May 21th - May 26th

Tuesday:  

-- Spiraled down a depression hole yesterday coming to terms that this year just might be a lot different than I had planned.  Of course when that happens I start to binge eat, probably ate about 7000-8000 calories yesterday and did not do any activity so not good.  I am just a fat kid in a skinny body.  Now I have to figure out how to accept things and how to move forward.  That is easier said than done.

9:30 AM:  1 hour in the garage gym doing mostly upper body.

Warmup: Skierg and mobility

3-4 sets of each:

Decline Dumbbell Press
Barbell inverted rows
High Incline Press
Dumbbell Pull overs
Lateral Raises
Dumbbell Curls
Skull crushers
GHD Hip extend
GHD Situps

-- then finished off with my PT work then spent 25mins in the sauna and 5mins in the cold plunge.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  7.3 miles averaging 8:15 pace.  Easy laps in the open space by the house just to test out the hip. Feels like a there is a mild charlie horse in there and some numbness. Feel like it is pulling on my knee and everything feels out of alignment.  Followed with a 1.2 mile walk with the dog as a cooldown and to keep things loose.

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

50-35-20: 18 mins 36 secs
50-35-20 reps of:
Assault Bike Calories
Wall Ball, 20 lbs
Push-up

Followed up with 10 mins of core work

3:30 pm:  90 min massage to work on the mobility of the achillies and hip for the most part.  Doing everything I can think of to get past all these issues.  

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  174lbs and 8.4% bodyfat according to the home scale.  Up 1.5lbs from last week, most likely water weight, ect... Pretty much staying even which is not bad considering I can't train the way I want/need too.

6:45 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and drills

5x 3 mins RemReps: 80 reps
5 rounds, 3 mins each, of:
Row, 500 m
8 Burpees
max rep Dumbbell Snatches, 25% 1RM | 35 lbs | 14, 16, 15, 17, and 18
Rest 3 mins

-Hip didn’t like lateral jumping so changed the workout to reg burpees instead of lateral burpees over the rower.

9 AM:  7.3 miles averaging 8:15pace.  Easy laps around the open space by the house. Hip is fired up today so slower than yesterday. Almost to the point of dropping from Hardrock due to this hip.

Friday:

Hip is jacked from dry needling last night. Limping around so took the day off.  Can barely make it up and down the stairs.  Ended up drinking my sorrows away this evening.

Saturday: 

10 AM:  1 hour upper body lifting in the garage gym. Needed to do something and not just sit around on my ass. This is the hardest thing about being injured. That and trying to keep calories under control when I am not burning them. Failed that big time yesterday with binging and drinking old fashions. Think I had 5 of them last night.  Wishing I was racing burros today but that was a no go with this hip.

Sunday:  

8 AM:  1 hour lower body lifting at Vasa... Super light weights going through the motions to see how the hip reacts later today and tomorrow... fingers crossed.

Total Weekly Numbers

On the verge of dropping out of Hardrock.  I have this whole process going through my head that it would be disrespectful just to show up and chase cutoffs due to the fact that I am unable to train for the race.  I can withdrawal up the day of the race but in order to get some $ back I need to make a decision by next Saturday June 1st.  Now if this was my first time taking on this race I would be getting cortizone shots, pain meds, ect doing anything and everything.  Little different thought process now that I have done this twice.  Talking with Jeff he thinks I should pull out, rest, and rebuild towards Javelina.  I go back and forth, do I try to cram in training once my body allows me too or fight another day...... decisions.......

Monday May 20th.

 "There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn't." - John Green

A big fat nothing today... Still limping around and finding it hard to go up and down the stairs since yesterday's hiller run on the Mesa trail.  It actually feels worse than it did last week the day after the crash.  I decided to go get an x-ray just to rule out a hairline fracture.  Nothing is crack which is the good news.  

The bad news is that there is a bursitis that is where my IT band connects to my hip that is inflamed which can feel like a fracture to people.

Anyways... now I got to figure out what to do next for this could take 4-6 weeks to heal itself and Hardrock is 7 weeks away.  Once it calms down I am able to run flat stuff but if you throw in hills on my run I am limping for days.  Hardrock is nothing but hills, how do I pull this off?  I am getting to a point where I am getting exhausted mentally constantly battling an injury of some sort, and yes the achillies issue is still there as well but I have figure out how to manage it and the back is finally getting strong enough that I don't think about it much anymore and starting to trust it.  Maybe I will figure out how to manage this like the others?  Or is it better to drop from Hardrock, take a step back for 4-6 weeks, let everything heal and start over to get ready for Javelina in Oct?   I don't know..... I did drop from the Georgetown Burro race this weekend.   Here is more info on this injury if your bored and need something to read.

https://roberthowells.com.au/conditions-and-treatment/trochanteric-pain-syndrome/

May 13th- May 19th

 "The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome.  The ride is a lot more fun that way." -Phil Jackson

---  Taking a step back this week and taking a breath... more of a recovery week this week.

Monday:   

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and drills

Row 250 m TT : 43.6 secs
Intervals
Row, 250 m | 0:43.6

--then--

FT: 12 mins 22 secs
21 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
3 Toes-to-bars
18 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
6 Toes-to-bars
15 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
9 Toes-to-bars
12 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
12 Toes-to-bars
9 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
15 Toes-to-bars
6 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
18 Toes-to-bars
3 Kettlebell Swings, 70 lbs
21 Toes-to-bars

3 PM: Bike 18 miles in 1:40ish.  Easy bike with Paula from the house and around the hood hitting the Westminster Hills and some around Standley Lake. Rained on us for about 25% of the ride and I did crash when the bike slipped out from under me on a wet concrete corner. Little road rash and bruised hip now... still a fun afternoon with Paula!

Tuesday:  

6:45 AM:  5.25 miles w/ 1400ft of vert averaging 14:30pace.  Easy lap of Sanitas... Hip is fucked from the bike crash yesterday. Going uphill hurts like a bitch but downhill is okay if I don't bomb down. Just a hike up using poles to help take some weight/pressure off the hip then a slow jog down. I normally do this loop around 55mins, today was 1:15, ouch... hopefully will be better tomorrow.

6 PM:  Walked 4 miles in an hour.  Bailed on running the Dash-n-Dine 5K this evening due to how sore my hip and body are from the bike crash yesterday. Plus it probably is good not to reaggravate the achillies again anyways. Paula and I did go since we paid for our food so we walked 4 miles, ate, and went home. Just the evening I needed.

Wednesday:

6:45 AM:  8 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy 2 plus laps of Davidson Mesa to check things out. The first 4 miles were ROUGH but things started to warmup and loosen up after that. Body felt much better afterwards than it did beforehand.

3 PM:  40mins at Vasa.

3-4 sets of the following lifts at Vasa this afternoon.

Machine Press
Pulldowns
Flys
Dumbbell Rows
Lateral Raises
Bar Curl
Tricep Pushdowns

-- followed this up with 30mins in the hot tub at home.

Quadrock which I ran last Saturday released the free race photos.  Blah....

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  172.8 with 8.8% bodyfat according to the home scale.  Finally remembered to do my Thursday weigh in.  Need to lose 2-3lbs in the next 8 weeks.  Should be doable.

7 AM:  8 miles averaging 8 min pace.  Easy 2 plus laps of Davidson Mesa again. Same run as yesterday. Was told by the coach that we are removing all hills this week and will be an easy flat week due to all the racing I have been doing and to let this hip heal. Need to let all this work I have been doing get absorbed verses to keep pushing and getting into a deep hole.

---  Got the calf and achillies dry needled again this afternoon along with a bunch of other PT stuff.  Trying to get this taken care of.

Friday:

7 AM:  8 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy laps in the open space by the house. Did not feel like driving anywhere this morning. Took Venus out for the first 4.5miles then dropped her off and finished it up. It was starting to get to hot for her already.

10 AM:  1 hour in the garage gym.  Easy lifting in the garage..

Bunch of sets of bench and dumbell deadlifts then the rest of the time doing my PT work for my achillies and some core stuff.  Followed this up with 20mins in the sauna.

-- 90min massage this afternoon... been a while and was much needed.  Focus of course was getting blood flow to the achillies and all the muscle structures around it.

Saturday: 

7 AM:  5.5 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy jog before Crossfit on the Rock Creek trail. Super chill. Calf still sore from dry needling on Thursday.

9 AM: 1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Jogging and mobility.

Manion : 21 mins 17 secs | Not Rx'd
7 rounds of:
Run, 400 m
29 Back Squats, 75 lbs

-- had plans to ride for 2 plus hours this afternoon but I was wasted from Crossfit.  Doing 203 back squats crushed my legs for the rest of the day.

Sunday:  

8 AM: 6.4 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy 2 laps of Davidson Mesa this morning. Breaking my long run up today due to joining Jeff later this afternoon for a run after I pick him up from the airport. Just mileage to pad the daily total.

1 PM: 9 miles w/ 1900ft of vert averaging 11min miles.  Easy out and back on the Mesa trail with Browning. Can't believe how good he is running only 10 days after Cocodona 250. Crazy recovery.... Felt good for the most part but hip started to hurt again with about a mile left in the run. Ended up limping the rest of the day and stairs are now a challenge. I am so over this shit.

-- on a positive note got these in the mail today.... Sherman is now fully legal. 

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad recovery week at all with the exception of yesterday's hilly run.  Really thought the hip was finally good to go but still can't handle any sort of hills.  When I got home I could barely make it up the stairs and still struggling with them the next morning as I am typing this.  Kind of need to be doing hills for Hardrock right?  Sigh..... Going to give it a few more weeks to see how it heals, if it is still giving me issues on hills I will probably pull the plug on Hardrock and give my spot to someone who would at least have a chance of finishing.  Right now that is not going to happen for me with this hip.

May 6th- May 12th

"The degree to which a person can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth they can accept about themselves without running away.” – Leland Val Van De Wall.

Monday:   

2:30 PM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: bike

4-5 sets of each of these at Vasa
Hex Bar Deadlift
Leg Press
Dumbbell Walking Lunges
Seated Calf Raises
TRX Pikes

then

15mins of PT work on the calves/achillies

6 PM:  Bike 15.5 miles.  Spin class at Vasa with Paula.  Mileage is what the bike computer stated.

Tuesday:  

10 AM:  7.75 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 7:55pace.   Easy loop from the King Soopers on 287 over to Sterns Lake and the Link trail back. Good little loop to get a little vert close to home. Super windy outside so half the run was into 20-30mph winds when heading west.

6 PM: 5.2 miles averaging 6:35pace.  Warmup of about 2 miles then Dash-n-Dine 5K out at the Boulder Rez.. super windy still coming from the west so the wind pushed us out to the turn around then of course had to fight into the wind the second half. Heartrate was HIGH coming back into the wind. 1st place dude beat me by 2mins, damn youngsters. 18:46.. still have some wheels.. hopefully get closer to 18 next week if the achilles holds.

Wednesday:

7 AM:  8.6 miles w/ 2000ft of vert averaging 10:40pace.  Easy hill jog this morning around the Boulder trails. Super chill this morning because the achillies was aggravated from the 5K last night. Went straight to the gym afterwards.

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

Chipper: 15 mins 12 secs
20 Shoulder Press, 70% 1RM | 95 lbs
Farmer's Carry, 200 m | 40 lbs
30 Push Press | 95 lbs
Farmer's Carry, 200 m | 40 lbs
40 Push Jerks | 95 lbs
Farmer's Carry, 200 m | 40 lbs

-- put the achillies in the cold plunge for 4mins after the workout.  It was fired up.

4:30 PM:  7.1 miles averaging 8:15pace.  Easy laps around the open space by the house just to pad the mileage some this week. Super chill yet again.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Forgot yet again...

8:30 AM:  7.25 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy jog on the Rock Creek Trail starting and ending at the gym. Had plans to do Sanitas and Anemone this morning but overslept and did not have time to make the drive to Boulder this morning during rush hour. Usually I drive there before rush hour starts. Oh well. Will try to get that done tomorrow instead.

10 AM: 1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

5 RF-ME / 1 min Stations: 150 reps | 27, 29, 31, 31, and 32 reps
5 rounds, 1 min per station:
Devil Press | 25 lbs
Assault Bike Calorie
Rope Climb
Rest 1 min

--  PT appointment again this afternoon to dry needle and scrap the achilles.  To sore afterwards to jog the second run of the day which is fine.  I am actually really wiped out this afternoon.  Been pushing the past 2 weeks for sure.

Friday:

6 AM:  5.1 miles w/ 1350ft of vert averaging 12min pace.  Super chill lap of Sanitas this morning. Was planning on doing more but had to much on my plate today I needed to attend to before leaving for Fort Collins this afternoon for Quadrock tomorrow. Yep another night in the van.

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility

Weighted Pull-up : 5-3-3-1-1-1-3-3-5 : 1132 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 | 71 lbs
1 Weighted Pull-up | 76 lbs
3 Weighted Pull-ups | 53 lbs
3 Weighted Pull-ups | 53 lbs
5 Weighted Pull-ups | 35 lbs

--then--

30mins of core work and PT work on the achilles

Saturday: 

7 AM:  Quadrock 25 miler-  5500ft of vert in 4:28.  Not my best day out there on this course, about 20mins slower than normal. Think this was number 4 or 5 doing this race and my worse time yet. Was cruising okay for the most part but energy plummeted at mile 18 and ended up walking/jogging it in. Oh well, we all have those days. Most likely from all the races I have been doing lately and the fact that I did not taper at all for this, just trained right through it. Now should I do a 50K in Estes Park next weekend or not? Or just a normal 20 mile training run... trying to decide that next.  

Sunday:  

9 AM: 7.3 miles averaging 8:30pace.  Easy 2 laps of Davidson Mesa in the rain. Had plans to ride bikes for 2.5 hours this morning but weather changed that. Could have rode the afternoon but was drinking old fashions at The Flats Beer Garden instead. Fun Sunday!

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad overall week.  Starting to feel like I am starting to hit my stride a little bit and hopefully can keep building the next 4 weeks before work travel kicks in right before Hardrock.  Not ideal but not much I can do about it.  Less miles this coming week, little bit of a recovery week.

April 29th- May 5th

 “Don’t be afraid to try new things in training. Unless they’re stupid.” - Greg Everett, Catalyst Athletics

-- Little change in the training to help deal with the achillies.  Since large single runs over 15-20 miles seems to trigger it somewhat coach had the idea to do more doubles for a while to keep the volume up but hopefully not trigger it.  Lets see how that goes for a bit.

Monday:   

7:30 AM:  10.25 miles w/ 2700ft of vert averaging 11:30pace.  2 easy laps of Mount Sanitas going up the ridge and down the backside. Was going to do 4 laps and make up all the mileage I missed on Saturday but with a huge week coming up I decided 10 miles was enough. I will be racing again on Saturday tired after this week and don't want to make it worse than it will be.

On a side note, flowers around Boulder are starting to make an appearance.  This makes me happy!

2:30 PM: 5.3 miles w/ 1350ft of vert averaging 11:30pace.  Another easy lap of Mount Santias this afternoon. Paula came along and did her own run doing the same lap as well. That makes 3 loops today. Whooo... Solid 15 plus miles and about 4000ft of vert today. Helps make up for missing last Saturday due to the weather.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  5.1 miles w/ 1350ft of vert averaging 11:20pace.  Easy morning lap of Sanitas before work. Legs were feeling the 3 laps from yesterday. Felt slow but was the same pace as yesterday for the most part.  Chatted with Don on the way home and he talked me off the ledge of dropping from Hardrock.  Just not in the best of head spaces right now.

---  They finally put out some of the photos from the Royal Gorge bike race Paula did last weekend.  Proud of her for going outside her comfort zone and she is smiling in the photo!

1 PM:  45mins in the garage gym

Warmup: Airbike and mobility

3-4 sets of each of the following lifts.
Decline Dumbbell Press
Barbell Inverted Row
High Incline Neutral Grip Press
Dumbbell Pullover
Lateral Raises
Alternating Dumbbell Curls
Skull Crushers

4 PM: 1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Running, mobility and drills

3 mins RemReps: : 178 reps
In 3 mins:
Run, 400 m
max rep Toes-to-bars
-- then --
In 3 mins:
Run, 400 m
max rep Kettlebell Swings, 53 lbs
-- then --
In 3 mins:
Run, 400 m
max rep Row Calories | 88
Rest 1 min
-- then --
In 3 mins:
Run, 400 m
max rep Toes-to-bars
-- then --
In 3 mins:
Run, 400 m
max rep Kettlebell Swings, 53 lbs
-- then --
In 3 mins:
Run, 400 m
max rep Row Calories | 90

--this was rougher than I expected.

6 PM: 5.2 miles averaging 7:24pace.  Dash-n-Dine 5k. This is both the warmup and the race together in my mileage and time. Started in the back and worked my way up for this was rough after that Crossfit workout just before the race. Only ran a 20:28 for 10th overall and 3rd Master. Could have broken 20 if I would have started more up front, wore one of my carbon shoes and not done all the other workouts today. Maybe next week.

Wednesday:

7 AM:  7.25 miles w/ 1100ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Miles with Bogie this morning at Betasso just west of Boulder. Been a few years since I have been here and forgot how nice the trails are here. The only issue is that it is a 30min drive from the house which is why I don't come here often. Great company today and reminded me that I do need to train with others more often and not just solo all the time, time goes by quicker for sure.

10 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Airbike, Skierg, mobility and drills.

3 RFT: 9 mins 14 secs
3 rounds of:
21 Ski Ergs
21 Assault Bike Calories
5 Front Squats, 65% 1RM | 125 lbs

--So the race I wanted to do this year in March but missed out opened today for 2025.  Put my name in.  Blackbeard's Revenge 100 on the Outerbanks North Carolina.  If you want to come check out a cool place and run a few miles with me let me know, will be looking for pacers come January.   This 100 runs the whole length of a chain of islands off the coast of North Carolina where Paula's family has a beach house that is 2 blocks from the start.  Super excited for this one!

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Forgot this morning, went straight for the coffee at 4am.

7 AM:  8.9 miles w/ 2200ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Another loop of Sanitas and Anemone again this morning. About 6 mins faster today than last week which surprised me but also had Bogie chasing me on the Sanitas part which always helps up the effort. Great damn morning out there!

--  Skipped my second run today and went to a PT appointment instead.  Decided that the achillies is not progressing enough on its own so need to bring in some help again.  Got it dry needled and worked on.  Also got some new exercises to do that should help it along quicker.  Calf was sore afterwards so took the rest of the afternoon/evening off.

Friday:

7 AM:  8.1 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Easy mileage over at Davidson Mesa before work this morning. Just cruising keeping the HR between 120-135. Calf is sore from getting dry needled yesterday and being worked on which was expected. Glad I did not run again last night afterwards.  Leaving for Buena Vista around noon today to play all weekend up there.

10 AM:  35 mins in the garage gym

Warmup: Airbike and mobility

Bunch of sets of Pullups, Bench Press, then the rest of the time was doing calf and achillies PT stuff from the appointment I had yesterday.  Trying to get on top of it.

-- Took off for Buena Vista for the weekend at lunch time.  Another Colorado adventure weekend in the van!!  Giddy up!!

Saturday: 

7 AM:  Colleigate Peaks 25 miler in 3:42. Not a bad day at all. Ran the first half or so trying to keep my HR under 140 then ran the second half keeping it around 150. Did notice that my HR was 5-10 beats higher than normal at the efforts I was putting out. Think that was due to elevation and just a bigger week of training in general. Did not taper at all for this race, just used it as a long supported run. Finished in a PR time on this course for me, 13th overall and 2nd Master.

Sunday:  

9 AM: Walk 2 miles in 45mins.  Easy dog walk around town while Paula is biking racing. Legs are shot of course so super chill with the dog.  Paula did great today and got it done!!!  It was the exact same course that I ran yesterday.  Fun weekend!!

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad week at all training wise.  Did miss a run due to soreness from PT and a bike ride yesterday with watching Venus while Paula was bike racing but good with it.  Should be another bigger week this coming week with Quadrock 25 miler this Saturday which I do not plan on tapering for.  Yes I am using races as supported long runs in my build up to Hardrock in the month May.  In June I will stop racing and just train up in Fairplay.  Little different approach than the past few years in my build up so hopefully it will pay off.

April Recap

 Just realized this morning that I have not been doing the monthly recaps like I was last year.  Darn it.... Anyways not the greatest month but also not the worse.  At least the total hours was over 70 hours which is what I like to see.  Yes the achillies is still there, I have not been able to solve that issue yet.  We are now over 4 months of dealing with it.