Friday 073109

• AM – met MK over in Boulder and ran easy with him. 9 miles, AHR = 141.
• July stats: 407 miles on month, 3486 minutes on month. 2097 miles on year, 17801 minutes. This might be my largest month ever … but I’d have to check. Notice the snow on the Peak in the webcam to the right.
• Web message of the day …
  
• Tilton seems to be preparing well for PPA
• Remaining taper plan … so yes, I am planning to be down on Pikes next Wednesday if anyone wants to join.  If the weather is a bust, I might shift it to Thursday

  • 1 - 4 miles - 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 2 – 16 - 22 miles, First 3 miles warm up, next seven miles at 150 (track), next five 150-160, last five plus 160 (RUN and HURT) – I might a double up and down on Flagstaff.  Will listen to the body to determine length, effort
    This ends the week at 83-90 miles

  • 3 – 4-6 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 4 - 2-4 miles,  130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 5 – Get down on Pikes … do 13-17 miles on the mountain.  .  Efforts at race pace throughout.

  • 6 -  8 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 7 - 7 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 8 - 4 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 9 - 16 miles, race HR after 9 miles
    This ends the week at 55-60 miles

  • 11 3 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 12 9 miles - race HR effort last 3 –4 miles

  • 13 4 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 14 3 miles 130 to 145 as much as possible

  • 15 off

  • 16 race

Thursday 070309

• Slept in. 7AM. I slept SUPER hard. Resting HR was 48 this AM which is a bit elevated from the typical 44. Next couple days will be about recovery.
• Leadville Trail 100 is overhauling their site significantly.   Good stuff in the comment thread as to how race web sites need to catch up in general.
• 11 miles in the rain.  It was wonderful.  Beautiful.  I was soaked to the core when I was done.  Average HR 140.  Max 149.  Average pace was right at 8 minute pace over a rolling course.  Yeah – I’d say temps make a difference!  Felt great!
• The Mountain Running blog conversation on the CM race has some interesting posts today.  No doubt about it – MC has a take.
• Rock has an RT article on running and meditation.  Thanks for the tip AA. 
• My current training load TSS/CTL/ATL info that I am trying to make heads or tails over.  I am just observing the data here … not changing anything (yet) based on these data – but it is interesting.  I am looking right now for correlations between workouts (how does a 15 miler on the Mesa Trail in the heat correspond to a 20 miler in the AM and how does that correspond to a 18 miler in the mountains where I run the downhill hard?) and how easy days set up for hard days.  As you can see the data really started getting collected at the end of May.
  
• This has two of my favorite guitarists ever, the Edge and Jimmy Page (I tried to play as much of their stuff as I could in HS, along with Alex Lifeson from Rush) -- and what Jack White is doing in the front of this trailer is pretty cool  (I might try to do that) – I am pretty sure I will go see this flick. 
  
  

Wednesday 072909

• Started the AM with expectations to do 20, building the effort over the length of the run. I could tell from the earliest steps that I just did not feel that great. The pace to HR was looking fine so I figured I might just need to shake things out a bit. But it never shook out. Rather than pushing the pace over the second half I just ran without worrying about upping the effort much. The HR naturally drifted up a touch anyway – but I did not drive the pace effort at all. This essentially became just a long run, rather than a long progression run – which is fine. 20 miles, AvHR = 147, max 166 (hills climbing towards end), nothing faster then seven minute pace.
• Post of the day … I find it very funny when runners say they are going to use a race as a workout. What are all the workouts for if you go to a race and consider the effort equal to another workout? Too many runners, in my humble opinion, choose to define a race as another workout. I wish for once, I could hear a runner say I am going to my next race and try to kick ass.   DQ

Tuesday 072809

• Family headed up Green Mountain today to check out the insane orgy of lady bugs that are currently up there. 
• AM – 8 miles. AHR = 140.   PM – 4 miles, AHR = 140.
• I saw this frostbite pic over at UpaDowna … it makes my nine toes look absolutely heavenly. This is one of the scariest photos I have seen in a long time.
• Shifting up my taper plan a bit.  Will look to get a session down on the mountain next Wednesday.  Probably will be my last long hard run before the race, but mileage on whole in that week will continue to drop.   If anyone wants to connect up  for a session next week – let me know.

Monday 072709

• Slept in this AM, zzing off the cobwebs post yesterday’s effort (that left me relatively worked) .  Mid day – 7 miles, AHR = 138, max –146.  Evening … I was thinking I’d not run but the sunset over the Rockies and the rain – it is delicious.  4 easy miles, AHR = 134, max – 144.  Felt good.  Mile 3 was 7:30  with a HR averaging 138.
• Great post on mental training ...
• The Spirit of the Marathon movie that came out last year is now on Hulu.
• Anton becomes a national champ by winning the White River 50. No results posted anywhere I can find yet!
• Had these passed onto me (thanks to that source, you  know who you are!): Cheyenne Canon Mountain Results … (so they are posted somewhere, I just have not found them yet). I think this makes it look like Rickey G gets a slot. Selection appears to be tougher on the women’s side though. I have posed a few questions over there that Buzz has started a conversation on.

  
  1 Tim Parr 27 M Gunnison CO 47:13 6:20
  2 Andrew Benford 21 M Ravenswood WV 47:48 6:25
  3 Kristopher Houghton 28 M Albuquerque NM 48:21 6:30
  4 Alex Nichols 24 M Colorado Spring CO 48:51 6:34
  5 Payton Batlinger 25 M Boulder CO 49:09 6:36
  6 Jason Delaney 29 M Golden CO 49:33 6:39
  7 Tommy Manning 33 M Colorado Spring CO 50:24 6:46
  8 Nick Hirsh 26 M Gunnison CO 50:37 6:48
  9 Aaron Saft 31 M Fletcher NC 51:34 6:55
  10 John Tribba 27 M Boulder CO 51:58 6:59
  11 Bill Fanselow 42 M Golden CO 52:04 6:59
  12 Jesse Armijio 26 M Albuqerque NM 52:11 7:00
  13 Ryan Hafer 23 M Colorado Spring CO 52:36 7:04
  14 Andy Ames 46 M Boulder CO 53:03 7:07
  15 Juan Ortega 23 M Albuqueque NM 54:07 7:16
  16 Gerald Romero 38 M Colorado Spring CO 54:17 7:17
  17 Paul Low 35 M Northfield VT 54:23 7:18
  18 Bernie Boettcher 46 M Silt CO 54:47 7:21
  19 Bryan Dayton 36 M BOulder CO 55:44 7:29
  20 Thomas Jodoin 28 M Helena MT 56:20 7:34

  
  ===== =================== === = =============== == ======= =====
  1 Megan Kimmel 29 F Silverton CO 39:23 7:53
  2 Megan Lund 24 F Basalt CO 39:28 7:54
  3 Laura Haefeli 41 F Del Norte CO 39:52 7:59
  4 Kasie Enman 29 F Huntington VT 40:02 8:01
  5 Brandy Erholtz 31 F Bailey CO 40:19 8:04
  6 Gina Lucrezi 26 F Colorado Spring CO 41:10 8:14
  7 Christine Lundy 38 F Sausalito CA 41:26 8:18
  8 Amber Moran 30 F Arden NC 41:43 8:21
  9 Abby Larson 30 F Salt Lake City UT 42:38 8:32
  10 Nicole Hunt 39 F Deer Lodge MT 43:19 8:40
  11 Rochelle Stratton 41 F Colorado Spring CO 44:42 8:57
  12 Liza Grudzinski 28 F Newburgh NY 44:59 9:00
  13 Trish Steidl 32 F Shoreline WA 45:43 9:09
  14 Rachael Cieslewski 29 F salt Lake City UT 45:51 9:11
  15 Maria Dalzot 21 F morgantown MV 46:01 9:13
  16 Lindsay Kraus 31 F Littleton CO 47:13 9:27
  17 Melanie Fryer 29 F centennial CO 47:21 9:29
  18 Jessie Watkins 19 F Colorado Spring CO 49:34 9:55
  19 Melissa Eichers 33 F Colorado Spring CO 49:51 9:59
  20 Jane Reaves 42 F Colorado Spring CO 51:21 10:17

Pikes Predictions strike 2

Comp list updated at: http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/regstats/2009/bios.htm

PPA Men (changes - Hafer out, pulling Parr as he has made USMRT - but maybe he does one race?, I might push Gutierrez up based on his recent 31:45 10k) TBD - Herdegen, Barnes, Thomas and Matt Hill

1. Nichols
2. Gutierrez
3. Russell
4. Batliner
5. Selig
6. Freudenberg
7. Tribbia
8. Romero
9. Tilton
10. Crandall
11. Ames
12. Clark

PPM Men Mackey out, no Vail . Parr a question - see above. TBD - Van De Kamp, Heneghan, Dignum, Feuch, Torres, Erchinger, Compagnoni, Fain, Reed, Ryan . Mock back in.

1. Carpenter
2. Parker
3. Dayton
4. Boettcher
5. Ricks
6. Mock
7. Hutchinson
8. Smiley

Women PPA Could shift if Ernholtz focuses on USMTR instead?

1. Ernholtz
2. Portilla
3. Larson
4. Ortiz
5. Goldsmith
6. O’Neill

Women PPM

1. Nelson
2. Kimmel
3. Ortiz (DOUBLER!)
4. Stitch
5. Morrissey

Sunday 072609

• A

  fter an easy family AM hike at 12000 feet and higher (3 miles) (that hike and this post tempted me to go run the Decalibron but I chose a run that would be a bit “faster movement") , I did 18 miles up Mosquito Pass Road and back (it is about 9 miles from the house to the “big bend”.   I chose this run over the Decalibron on something like I did last week – which is long and climbing but obviously much slower.  This has some climbing though – about 1600 feet, with all of the running over 10k in elevation.

• AHR up =161, AHR down was 167, with a max of 177.  I was cooked after getting back to CO HWY 9, and jogged in the last two miles.  By comparison,  I did a similar run back on July 3 – 16 miles, 2:17. I ran today’s run faster overall – except the last 2 miles – which were slower today by choice.

   

• Burro racers were up on Mosquito Pass Road.

• Results are starting to slip in from various races over the weekend.  I need to pour over them a bit and then perhaps recast my Pikes predictions.  I also understand that 07 PPA women’s champ Portilla is returning, as is Pikes legend Erica Larson.  I will fold them into the results as well.

• Week in review

• M – 4 miles (43) 8 miles (67)
• T – 11 miles (88) 5 miles (42)
• W – 11 miles (95)
• Th – 18 miles (135)
• F – 12 miles (101)
• Sa – 7 miles (57)
• Su – 18 miles , (150)
• 781 minutes on week (13 hours hours). 95 miles on week over 9 runs  (3800 feet of climbing). 344 miles on July, 2960 minutes. 2034 miles on year, 17275 minutes.   Solid week for me at 13 hours again.  Start to back off a bit next week, with focus being on the long runs being at race pace / effort and the easy stuff being nothing but recovery.

Today

 

3rd

Saturday 072609

Plans changed for the day, and hence for the run no less then five times.  Got in an easy seven in the afternoon,  AHR =143

Friday 072409

• Got this message from a website today …   …
• West End 3k results are up. Race report from JM.
• AM - 12 miles, AHR – 138, max 150. Legs were a bit heavy from yesterday so I kept the effort low.  70 miles on the week thus far and 9.5 hours so on target for my 13 hours, ~ 90 miles.  Recovery tomorrow and long and building again on Sunday.  I might throw some hard hills in the end of Sunday as well.
• The days are most definitely getting shorter.  I am up enough at 5AM now to know.
• Average pace was about 10-15 seconds off my ~145 HR runs. A run with an AvHR of 145, across a typical course from my house comes in at about 8:05 (but with variance from mile to mile depending on climbs, drops, etc). On the track, I am doing about 7:40-7:45 right now. So today, a bit easier (138) was about 8:20 pace (average). Interestingly when I do an afternoon run, I am running about that pace in the heat at 145 for six miles.
• Updated yesterday’s predictions …

Thursday 072309

• 18 miles as a progression in the later parts. 10 miles averaging at 8 min/mile pace (AHR = 142) (and started at 9 minutes a mile), then elevated for six miles (6:47 average, AHR =167, max 177), then relaxed in for 2 miles. Felt great. 2:15 on the run. I found / made up a really nice loop out to I25 and back. Sunrise was gorgeous.

  
  
  

• Awesome Fitzgerald post.
• I am having a killer conversation with John G re: central governor, etc that I hope to wrap into a post soon.
• Came across this nice memory today ...
• Found this pretty little nugget if me trying to get my wits post Barr Trail … a few feet away from MC.  This one on the way down …
• Playing a bit with Athlinks today …
• Music for the day … (there ain’t no moral to this story, ‘cause everything I tell you very well could be a lie, I been away from the living’, I don;t need to be forgiven, I am just waiting for that cold black soul of mine to come alive.)
  
  

Jack Daniels discussing training over the years … interesting!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

PPA / PPM predictions – men, first crack

• Initial predictions … done off the gut and without digging through the results and resumes of all the racers (yet). Just looking to throw up the conversation. There are names in the prediction list that are totally whacked (people submitting 1:30 for example for the PPA).

PPA (post script

1. Nichols
2. Hafer

3. Gutierrez

4. Parr
5. Russell
6. Batliner
7. Selig
8. Freudenberg
9. Tribbia
10. Romero
11. Tilton
12. Crandall
13. Ames
14. Clark

Questions, notes – prior champs can still show up. Hafer not yet declared but apparently has verbally committed to a few folks … Elliott?

PPM

1. Carpenter
2. Parker
3. Dayton
4. Boettcher
5. Ricks
6. Parr (DOUBLER!)
7. Hutchinson
8. Smiley

Questions, Notes - No Mackey this year … I am tossed up on new comers and competitive entry folks like Van De Kamp, Heneghan, Dignum … Feucht is also in the mix. I think he was a comp last year? …I am hearing rumors that Vail is out and Mock has indicated as much. … How Parr performs in a Double remains to be seen – and apparently has Leadville the NEXT week … also watch Erchinger, and PPM legend Senovio Torres (16 marathons with 16 top ten finishes including a 4:11 when he was 51).

Okay – who’d I overlook? July 23

Evening post script – Nick Clark got a competitive entry as well.

July 23 Afternoon post script … Women PPA

1. Ernholtz
2. Ortiz
3. Goldsmith
4. O’Neill

Women PPM July 24 AM post script - after a good point made by JM, I have swithced Ortiz and Kimmel

1. Nelson
2. Kimmel
3. Ortiz (DOUBLER!)
4. Stitch
5. Morrissey

Wednesday 072209

• Lots going on, lots of things I want to cross post but … LIFE … for example
• I have had an excellent exchange with John G and a conversation with Phil M regarding TSS – I have some research to do on this before I post a summary, 
• HR training with Matt,
• BG’s Vineman,
• JM’s racing and chainsaw adventures,
• good stuff on Magill’s blog ,
• shoe offer from Nick– (and as he says …I started this blog primarily as a means of keeping track of my training and racing activities. I decided to put it in the public domain to add an extra element of peer accountability to my running. I've since found that writing full race reports and weekly training summaries has helped me tremendously in reflecting on what I am and am not doing right or wrong in racing and training. Whether or not people read what I write has largely been a secondary concern.
• Go

  od link from JM re: the Cheyene Canon mountain race …

• I had considered getting up early this AM and getting in a longer building run, but when we landed at the Rockies game last night and I was almost falling asleep at the seventh inning stretch – I knew I had to defer to a good night of sleep. I slept in (7:20 when TZ woke me up). I needed it. Paid the penalty of running in the heat later in the day.  11+ miles, average HR 143.  HR did not even crack 140 for the first 2.5 miles of this run – despite the pace being typical with the guys at work, and some fairly warm temps.  It felt real easy too … almost floating like … as if the heat was not an issue anymore.
• Will look to do the mid week longish run tomorrow AM.

Tuesday 072109

• AM – 11 miles. Jogged over to BHS to get an idea as to where I was in terms of HR to pace and ended up there for most of the run. HR did some crazy stuff shortly after I got on the track and read as high 191 for a short stretch (while I was slowing down) (you can see that in the chart below). But other than that, just sat at 149 for a half dozen plus miles. Interestingly, the pace got faster through the first five miles of the run, but then moved back up in the last mile. AvHR over run was 148. I think it is very fair to say there is a hill in that track. The results of this run are “okay.” I like to see a bit more improvement in the pace at this HR but it is what it is, and not surprising – two days post a bigger run and post a couple days where I have been “chasing” hydration.

• PM – super easy with a bunch of guys at work. Again, HR went nutty for about a half mile, averaging 180 with a high of 195, but all while I was running 8:15 pace. At this point, I decided to ignore the monitor for the rest of the run. As it turned out it was an average over the run of “149.” (I put that in quotes because the run other than this anomaly was average of 146.
• I have the next four weeks planned out for running and a taper … want to sleep on it though to give it some thought.  Current plan – which is very likely and subject to change …

• This week (28 days to go) (July 20-26) 100 percent, 13 hours, 90 miles.  2 long runs with "building" at the end.  Week similar to last few weeks.

• Next week (21 days to go) (July27-August 2) 90 percent, ~ 80 miles or 11.5 hours.  2 long runs with "building at the end.  Drop some secondary runs.

• 27 -

  AM 7 miles, PM 4 miles

• 28 - AM 11 miles

  29 - 17 miles, race HR after 10 miles

• 30 - AM - 6 miles, PM - 4 miles

• 31 - 8 miles

• 1 - 4 miles

• 2 - 20 miles, race HR after 12 miles

• Following week (14 days to go) (August 3 - August 9) 75 percent, or 68 miles or 9.75 hours.  1 long run with a building on the end.  Drop all secondary runs.

• 3 - 8 miles

• 4 - 8 miles

• 5 -  17 miles, race HR after 10 miles

• 6 -  8 miles

• 7 - 7 miles

• 8 - 4 miles

• 9 - 16 miles, race HR after 9 miles

• Race week (7 days, including race day) (August 10 - 16) 60 percent or 55 miles, including a 26 mile race on Sunday (so 29 miles on the front of the week)

• 10 10 miles

• 11 3 miles

• 12 9 miles - race HR effort last 3 miles

• 13 4 miles

• 14 3 miles

• 15 off

• 16 race

• A tattoo parlor is a sponsor of the White River 50?
• Been playing with a training load plugin for Zone Five.  Not wholly sure what it all means yet (reading to do!) and hence it will not change my training approach, but looks interesting.

Monday 072009

AM – easy five miles, average HR =143.  Feel pretty good this AM – no significant adverse effects post yesterday’s run.  PM – easy 8 miles.  Again felt good.  Wanted to roll but of course did not.  AvHR =146, max =151.  Very similar route to my typical afternoon six miler … a bit cooler with a breeze (85) and saw a nice boost in pace (~10 sec a mile average).

Sunday 071909

• 20 miles at 10000 feet plus. Going into this run, I did not feel that hot – I probably did a bit too much mileage yesterday to best insure success for today’s run, and then I capped it with camping activities with the family last night (different kind of workout, but one that takes a bit out of me). I decided that rather than worry about the pace on this run, even towards the end, I would just turn this into a long burn – with the target of three hours. I had initially planned on Mosquito Pass, but the family had intentions of getting up into the National Forest up Beaver Creek road – so I headed that route and towards Silverheels. I guesstimated that I probably make it to the “powerline meadow” (12000 feet) before time constraints would drive me back. I kept the 150 cap on the climb, figuring I would need it as I felt “mushy” on the front end of the run. This meant the last three miles of the climb were very slow (13, 14, 15). The total average grade on the up was only 4.5%, but the last sections get over 19%). Once I did the turn around I ignored heart rate and so, even while descending the HR climbed up over 150. Again, I did not “push” but I did not hold back either on the descent, and was able to get back to a cum pace of sub 10, after posting several “teen miles” heading up (16% grade helped). I averaged HR of 150 on this run, with 145 on the up, with a max of 171 coming on the down (av 157 down), Never killed this run but I got a lot of the mileage at elevation with about 2500’ of gain). Some pix …

• The power line climb to 12k and treeline…
  

• Post run cooling in Beaver Creek – water is very cold as it was snow three miles above this. Notice the dog ready to “save me.”
  

• Elephant head flowers
  

• Nastache …
  

• Week in review
  • M – 6 miles (55) 5 miles (43)
  • T – 11 miles (89) 6 miles (53)
  • W – 7 miles (63), 6 miles (52)
  • Th – 17 miles (133)
  • F – 8 miles (67), 6 miles (51)
  • Sa – 10 miles (82)
  • Su – 20 miles , (194)
• 884 minutes on week (14.75 hours). 102 miles on week over 11 runs (6700 feet of climbing). 249 miles on July, 2179 minutes. 1939 miles on year, 16494 minutes (~11.5 days), Biggest week for me by far in terms of volume ever as measured by time. This next week will be more of the same, and then I will start turning the corner to the taper. I won’t specifically go and look to get 100 miles, but an other 13 hour week will be about right.

Saturday 071809

10 miles.  AvHR = 143, max = 151.  Listening:  The Railbenders.  We are coming 40 years on the first moon landing.  Those guys had some swagger that I’d wish we had a bit more of today

Friday 071709

8 miles.  From Rte 287 last night I saw that they had installed a foot bridge from the east side, that would connect under the highway to the Lake Link (Lac Amora) trail on the west side.  This is great –  as the trail on the west side has dead-ended at 287 forever.  I had to check it out.  Unfortunately construction was going on even well before 7:30.  I ran through anyway, despite the construction worker protests.  The bridge was roped off so I ran under it and through the creek.  AvHR = 141

Mid Day – easy six with DB on the “Johnson loop.”  AvHR = 145.

I am TOTALLY GEEKING out with the coolest result set I have seen for a race ANYWHERE ON LINE – and of course it comes from the Barr Trail race results (guess what race coordinator is behind that?!)  You can search results across all the years and then SORT by various columns.  So you can see the fastest times ever on the course, but then sort it by different splits, or downhill time, etc.  Super cool!   Case in point:  I can see that 3 people account for the top ten performances at BTMR, but seven of those come from Matt – but Matt has only one of the top ten downhill times.  Shows where the race is really won!  My minor claim here is I have 3 of the top 30 times for 35-39 – hardly a footnote!  It also shows that I downhill a little better than I climb – I have 2 of the top 20 times in that age group (but truthfully, my best time overall only ranks #106, and my best downhill is #74).  Bernie’s fastest downhill there of 33 and change is sick!  This level of analysis – WOW – does any other race have results like this?  And then they have all their financials ON LINE?  How awesome is that?

Thursday 071609

I am getting a HR monitor tan line.  Seriously

.

17 miles in the AM.   Thought I would run around the Khol loop  - just for consistency and measurement.  I jogged some Gatorade bottles down there but then I decided to slip away to extend the warm up a bit.  After six miles (AvHR =142, some weird spikes in the max as the HR would suddenly go from 145 to 155-160 for a few strides and then back down.  Might be time for a new HR battery?  Or maybe I was just getting pumped listening to Tool:  10000 Days?), I ended up at the BHS track and decided to measure there.  I did five miles (AvHR=148, max 150, Avpace=7:48) there.  After that, I just ran – not pushing but not holding myself back with the monitor either.  Just going.  Last six miles had an AvHR of 162, max 173 (only a few seconds over 170, and in the last hill back to my house in the last third of a mile), avpace = 7:13.  Total time was about 2:12.  Good run.  I felt good – never really pushed and enjoyed it.

 

Wednesday 071509

• Excellent post by Anton on one of my most favorite places on the planet.
• Combined results (M & F) for Barr Trail are up.   I totally geek out staring at the splits and seeing how the race played out.
• I had entertained thoughts last night that I’d get up this AM and do a long progression run. When I woke up I could feel that I was not up for that, and was even debating whether to run at all or go back to bed. I got out but it was generally lethargic. 7 miles. AvHR=133, max 145.
• So – this was a classic case of having to change what I had planned to do. It bugs me because I wanted to do that workout, but at the same time, I realize there are times you need to just understand it is not going to happen and that there will be more physical and mental damage in trying to force it.
• PM – easy six miles.  AvHR = ,144 max = 150  (although I had that crazy reading of 162 in the first ten steps again)
• I have been asked a few of these questions as of late: Do you think that your new approach to “low HR training” is why you had a good race at Barr? Honestly, I don’t think it is fair to say it was the absolute reason or it was not. The opposite is true too – if I had a crap race, I would not say it was because of the training over the last few weeks (case in point could have been if I had gone out too fast). I have only been training with this “low HR” approach for three weeks … and so I think yesterday’s results are probably more definitive in showing improvement because of this training than that race. Certainly, I think I am benefiting from the increase in mileage (about a 15-20% increase over typical in the last three weeks, and since I am running more slowly about a 20 to 30% increase in time) and I also believe that taking my easy days more easy (as capped by HR) is helping. Time will tell as to how I respond to this protocol.
• How are you going to approach the next six weeks? I am still figuring that out, but I don’t see any immediate significant changes. Actually, I have not spent any significant head time to figuring that out. Instead, I have been a bit more focused on the moment of recovering from Barr Trail so I can get to my next long run with a progression on the end.  (thanks to Bethany Garner for the pix again)
• Slight side bar here … during a race like Pikes, or even Barr Trail, I find that it is not beneficial for me to think about the WHOLE task at hand. I have mentioned this in the past - specifically that looking up at the summit of the Peak can be quite daunting and demoralizing because it forces you to consider how far you have to go, and how much higher. Instead, I try to focus on the segment at hand, and give myself some verbal “self talk” to worry about running to the next aide station, recovering on this slightly flatter section, catching the next person on the trail. In other words, focusing more on the moment … … similarly, it can be a bit daunting for me to think about all the workouts I want to do in the next five weeks. Instead it is better (to some degree) (for me) to consider where I currently am at and do what I can do. Now, there is this topic of a taper that I need to figure into the equation and so that will require some degree of planning.
• I have traditionally felt that I need to get some speed to be effective in racing. I am getting that “fix” by tacking that sort effort towards the end of longer runs. I have long felt that for me to run fast long, I had to also be able to run fast short. I certainly have not run fast short in the last three weeks but I still was able to run an average of six minute pace down the trail (including a few segments at well under five minute pace). Or fast enough. So, I am probably seeing the light that doing quarters ain’t going to do jack for me at Pikes.
• At least for the next couple of weeks, I want to keep at it with the mileage, keep at it with doing some “work” at the end of longer runs, and keep getting to altitude (if for anything simply because it is awesome up there right now).
• So what did you do well at Barr? In addition to what I said above I want to note (so I can plan for future) two things: I think I really ran the front end well for my abilities. In fact, I think while this year’s time is pretty close to the last two years I ran it, I think those prior times are slower than what I could have done then. Simply – I went WAY too fast in the start of that race. I think this is really easy to do on that first road (pitch near 15%?) – and so I took it really conservative. I mean REALLY conservative. I repeat – REALLY conservative. In past years, I was already near red line when we hit the second switchback – that is not the place you want to be (five minutes into a near two hour race). I will want to be really careful about this at Pikes as well (I think it is a little trickier there because of the lower road start on Manitou Ave). Another place where I saw this was the DOWN. When I first started the down I was taken by two guys almost immediately. I was not ready to run that fast – and was ready to concede to them if they were … but they slowed as we hit the flats and the “uphills” back. I think it is easy to want to get after it on the down right away – but there is probably a bit of time there where it is appropriate to recover a touch and then start gearing up.
• I am also learning (or maybe re-learning) the importance of the CONSTANT attention I need to provide to diet and hydration.  As a youth (or a younger person), I could (and did) make mistakes with diet, hydration and get away with it (additionally they are less magnified when operating at the 5k or 10k level over the marathon).  Seriously, I’d go out for a two hour run on a hot day with NO water.  I can do that still, but I can feel the price of that in recovery the next day, and even after that (I even recognized in a warped way how stupid this was at that time -  we would joke that it was “going camel.”) With a combination of focusing on longer distances, age – where recovery is increasingly important … I am slowly (and grudgingly) seeing the impact of the management of these activities at (what seems to be) ridiculous levels.

Tuesday 071409

• Bad news: JV broke his foot. I feel horrible for the guy.
• Good post on coaching by Magill (I see it more as a post of defining a training program for anyone, including when you define that for yourself)
• More good altitude related stuff from Chuckie V.
• Some race photos are up from Barr Trail (thanks to Bethany Garner) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Back on June 24, I did 10 miles at or under 150 HR. On that run, I averaged a HR of 142 and a pace of 8:15 a mile.

Today, on a pretty similar course (actually a little longer and so a touch more up/down) (and still a tad sore from Sunday), I averaged 8:05 with an average HR of 144 and a max of 150, I noticed post mile 8 my HR had become more likely to react to subtle changes to the terrain, pace, etc (part of the drift situation). While this is not an exact test, as the courses were slightly different, I think it is fair to state that it represents some level of progress.

PM – 6 miles easy, AvHR = 144, max 150

Monday 071309

• Link love morning … initial results are up from yesterday (M, F), along with a CoS Gazette article. Caitlyn S’ report.  Some Mountain Running press … 
• From Leadville Trail Marathon (a race I like to do, particularly since Brandon states it is “harder than Pikes” and it goes up to one of my favorite high mountain passes I troll) – Brandon’s report (lots in here, I still need to watch the vid), Anton’s report, Paul Dewitt’s report.
• … I am a little sore this AM. Mostly from the rookie mistake I made yesterday by not lubing up the various friction parts with Vaseline - so I am chaffed. Crikey. Easy six miles, AvHR=139, max=147. Very easy with little regard to pace - just wanted to shake out the cobwebs. Listening: Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers (I often get recent live shows (free) that have been posted on line). Wearing the Skins today.
• Mid day – easy five with SM, DB.  AvHR=142, max HR =151 (same story)

Barr Trail Mountain Race 071209

• Called home after the race, and KZ answered: “Dad, how did you do?”“Well dear, I did not beat Matt Carpenter.”
  “Well no duh Dad.”
• Got up at 3:45, and was on the road by 4. Got this note from DM last night and resonated with my plan forBTMR: Go out easy and then ramp up. It seems you go out fast sometimes with racing. You can easily make up the time at the BTMR you think you lose. Given I had little idea as to where I was stood, I figured I’d be conservative through the W’s – a portion that has often left me feeling in a hole in past years.Pulled up to Soda Springs Park around 5:30, and saw JM. He was not racing but meeting some guys for a run, but they’d be out on the course spectating. Chatted a bit, jogged up to get my number and rounded out a very very very easy warm up (3 miles). Caught up with a few folks (Bernie, Tara, John T, Gerald B, etc) and wished them well. It was a tad warm and humid but nothing bad.
• Things got out quick but I stuck to my plan. The front part of this race (the road from the cog to the trails) is the steepest section and an area in which I think I have quickly gone over the top. By the time we crossed on to upper Ruxton, I was probably in 40th place. By the time we got to the dirt that was probably 25th, but I kept wondering if I ought to gear back even more – actually a bit fearful of the climb to come. I spotted a few jerseys and folks ahead – just to get stock as to where I was. I saw Bernie about 20 yards ahead and knew I needed to be behind him at this point.
• Through the W’s I just tried to get into that rhythm and I started to pick some folks off. There was an odd balance of being happy to be out racing, at this race, but then also realizing I was in that blend of pain in the legs with the heart racing. I eyeballed the HR monitor a few times in the Ws – consciously thinking I would not over react to it but curious as to where it stood (but also recalling I probably went out over the top a bit at Mt. Washington). It was hovering between 174-176 which seemed right.
• Not much more to say about the climb other than that. Just before No Name Creek I saw Justin and was told I was in 18th overall. I knew there were two women ahead of me also. Once I got to No Name Creek, I could see a shirtless guy about 80 yards ahead. He’d pull ahead on the flats and the downs and I’d catch him a bit on the climbs. I tried to use the flatter sections to get my legs back a bit, evaluate, and then begin the next push.
• I evaluated progress at that little bridge past Bob’s Road and before Barr Camp. In the two years I have done this before I have nearly met Matt C exactly on that bridge – as he is coming down. I got over the bridge this year without seeing Matt so I was feeling that I was doing okay (I entertained the thought for a moment that perhaps he was not doing as well but I quickly dismissed that thought). I ended up seeing Matt about 2 minutes past the bridge.
• At the half mile to Barr Camp sign (one long ass half mile), I saw another shirtless guy with this guy, and then I saw a woman racer ahead of them. I caught the new shirtless guy but after about 5 minutes, he came roaring back and charged up hard the remainder of the way to the camp. The other shirtless guy stepped to the side, conceding the trail to me. I was closing on the #2 woman as we got to Barr. I was surprised to hear 69:29 as I circled the tear drop at Barr, and thought I could have a shot at breaking 1:50 on the RT.
• Once the down started, I felt pretty wobbly legged but tried to get my bearings – focusing on catching the woman in front of me. Seriously – I could not really care that she was a woman it was just giving me motivation to move my ass. I passed the shirtless guy who had charged up to Barr, but then was passed by two other guys (including the shirtless guy who had conceded the trail to me). We passed the woman, and then caught up to another guy. The pace quickly became fast, but then slowed almost as suddenly when we hit the “flatter” (or uphill?) sections back down. I was questioning if I’d be able to keep up with them but I got all the three of them through the climb back up to Bob’s Road. One hung on me for a bit so I decided to test the waters a bit and surged some (OW). He dropped. I never felt like I was flying the downhill, and I felt unable to really push – as my legs were fairly worked from the up but I tried to make a good go of it.
• As we came into No Name Creek, I saw Brandy E and was able to catch her before the W’s. She was taking the down easy as she is doing the USMT qualifier in a couple of weeks and had this race in the bag. Through the W’s I was surprised to see Justin R – he was obviously having an off day but it kept me motivated to keep pushing. He gave me some nice words of encouragement as I went by in the last switchback before the road.
• The last road section on this is always a bit of a kick in the teeth, particularly with that last up hill back. Justin M was at the finish and shouted I could break 1:50. I turned the corner and was pretty surprised to see 1:47 and change.
• Splits …

• Top of W’s: 21:38

• No Name Creek: 35:55 (14:17)

• 7.8 sign: 51:54 (15:59)

• Barr Camp: 69:27 (17:33)

• Down: 38:09

Previous years …

First	Mi	Last	Age	Grp	Sex	City	State	Pos	Div	Ws	NN	78	BC	Down	Finish	Year
George		Zack	36	35-39	M	Erie	CO	17	4/40	0:21:06	0:36:05	0:51:42	1:08:56	0:40:01	1:48:57	2006
George		Zack	37	35-39	M	Erie	CO	9	2/33	0:20:36	0:35:30	0:51:44	1:08:56	0:38:25	1:47:21	2007

• Undoubtedly this was a good performance for me. I really did not have high expectations coming in, and was actually wondering how far off of 06, or 07 form I would be. This was good feedback that I am pretty close to that fitness (note – the slower time down in 06 is in part because I took a digger).  The placing is nice, but less of a victory or concern for me.  Placing is a matter of who shows up and performs well.  There were a couple of guys I got today that – had they had their typical days – would have pushed me back a few places.  But the time, is the time.
• HR data (av HR up and down was not significantly different – 171.  Max, 186)

• Results will certainly be up later but I got these from Justin M:

1. Matt Carpenter (CoS) 1:33
2 - Alex Nichols (CoS)
3 - Ryan Hafer (CoS)
4 - Daryn Parker (CoS)
5 - Mike Selig (Lakewood)
6 - Shiloh Mielke (NC)
7 - John Tribbia (Boulder)
8 - Gerald Romero (CoS)
9 - Jason Bryant (NC)
10 - Nate Smith (CoS)
11 - Bernie Boettcher (Silt)
12 - Ryan Havens (CoS)
13 – Hang Nine 1:48
14 - Justin Ricks (Pueblo)

and on the women’s side:

1 - Brandy Erholtz (Bailey)
2 - Megan Kimmel (Silverton)
3 - Caitlin Smith (Cali)



• It was great to BS with the typical croo post race – which I enjoy even more than the racing I think. Got in an other 2.5 miles to warm down giving me 18 plus on the day. Sat in the creek some post race. Got a few comments that I exceeded expectations, which was nice to hear on some fronts. I think that really means that with the performances I have been putting up as of late, expectations have been lowered. :)
• Lots more to post on the play out of the results, etc but later.
• Week in review …
• M – 6 miles (51) 10 miles (85)
• T – 4 miles, (36 min) , 15 miles (165) on Mesa
• W – 8 miles (73)
• Th - 11 miles (89)
• F – 9 miles , (75 minutes)
• Sa – 5 miles (45 minutes)
• Su – 18 , (170 minutes), Barr Trail Mountain Race
• 792 minutes on week. 86 miles on week over 9 runs. 147 miles on July, 1295 minutes. 1837 miles on year, 15610 minutes, 9000 feet of climbing on the week. No definitive plans for next week yet – will look to work on recovery on M – T

Saturday 071109

Karl wins his 5th HR100 (and I think 28th hundred ever?).  (Buzz B is in this video too).  I am sort of blow away how Karl looks like he just finished a five miler … and that there are like six people there to see this … 

5 miles, easy.  Ran with JZ to his ball game (he was on a bike) and back.  AHR=136.  Saw some weirdness on the HR monitor when I started running back – it read that I was climbing and reached 182 for a few seconds.  Just an anomaly.

Friday 071009

• Felt … “fuzzy” when I woke up. I thought about getting up early and beating the heat, but as I was feeling almost as if I was getting a cold last night – I decided to take the extra rest. Took a slow start to the morning, hydrating, waking up. I paid for it though as it was still pretty warm when I started running at 10 AM.
• This picture below shows it all … I started my run with little thought as to where I was going to go, or end up – just wanting about an hour. I ended up on the BHS track, curious as to what a flat mile would pace out at sub 150. The red line below is HR (so relatively constant), The brown line is the elevation (meaning that there is a pitch to the track, which is not uncommon). The blue line is pace per mile. The chart tells me a few things.
  • You can see pace deflection over time (distance) (and I am convinced the slope of that line is dependent on a variety of factors, but in this case it becomes particularly pronounced at 4 miles or after about a half an hour of running … where I suspect my core temp “trips” some point).   In this case, over the miles shown, the pace deflects (slows) by almost 45 seconds a mile from the first mile shown to the last mile shown. 
  • It also tells me that little “hill” in the track has a noticeable effect on pace. I can’t see the hill in the track, but the GPS can and then my pace does when keeping a constant HR.
  
  
• Listening was various sports podcasts, and some old U2. 9 miles. AHR = 146. Max was 152 on the way home (heat, hills).
• Lot of mountain racing on tap this weekend: Barr Trail, Leadville Marathon, HR100 (which actually started this AM).   Of course, I am doing Barr.  I am not sure how I will do there but the two times I have raced it before I broke 1:50 (amazingly I have run to Barr Camp the exact time both times).   It is difficult for me to predict how I will do as my form has been “lagging” this year, and I have been taking a markedly different approach the last few weeks.  Any self predictions I make would be pulling a number out of my ass.  I am just going to run.   Oh yeah, there is a truly crazy ass event going on in California …

Thursday 070909

• 11 miles. AvHR=145. Max 150. About 8 minute pace.   Listening:  ESPN’s The BS Report Podcast and Kevin Reeves, Its About Time.
• Justin has a good breakdown of Barr Trail top male competitors today. He certainly looks to have done a good amount of homework on this. He mentioned me though so I will down grade his effort to a “B.”
• I made this comment after yesterday’s post: I was theorizing with JV yesterday that I don't think altitude is as big a factor at Pikes as the folks make it. It IS a factor, but I think it is a lesser factor than people make it. I think the bigger factor is that you have run up 7800 feet over 13 miles ... even if the run was at sea level (the beach) going to 7800 feet would kick most folks ass. This is not to say that altitude does not effect performance to some degree (there is less air) but I think most folks don't hit high heart rates at the higher elevations because they a.) run out of glycogen (average finisher in the Ascent is north of four hours and six plus hours for the round trip), b.) they end up with general muscular fatigue ... in both cases, the heart is not the limiting factor ... and hence availability of O2, I think, is less of an issue. Coincidentally, Chuckie V has a good post on altitude and performance / HR.

Wednesday 070809

• Yesterday’s afternoon run was definitely an ass kicker for me. Outright, 15 miles is not particularly over the top for me, but the combination of the miles I brought into that run (over 95 miles in the seven days prior), the climbing, the heat set me up for a tough last hour. This was good in that I exhausted myself well, but I will need to be careful the next few days regarding hydration, recovery, etc.
• In any case, I think I have found the true secret to running faster. Although it appears to be for very short distances.
• Apparently nearly all the snow is off the Barr Trail near the summit of Pikes. Got my number for Barr Trail this weekend: 39. As has come to be expected, Matt has sent out a comprehensive pre-race email covering all the logistics one should know about pre-race (packet pickup, bathrooms, parking, post race info …). Sounds like a little thing but it is the sum of all those little things that this race committee does that makes BTMR a great race.   Good preview post.
• Recovery run mid day – 90 degrees. 8 miles. AHR= 146. Pace seriously slowed in second half. I was getting pretty pissed off in the second half of this run. On hot days, after the temp rises (core) the runs go to crap (or the pace slows to keep a set HR) ... I am thinking that I may have pushed over the edge a bit for the last couple of days with volume. I have close to 9 hours in the last four days ... so I think I am "damaged" enough that my muscles are calling for more 02 ... and hence higher heart rate. I am over it now. It is one day. No sweat (or actually a lot of it). I was going to run again tonight but I have decided not too. Tonight, I will eat well, drink a ton (water) …
• Rest of the week plan: Th - 10-12 miles, easy F - 8 miles, easy S - 4 miles easySu - Barr Trail. If the heat is like this the rest of the week, I might split some of this up and/or treadmill some of it.