Monday, May 30, 2022

May 23nd- May 29th

 

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” - Jack London

 

Trying to figure out a way for me to go after my motivation/inspiration with club as the quote says.  First thing I did this week was disconnect my Strava for a bit so that maybe if I did not feel I am always being judged so maybe I can get over this mental block that I am in right now.   Might do the same for social media too, of course I am not that active on there besides posting stories but may quit that for a bit as well.  Of course the blog will stay.  What I am pondering this week.   Did not quite hit the week with a club, more like a plastic bat as you can see below.  At least it was an improvement over last week.

Monday:  

1:30 PM: 1 hour---Mayham lifting in the garage, Upper Body Anterior (Chest & Bicep)

3 rounds
10 Perfect Pushups (controlled form)
15 band pull-a-parts
5 PVC Around the Worlds (each way)
10 wall angels

Bench Press
5 set: 10 reps

Double DB Bench Press
4 sets: 10 reps

Barbell Incline Bench Press
4 sets: 10 reps

Hex Press
4 sets: 10 reps

Standing Alternating DB Curl + Single DB Double Head Curl
4 sets: 7 alt. reps (each side) + 7 double head reps

Barbell Drag Curls
4 sets: 10 reps

Evening: Spent the rest of the evening redoing the garage.  Now I have 2 racks and 3 pullup bars so along with lots of equipment and room now.  Who is coming and doing Murph with me soon?





Tuesday:  

7 AM:  1:02--- Mayham lifting Upper Body Posterior (Back & Triceps)

Warmup
3 Rounds
15/12 cal row
10 scap pullups
15 bent over barbell rows (empty bar)
5 down dog/seal pose transitions

Strict Pull-Ups
5 sets: 10 reps

Lat Pulldowns
4 sets: 10 reps

Single Arm Lat Pulldown
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Double DB Prone Row
4 sets: 10 reps

Double DB Skull Crushers
4 sets: 10 reps

Standing Tricep DB French Press
4 sets: 10 reps

100 sit-ups on the sit-up bench

2:30pm: 8.2 miles averaging 8:10pace. 
Easy cruise on the treadmill.  Still feeling the calf.  Choose the mill in case I needed to bail but never got to that point.  Will try some hills tomorrow for workout day.  Spent 15 mins in the sauna afterwards just because.  Figured it would be a good idea to get back to sauna time with pacing Western States coming up.

Wednesday:  
 
7 PM:  8.1 miles w/ 2000ft of vert averaging 11 min pace.  Easy jog from NCAR across Mesa up Flagstaff, down Crown Rock and back on the Mesa trail back to NCAR. Super chill jog, did not ever look at my watch except to add on a half mile at the end so that I would hit at least 8 miles doing a lap around the parking lot. LOL... 
 


 

10 AM: Gave in and made a PT appointment to get an idea on what maybe is going on with the calf.  At the appointment she dry needled my calf and applied the stim the needles making my calf jump like crazy.  Yes it hurt like hell.  Took a bit too because I guess it was not firing correctly so it stayed on for a bit until the calf was firing correctly. That was followed up with a massage on it, which hurt like hell too along with a bunch of exercises I have to do until next week's appointment.  Super sore calf this afternoon as I am typing this so no second run today.

Thursday:

7 AM:  8.4 miles with 2500ft of vert averaging 11min pace. --- Workout was 3 miles easy, 3 x 6 min hills mod/hard, 4 x 1 min hills fast, 2-3 miles easy

NCAR - Mesa- down Shanahan where I did the intervals then jog back to the car in reverse.  Made easy be super easy but the intervals were tough.  More moderate effort on the 6 min intervals with the exception of the last one where I was dry heaving at the end, 1 min intervals much quicker and dry heaving again.  Lot more vert than expected on this workout. The calf is sore from yesterday's dry needling and PT but best it has felt in a run in a long time.  Like it was firing correctly and I was not hobbling after the run like I have been.  Fingers crossed.

2 PM: 1:11 --Mayham Lifting Shoulder and Glutes

Warmup
Crossover Symmetry
and
Hip Halo Warmup

Shoulder Press
5 sets: 10 reps

Seated Alternating Double DB Shoulder Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Bent Over Lateral Raises
4 sets: 10 reps

Lateral Raises
4 sets: 10 reps

GHD Hip Extension
5 sets: 20 reps;

Russian Kettlebell Swing
10 sets: 10 reps

Alternating Double DB Step Back Lunges (Front Rack)
4 set: 10 (each side)

Friday: 

9 am: 1:05 Mayham Lifting Arms and Core in the garage

Warmup:
3 Rounds
15 cal airbike
15 banded bicep curls (light band – fast reps)
15 cal ski
15 banded tricep extenstions (light band – fast reps)
-into-
2 rounds
10 PVC pass throughs
5 PVC around the worlds (each direction)
10 Arm circles (each direction)
5 Down dog/seal pose transitions

Ring Pushups
5 sets: 10 reps

Ring Row – Feet Elevated
5 sets: 10 reps

Tricep Dips
4 sets: 10 reps

Incline Dumbbell Curls
4 set: 10 reps

Standing Tricep Extension w/ band
4 sets: 20 reps

Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curls
4 sets: 10 reps

Core
40 sec plank hold
7 Overhead Plate Situps
20 sec side plank (right)
20 sec side plank (left)
7 Overhead Plate Situps
10 Pulse-Ups
7 Overhead Plate Situps
15 KB Front Rack Marches Steps (each side)
100 sit-ups on sit-up bench

3 PM: 14.7 mile bike ride.  Easy bike ride around Louisville on the Coal Creek, Rock Creek, ect making a big loop from Broomfield with Paula.  Never fails when I get out with Paula, we always see snakes.  Today it was 2 bull snakes.  Stopped at GZ's at the beginning and Sweetcow halfway for a treat.  Great afternoon!




Saturday:

7:30 AM: 15.2 miles with 3900ft of vert in 3 hours.  Easy 3 laps of Santias going up the ridge and down Lion's.  Chose this route so I could do it easily with 1 bottle and be able to refill at the truck each lap.  Still got dehydrated and took most of the afternoon of drinking water to pee again.  Not used to the hot since I have been running just in the earlier mornings lately.  Need to change that.

Meet Paula in Boulder right after finishing the run for lunch and to hit the Bolder Boulder expo on Pearl Street.  We got quite the haul!



Sunday:

7 AM:   6.66 miles with 1300ft of gain.  Was supposed to be a 15 mile easy trail run but the leg was hurting again after yesterday. Was having shooting pains from my calf up into my lower back on the left side every time the left foot hit the ground when running so turned it into a hike since that did not hurt.  South Mesa, Shadow to Mesa cutoff then back on the Mesa.  Really bummed after this, I really thought things were looking upwards.  Back to thinking about quitting and shutting it down this year.





Total Weekly Numbers

 

Not the week that I hoped for or wanted but still better than last week so I will take it.  Really thinking about dropping from Hardrock due to this leg to let it heal and have fun this fall or do I just keep riding the red line and hope that I can finish?  Yes I am doubting if I can finish now.




Monday, May 23, 2022

May 16th- May 22nd

 

Had a good quote for the week then it did not apply anymore so deleted it.  Crewel Jewel last week and being back in the 100 race environment seemed to help the first part of the week with motivation then the snow came and put me into a huge funk again.  Don't know how to get out of this and honestly thinking of walking away from racing for the rest of the year and taking time off.  That includes Hardrock... just might go on pause for a while.  

Monday:  

11 AM:  Took the day completely off due to traveling and so damn hungover from all the drinking I did yesterday.  Could not tell you the last time I was that drunk and was still drunk when I got up at 4am to head to the airport.  LOL.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  8.6 miles with 1400ft of vertical averaging 9:30 pace. 
Easy cruise from the South Mesa Trailhead along the Mesa trail and back.  What a great damn morning out there!  Felt great today which surprised me considering how damn hungover I was yesterday.  Best run I've had in a while.  Did not feel the calf at all but did afterwards for a little bit.

2:30pm: Mayham lifting Upper Body Anterior (Chest & Bicep)

Warmup
3 rounds
10 Perfect Pushups (controlled form)
15 band pull-a-parts
5 PVC Around the Worlds (each way)
10 wall angels

Bench Press
5 sets: 5 reps

1:1:2 DB Bench
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Double DB Incline Bench Press
4 sets: 10 reps

Incline Bench DB Chest Fly
4 sets: 10 reps

Barbell Curl 21's
3 sets: 21 reps

Standing Alternating DB Hammer Curl
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)


Wednesday:  
 
7 PM:  Workout: Warmup; 5/4/3/2/1 min hills mod/hard with run down recovery, cooldown.   Did 7.1 miles with 1800ft of vertical averaging 10 min pace overall.

Up Bear Canyon- Mesa- down Shanahan where I did the intervals then jog back to the car in reverse.  Felt the calf again today so not happy about that. Overall pace is of course slower and shorter in distance due to steeper hills and trail verses doing this on the NCAR road like I have been the past month or so.  Very pleased with this run overall.

2PM: Mayham Lifting Upper Body Posterior (Back & Triceps)

Warmup
3 Rounds
15/12 cal row
10 scap pullups
15 bent over barbell rows (empty bar)
5 down dog/seal pose transitions

Strict Pull-Ups
5 sets: 5 reps

Bent Over Barbell Row
4 sets: 10 reps

Seated Neutral Grip Cable Row
4 sets: 10 reps

Lying DB Pullover on Bench
4 sets: 12 reps

Barbell Skull Crushers
4 sets: 10 reps

Single Arm Standing Tricep Extension w/ band
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

5:30pm: 3.25 miles averaging 8:20pace.  Just a few miles jogging over at Davidson Mesa.  Calf was not happy so cut it much shorter that what I was planning for.  Oh well.....

Thursday:

7 AM: 8 miles w/ 2800ft of vert averaging 15:50pace.  From South Mesa trailhead up Shadow Canyon to the top of Bear Peak and back.  Had to hike the first 1-1.5 miles out of the trailhead to get the calf to loosen then it became a hike anyways with the steepness of the trail.  Was going to add on at the end to get closer to 10 but decided against it due to the calf and trashed legs.  Super chill for the most part.


Evening:  Spent the evening with Paula over at Rails End watching GZ jam out during open mic night.  Think we might be turning into groupies...



Friday-Sunday

Did nothing all weekend..... barely left the house after the snow hit.  Of course that trashed my large tree out front  The only time I left the house all weekend is when Paula talked me into going out to brunch and to the bike store with her on Saturday morning.  That was the only time in 3 days that I got out of my flannel pj's.  Hell, I am still in them this Monday morning as I am typing this.  This photo sums up the whole weekend for me... how do I get out of this?  Worse it has been since 2015.




Total Weekly Numbers

 

 


Tuesday, May 17, 2022

May 9th- May 15th

 

“Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission.” - Arnold Bennett

 

 

Monday:  

7 AM:  6.25 miles averaging 7:40 pace.  

Easy cruise from Costco up the dirt road and the Dirty Biz loop trails back to Costco.  This will be my new Costco loop so there is more dirt and a lot less concrete, plus it is a mile longer.  Calf was on fire after the run which pisses me off since I even took the weekend off to address it.  Would have been better not too, feels better if I keep running every day verses taking time off and coming back. Stupid.

1pm: 52 mins in the garage gym doing Mayham Lifting Upper Body Anterior (Chest & Bicep)

Warmup:
3 rounds
10 Perfect Pushups (controlled form)
15 band pull-a-parts
5 PVC Around the Worlds (each way)
10 wall angels

Bench Press
5 sets: 5 reps

Barbell Incline Bench Press
4 sets: 10 reps

Single DB Bench Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Ring Pushups
4 sets: 10 reps

Standing Barbell Curl
4 sets: 10 reps

Barbell Drag Curls
4 sets: 10 reps 

3:30pm: 3.4 miles averaging 7:55pace.  

Easy afternoon jog out the front door into Westminster Hills park and back.  Mostly dirt.  Left calf is still on fire... fuck me.

 

Tuesday:  

9 AM: 8.25 miles averaging 8 min pace.  

Could not get out to the hills like I wanted today due to work being so busy so had to run out of the house on local bike paths, Standley Lake and Westminster Hills trails making a big loop.  First 2 miles were rough on the calf but then it loosened and actually feels better afterwards than before.  Wondering if I should not do the second run since it is feeling better?

2:30pm: 2.5 miles averaging 8:20 pace.  

 Just a shirtless afternoon jog to get some sunlight and a break from work... calf is better than this morning still so there is that.

4 PM: Garage gym Mayham lifting Upper Body Posterior (Back & Triceps)

Warmup:
3 Rounds
15/12 cal ski
10 scap pullups
15 bent over barbell rows (empty bar)
5 down dog/seal pose transitions

Strict Pull-Ups
5 sets: 5 reps

Bent Over Barbell Row – Underhand Grip
4 sets: 10 reps

Lat Pulldowns – Neutral Close Grip
4 sets: 10 reps

Supported Single Arm DB Tempo Row
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Tricep Dips
4 sets: 10 reps

Single Arm DB Kickback
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

 

Wednesday:  
 
7 PM:  Spent all morning just getting to my hotel in Atlanta.  Left the house at 3:30am mountain time and finally got to my hotel at 2pm eastern time.  Of course work blew up in that time and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening working... oh well so no run... did walk down to Walgreens for some snacks and soda water so did get a mile in.  LOL....  Driving up to Blairsville, GA tomorrow (about 2 hours north) for the start of Crewel Jewel 100 on Friday at noon... going to be a blast of a weekend!  Love those hills up there!

Thursday:

7:30 AM: 6 miles averaging 8:25 pace.  Easy shake out on the treadmill before leaving the hotel, I don't feel safe running outside around here in Atlanta after what happened last night on the way home from dinner.  HOT as fuck in the workout room.  Might be the only room in the whole hotel with no AC so got some heat training.






Friday: 

Took an off day with crewing Don's Crewel Jewel starting at noon.  Was going to get out for a short shake out jog but seemed pointless with the miles I will be covering tomorrow.  Hurry, hurry, hurry, and wait... the life of crewing.








Saturday:

6 AM: 33 miles with 9500ft of vert.  Pacing Don Reichelt at Crewel Jewel in GA... Holy shit that is a tough course!  I put it up there with Hardrock for sure.  So many up and downs with hardly any of it being under 15% grade according to the watch...  I was actually smashed pacing him, I did not take care of myself very well but got him to the finish which is all that matters!  Going to leave the story telling to him since this is his story.  This is one for the books!








Sunday:

Took an off day and had too.  I was smashed today from pacing.  Don and spent the day going from distilleries to breweries back to the hotel for free happy hour.  Needless to say we may have had way to much to drink.  Could not tell you the last time I was this drunk.    










Total Weekly Numbers

 








Monday, May 9, 2022

May 2nd- May 8th

 

“Perfection itself is imperfection.” - Vladimir Horowitz


 This week was all imperfection.....  hopefully it makes it perfect.   Doubt it but one can be hopeful.

Monday:  

10 AM:  Mayham lifting in the garage- Upper Body Anterior (Chest & Bicep)

Warmup:
3 rounds
10 Perfect Pushups (controlled form)
15 band pull-a-parts
5 PVC Around the Worlds (each way)
10 wall angels

Bench Press
5 sets: 6 reps

Alternating DB Bench Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Alt. Incline DB Bench
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Decline Chest Fly
4 sets: 12 reps

Single DB Double Head Curl
4 sets: 12 reps

Seated Alternating DB Curl
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)


Tuesday:  

7 AM: 10.5 miles w/ 3100ft of vert in 2:15.  Parked at NCAR and ran Mesa Trail to Bluebell to Amp to Green Summit down Bear Canyon back to the side of NCAR then up the hill to the truck. This might be one of my go too 10 milers leading up to HR.  Great combo of running and hiking.  Really good loop.  Best I have felt on a run in weeks today.  Surprised that there was snow above 7000ft.  I was hoping for an inversion on the summit of Green but it was in the clouds as well.  No real views today. 





4 PM: 55mins in the garage doing Mayham lifting Upper Body Posterior (Back & Triceps)

Warmup:
3 Rounds
15/12 cal row
10 scap pullups
15 bent over barbell rows (empty bar)
5 down dog/seal pose transitions

Strict Pull-Ups with weight added
5 sets: 6 reps

Lat Pulldowns
4 sets: 10 reps

Seated Neutral Grip Cable Row
4 sets: 10 reps

Straight Arm Lat Pull Down
4 sets: 10 reps

Barbell Skull Crushers
4 sets: 10 reps

Single Arm Standing Tricep DB French Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)


Wednesday:  
 
8 AM: 9 miles w/ 700ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Parked at Costco and ran Marshall Road to Hwy 93, then back to Cherryville to HWY 36 and the bike path back to Costco.  Made for a great loop with a shitter halfway at Marshall Mesa Trailhead that I needed.  LOL....  First few miles were slowwwww, my calf was bothering me when starting again today, think it is from hitting it with the Theragun last night.  Might lay off that for a bit on that calf or would it be better to keep doing it?  Not sure....  Tested out the new Arc'teryx hard/rain shell I bought for Hardrock in all this rain and it is bomb proof.  Giddy up.


Thursday:

7 AM: 5 miles w/ 1400ft of vert averaging 10:50pace.  Super chill lap of Mount Santias going up the ridge hiking and running down Lions.  Ran the road back to the parking lot instead of Sunshine Canyon trail to get a little bit more turn over in the legs.  Feeling really good today, especially uphill.  Calf still a little bit aggravated but better than yesterday.


3 PM:  1:20 --- Combo of different tracks on Mayham.. some Murph prep and lifting.

Warmup:
Airbike 3 mins
mobility
3 pullups
6 pushups
9 air squats

Andy Griffith Murph Prep Monday:
10 Minute AMRAP
20 cal Airdyne
10 Strict Pull-Ups
-Rest 5 Minutes-
10 Minute AMRAP
20 cal Airdyne
20 Push-Ups
-Rest 5 Minutes-
10 Minute AMRAP
20 cal Airdyne
30 Air Squats

Shoulder Press
5 sets: 6 reps

Seated Single Arm DB Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Bent Over Lateral Raises
4 sets: 10 reps

Evening: Got out this evening with Paula to watch GZ play over at Rails End.  Good times!



Friday:  Wishing Paula a great race this weekend.  She starts the 18 Hours of Fruita Mountain Bike race tonight at mid-night racing until 6pm Saturday.  Will be tracking that as much as I can tomorrow.  I could not go along due to jogging Quadrock 25 tomorrow.  Here is a photo of her at the MTB camp last week in Bentonville AR kicking ass.

9 am: 5.3 miles averaging 8 min pace.  Easy cruise out the door with a combo of Standley Lake trails and neighborhood roads.  First 2 miles were slowwww... took a bit for the calf to loosen up and fire correctly.  So fucking weird.  Outside of the weird calf issue all is good.

2pm:  1:22 of Mayham lifting Arms and Core

Warmup:
3 Rounds
15 cal ski
15 banded bicep curls (light band – fast reps)
15 cal ski
15 banded tricep extenstions (light band – fast reps)
-into-
2 rounds
10 PVC pass throughs
5 PVC around the worlds (each direction)
10 Arm circles (each direction)
5 Down dog/seal pose transitions

Deficit Pushups
5 sets: 10 reps

Chin-ups
5 sets: 10 reps

Inverted Skull Crusher
4 sets: 10 reps

Standing Barbell Curl
4 set: 10 reps

Single Arm DB Kickback
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Single Dumbbell Waiter Hold Curl
4 sets: 10 reps

Core
For Quality:
4 Rounds
15 Abmat Situps
20 Flutter Kicks (each side)
30 Sec Plank
40 yd KB Front Racked Left/Overhead Carry Right
40 yd KB Front Racked Right/Overhead Carry Left
30 sec plank
20 Flutter Kick (each side)
15 abmat situps

*Rest 2:00 b/t sets

Saturday:

Morning: "Woe is Me Day" today....... fuck me, hate it when I do this shit.  One of those depression days that hit me hard.  Went to bed at 8:30pm Friday night, woke up at 11pm and could not fall back to sleep until 2:30am.  Needless to say I had to get up at 3am to get ready to leave for Quadrock in Fort Collins.  Made the call that between the lack of sleep and the calf still hurting not to go and stayed in bed.  Looking back at it I of course regret it.  It sent me in a downward spiral for the day where I did not get out of my PJs until Sunday morning.  While I was doing my pity party all day, Paula was deep into the 18 Hours of Fruita MTB race which she got 3rd place.  Such a rockstar! Below is a photo of the start.


 

Sunday:

10 AM:   15.1 miles w/ 1100ft of vert on the MTB.  Easy loop of Dirty Bizmark from Marshall Mesa with Rebecca... really digging cycling again for whatever reason.   Did not take any photos this morning for some reason.  Oh well.... but here is a photo of letting Paula's dog out while she was a way.  HA!

 


Total Weekly Numbers

 

Yes a very imperfect week: