June 16th- June 22nd

"You have to train your mind as much as your body." - Venus Williams

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

Seemed like another 2 quote week to me.

Monday:   

6 AM: 5.3 miles averaging 7:35pace. Easy miles over at Davidson Mesa before work in the heat suit. Heart rate did not climb as high as I thought it would this morning, Not sure if it just was not hot enough outside (60) or if I am more heat acclimated than I thought.  With that said I did soak through everything I had on so there is that.  Need to do this in the middle of the afternoon now.

-- Thought I had this morning at work after my jog is that I really should make sure I cut back a little bit of my food intake the next 2 weeks during the taper, going from 70-90 miles a week to 50 or less requires less food of course.  Last thing I need to do is gain 5 pounds just before the race... food for thought. 

4:30 PM: 35mins easy lifting legs at VASA going through all the leg machines and some light kettlebell work. Little bit of core work as well.  

Followed up lifting with 25mins in the sauna right afterwards.  Could have stayed in longer and may later in the week.

Tuesday:  

6 AM:  8.1 miles averaging 7:30pace. Easy cruise on the roads in the Colorado Tech Center in Louisville around work. Started out super slow and warmed up into it somewhat. Felt much better at the end of the jog than the beginning which is the norm anymore.  Skipped on joining the Boulder Track Club Tuesday workouts today, figured it was time to cut those since we are just over a week out from Western States.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  7 miles w/ 1800ft of vert averaging 10:30pace.  Easy lap of Santias and then up to the first lookout on Anemone to get to my 1:15ish time goal of the morning. Super chill for the most part and trying to break in another pair of the RX:WSER prototype shoes for Western. Most likely will stay with the first pair I broke in, they just feel better.

--- Had a little monthly get together at work over lunch, we do this basically every month with a different department organizing it for each month.  June is being organized by my group purchasing.  We brought in a coffee truck in the morning with ice cream and games over the lunch hour but best of all?  This DUDE came out to play some tunes for us... Thanks GZ!!!!!  Had a blast hosting you.

4 PM:  35mins lifting at VASA.  Just 3x10 on all the upper body machines. Just a quick maintenance session followed directly with 25min in the sauna.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope

6 AM:  40 mins in the garage gym before work.    Decided to switch and run this afternoon when it is hot outside.

Warmup: Rowing and mobility.

3 Rounds
40 single arm DB Snatches @ 35lbs
40 GHD Situps
40 calories on the Airbike.

4 PM: 1.5 miles averaging 9min pace.  Got super frustrated with my electronics not working correctly, feeling like shit and was in a bad mindset due to not getting the job I put in for at work. Ended up bailing. I always try to run at least over a mile to see if things get better, they normally do, but not today so bailed. All the hay is in the barn anyways.

Friday:

5 AM:  1.5 mile dog walk before running since Paula left to go to race in Kansas this weekend to race.  I decided after yesterday just to take the day off and get some stuff done today.

7 AM:  7.6 miles averaging 7:45pace.  2 easy laps of Davidson Mesa and 1 lap of Harper with Dan, Donnie, and Taylor. I of course did this in a heat suit with them to help get ready for Western, it was 80 degrees outside this morning at 7am. These are getting easier and easier every time. Great run and great company.

3 PM:  40mins Easy lifting just going through all the leg machines at VASA. Just trying to maintain strength and mobility at this point.  Followed this up with 25mins in the sauna as well.  That is getting easier too.

Saturday: 

5 AM:  1.5 mile dog walk before running.

7 AM: 10.2 miles w/ 2600ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Easy lap of Mt Falcon with Darian, Don, and Ben. Have not been on some of these trails in a long time so was great to rediscover them and to catchup with the guys. Of course we all went out for brunch afterwards as well.

-- Headed home to jump in the hot tub for 20 mins as well.  

Sunday:  

7 AM: 6 miles w/ 1300ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Two laps of Anemone with the Deathmarch Running crew. This was supposed to be for Kody's birthday but guess he was to hungover to join us so we went without him. Great chill taper run with a little bit of vert. Felt great today and of course hit the hot tub yet again this evening.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad taper week with the exception of my shitty Thursday.  Also found out on Thursday that I did not get the manager job at work that I was shooting for which for sure played into my shitty mindset that afternoon.  Looking back on it, it just might be a blessing but time will tell.  Just need to keep up the heat training and get my mind right before next weekend.  

June 9th - June 15th

"Everybody has the choice of being a hero or not being a hero every day of their lives." - George Lucas

Monday:   

6 AM:  6.6 miles averaging 7:25pace.  Easy couple of laps around Davidson Mesa before work. Should be the last larger week before the taper if everything goes well this week. Pretty tired this morning.  First mile was rough this morning loosening up but good after that.  Can really feel last week on the legs and energy levels.

Skipped the weight session I had planned this evening, just to damn tired from the weekend and work today.  Need that recovery but did spend 20mins in the hot tub which was actually really hard when it is over 80 degrees outside and the hot tub is set at 104 degrees.  Sweating bullets.

Tuesday:  

6:30 AM:  10.2 miles averaging 6:55pace.  

Boulder Track Club Tuesday Track workout.

Warmup 3 or so miles.

16 x 200 hard/ 200 jog - hard pace was between 4:20-5mins pace

Cooldown until I was over 10 miles total.

I really liked this workout, the last 3-4 reps were hard as hell. Might have been pushing a little bit to hard but all good. I need every increase in fitness I can get right now before the taper

4:30 PM:  45mins Studio Red HITT class at VASA followed by another 25min in the sauna.  Sauna is getting easier and easier, the hot tub at home not so much.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  8.9 miles w/ 2200ft of vert averaging 10:30 pace.  Lap of Santias and Anemone trails. Legs were dead this morning from yesterday's track workout but still got it done. Ate to much last night before bed so stomach was a mess as well. All good, but was a lot slower today than normal, especially on Anemone and the downhills.

6 PM:  Got stuck at work and missed Studio Red class and by the time I got home just threw in the towel.  Plan was to make up the weight session I missed on Monday but that did not happen.  Might miss tomorrow as well since I have a job interview that will last until 5:30pm.  I try not to workout in the evenings since I went back to the office because that is basically the only time Paula and I get together.  

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope

6 AM:  9 miles w/ 2200ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Same run as yesterday but 4 mins or so faster and added a few out and backs on that I did not do yesterday. Lap of Santias and Anemone trails. Might have been my second or third fastest time up the ridge at 22mins and was not pushing that hard. Helps when I don't over eat the night before too. Tomorrow will play it by ear with all the work shit going on.  I have 3 interviews tomorrow after having one late this afternoon.  Good times....

--  Missed the gym session again tonight due to interviewing for a new job until about 5:30pm this evening.  All good, tired as hell anyways.  2 more interviews tomorrow and 2 more on Tuesday, long process and I don't think the chances are that good but never hurts to exercise that muscle, been a long time since I have been the one getting interviewed.

Friday:

7 AM:  10 miles averaging 6:40pace.

Boulder Track Club Friday workout

4x500@threshold
3200 @threshold
2 x 400 @ mile-3k pace

(Rest: 1 min after 500s, 3 min after the last one/5 min after 3200/90 sec after 400)

Tough one today to get the pacing right on the shorter stuff, prob ran those to hard but think we got the 3200 just right running that between 5:30-5:50 pace.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  17 miles w/ 4500ft of vert averaging 12min pace.  Mini Skyline traverse with Donnie. Did the large 5 mile lap of Sanitas then headed over Flagstaff and Green before running down to Bear Canyon Trailhead where Paula picked us up and took us back to the cars at Santias. Super chill for me today and a little warm which is needed. For some reason I thought the whole skyline was 17 miles but I was way off in what I remembered, if we would have done the whole thing it would have been more like 23 miles. Next training cycle maybe.

Sunday:  

7:30 AM: 13 miles w/ 1000ft of vert averaging 7:10pace. A loop of Marshall Mesa, Flatiron Vista, Dowdy Draw and Community Ditch with the Sunday Boulder Track Club. Ran the first half with the front group of 3 who are all 2:20-2:30 marathoners but could not speed up when they did, I had NOTHING left in the legs to make them go faster so finished it out solo. Totally cool with that, time to taper!!!

-- 20mins in the hot tub this afternoon too.

Total Weekly Numbers

Good week overall considering all the challenges this week with interviewing for a new job through out the week.  Ended up in the office everyday for about 9-10 hours so all of this was done around that and making sure I spend time with Paula as well.  Did miss 3 lifting sessions this week which I am not happy about but it was a choice on those days between lifting or running, of course I choose running with Western States coming up.  So ready for the taper even though I wish I had one more month to get ready, feel like I am just hitting my stride with balancing everything.

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.