Thursday, January 2, 2025

2024 Year in Review

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Edison

Really love this quote.  Guess it is time to put together some sort of year in review just for my record to look back on in the years to come.  So here we go again.

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Figured we needed another quote for the New Years as well.  

So-so year overall.  Was supposed to be a big year with Hardrock and Javelina but that did not happen of course due to the hip injury all summer and having to drop from starting Hardrock and went into Javelina with less than ideal training.  Did get a couple of wins this year so that is always positive.  Those get harder and harder to come by every year as I get older and the field gets younger and faster.

Training: Less overall hours spent but lots more mileage than last year due adding the bike back in.  Spent a lot of time on the bike this year when I was injured this summer since I could not run without pain.  Just over 2600 miles covered by foot (running, walking, skimo, ect.) with the rest on the bike.  Next year we need to be well north of 800 hours total which is the goal.


How does that compare to the past years?  Well this is an interesting view of the last 17 years.  Somewhat a normal year hourly-wise even with the injury.  Could have been a huge year if I would have been doing my normal Hardrock training in there as well.  The colors below match up with the colors for the activities above.


Here is the total ski days for this year.  Bad year on the sticks.  Hopefully will be better next year.



Races:
A somewhat more normal year for me as far as races are concerned.  Not quite the 30 plus events that I normally partake but close.  Missed a lot of summer due to the hip injury or otherwise would have had a lot more races this year including Hardrock.

Here is an interesting view of my race mileage this year from my spreadsheet.  Lots of running races for sure compared to others.  And yes I track my nights in the van.  Goal was 40 on the year, keep in mind we did not get the van until mid-March.



2024 Races/Events

Books:  
24 books this year which was the goal.  To be totally honest I have barely cracked open a book in the last month so there is that.   All over the place on my books with no real theme which is normal for me. I just read whatever catches my eye.  Kept the same goal this year with a goal of 24 or 2 per month.  Best book of the year???  Everest, Inc. * and of course any of the Jack Carr books.

2024 Books Read 
2. Outlive *
3. Tough
24. Stable*


Review of Goals for 2024:  

Another hit or miss year on my loose top 10 goals that I laid out last year....  

  1.  Improve my time at Hardrock over last year.  - Nope, DNS due to injury
  2. Read at least 24 books - Yep, 28 books
  3. Run Coaching Certification - Did not see a reason to do so
  4. Travel somewhere new for a race - Quite a few new places in the van
  5. Sky Dive - Some day, still waiting on Avery to do it with.
  6. Keep the blog going weekly -Yep and sure I annoyed people with it.
  7. Start more than 100 mile race this year - Nope, injury.  Wanted to do at least 2 100 races.
  8. Average a Peak a week in 2024 - First time I have failed at this, only had 38 this year
  9. Backpacking on the Colorado Trail for 3-7 days Nope, actually forgot about this goal unless you count all the miles I did with Jeff Browning during his FKT attempt (about 90 miles)
  10. Work on my lack of mobility at least 3-4 times a week. - Yes, my injury this summer required this

Goals for 2024: 

Of course there is some rollover from last year but they can be repeated year over year, especially the travel ones.  This of course does not include any work, family, or relationship goals... this is just strictly goals as they relate to this blog.

  1. Go all in on Western States 100
  2. Read 24 Books
  3. 40 nights in the van
  4. Weekly Blog post again, might change the formatting
  5. Sky Dive-- someday.
  6. 2 or more races over 100 miles
  7. Average one summit a week
  8. Backpacking on the Colorado Trail for 3-7 days 
  9. Run the 0.6 mile loop by the house 1000 times in 2025
  10. At least 1-2 Gravel Races

2024  in Pictures  (Chose at least 1 photo per month which was super challenging and did not happen.  Most of the months have 2 or more photos below.  Just to hard to decide. And yes, I tried to have that at least one other person is in the photo with me.  You can go through the weekly posts to see a lot of photos from the year)










































Have a Happy and Safe 2025!!!!!


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Wednesday, January 1, 2025

December Recap

 "I didn't get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it." - Estee Lauder

Going to keep this short this month since year end recap will be posted either later today or tomorrow.  Better month than last in all fronts.  Of course training started increasing a bit after getting into Western States at the beginning of the month.  One could say motivation has been somewhat high lately.  Only issue is the left knee flares up when I ride the bike so I have cut that out since the first week of December.  Need to start adding that back in to see what happens.  Do have a bike fit on the gravel bike on Monday so hopefully that will help.



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Monday, December 30, 2024

December 23rd - December 29th

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but your estimate of it.  And this you have the power to revoke at any moment." - Marcus Aurelius

-- Very timely quote that I came across.


Monday:   

--  Took today off work too in order to burn some vacation time so I get all that I earned at the beginning of 2025.  The plan was to head up and do some uphill skiing at Eldora but overslept which does not surprise me one bit.  Spent most of the day running errands for Christmas.  Here is the line at Costco, wrapped around the whole outside of the store.  Guessing over 300 people in line.  Never again.


---  Got an update on Don's feet situation from his 156 miles he ran last week... Enjoy and yes I will put it on the Ugly Feet page of the blog.


4 PM: 1 hour at VASA.  Studio Red class at VASA with Paula. Basically just a one hour HITT class that goes back and forth between weights, airbike, and manual treadmill. Might be upgrading my membership to do these more in place of Crossfit since I quit the Crossfit gym a few months back.

Tuesday:  
9 AM:  7.9 miles w/ 1200ft of vert averaging 8:15pace.  Laps of Springbrook and Gashawk from Dowdy Draw trailhead again. Seems to be my favorite route lately. Started slow and worked into it with a few pickups towards the end. Right foot arch is not feeling right after this.


1 PM: 1 hour @ VASA. 

Went to VASA since I don't have a cable system in the garage gym.

Warmup: Walking and mobility

50 pull-ups broken up as needed.

V-Bar Lat Pulldowns
10@ 100lbs
10@ 105lbs
10@ 110lbs

Rope Cable Curls
10@ 35lbs
10@ 40lbs
10@ 40lbs

DB Single Arm Rows
3X10 @ 55lbs

Ez-Bar 21s
3 sets w/ 40lbs

Ez-Bar Bent Over Rows
10@ 80lbs
10@ 80lbs
10@ 80lbs

Superset x3
8 Chinups
8 Hanging Knee Tuck to Extend

Wednesday:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

11 AM:  9.5 miles averaging 6:55pace. Moderate 3 laps around Davidson Mesa after the first mile or so warming up. Was supposed to do 4x6mins at tempo effort but instead decided to do more of a steady state run keeping the HR just under 140. Moved much quicker overall than expected. Becoming harder and harder to keep the HR up some which is a good thing. Might be time for more speed work.  Paula went with me today and did her own thing too.  Yep, Starbucks was open for post-run coffees and snacks.




Thursday:  
  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  NOPE!!!!  Back to it next week.

9 AM:  1 hour at VASA while Paula was in yoga

Warmup: Treadmill walking on incline and mobility

Hack Squat
10@ 90 plus sled
10@ 110 plus sled
10@ 110 plus sled
10@ 130 plus sled

Leg Curls
10@ 85
10@ 100
10@ 100
10@ 105

Single Leg Extensions
4x10 @40

3 Rounds
20 DB B-Stance RDL @ 25 each hand
20 DB Split Squat @ 25 each hand
20 DB Goblet Squat @ 25

Suitcase Farmers Carry
3x50m @ 60lbs each side

Barbell Hip Thrust
10@ 90
10@ 110
10@ 110
10@ 110

Standing Calf Raises
3x20 @ 110

2 PM:  7 miles w/ 1700ft of vert averaging 9:10pace.  Moderate run from Fowler Trailhead up for a loop of Rattlesnake Gulch and back. Think a goal for 2025 will be to try and get this route in under an hour. Ran 1:04 today which is a PR on this route by quite a bit. Key will be bombing down which can be hard due to how rocky it is.

Spent 45mins in the new red light airboots afterwards.  




Friday:
9:30 AM:  48 mins lifting at VASA.

Warmup: Incline walking and mobility

DB Seated Shoulder Press- neutral grip
10 @ 40lbs
10 @ 40lbs
10@ 40lbs

Single Arm Cable Lateral Raise
3x10 @ 15lbs

3 Rounds
10 incline bench DB front raises @ 15lbs
10 incline bench DB Reverse Flies @ 15lbs

3 Rounds
30sec Commandos
30sec Shoulder Taps
30sec High Plank Toe Taps
30sec High Plank Knee to Elbow
60sec recovery

Flutter Kicks
3x30

3 Rounds
20sec calf raises
10sec hold up
20sec calf raises
10sec hold up
30sec recovery

Torso Rotation
10@ 70lbs
10@ 100lbs
10@ 100lbs

2 PM: 6.9 miles w/ 1400ft of vert averaging 9:59pace.  Easy trail run from NCAR up the Mesa for a loop of Bluebell trails and back. Felt like I ran it super chill but ended up being the second fastest time on this loop without trying and it felt slowwwww....  Interesting.....


Saturday: 
9:30 AM:  12 miles w/ 2000ft of vert averaging 8:55pace.  Steady state run in the hills of South Boulder. Parked at South Mesa trailhead headed up to a lap of Homestead-Mesa-Bluebell back to the trailhead where I could refuel then ran out Dowdy Draw for a loop of Springbrook. This worked out perfectly. Love doing these little bit longer runs and not having to carry anything. 5 mins faster today than last week which shocked me because I felt like I did not run as hard as I did last week. Progress?


3 PM: 35mins in the garage gym.  Jumped into a short workout during halftime of the Broncos game which of course they lost in overtime.  At least it was fun to watch!
 
Warmup: Rowing, Crossover, and Mobility

50-35-20 reps for time of:
Hand-release push-ups
Row calories

Bicep curls
3x10 @ 25lbs

Single leg Calf raises
3x10 @ 25lbs

Sunday:  
8 AM:  11 miles w/ 2000ft of vert averaging 9:30pace.  Joined the Denver Trailrunners again today for the Sunday run. Was planning on doing more intense work with Boulder Track Club but guess they are taking this week off. All good, I usually end up leading the front group for DTR which can have some efforts in it, just that we have to wait to regroup every few miles which means lots of rest for me during the run. There are times where we can wait over 5 mins for the regroup. Today we went to Apex which I have not been to in about 12 or so years. They have really upgraded this trailhead and the trails. Think I will be back!





Total Weekly Numbers
Very solid week overall this week which is much easier to do when you are not really working.  The only plan is to keep this training rolling as long as possible.  With that said I am pondering how I am going to approach this blog in 2025.  I spent a lot of time doing the weekly post and thinking of cutting that back somewhat but not sure how or what the best approach would be.  Will be thinking about that over the next few days before 2025 starts.  Most likely will keep it the same leading up to Western States this year just to be an open book but always looking for better ideas.  My collection of quotes that I start every post with is growing faster than the weekly posts that I do.  May just do post with only a quote (or a bunch) and my thoughts to work through them.  Think I have over a 100 saved up so far that I have not used yet.
















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