Monday 053110

Round Mountain Time Trial.

Lucho - 47:58
Nick - 50:24
Eric - 51:08
Bob – 53:30
GZ – 55:47
Nick P – 60:12
Rick 62:47
Cherilyn ~60
Travis ~65:00

Beautiful day out on a new gorgeous mountain (~4.5 miles, 27-2800 feet of climbing).  14 miles on the day.


I was definitely feeling a bit heavy today!  I can tell I am carry about a half dozen lbs as a left over from last week.    Had a good go of it and a great time out on this hill with a great group.  I could feel a bit of lack of specific fitness on the flatter portions – I was a bit zapped from the steeper sections to push the flatter sections.

Added some miles on after we came back down with the Nicks, and got about 4500 vert on the day.

Quote of the day:  “if you see a deer, go for its rear.”

Sunday 053010

AM – 12 miles.  Explored some roads off the Mosquito Pass road.  Good stuff.  Dehydrated.  Even though I am keeping at it fairly well (drinking) , I struggle with this a bit up here.

Excellent podcast interview with Jim Ryun.

65 miles on the week with it at 9.5 hours on the week.  369 miles on May, 1719 on the year and 250.5 hours on the year.  Not stoked about the week but it is what it is, and hopefully I learn from it.

Heading to Loveland-ish in the AM for some running.

Mount Washington course in a nutshell, sans the wall

Saturday 052910

How one day can change things!

Yesterday I felt tired, sluggish, lethargic, bloated, and uneager.  And I traveled the day. 

But then I got home.  We immediately threw stuff into the car and headed to mountains (Fairplay).  TZ and I went to see another great RCPM show at the Little Bear (you can catch them, and the Railbenders tonight for free at the Denver Day of Rock) (and the Little Bear is fun venue – all those bra’s hung on the stage, a riot).  This meant we did not get home (back in the mountains) until past 1  - so I was SUPER TIRED (but I kept reminding myself that I had only been up 20 hours, had not run – so this was no Leadville).  The music, being with friends, dancing with my wife … I was becoming whole again.

Then I got up early and ran with the dogs.  We headed up in the Pike National Forest along Beaver Creek.  I elected this route because the roads (dirt) were free of snow (and I could see from a distance that the Mosquito Pass road was certainly not).  Just being out, in the mountains, with them being rich green as they are in spring, with my two insatiable training partners … I felt great, energized, connected and zealous.  18 miles, all above 10000 feet (which by definition means a couple thousand feet of climbing).  Off to play with a chain saw.

Friday 052810

Lessons learned with business travel this week …

• I pack entirely too much.  Given the trip was five days, I checked a bag (which I think I would need to due to toothpaste and the like), and so I packed crap in it I did not need.  I definitely did not need a fleece coat.
• I don’t need three meals a day.  And I am pretty sure most folks don’t either.  Particularly what they call meals – since each of them are pretty large.  In any case, I need to demonstrate some discipline to overcome this push to eat because a.) the food is free, b.) it freaks people out if you don’t eat or if you get a piece of bread for a meal
• When beer is free, it is really not free in the broader sense.
• Get to bed early, run early, and don’t expect to get a second run in ever.  This morning, I succumbed to a strong desire to sleep in a bit (630), and then given the need to pack out, and then get to work – I missed a window to run.  I suspect I won’t get a run today because of this. 
• You need to hydrate a lot more than you normally do.

All this said, the travel, the clock being in a different time zone, the different bed, the longer work day, the meetings with co-workers I don’t normally see, copious amounts of food and good brew – provides a nice back drop to screw up what I enjoy doing:  running a couple of hours a day.  None of these are insurmountable, but I clearly need to pull my head together with a greater degree of discipline to get what I want versus fall to excuses.  In my new role at my job, I can expect a bit more travel than I have experienced over the last three years … and so I need to up the ante.

That said, I can feel a bit of mental reconciliation occurring with me telling myself I could have used a down week anyway.  Not sure that is really true but it sure sounds nice.

In any case, I am eager to get home to the high country, a less humid environment … particularly after reading the exploits of Brandon, JV and Mr. Tony.

Apparently barefoot running can actually cause injuries.

Thursday 052710

Learning, or probably relearning a bunch of lessons re: business travel this week.  I was able to “get back on the horse” a bit today after hitting a preventable, but typical mid week crash in the midst of a week of long days and meetings.  12 miles.  Found a nice trail system (this is also a typical event – I find the trail system I’d like to explore at the tail end of the week).

Rickey put up a post of his N-S R2R run.

Double D predicts women for MW.

A new site re: Pikes and activities on it.

Interview with Tony.

Drug cheats  … playing a step ahead of the game.  "You can use three to four times your body's normal production of EPO if you inject it intravenously and have virtually no chance of testing positive within a matter of hours," Landis told ESPN.com. "So the biological passport is a joke, and I'm fairly certain the UCI knows about it.”  A good related read at SOS.

Wednesday 052610

Crash.  Ack.  Work.  Slept in.  3 miles in the AM.

Tuesday 052510

Dave D has a great set of predictions for Mount Washington.

Jurek’s post re: his 24 hour record

Tired – which is the norm on these trips for me.  Everything is a bit off … which adds up to a lot being off.  No matter – it does not matter and I just look to be consistent.

Got to bed early (8) and got up early and got some miles in the dark, humid, warmth (75 at 4:30).  Did an hour with 20 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off in there, and then met up with co-worker Tom for a few additional miles.  13 miles.

Saw two different folks running barefoot on the sidewalks yesterday.

Monday 052410

AM – in Overland Park.  At 5:30 AM it was already 75 degrees – which was both a welcome and surprising change from a typical 45 in Colorado.  Also, much more humid, green and at about 1000 feet of elevation. 

Ran around a fairly large cemetery for a bit – where every headstone was covered with flowers.  Pretty amazing.  There was a fairly sizeable Korean War Memorial as well and a rainbow to the west as the sun was rising.  Nice morning!  7 miles easy.

Lots of reading on Jemez I want to do … the reports from folks there are quite intriguing.

Sunday 052310

Apparently Nick won Jemez, and Burch was second.  Got the tip from JV and Rick that results are up.  Nick’s report, Kraig’s and Lucho’s.

I had thoughts of 20 this AM, but I cut things short:  I have business travel today and thus a good amount of stuff to wrap up at the house, and I could hear some “talking” (to use a Scott term) in various parts of my legs from the last week’s load.  Met up with Tim G early over at Rock Creek Trail head and did the Broomfield loop.  Started slow and easy (8:30s) but brought just as easily to near seven towards the tail of the run.  13 miles.

105 miles on the week, over 14.5 hours on the week.  304 miles on May, 1654 on the year and 241 hours on the year.  Fair week in that I got some miles, a good hill workout, some good strides. But … I did not get a LONG (3 hours plus) run in, and I did not meet the goal of climbing 15k this week as life took precedence.  Next week is business travel, so I suspect that mileage, climbing will be limited.  I will look to see what fun I can have with cranking things up when do I get out.

Saturday 052210

Jogged the dogs for a bit and then headed out on the Lake Link Trail.  Came up on the back end of the Runners Edge of the Rockies crew.  There were LOTS of them and it was great to see so many people out on a beautiful Saturday morning – TRAINING  (although I heard one person snicker over my compression socks)!  Headed out to the Rock Creek Trailhead and then came back.  Ran into Bret and so I introduced myself to him quickly. 

15 miles total – giving me 115 over the last seven, which I think is the highest seven day total ever.

Friday 052110

AM – jogged over to the BHS track, and did 10 x 200.  Started with them being relaxed (ugh – wake up!) 38.5, 38.7, 37.1, 36.9, 36.6, 37.4, 37.0, 36.2, 35.0, 34.6.  Tried to run smooth without going into the “pushing” or straining mode – except I upped the ante a touch for the last two.  7.5 miles.

Sort of feel that I am training for training.  Meaning I am just doing ground work, base work, purposely holding back for later world of hurt sessions.  

Or maybe not.

Tony has a nice description of Green (imagine that!).

PM –8.5 miles.  Scoped out some hills that I have been wanting to check out for a while (but have been muddy or snow covered) near my home.  These are short, but might be the steepest thing within a mile of my house.  I did a few reps (4) on a longer (200m) hill that seems to get steeper as you go along (goes from 2 percent to 15 percent). 

Then found another different path – hill and did a rep on that but it was too short and the footpath was not as crisp as I’d like (it was really more a gulley). 

Then found another social trail that starts steep (10 percent) but then levels out some(4 percent), but it might be too short (did four reps on this).  All good.  Some fun exploration.  Might go back to the first one again occasionally.

I have 100 over the last six days – and feel pretty dang good.

Thursday 052010

AM – 10.5 miles on the Nada loop.  It takes me about a mile to wake up on these runs.  Last year, keeping these runs easy by forcing myself under a HR cap of 150, I’d run about 8 minute pace.  Now, I end up under that (around 7:45) and my HR is 140-145 for most stretches.  For the easy stuff, I am not tempted to go much faster … yet.  Today’s listening … the Silversun Pickups

In a typical bonehead Zack move, I lost my camera.  I am pretty sure that at the close of my run yesterday, I put it on top of the Element.  And that is probably where it was when I took off to go to work.  Awesome.  Ah well.

I am thinking my elevation goal of 15k this week may not work out – just sizing up the rest of the week with work, family activities.  Might need to chase miles instead.

Everyone is buzzing about Floyd Landis today.  Sigh.  Whatever.  Part of the reason why I say I am less interested in pro sports is because of crapola like that. 

I put up a poll the other day re: who gets selected for the men’s USMRT.  One of the guys I am rooting to make the squad is Kevin Tilton.  Coached by Nate Jenkins …

Good stuff in yesterday’s comments re: R2R2R actual races from yester-year.  A little bit on the R2R2R at Endurance Planet.  Related to all that, the scab on the heel of my hand from wiping out on the Black Bridge is nearly completely healed. 

Marathon Talk has an interview with Ryan Hall (23 minutes in). 

PM – easy 9.5 miles.

Wednesday 051910

AM – Green Mountain.  Easy.  Felt a bit sluggish.  Took the Chaut-Gregory-Long-West Green route.  Started back down that route but went with the road down to get a little more mileage.  11 miles.

According to his facebook, Rickey ran the North to the South Rim in the Grand Canyon in a record tying 3:07, while managing getting lost on that trip.  That is moving pretty fast.

Tuesday 051810

AM – easy 11 miles. 

PM – easy, 9 miles with Phil

Karl sets up odds for Jemez 50.

Why knee high white socks are cool.

Monday 051710

Jornet wins a marathon in 3:56.  If I am reading this correctly, it included nearly 18k of vertical climbing.  Am I reading that right?  If so, daaaaaam.

Mr. Parr seems to be getting back to the game post a tough Boston and NF50 in NY.

Good read from Gordo.  I like his stuff on unplanned zeros the most in this read.

Simms Hill … I have not been to Simms Hill in a few months (as in a couple of sessions in January …exhibit a, and b).  I am thinking it may become a regular standby this summer on occasions where I need a hill workout, and I am unable to make the break to the mountains.  

I was a bit disappointed with how I felt in yesterday’s long run.  I had aspirations going into that run to get after it a bit, but I never got there.  The motivation spilled over today and I was a bit more ready to jump at things.  3 mile warm up (7:50 pace, AHR = 136).  Six repeats on the hill (3:28, 4:10R, 3:28, 4:10R, 3:23, 4:15R, 3:25, 4:07R, 3:22, 4:20R, 3:19).  All the repeats were faster (average 3:25) than the past, but (unknowingly) the rest was longer by about 10-20 seconds.

2.7 warm down for 11 miles in this run.  Good workout for me.  It was a nice little mental test as much as a physical one.  Once I got through number 3, I could hear the weeds of doubt in my head … and just had to work through them.  No playlist on the IPOD to hide in either today.

Sunday 051610

Enjoyed Tony’s post quite a bit over on RT.  The last weeks I have been asked quite a bit if I was running Colfax or Bolder Boulder.  I really have little desire to do such racing (although I do have a desire to run hard) … simply, I see myself more and more wanting to be on a high mountain ridge, running south, with the sun “westering” to my right …

Missed yesterday.  The day got eaten up with typical weekend stuff:  soccer, Cub Scouts, and other stuff related to the kids.  All good.  I should have gotten my arse up early and done a lap or two with Scott.

AM – 22 miles, super easy.  Never felt hot.  Never felt bad.  Just out for an easy run in the AM.  Definitely light enough to be rolling by 530 without any assistance.

Week, 81 miles, about 13.25 hours, with over 10k of climbing on the week.  Missed a day so mileage was down a bit, but I got some vertical, a fair long run, and a hard run in via the climb on Friday.  Still – for most of the week, I felt a bit behind and sluggish.  That started to shake off a bit on Friday.  With the longer days, I need to (we have heard this before) get after it in the AM a bit more now, and up those hills a bit more (let’s say 15k this week).

199 miles on May, 1549 on the year and 226.50 hours on the year.  Last year around this time (the 17th I posted) 173 miles on May, 1238 miles on year with 169.43 hours.  Whether the diff pays off remains to be seen.

Afternoon was the rocket launch.  We launched a couple of hundred rockets!

Geoff wraps up the showdown coming up at WS100 nicely:  Hal has won this race two years in a row; Tony has never lost any ultra that he's finished; I've set a course record on every single 100 mile course I've run; and most people in Europe believe that Killian is unbeatable in this one. And then beyond this there are half a dozen or so other guys who could also find a way to scratch and claw their way to the finish in Auburn before everyone else.

Green

This was not a race.  This was not a competition.  This was some folks out having fun, getting up Green Mountain.


Possible quotes of the evening:
”We got an email that there was a race occurring here tonight.”
”<name omitted> is the biggest p**sy in Boulder!”
”I met Nick on the Internet.  And then we shared a hotel room together in Manitou Springs.”
”Really, I am never going to bitch again about how steep that run was.” (followed by bitching about the run)
”So what is up with your racing anyway?”
”That blog post was great.” “NO.  It sucked.”
”I turned around.  I made it three miles up Stanley Canyon.”
”Well … we are getting into race season now.”

I got over to Chautuaqua post work, and decided to do a little recon on the trails to determine if I needed additional traction.  Under light rain, I headed up Amp-Saddle and then when the trail split to Greenman or provided the cut down to Ranger, I took the down.  Snow was 95% clear of the trail on the up (so to about 7200 feet).  On the down, Ranger was actually more covered and slushy, and any hopes I had of keeping my feet somewhat dry disappeared.  Gregory was completely clear of snow, but there were, as Tony mentioned two trees down over the trail.  These were not huge impediments, as folks had cleared branches to make their crossing easier.

I threw some new screws into my screw shoes earlier in the day, but decided this would not be necessary.

I got back to the lot, popped into my car and saw Lucho and Bob.  It was coming down a more significant clip now.  Shortly afterwards, Kerrie, Nick and FoCo croo showed up.  Thanks for coming out!  Given I was cold and wet now, I skipped on taking any pix of the run. 

An OSMP ranger approached us and asked if we were any sort of organized group.  “Nope.  Just some friends.”  “Where are you heading?” “Up Green.” “Which way?”
“Well, that is to be decided.  Some might go up Amphitheater, some might go up Gregory.” 
“How many of there are you?”
I contemplated saying three but since there were at least five us standing there, and Brandon had just driven up in his Hummer, I said “Oh, maybe five, six, seven.” 
“Okay.  That is great.  We got an email that there was going to be a race here tonight.” 
“Nope.  No race.  Just a few friends heading up Green.”
One of the ladies from Fort Collins however put the capper on it.  “Race?!  I hope not!!”
A few more pleasantries exchanged and he was off.

Sigh.  So, I am not sure who thought this was a race.  Or felt compelled to email OSMP because a few folks decided to get up Green Mountain as fast as they can  under their own foot power in snow and rain on a Friday night.  Whoever you are:  I appreciate that you love the Open Space.  I do too.  And I am not looking to harm it or make money off of it.  Drop me a line personally if you want to discuss.  I’d like to better understand your concern.  Seriously. 

JT apparently got stuck in traffic and as we were getting wetter and colder with the weather, we decided not to wait for him and we started our jog over to Gregory.  There was some good hearted debate over which route to take but we landed on sticking the original plan of Amp-Saddle-Green. 

Once there, we did some route discussion to make sure that the non locals knew the route.  Oh yeah, that brings me to this point:  Boulder runners – where the hell were you?  Fort Collins came down.  Colorado Springs came down.  We had representation from Longmont, Broomfield, etc.  Not a single Boulder-ite could make the trip?  Sheesh.  No soup for you.

We were chitter chattering about the route, too much so, so I turned around, started the watch and went.  This broke the ice and the run started.  I was quickly passed by Lucho, Nick, Eric and Bob.  On my heels was Pete. 

I had not done this route in a long time, and the tough initial climb was quick to provide a tough punch.  Mentally, I felt great and ready to get after it.  Physically, my legs were not quite up to ascending 20 percent grades as quick as I’d like.  Seeing that Bob and Nick took to power hiking some stretches ahead of me, I picked up on that cue.  Better to take the slower longer strides versus blow up with running here.  A little bit of work on this route will change some of that up for me.

Home course advantage let me put a few strides on Pete as we got above the rock overlooks.  I could periodically see Nick, and looked to keep the even nature of a strong effort. 

Above the Greenman, Ranger split, the snow thickened and was slushy.  Any advantage gained by having a more run-able grade was lost with the side to side, slide to slide slipping.  As I ascended the long stair approach, I heard a tarzan yell that was clearly Lucho.  I guessed he had completed the ascent, and I was easily four or five minutes down.  Damn impressive.

While I came to shun this route over the last couple of years because it is so steep and rather ridiculous, I found myself enjoying it.  It was a good old fashion tough run, in tough conditions with a few folks who enjoyed the same.  Rain, snow, fog … good stuff. 

Turned the corner and the top four were there and they gave a few words of encouragement.  I topped out at the summit post in 38:36.  Shy of the 37:44 I ran here last year, but given the conditions, I am pretty stoked as to where that stands at this time.  I will probably do this a few more times under dry conditions just to check.  :)

Given it was snowing lightly at the top, we were all wet, we did not screw around too much at the top and headed down.  It was fun yip yapping with everyone.  We got back to the lot, enjoyed a home made beverage, and as we got concerned about some of the tail of the group – they made their way into the lot (in the dark).  Shot the crap with folks until we all began to shiver and then broke it up.  Grabbed a burger with Brownie and Brandon post.  Overall – a very fun night.

Side note, a Gregory Canyon, Ranger, Ranger to Greenman crossing, Greenman might be a nice little workout.

Route …


Average grade is about 20 percent, but the front end is closer to averaging 25, and the back side is 15%. 2.11 miles, approximately 2200+ feet of gain.  I ran about 19 minutes a mile over this two miles.  I averaged a HR of 175 over this run, with a max of 180 (I am wondering if my overall max has dropped a touch lately).

 

From what I gather …
Lucho 32:56 (report)
Bob 35:32
Nick 36:02 (report)
Eric 36:46
GZ 38:36
Pete 39:14
Brandon 41:19 (report)
Kerrie
Victoria
Cat
Alex (turned around)
JT 45 minutes – late start in the dark and via Stanley Canyon (turned around)

Friday 051410

JM posts a great read over at our team site.

Jurek gets an AR at 24hr championships. (a bit more on this)

If things go poorly tonight, I might take up liquid mountaineering.

A good read on diet.

Mount Washington is upping the ante.

Team GAP

See you tonight …

Thursday 051310

At least for the second time this winter, the cold white stuff to has effectively bamboozled any sort of throw down in the open space west of Boulder.  It started last fall with a good old fashion sloshing on the BBMM.  This month we have been kicking around  some fun this Friday night on Green.  But the white stuff struck again. 

A big storm on Wednesday (see JV photos  and follow ups ala this Tony comment towards the bottom) has put an unofficial damper on the unofficial thing.  Mix in the to be expected injuries of some key players, Friday night stuff, and I have been getting a deluge of email requests to change the date, the route, the intent, etc, etc, etc.

I get it.  It is certainly not going to be a track meet up the blazing hot trails of Green Mountain.  But I expect to head out there anyway.   If you don’t, fine.   We can fire up for some other non competition on some other night anyway.

Post script – I was feeling sort of bad, then I saw Rick’s comment and got this email – and it got me back on track.  I don't get it. I'm planning to show and do what I can. Meanwhile every tough trail guy is bailing because of conditions?  Same with the requests for Ranger. I'd rather just race up Flagstaff Road but it isn't the route.  Maybe we should show up with balls to hand out, there seems a shortage among this group.

Anyway … today’s run was one of those ones you just rather forget.  I felt lethargic the whole dang thing.  Not sore or hurt.  Just tired.  12 miles.  At least it was easy (AHR=139).  Explored around Superior on some trails I had not hit before.

PM – 3 miles around the ball fields.

Got this tip from JM on the Run Across America movie. 

Jeff had me cracking up on his clam hack.

Last night I bagged some 400 rocket engines with JZ for the big launch for the Scouts this weekend.  We are going to blow some sh*t up!

Wednesday 051210

Tough day for Timmy.  Alternatively … Geoff.

Good amount of snow here today, and that means certainly there will be a good amount on Green come Friday night, regardless of what route we take.   Still expecting to meet at 6:30 at Chautuaqua, roll over to Gregory come 6:40, with start and exact route based on participants.  I am still thinking we’d go Amphitheater, Saddle, Greenman, but there has been at least one calling for the Gregory-Ranger route.  That longer, less steep (but still challenging) Might get more votes with the new white stuff.

AM – hit the mill.  Started with a mile at 10 percent, then one at 11, then one at 12.  All easy, well sub 150 HR.  I was sleepy.  Brought the mill down to 1.5 percent after that to finish up for five miles total.

England has announced its team for PPA – WLDMR championships.  And Burch got a competitive entry to PPM.

24 hours championship preview. Related is a Jurek article in NYT on his diet.

Apparently Scott is going to run Sanitas a lot this weekend.

Fun post on how to sweep the 25k road championships.

PM – back on the mill.  Earlier in the week I had considered doing a three peak run at this time but my schedule then cramped up, and I was not looking to have a glorified snow hike.  Soooo … on the mill started at 11 percent and upped it for the next four to 14 percent, backing it back down to 11 percent in the fifth (holy crap does that easing the incline back feel good).  Warmed up for the first mile, and then did 20 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off (which was actually 21 because I lost count).  Cooled down with 2 easy miles (flat).  Seven total.  While I actually did not climb shit, the mill work gives me at a supposed 4k of elevation for the day.  Eh. 

Mentally in this run, I’d get through a couple of the intervals and get ready to up the speed and dig little more.  But when I’d get there, it would be a mile, and I had “agreed” to up the grade.  So the speed was fairly constant.  That said, I could feel my efficiency dropping with the 13, 14 stuff (as compared to the 11).  When I dropped to 11 percent I was able to up the speed, but as you can see, I need to work the “equal effort” aspect of that.

Tuesday 051110

AM – felt like crud.  Easy six miles.  Busy work day on tap so this is probably all I will get.

Monday 051010

Cheating … a felony.

AM – easy four with the dogs.

I will post a bit more about this in the coming days but … things looks to be shaping up nicely this Friday.  I am intending to probably hit Chautauqua in the PM, get a RT on Green before the throw down.  Yeah, yeah, whatever on the whining about fresh legs and all.  I am more interested in getting a volume and quality workout anyway.  6:30 meet in Chautauqua lot, and then around 6:40 we will jog over to the Gregory trailhead.  Depending on numbers, we may stagger the starts just so that we don’t fist fight or blow snot over each other too much.  The route will be Amphitheater, Saddle, Greenman, but at least a couple of folks are already discussing going alternative routes.  Whatever.  Fort Fun is rumored to be bringing 10 people, which is great, but be ready to go up there and bring it in a couple of weeks in return.

There is rumor of significant snow tonight.  All I can say is whatever.  Sorry folks, this is Colorado.  It snows all the time.  Blizzards in August actually happen so grumblin’ about a squall above 6k in May is making you sound like you don’t know what you signed up for.

And remember, I don’t know any of you.

PM – easy 11 miles.  Windy.   Felt cruddy and so I found motivation by working on my secret exploration project.  This might be a problem in the future as I got word that there is a shooting range for cops out there.  It was a little drier today so that made for a bit more exploration.  It was, however, filled with 3.4 million gnats that brought along about 374 thousand swallows.  Pretty cool.  Also saw two annoyed coyotes.  Most of my running was across old field roads  but I did occasionally venture into just open field running.   Occasionally got the feeling like I was not supposed to be there, and thought a little bit about how much crap had run down stream into here from Rocky Flats.  I also thought I might run into a rattle snake but lucked out.  Connected back up into Westminster’s “Hills” open space (where I was mugged by several dogs as is typical). 

Sunday 050910

AM – 15 miles, including 3 with TZ.  Felt sort of cruddy to start, but popped through it and ended up feeling pretty good.

91 miles on the week, with about 9k of vertical.  Just over 14 hours.  118 miles on May, 1468 on the year and 213.25 hours on the year.

Saturday 050810

Interview with Justin M.

Post a JZ soccer game, I wound my way back to BHS track (about 7 miles) and then did 10x200 strides with a very easy 200 jog (37.9, 38.6, 37.6, 37.5, 37.6, 37.3, 37.7, 37.1, 37.6, 37.1.  Felt a bit flat this AM – so I just tried to run fast but relaxed.  Jogged home.  12 miles total.

Cross posted this over at the Team Fleet Feet site.

Apparently Kara Goucher is pregnant.  Awaiting a hilarious post from Brownie.

Roes continues to impress, winning the NF50 in NY.  Looks like Parr dropped.

Brownie’s partner at R2R2R is done. 

Friday 050710

Short version:  12 miles.  Just under 4k of vertical.

Long version: 

Good jog today.  While the weather was only in the 50s, and cooler at higher temps (with new snow up higher), I opted for the shorter shorts, and a tank anyway. 

Started in Chautauqua, and then headed up Gregory.  I kept the whole effort very easy – as my goal was just to have time on my feet with some decent vertical.  Nonetheless, I was encouraged to see with less perceived effort (and a nominally lesser HR), that I got to the Ranger cabin over a minute and half quicker than my last time up this trail. 

Rather than turning up to the left to ascend Green via the Ranger trail, I broke over the bridge to the right to Long Canyon Trail.  I decided to scope this trail out after a comment thread earlier in the week.  It had been a long time since I had gone up it, and actually I have been more inclined to come down it when I do it. 

In any case, it might have become my favorite way to ascend Green now.  It does rise, but the trail is a beautiful single track through pine forests.  There is little if any work worthy of being called technical.  I enjoyed running on the fallen pine needles. 

The Long Canyon trail does, however end in an odd spot … Flagstaff Road.  I took the road up for a short bit (maybe a third of a mile, but given its grade, it seems longer), opting not to take the cutoff through the U shaped curves (as it looked snowy), and then picked up West Green at the top of what folks call Super Flag.  This is an enjoyable section, with little roller coasters and great backside views of Green and Bear, and the work to come.

I hit Green, got the odd looks that one gets up there from hikers.  I headed back down to the four way being very cautious.  Anytime I’d get a little weird roll of my left foot, the strained connective tissue on the top would protest a bit.  Back at the four way, I headed back down to the left and into Bear Canyon.  Given how my foot was feeling, I debated if I’d head up Bear.  I knew I’d be fine getting there, but I could see a fair amount of snow on the south slopes.  I knew heading there was signing up for a return via Fern Canyon, and that was concerning with the foot – as that trail has grades in excess of 40 percent.  Snow, talus and those grades seemed like a recipe for an afternoon I’d rather not have.

Whatever … headed there, and recalled how much I enjoy this route to Bear … mostly ridge running with great views.  The trail was primarily clear of snow.  I love the last section heading up on the backside.  In its own way, the rocky slabs remind me of the upper stretches of Pikes … ridiculous, silly, but fun.

Hit the top of Bear and then started super cautiously down Fern.  And this old “friend” has not changed.  It just sucks.  Not my cup of tea.  Mix in a bit of snow, ice and it was a slow go down to the saddle.  Once below the saddle, the trail gets a little friendlier, but I was glad to reach the Mesa – a comparative highway after the upper stretches of Fern.

I was pleasantly surprised at how I felt.  No water, no food, easy effort so it should be no big deal.  But that said, so called easy efforts on these hills before would leave me a bit shelled in the past.  Several hours later, I still feel fine … versus having that quivering feeling sitting in my legs.  Still – it was an easy run.  It will all be different when I start to go after some of these (soon).

Dinner tonight … local Mexican fare … JZ eyeballs the menu and says he will only have the quesadilla if it does not come with beans.  “I want it be like real Mexican food.  No beans.”  I reply, “Mexican food has beans.”  He grins and returns “Not in my Mexico.”

Thursday 050610

While I was in the Grand Canyon, there was a 3k at my daughter’s middle school.  Apparently Alan Culpepper and Steve Slattery came and spoke to the kids about running, goals, etc.  Pretty cool.  Olympians show up your middle school 2 mile.  Nice.

Today KZ was invited to an awards breakfast for doing well academically.  Nice.  We got the program flyer as we walked in and I saw that the guest speaker was Pat Manson.   I am pretty sure none of the middle schoolers knew who he was, and I bet 90 percent of the parents there did not know either.  In any case, he gave a great talk (10 minutes, perfect for this age – and with a 16’ pole).  He showed a short video that included him vaulting at the Olympic trials.  He talked about how went to the trials that year and he was warming up … and his pole breaks.  He looks at his pole bag, notices tire tracks over it.  All his poles are shot.  He borrows poles from a friend.  The vide shows him 18’8”.  He clears that.  The bar moves to 19’0.25” (I think).  His first attempt he hits the bar and it does not clear.  His second attempt, he barely brushes the bar … he hits the pit and the bar is wobbling, wobbling, and it falls (he he mentions that every time he watches this he hopes the bar will actually stay up there).  He gets up for his third and final attempt.  I knew already how this ended, but I could sense the audience expecting to see him clear the bar on that third attempt, he goes to the Olympics, yada, yada, yada … but no, he does not clear it.

Anyway, he then spoke about how that failure was a huge stepping stone for him.  And how it brought him right to making the World Championship team the next year.  And that folks don’t dream big because of fear of failure … but failures are part of the big dream if you learn from them.

Yeah, I dug that.

Run today … headed out with Jayson.  He has Colfax coming up so he is pretty excited about that and that is very motivating.  Added on a bit post finishing up with him.  Finished it all out with a Pliska mile for fun.  Not zippy.  My stomach decided to let me know at about a half mile in that it wanted to eliminate some contents from breakfast.  Slowed to a jog for about 200 yards, got it under control and then finished it out.  I might throw this in there for giggles every once in a while.  12 miles.

Some competitive entries up at Pikes.

PM – easy dog jog.  3 miles.

Wednesday 050510

Crikey.  It is May already? 

Enjoying these posts from Justin and Beth.  They do race reports over several posts rather than one big one (London Marathon and St. George IM respectively).  I prefer the detail and the “chapter” nature of these.  But I also do wonder if I am just to ADD in this sound byte world to actually sit and read something for more than 3 minutes.

I have not been getting in the morning runs like I’d like too.  Simply, there has been too much other crap competing for my time in the AM, and I am only willing to compromise my sleep so much.  Hopefully with the change in the weather (it is is May already?!) and school ending I can get back to some regular AM runs.  I confess, I am not a big fan of the early morning run.  I like having it done, and the miles behind me for the day.  But it is work to get rolling then.  I move much better at 1PM. 

I have posted something like this only 214 times before so it is probably completely unlikely that I will actually do it.  I’d like to incorporate something like plyos or more core into my regular work.   I saw a guy at the track last week doing these leap ups off a bench and it looked effective and hard.  But when push comes to actual shove, I don’t do this stuff and I run instead.  Often it comes down to how I want to spend my training buck.  I am trained-in grained to think that if I have another hour, maybe I ought to get 7 or 8 more miles rather than spend that hour doing plyos.  Yeah, see – if I have 95 miles, that is better than having only 88.  Or is it?  Or I can find another hour.  Nick posted about something similar yesterday. 

It also comes down to a concept that I have posted about here 102 times before:  most of us end up doing the training you enjoy and are comfortable with.  Some guys would do well (in other words improve a lot more and do something outside their comfort zone) to get on the track, some guys would do well to hit the hills more, some would do well to do longer runs and some would do well to rest from running and actually do something else.  But, we do what we enjoy.  Of course, there are those who enjoy performing their best on a single day and see the big picture of that and will do a lot of other things that they may not otherwise enjoy on a daily basis to guarantee that result.  I am pretty sure most of us are not in that boat.

So I see that, but I also see that I might not be actually willing to change.  If you always do what you have always done then you should not be surprised if you always get what you have always got.

Anyway, shifting gears a bit … This weekend is the NF 50 in NY.  This sets up for a show down between two of the hottest names in the ultra world at current – Roes and Parr.  Both of these guys carry high win percentages as of late and it ought to be a slug fest.  Good preview over here.

Also, on the ultra front, I feel that if Kilian is healthy he has to be the heavy favorite for WS100.  I have nothing but respect for the Krupicka’s, Roes’, AJW’s, Clark’s of the world … but Kilian is just dealing from another level.   Those videos … definitely motivating.  The way he is flying down that slickrock – wow.

Fun stuff – Solinsky gets the “fatty WR.”

Afternoon – got out and felt good but decided initially to keep it mellow.  I felt good, but I could feel a touch of yesterday’s work in the legs.  For the first hour, I averaged a HR of 138 (max 148), and just under 8min/mile.  I have to shake my head at this stuff at times because last summer I would be often sitting at 149 and 8:20 miles (but I suspect some of that was heat … but the broader point is the same).  After an hour, I mixed it up with 15 second strides at near all out effort, and a 1:45 jog (super super easy).  15 miles.

Tuesday 050410

Various Miwok reports (Tony, Rod Bein, Gary Robbins).  Increasingly I am intrigued as a fan of the ultra scene, but am not ready to wade deeply into it. 

Throw down at Green from last year.

Quote of the day … Everyone talks about fear of failure. I really do not think that is what it is. It is really fear of success. I am convinced that coaches and athletes fear success more than they fear failure. With success comes pressure, the more success the more you are expected to succeed and the more pressure. Successful people do not fear failure, they use to learn, and it is a growth opportunity. They internalize it and use it to improve. Unsuccessful people avoid succeeding like the plague, they know that by succeeding expectations for success will rise. They are comfortable being mediocre and find ways to stay mediocre. If you listen to their self talk and chatter you will hear it. They usually have every excuse in the book why they can’t be better. They also can tell you a million reasons why others who are succeeding are doing things they can’t or won’t do. These are the people that Dweck has identified as those with a fixed mindset. Successful people have a growth mindset. They embrace challenges, look on failure as a growth opportunity. They understand there will be missteps, but each of those is a learning opportunity, embrace the pursuit of excellence, don’t be afraid of it. To be the best is not comfortable, everyday you have to go where few others dare to venture.

Met up with Lucho in the AM and did Bear.  Of course, I had to demonstrate my ballerina level of klutzy-ness by doing several face plants on the way down, including a good roll of the ankle again.  The round trip to Bear was 6.75 so I tacked on a bit to get north of two hours.  11 miles, 3600 vertical.  I had aspirations of running all of the “the longest mile in Boulder County” but relented when we got to the wooden stairs.  Damn.  Some work to do. 

I don’t see Bear (or Green or SoBo) as particularly specific for the mountain races I am lining up to do this year.  Simply, they are too steep (often there are grades in excess of 35 percent).  That said, they are fun, do provide a good workout and are a little different. 

Great to catch up with Lucho, laughing my ass off (when not falling on it) nearly all of the run.  Oh yeah, there are lady bugs on top of Bear. 

Evening – JZ’s first baseball practice of the season.  Jogged around the BHS complex and learned that it is a mile around the grounds.  Yup, quarter mile each road around the school (Daphne, Miramonte, Main, Eagle Way)  6 miles easy.

Monday 050310

AM – easy five miles.  Busy day at the office and building rockets with the Scouts in the evening.

The throw down at Mr. Tony's track ...

… or the Friday night fights.

Looks like this will go down Friday, May 14, with assembly starting at 6:30 at Chautuauqua (free parking for the out of the county folks).  For reference, here is a write up from last year.  As “competition” on open space is frowned upon, the first rule of this event is:

1.) You are not racing, or competing, or doing an organized workout. You happen to be out for a run, and just so happened to have bumped into these other guys. You never met anyone before or discussed any of this.

Furthermore …

2.) all rules are subject to change without notice or discussion. General whining, bitching, excuse making is considered poor form and opens up the offender to be the target of ridicule and sarcasm, with good quips being potentially quoted on the internets.

3.) It is about a 5 minute jog to the “bridge” at the Gregory lot. Given the tight nature of the start, we may elect to do a staggered start. Given this, you must have a watch if you intend to declare a time of any sort. You cannot declare a PR or FKT based on upon asking some homeless dude on the top of the hill what his sun dial says.

4.) The official finish for this entirely unorganized unofficial event that you might happen to be at where you do not know anyone is the plaque at the top of the “verde” mountain. You must touch this before stopping your watch. Electing to not scramble to the top for this last section will incur a 2 minute penalty.

5.) Your watch must run the entire time of the run. In other words, just because you stop to take a piss, you cannot stop your watch and then start it again when you start running and get your HR back under control.

6.) Any comments about my shorts will incur a 2 minute penalty. Any fawning over the performance of any other runner as to how awesome they are will incur a 3 minute penalty. Noting how much another guy bit it at one of their recent races will not incur a penalty or any time gain but is encouraged. However, using un-original names like Douche Rocket is poor form.

7.) The path followed will be Amphitheater, Saddle Rock, Greenman.

8.) Exact teams will be named, but these will be based on geographic locations. Expected teams currently include a.) Boulder (any where in Boulder County), b.) Denver Metro (namely Broomfield, Arvada and Golden), c.) Fort Collins and d.) the Springs. If you typically sleep in a truck, then you live where ever your truck has been parked for the last three weeks.

9.) Team scoring will be xc style, with place being your contributing score to your team. Low score wins. Top three score. Not sure we are going to need to worry much below that, but if we need to, then we might have displacement scoring for the 4 and 5 spots. Currently I am assuming there will not be separate teams for gender, but we can make that call

10.) No fist fighting unless you get hit with another guy’s snot rocket. And it needs to be a full on hit.

11.) There might be beverages at my place and some food if folks are interested and I am really nice to my bride over the next two weeks. If any of you out of towners need a place to crash, I might be able to swing that too.

More to come but now I need to go to bed to get up at 3 AM to register for some race.

Sunday 050210

AM – jogged some with TZ and then made my way over to the BHS track.  Did 10 x 300m, 200m recovery, with the 300s at slightly faster than current 5k pace and the recovery as slow as I wanted them to be (fwiw, this was pretty close to a minute on, minute off).  12 miles.

91 miles on the week, 13.5 hours.  27 miles on May, 1377 on the year and 197.25 hours on the year.  Decent week, as I got two days of fair vertical (excess of 2500), and got a little turn over today.  Need to keep that sort of mix in there and also build into the longer (3 plus hour) run.

Tons of results to dig into (or not, if they are not posted yet).  But it is Sunday, so I have work to do first.  Definitely a very interesting story with Solinsky taking down the 10k AR.  All the attention was on Rupp, who changed race locations late to assure the best conditions to set up for an AR run.  He got the AR, but Solinsky ran for the win, got it, the AR and is now the fastest non African at the distance ever. 

Plus he wears knee high compression socks that are WHITE.

Add in Miwok, CP, and the IM action … good stuff.  Some people had great weekends.  Some folks did not.  But all that is why we run the race … some Miwok video:

This appears to be a helluva diet program.

Saturday 050110

The ankle I rolled yesterday was a bit pissed this AM.  It moves fine in the forward-backward plane, but anything side to side provides significant alerts up to air traffic control.

Met up with Bob this AM and did some time up Sunshine Canyon and back.  The road nature of this run was appreciated on the ankle front.  15 miles, with 2700+ feet of climbing. 

“watching” Miwok here.