August 31st - September 6th

 "Adversity, if you allow it to, will fortify you and make you the best you can be." -Kerri Walsh Jennings

Monday:

6:30 AM: 9 miles w/ 400ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Still dealing with the cold/covid but not as bad. Legs are shit from the last 3 days of running but did loosen up the last few miles so I guess there is a silver lining. Maybe by the end of the week we will be back to normal? Fingers crossed. Also did 4x30sec hard hills towards the end of the run.

Tuesday:  

6:30 AM:  10 miles averaging 7:20pace.  Somewhat of a workout day from work around the tech center. Workout was:

20 min warm up

5x3 min HARD (think close to mile effort on these. Full recovery between each 5-8 min jog

20 min cool down

Not quite the HARD he had in mind but quicker to try and get the legs to move faster again. It was a struggle, not going to lie but needed it. Felt awkward of course if that makes sense which I know will go away, just a weird feeling. Hopefully this will be the gate to better running going forward, reminded my legs how to turn over again.

--  My renters are finally out of my house so went over there this afternoon to see what the condition of the house was in.  A fucking disaster.....  I have so much work to do to get it on the market.  Really disappointed considering they were acquaintances of mine.  Guess you can't trust people you know, sigh...... most people are assholes I guess.

Wednesday:

6:30 AM:   10.6 miles averaging 7:40 pace.  Easy few laps of Davidson Mesa. Just cruising with no agenda.  Nothing else to really report today.  Did do some work over at the house today in the front yard. 

Thursday:  

8 AM:  8.2 miles averaging 7:40 pace. Easy cruise from work going to Sterns and around the new Medtronic building. Think I am finally getting past all this bullshit cold/covid stuff. Last 2 days felt good for the most part. Legs still don't want to turn over quickly but are getting better. Now I need to sleep better so I can recover. Been battling that for a bit due to stress but getting better. At least I know what it is.

4:30 PM: 50mins Lift class with Paula at VASA... upper body day.  Time to get back to lifting again.

Friday:

6 AM:  10.6 miles averaging 7:10 pace. Today was rough… everything was about 30secs per mile slower than it used to be but got it done. Just shows how much I lost since May and how much work I have to do. Back on the left side is aggravated after this run, sciatica pain shooting down my leg. Took some Aleve so that should help so I’ll keep an eye on it. Workout was:

20 min warm up

6x2 min at 10k effort/ 4 min at marathon effort. Keep foot on the gas throughout. Really pay attention to efforts here. Want to focus on buffering lactate.

20 min cool down

--Followed this up with 20mins in the hot tub in the afternoon to try and loosen the back which seemed to help.

--  Went to Garth Brooks this evening with Paula, Don, and Tasha.... SO GOOD!!!  One of the artist on my have to try and see them before they die list.  

Saturday: 

9 AM:  5 miles averaging 8:15 pace. Easy neighborhood jog, so tired from the Garth Brooks concert last night and lots of work at the house to do today. Legs are dead today.

-- Spent about 7 hours today over at the house pulling weeds and laying new rock out front.  Good times.... not.

Sunday:  

6 AM: 9.2 miles averaging 7:35 pace. Easy laps of Davidson with no real agenda once again. Did do 4x30sec hills in the hilly neighborhood on the backside of Davidson, photo below. Perfect spot for shorter hill reps up to 3 mins.

-- Spent 8 hours this afternoon putting in a new sliding glass door at the house with Chris.  Now that was a damn project.  Learned a lot from Chris.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week getting back to it after the 2 weeks of that head cold/covid that I was dealing with.  Little rough overall but it will come back around.  Super busy week too between trying to work on the house, Garth Brooks concert, and work of course, still trying to figure out my new role.  Just need to get this house ready and that will take off some stress off me and a lot once it is sold.  Front is mostly done, still a lot of yard work in the back and inside for the remodel.  Don't think I will be driving down to Ouray for Imogine Pass run the next weekend, just to much to do around the house to get it ready which sucks.

August Recap

 "Without goals, training has no direction." -Natalie Coughlin

Seemed like a good quote for this month, really no goals coming up for a bit.  With that August was going great until it wasn't.  Crashed the last 2 weeks of the month, getting a little burned out then catching some sort of cold/covid from run camp in Granby that lasted into September.   Think I was just trying to get back to it a little to quickly after Hardrock, or not, but that is what I have been thinking.  Between that, stress of a new job and losing my renters for my house the stress has been pretty high lately.  Once I get the house cleaned up and on the market in the next month hopefully that will help.  Goal is to have it on the market before Oct 1st.

August 24th- August 30th

"When something is festering in your memory or your imagination, laws of silence don't work, it's just like shutting a door and locking it on a house on fire in hope of forgetting that the house is burning." -Tennessee Williams from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

Monday:

7 AM: 8.75 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Easy cruise from work w/ 4x30sec hills towards the end. Felt like shit for most of the run, hacking up shit and legs had nothing. At least the legs got better as the run went on but not by much. Getting to the point where I am thinking of walking away from running for a while because of how shitty the last 2 weeks have been.

-- Hot tub for 30mins this afternoon with the hope it helps clear this cold that I thought was done but isn't.

--  Have some visitors for the next two days.  Always good to see dad no matter how short it may be.

Tuesday: 

---  Woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a truck again.  It seems the cold I thought I was getting over is now in my chest.  Good times.... took the day off again due to hacking shit up all day.  All good, it give the Achilles another day to calm down as well. 

-- Another postcard for the board from JT.

Wednesday/Thursday:

Threw in the towel again on Wednesday and Thursday.  So achy everywhere and just feeling like shit.  Ended up having to take afternoon naps just to function somewhat both days, of course worked from home.  When is this shit going to go away. 

I can share this now since Jeff's family posted about it on social media but heard about Jeff at TDS on Tuesday afternoon right after it happened, freaked me out and was praying hard for him even though I am not that religious.  If you can spare a few bucks please help his family out by donating at this link.. GO FUND ME... details are there about what happened and sounds like there will be some sort of life long care that will be needed.  Really freaks me out, I know Jeff pretty well, he coached me for about 3 years and is only 2-3 years older than me.  I know how well he eats and takes care of himself and yet this happens... WTF?

Friday:

7 AM:  6.25 miles averaging 8min pace.  Was supposed to do 2x15 mins at marathon effort today, yeah that is not happening. Just a test run from work before the day starts to see how the body feels. No turn over in the legs and coughing like a smoker but better than it has been. Really starting to think that maybe this was Covid and not just a cold as I type this out. I never did do a test.

-- And another postcard for the board from JT.  LOL

Saturday: 

7 AM:  9 miles averaging 7:55pace.  Just trying to get back into the habit of running most days again. Some early morning laps of Davidson Mesa before it got hot outside. Sucks that I was sore from the easy 6 miles I did yesterday. This is going to be a process getting back to normal I think. Dead legs yet again.

Sunday:  

7:30 AM: 15 miles w/ 800ft of gain averaging 8min pace.  Easy long run around Golden with Don. Longest I have gone in a while due to this stupid head cold that I have been dealing with for 2 weeks. Was still clearing shit during the run but much better overall and no coughing. Legs still feel like shit though, like I have no turn over anymore.  I know, I sound like a broken record....

Noon: 2 mile dog walk with Paula and Venus.  Little bit of family time together, we need to do this more often.

Total Weekly Numbers

Another shitty training week but whatever.  Doing what my body will allow me too without digging myself into a hole that I can't get out of.  It can be a fine line sometimes.  Think I am on the backend of this cold/covid shit so the goal is to at least do something every day for the next week to get the body back online.  Trying to give myself some grace but easier said than done.  Such a mind fuck....

August 17th- August 23rd

"The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love- whether we call it friendship or family or romance- is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other's light." - James Baldwin

Monday:

6:30 AM:  9.5 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Easy run from work with 4x20secs thrown in towards the middle of the run. Was supposed to be easy but might have been a little bit more moderate towards the end. All good, still a little sore from the weekend for some reason.

---  Been helping Dale (race director of Hardrock) the past few months in searching for a venue to hold a special event that I can't talk about yet.  Went to check out a strong possibility this afternoon with him and a few other people.

Tuesday:  

6:30 AM:  8 miles averaging 7min pace.  Lactate day.... went okay for the most part, def don't have a fast mile in me right now but tried, the 400s went better than the mile did. Workout was:

20 min warm up

1 mile pretty much all out
rest 8-10 min
4x400 at HARD with 90 sec rest between each...These 400's will likely get slower each one and thats ok...just want to send the body into a bit of a shock and work through some lactate.

20 min cool down

2 PM: 1:20 Total body lifting at VASA, focus was mostly squats and bench press, along with PT exercises for the hip issue that popped up at Hardrock, going to focus on working on that some the next 8 or so weeks.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  7.5 miles averaging 8:10 pace.  Super chill jog from work early due to having early meetings again today. So tired this morning, dealing with a head cold that hit me last night and did not sleep well. Legs are a little smashed from yesterday.

Thursday/Friday:  

Woke up Thursday morning and felt like I was hit by a truck.  Had a hard time trying to focus and function today so worked from home so I could at least get in naps as needed which ended up being most of the day on Thursday.  At least Friday was better, did not have to nap as much but was still blowing snot everywhere so also stayed home to work.  Hate this shit... Not sure if I got this from the run camp last weekend with BTC or at VASA (gym).  My guess is from VASA.  May need to start just lifting in the garage all the time instead of going to a large gym that is always packed.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  6 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Easy jog from the Coalton Trailhead after being basically in bed for 2 days. Not as rough as I was expecting it to be but still rough. Trying hard not to judge myself but that is easier said than done. Sure I will be struggling with that for a week or more.

Noon: 1:20 Total body lifting at VASA. This time I took Paula with me and we lifting together. That was fun! We may start doing this more often on the weekends.

-- 20mins in the hot tub this afternoon as well to try and keep killing this head cold.

--  Another postcard from JT.  Board is about to fall off the wall.  LOL....  If you want to exchange postcards let me know and I will add you to the list!

Sunday:  

8 AM: 7.8 miles averaging 8min miles. Struggling a lot this morning to get moving. Slept until 6 again which is late for me and also means I have to run in the damn heat. Achilles is also bugging the shit out of me today as well. Ran Dry Creek by the house out and back to watch Paula during the second half of her half marathon today. She did great but also struggled with the heat and it was also humid this morning. This wiped me out for the rest of the day.  Heart rate was about 15-20 beats higher than normal for this pace.  Arggggg.....

--  This was somewhat satisfying as well this afternoon.  HA!!  Never had one fall off so quickly after a race, usually it takes like 6 months.

Total Weekly Numbers

Shit week, had some great training plans this week and was starting to get on a roll the past few weeks until this massive head cold knocked me out for the second half of this week.  Super annoying.  Guess we just roll with it, not a damn thing I can do about it but keep moving forward.  Still on the fence to if there is anything else I am going to sign up for this year.  Not a lot of photos this week, need to fix that next week.

August 10th - August 16th

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

Monday:

6:30 AM: 9 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Easy loop from work before starting the day. Did some 30sec pickups in there as well about halfway through the run. Legs felt much better today than yesterday.

3 PM:  1 hour Total body lifting at VASA. Squats and Bench was the focus.

Tuesday:  

6:30 AM:  11 miles averaging 7:10pace.  Got it done even though it was a little bit of a grind. Family was in town yesterday for a bit so ate to much which of course affected me this morning with 2 bathroom stops. Thank goodness for all the building and porta potties in the tech center right now. LOL... Legs felt better than expected but belly not so much. Workout was:

20 min warm up

3x1k at 10k effort jog 2 min between each
8x400 at 5k effort with 90 sec jog between each

20 min cool down

Taylor joined me for the warmup only, he had kid stuff to get back too. 

-- Got to have dinner with my brother-in-law this evening as he is in town for work.  He also works for Medtronic.

Wednesday:

5:30 AM:  7.5 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy hour from work before early meetings. Nothing but just getting in some movement this morning, easy pezy!

  

3 PM:  1 hour Lifting over at VASA this afternoon- Full body work.

Thursday: 

5 AM:  10 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy jog before work. Had to do another early ass morning due to my first meeting of the day starting at 7am. Wanted to do 90mins but bathroom breaks cut into the time I had and only ended up with about 80mins. Super chill today, legs did not want to turn over today.

PT this afternoon as well trying to figure out my hip issue I had at Hardrock.  Going to do some exercises for it.  Also got it dry needled, think she does a lot of dry-needling?  Jezzzzz....

Friday:

6 AM:  14 miles averaging 6:55pace.  Workout day over at Davidson Mesa. Workout was:

20 min warm up

2x 4 miles at marathon effort with 4 min rest between each

20 min cool down

HR jumped really high with 2 miles to go in the last interval and basically had to slog it out. Pace dropped from 6:10-6:15 to 6:40ish while the HR jumped over 160 but finished it. Shows me how much work I still have to do to get back to where I was this spring.

-- Drove up to run camp with BTC at Snow Mountain Ranch outside of Granby this afternoon for the weekend.  Raining like hell and a shit drive but should be a fun weekend hanging in the mountains! 

Saturday: 

8:30 AM:   9.75 miles w/ 1100ft of vert averaging 8:30pace. BTC group run at Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby. Super chill staying with the group. We ran up to the waterfall then some people headed back while the rest of us did a loop of the ranch on a combo of trails, fire roads, and dirt roads. Fun morning running with the group.  Of course I am the oldest one here like usual.

11 AM: 1:10 Yoga for Runners at BTC camp after the morning run. Always good to get humbled...

Sunday:  

8 AM: 16.25 miles w/ 1000ft of vert averaging 7:15pace.  BTC Sunday long run at run camp in Granby. Started out super chill but the pace started cranking about 6 miles into the run. Ended up being more of a marathon effort the last 9ish miles coming back touching into the low 6min pace. Not marathon pace but effort considering we were doing this at 9000ft. Properly tired after this one for the drive home.

Total Weekly Numbers

Another solid week in the books.  Felt much better this week than last so things are coming around overall but still had my struggles.  Would have liked to see more vertical in the week but I am doing what I can with the time I have, just hard to add in the drive time to and from the trails right now with everything going on both on the work front and the home front with having to get my house ready to be put on the market next month.  Going to be a busy 2 months with everything, hopefully it sales quickly.  Plan on trying to get it on the market by September 10th so if you or anyone you know are looking for a house close to Boulder/Louisville/Golden area send them my way!

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.