Recovery Week

This past weekend has forced a much needed recovery week this week which should do me good.  I even took 2 full days off on Monday and Tuesday following this WOD from T-Nation that you can find here.

"Here's a tried-and-true recovery workout for you to try:

A1. Eat – 3 sets of AMPAP (as much protein as possible)
A2. Take a nap – 3 sets of AMMAP (as many minutes as possible)

Perform all three supersets in a row with no rest in between. Pee breaks are acceptable, but you must sit down.
I call this WOD Jack, which is short for jack shit."

Easy this week and then 2 solid high volume weeks before the taper for the 100s.  Did get in a good 51 mile/6000vert ride in Saturday and medium long trail run of 12 miles/4000vert on Sunday which I struggled a little bit with.  Time to get back to work.

Hours this week.

The ride on Saturday was up in Lucho's hood and you wonder why he crushes shit.  This should explain it.  So easy to rack up the vertical up Coal Creek and around Golden Gate State Park.

Silver Rush Weekend

Now that was a fun weekend!  This past weekend I took another step towards Leadman and I did the Silver Rush 50 MTB on Saturday and the Silver Rush 50 Run on Sunday.   Now I only needed to complete one of them for Leadman but signed up for both of them back in January "just in case" I had an issue on the bike since that is my weak sport.  As you will read below I went ahead and did both.  Hopefully that will pay off and was not a mistake.

Saturday: I totally surprised myself on Saturday, I am NOT a biker but play one on the weekends.  I have not had that much fun at a race in years.  I don't think the smile left my face all day, even on the bomber rocky downhills we had to ride when I was yelling "oh shit" over and over in my head.   My whole plan this day was just to survive and try to finish under 6 hours for a good corral placement in the 100 bike next month.  Not only did I finish under 6 hours but almost broke 5!  I really did not think I had that in me and really needed that confidence boost going into the 100 bike next month.  Below are some photos from along the course along with the finishing time and Strava link if that is your thing.

About mile 15- photo Lifetime

At the halfway point in a great mood.  Photo by Don Sims

Worked over a little trying to break 5 hours at the end.  Did push hard the last 5-6 miles when I realized I could have a shot at sub-5. - photo Lifetime

Crossing the finish worked but very happy. Photo by Don Sims

Strava data can be found by clicking here.

Sunday:  After many discussions with a few friends who thought I should not do the run on Sunday since I did not need it for Leadman I decided that since I already paid for it and needed at least a 20 mile training run for the day that I would start the run and then drop at the turn around at the halfway point catching a ride with whom ever I knew there.  So my approach on the way to the halfway point was just to treat it as an easy long run to test out some new shoes (LaSportiva Mutants) that have only gone 15 miles in a single shot and the new Orange Mud pack that I got a couple of days earlier to see if they would work OK for the 100 run next month.  Spent most of the 1st half of the race running with friends catching up and meeting other Leadman runners.  Never once did I push hard up or down a hill, I just walked the ups and jogged the downs.  When reaching the halfway point with the intention to drop I could not justify dropping when feeling so good.  Just did not feel right and the only people I knew that were there that I could get a ride with were working the aid station or a co-worker who I think would give me all kinds of crap so I figured I would just jog it back like it was a 100 miler.  Funny thing is that it worked.  Not once did I overheat, get sick, or feel like I was going to hit the wall.  Energy levels were good all day.  Yes the legs were heavy from the bike ride the day before but I was not pushing hard enough that it mattered.  I just kept walking the ups and slow jogging the downs rolling people up that went out to fast.  Could I have ran this course faster?  Yes, especially if I would not have done the bike the day before but that was not the goal of the day.  Today was about testing out gear for the 100 and getting in an easy longer run on tired legs.  I was not planning on running the time I did but it is what happened.  I was thinking it was going to be more like a 10 hour day.

Spending some miles with my buddy Neeraj. Source unknown

About mile 15- photo Lifetime

Very pleased that I finished feeling as good as I did- photo Lifetime

Silver King! - photo Lifetime

Everyone was smiles at the end, Andy (in yellow) rocked his age group and won a 100 entry for next year- photo Lifetime

Strava data can be found by clicking here.

This was a surprised when Neal sent me a text on Monday night to check out the results website.  I was not shooting for a result like this.

The hardware from a fun weekend in the mountains

So what did I take away from this weekend.  Well number one: don't even bother starting a race that you are planning to drop, the guilt factor is to high.  I would have been better off not starting instead of trying to drop at the halfway point.  Number two:  the overall fitness is in a really good spot right now, better than I expected.  Lastly: just trust the process and not how you feel day to day.  I have been feeling out of shape and slow for the past few weeks since the Leadville Marathon.  I was really worried that I peaked to soon with the race times I was posting the last 2 months.  I no longer think that is the case.  This week will be a small recovery week then it is 2 more solid weeks of training until the taper begins.  Damn those 100s are getting close!  I am so happy that my buds J.P. and Ray both made it through the weekend in one piece also so we all can move on to the next event together.  I think there is always a risk on the bike for a crash or issue with the bike that could cause a DNF.  It has been a lot of fun training and racing with these guys all year and I am looking forward to some more fun the next 5-6 weeks with these gentlemen.

Approaching the Red Line?

Had to dial it way back this weekend after Saturday.  Was on pace this week to hit the biggest total volume week yet but then as I was riding home the long way from Boulder after taking a MTB clinic by going up Flagstaff over to Coal Creek and my right quad started bothering me pretty bad on the climbs.  It feels like a charlie horse in the front of the quad right where in connects to the pelvic.  I notice it mostly when climbing and when standing up to walk after sitting for a bit.  Not good.  With that I took Sunday completely off and went in for a massage to see if that would help.  The only other thing I did all day on Sunday was clean out the inside of the cars, the rest of the day was spent on the couch watching the Tour de France and soccer.  With the 50s coming up this weekend hopefully this heals up quickly.  Might try to jog a little today or not.   Think it is time for a small taper to let things heal up.

Hours for the week.

Wife gets back tonight after being gone for 5 weeks in Europe.  Guess I better clean the house and do some chores now.  The training will be scaling back which may not be a bad thing.  I was wondering what I have done in the 5 weeks since she has been gone so I ran that report.  Not to shabby.  This does not include anything that I do today.

June Totals and 2015 Check In

Pretty solid month for June.  Hit the highest hourly total worth of work that I have ever done and pretty happy about that.  Could I have done more with the family being gone all month?  Yes, but I would bet that I would not be feeling as good as I am right now.  So what was the data for June? (click photo to enlarge)

So I started wondering what was the data for the first 6 months of the year since signing up for Leadman? Here is that breakdown. (click photo to enlarge)

Not bad!  But I would have liked to see that total vertical to be a little higher.  I am not used to seeing such a low (for me) total on the running mileage but on the other hand I have never hit that kind of mileage on the bike.  Something has to give I guess.

So how does that breakdown month to month I started to wonder. (click photo to enlarge)

Pretty constant build through out the year.  Yes February sucked for I took 13 days off sick and had many more low volume days as I was recovering.

I find these numbers very interesting to me and honestly never expected to put in this much time.  Hell for Bighorn last year I did 328 hours with about 1250 miles of running in the 6 months leading up to that race with 525 total for all of 2014.  I should be over 500 total hours before the start of the 100 mountain bike in mid-Aug this year.  Hope all this work pays off.

What am I targeting for July?  That is hard to say.  This week I am going pretty high volume all at an easy pace but next week will be a down week with the Silver Rush 50 weekend on July 11th and 12th.  Not sure how I will feel after doing a 50 MTB on Saturday followed by a 50 mile run on Sunday.  I am sure there will be at least a few days off.  Just going to play it by ear and try and listen to what my body is telling me. It is going to be an adventure.  I have pretty much stopped trying to plan my training in advance and now just look at it weekly to see what I can do that week based on how I feel, schedule at work, and family.  Seems to be working so far.

Can't believe we are starting to get into the meat of Leadman!

Have a great week and a safe 4th of July!

Still Building

That was an unplanned higher volume week.  My plan was to have a "down" week to recover from the marathon but after a couple of easy days at the beginning of the week due to sore quads I decided just to roll with what ever I could get in at an easy pace.  When up in Leadville for the marathon Bob told me that the place was mine for the following weekend if I wanted it and that my dogs were welcomed.  Had to jump on that, so took Friday off and headed up on Thursday night returning on Sunday morning.  This is what caused the volume jump this week.  Very pleased with that and yes, this is now my biggest week ever time wise by just a few minutes.  With 2 days left in June this month is setting up to be my largest time volume month ever too.  I will post on that later in the week after the month is over.  Need to put in one more solid week this week then a mini week longer taper for the 50s and before my wife returns next Monday the 7th.  I can't believe how close the 50s and my wife returning really are.  Speaking of the 50s, below is a photo from the course right by the Iowa Amphitheater. so check out that mess. 

This week's work.

So I was thinking since I have Friday off from work due to the 4th of hitting up something in either Indian Peaks or maybe even Longs Peak on Friday and/or Sunday if anyone is interested.  Hit me up if you are interested in joining in.  It will be at an easy pace but not so easy that we are gone for hours on in.  I have about a 9-10 hour window including travel time with the dogs so I will be moving to stay within this window.

Photos from the week.

 Sunset view from Bob's front deck.  Mount Massive.  Summit shot from up there down below.  Thanks again Bob!

 50 course recon, most of this should be melted off in 2 weeks but it will be wet.

 Went over at the end of my ride and hit up the bottom 1/3 of the Powerlines.

 View from the top of Mount Massive looking west.  Clyde and I had a great day for an easy climb up to about 14,500ft.  Third weekend in a row that I have been over 13,000ft.

Morning dog hangout at Bob's place.  They had a shit ton of fun up there.

One of the best days of the year

Bike to Work Day!  Why can't every day be like this?  Think how many less cars there would be even if they did this once a week.  My normal 8 mile ride to work turned into 17ish miles as I hit up 4 food stops.  Got in 3 breakfast burritos, 2 donuts, yogurt, coffee, and a bowl of fresh fruit.  Also got some free Pearl Izumi cycling socks and a bag of coffee beans from the local coffee shop.  Great way to start the day as long as I don't fall a sleep at my desk.

And So It Begins

Yep Leadman is here.  The race series started on Saturday with the Leadville Marathon which means summer is now officially here.  Where the hell did the time go.  Funny how I feel like I have not done enough to get myself ready.  Looking back all I am thinking is what if I would have done this or that.  So it goes.

Headed up on Friday morning after a 5:30am run with Rebecca to chill out and get a ride in with JP in the afternoon.  We got in an easy 12 or so miles with some climbing.  It was hot which was a warning to what is to come the next day.

The next day on Saturday the Leadville Marathon went OK.  My overall time was better than expected but looking back at it there is a lot of room for improvement.  I ended up with a 9 min PR on this course with a 4:42:44 but I should have been in the mid 4:30's.  Strava data.  The heat was an issue, I am just not quite used to it yet but that should improve over the next 7 weeks as summer has finally hit the front range with 80 plus degree days.

A huge thanks to Bob for giving a place to crash up in Leadville.  Only 18 days to the 50 mountain bike and 50 run weekend.

Can't beat this type of recovery. 

Much Needed Recovery Week

Felt really wore out last Sunday so decided to make this a recovery week which I have not had for 5 weeks averaging 19.5 hours a week during that time.  It was over due.  Felt lazy doing so especially after reading this article from Gym Jones.  A lot of truth in that article even though it gets a little extreme when applied to endurance sports I think. 

Anyways the hours for this week.  Not much but a good solid effort at Mount Evans Ascent in 2:12 for 1st in age group and a solid bike ride on Sunday.  Would have rode longer on Sunday but the saddle sores I developed at ERock the previous were hurting like hell.  Need to get those healed up so riding might be light the next week.

The first Leadman race is this Saturday with the marathon.  As of right now we will be running the same course as they did in 2014 so I don't have to hear JT bitch about it being a different course.  Not sure how I am going to train this week.  Make it a running week and train through the marathon, make it an easy week, ect.  Still pondering that.  Feeling somewhat normal this morning for the first time in over a week so not sure if I want to push myself back down the rabbit hole, maybe I should?  Isn't that part of training?  Lots to ponder still.

I'm a little tired tonight

Going to keep this week's post short. 

Biggest week that I have ever done time wise, almost 24 hours.  If you want to see the daily breakdown you can click here.  I am not going to type all that out on here.  Needless to say, I am tired which is fine.   With the work commitments that I have this week it will be a forced recovery week for me so I buried myself a little on purpose.  2 weeks to the start of Leadman!  Now the question is do I train hard through the first events of Leadman or back off and try to hold onto fitness?  Have some thoughts on this and some thoughts from others but still processing it all.

Here is how this week breaks down

Also got this poster in the mail on Friday, it will be hanging in the garage gym shortly.

Thanks to JT for letting me crash at his house last night so we could do some miles on Pikes today.  Always good to get out with these guys.

Over 20 and 80- Biggest so far!

Biggest week of the year.  Finally broke the 20 hour barrier for the week.  Very pleased with how the volume and work is coming together even though The Dirty Thirty 50K was shorter than expected yesterday due to being a dumbass.  I missed a turn and reran a loop twice. 

Breakdown for the week

Now quick over view of the month of May and before you ask, yes this Leadman training is turning into a part-time job.  This was my biggest month EVER time wise (82 hours!).  I am very pleased where I am at right now.  Got a PR on the Greenland course, marathon PR at Colfax, and a 10K PR at Bolder Boulder.  Yes it ended with a DNF due to getting off course at Dirty Thirty but that was just a planned training run anyways and I was felt great the whole time which is a win in my book.  Things are coming together.

I am thinking June should be about the same maybe a little bit more more due to the family being out of the country for the whole month and that I am flying solo.  About 8 more weeks of solid training time before the taper for the 100s and lots more work to do.  Gotta keep training smart and listening to my body.

Year to Date Check In

On my lunch SLOG aka jog today where I was forced to run 9 minute pace due to how trashed I am from the last 3 days I started to wonder, "How much volume have I done so far this year?".  I knew that I have been putting up 17-19 hour weeks which I have never done before so I had to run the report and check when I got back to my desk.

Yep, rolled over 300 hours on the year in the last couple of days and it is not even the end of May.  Should be around 315 by the end of May if not more.  Doing work!

Bike Focused Week (May 18-24)

Not the week I was hoping for.  I was hoping to hit over 200 miles on the bike but between the weather and a TUV audit at work it was a real challenge to get out on the bike.  Due to the audit at work I needed my car to drive files between the sites my company has in Louisville so riding my bike to work was out, the weather was shit anyways most of those days and I ended up in the gym at lunch.  I was able to make up some of it over the weekend with long rides on both Saturday and Sunday up in the hills.  Saturday was a bunch of laps on Lookout Mountain with Ray which got me 52 miles with 6700 feet of gain.  Sunday was the Lariat Loop with a side of Genesee Mountain, this netted me 43 miles with 4500 feet of gain.  So 95 miles and 11,200 feet of gain on the MTB in 2 days.  Not bad. 

Speaking of the gym I spent too much time in the gym this week lifting hard.  Not the best idea the week after a marathon PR.  Pretty sore and wore out all week.  Live and learn.

Snap shot of the week.  (Click to Enlarge)

This goes into the next week report but extremely pleased with my Bolder Boulder 10k time this morning, ended with a 38:07 which is also a PR at the 10K distance for me.  So in May I have PRed at Greenland course, my overall marathon time, and my overall 10K time.  This worries me, am I peaking to soon?  Or should I keep doing what I am doing?  Or should I push even harder?  I feel slow and tired but keep PR'ing. Not sure what to do here.  25 days to the Leadville Marathon and the start of Leadman.  Still have the Dirty Thirty next weekend too which will be most of my running miles for the week I think. This week a Balanced Focused week which is always challenging to do.

After the Bolder Boulder went and did the Crossfit workout Murph.  What is Murph you ask?  Here is the low down:
-----------------------------
"Murph"
For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run
In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.
This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it "Body Armor". From here on it will be referred to as "Murph" in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.
------------------------------
Yes this is what the movie Lone Survivor is based on. This sucked doing 2 hours after finishing the Bolder Boulder.  Came in at 39:42 which is actually a good time and really surprised myself.  The funny part is I thought the pullups would be the issue but it was the pushups that took all my time.  The pullups you could work through in sets of 2 and it was not bad but the pushups killed the arms.  Looking forward to doing this every Memorial Day.

Have a great week everyone!

Run Focused Week (May 11-17)

Solid week all around!  Would have liked to get a little bit more vertical in this week but I can not complain considering I ended the week with the Colfax Marathon and getting a Boston qualifying time for 2016!  I will take that any day.  I got my BQ the day after a 36 mile/5,000ft of gain MTB ride up and down Lookout Mountain and at the end of a big run week.  Think the fitness is really starting to come around, just need to be careful not to over do it.

Look at the week (click to enlarge)

As far as the Colfax Marathon goes I started off super easy and just cruised to what felt like an easy long road run pace up to mile 13ish then decided I would do a few miles at a higher effort to get in a better workout.  When I hit mile 18 I looked at my watch and started running the math in my head and realized if I could keep sub 7:25 miles for the next 8 miles I could get my Boston qualifying time and PR.  Game on!  Finished in a solid 3:11:44.   Ran the first half around 1:41 (with 4 potty breaks), then dropped a 1:30 half to finish it out.  I think this was the best run race I have done in a long long time.  Sitting here tonight I am not trashed, just a little sore in the hips from all the concrete.  Even took the dogs out for another super easy 3 miles when I got home.

Love looking at these splits.

	split	time	mi	pace
1	8:45.2	8:45.2	1	8:45
2	7:54.7	16:39.9	1	7:55
3	7:28.8	24:08.6	1	7:29
4	7:26.3	31:35.0	1	7:26
5	8:24.9	39:59.8	1	8:25
6	7:24.9	47:24.7	1	7:25
7	7:44.3	55:09.0	1	7:44
8	7:33.0	1:02:42.0	1	7:33
9	7:16.1	1:09:58.1	1	7:16
10	7:19.0	1:17:17.1	1	7:19
11	7:13.9	1:24:31.0	1	7:14
12	7:16.6	1:31:47.6	1	7:17
13	7:46.6	1:39:34.3	1	7:47
14	6:59.9	1:46:34.2	1	7:00
15	7:20.8	1:53:54.9	1	7:21
16	6:58.9	2:00:53.8	1	6:59
17	6:49.5	2:07:43.3	1	6:49
18	6:51.9	2:14:35.2	1	6:52
19	6:57.7	2:21:32.9	1	6:58
20	6:41.1	2:28:14.0	1	6:41
21	6:38.0	2:34:52.0	1	6:38
22	6:48.4	2:41:40.4	1	6:48
23	6:57.8	2:48:38.2	1	6:58
24	6:59.2	2:55:37.4	1	6:59
25	6:53.4	3:02:30.8	1	6:53
26	6:30.6	3:09:01.4	1	6:31
27	2:44.1	3:11:45.5	0.41	6:36

This week is going to be a bike focused week so I should only get about 30-40 miles running.  That should help with recovery from the marathon.

(Photos taken at mile 26 by Melody Drummond)

Recovery Focused (May 4-10)

Pretty cool that I came across this article at the beginning of a "recovery" week.  There are a lot of things in here that I need to get better at.  Yes I know that it is gym focused but this can be applied across the board to any athlete.

Key points for me to think and focus on.

1. Better stress management - I get worked up and stressed out over things that I just need to let go.  How can I tell things are starting to pile up?  When I start yelling at other drivers on my 8 mile drive commute to work.  I mean really?  It is only a 15 minute drive.

2. Recovery Practices- Really really really need to be better about getting work in EVERY night on the roller or with the stick.  I was doing good for about 2-3 weeks and felt great.  Need to really focus on this the upcoming months leading into Leadman.

3. Recovery workouts-  Been doing ok here but could be better.  Easy means easy.  A lot of time my recovery jogs turn into a moderate effort and I need to knock that off.

Best quote from the article to think about: "The training is the easy part. What happens the other 22 hours of the day is where the battle will be won or lost. Remember that when you leave the gym, the real work begins."

I know I have posted this before from Gym Jones but love this chart from the article. (click to enlarge)

So as far as this week goes.  All of the god damn rain this week really kind of forced it to be more of a recovery week than in past recovery weeks I have planned.  First of all the MTB race that was scheduled for Saturday was cancelled due to mud.  Yes I had a 60 mile MTB race planned on a recovery week.  Little more gym time this week due to the rain but that is all good and a great jog Sunday with JP and James at Lair O' Bear.   Overall it was a good recovery week.

Click to enlarge

This week will be a more "run" focused week with the Colfax Marathon coming at the end of the week.  Not planning on racing or running for time but just to use it as a long run.  Been wanting to run it for a few years for fun so figured why not.  Not sure yet what mileage goals I will shoot for this week on the run and bike but just play it by ear daily.

Have a great week everyone!

Not a bad week (April 27-May 3)

I can live with this week.  Would have liked to have more biking mileage but like I said in my last post I am not willing to give up my gym/weights/crossfit time yet but will come mid July.  Good weekly overall volume with the Greenland 50k race thrown in there on Saturday.

Speaking of Greenland 50k it did not go quite as planned.  The goal was to just jog the whole thing with very little walking.  I figured that would be a good goal since the last 2 50k's that I have ran this year I did a bunch of walking due to walking with JT, steep hills, issues, ect.  Well about mile 27 issues started popping up again, yes my famous glass stomach issues.  Every time I started jogging my core cramped and I puked, even downhill.  Now I could have pushed it the last 3 miles and put myself into a deep hole for the next few days but decided since this was supposed to be a "training" run I would just walk it in and live to train another day.  Walked the last 3 miles in about 43 minutes and still finished in 5:02 which is a PR for me on that course. When I got done, I went to the car and chugged a big bottle of Gatorade and laid down for a bit. 30 minutes later I was fine.  Yep, once again I did not drink enough.  Thought I did but nope.  Oh well, lesson learned again for the 100th time.

As I was looking at my weekly volume this week I started wondering where am I year to date?  What have I done since Jan 1st when I signed up for Leadman?  So I ran that report from the training log.  Should be interesting to see what the total numbers are come taper time in Aug.  I don't plan on really tapering for the first events of the series, maybe a mini taper for the 50 ride and run in July.  The real taper will start around Aug 1st. 

This week is suppose to be a "recovery" week but I am really not sure how to approach this once again.  I have been messing up my "recovery" weeks the last couple of times.  I do have a 60 mile MTB race this Saturday which will throw a wrench in the week.  Any suggestions?  I am all ears.

Have a great week everyone!