June 5th- June 11th

   “We are what we repeatedly do.” - Aristotle

Monday:  

9 AM:  1 hour at the Alma gym.  3000m row while on a work call as a warmup then lifting legs and core.  Mostly bodyweight stuff.

3 PM:  Walked 2.5 miles in 40mins.  Neighborhood walk before the rain. Came back down on the Front Range over lunch for some appointments I have the next 2 days.  Will finally be done with all the dentist appointments.  Finishing off the dental implant tomorrow and get the final retainer that I will only have to wear at night going forward.  Will be awesome to get this over with after almost 3 years and thousands of dollars fixing my smile.  

Tuesday:  

7 AM:   9.4miles w/ 700ft of vert averaging 7:30 pace.  Done from the Coalton trailhead over the mesa and back.  Had to fight some aggressive cows the first quarter mile of the jog.  Just a few mommas protecting the calves.  This was 20min warmup followed by 4x7min at a steady effort (half marathon effort) with 3min recoveries, then cooldown back to the truck.  Made the easy parts really easy and pushed a little to hard on the efforts, especially when heading uphill by the Key Bank.  All good, felt great to put in an effort and not just slog around all the time.  That is one thing about training for Hardrock, sometimes you don't feel like you can really run fast anymore but instead turning into a slow hiker which is fine but I don't always like it.  Makes me feel out of shape at times.  I know, all in my head....

So this happened a few minutes after I had my episode with the cows.  Saw the aftermath when I got back to the truck..  https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/06/06/cows-attack-jogger-on-boulder-county-open-space-trail/?fbclid=IwAR12cRpQn9YUDimEVNwYdIkvIsYQziRcTYIRBzpLyCu0Zd9-asKY19YFZMo

Wednesday:

6:30 AM:  10.2 miles w/ 2700ft of vert averaging 11:30 pace.  Easy lap of Flagstaff Mountain from NCAR.  Super chill today just getting in my 2 hours on my feet in hills.  The flowers were still off the hook!!!  Lots of stops to take photos. 

-- Heading back up to Fairplay over lunch.  Will come back next Monday or Tuesday for my last dentist appointment to get my final retainer that I will only have to wear at night.  That will be the last one of a 3 year process.  Super pumped!

4 PM: 52mins at the gym.  Lifting in Alma only doing bodyweight leg stuff and core stuff. 

Thursday:    

-NOTE:  No weight check, up at the cabin this morning.

7 AM:  9.4miles w/ 1300ft of vert averaging 8:45pace followed by an hour lifting at the gym.  Easy jog up towards Kite Lake from Alma up to 11,700ft.  Parked right in front of the gym and ran the dirt road most of the way up there.  I thought it was 7 miles to the lake but really it is only 5.5miles.  Turned around just short of it due to the gate being closed on the road.  Took a work call right after the run then lifted upper body in the Alma gym for an hour.  Hell of a productive morning...

Friday:

6:30 AM:  12.1 miles w/ 2600ft of vert averaging 10:50pace.  Run from CR12 up Buckskin Joe trail.  Did an out and back instead of the loop due to the loop not ending where the start was.  Got up to 12,700ft before turning around.  I did not make it to the top so I will need to go back.  I might run this as part of my 20miler this weekend and shoot for the top.

11:30 AM: 48 mins at the Alma gym.  Just a bodyweight circuit of legs and core before lunch.  Also gave me a chance to fill up all the gallon jugs with water for the weekend while I was there.  Raced home afterwards to meet Paula who dropped off Venus for the night.  She went on to Snowmass to volunteer for Ragnar tonight, guess I have someone to talk to instead of myself.  

Saturday: 

7 AM:  15 miles w/ 1700ft of vert averaging 9:40pace.  Run up and down Mosquito Pass road up to 12,000ft then back down.  Went longer than I was expecting therefore I had no water or calories with me.  Did drink snow melt at the turn around which got me back to the truck. Awesome morning out there!  Hung out in Alma the rest of the morning until Paula woke up, she got back from volunteering at Ragnar in Snowmass at 5am this morning as I was getting up.

 

Sunday: 

7 AM:  14 miles w/ 3700ft of vert averaging 15min miles.  From Alma up to Kite Lake via the road then off trail to the summit of Mount Buckskin at 13,800ft.  Took forever with the off trail up and down of Mount Buckskin due to the snow and talus I had to deal with.  Did a lot of sliding down on my ass coming down, a mountaineering axe would have been nice to stop but the hiking poles worked just fine on this one.  

--  Paula and I meet Don and Amy in Fairplay after my run where we hit up a few drinks at the distillery.  Then off to another place for margaritas, finishing off in the Park Bar where I thought I could be a stripper.... sign... Have not had that many drinks in a row in a while.

Total Weekly Numbers

A solid second week in a row.  Very happy with this week overall.  The only thing I really could have done better is get a little bit more vert, will try to get more this week.  Most of the mileage and time this week was all at the cabin at 10,000ft or higher.  Did go home one day to finish my dental implant which is awesome to have all that dental work done!  Planning on going to Leadville this weekend to camp and do my long run on Saturday on Elbert and Massive if anyone wants to join in.