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.