September 8th- September 14th

"When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength, and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you." - Ruby Bridges

--  Seemed like a good quote with Dan and Taylor running Run Rabbit Run 100 this weekend.  

Monday:   

6 AM:  9.5 miles averaging 7:25 pace.  3 easier laps of Davidson Mesa this morning before work. Took about a mile to warm up then felt great the rest of the run. Super surprised how easily I was able to fall into a rhythm and just cruise along. Encouraging.

4 PM:  40mins Garage gym session- light legs

Warmup: Airbike, Crossover, and Mobility

Barbell Box Back Squat
10@ 145lbs
10@ 155lbs
10@165lbs
10@165lbs

Trap bar Deadlift
10@ 175lbs
10@ 185lbs
10@ 195lbs
10@ 195lbs

Single Leg Calf Raises
3x10 @ 25lbs each leg

Ab Wheel Rollouts
2x10

Tuesday:  

5:30 AM:  Over slept a little bit this morning so decided to lift and run later in the day.  Plus it might be nice to run in the warmer sun instead of the dark early in the morning for a change.

35min garage gym session

Warmup: Skierg, Crossover, and mobility

Bench press
10 @ 135lbs
8 @ 145lbs
6 @ 155lbs
4 @ 165lbs
2 @ 175lbs

DB Flat Bench Flies
4x10 @ 25lbs

DB Skullcrushers
4x10 @ 20lbs

3 PM:  10.2 miles w/ 750ft of vert averaging 7:20pace.  Almost skipped this run because just was not into it after lunch. Took most of my will power to get started and glad I did. Turned into a great run after the first 2 miles. Nice and overcast with some sprinkles to keep the temps down. Still love the new trail that connects the dirty biz to rocky flats, it is a nice 1 mile hill at the perfect grade to run.

Wednesday:

6 AM:  12.5 miles averaging 6:45pace.  Workout Wednesday!!! Done over at Davidson Mesa again and had a flyby of the BTC crew cheering me on which was cool. Felt great this morning and might be one of the better workouts I have done in a while.  Last Workout Wednesday before Cowboy in 2.5 weeks.

20 min warm up

4x30 sec fast/30 sec easy to get HR up
jog 90 sec
10/8/6/4/2 min fast/2 min easy start at marathon effort and work down on each interval until you are running roughly 10k effort for the last one.

20 min cool down

--  Took off after work today to start making my way towards Steamboat to crew Dan at Run Rabbit Run 100 this weekend.  Drove up to Blue River Campground about 7 miles north of Silverthorne. Great camp spot!

Thursday:  

8 AM:  11.5 miles w/ 750ft of vert averaging 7:40pace.  Was going to run in Silverthorne but was raining when I woke up so kept driving towards Steamboat. Stopped and ran the roads around Kremmling which was really nice. I really like this town the more time I spend in it. Tired today and legs are heavy but still a good run.  Headed off to Steamboat which is about another hour north from Kremmling to wait for Dan's arrival.  Once he arrived the rest of the afternoon was going over his race plan and getting him checked into the race.  Going to be a fun weekend!

Friday:

10 AM:  8 miles averaging 7:45pace.  Bike path through Steamboat after watching Dan start the RRR100 this morning. Legs still feel like shit. Not sure what is up with that but whatever.  Dan started at 9am this morning.  After his start I drove straight to Olympic Hall where I was able to park the van in the front row where it would stay until Saturday morning.  Nice to sit in the van when raining and see all the runners come and go, yes the weather was horrible this year at Run Rabbit.  The plan was for me to crew him twice from Olympic while he had drop bags up at Summit Lake.  Needless to say spent about 24 hours just hanging out here running into lot of people that I know.  Dan came through the first time at 10PM and the second time at 2AM, both times he was looking good with the exception of his feet which were all blistered up due to all the rain today.

Saturday: 

No run today... basically up all night with about 2-3 hours of sleep.  After Dan left at 2AM I was to hopped up on caffeine to get any real sleep and spent most of the night watching other runners and socializing with people I see only a few times a year.  Did finally go to sleep around 4AM for a little it but probably would have been better just to stay up, felt worse after sleeping than before.  Got moving around 7:30am and headed to the finish line to hang out.  Took the gondola up the mountain with Dan's wife and kids to see him with about 4 miles to go.  Login (his 14 year old son), ran it in with him through a thunderstorm while we got stuck on top due to the weather, they shut the gondola down until the storm passed.  That will be an experience they will always remember.

Sunday:  

Got up early and started the drive home getting home around 9am.  Paula had a hike planned with friends and left at 6am and would not be home until 6pm so had to get home to help with the dog.  By the time I got home I was just to damn tired to give a shit about getting my run in so day number 2 off this weekend.  Spent the rest of the day reading, napping and watching football.  Yes I may feel guilty about it but I am A-OKAY with it as well.  Did finish book number 20 on the year.

Total Weekly Numbers

The worse week I have had in quite a while mileage wise but whatever.  Probably should have gone to The Rut in MT, would have gotten in more training but life is not always about getting in more and more and more.  The trip to Steamboat was to help out a friend who has helped me a number of times without ever being asked.  It was time to pay it forward, I would have made the same decisions even if I knew this was what was going to happen.  May also be a blessing in disguise because I was really starting to feel run down and a few days off may actually pay off in the long run.  Cowboy is less than 2 weeks away now... damn time flies....