June 12th- June 18th

“Fitness is not about being better than someone else. It's about being better than you used to be.” - Unknown

-- This week was just about being better than last week. 

Monday:   

2 PM: 35-40 degrees with rain/snow mix all day long.  Glad today was a rest day from running.  Went over to the Alma gym where I rowed 3000m on the rower, walked 3 miles on the treadmill then lifted legs and core for 45 mins.  Not a bad afternoon at all after a lazy morning.  Paula went home early this morning and I will be doing the same tomorrow morning.

Tuesday:  

6 AM:   10.8 miles w/ 1100ft of vert averaging 7:30pace.  3x8mins...  Done in Bailey on the mini mags road at 8000ft on the way home this morning.  Perfect road for a workout like this.  Very similar to Mags outside of Boulder but not quit as long.  Turned more into a long tempo instead of 3x8mins but still got the work in.

Wednesday:

6:30 AM: 10.4miles w/ 3100ft of vert in 2:12.  Mid-week longer hilly jog.  Had to come down home for some appointments on Tuesday so hit this run up Wed morning on Green Mountain before heading back up to Fairplay.  Kind of nice not to have to deal with snow like I do if I want vert in Fairplay (anything above 12k).  I know, first world problems.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  No weight check again, in Fairplay.  Well at least the pants still fit so we will just go with that.

7 AM:  10.15miles w/1400ft of vert averaging 8:40pace.  Easy jog up Buckskin Gulch via CR10 and 4x4 roads.  Really liking this route, never see anyone else and can keep going up to over 12k which I will most likely do tomorrow for the 14 miler I have planned.  

2:30 PM:  50 mins at the Alma gym doing legs and core.  Mostly working on mobility verse strength today.  Super tight....

Friday:

7 AM:  14.15 miles w/ 2700ft of vert averaging 10:40 pace.  Up and back up the side of Loveland Mountain from Buckskin Joe trails off of Mosquito Pass road.  Was racing weather coming in early today.  Been doing this route quite a bit the past week or so and really love it.  Got up to 12,700ft today and the summit is still another 1100ft above me.  One of the few places without a lot of snow above tree line due to it being southeast facing.  Most likely will do my long run up there tomorrow as well.

2 PM:  1 hour at the Alma gym doing upper body work.  2 exercises for each body part (chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps).  Just trying to maintain some muscle mass.

-- Got a surprise visitor here in Fairplay.  Dad was passing through on his way to Crested Butte for a wedding.  Short visit for some food and drink but was great to see them for a bit.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  12.5 miles w/ 2300ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Switched the long run from Saturday to Sunday due to the weather forecast.  Is supposed to start raining/snowing mid morning today and I did not want to get caught above treeline in it.  Out and back on Loveland Mountain again just like yesterday.  This is becoming my go to run.

--  Got a text from Don right after this run to see if I wanted to go to Leadville for the afternoon to hang out and watch the Leadville Marathon finish.  So we did, fun to get out of town for a bit.  Was snowing like mad over there.  Was back before dinner.

Sunday:  

7 AM:  18 miles w/ 4700ft of vert averaging 15min pace.  Finally put together a couple of runs I have been doing making it one big loop.  The out and backs I have been doing on Loveland Mt and the out and back from Alma to Buckskin.  I started at Hwy9 & Mosquito Pass Rd and ran up to the summit of Loveland Mt then the ridge over to Buckskin and North Buckskin.  This got me 3 summits all over 13,600.  I thought about trying the ridge from North Buckskin to Democrat but it looked technical and was covered in ice and snow.  Will try that another time when I am not solo.  There was so much more snow up there than there was last week, looked like it snowed over a foot up there.  I was postholing up to my hip at times. This was more of a winter mountaineering climb than long run once I was up high.  LOL...  Slogged from North Buckskin down to Kite Lake and ran the road back to Alma and Hwy9 to the truck.  I really loved this loop.

Total Weekly Numbers

Solid week this week.  Would have liked to have had more vertical but overall pleased.  Super tired and cranky by Sunday night and ended up sleeping 10 hours until Monday morning which is rare for me.  I am a solid 7-8 every night without fail usually.  Tells me I am pushing myself somewhat.  Been a challenge with eating clean with not having a fridge and living off my Yeti cooler but been doing the best I can with the exceptions of the pre-bed snacks.  Those need to stop.