April 15th- April 21nd

“It's your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself, that determines how your life's story will develop.“ – Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  

Monday:   

10 AM:  1 hour in the garage gym doing the workout with Paula.  Ended up covering 3.5 miles with a 45lb pack on.

Warmup: Measuring the route around the hood for 400 meters then some mobility.

FT: 
40 Ruck Ground-to-Overheads, 45 lbs
Ruck, 45 lbs, 1600 m
30 Ruck Ground-to-Overheads, 45 lbs
Ruck, 45 lbs, 1600 m
20 Ruck Ground-to-Overheads, 45 lbs
Ruck, 45 lbs, 1600 m

6 PM: Spin class for 1 hour.  Spin class at Vasa with Paula, keeping up with my promise that I would try to join her once a week as she gets ready for Unbound Gravel in 6 weeks.

Tuesday:  

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

3 RFT: 13 mins 33 secs
3 rounds of:
21 Power Cleans, 60% 1RM | 115 lbs
25 Assault Bike Calories
Plank Hold, - same time the bike took each round

-then-

20mins of core work

2 PM:  7 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Colton Trailhead directly west up the big hill into the 30mph winds. Super slow heading out but easy as hell coming back with the wind pushing me.. Need to quit putting the run off until the afternoon and get it done first thing in the morning... arggg.

Wednesday:

7 AM: 7 miles w/ 550ft of vert averaging 8min pace.  Easy loop from Flatiron Vista- Dowdy Draw- Community Ditch- Marshall Mesa back to Flatiron Vista. Almost a perfect 7 mile loop with a shitter halfway which is why I choose this route, stomach was not happy this morning.

11 AM: 1 hour lifting in the garage.  Just lifting and not to heavy on the legs with the 50K coming this weekend.

Warmup: Airbike and mobility

Barbell Calf Raise :
Sets
12 Barbell Calf Raises | 135 lbs
12 Barbell Calf Raises | 135 lbs
12 Barbell Calf Raises | 145 lbs
12 Barbell Calf Raises | 145 lbs
12 Barbell Calf Raises | 145 lbs

Barbell Step Up (Back Rack) 5x20 :
Sets
20 Barbell Step Up (Back Rack)s | 95 lbs
20 Barbell Step Up (Back Rack)s | 95 lbs
20 Barbell Step Up (Back Rack)s | 95 lbs
20 Barbell Step Up (Back Rack)s | 95 lbs
20 Barbell Step Up (Back Rack)s | 95 lbs

L Sit : 6x 20 secs
Sets
L Sit, 20 secs
L Sit, 20 secs
L Sit, 20 secs
L Sit, 20 secs
L Sit, 20 secs
L Sit, 20 secs

Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curl :
Sets
10 Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls | 30 lbs
10 Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls | 30 lbs
10 Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls | 30 lbs

Romanian Deadlift : 10-10-10 :
Sets
10 Romanian Deadlifts | 95 lbs
10 Romanian Deadlifts | 105 lbs
10 Romanian Deadlifts | 105 lbs

Bench Press : 5-5-5-5-5 :
Sets
5 Bench Press | 155 lbs
5 Bench Press | 160 lbs
5 Bench Press | 165 lbs
5 Bench Press | 170 lbs
5 Bench Press | 175 lbs

Thursday:  

A big fat ZERO today on doing any activities.  Between the snow/rain mix, work being swamped, and hitting a depression cycle I did not get out the door or to the garage gym.  Hell I was at my desk from 6am to 6pm and never got out of my PJs.. go figure...  Of course this leads to binge eating for me as well... Gotta get my head screwed back on straight again tomorrow.

Friday:

7 AM:  6.4 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy 2 laps of Davidson Mesa in the rain and fog. So foggy that could not even see Harper Lake from the parking lot which is only about 20-30 yards away. Super chill and legs felt pretty good with taking yesterday off. Tomorrow will just be about covering the miles and not racing, easier said than done.

--  Took off for Canyon City in the van around lunch today to camp for the weekend at the Royal Gorge.  Venus's first trip in the van finally.  

Saturday: 

7 AM:  32 miles w/ 5300ft of vert averaging 9:35pace.  Royal Gorge Groove 50k- Fun race and trails down there! The plan was just to use as a long supported run in the build up to Hardrock. So with that in mind the first 30k loop I tried to keep my heart rate under 140 as much as possible and on the second 20k loop I tried to keep it under 150 to account for cardiac drift. Success on that front with an average of 135 and a high of 151. Only struggled a little bit the last 1.5 miles as the legs were super crampy and tired but otherwise felt great! Ended up 8th overall and only one over the age of 40 in the top 15. Had 10 or more years on everyone else... yes I say that because it is an ego boast for me as I am turning 49 this year.   Achilles was not happy a few hours after finishing, limping around but was fine during the race... Damn it... Overall a good day.

Sunday:  

Had to take the day off... achilles was not happy and limping around. Was supposed to run/hike for 1:15 but that did not happen.  Watched Paula race the mountain bike on the same course I ran yesterday and hung out with Venus at the van all day.  Did get in some short walks with Venus throughout the day but that was about all the achilles could handle today.  All good, will be back in a day or two.  So proud that Paula put herself out there and rode this course.  Lots of black diamonds and double black diamonds on this course for the bike.  She got it done!  Great weekend down south!  Next up... Buena Vista in 2 weeks.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week but also not a great week.  Missed 2 days this week.  One for mental health I guess you could say on Thursday and one because my body made me on Sunday.  Still got the overall stimulus that I wanted this week with the 50K so we are at least still moving forward.   Was planning going to Fruita this coming weekend to train but plans with others seem to have fallen through so might be a weekend at home training this coming week, we will see.