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.