July 3rd- July 9th

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” - Colin Powell

Monday:   

9 AM:  Hike 5 miles w/ 1700ft of vert in 2:30...  Hike with Paula and Venus up Pennsylvania Mountain (13,022ft)  by the cabin.  This was Venus's first real mountain!!! She rocked it then crashed hard when we got back to the cabin.  LOL.

3 PM:   30 mins at the gym in the afternoon just doing some basic lower body movements.  More about staying mobile than exercising.  Plus I needed to fill up the water jugs for the cabin, with Paula and the dog in town I am going through water faster than usual.  LOL....

Tuesday:  

7 AM:   7.6 miles w/ 2000ft of vert averaging 11min miles.  Easy out and back on Loveland Mountain while Paula hiked with Venus.  Getting it done before heading to town to hang out for the 4th.  Did not sign up for the 5K in Fairplay this year which I regret.  It was won in 24 mins... god damn it.  I won in 20 mins last year even with just jogging the last mile since no one was around me.

11 AM:  30 mins doing goat yoga in Fairplay... so god damn funny.... spent the rest of the day getting hammered of course.

-- Spent the rest of the afternoon drinking at the distillery and watching the parade.  Love spending the 4th of July up there in Fairplay.

Wednesday:

7 AM:  7.6 miles w/ 750ft of vert averaging 7:50 pace.  Easy out and back on Bailey's Mags on the way home to the Front Range to grab what I need for Hardrock next week.  Just an easy cruise for an hour.  Meet a lady that was out walking that lived on that road since 1945 (she was 80) and ended up chatting with her for about 30mins mid-run.  She was out walking the 5 miles on that road that she does every morning... damn.

-- Have not been home for over two weeks and came home to these in the mail from JT's bike ride.  Thanks buddy!!

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in: 170.8 w/ 8.9% bodyfat.... was shocked that I did not balloon up the past 3 weeks considering how shitty I have been eating.  Just tells me that my night time cravings are my body telling me to get some damn calories in.  Pretty much stayed the same.  Need to watch it a little closer now that I am tapering and not running 2 hours a day.

7 AM:  6.5 miles averaging 7:45 pace.  Parked at Costco and did a lap of Davidson Mesa.  Moody looking morning but never did start raining like I thought it would.  Weather in the mountains seems better than the front range lately.

Friday:

7 AM:  6.5 miles w/ 900ft of vert averaging 9 min pace.  Easy cruise over at the beaver ponds in Fairplay.  Just did the loop walking some of the steeper hills.  Felt great after I finished but did struggle to get moving this morning though.  There were some new beaver ponds that were not there last week flooding out some of the trail.  Kind of funny.  The Silverheels 100 that starts tomorrow will have to go through more water than planned.  I ran a lot of marked trails for the race.

1 PM: 30mins at the gym in Alma doing body weight lower body stuff.  Mostly to mobilize verses real training.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  9 miles w/ 2600ft of gain in 2 hours.  Easy morning cruise of North Star Mountain (13,406ft) followed by some exploring of some alpine lakes I saw from the summit. Super chill day.  After the hike I meet up with Don and we went to Leadville to hang out at the finish of the Silver Rush 50 run for a few hours in the afternoon.  Good times but had a thought that I used to go hang out at these events and see lots of people I knew, seems that crowd is mostly out of the sport.  Only saw less than 5 people that I knew.  Weird realization I had while there.

Sunday:  

A complete rest day today.  Not sure what I am going to do with myself all day.  Woke up at 3:30am this morning for some reason so finished book number 18 on the year in front of the fire early in the morning, A Walk in the Woods... very good read.

Spent half the day in Frisco.  Had brunch with some friends at Bread + Salt which I recommend then ran some errands getting a few last minute things at REI in Dillion.   Also gave back the huge battery pack that I was borrowing from Don that enabled me to work from the cabin the last 6 weeks.  THANK YOU DON!!!!  I am going to have to get one of these.

Total Weekly Numbers

Much bigger week than expected.  Don't usually do this much vertical when the tapering starts but just following the plan.  Did miss some weight room work on Sunday but I always do on Sunday up here since the gym is closed on Sunday.  This week leading up to the race on Friday the 14th will be much mellower.   Think I will post Monday-Thursday this week then do a post of just Hardrock for Friday-Sunday.  I will be typing thoughts through out the week as they think of them.  Right now I am overwhelmed with the thought of the fact that it is here already..... I don't feel ready at all......  I feel well acclimated for sure but feel like I could have done so much more...