July 20th - July 26th

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

--  No blog posts for last week.  Really did not do shit all week but start a new job and stuff my face with whatever I wanted all week, basically eating like an asshole.  Don did get it done at HiLo 100, super proud of his effort and happy I got to be a part of it crewing him.  Here are a few photos from HighLonesome 100 last week.

Monday:

7 AM: 7.4 miles averaging 8:10pace.  Easy jog from work out by Sterns and back. First jog back since Hardrock taking the whole week off. Super stiff and sluggish which is expected and why I don't normally take more than 2 days off, hate this feeling. Also super sore afterwards as well. I know it will pass but hell. Also time to get back to eating correctly, been eating like an asshole for to long now.

4 PM: 33mins Easy lower body lifting in the garage gym. Squats, Romanian dead lift, calf raises, J-curls

Tuesday:  

6 AM:  6.6 miles averaging 7:50pace.  2 laps of Davidson Mesa super chill. Could feel yesterday's run still in my legs, funny how it feels like you are starting from scratch but really aren't. Hopefully the legs turn a corner by the weekend.

-- Joined the Boulder Road Runners and USATF today.  Got recruited to join their 50+ XC team and go to Nationals in Dec.  So with that said there will be a bunch of shorter races in the schedule this fall in the build up that.  Should be fun to start working on speed again verses just hiking/jogging like I have been for the past 6 weeks.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  8.7 miles averaging 7:50pace.  Easy loop from work going by Sterns lake over behind Good Sams and back. Like this loop if I have to run from work. Feeling a little bit better everyday which is promising. Trying to build this back up slowly and be smart about it.

 

4 PM:  1 hour VASA lift class with Paula- Upper body day.

Thursday:  

6 AM:  7.4 miles averaging 7:50pace.  Short loop around Sterns from work. Was supposed to do 90mins today but have some early meetings so switched it with what I had planned for tomorrow. Hour today and 1.5 hours tomorrow instead. Legs are tired, I know that will come around as I build back up but still a blow mentally.

Friday:

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Forgot this morning when I got up.  Scared to get on the scale anyways.

6:30 AM:  11.25 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Good jog until it wasn't. At about mile 9.5 to 10 my left calf started to lock up in the head of the calf and my right shin on the outside also started to lock up. Ran a little bit longer to see if they would loosen with no luck. Now sitting here they are super sore and limping around some, mostly the left calf. Frustrated... Will hot tub today to see if that helps loosen things up.

-- Hot tub later this morning which seemed to help the calves some then around noon I felt like I got hit by a truck.  WTF?  Had to lay down for a bit, guess I am still recovering.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  12 miles w/ 2500ft of vert averaging 11:45pace.  Easy lap of Green Mountain via Bear Canyon with Donnie and Dan. Super chill effort today which was much needed. Felt better after the run than before even though I was tired as hell. Still not quite there energy wise after Hardrock, I know it is starting to sound like a broken record but damn.

Sunday:  

6:30 AM: 12.3 miles w/ 2200ft of vert averaging 9:30pace. Easy jogging from Dowdy Draw heading up Rattlesnake and doing all the loops around Springbrook as well. Really enjoyed this route, little bit of everything, might be doing this one more often. Funny, I almost threw in the towel a mile in due to feeling not great but jogged it out and felt great after about 3 miles.  Paula went along and did her own 2 hour run as well, love it when we go to train together even though it is really not together.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week getting back to it.  All easy miles all week with no hard efforts but still struggled some with energy levels and a niggle in my left calf that I was able to get rid of over the weekend by using magnesium oil on it before bed every night, so weird that it worked.  Ready to get back to the grind but not sure how that is going to look yet with the new job.  My boss sits in Europe so most of my meetings are in the early morning which makes running before work challenging.  Still trying to figure all that out so there may be a few days missed here and there.  Goal over the next month is just to re-find my groove again.  

July 6th- July 12th

 "Do the impossible, because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies." -Howard Hughes

Monday:

7 AM: 7.25 miles averaging 7:15pace.  Two laps of Davidson with Taylor and Sean. They were doing a progression and I just did a few miles of steady state in the middle keeping around 6:45ish pace. Felt good to move the legs a little bit again. Still trying to figure out being swollen to the point my joints hurt. My hip gave out a bit after the run today. Little concerned.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  7.8 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Super chill jog out the front door doing laps around the open space. Did not have time to drive anywhere this morning and figured is really is no difference than a flat jog somewhere else. Joints still stiff but visible swelling is gone today. Did the hot tub right after the run too. Did hot tub last night and think that may have helped. Also went and got needled in my problem areas this morning to loosen things up, doing everything I can. Heading out around 2pm to drive halfway to Silverton.

Wednesday:

10 AM:  5.1 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 9 min pace.  Made it to Silverton early this morning and got out on a jog right after arriving.  Easy jog on the Rainbow Trail from the high school, basically the first few miles of Hardrock. Even walked some of the hills to keep the effort low. Doing okay..  Also checked in and got my bib.

Thursday:  

8 AM:  2.4miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 15min pace.  Super chill shakeout jog/hike with Chris and Maggie up the Mushroom trail in Silverton. New trail to me, need to explore this more in the future.  Feeling pretty good today and ready to roll tomorrow I think.  Rest of the day was going to the race meeting and just chilling the fuck out.

Friday- Sunday:

6 AM:  102 miles w/ 35,000ft of vert averaging 19min miles.  HARDROCK!!!!  I waited to long to write this blog post so a lot is lost in my memory.  Got home on Sunday and started a new job on Monday so the last 2 weeks have been a blur to me.  Day went so much better than I thought it would overall.  I did have my low spot on the first day like I normally do but this time it was more physical than dealing with heat, low energy, or mental like in the past.  Basically I fell many times going down Grant Swamp as did every other runner but it seemed to lock up my hips for a bit.  I had to basically walk all the way to Telluride where I planned on quitting since I was falling over just walking on flat ground with poles, my right leg kept giving out.  I would just be walking and boom, on the ground, so weird.  Got to Telluride and decided that if nothing else I could at least walk to Ouray.  By the time I came off of Virginias pass and starting down Camp Bird Road I was able to jog again with no issues.  The human body is so so weird.... from that point it was game on.  Cruised basically to the finish without to many other issues besides the smoke that everyone had to deal with to end up 11th overall and 9th male along with a PR of 32:27:55.  Could not have asked for more from the day.  Of course this never would have happened without my crew and pacers of Paula, Don, Donnie, Darian, Dan, Logan, George, John, Rebecca, and Tasha as you can see in the photo below.  Such a great group of friends and I owe you all, THANK YOU!!  I am beyond blessed to have you all in my life.   I think I got these photos and videos in order somewhat, they came from lots of different people so I tried my best.  

Total Weekly Numbers

One of the best races I have had against world class runners.  I guess putting in one month of mountain training up high on top of months of marathon training works.  I honestly did not think that my training was going to work, I was expecting a 38-40 hour finish.  Noted for the future, guess fitness is fitness no matter how one gets it.