morning which makes running before work challenging.  Still trying to figure all that out so there may be a few days missed here and there.  Goal over the next month is just to re-find my groove again.  

July 6th- July 12th

 "Do the impossible, because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies." -Howard Hughes

Monday:

7 AM: 7.25 miles averaging 7:15pace.  Two laps of Davidson with Taylor and Sean. They were doing a progression and I just did a few miles of steady state in the middle keeping around 6:45ish pace. Felt good to move the legs a little bit again. Still trying to figure out being swollen to the point my joints hurt. My hip gave out a bit after the run today. Little concerned.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  7.8 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Super chill jog out the front door doing laps around the open space. Did not have time to drive anywhere this morning and figured is really is no difference than a flat jog somewhere else. Joints still stiff but visible swelling is gone today. Did the hot tub right after the run too. Did hot tub last night and think that may have helped. Also went and got needled in my problem areas this morning to loosen things up, doing everything I can. Heading out around 2pm to drive halfway to Silverton.

Wednesday:

10 AM:  5.1 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 9 min pace.  Made it to Silverton early this morning and got out on a jog right after arriving.  Easy jog on the Rainbow Trail from the high school, basically the first few miles of Hardrock. Even walked some of the hills to keep the effort low. Doing okay..  Also checked in and got my bib.

Thursday:  

8 AM:  2.4miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 15min pace.  Super chill shakeout jog/hike with Chris and Maggie up the Mushroom trail in Silverton. New trail to me, need to explore this more in the future.  Feeling pretty good today and ready to roll tomorrow I think.  Rest of the day was going to the race meeting and just chilling the fuck out.

Friday- Sunday:

6 AM:  102 miles w/ 35,000ft of vert averaging 19min miles.  HARDROCK!!!!  I waited to long to write this blog post so a lot is lost in my memory.  Got home on Sunday and started a new job on Monday so the last 2 weeks have been a blur to me.  Day went so much better than I thought it would overall.  I did have my low spot on the first day like I normally do but this time it was more physical than dealing with heat, low energy, or mental like in the past.  Basically I fell many times going down Grant Swamp as did every other runner but it seemed to lock up my hips for a bit.  I had to basically walk all the way to Telluride where I planned on quitting since I was falling over just walking on flat ground with poles, my right leg kept giving out.  I would just be walking and boom, on the ground, so weird.  Got to Telluride and decided that if nothing else I could at least walk to Ouray.  By the time I came off of Virginias pass and starting down Camp Bird Road I was able to jog again with no issues.  The human body is so so weird.... from that point it was game on.  Cruised basically to the finish without to many other issues besides the smoke that everyone had to deal with to end up 11th overall and 9th male along with a PR of 32:27:55.  Could not have asked for more from the day.  Of course this never would have happened without my crew and pacers of Paula, Don, Donnie, Darian, Dan, Logan, George, John, Rebecca, and Tasha as you can see in the photo below.  Such a great group of friends and I owe you all, THANK YOU!!  I am beyond blessed to have you all in my life.   I think I got these photos and videos in order somewhat, they came from lots of different people so I tried my best.  

Total Weekly Numbers

One of the best races I have had against world class runners.  I guess putting in one month of mountain training up high on top of months of marathon training works.  I honestly did not think that my training was going to work, I was expecting a 38-40 hour finish.  Noted for the future, guess fitness is fitness no matter how one gets it.