Nov 13th- Nov 19th

“Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength.” - Chris Bradford

“Every twist and turn in life is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself, your interests, your talents, and how to set and then achieve goals” - Jameela Jamil

“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday:   

7 AM:   1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

Fran : 3 mins 51 secs
21-15-9 reps of:
Thruster, 65 lbs
Pull-up

-then-

Every 2 mins for 14 mins: Thruster :
Every 2 mins for 14 mins:
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs
5 Thrusters | 75 lbs

-Light due to race this week.  This was just more just to move some outside of the running motion and that is it.

1 PM:  6.7 miles averaging 7:25pace.  2 easy laps plus some at Davidson Mesa with some 4x15sec strides mixed in throughout the run. Felt great today!! Perfect weather as well.

-- Easy long dog walk and hot tub for heat training in the evening.

Tuesday:  

9:30 AM:  6.1 miles averaging 8:15pace.  Easy miles over at Davidson and Harper again. Have an upset stomach today for some reason so only one lap of Davidson and the rest was around Harper so that the bathroom was close in case it was needed.

2:30 PM:  Walk 2.1 miles in 36mins.  Easy afternoon dog walk to take in the 70 degree afternoon.

Wednesday:

-- Complete day off today.  Spent the morning down in Colorado Springs with Paula researching and quoting something we are seriously looking at.  More information on that later if it happens.  Did stop for brunch at JT's favorite place.

Thursday:  

 -- Early flight to Phoenix this morning.  Had to be at DIA by 4:30am for a 6:30am flight.  Of course worried about missing the flight all night so slept like shit.  

Friday:

9 AM:   Fat Ox 100 in 18:25:03 for 1st place.  There is quite a bit to write about this race but I think if you want the details we will need to get together for a old fashion or a coffee.  This was a 0.98 mile loop that we had to do 101 times at a park right outside of Phoenix in the desert.  It of course was hot that day which seems to be a theme in my 100s this year and there was some racing involved that I did not expect.  A dude that was not on the start list on Thursday signed up the morning of and we had a little bit of a dual until he threw in the towel around mile 60-65.  Did most of this solo but did have some help at critical points in the run.  Thank you so much to Don, Nancy, Amy, George and Tracy.  All of them pitched in to keep me going when things got hard.  I could not have done it without you all.  Now for the photo bomb, most of the photos were taken by GZ, Don or myself and are mostly in order but some might be.  

Saturday: 

--Finished at 3:25am this morning and just hung out in the warming tent watching everyone else until Don started his race at 8am which then I slept for a few hours and spent the rest of the day supporting him in his 24 hour race.  Hell of a weekend!

 Sunday:  

-- Travel day home today but the flight was not until 7pm.  Even took a nap in the rental car of the parking lot of Black Rifle Coffee Company.  I was struggling all day to stay away to get home.  Finally made it home about 10pm.  The only damage besides being tired and sore was one blister.  Not to bad.  A thought I had today is that loop flat 100s like this and the mountain 100s I am used to are totally different sports.  They can not even be compared.  Learned a lot this weekend as I digest everything.

Total Weekly Numbers

Super pleased on how things turned out this weekend.  Considering that I really only put in 5 weeks of prep for this race it could not have gone any better.  My A goal was to go under 20 hours and B was to finish of course.  First time that I have finished 2 hundred milers in one year.  I tried once in 2016 when going through a divorce but was not there mentally at Run Rabbit and walked off the course for no real reason.  Good to know that my body is able to do so.  Maybe attempt 3 of them next year?  Hmmmm... or maybe I can be like Elway and retire going out on top.  Guess we will see next year.