March 18th- March 24th

  “Be too dumb to quit and too stubborn to back off” ~Steven Pressfield

Monday:   

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and some drills.

10 RFT: 12 mins 24 secs
10 rounds of:
10 Row Calories
10 Push-ups
1 Rope Climb, 15 ft

-then-

20mins of core work

2 PM:  3 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy neighborhood cruise to shake out the legs that feel like shit after the weekend.

6 PM:  1 hour at spin with Paula at Vasa.  Bike computer said 16 miles so we will go with that.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  9.1 miles averaging 7:35pace.  Easy miles at sunrise over at Davidson Mesa and Harper Lake. Davidson was only about half clear from snow and Harper was mostly clear so most of the miles were at Harper, only one lap of Davidson.

Wednesday:

9 AM:  50 mins lifting 

Garage gym session between work meetings

Warmup: Airbike and mobility

Deload Back Squat
Sets
5 Back Squats, 40% 1RM | 155 lbs
5 Back Squats, 50% 1RM | 165 lbs
5 Back Squats, 60% 1RM | 175 lbs

Split Stance Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift :
Sets
10 Split Stance Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts | 60 lbs
10 Split Stance Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts | 60 lbs
10 Split Stance Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts | 60 lbs

Push Press
Sets
5 Push Press, 40% 1RM | 70 lbs
5 Push Press, 50% 1RM | 85 lbs
5 Push Press, 60% 1RM | 110 lbs

Skull Crusher
Sets
10 Skull Crushers | 57 lbs
10 Skull Crushers | 57 lbs
10 Skull Crushers | 57 lbs

Ez Bar Curl
Sets
10 EZ Bar Curls | 57 lbs
10 EZ Bar Curls | 57 lbs
10 EZ Bar Curls | 57 lbs

Standing Calf Raise
Sets
15 Standing Calf Raises | 95 lbs
15 Standing Calf Raises | 95 lbs
15 Standing Calf Raises | 95 lbs
15 Standing Calf Raises | 95 lbs

1 PM:  12 miles w/ 1900ft of vert averaging 7:45pace.  3 1/2 laps of NCAR road. Just cruising today in the awesome sunshine. Super stressful last 24 hours. Almost skipped this run due to stress and motivation but happy I got out there and got it done. Actually one of my better runs on this route, go figure.  First photo with the new phone as well, takes awesome pictures.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope.....

8 AM:  16.5 miles w/ 1200ft of vert averaging 7:55pace. Easy modified lap of the Bismark starting and ending at Costco in Superior. Half was on the road and half was on the trails depending on the mud closures. Did the whole thing without fluids and regretted that decision the last 20 mins or so but was glad not to carry it as well. Did take one gel halfway through just because. Solid morning out there.

--Leaving this afternoon to head to Kansas for the 12 hour Extreme Break Up Adventure Race in Manhattan.  Should be an interesting weekend.  Paula and I are a coed team of 2.  This will be my first one and she is relearning how to navigate.  Why I got in a longer run yesterday and today due to all the driving we have in front of us.

Friday:

Slept at a rest area about 5 hours from home on I-70 last night.  Love just being able to pull over and go to sleep whenever verses having to find a hotel room.  Spent the morning finishing the drive to Manhattan Kansas finding a coffee shop in some small town along the way where I think I had the best cinnamon roll I have ever had.  That is a tall order from me since that is one of my favorite things to eat and I am always comparing them.

Noon:  4 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy shakeout jog around the park that the race tomorrow starts and finishes in. Just filling time until we can check in at 6pm.  We then drove to a state park about 10mins away to crash in the van for the evening and start trying to plan our route for the race tomorrow.  In adventure racing you have to plan your route and navigate to all the check points verses just turning the brain off and following markers like I do when trail racing, there are also no aid stations either.  Throws a little wrench in planning that you have to work through.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  Extreme Break Up Adventure Race  44 miles total in 8:58.  Fun times doing the Extreme Break Up Adventure Race. Paula and I were a coed team of two and no we did not break up afterwards.  I would say that there was about 10-12 miles of treking and about 32-34 miles of cycling overall with having to navigate the whole time to find the 30 plus check points through out the area. Ended up 4th overall in the 2 person coed team but if we did have a couple of the navigation errors. We prob would have been second otherwise.  We lost about an hour plus on them. Part of learning. She has not navigated in about 15 years and this was my first one. We easily had the endurance on the bike and run to hang with the best of them just not the navigation skills yet that they had.  Lots of stories came out of this of race which I am not going to write out on here, guess you will have to meet us for a drink to hear them. Guessing there will be more coming later. We will see.  Did not take a lot of photos due to racing but did pull out the phone a couple of times.

Sunday:  

Total rest day. Did not have it in me today to do much after yesterday and all the driving home the last 24 hours. Wiped and went to bed early. Might try and make up the planned 50 min jog on Monday or not.

Total Weekly Numbers

Solid week overall considering the travel and the race over the weekend.  We had a blast in our first trip in Sherman and looking to plan another in the next 2 weeks somewhere just to go train and play.  We drove Sherman about 1100 miles this weekend or about 14 hours of driving.   Also snowing still as I type this on Monday morning so trails are going to be shit all week which always makes training more challenging.  We got about 6-8 inches so far overnight.

March 11th- March 17th

“Keep your mind open to change all the time. Welcome it. Court it. It is only by examining and reexamining your opinions and ideas that you can progress.” - Dale Carnegie

Monday:   

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Airbike, mobility

4 RFT: 400 m and Air Squats : 12 mins 35 secs
4 rounds of:
Echo Bike, 1200 m
50 Air Squats

Super sore today from the weekend. Replaced the running with the airbike, moderate effort just to move some.

2 PM:  Walk 3.2 miles in 50mins.  My Monday afternoon date with Venus.  Easy dog walk this afternoon... super tired legs today of course.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  8.1 miles w/ 3000ft of vert in 1:54.  Easy lap of Bear Peak via Shadow Canyon from the South Mesa Trailhead. Super chill jog/hike up and jog down. Heartrate never broke 150 which is what I was going for. There was maybe 100-150 yards of ice on the whole route so yes it was pretty clear. That of course will change with the snow we are expecting tomorrow night.

6 PM:  Spin class 18.2 miles in just over an hour.  Went to spin class with Paula this evening since we missed it last night due to an appointment we had.  Still trying to keep doing these once a week or so.  Mileage is just what the computer on the bike said, we know that is wrong as I say every week.

Wednesday:

7 AM:  7.1 miles w/ 1700ft of vert averaging 10:30pace. Easy trail jog from NCAR along the Mesa Trail to Bluebell trails for a loop then back. Super chill and HR never got high which was the goal. Might be the last dirt run for a while with this storm we are supposed to get tonight through Friday.  You can see the clouds rolling in over the Flatirons during the run.  These photos are only an hour apart.

Noon: Well I have been hinting about something that Paula and I may do over the past couple of weeks but never said what it was... well here it is... we pulled the trigger today.... ADVENTURE TIME!!  WHOOO!!!!!   It is a completely built out 2014  Mercedes Benz Sprinter van.  It is built out almost exactly like we wanted, we will make a few changes, and we are super pumped!  First adventure in it will be the weekend of March 21-24th as we will be heading to Kansas to do an adventure race together.  Welcome to the family "Sherman".

4 PM: 1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and drills.

Deadlift 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 : 5000 lbs
Sets
2 Deadlifts | 255 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 275 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 295 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 315 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 325 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 335 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 345 lbs
2 Deadlifts | 355 lbs

--then--

"Tabata" : 8 x 20 secs / 10 secs : 133 reps | 80 + 53
Tabata Kettlebell Swing, 53 lbs
Tabata Ski Erg Calorie

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope...

Woke up to a huge snow storm this morning.  This is what we got as of 8am this morning and it is still going.  Supposed to last until Friday morning.

Also the Salida Marathon released the photos that they took out on the course during the race.  Not my best shots but not to bad.

2 PM:  7 miles averaging 8:25pace.  Looping around the house in the HOA plowed roads. About the only roads plowed except the main roads which I will not run on due to traffic. Got about a foot and still coming down. Venus joined me for the first 2 miles of loops.

4 PM: 1 hour at the gym.  Bro-lifting at Vasa while Paula was taking a class. All upperbody with 2 exercises that were push, 2 that were pull, arms and core. Did about 3 sets of 10 on each lift. Been a bit since I have done this and not Crossfit.

8 PM:  Here is the total after still snowing all day....  Supposed to get another 3-6 overnight as well.... 

Friday:

8 AM:   Seems it is finally done snowing after about 36 hours.  Here is the final tally on the back table.

9:30 AM: 7 miles averaging 8:50pace.  Easy slog thru a shit ton of snow getting a tour of Broomfield from GZ. Great to shoot the shit and catch-up with him. We need to do this more often.  Of course every intersection was a lake and lots of fallen branches everywhere.

6 PM:  Headed out to Mother Tucker Brewing to watch GZ play this evening.  Always a great time!  Dragged Donnie, Porf, and Rey out to join us and ran into PG there who I have not seen in a few years.  Awesome evening!

Saturday: 

9 AM:  1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

18 RFT: Partner Wods, 23 mins 29 secs
18 rounds of:
Partner Wod
9 Dumbbell Push-ups
6 Devil Press | 30 lbs
6 Dumbbell Thrusters, 30% 1RM | 30 lbs
9 Assault Bike Calories

Solo so only 9 sets.. 1:30 rest between sets

11 AM:  8 miles w/ 1300ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Hit the NCAR road again today for I actually wanted to run and not slog through 2 plus feet of snow on the trails. One of my quicker runs on this route which I was not trying to do, just happened. Completely clear and dry too.

4:30 PM: Paula and I hit the movies this afternoon for the first time in a while, maybe over a year?.. Anyways, we went to check out Arthur the King about adventure racing and a team finding a dog during a race who ended up doing the whole 5 day race with them.  It is based on a true story and a little bit of a tear jerker.  Worth seeing.

Sunday:  

8:30 AM:  16.2 miles w/ 1650ft of vert averaging 8:50pace.  Easy cruise with Donnie doing a lap of Mags outside of Boulder. Crazy how much snow as up there! They reported over 40 inches and I would say it was prob more than that. Most of the houses were still snowed in 3 days later and people were still shoveling out their driveways as we ran by. Also saw some turkeys running down the road in front of me and a large bobcat making its way across a meadow.  Fly by of RBA, she was going out as we were coming back.

Total Weekly Numbers

Heading to Kansas next weekend to try my hand at a 12 hour Adventure Race with Paula.  Excited to give it a shot, especially after that movie on Saturday.  Should be interesting and it also will be the first trip in the new van.  

Overall a good week considering I am recovering from the marathon this week (which I felt some).  It was a crazy busy week.  Noticed that I am starting to not hit the gym as much as running to get ready for Hardrock is starting to take priority.  Just don't want to lose the strength gains I got over the winter.  I worked hard for those.

March 4th- March 10th

“A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else.” - George Savile

Monday:   

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

24.1 Rx'd - CrossFit Games Open : 12 mins 38 secs
21 Dumbbell Snatch (arm 1)s, 50 lbs
21 Lateral Burpee Over Dumbbells
21 Dumbbell Snatch (arm 2)s, 50 lbs
21 Lateral Burpee Over Dumbbells
15 Dumbbell Snatch (arm 1)s, 50 lbs
15 Lateral Burpee Over Dumbbells
15 Dumbbell Snatch (arm 2)s, 50 lbs
15 Lateral Burpee Over Dumbbells
9 Dumbbell Snatch (arm 1)s, 50 lbs
9 Lateral Burpee Over Dumbbells
9 Dumbbell Snatch (arm 2)s, 50 lbs
9 Lateral Burpee Over Dumbbells

-- little bummed on this result. Was thinking I would be around the 10 min mark. Hit muscle failure during the snatches, especially on the left arm.  I did this workout since I missed it on Friday, need to submit a score to Crossfit.com by 5pm tonight, while the rest of the class did McGee which is one of my favorites.  Maybe I will do that tomorrow solo... Here is a photo of Paula doing the deadlift part of McGee.

3 PM:  3.3 miles in 55 mins.  Easy dog walk around the hood to start breaking in the Speedland GS:OAK shoes. Decided to train a bunch in these since I'm not a huge fan of the color verses the other GS models.  Save the colors I like best for races and train in the colors I don't.  Sounds like a good plan.

6 PM:  1 hour at spin class with Paula at Vasa.  Bike computer said 16.6 miles so we will go with that.  Sweat-fest....

Tuesday:  

9:30 AM:  8.4 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 7:30pace.  Miles over on the Dirty Biz loop. Did 6x20sec strides w/ 2min recoveries in the middle of the run. Overall this was one of the best runs I have had in weeks if not months. Maybe I am turning a corner?

Wednesday:

6 AM:  9.2 miles w/ 2350ft of vert averaging 10:25pace.  Lap of Mount Santias and Anemone trails. Love this figure 8, good mix of hiking, running and vertical. One of my faster times on this route which surprised me, was not trying to make it quick. Yesterday and today have both been great runs, lets hope it keeps going.

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and drills

5x 2 mins RemReps: 112 reps | 23, 25, 22, 21, and 21
5 rounds, 2 mins each, of:
5 Front Squats, 60% 1RM | 115 lbs
15 Row Calories
max rep Wall Balls, 20 lbs | 23, 25, 22, 21, and 21
Rest 2 mins

Thursday:  

9 AM:  8 miles w/ 650ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Easy out and back from the Coalton Trailhead heading west. Super chill jog today keeping the mellow due to the race on Saturday. Plan is to train through it and use it as a long supported run so instead of being in the 4 hour range I plan on being more in the 5 hour range so I can turn around and do another 10 plus miles on Sunday... we will see what happens.

Friday:

7 AM:  7.4 miles averaging 8:10pace. 2 easy loops around Davidson Mesa plus 1 loop of Harper lake. Just a long shakeout jog to get loosened up for tomorrow. Shitty weather this morning as well.  Plan on heading to Salida after lunch today.

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Accessory Work

Warmup: Airbike and mobility

Weighted Pull-up :1163 lbs
Sets
5 Weighted Pull-ups | 35 lbs
3 Weighted Pull-ups | 44 lbs
3 Weighted Pull-ups | 44 lbs
1 Weighted Pull-up | 53 lbs
1 Weighted Pull-up | 62 lbs
1 Weighted Pull-up | 71 lbs
3 Weighted Pull-ups | 53 lbs
3 Weighted Pull-ups | 53 lbs
5 Weighted Pull-ups | 44 lbs

Then

20-30 mins of core work

--- Taking off for Salida for the weekend.  Running the Salida marathon tomorrow as a long supported run and an easy 10 miler on Sunday before heading home.  Of course it is Friday which seems to mean snow lately, the drive was shit but at least it should be a fun weekend!  They closed the road right behind me after passing all of these cars in the ditch at Jefferson.  I was lucky to get thru.

Saturday: 

8 AM:  Salida Marathon- 26 miles w/ 4000ft of vert in 4 hours on the dot.  Did much better than I was expecting myself to do. Prob could have taken more time off if I would not have gone so easy the first 14 miles. Ran the first 14 with Donnie then ran the rest by HR keeping it between 140-150 to the finish. This was a much needed confidence builder that I needed after the past few months of training.  I was of course tired at the end but I was not limping around and did not feel like I just ran 26 at a somewhat harder pace than normal.  Very encouraging!  Spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Don and Amy who came over from Fairplay for the afternoon.  Good times!

Sunday:  

9 AM:  9.7 miles w/ 1200ft of vert averaging 10:20pace.  Easy out and back on the Little Rainbow trail before heading home. Had plans to run with JT but needed to get out sooner so missed him on this trip. Bummed about that, sorry dude... Legs did not want to have any turnover today so this was more of a hike/jog then just a jog. Around mile 6-7 things started to loosen up some and jogging became a little bit easier.

Total Weekly Numbers

One of my best weeks in a long time.  Really needed this week to get some of my confidence back since I have been struggling to get mileage in for the past few months between being sick, travel and injuries.  I have been actually thinking the past few weeks of walking away from racing, ect thinking my body has had enough.  Maybe not quite yet.  I did drop out of doing the Crossfit open this year, the workout they announced on Thursday had a bunch of double-unders (jumping rope) which I LOVE but last thing I want is to re-injure my achillies so I let it go.  Next year....