December 15th- December 21st

"Sometimes, you have to step outside of the person you've been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you want to be. The person you are." - HG Wells

Monday:

Looking at my total numbers on the year early last week I had the thought that I would shoot for 3500 miles covered by foot by the end of the month, but that disastrous week last week pretty much made that impossible.  Guess we will just see where the cards fall.

3:30 PM: 6.4 miles averaging 7:30pace.  Getting back to it. Today was rough, especially the first 3 miles. Funny how time off is good to let things heal but sure is hard to if you take more than a day off. Everything hurt if that makes sense verse feeling like it was natural. Anyways 2 easy laps of Davidson Mesa mid-afternoon not looking at the watch at all.

-- Finished book number 24 on the year this evening so at least I hit that yearly goal of at least 2 books per month.  They are all listed on the Books Read page above. 

Tuesday:  

7:30 AM:  8 miles averaging 7:40pace.  Easy loops in the open space by the house. Needed to stay close to a restroom, it was one of those mornings and did have to bail about 1.4 miles in for it. Maybe that stomach bug is still there after all. Legs felt somewhat sore today as well but that will go away with time.

3 PM: 50 mins Garage gym- light due to first leg workout in a while, don't want to get to sore.  Back to lifting more often.

Warmup: Airbike, Crossover and mobility

Walking Lunges- Body weight
3x30

Box Back Squats
3x10 @ 135lbs

Barbell RDLs
3X10 @ 115lbs

3 Rounds
20 box step overs
10 box jumps
-- 20 inch box

Single Calf Raises
3x10 @ 35lbs each leg

Hex Bar Deadlifts
3x10 @ 155lbs

Wednesday:

11 AM:  7.75 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Easy run over the lunch hour at work. Windy but not too bad yet. Just cruised and the HR did spike when heading into the wind and the pace slowed some but no worries. I was expecting it to be much worse than it was this morning.  Of course as I type this in the evening it is howling out there.

4 PM:  40mins in the Garage gym

Warmup: Skierg, Crossover, and mobility

3 rounds
10 DB Incline Press @ 40lbs
10 Bench Dips

3 rounds
10 DB Flies @ 22.5lbs
10 Hand Release Push-ups

3 rounds
10 Ez-bar narrow chess press @ 57lbs
10 Ez-bar Skull Crusher @ 47lbs

3x1min planks w/ 30sec rest 

Thursday:  

9 AM:  7.75 miles averaging 7:40pace.  Groundhog day run... exact same run as yesterday but a min faster without trying. The wind was a little bit less today than yesterday so that always helps. Legs are still sore, mostly hamstrings, but manageable.  Sandwiched in between meetings this morning.  Wanted to get it out of the way before that wicked wind returned around lunch time.

Friday:

Skipped the run and weights today. Felt super run down and sore today for some reason and work was popping off. Was stuck in the office from 6:30am until 4 in mostly back to back meetings. Just was not up for it after work today.  Just a mentally and physically fried today after being in job interviews most of the day.

Saturday: 

6:30 AM:  11.75 miles w/ 2300ft of vert averaging 11min miles.  Easy cruise with Don, Noel, Taylor, and Veronica up Lookout Mountain, across the top then down Apex then the bike path across Golden back to the cars. I really like this loop a lot, been years since I have done it. Started out good but did take a Superman fall when going across the top of Lookout on the way to Apex landing on my chest and face, lol... basically a slog back to the van after that. Everything felt out of alignment if that makes sense. Did jack up my left shoulder some, but it feels better now so hopefully no real damage.  

On a side note, there was no power in Golden when we started this run before sunrise but if you look in the photo below as we started going up the trail you can see Golden is dark while the Coors plant is lite up like a Christmas tree.  They must have their own power source.

Sunday:  

8 AM: 13 miles w/ 700ft of vert averaging 6:55pace.  Boulder Track Club Sunday run yet again. At least they keep me honest and I am not just out there jogging slowly all the time. Legs are trashed somewhat from the hills yesterday, super sore quads from the downhills, so the first 4ish miles were a little rough to keep up but then I settled in nicely until mile 10 when I had to pull off to use the restroom and lost contact with the front group. Just finished out the last few miles solo jogging it out. Good to get back to this. I think going forward I am going to do what I did this weekend, longer hilly run on Saturday followed with a faster run on Sunday. Try and hit all the paces over the weekend.

Headed up to Evergreen afterwards to look at a possible wedding venue... This is becoming a challenge finding a place that can accommodate the people we want to invite in the budget we have in mind.   Might just have to pair it down a bunch... 

Got this email this evening...  Clicking through the National rankings for the 50-54 age group in the marathon in 2025 (first photo below) That's 24th in the World and 1st Nationall, WTF!!    Mind is blown..... Wish next year was not all ready packed full of events otherwise I would really consider going to the World Championship overseas... maybe 2027 since this still qualifies me then too?  

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week getting back to it.  Funny how sore I was by the end of the week but that should pass over the next few days as the body gets used to being used like it was meant to be again.   The next few weeks I only have like 3-4 days of work and the miles/vert should go up during that time frame to round out the year.  

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!  Paula and I wish you the best Christmas ever!  Yes someone figured out there are special treats in her stocking.

December 8th- December 14th

"Don't hope for a life without problems.  There's no such thing.  Instead, hope for a life of good problems." - Disappointment Panda

Monday:

--- Had thoughts of going out for 30mins but that passed quickly.... Need a damn day off after yesterday. Legs are shot today as expected.  Walking around like the Tin Man for the first 10-20 yards after standing up but at least things loosen up after that.  Spent the day catching up from being gone from work on Friday and that was about it.

Tuesday:  

--- Pretty much the same as yesterday.  Had thoughts of heading out for an easy shakeout but did not do it.  Decided for one more day of rest before slowly getting back to moving this week because my quads are still somewhat jello.  Flying out to Mexico tomorrow for work to visit a supplier's plant.  Have to be at the airport around 11am so will try again tomorrow morning before heading out.  

5 PM:  Meet Don at the Boulder Theater for "Inaccessible".  Of course we had dinner first on Pearl Street first.  Fun evening learning about the locked up Public Lands out there, it was especially interesting to hear them talk about the grid system in MT and how that locked up a bunch of lands in the Crazy Mountains.  

Wednesday:

8 AM:  6.3 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Easy loops around the open space by the house. Legs are still smashed from the weekend. Mostly the quads being sore and the outside of my left calf is not firing. First jog back after the marathon, nothing but up from here.  20mins in the hot tub right afterwards.

-- Flew out to Guadalajara Mexico this afternoon for work.  Heading there to check out a supplier in person with the hope that this will help bring the supplier around on the delivery and quality issues we have been seeing at work.  Sometimes an in person visit does wonders.  Will be a fast trip, flying there today, onsite tomorrow all day, and then flying home on Friday. 

Thursday:  

Spent all day touring a manufacturing plant in Guadalajara and being in meetings from 7:30am until 5pm.  No photos to share from the tour due to NDA reasons but afterwards we did go out to a really nice local Mexican restaurant where I was able to try out Beef Tongue for the first time.  It was actually pretty damn good.  Today was a very long day with very little slept last night because we did not get to the hotel until about 11PM.

Friday:

Today was another long ass travel day.  Left for the airport at 8am and did not pull up to the house until 10PM.  Lots of delays due to lack of air traffic controllers at DIA still.  Not a lot of sleep this week, think my longest night was maybe 5 hours last night which I do not do well with after a few days of doing that.  Anyways made it home in one piece.

Also while traveling today they finally got up all the photos from CIM last weekend.  They wanted $34 per photo or $80 each.  I am way to cheap for that so here are a few that I liked that I screenshotted. LOL.. not in any sort of order.  Also in the group shot below with the 4 of us, I was the slowest one in the group at 2:37 but I am also at least 20 years older than the next closest person so I feel okay with that.

Saturday: 

2 PM:  Walked 2 miles in 40mins.  Walk with Paula and Venus this afternoon after sleeping in until 9am which never happens for me.  Totally wiped out today from this week.  Never really got the chance to recover from the marathon last weekend and not it is hitting me hard.  Also picked up a stomach bug in Mexico and basically chained to the toilet most of the day.  I know how that happened too, my dumb ass used ice with my bottled water at the restaurant.  What a rookie move.... sigh.... 

Sunday:  

-- Nothing yet again today.  Still feeling like shit but much better than yesterday.  Still have the shits this morning but was better in the afternoon.  Hopefully this will be my last rest day on this so called recovery week and we can get back to it tomorrow which I know will hurt.

We headed over to Donnie's house at 4pm to celebrate his 50th.  Welcome to 50's buddy!!

Total Weekly Numbers

Not really anything to talk about here this week training wise but in full transparency here is how the week turned out.  One would think that I got in a lot of recovery but sleep was shit all week and stress was high at work so by the weekend I was trashed so I took the weekend off too.  Ready to start back slowly on Monday and get back into the routine and start doing off season strength training again.  That will be the main focus for the next 12ish weeks, gym time and getting ready for Black Canyon 50K in Feb.  Onwards and upwards!

December 1st- December 7th

"A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self." - Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities"

"Life is like a 10-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use." - Charles M. Schulz

Both of these quotes are perfect for this week.  One for the volunteering we did on Wednesday and one for the shocking results from Sunday's race.

Monday:

11 AM:  9.75 miles averaging 7:10pace.  RACE WEEK!!!!  WHOOO!!!!  Between meetings at work so I could run when the sun was out and a little bit warmer outside. Got out from basically 11-12ish over lunch, and it was great out there. Super chill the first half but after the strides the pace naturally increased the second half some. Ankles are a little stiff but outside of that all is good.

Tuesday:  

1 PM:  8.25 miles averaging 7:15 pace.  Easy run from work between meetings in the afternoon. Felt super chill for the most part but did have to pull myself back some because I would look down and the pace/HR would creep up on me. Legs feel somewhat tired but the runs are not really showing that.  Guessing that is the taper.

Plan on doing another hot tub session after work tonight.  Did one last night and plan on doing it every evening until I leave on Friday, trying to maximize every variable I can for this weekend.

Wednesday:

--  Snow day today and worked from home, we got about 4 inches as I am typing this at 8am with the forecast saying another 3 or so inches through out the day.  Paula and I did leave the house at noon to go over to Community Food Share to volunteer half the afternoon.   We spent about 2 hours taking a 1000lb bag of rice and making into 2lb bags for people to pick up.  Good times!

4 PM:  8 miles averaging 7:30pace.  Easy miles on the treadmill in the late afternoon. Roads were getting slick out and did not want to risk slipping and falling so close to CIM. Did do a few 1 min pickups at 6 min pace just to move the legs a little bit faster. Felt good, tired due to work and volunteering at the food bank all afternoon but good.

Thursday:  

1:30 PM:  8.4 miles averaging 7:05pace.  Waited until after lunch to get out when I knew the sun would be out and less ice on the roads. Super chill for the most part with a few miles at moderate effort (6-6:15 pace) in the middle. Still lots of ice on the roads and the dirt road I jumped on by Sterns Lake was a mud fest. One more run tomorrow before flying out to CIM tomorrow afternoon.

--  another hot tub session this evening.  Missed yesterday due to how late I got out to run... Will do one more tomorrow before heading to the airport.

Friday:

8 AM:  7.5 miles w/ 550ft of vert averaging 7:30pace.  From the house up the Simms hill to HWY128 and back. Can tell I have not been doing very many big hills lately. LOL.. HR spikes quite a bit going up the hill. Last run in Colorado, heading to the airport about 2 hours after finishing this run. GO TIME.....

-- Ran into Don at the airport and had a 15min coffee date to catch up.  He was coming back from the trail running expo in Texas while I was going to CIM.  Nice surprise.

-- Went straight to the CIM Expo after landing to get my bib and check in so that I would not have to fight the crowds on Saturday there and could just relax at the hotel most of the day.  Good to get the that out of the way.

Saturday: 

9 AM:  4.4 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Took an Uber across town to meet up with the rest of the Boulder Track Club at the hotel they were staying at for a short 30min shakeout followed by some strides. We just did an out and back on the bike path along the river. You think Colorado has a homeless problem, CA is much worse. There were bonfires along the bike path with about 20 people gathered around them. Crazy.

-- Came back from the shakeout run with BTC just to find out that I got into Hardrock again.... It is going to be another EPIC summer!!!  This Hardrock will be interesting considering it is only 4 weeks after doing the Tahoe 200.  Hopefully the body will hold together, I have a lot of training to do to get ready for this crazy double.

Sunday:  

6 AM:  1.4 mile warmup before CIM with some strides.  Super chill

7 AM: CIM MARATHON- 26.3 miles in 2:37:05 or 5:58 pace.  This might be my best race result that I have ever had. I am blown way with the fact that I pulled this off. My "A" goal going into this race was to go faster than 2:44:18 which was my PR that I ran at Boston in 2016 at the age of 40. I thought hell, wouldn't be cool to break that at the age of 50? Never thought I could pull it off. I thought I would be close, but not blow it away like I did. Anyways, I basically just ran by heartrate most of the race keeping it under 155 as long as possible until the last 6 miles where then I just fought as hard as possible to maintain my pace. Lung and heartrate wise I as good but leg wise it was a fight to the end.  Fell off a few seconds per mile but for the most part was able to pull it off. Ended up 302nd overall out of 10,000 against some of the fastest marathoners in the country and ended up winning the 50-54 age group. Never thought it would be possible for me to break 2:40 after turning 50 and see a 2:3x:xx number. I think I might have hit my genetic ceiling on what I can do in a marathon now or at least come very close to it. Knowing this makes me super please and content with what I have accomplished this year. Sorry if I sound like I am tooting my own horn, I am just very happy with the results of all the hard work I put in this year. What a way to end the racing season.  I will post the race photos in another blog post once CIM has them up for me to download.  This is all I have right now, I did not take my phone out to take photos during the race.

Total Weekly Numbers

Think I had all I have to say above.  Super pleased to pull of a marathon PR at the age of 50.  Hard work does matter.  I have Paula, my friends, Matt (coach), and Boulder Track Club to thank for getting me to this point.  Now it is time to slow down some after a short break and get to training to run Tahoe 200 and Hardrock next summer.  LETS GO!!!. 

November 24th- November 30th

"Hatred and anger are the greatest poison to the happiness of a good mind." - Adam Smith

"The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly.  That is dedication." - Cecil B. DeMille

Another 2 quote week to try to knock down my quote list.  Both of these seem like the right quotes for this week.

Monday:

10 AM: 8.1 miles averaging 7:15 pace.  Easy run from work between meetings this morning. Felt like running in the sun instead of the dark so squeezed it in during the mid-morning. Thought it was going to be slower due to how sore the legs are but pace was better than expected (did not look while running). Just ran by feel.

Tuesday:  

6:30 AM:  12.1 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Easy miles over at Davidson Mesa this morning before work. Super chilly especially the first half of the run, cold out (30 degrees) and the legs did not want to move very quickly, should have worn tights or pants. Loosened up as I went along.

12:15 PM: 1 hour at Koda Crossfit

Warmup: Shuttle sprints, mobility and drills

A) 7min EMOM
1 Tempo Clean DL
1 High Hng Pwr Clean
1 Front Squat with Pause
1 Squat Clean

B) 10min: Build to a
Heavy Clean

C) For Time
30/22 Cal Echo Bike
30 Bar Facing Burpees
30/22 Cal Echo Bike

Wednesday:

9:30 AM:  8.8 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 8:15pace.  Easy Costco Loop plus with Melissa and Taylor. They started earlier so had to push a little bit to catch up. Added on 5x20sec hill strides at the end on the hill up to Key Bank in Superior. Good run!

 

Thursday:  

9 AM:  12 miles averaging 6:25pace with Broomfield Turkey Trot 10K in the middle in 35:39 for 3rd overall.  Total mileage includes the warmup, race, and cooldown for the Turkey Trot in 35:39 for the 10k. Lots of bobbing and weaving on the second loop as you catch up to all the strollers and walkers (had to pass about 1000 people), probably could’ve been about 30 seconds to one minute faster if it would’ve been a true point to point or loop course instead of 2 laps. Super happy, tied my 10K PR from five years ago and 2 mins faster than last year on this course. 3rd overall

--  We went down to spend Thanksgiving dinner with Don, his mom, and Connor.  GOOD TIMES and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Friday:

8 AM:  8.3 miles averaging 7:25pace. Easy at Davidson again. Little sore from yesterday but loosened up nicely after about 1-2 miles. Felt better afterwards than before the run so a win.

Followed this up with a 2 mile dog walk with Venus since Paula was out and about.

Saturday: 

8 AM:  8.3 miles averaging 8:15pace.  Easy run with Don and Darian in Arvada by North Table Mountain. Super icy and cold outside this morning so was super chill and we just jogged along. Good to catch up with the boys.  Of course half the conversation was thoughts on next year's plans.

Sunday:  

8 AM: 12.7 miles averaging 7:10pace.  Boulder Track Club Sunday Run plus about an extra 2 miles to make it an hour and half total. Super chill for the most part, there were a few miles we went down below 7min pace towards the end but overall chill by BTC standards. Guessing due to it only being 10 degrees outside this morning but at least it was not icy anymore.

Total Weekly Numbers

Another solid week and brick in the wall.  Good mileage and even tied my 10K PR from 5 years ago. Not much else I can do between now and Sunday to get ready for California International Marathon (CIM).   Just have to make sure that I don't fuck it up this week.  Not sure what will happen next Sunday at CIM but we will give it our best shot.  Not going to share my A, B, or C goals yet.  I will share those next week after the marathon telling you all which one I hit.  Have a great week!!