2023 in Review

 “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” - Abraham Lincoln

Really love this quote.  Guess it is time to put together some sort of year in review just for my record to look back on in the years to come.  So here we go again.

Been a much better year overall than last.  At least there were no major injuries that made me take more than a week off.  Did miss my goals at Hardrock but came back in Nov for a win at FatOx.  Would have rather had hit my goals at Hardrock but I will take it. 

Training: More of a normal year this year overall.  Running mileage was down a bit but was made up with the skimo mileage and vert.  Replaced a lot of running time in the spring doing skimo to get ready for Grand Traverse with Bob.  For the 3rd or 4th year in a row really disappointed on my lack of time on my bikes, just that going for a run is so much more convenient.

How does that compare to the past years?  Well this is an interesting view of the last 16 years.  Back to a somewhat normal year volume wise after the down year last year due to major injuries.  Came in just under 850 hours total.  Hoping to get over 900 hours this year.

Here is the total ski days for this year.  Would have liked more but most I have had since college I think.  Will be a drop off this year for I have no skimo races on the calendar this year.

Races:

A somewhat more normal year for me as far as races are concerned.  Not quite the 30 plus events that I normally partake but close.  Did really struggle in the fall with burn out and did not start a couple of races in Sept...  

Here is an interesting view of my race mileage this year from my spreadsheet.  Lots of running races for sure compared to others.

2023 Races/Events

• Resolute Runner 5K 1/1/23 (20:19- 6th overall, 1st age group)
• Rise and Shine Skimo #5 1/10/23 (2.64 miles in hour) 
• Coldwater Rumble Half 1/14/23 (1:35:32 - 5th overall)
• Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half 1/15/23 (2:05:26 - jogged with Don)
• Old Man Winter Run/Bike 2/5/23  (Good Times!!)
• Crossfit Open 2/16-3/5 (Good Times!)
• Salida Marathon 3/11/23 (Missed 2 miles of the course so DNF)
• Spring Equinox Half 3/26 (1:23:37- 14th overall, 2nd age group)
• Grand Traverse Ski 4/1/23 (15:27)
• Pacing Cocodona 250 5/2/23 (Good Times!!  He got it done)
• Elden Crest 36 5/5/23  (DNS)
• Jemez 50K 5/20/23 (6:39:54)
• Georgetown Burro 5/27/23 (8.6miles in 1:14- 2nd)
• Idaho Springs Burro 5/28/23 (5miles in 42:39- 2nd)
• Bolder Boulder 10k 5/29/23 (37:51- 2nd in the age group)
• Hardrock 100 7/14/23 (36:23:56 - 31st)
• Pacing Leadville 100 (Good Times!)
• Grand Traverse Run 9/2/23 (DNS)
• Grand Traverse Bike 9/3/23 (DNS)
• Victor Burro 9/9/23 (2nd overall - 1:13:04)
• Pikes Peak Ascent 9/16/23 (4th age group- 3:14:34)
• Dirt Circus 10/7/23 (Good times!)
• Fat Ox 100 11/16/23 (18:25:03- 1st)
• Colder Boulder 5K 12/2/23 (19:16)

Books:  

24 books this year which was the goal.  To be totally honest I have barely cracked open a book in the last 2 months of the year so there is that.  Once I hit my goal I pretty much quit reading.  All over the place on my books with no real theme which is normal for me. I just read whatever catches my eye.  Kept the same goal this year with a goal of 24 or 2 per month.  Best book of the year???  Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker*  and of course any of the Jack Carr books.

2023 Books Read 

1. Quiet War: A Cade Grayson Thriller (Book 1)

2. Greenlights*

3. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker*

4. Living the High Performance Life

5.  Training for Ultra Running

6. Search & Rescue in Colorado's Sangre de Cristos***   

7. Free Outside*

8. The Brave Athlete: Calm the Fuck Down

9. Unshakeable

10. The Strenuous Life*

11. The Longest Race*

12. Built to Move*

13. A Mile at a Time

14. Never Finished* (audio book)

15. Jack Carr Only the Dead*

16. Boots on the Ground by Dusk

17. The Race that Changed Running: The Story Inside UTMB*

18. A Walk in the Woods*

19. Everything All at Once: A Memoir*

20. Choose Strong

21. Chameleon*

22. What Doesn't Kill Us* - Reread

23. Transformed*

24. Arisen: Raiders, Vol 5- The Last Raid

Review of Goals for 2023:  

Another hit or miss year on my loose top 10 goals that I laid out last year....  

1.  Improve my time at Hardrock over last year.  Failed but gave it a good shot!
2. Read at least 24 books Completed
3. Run Coaching Certification Been to lazy
4. Travel somewhere new for a race Complete- couple of new places this year.
5. Sky Dive Still waiting on Avery but the new baby will delay this a bit.
6. Keep the blog more updated Complete, prob to many updates.
7. No more than 1 drink a month Fuck no, not even close.
8. Average a Peak a week in 2023 Complete- Over 85 summits this year.
9. Backpacking on the Colorado Trail for 3-7 days Failed.. forgot about this goal
10. Work on my lack of mobility at least 3-4 times a week. Most of the year

Goals for 2023: 

Of course there is some rollover from last year but they can be repeated year over year, especially the travel ones.  This of course does not include any work, family, or relationship goals... this is just strictly goals as they relate to this blog.

1.  Improve my time at Hardrock over last year.  
2. Read at least 24 books
3. Run Coaching Certification
4. Travel somewhere new for a race
5. Sky Dive
6. Keep the blog going weekly 
7. Start more than 100 mile race this year
8. Average a Peak a week in 2024
9. Backpacking on the Colorado Trail for 3-7 days 
10. Work on my lack of mobility at least 3-4 times a week.

2023  in Pictures  (Chose at least 1 photo per month which was super challenging!  A few of the months have 2 or more photos below.  Just to hard to decide. And yes, I tried to have that at least one other person is in the photo with me and choose different photos than my year end post on Instagram.  You can go through the weekly posts to see a lot of photos from the year)

Have a Happy and Safe 2024!!!!!

December Recap

  “Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success.” - Richard Carlson

Lowest month of the year in overall time and miles but all good.   Lots of time in the weight room trying to get back some of the strength I lost the past few months with all the endurance training but with that comes a little bit of weight gain.  Time to start building back up for 2024.  Will be starting the year a little bit more balanced between all of the different activities.  That is the goal anyways.

Dec 25th- Dec 31st

“Unlike an external enemy, the inner enemy cannot regroup and launch a comeback once it has been destroyed from within.” - Dalai Lama

Monday:   

11 AM: 6.3 miles s/ 1200ft of vert averaging 10min miles. Easy loops over on Gashawk and Spring Brook.  Just super chill due to being icy and achillies.  NO PAIN!!!  First run in a while that things felt somewhat normal, little bit of pinching the first mile but that went away as it warmed up.  Maybe turning a corner?  Awesome morning out the hills.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Drove across the HWY to Marshall Mesa where I knew Paula and her best friend Erica where running with the dogs.  This is what I found.  LOL!!!  Guess they were trying to win a contest for a free race entry from Yeti Racing.  The photo of them jumping was the entry.  HAAA...

Tuesday:  

10 AM:  5.6 miles w/ 1300ft of vert averaging 10min miles.  Easy cruise from the South Mesa trailhead to the base of Shadow Canyon and back. Icy so slow going, especially coming back downhill. Time to dig out the shoes with the built in screws under foot.

Wednesday:

10 AM:  6.25 miles w/ 1400ft of vert averaging 10:30min pace.  2 laps of Anemone loop in Boulder. Forgot how much I LOVE this loop, so runnable yet you can get in some vert as well. Took a bit to get going, could feel the last 2 days but the achilles is holding up well so that is a huge win.  Really focused on keeping everything easy this week so not to blow up the achillies again.

4 PM:  1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills.

5x 3 mins RemReps: 34 reps | 8, 7, 7, 6, and 6
5 rounds, 3 mins each, of:
18 Burpee Over Bars
18 Wall Balls, 20 lbs
max rep Clean & Jerks, 50% 1RM | 95 lbs | 8, 7, 7, 6, and 6
Rest 1 min

--This one was ROUGH!!!!  

5:30 PM: 2.1 miles averaging 9min pace.  Easy out and back from Runners Roost to Davidson Mesa trailhead. Started with the group but bailed early so I could get the raffle setup before everyone got back. Got to give away 2 pairs of Speedland shoes and 2 race entries at Run Club.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope, starting in the new year.

9 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

Chipper: 13 mins 40 secs
45 Front Squats, 65 lbs
45 Pull-ups
30 Front Squats, 65 lbs
30 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
15 Front Squats, 65 lbs
15 Burpee Chest-to-bar Pull-ups

then-

15 mins of core work that Dan (head coach at the gym) gave me to work on to get the back ready for next year. Hopefully between this and PT we will be good to go this summer.

2:30 PM:  7.8 miles w/ 1300ft of vert averaging 10min pace.  Easy loop from Bear Canyon Trailhead up to the Mesa trail then south to Blue Bell and back on the roads. Would have stayed on the trails back but was sort of sick of the ice. Super chill run with lots of photo stops.

4 PM: Walk 2.2 miles in 38mins.  Easy afternoon dog walk.  Stiff as hell from the zero to hero as far as adding mileage this week.  Achilles is holding up so far. 

Friday:

9 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing and mobility

FT: 7 mins 36 secs
120 Push-ups
Every 1 min (starting at 0:00) complete:
Row, 120 m

--then---

Core work from Dan to finish out the hour- planks and banded marches.

1:30 PM:  6.75 miles averaging 8 min pace.  Easy loop of the Costco loop. Achilles was not happy after this one for some reason, been good all week. Wondering if it is from pace since most of the week has been slower on icy trails.

3 PM: Walk 2 miles in 31 mins.  Easy dog walk after my jog to try and loosen the achilles.

Saturday: 

9 AM:  1:15 at the gym

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

20 RFT: 31 mins 14 secs
20 rounds of:
Partner Wod
10 Assault Bike Calories
10 Box Step-ups, 24 in
Devil Press, 35% 1RM | 35 lbs
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

-- partner with Paula

--then a bunch of core work for 15mins after the WOD

1:30 PM:  Gravel bike 23 miles in 1:45.  Achilles was not happy today so Paula talked me into a gravel bike since I am skipping running today to rest the Achilles. We rode from Broomfield to Erie and back on the Coal Creek trail system.  I am soooo out of bike shape, legs were shot by the end of this but the weird part is that after the ride the Achilles no longer hurt and the limping went away. WTF?

Sunday:  

8:30 AM:  10 miles w/ 1100ft of vert averaging 8:50pace.  Easy out and back on CR64 in Bailey with Don. Super chill for a last run of 2023. This is the same road I was doing tempos on this summer getting ready for Hardrock, I call it Mini Mags...  Of course we hit the Cut Throat Cafe in Bailey for breakfast right after the run like usual.  Go there and get the breakfast burrito, one of the best out there.

Total Weekly Numbers

Solid week overall considering the achilles issues I have been battling through.  Only missed a one run this week to let it rest.  Hoping that I am now on the backside of this issue and can get back at it, got a lot of work to do this month to get my base back to a decent level.

Mental Toughness Thoughts

"Keep wise people around you who have similar goals.  Iron sharpens iron." - L.C. Fowler

What does mental toughness look like in your training every day?

It looks like giving everything you have, regardless of the result.  Does easy mean easy and hard means hard?  Are you doing the intent of the workout?

It looks like being excited to work on weaknesses as much as (or more then) strengths.

It looks like not comparing your workouts to others.  Or who cares what Strava says.

It looks like holding yourself to the highest standards- even when you are alone.

It looks like putting your training above external factors like the weather or internal ones like your mood.

It looks like being proud every time you finish a workout, knowing you did everything you could do to get a little bit better.

And it looks like showing up again tomorrow, ready. 

LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dec 18th- Dec 24th

“Those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything.” - Thomas Merton

Monday:   

9 AM: 1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and drills

Deadlift : 5-3-3-1-1-1 : 3990 lbs
Sets
5 Deadlifts | 245 lbs
3 Deadlifts | 275 lbs
3 Deadlifts | 315 lbs
1 Deadlift | 335 lbs
1 Deadlift | 345 lbs
1 Deadlift | 315 lbs

-then-

Interval - Row Calories : 10 x 30 secs / 30 secs : 132 reps
Tabata Row (calories)

Paula got herself a PR in the deadlift today hitting 195lbs.

Tuesday:  

9 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Rowing, mobility and drills

Chipper: 13 mins 32 secs
25 Ski Ergs
75 Hang Power Cleans, 65 lbs
50 GHD Sit-ups
75 Push Press, 65 lbs
25 Ski Ergs

-Ski Erg instead of jump rope due to Achilles

-- On the way home from the gym Paula and I discovered a new French bakery called La Belle on HWY 287 in Broomfield.  Go there now....  so good.  Photos taken by GZ who went there right after we did, I did not have my phone to take photos when I was there.

-- Skipped the run again today to give the Achilles more time.  Getting really frustrated with it to be honest with you.

Wednesday:

9 AM:  1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

5 RFT: 16 mins 34 secs
5 rounds of:
Echo Bike, 600 m
15 R Arm Kettlebell Snatches, 35 lbs
15 L Arm Kettlebell Snatches, 35 lbs
15 Pull-ups

--- Airbike instead of running yet again... sigh....

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope... start back up in the new year....

7 AM:  Skimo 4 miles w/ 1900ft of vert in 1:08.  Took the morning off work and got in the 1st ski of the year!! 2 laps at Eldora this morning. Starting slow and will start building back up. No issues with achillies like I thought there would be but the hip on my bad side (back injury side) was cramping a lot when turning coming down.  Got some work to do there to get the hips strong again.

10:30 AM:   1 hour at the gym.

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

40-30-20-10: 15 mins 18 secs
40-30-20-10 reps of:
Push-up
Wall Ball, 20 lbs
Assault Bike Calorie

-then-

Elevated Goblet Squat :
Sets
10 Elevated Goblet Squats | 26 lbs
10 Elevated Goblet Squats | 26 lbs
10 Elevated Goblet Squats | 26 lbs
10 Elevated Goblet Squats | 26 lbs

Friday:

2:30 PM:  8.5 miles averaging 8:45pace.  Solstice Slog!!! This year we went from my house to 3 breweries and a distillery. Great time!! I think the days of 25-30miles and 7-8 breweries are long gone. This was about the perfect slog for all of our old asses. We're missing a few regulars who were missed, but good times were had.

Saturday: 

8 AM:  1 hour at the gym

Warmup: Airbike, mobility and drills

12 Days of Christmas WOD.. one of my favorites. Just like the song, do 1, then 2-1, then 3-2-1, ect... until done.

Chipper: 24 mins 45 secs
1 Wall Walk
2 Devil Press | 35 lbs
3 Pull-ups
4 Toes-to-bars
5 Dumbbell Push-ups | 35 lbs
6 Dumbbell Push Press | 35 lbs
7 Box Jumps, 24 in
8 Jumping Alternating Lunges
9 Goblet Squats | 53 lbs
10 Kettlebell Swings | 53 lbs
11 Burpees
12 oz of beer

6 PM: Walk 3.7 miles in 2 hours.  Walking tour of downtown Denver looking at all the lights with Paula and her friends. There is some cool shit down there to check out so get down there!  Actually put me in the Christmas mood which is rare for me.

Sunday:  

11 AM: 4.2 miles averaging 8:15pace.  Easy lap of Davidson and Harper to test out the achillies.  Did much better today... hopeful!

Spent the evening at the Bronco's game.  Paula's first time at the Bronco's stadium but she has been to quite a few NFL games, she has even been to 3 Superbowls, WTF..... anyways had a great time even though the outcome was less than ideal.  Awesome seats!

Total Weekly Numbers

Next to no running for the most part with the exception of the brewery run and a test run on Sunday.  Hopefully that will give the achillies the rest it needs to turn a corner.  Lots of time in the weight room instead changing any movements that would affect the achillies to keep it safe.  Hopefully will be back at it soon.