Wednesday 043008, Green Mountain and that damn question

I get "that" question a lot this time of the year.  "That" question is," ARE YOU DOING THE BOLDER BOULDER?  Of course this year, I am not.  Most people I work with don't understand this.  When I say I am not prepared to run the race, they look at me like I am nuts.  "Not ready?  You could run it in your sleep!"  In short, they are not discerning between running 6.21 miles and racing that distance.  I have no desire to shell out 40 plus bucks to go hang out with 45000 plus other people at 7AM on Memorial Day weekend to run a sub par time.  And I define that par for me, as they do for them. 

Busy day, including a dental appointment so I did not get out until late in the afternoon.  I got on Green from Chautauqua, taking Baseline, Amphitheater, Greenman.  Amp is really tough on me, I find it hard anytime.  I bumped into JV there, just before Greenman and he was kind enough to join me even though he was nearly all the way down.  It was great to shoot the crap with him, particularly since I have not seen in him in a couple of weeks. I got up in just under 48.  We came down the NWR and I RT'd in 82 minutes.  The temp changed like crazy over this trip ... low 80s to start and it had easily dropped 15 degrees by the end.  Colder weather blowing in.

Tuesday 042908, Green Mountain

Got out to Green in the afternoon.  It must have been mid 70s.  Took Baseline, Gregory, Ranger up.  I never started the watch but I got up under 50.  On the way down, I ran into Galen Burrell and a friend of his.  It was great to see him, but I was saddened to hear he is fighting an injury as well.  Round trip was under 85.

My calves are stupid sore.  Why stupid sore?  Because I did a stupid number of calf raises yesterday (several hundred) and have not done those in a while.

Monday 050208, Green Mountain, a day in the life

0455 ... wake up.  This is after several false wake ups at 0215, 0320, 0355, 0420 ... get some coffee, get dressed, let dogs out

0520 ... head to Chautauqua.  Twelve mile drive.

0545 ... hit the trail.  Head up Baseline Trail, then Gregory, then Ranger.  Just before the final switchbacks before the four way junction, I catch a guy who is also power hiking but with poles.  I get by him but then he decides to ramp up his effort and stays on my heels.  When we get to the top, he starts to run down so I let him go.  I come down Greenman (icy) back to Ranger to Gregory.  95 minutes.  I had decided to power hike again today because I found that yesterday effort left me a bit sore (a good thing and a bad thing) and because my schedule today was not going to really let me bike.  I get up in a few ticks under 50, and come down super easy in 44 and change.

0730 ... drive to work from Boulder. 

0750 ... get to the office, check up on mail, calendar for day, hit the shower.

0830 to noon I had originally sketched out here what I did most of the day but it was pretty ... well, boring.  I don't find it boring to do it, but it is boring to read about it.  I go to meetings, follow up on things via email, crunch metrics, check project status, get status to give status to drive status, hound folks, beat feet around the building to check in with development staff, software test staff, tech writers, CM junkies, etc. 

We are in a four story building.  I refuse to take the elevator.  This is just a stupid thing, but I feel that I am obliged to always take the stairs.  In fact, if I see someone hop the elevator and I am heading to the stairwell at the same time, I want to get to that floor, location, where ever, before they do ... be it up or down.

... crack me up link of the day ... tip of hat to JK.

1200 ... Lunch ... I eat a wrap with chicken, veggies, feta ...  I hide in an unoccupied conference room to get my head down and get some work done.

I get an email from Bernie on his weekend exploits.  His finish line picture is epic.  Seriously, this was the finish line ...

1300 -1630 ... after I eat, I go to one of our office common areas and continue to work.  But as it is a common area, folks come up and discuss things.  I purposely try to avoid working in my cube area all the time because of this very phenomena.  I have no less than a half dozen different conversations with various team members ...  two with company execs, two with testers, etc ... on topics as diverse as quality, the Bolder Boulder, the new building, the state of the current service pack, our software architecture, etc.  I continue to bounce around the building ... interacting live (face to face) and virtually (calls, email).

1630 ... in the center stairwell, even though we are a four story building, the stairs go up to the roof.  I explore up there to check it out.  I do calf raises for a bit, and my exercises for my abs ... if anyone saw me up there, they'd think I am insane but I am out of sight and hence out of mind.

1650 ... wrap up for the day, check out what is queued up for tomorrow.  Start thinking of doing another Green trip tomorrow AM.  I meet the family in Louisville for some Chinese.  We plan to go to a movie, but I botched the times and we totally miss the start of the movie.  We head home and retire for the night.  By 8PM, we are winding down pretty fast.

I found an other place that JV would love to race ... I ain't doing this one... I can't figure out what the photographer is on other than acid.

Sunday, 042708, Green Mountain, week in review

Got up early with Lucy and hit the trails.  I kept my promise not to run but hiking the trails up Green.  And I enforced this by wearing a backpack.  For some reason, when I wear a backpack, I can't really run.  It is like kryptonite or something.  And that was fine, as I only wanted to hike today anyway.  Wait, that is not true.  I really wanted to run in my heart, but my brain told me not to. 

We started out of the Gregory Canyon lot today.  I did this to short circuit the hike by about a half mile and to avoid the fox.  Generally I don't like parking up there because of the greater chance of break in.  We went up Gregory, then Ranger - as these are trails I can let Lucy run off leash.  I kept the movement for me honest - at that hiking pace that is uncomfortable.  In fact, it was at a pace where I'd probably expend less energy to go as fast if I were running.

I had brought my IPOD, but I did not listen to it.  Instead I elected to listen to the morning, then let my thoughts ramble and to listen to them to see where they were going.  They don't go anywhere particularly exciting, and in fact often end up in the same places over and over again.

Round trip was 80+ min, 48 up, 33 down.

Week overview ...

• M - 75 mins biking outdoors
• T - 60 mins biking outdoors
• W - 80 mins biking outdoors
• Th - 90 mins biking outdoors
• F - 150 mins biking indoors, with 10 x 3 on, 2 off
• Sa - 90 min biking outdoors
• Su - 80 min hiking

625 minutes on the week, so about 10.5 hours.  I'd really like to believe that this "training" is highly effective stuff.  I know that it is better than nothing, of course.  But given the burn I was feeling in my quads today, I know it is a far cry from what I would need to be doing to be best prepared.  I am more positive about this than I have been however... I am not sure that comes across in the printed word, but it is the case. 

Also of note ... Pikes Ascent power houses, Andy Ames and Simon Gutierrez, showed early season strong form in Austin TX yesterday, running 32:46 and 31:41 respectively for 10K (landing 9th and 4th in the Masters 10K championships).

I am glad to you are okay ...

There is a phenomena of the blog world that I have yet to find the right words to explain.  Basically it is this:  there are people I have met through blogging that I have never met in person.  Yet I find myself not only interested in what these people are doing, but caring for them.  Even though we have never even talked to each other over the phone, I find a connectedness with them ... as we share a common faith to hard work, sweat, sacrifice, commitment ... Some of these folks were directly / indirectly associated with the fatal shark attack near San Diego on Friday AM.  For some of them, it was quite a near miss.  It is odd ... I'd normally read such a story and think - "wow, shark attack" and move on ... and the story would get lost in the mental debris of all the chaos around us.  But this one rings a bit louder, as there are these virtual people I know who were nearer to it.  My best wishes to all involved.

Saturday 042608

The weather was interesting today.  Sunny in the AM, then gray, then snow and wind, then calm and clear and then gray again.  I got out in the afternoon on the road bike.  The mountain bike that I have been riding on will require some work before it can be ridden again.  The road bike, an old Lotus, feels tiny after being on the mountain bike for a bit.  In any case, the need for a better bike is gnawing at me ... particularly as I grind these into dust.  This grinding of bicycles has a long tradition.

When I was 12 I had a paper route.  I had an old three speed with the big old baskets on the backside for the newspapers.  And it was an afternoon delivery paper route.  My route, and I am not making this up, was on Beelzebub Road.  One Indian Summer day, I am nearly finished with the route ... I had like three houses left.  Cheryl B (I remember her full name actually), a 12 year old gear came biking the other way.  I can still see her:  she is riding a 10 speed, with the race handles, no helmet (nobody wore helmets then) so her red was flapping over her freckled skin, brown tank top, shorts that nobody wears these days (except runners in track meets) and socks pulled to her knees Michael Cooper style.  She was beautiful.  I gave her a weak smile and nod, not expecting a response.

She smiles at me and says hi.  Given that no girl in their right mind had spoken to me like that at this age except to tell me to get the hell away from them, this stirred an emotion in me that ... that ... well, had me kick that three speed into high gear.  I pushed on my pedals as hard as I could to get those last three papers delivered and then made the turn about with the mission to catch her and continue this conversation (although I had no idea what I would say).  I clicked from first gear to second gear, increasing my speed down the hill.  I could see Cheryl B way off in the distance down the road.  I knew it would be only a matter of time before I caught up.  I made the change from second to third, and hear the chain catch.  I glanced down at the chain.  It had thrown off the rear gears a bit.  I began to back pedal to see if it would re-catch ...

It was at this point that the world became undone.  I had veered off the road slightly, ... I lost control of the bike and then hit at probably 20 miles an hour a fire hydrant.  The front of the bike collapsed, I went flying over the handle bars and hit a telephone pole.  I was bleeding from a good number of places but nothing was broken (amazingly, despite the large number of awesome wrecks I had with bikes, I never broke any bones ... I guess I paid my dues as a youth with the lawn mower).   I had performed this collision in the front yard of a woman's house.  She had come running out because she thought she had heard an automobile accident.  Kindly she let me use her phone and I called my Mom to pick me up.  Thankfully, Cheryl B never saw, heard or knew of the crash ... but I never spoke to her again either. 

My Dad tool several pictures of the bike ... as it looked like someone had taken several power tools to it.  He was in absolute disbelief (appropriately so) with the story I had provided ... that I had hit a patch of sand and lost control of the bike.  He went to the scene of the crime and asked where this so called sand was (as there was none).  I never 'fessed up that I was chasing a girl, and that I just got stupid with the bike until years later. 

All this might be part of the reason why I got into running.  It is harder to run into fire hydrants by accident.

90 minutes on the bike today

Friday 042508

Various tidbits ...

• ... Miss the Boston Marathon?  You can still watch it for free on-line. Note ... I strongly disagree with the commentator's opening comment that Boston is the toughest marathon on the planet.  Yes, it is not a fast one but it is hardly the toughest.
• Last week I registered for the Ascent, and hence essentially registered for the Double (Ascent on Saturday, Marathon on Sunday).  I have contemplated the Double previously, but felt that doing it would compromise my ability to provide a best performance in either race.  As that has already been compromised with this injury and loss of training, I will look to enjoy the weekend and this opportunity.  This registration also leaves various options open, as it remains to be seen if I can pull this off.
• Oh yeah ...yesterday ... as I finished my ride, my front wheel essentially "froze."  The wheel had moved on the bolt over the axle.  I repaired this last night.  It appears that one of the nuts there had loosened and allowed this slippage.
• We will be moving to Broomfield this summer.

On the stationary bike today at the Rec Center.  I could have gotten outside, as the weather was good (a bit windy but not bad), but I had to get some work in.  Pedaled away for 2.5 hours.  In the midst of this I did 10 x 3 minutes on, 2 minutes off, with the 3 minutes being at an increased resistance.   The supposed distance was about 47.  Added 20 minutes in the dry sauna after this.

I love this stuff

Check out this video ...It was done by Jay Johnson. There are lots of good videos up there, but the "BS" ones are pretty motivating, especially for any of us in "corporate America." Thanks to the Rock and MK for the tip. Jay - sweet work.

Thursday 042408

I have been feeling ... fuzzy ... for a few days now.  It is a combination of things.  Not running of course throws me off.  Being in a new building at work, a bit more craziness with the family, we are considering a move (local), this cold I am fighting...  Alone, any one of them, I'd still be on my game.  With the sum of them, I am not.  I looked in the mirror this morning and thought, "damn Zack.  Get your crap together."  In an attempt to clear up, I biked west from the office.  I hit the Dowdy Draw, came back on the relatively new High Plains trail.  90 minutes.   I am slowly but effectively destroying my bicycle.  This continues a long tradition I have had to reducing bikes to useless hunks of metal and plastic.  More on that later.

Want to do an "up" race?

I picked this up off the Incline Club Message Board ... love to hurt on this someday... JV would eat this one up.

There's a race in Switzerland on the service stairs of the longest funicular (cable) railway in Europe called the Niesenbahn. Total elevation gain is 5474 feet, 11,674 stairs in about 5 kilometers. The winning time last year was 1:03. So it is possible to climb a vertical mile in an hour. Check out http://www.Niesenlauf.ch/ for some wild photos, race information. It's the Incline x3 with metal stairs!!

Wednesday 042308

80 minutes on the bike.  Headed east and then came back.  My butt does not seem to hurt with these rides anymore but my neck does.

Mackey on TR cover

Dave Mackey made the cover of Trail Runner Magazine!  And he did well at the 25K at Greenland.  

Bernie

I just had to post this great shot of Masters legend Bernie Boettcher. Bernie is the "Cal Ripken" of running, having run his 301st race in the last 292 weeks, with 131st Overall and 238th Masters wins. In 2008, he has completed his 19th race in 16 weeks, with 10 Overall and 16 Masters wins. And ... he is an all around great guy.

Pushy with the PT

I started getting pushy with my PT today.   I hesitate to post the exact dialogue of our email conversation here, because ... well, he did not sign up for that.  But this is what I asked:

FYI - I have continued to rest, and perform the exercises and there has been no change in the condition. I will continue to follow this program through our next appointment.
From the research that I have done (web, speaking to people that have had this injury), it seems that there are two approaches to resolve this 1.) long term rest and rehab. This is a path that can take as much as a year or more 2.) surgery to resolve. Most of the information that I have is that resolution via option 1 is less than likely.
Again, I will look for improvement via the prescribed program through our next appointment, but I want to understand what is the expected timeline to resolution via this program, and when alternatives (and what those are) are considered.

Basically, I was told to chill out (more politely than that), to focus on this rehab program, and not expect results in a week.  I totally respect that.  If endurance running has taught me anything, don't always expect short term results. 

But ... I have also heard this rest thing is just a delay of the inevitable and if anything, is just prolonging the recovery process.  So, while I don't want surgery, I don't want to screw around with this hernia thing for a freaking year if I don't have to.

My goal here is not to self prescribe surgery. My goal is to a.) fully attempt to rehab via the program prescribed but also b.) be prepared to move through the next steps (and hence understand what those steps are and how we accomplish them).  I don't want a program of a long term rest (it has been hinted that this rehab program might take 9 months), then followed by additional long rest due to surgery.

I am pretty certain that I am being seen as a bit difficult with my PT.  That is not my intent, but I am not willing to just take this one "lying down."

Tuesday 042208, measuring evaporation rates of liquids that matter

• ...Gut feels good today ... I have a cold though.
• ... MAF'ists ought to love this ...
• The parents have spoken ... I need to rest more.
• Did an hour on the bike today ... again outdoors.  I did the ride from our new office (with its ridiculous views) to our old office (where some staff still are).  This includes a few fair climbs, including the one on McCaslin.  Nothing like J-town or Ward, which I want to try ... simply to know that ... but left me with a good "wobble."
• And I am total chicken sh*t on descents.
• My son finished his science fair project over the weekend.  He did an experiment over a couple of weeks to see which liquid would evaporate the fastest.  He used milk (which lasted only a couple of days before solidifying and then molding), juice, water, beer, and vinegar.  Over the experiment he measured the amount of liquid in each cup to see how much they evaporated.  We wrapped up the experiment this Saturday, worked up his board, did some charts, and a write up.  I decided to ask him a few questions on his experiment.  "JZ, what would you do differently if you did this experiment again?" 
  "Well Dad, I'd use different liquids."
  I was impressed, thinking he wanted to continue the scientific process.  "Like what liquids?"
  With a quick grin, he shot back, "Pee."
  You can't pay for comedy this good.

Monday 04212008, Various tidbits and last week in review

First ... props to Ken (2:42:04) ;, Ryan (2:35:15) and Todd (2:44:51)for their Boston runs today. Nice job guys - I want to hear race reports.

Second -  someone I know is planning to be out here late August, early September and is looking for a race in the Boulder Denver area, ideally the half marathon distance, something on dirt.  I did some quick research and am thinking that the CU Alumni Time Trial  provides something on Labor Day weekend, is 8K (which is short of course, but that is negotiable), has stiff competition (really), is local to CU, on dirt at the Buff Ranch course (not a blade of grass in site).  Any other suggestions?  This is the race that Wetmore usually uses to weed out some stragglers, begin to make some early determinations as to who is on the squad and who is not - but it attracts a pretty good depth of local talent as well (not as deep as the Rocky Mountain Shootout in early October but pretty dang good).

I got in 75 minutes on the bike today ... starting at the new office ... drilling around and about looking for new trails that someday I will get to run on.  It was a good ride ... I ended up heading west out of the new office to the east end of Rocky Flats, and then headed south around Stanley Lake.  There ain't a tree to be see in a lot of this terrain, but there are some good hills, and some good views.

I confess ... I was discouraged today.  It has seemed so long since I could run.  Really run.  The results coming in from Boston, Greenland, Fruita, the weekend 5Ks ... played in my mind today.  I am committed to not run a step  this week to see if I can really heal this thing up. 

My mind is turning on my expectations for this summer. It has too. 

As a parent, I often find myself in the situation where I see how other parents struggle with their kids.  When you are out of the situation, it seems so easy to figure out the parent ought to act to address that situation.  You know, in other words, exactly how to parent someone else's kids. 

... of course, that seems to all go to pot when you are with your  kids.  When we get into the situation, "things are different."  We get mixed up with our wants, desires, our emotions ... they cloud the situation and make judgement, logic, and what to do more difficult to see.   You cling to certain desires, and this muddies the situation.

And so it is with this race for me.  I had expectations that I am clinging to with this race.  Since I finished it last year, I had expectations as to what I was going to do this year ... how I was going to prepare, how I was going to take it on, how I would not be broken as I was last year.

Outsiders have said, "well, maybe this is not your year with this injury."  Frankly, when they say this, it pisses me off.  Who are they to tell me what is not my  year.  "Screw 'em"  I think.  "Maybe you should take some time off,"  they say.  "Bite me.  What do you know?  I can recover with easy running."    And on it goes.  But like the outsider parent observing the child, they probably have a clearer understanding of what is reality, as opposed to what I am clinging to.

The journey ... it still teaches I guess.  Even when the lessons are not ones I like.

So I am in the midst of changing my expectations.  I'd love to report that they have fully changed and I have come to a new Epiphany.  But it is a bit more a process for me than that. 

Last week in review ...

M - 7, 2500v, Bear (85 min)
Tu - 7, 2500v, Green (80 min)
We - 2, 1000v, Tmill, 75 min cycling stat - (90 min)
Th - 7, 3000v, Sanitas, 90 min
Fri - 2 hrs cycling stat
Sat - 80 min outdoor ride
Sun - 75 min "hike," 80 min biking outdoor (155 min)

Total - 28 miles on feet - running, 8000v, 6 hours
6 hours of biking
12 hours on week

Weekend, 0419-2008, crazy like a fox

Saturday - I got out for a ride, 80 minutes, scoped out some trails in Broomfield. JV saw me and later chastised me for not wearing a helmet. I nearly always wear one ... for no good reason, I did not today.

Sunday - up early and out of Chautauqua with Lucy. Thought we'd do Green but then remembered that I can't take her up Green once I got to the Greenman trail. We did Baseline, Amphitheater, Saddle, Ranger, Gregory, Baseline. This was essentially a power hike, with a little jogging for about 75 minutes. At the front end of our hike, we got yelled at by a fox as we passed by ... I am assuming we were too close to her den.

Some pix.

Ready to roll ...

Lucy takes in the sunrise.

Lucy does not seem to care about the NO DOGS ALLOWED sign. We were good citizens however and did not take the Greenman trail up.

Looking west ... the flat topped peak is Longs Peak, a 14er. Its summit is more than a mile above us from this elevation!

Green Mountain getting the sunrise light.

This is my typical view of Lucy ... coming down Ranger to the cottage.

Coming down Gregory, looking east.

Our encounter with a fox (this actually happened at the start of the loop).

In the PM, I tacked on a couple of short rides for a total of 70 minutes +. The first was a quick one out to the hardware store (23). The second was starting at 8:30, so it was with the headlamp ... this was a new thing for me. Moving at that speed in the dark on trails, even trails I know, is a bit freaky. And rabbits look absolutely satanic in the glow of a headlamp.

Friday 041808

My company was moving buildings today, so nearly everyone was working from home.  I started work early and setup with my rice bag.  What is the rice bag?  My daughter got this cloth bag, wrapped in fleece.  In the cloth there is rice.  I heat this bag in the microwave for a couple of minutes which gets it nice and hot.   I put this over my lower stomach.  I think the heat to the area helps improve blood flow, and help healing.  The bag can also be thrown into the freezer to provide a cold pack, but I don't think it serves as effective as say a bag of peas that hold the cold better.

I am not feeling any adverse effects from yesterdays climb and "run." 

I hit the rec center mid day so that I could bike and work.  After 55 minutes of easy spinning, I bumped up the resistance for five minute repeats.  Each minute in these repeats I would up the resistance one "level."  I then would take five minutes easy where I would spin it back up at lower resistance.  I did six of these so that I had 30 minutes hard.  Total ride was 2 hours.  The resistance repeats ... ow!  Good sting and sweat.  No idea on the supposed distance.

In the afternoon, I jogged a mile and a half.  It was really a jog as it was a charity jog with the students at my kids school.

Various tidbits ...

• Great post by J-dub today re: a workout with hills.  Can't wait to try this one ... I am thinking I'd do this at Buff Ranch.
• A good read out of the NYTimes re: Sara Hall and some form drills.
• A New mountain running blog!
• News in the running world has been pretty exciting lately.  It is hard not to be excited to at least some degree about what Ryan Hall did at London if you are a fan of the sport.  The Boston Marathon is next week.  A fellow local runner and friend Ken Pliska is running in his 19th Boston - good luck Ken!  There is a great podcast up by Steve Runner on the 1983 Boston  - the last time it was won by an American.  I find a lot of what Steve has to say about his personal journey resonates with me and this jogger's journey to Pikes.
• The other night as I was fading away, I flicked on the tube and ended up watching this thing on Sumo wrestling.  At first glance, I'd say Sumo is about the complete opposite of endurance running and I have little interest in it.  The National Geographic episode on it though was well done (I like all the Nat Geo stuff however) and I was drawn to the story because it highlights the human experience of competition.  I am pretty much a competition junkie and can be a fan of sumo as much as endurance racing if the competition story is compelling.

Thursday 041508, Sanitas x 2 (7 miles, 2600+ vertical)

The temptation for me to run is large. I saw Lucho and JK running this morning and I was incredibly jealous. But I need to stick to my plan of doing activities that do not aggravate my hernia - so that it has a chance to heal.

For what it is worth, I have actually been "resting" for two weeks, with a focus on "short carriage" work - the bike and the uphill running. And for what it is worth, that has been actually driving some degree of progress in healing ... although nominally. My debate on this whole thing really comes down to a question of discipline and patience (are discipline and patience the same thing?)I know I have waxed too long on this but ... this sports hernia thing simply puts a couple of objectives at odds for me. One objective is to completely heal. If it were September 1, I think I could do that more easily ... I'd take time off from everything, drink a few beers, go sit in the man cave and relax. But it is April 17. I want to play. So I get a bit conflicted on it all. And I am trying to walk this fine line of doing enough so that I can play, but not really jack myself.

Did a couple of laps on Sanitas, as it was the only thing clear and the Cub Scout den was going to be out there. I started up the west trail, realized I forgot my camera and so back tracked to the car. Did an easy (?) up (20:48) and down (13:53) with no sign of the den. Headed up the east trail and found them and so walked with them for a bit. Did a second loop (>23), and down (14:10). Easy but I am not in great Sanitas shape. I want to keep these efforts easy, but am begining to think about attempting couple where I push it.

Couple of pix ... Cub Scouts heading down the east trail, armed with various sticks they located. Flagstaff, Saddle Rock and Green in the background, looking south.

Looking south at Green from the Sanitas summit.

The game plan

I got asked tonight, in light of my diagnosis, "what is the game plan?"

Honestly, I don't know all of it yet.  But here is the general idea ...

1.)  Cross train like all hell for April and early May.  A lot of time on the bike.  The short carriage of it makes it so that it does cause any strain.  I think I need to push the volume up on the bike work that I have been doing, simply because it is less stress than running.

2.)  Run uphill on the mill as much as I can.  Again, the short carriage of this means little strain.  I don't list this as first, because I do think that while this creates less strain, it does create some. 

It is also worthwhile to mention what I need to avoid:

3.)  Faster running.  It is pretty clear that I begin to feel some strain on this bugger when doing more miles, and more of them at a pace faster (something faster than say 8, 7:30).   This means no racing until I get ... "better."

It would seem that 2 would compliment my prep for Pikes.  I think it does.  I also think that one needs a good dose of speed and the ability to move for that race.  Cutting back on speed will be an issue, but I will look to minimize it as much as possible.

4.)  I need to be cautious with longer efforts in terms of number 2. 

The other downside of this is that without longer runs, I may compromise my muscular endurance necessary for a marathon.  I think to be successful at the marathon, longer runs are necessary.  At Pikes, that means for me the ability to tap into a base of 3 and 4 hour runs.  I don't think I will have as many of those as I like to have.

Other principles ....

5.)  do my exercises as per my PT

6.)  begin the summer "trim down" (this is something I'd start to do soon anyway even without the injury ... cutting beer, seconds at dinner, etc)

7.)  push the hard days, relax the easy days.  (this is part of the plan that I feel a need to noodle on a bit more and get more specific about).

8.)  Realize that I am living a great life, enjoy this trip with myself, my family and others - and their trips too! 

Still snowing here!

Live it.
GZ

Wednesday 041608

I ran easy 2 miles (25 minutes, 10-15 % grade) as part of a shoe fit test for a local shoe vendor.  I then hit the rec center did some work on the bike (30 min, 10+ for a distance).  Yapped with TZ (25 min) for a bit and then back on the bike (45 min, 17 for a distance).  100 minutes of work on the day.  Oh yes, it was snowing pretty hard today ... after being 80 plus degrees yesterday!

My PT and I conversed some more (I am pretty sure I am considered a high maintenance patient).  He clearly has the expectation that after one month of doing the exercises every day and resting that I will  feel significantly better.  He also thinks that while I may not be cured in that time, I will be definitely better. If after a month I don't feel any different , then he thinks we will need to look into other imaging tests to try to figure out why things are not improving.

I will openly admit, I am cynical about this approach at this time - simply because it feels like it is only delaying something I think that is inevitable.  I am going to, of course, do these exercises religiously.  And I will rest by biking and running in an up direction.  Both of these exercises keep my "carriage" short, and do not seem to aggravate my gut. 

TG - no, I don't want surgery. But if I am going to need it, I want to get it done.  And I don't want you to get any tough guy PRs on me either.  (he knows something about surgery ...)

PT appointment, sport hernia.

I had an appointment with a PT today through my medical provider.  After discussing my situation with him, and revisiting my history, the PT ran me through a few tests to assess the situation.  The tests were putting me through a variety of motions (mostly looking like some form of a sit-up).  We put a pretty tight belt around my lower abdomen and ran through the exercises again to see if that helped abate the pain.  It did not.

The conclusion from the PT was this was indeed a sports hernia.  His thought was that this could be addressed via a.)  rest and b.)  some exercises that will help strengthen the area.

I expressed my concern about this injury and that I had heard that rest and exercise does not resolve this and that ultimately, it is only resolvable via surgery.   I quickly realized that the PT was not in the position to make that sort of call and could only suggest that we do this for another month and then assess at that time.  There is no threshold that he could speak to as to when to get surgery.   In other words, I could tell that was not his decision and he was giving me a plan based on what he could prescribe. 

I understand that a medical provider is going to recommend an approach that is non-invasive, and look to avoid surgery.  I respect and appreciate that.  I am going to need to better understand though at what point they make the conclusion to go that route.  While I'd love this thing to just heal up with rest, I am less than convinced that it will.  I am not in a rush to go under the knife, but I do want this fixed.  What I am reading and hearing is that I am wasting my time a bit with this rest and exercise approach.  I got to give some thought as to how I am going to proceed on a broader scale. 

Okay - so what is rest then?  I can do any activity that "does not aggravate" my groin.  The exercises ... well, I will get a picture of what I was given and post that later.

Tuesday, 041508, Green Mountain, 7 miles, ~2500 ft vertical

Another beautiful day.  Supposed to snow tomorrow.  Love it while you can!

Still that low level nag in my lower belly, bit louder today.  Definitely clear to me that I ran yesterday.  Ah well, hopefully more answers tomorrow after the PT appointment.

Ran easy up out of Chautauqua, up Baseline, Amphitheater,Saddle, Greenman.  Summitted in just under 50 minutes.  There were some patches of ice below the Saddle Rock, but nothing too bad.  Above that though, there were soft patches of ice-snow.  I came down Ranger, Gregory for a round trip just at 79 minutes.  The ice above the cottage was more annoying, and slowed me down but not as bad as yesterday given it is not as steep coming down (as Fern).

A friend of mine indicated he did not want to see the naked guy running (Anton) on my blog, but a movie with me in it.  Embedded in this trailer there is a shot of me struggling near the summit of Pikes from last year.

Being stupid

With this potential hernia thing jacking me up since at least late January ... well, I probably ought to reset expectations for races and performances for this year.  My training for the last quarter has not been what I'd like it to be.

While that is disappointing to some degree, it is something I have come to terms with, and rather quite easily.   It is what it is.  Instead of focus on what might have been, it is better to focus on what is and what I can do now.

I had a conversation on this topic with JV the other day and this interesting nugget came out:  often when you free yourself of expectations, that is when you perform best.  In other words, when you are more carefree, relaxed, with no expectations, enjoying the moment of the event-race ... in fact when you are just plain dumb about the thing, you have this great performance far exceeding anything you expected.  The opposite seems to hold true nearly as often:  how often have we heard or seen an athlete super focused, determined, zero'ed in ... only to blow up, falter, not meet expectations, and be pissed off at the end that things did not go their way?

I mentioned this to MK and he noted that if you are going to free yourself from expectations, then you can't think about how that might set you up for success because then you are setting expectations.  In other words, just be stupid.  More and more, it seems the less I know about stuff, the better off I am. 

... and no, this is not a way to by-pass social responsibility.

Maybe I will just be dumb and sign up for the Double.

Monday 041408, 7 miles, 2500+ vert, Bear Mountain via Cragmoor

Crazy beautiful spring weather today. I got out and did Bear from Cragmoor. I wish I had my camera. It was absolutely gorgeous out. I was running real easy and was a bit surprised how the splits came. 5:30 to the first post, 11 to the second, 17 to the third and 29:25 to the saddle. There was some snow and ice once I got into Fern, but everything else was dry below that. Above the saddle however was an absolutely MESS. Nearly ALL SNOW and ICE. It took me another 20 to get to the top (passing the post in 49:30). That was not the hard part though - it was coming down without killing myself. This required a lot of careful navigation through the rocks, ice, slush, and trees ... it all resembled a bobsled run more than a trail up there. It took me as long to get down to the saddle again because of the careful picking I had to do down. Nonetheless, I took a good digger on the section above the "spider hole" that is steep and icy before / after the switchbacks. No major bleeding however. The pic from today is from a trip up Bear last year with SE. FWIW, the tippy top was 100 percent clear. Too bad that is just the last 100 yards.

It was an absolutely blast to live in the Front Range today.

Had the following exchange going with my PT today (below). I confirmed that I can not do the test myself to determine if this a sports hernia. More on that on Wednesday when I have the appointment:
----- Message -----
From: ZACK,GEORGE
Subject: Abdominal Pain

I have an appointment with you this week. I'd like to give you a bit of background so we can be most effective with our time. I have been dealing with a abdominal pain between my belly button and my pubic area since January. Dr. ... did an exam and concluded this was not a hernia. His diagnosis was that it was a diathesis (?) of the abdominal wall. Rest has not corrected this issue. It has subsided to a degree, but is still evident when I sneeze, cough, or turn within certain motions. It is most evident when I run. I am able to run, but only with significant discomfort.
As a result, I have been doing some research on this sort of pain. From what I have read, I have begun to wonder if this is could be a so called sports hernia? Are you familiar with this condition? Thanks in advance and have a good weekend.
George

RESPONSE FROM PT

George,
Abdominal pain can be tricky because it can be a number of things. I am familiar with sports hernia and this is easy to test for. Thank you for the email, on Weds morning we can hit the ground running.

Ascent Entries - the next generation?

Next up in the virtual race (that is the Ascent confirmation lists with predicted times) are a group of runners I will call "the next generation."  These are guys who are relative new comers to Pikes (and in the spirit of full discloser, I am also as such) and have performed pretty dang well (and in the spirit of full disclosure, I am not as such).

In a race that has been recently dominated by "veterans" (folks that have done the race several times or by those north of 30), these "young guns" potentially represent a new set of runners that can leave a mark on the Pikes stat books for years to come.

A quick line up ...

Rubalcaba-Lopez (predicted 2:18) who made the podium in his first showing(third last year with a 2:18:23), and does well in the TCR circuit;

 

 

 

 

 

Batliner (predicted 2:18) - the former CU standout who was fourth in 2:21:44 last year and continues to have local road success,

 

 

 

 

Nichols (I think this is him in the pic) (predicted 2:19), who was ninth last year, in 2:27:28.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tribbia (predicted 2:22), sixth in his first showing in 2:22:57 in '07

Freudenburg,  pictured from the '06 marathon where he finished third, after ascending in 2:29:56 (predicted 2:20).  He also was a marathon trials qualifier.

 

Typically first timers don't have their best race.  Meaning, typically, runners improve as they learn the nuances of the course, dig more into hill and altitude training?  Will these young(er) guns take the back the top of the podium this year?  It has been recently ruled by Masters runners (Carpenter in 08, Gutierrez in '06, Elliot in '04, Guitierrez in '03 ... okay, he was 37 then!), but it has been shown that young guys can take it too (Hafer in '05 at the age of 19)

(side note ... there is some question of course if Carpenter is even running this event!  While it is in his back yard, there is some thought he is going to attack Western States in June ... in a wicked match up between him, Krupicka, and Jurek.  If he does that, is Pikes in the mix for him?)

More to come, including "The Missing," (those that might show up, but have not yet registered) and "The Veterans" (those old dogs that keep pounding the mountain every year).

Sunday, 041308, 4 miles, 2000+ feet, week wrap up

I got out in the AM for a decent hour (65 min), out from the house, through Teller Farm and back home.  I remembered this moment while on my ride.

While nearing the top of Pikes in the marathon last year, I knew I was having a tough day.  I was already dealing with cramping, and I was not even half done.  Toward the summit, I heard the Scott yelling my name in encouragement.  I was embarrassed with how my race was falling apart.  I trudged by Scott, Galen and Peter V.  I grunted ... "cramping up."  Pete shot back "NO.  That does not matter. What does that matter?  You ARE NOT cramping."  It helped ... a little.  It definitely made me smile.

In the PM, I ran at 10 % on the treadmill for 4 miles, 44 minutes. 

I feel good with these sorts of workouts, but I am aware of my ab issue when I move the right way to make it sing.

On the week I got 11 miles of running, and a total time of training at 645 or so minutes (just shy of ten hours).  Next week I will look to get more steady with the uphill running, continue to compliment with cross training and get this thing finally properly diagnosed.

Saturday 041208, 7+ miles, 4500+ feet (5+, 2 / 2900+, 1500+)

My mental state was poor today ... I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that I have an abdominal issue that will require greater intervention ... as in I think this is a sports hernia that will require surgery at some point.  And it was a busy day with the family, with stuff that just took energy.  Mentally, I was waxed ... in a deficit mentality.

I needed a break, and I took it in with a run on the mill in the afternoon.  As I have not had abdominal pain on uphill runs, I started the mill at 10% grade, and just started jogging.  Every mile, I bumped it up .5%.  It felt great.  I was not killing this, but this is the happiest I think I have been on a treadmill in a long time.  Time bound for some evening family activities, I got off at an hour (5.25 miles, at least 3000 feet).  I put in another half an hour in the evening at 15 percent (2 miles, nearly 1600 feet).  None of this hurt my ab / groin area AT ALL.  I think this is because I only stress that area as I stride out and extend at faster paces (say sub 8, sub 7 is where it gets jacked).  Of course, at higher grades, you run slower but you are still working!  90 minutes on the day.

Really, it felt great to run.  My legs feel really good ... and it was nice to sweat and get a good nice burn in.  Ahhhh.  Exhale now...

Various tidbits:

• I attended Mike Sandrock's 50th birthday party today.  "Rock," is the author of "Running With the Legends- Training and Racing Insights from 21 Great Runners" and "Running Tough." Sandrock started the non-profit group "Shoes for Africa," now called "One World Running." The all-volunteer organization ships shoes to needy youth and puts on races around the world. Details: www.oneworldrunning.com.  I worked in the 90s with Rock at the Camera.  He is genuinely an incredible man (and a damn good runner, even though his fastest days are past)   We surprised him pretty good for his 50th!  I will look to post some pix soon.  Rock - I never knew you had done Pikes!
• Taco got a great write up in Westword.

I am pretty convinced this will suck

After a week of rest, meaning NO running, I am finding this lower abdominal issue is not getting better.  I really still don't know what the hell is going on in there, but I am increasingly becoming convinced it is a sports hernia of sorts.  These articles seem to effectively describe my condition at current.

http://www.medicalmoment.org/_content/treatment/apr05/313602.asp
http://orthopedics.about.com/od/sportsinjuries/a/hernia.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070716133056.htm
http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1998/01jan/batt.htm
http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/1/58

Now I just need to get a doctor to tell me I am right or wrong on this.

Friday 041108

I packed the bike in the car but then a front in blew in so it was off to the Rec Center for the afternoon.  I decided I wanted to swim first, but when I got to the center, I saw the pool was going to close at 3PM for a HS swim meet.   It was 2:35.  I knew this meant they'd start fishing folks out of the pond at 2:50.  Oh well ... 10 minutes and 500m later I got the "look" and jumped out.

I am taking about a minute per 50 meter lap (2 lengths).  Each length is about 24 strokes for me (both arm count).  I usually only look to the left for each breath, and I take a breath with each stroke.  I watched the swim meet kids and they were taking about the same number of strokes, but were moving a lot faster (of course).  I could use a lot of work to get more efficient here ... but mentally, I'd need to wrap my head around that ... to force it to be a habit.

Onto the stationary bike ... easy spinning (90RPM +) for an hour.  18 for the supposed distance.  I followed this up with about 10 minutes of jump rope, interspersed with some weight machine work.

I realize for a lot of folks they'd not even post this training.  I am doing it to keep track ... and to a certain extent, to keep motivated ... of my cross training.

I jogged one lap on the indoor track.  Same lower ab issues.  :(

Ascent entries - Simon G

When looking at the PPA entry lists, via predicted times, Simon Guitterez, is the first athlete that pops out as a legitimate contender on the men's side in the list.  Simon, 42 years old, has run three Ascents, winning twice (03 and 06, with the latter in a great battle with race legend Scott Elliott), but having a self described "bad day" last year (and yes, there are many who'd love a 2:24 bad day!).

There is no doubt that Simon is one of the most successful mountain runners of our day.  He has posted a predicted race day time of 2:10, which definitely shows confidence in his training as his best course time is 2:13:29.

Take aways:  Don't be fooled by Simon's age - he has shown that he can slug it out with the best of them and the young guns (ask last year's 27 year old US Trail Champ Rickey Gates) when he is on - or his friendly and quiet disposition before race start.  Simon is well known to take the race hard from the start and make it a suffer-fest for as long as possible.  Assuming he is healthy and on, consider him a significant threat to win, and a shoe in for the top ten. 

Vitamins

I have gone back and forth in my head on the value of vitamins in training. I have spoken to some folks who swear by the need for them and others who think it is a modern day version of snake oil. Currently, I am not taking any vitamins, but I have taken Iron, B12, C, D, a multi, and Zinc in the past (all orally). I can't say these did much for my performance or not, but they did change the color of my pee (I think that is the B).

A couple questions ... do you take vitamins? And if so, which ones and why? At what point does the taking of vitamins become a performance enhancing effort? There has been traffic on the PP board that there are substances that some folks take are not WADA banned, and hence are legal ... but are "outside the spirit of the race." Is the person who takes an iron pill the same as the person who gets an iron shot? Are they the same as the person who takes a not banned drug that increases their uptake of 02? Or the person who drinks coffee?

At the end of it, I realize, it is your (my) trip ... and I define those boundaries, but in the spirit of competition, I think we want those boundaries to be the same. While WADA banned lists provide a line of what is allowed and what is not, I think there is is a lot of gray leading up to that line for some folks.

Thursday 041008

90 minutes on the stationary bike. First hour easy spinning. Last half hour I broke up with 2 "mile" sections on (started at 5 min, then pushed them down to 4:36 at the end) with 2 minute off. Did five. Total distance was 28 with 12 in the last half hour.

Pikes Ascent Entry Confirmation Lists

The Pikes races do something that is kind of neat.  When you register, you are asked to post an expected time to complete the race.  And this then gets posted for everyone to see!  This allows you not only to see who has registered, including who you'd be competing against in your age group, but those folks who might be near you come race day.

And hypothetically, it allows you to see what the race would look like if everyone ran their predicted time.   Of course, the lists are not complete yet ... there is still time for comp entries (top ten overall, top five masters, former race winners, competitive award entries) to register and then be added to this list.  We should expect the lists to change up until race day.

This year's Ascent and Marathon are shaping up nicely.  I am going to dig into the entry lists of both of these events a bit over a couple of posts.  Let's start with the top seven entrants in the Ascent ...

... or not.  These folks all are first time entrants to the race, and have predicted finish times faster than the current course record.   The only reason for this is they:

1. Have incorrectly entered a finish time but instead entered their half marathon time.
2. Have incredibly over estimated their finish time (e.g. , they ran a 90 minute half marathon so a 2 hour half on a hill should not be that bad)
3. Entered a ridiculous time just to be ridiculous.

I am going to assume number 1.  No offense to these folks, but I don't think any these first timers are going to break the course record for the Ascent.   There are some first timers that might be able to do that ... but I think they be pretty well established names in the world of running.    The sort of entry predictions are relatively common ... most folks should probably enter their predicted marathon time rather than something based on their half marathon.

We'll dig into the other entrant folks in future posts.  The next entrant is a real deal ... Simon Guitterez

Live it ... GZ

Wednesday 040908

Various tidbits ...

• I heard a great interview last night on the bike ride home.  Check it out.
• JV had a great run up Sanitas yesterday.  He is stoked and ought to be.
• Bill Buckner, who has been abused for years because people forgot baseball is just a game, got the honor of throwing out the first pitch at the home opener in Fenway yesterday.  Remember folks, these things are just games. 
• TG has a great post today  ... on going under the knife.  Good luck my brother of an other mother.  Your humor in light of this is nothing short of awesome and inspirational.

TWK - the news you got today just outright sucks.  But I am happy that you are in a position where you can choose to look at it positively

I am getting a bit concerned about my my groin, lower abdominal region.  The general pain has subsided from being a loud concern, but it has not gotten any better than that for a couple of days.  It is this sort of nagging thing. I have a PT appointment for it next week, but I don't really have high expectations of that.  This concerns me because ... well, maybe I find that this is a bigger issue and it just ain't healed up in 2 weeks.   What then?  (refer to comment above about it being a game I guess?).  I have been wondering if I could get by on some sort of alternative training that mixes cross training, hard running up hill efforts a couple days a week, and dropping extra miles.  I was thinking of joining Lucho for his MAF run this Friday, but I am going to have to pass. 

I have noticed that I am letting my work slip more into my life lately.  I need to correct that.  I start taking energy that I put into running and transfer it to work.  Now, in the short term this is not that big of a deal, but over a longer term, it actually makes me more ineffective at work.  As jacked as this sounds, I get to a point where I focus or put in energy in to the of a detriment.  I actually do better when I don't put some much into my job.  Kind of sad, but it is true.  I think the best analogy I have heard is to that of a baseball batter.  When a batter is in a slump, they start trying harder to hit the ball, and they become totally ineffective in hitting the ball.  It is better if they just relax and let the hitting come to them.  There is probably something about this with training as well, but I have not quite figured out what that sweet spot is for me in that arena.

Headed over to the local rec center for the typical mental abuse as of late.  70 minutes of biking on the stationary bike.  Again, I don't really know what it means, if anything, but the distance was north of 21 this time.  Phil told me these distances don't correlate to anything in the real world, and that the resistance has nothing to do with the distance ... it is just the revs that do.  I did do 15 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off in the middle of this, and then followed it with a 5 minute sustained session to get in 20 minutes of harder work.   I kept the easy spinning at 95 or better and then did the harder stuff at 115 to 130.  All in all, a good sweat.  After the bike I did some triceps work and some pull ups (nothing significant with the weights though today)

I then hit the pool for an other 15 minutes of swimming for ... I don't know, maybe 800 yards?  I am such a moron in the pool.  I wandered into a lane and started swimming.  This other guy who was in the lane asked me if I wanted to share the lane ... after we had been swimming at opposite ends of it for nearly 3 or 4 minutes.  I felt like an idiot, as there was obviously some protocol of courtesy that I had missed.  This swimming was NOT easy.  While I got in fifteen minutes of it, I am sad to report it was not continuous.    I also found that regardless if I was trying to swim fast or slow, my stroke count per length were nearly the same.  I think that tells me that when I try to swim faster, I actually get more inefficient.

AS dorky as it sounds, I do some degree of people watching when I am at the rec center.  I find myself looking at the person on the StairMaster and wondering what they are training for, or why are they doing that.  Why is that guy swimming in a pool for an hour?  Why is that woman sitting in the dry sauna with sweats on?   It ain't "normal" behavior to do these things.  It usually requires some degree of hope, fear or love to motivate and drive us to do such insane things.   I want to know their stories, and what their motivations ... but of course I don't ask.  Yet.

I then did 15 minutes in the dry sauna to clear my head a bit.  I don't feel deeply worked from these cross training sessions, but I am aware I am accomplishing something.  I feel a good buzz like I had been playing ... but not like I have really done anything deep from a training perspective.  I am definitely missing running.  When I came out of the rec center, post picking up KZ from jump rope, it had rained ... the air tasted great, birds were singing ... I wish I could be buzzing with the wind in my ears out there.

Tuesday 04082008

AM) commuted in on the bike. 50 minutes. I feel really good in the legs. Groin slightly tight

PM) I went to the PTO meeting at the school (near office) after work and then biked home (35 minutes). The PTO is quite an interesting event. That is all about I can say about that.

85 minutes of biking on the day.

Pikes Registration for Wave 2

I noticed yesterday that the Ascent registration for Wave 2 had opened up again.  I was a little confused though that there were still folks on the wait list  for that race.  I missed this comment:  On 4/3/2008 an e-mail was sent to those on the Ascent Wave 2 Wait List with a "Y" for their Qual informing them that they can move off the Wait List if their $89.25 payment is received by April 17th.  It seems that anyone who has the qualifications and wants to get in ought to be able to get in!

I also got a reminder I have a week to register.  I got word that the top ten from last year's men's marathon race have all registered, except some other guy and me. 

I'd be a bit more eager to register if I had this groin thing completely figured out.  It certainly on the mend, but I am aware it is still an issue.  My son gave me the "last one to the car is a rotten egg" thrown down last night and so of course I had to run.  I could feel that little nag in there still.  Bummer.  Chump got me too.  Ah, he is only good for 50 yards ...

I'd like to think I could race this bugger with the entire month of April off, just cross training.  And in fact, I know some folks who will do that:  they are either not as concerned about the race or they are gifted enough that they can manage.    I spoke to one guy yesterday who said, "130 days?  Plenty of time."  Another had just done his first hike of the season and felt that was good enough so far.  I wish I could feel the same but I often feel I am not able to do enough to prepare to climb that little hill! 

But I will register to do the race.  And make the best the hand I have been dealt.

Monday 040708

More snow here on the Front Range today.

My gut felt fine today ... almost like I had done a few too many situps yesterday ... so not really bad.  But, I am trying to remain committed to being a good little athlete and focused on healing.  So it was back to the rec center for more cross training today.  Up on the stationary bike for 60 minutes.  I noticed the spinerval bikes after this ... I wonder if they are any different than the typical exercise bikes?  Easy spinning (100+rpm) and the machine told me I had done 17+ miles.  I have no clue how poor that is.

I then got on the StairMaster ... this one was a single step rather than a 2 split step that I dealt with yesterday.  Boy was that fun.  I did 20 minutes of this.  This thing gave me all sorts of data ... watts, METS, miles traveled, floors gained.  I was sweaty at the end of it.

Goal for this week is to get 75 to 90 minutes of aerobic cross training a day.

And when I came outside, it was sunny.  Dang.

Various tidbits ...

• The Pikes Ascent Wave 2 actually OPENED registration back up ... apparently after checking the credentials of folks they were able to kick out enough people that they could re-open registration.  I sent this over to a couple of my co-workers who said "DAMN, I WANTED TO GET IN THAT RACE BUT DAMN, REGISTRATION WAS SOLD OUT. DAMN, I REALLY WANTED TO DO THAT."  Well, we'll see now if they really wanted in!  The entry lists are getting interesting!
• I love the Skull Candy headphones, but like all headphone I run with, their failure point is the same:  at the connection with the 1/8th inch jack.  Since this is the stress point between the wire and my bouncing around, they always crap out there.  Suddenly the sound gets tinny as a wire breaks.  You turn the wire, and then it works.  But it eventually just begins to fail more and more. Crap.  I want ear buds that don't break there!
• My weight has snuck up a bit with the lesser running.  I was 141 this AM.   I ain't too worried as this is not the big weight I ballooned to post Hawaii ... but I probably could back off the seconds at dinner.  And the beer.
• I started yapping with JV on what to consider in a cheapo road bike for me.  I am still not sure I could make this purchase I often just feel a bike is a bike is a bike.  And cheapo in the world of road bikes for me is different than what is cheapo in the world of people who actually bike.  I wonder if I should drop the kind of money on a bike that ought to be a payment to my mortgage, a deposit in the college fund for the kids, or maybe an upgrade on the piano for them ...
• It is cool to see the circle of bloggers digging in, making progress ... JV getting some confidence in his climbing gear again, Kerrie digging into some big rides, Beth nailing a 5K, James going nutty in his races, Phil drilling through that boredom that is necessary for an IM, Lucho backing off his mileage and just killing easy runs ... I can't wait to get back into that circle and join the fun.

Weekend 0406-0708, week in review

25 miles on the week, on 4 days of running and five runs.  I did something "training wise" everyday this week though for at least an hour ... with the exception of Saturday.  How's that for reconciliation?  Hardly the week I wanted, but this is the hand I have been dealt.

Running this week ...  while it was fun - particularly to get out with some great friends, - was not the brightest thing for me to do to heal up.  Anyone who wagged their finger at me, ah well, you were right.  I don't think I did any more damage to myself, but I did not allow myself to heal up ... which just further prevents me from digging back into serious training sooner.  But it was fun to hit the hills a little bit again.

I am nearly healed up (I think), I just need to wrap it up over another couple of days and then ease back into training (so I can get back to doing silly stuff like this Red Rocks thing).  So, I have resolved to take the time off to get this thing right now and just cross train in the interim.  I am slow  on the uptake but I am trainable.  Well, I think I am.  JV said I could bike every day for April and I'd still be fine for Pikes.  I think he might be right.

I took Saturday off.  Well I biked for five minutes and then I got a flat so I walked the bike home.  (For the bike lovers out there I can't figure out why my wife's bike keeps getting flats right at the stem of the Presta valve ... maybe I need a new rim?)  Sunday afternoon I ended up at the local Rec Center.  I did 15 minutes on the elliptical trainer (an odd machine ...), 20 on a stationary bike, 20 minutes of various machine weight work (mostly low weight, mod reps), tried to figure what the hell to do on the stair stepper (!?!), and then got on the recumbent bike for 40 minutes.  On the legs machines, I tried to keep the revs up (north of 90), which was not too hard.  I was pressed to get the HR up but I was sweating pretty good anyway and my legs were getting a bit gummy.   I tried to avoid running motions, and my groin felt fine.

I then decided to hit the pool and do some laps.  Now, I am not a swimmer.  I mean, got my life guard certification through the Red Cross a lifetime ago so I know how to swim to save myself.  But that was a long time ago.  I have read enough of the tri blogs that I had an idea as to what I ought to hit for a 100 split.  I knew I had no hope of hitting that as a split mind you, but I had an idea.

Let's leave it at this:  if I am dork and slow on the bike, I am about an anchor in the pool.  And a dork too.  I am sure a good deal of this is because I am out of practice (that  link by the way is one of the best press conference ever) with swimming, and that my form sucks (I hear that is huge for swimmers).   I think there was a lot of splashing, spluttering, and not a lot of forward motion

The guy in the lane next to me took full advantage ... waiting for me to start my lap so he could blow by me and be half way done with his next length by the time I finished one length.  Whatever ... good work I guess ... particularly since I did not drown.

Lucho has, once again posted some thought provoking stuff.  His comment I tend to enjoy the training far more than the racing so I feel that my success lies in the satisfaction of the journey  resonates me deeply.  I have much to say on these concepts ... more to come on that.

Friday 040408, 6 miles, Sanitas

Continued to take it easy.  Met MK today and we jogged over to Sanitas and did it really easy. 

Heading up the road to Sanitas with MK, a 2:20 marathoner.  But his best PRs are about the kind of person he is.

Comment response: healing and cheating

Kerrie made a great comment yesterday:  naughty naughty - you just aren't going to let it heal, are you??

Yes, I am cheating a bit.   This groin thing is not fully healed.  Some of my cheating is just me being inpatient.  Some of it is just wanting to get out and play in the hills.  I think if I ever walk away from competitive racing, I will still want to run and play in hills for a long time after that.  I love looking at a hill, saying, "I want to see what it looks like from up there," and then running up there to do that.

But I have justified - reconciled this a bit more objectively as well.  The hill work I am doing is really low intensity in terms of running.  Stride rate is short, pace is slow, and distances are shorter.  I have found that faster paced work, longer distances are what aggravate my groin the most.  The work I have been doing on Green, Sanitas is actually giving me some sort of workout but hardly doing anything to jack me up further (I think).  Generally, this thing seems to be getting better.  I know that it is still there (when I sneeze) but it is not as bad as it was two weeks ago.

Should I be more patient?  Should I sit on my ass more?  Should I be doing other cross training?  Yes ... I see this hill stuff as sort of cross training.  I realize that rationalization is far from bullet proof.

Thursday 040308, Green Mountain, 7 miles

I slept great last night.  Probably the best sleep I have had in a month.  My groin is still a little tight but ... I think (ssshhh) it is getting better.  The weather here was absolutely insane.  Rain this AM.  Sunny and clear mid AM.  Snow in the afternoon.  Snow then stopped and it was gray and windy.  Jeff and I went back and forth about meeting and not meeting and what to do, mostly because of the weather.  We finally agreed to meet at Chautauqua and do Green on our "classic route:"  Baseline, Saddle Rock, Greenman for the up and down on Ranger and Gregory. 

I wanted to take it easy, and warned Jeff that if the trails got to icy I would look for alternative routes.  I simply did not want to risk slipping and pulling something.  As it turned out, the skies cleared, and the trails had some snow but the footing was solid.  I could tell I was not in great hill climbing shape as I felt the work in my lower back.  50 minutes up, 32 down.  Pretty easy.  My lower abs got tight towards the end of the down, but nothing bad.

But again, a great day out there on the trails with JV.  Some pix ... the Flatirons at the start

JV pushing me up the hill in some of the last stretches.

General trail conditions near the top.  Not too bad, it looks worse than it is.

JV at the top rock, 8100 feet.

View to the east over the plains.

View to the west to the mountains ... with clouds.

Wednesday 040208, Sanitas, 5 miles, when I was faster I would ...

I broke today.  Too damn nice out.  Looking at sunshine outside my office window all day.  Feeling good.  Well, that adductor that Jean worked hard was a bit pissed off but I still felt good overall.  Mostly. 

Then I got word from the Incline Club that they were beginning workouts (Thursday, Apr 3, 5:45pm - Hydro Street
Warm up from Memorial Park in time to get to Hydro Street. Do 30 minutes of 1 min hard, 1 min easy up the Barr Trail. Easy back down the Barr Trail. Do 4 Hydro Street repeats.)  which got me thinking about running.  And running steep.

Had it had been cruddy weather, I would have cross trained at the local rec center but instead I rang up JV and penned up a run up Sanitas.   Sanitas is the smallest of the hills immediately to the west of Boulder but what it lacks in overall elevation gain is made up for in general grade.  Hills like Green and Bear are longer and go higher, but I think they are a bit less steep than Sanitas.  I always start Sanitas feeling fine, like I am going to rock it.  I get a reminder somewhere about halfway up that she is not to be taken lightly.  Particularly since I have not done any significant hills in a while. 

Jeff and I made it up in 20:15 (his post) Hardly super quick, but not screwing around either.   The whole time we were yapping about the typical:  IPODs, injuries, Pikes, work, houses, bikes, various buddies. We came down the east side.  About 3/4 of the way down we saw a trail heading back west, up the mountain.  It was a trail we had never seen before (which is really sort of insane) so we took it.  It climbed nicely into a quarry that had some flagstone chairs and then the trail puttered out.  At that point we were committed though and so bushwhacked our way back up the mountain side to the trail proper.

Jeff is the definition of mountain goat.  The steeper the trail is, the easier he floats up the hillside.  I end up bobbin' around side to side but he just cuts up the hill straight like a knife through melted butter.  If mountain races were steep as things like Sanitas all the time, he'd be a legend.  Hell, I think he is a legend anyway.

We finished the second loop (well, sort of a second loop) up and then came back down the west path.  I thought we were taking it fairly slow on the way down but it was 14:40.  Again, not super quick but not screwing around either.  Or at least I wasn't.  Maybe Jeff was.  All told we guessed it was about five miles over an hour ... with the most vertical I have had in a month.  I can't feel too bad about how it all felt given the lack of training over the last couple of weeks, and the lack of hills over the last couple of months.  I look at it and think that 17s, 18s are not too far off with a little bit of work.

The abdominal area felt a bit tight through the run, but not too bad.  I will see how it reacts tonight.  It felt so good to be out there though ... enjoying the mountain, the run, the burn in the legs ... I have missed that. 

Oh yeah, I went and picked up KZ at her jump rope class at the rec center after.  I decided to jump with her a bit and ... holy crap that was hard.  Doing jump rope after significant vertical will be a new thing to add to the mix.

Unrelated ... I had a co-worker ask me the other day how much training I would do for a 10K.  I said, "well maybe 70 miles a week.  Yeah, 50-70 miles a week."  She looked at me like I was insane.  "How much for a marathon?"  I paused and said, "umm ... 75-100."  So we proceeded to talk about training for people, ramping mileage, what was appropriate for her, for a friend of hers etc.  But it got me thinking a bit.

When I was most successful with running I was (okay, yes I was younger) doing 60 miles a week at most.  True, I was not training for a marathon.  Additionally, I was running hard or steady a good amount of that time.  I think that where I sort of subscribe to a 10-15 percent hard work now, I was probably a bit north of that back then ... and that is really probably because I was doing less mileage (smaller denominator).  So, am I gaining significant advantage by doing more miles?  I don't know.  I think for a marathon, you do need to do more miles, simply to build the muscular endurance that you will need in a race.  But I am wondering if I have wrapped myself in the pursuit of miles and time on my feet, week after week that it risks injury or general fatigue. 

Finally, and I was reminded of this today while running with JV, back then I ran with people a lot more than I do now .  It forced me a lot to run at a pace that I was maybe less than comfortable with.  But that led to some degree of success.

Conclusions?  Not sure yet.  Just some thoughts floating around in there.  More to come.