July 18- July 24th

 

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.” - Confucius

 

This will be somewhat of a short post this week.  Not much going on this week but eating, sleeping and trying to catch up on work that I have been putting off.  Pretty damn tired this week.

Monday:  

Ate whatever I felt like today.  Not watching the diet at all at least the first half of the week if not the whole week.  Also 2 naps today as well, half hour in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon plus 9 hours at night.  LOL..

Tuesday:  

Pretty much the same as yesterday.  Lots of sleeping and eating a shit ton.  Think I have slept about 12 hours total out of the last 24 hours.  Also have been testing for Covid since it seems there was an out break at Hardrock.  All good so far.

Wednesday:  

 

Napping and eating a shit ton yet again today.  At least today I only took an afternoon nap and not one in the morning as well like I have been so I guess that is improvement.

Thursday:

4 PM:  10.1 mile bike in 43mins.  Easy bike ride from the house on the Dry Creek trail with the gravel bike.  Felt really good to get moving again.  Having lots of thoughts of starting to get ready for CX season today.  Would be fun to get back to CX after a few years off.

 

Friday:  

4 PM: Went back to Crossfit gym today and suffered.   To be expected I guess.  Of course having running in the workout prob was not a good idea for me but oh well.

Warmup: Jogging and mobility plus drills

AMRAP 20 mins: 5 rounds + 400 m + 10 Medicine Ball Sit-ups | Rx'd
20:00 AMRAP:
Run, 400 m
20 Medicine Ball Sit-ups, 20 lbs
10 Overhead Squats, 40% 1RM | 45 lbs

Saturday:

8:30 AM:  Hit the gym again this morning and of course there was more running.  LOL..  Suffered a bit through this and did not help I was still sore from yesterday.  I will get it back.  The running in the workouts yesterday and today feel really labored.  Sigh....

3 RFT:  27 mins 32 secs | Rx'd
3 rounds of:
25 Squat Cleans, 30% 1RM | 65 lbs
25 Pull-ups
Run, 800 m

2:30 PM: 2.7 mile walk around the hood.  Easy dog walk with Venus this afternoon.  Really miss doing these with Gemma. Looking forward to a bunch of walks while I am dog sitting Venus for Paula until Thursday next week, these will help me get out of the house.

So I started the 75 Hard program today.  Just something for me to focus on while I try to get my ass back in gear again instead of eating everything in front of me like I have been all week.  I may or may not go all the way through it but will at least do it through Aug.    Hard part is that I am planning on being at Burro Days next weekend in Fairplay and man I love the Stitching Lady Distillery.  We'll see I guess.

5 rules of 75 HARD for 75 days:

• Follow a healthy diet of your choosing… strictly. No slip-ups or alcohol allowed.
• Workout twice a day every day, for at least 45 minutes per day. One workout must be outdoors.
• Drink 1 gallon of water per day.
• Take progress pictures every single day.
• Read 10 pages of a self-help or business book each day.

---  Oh yeah... Looking for a Cyclocross team to join this year if you know of one.  

I had decided not to pull the trigger on Hurt 100 until I saw that I can fly to HI on Southwest for less than $500, yep I am in.  So much for retiring from 100s after Hardrock. 

Sunday:

9 AM: 2.7 miles in 47mins.  Morning dog walk with Venus... Starting to feel better and better.  The last few days at the gym may not have been smart though.  Feel like I dug a little bit of a hole for myself again.  Oh well... 

3 PM:  53mins Mayham Lifting Arms and Core in the garage

Warm-up
3 Rounds
15 cal ski
15 banded bicep curls (light band – fast reps)
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

Double DB Skull Crushers
4 sets: 10 reps

DB Spider Curls
4 sets: 10 reps

Standing Tricep Extension w/ band
4 sets: 10 reps

Single Dumbbell Waiter Hold Curl
4 sets: 10 reps

3x1 min Planks w/ 30sec recovery

Total Weekly Numbers

Not much to write home about this week but at least I started moving somewhat by the end of the week.  Will get back to jogging this week some, mostly flat I think to help get some of my turn over back again after all the vert I have been doing.  Gotta get ready to pace Don at Leadville in 4 weeks or so.  He has some big goals and I need to be able to hang.

Hardrock!!!!

 

 "Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” - George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

 

There was so much that happened over the weekend I am not sure I have even processed it all.  It was a weekend for the books for sure.  It was also 11 plus years in the making.  

 I am going to approach this as a photo/video race report.  Most if not all of the photos/videos were taken by either Don, Donnie, Paula or Dan.  Thank you guys so much for documenting this for me.  I never could have done this without their support for sure!  This is truly a team sport even though only one person is running.

 Finished my first Hardrock in 34:25 for 22nd overall and 20th male.  I'll take it.  Quick recap- First 15-20 miles went okay just cruising along with Ryan Cooper until I started not moving well and he took off.  Felt that way until about mile 62 as we started climbing Handies and suddenly started feeling really good.  I mean really good!!!  Basically rode that wave all the way to the finish.  Even running the last 9.4 miles w/ 2800ft of vert over Little Giant to the finish in 2:25.  It was a hell of a second day for me.

This is going to be a long photo bomb so strap in.

 

Thank you everyone!!! Could not have done this without everyone's support. 

July 11- July 17

 

“The proper function of man is to live, not exist.  I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.  I shall use my time.”  — Jack London 

 

“Adventure is worthwhile.” - Aesop

 

Monday:  

6 PM:   Today was a complete day off and did not do a damn thing but work for the most part.  Still up at Don's in Fairplay but plan on leaving tomorrow for Ouray.  Did go to town for happy hour at the Stitching Lady (may have had a little bit to much) and grabbed dinner as well.

Tuesday:  

Morning:  Spent all morning driving from Fairplay to Ouray where I will spend the night tonight.  What should have been a 4 hour drive turned into a 5.5 hour drive due to the construction on HWY 50 outside of Gunnison (which was expected) and the lane closures between Montrose and Ouray (unexpected).  Oh well, made it in time for lunch and to work from the coffee shop all afternoon.

4 PM:  4.2 miles averaging 8:30 pace.  Easy cruise around Ouray hitting up the Riverside walk trail for some of it and dirt roads for the rest.  Super chill, was super stiff dude to all the driving today.   What is up with all the weird numbers in Ouray?  Speed limit signs, times businesses open and close, ect... there has to be a story why....

Wednesday:  

 

7 AM:   Drove up to Silverton to get check in for Hardrock.  Shit is getting super real now... fuck... Anyways a great day showing Paula around Silverton for she has never been here before.  

Thursday:

Noon: Pre-race meeting is over and now it is just a waiting game....  Decided to go ahead and publish this week through Thursday leaving the weekend as it's own post in the future sometime. 

July 4th- July 10th

 

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.” - Plato

Monday:  

11 AM:  3 miles w/ 300ft of vert averaging 6:55pace.  Burro Buster 5K in Fairplay... planned to run this for fun but shit no one would go so I did.  Only just averaged 6:55 pace and still won by over 3 mins.  Love the stairs in the run coming up from Fairplay beach towards the beginning of the race.  Told the RD that he needs to reverse the course so you end on the stairs about 50 yards from the finish, think that will the plan for next year.  He loved the idea.  You are welcome.

Spent the rest of the day taking in the Fairplay 4th celebration going on with Paula, Don and Amy.  Such a fun damn day!  Also got me a new custom hat from Colorado Mountain Hat Company in Fairplay.  Wish I still had mine from when I was younger but this one should last to the day I die.

Tuesday:  

11 AM: 6.1 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 8:08pace.  Easy cruise from the coffee shop in Fairplay out of town on a dirt road towards Mt Silverheels and back.  No real effort, feeling great!  Sleeping one more night at George's cabin and heading back home early tomorrow morning for the day to get my Hardrock gear then coming back up here to stay at Don's until it is time to go to Silverton.  Trying to set myself up for success with being high as long as possible before the race. 

 

6 PM:  Came back from working remote all day in Fairplay to the cabin only to discover that I locked myself out.  GOD DAMN IT.... GZ's brother in-law tried to help me get in with no luck so headed home to Broomfield get the spare key from GZ this evening.  At least I got a night in my own bed.  With that as GZ'z brother in-law was looking for the key, this happened.  Might have been a blessing in disguise I locked myself out so he could scare this bear away from the in-laws house before any damage was done.

Wednesday:  

 

9 AM:  5.1 miles w/ 400ft of vert averaging 7:45 pace.  Out and back on the Dirty Bizmark from the Coalton Trailhead.  Just a great morning to be out there cruising.  Felt really good after the first mile once I was warmed up.  Had to keep pulling it back.  Heading back to Fairplay this afternoon to hopefully unlock the cabin and move over to Don's house until it is time to go to Silverton next week.

Thursday:

9:30 AM:  7.2 miles with 2900ft of vert in 1:57.  From the house outside of Fairplay to the powerlines on the ridge where I went up and over and back 3.5 times then took the long way back on the dirt roads to get in some normal running.  The powerline section up and down was super tech and no defined trail reaching about 25% grade, see the photo below.  Loved this so much, it was a blast. 

Friday:  

6 AM: One week to go..... hope all this time in Fairplay above 9,500ft helps get me ready.  By the time the race starts it will be over 2 weeks up high.  Thanks again GZ and Don!!! 

 

9:30 AM: 4 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Easy cruise from the house in Fairplay on dirt roads and a little bit of single track on the ridge.  The single track was only a 1/2 mile long before it ended so mostly on the dirt road.   Darian showed up and joined me as well before heading to Leadville for the 50 tomorrow.  Good luck buddy!  I will be following along.

4 PM: Got into Don's massage person up here in Fairplay for 90 mins of loosing up.  Doing everything I can to get ready for next Friday at 6am.   Also returned back to Don's house with a package for me from Speedland with some new kicks for Hardrock.  Hell to the yes!!!

Reading this evening between surfing the web and Ultrarunning Mag.... both of these blew my mind.  How does Killian not have pacers for Hardrock yet?

Saturday:

7 AM:  9.3 miles w/ 3200ft of vert in 3 hours.  Easy lap of Mount Sherman (14.043) and Gemini Peak (13,958).  Mostly hiking but some jogging here and there.  Kept it super easy even on the downhills so not to make myself sore in anyway.  So many damn people on Sherman but once I went over the summit and followed the ridge to Gemini I was alone until I returned to Sherman.  Awesome morning out there!

Sunday:

7 AM:  6.1 miles w/ 1000ft of vert averaging 9:30pace.  Easy cruise on the Tie Hack loop which is right off the road to Mount Sherman.  It rolls between 10,100ft and 10,600ft.  Stopping now and again to take photos of some of the awesome wild flowers.  Such a great morning out there running through the aspens and did not see another person at all this morning.

Total Weekly Numbers

Great taper week hanging out at Don's house in Fairplay.  THANK YOU DON!!!!  Basically in the last 2 weeks I have been over 9,800ft with the exception of one day where I had to run home to get a spare key for locking myself out of GZ cabin and to grab more gear for Hardrock.  I have done everything I can the past 6 weeks so we will see how it plays out on Friday.  I plan on staying here in Fairplay until Tuesday where I will drive to Ouray for Tuesday night then off to Silverton early on Wednesday morning.  Can't believe it is here already, time sure flies anymore.