Thursday 093010

Good stuff going on over in the comments over here regarding hill training and mixing it up.

10 miles.  In the afternoon (not as hot as yesterday), did a couple mile warm up and then hard strides in Midway park on the grass.  Did 8 of these.  Timed the first one at a solid 10 seconds and got the visual on the start and the finish on that and then just ran on that afterwards.  Plenty of easy jogging in between.  Tried to visualize these as kicking at the end of a race, or even better:  chasing down a disc on a long pull to the zone in a game of Ultimate.  Regardless of what I saw them being in my mind’s eye – they are definitely firing some shit that I have not in quite a bit.  I can feel it.  Jogged to clear it out a bit and then felt good so I did fartlek type work to finish it out. 

September ends today.   345 miles on September, 46 hours.  3101 miles on the year and 479.5 hours on the year.   September was also a month of enjoying a good number of brews … at least equivalent to the number of hours I ran and maybe even twice that.

RCPM show from CoS last night.  How cool is that less than 24 hours after the show, I can download the whole dang thing recorded from the board off the net?

Interesting to see Western State grad and Kiwi Aish to soon be a US citizen.

JT pointed out to me that Contador’s defense is the same as a German table tennis player.  Drug testing is apparently getting serious.

Evening – had a BOSTAC meeting and we went out to the co-owned open space property called the “Egg Farm.”  This is a piece just west of Anthem, east of Flagg drive and south of Route 7.  Discussed plans to bring the Rock Creek / Coal Creek trails up into that area and then connect up to Erie.  Interesting stuff.  I find that I am most interested in the “trail” (I put that in quotes because a lot of these things they call trails are really sidewalks, but in this case it actually would be a double track wide crushed cinder) connections.  Of course that requires considering acquiring the lands, etc.  In any case, I am getting a lot education on Broomfield and its history.  I really dig that. 

After visiting the property, we returned to the city building and reviewed many potential projects on open space and lands.  I had to crack up a couple of times because they showed a few “trails” (this time quoted because they are NOT paved or crushed gravel but true blue social single track) that I run very frequently that they categorized as a safety concern due to their grade, or rockiness. 

Wednesday 092910

AM – 4 miles easy.

We have been really busy lately.  September is normally a busy month, as the kids hit full stride with school, soccer, and music on several fronts.  After a summer of loose schedules, the kids often hit a "what the heck” period in September as they get back into the structure of homework, practice, and shorter days on top of it all.  My work has picked up a bit this fall as well and I will be travelling significantly more than usual between now and the end of the year.  We also have several house projects going on (e.g., roof yesterday … I don’t know how TZ dealt with that racket all day).  And JZ’s Cub Scout leader moved away so I took up that role for the Webelo den.  It is all good, in fact it is great. 

I found Rick’s post regarding how he responded to doing 150k of vertical in 100 days interesting.  Generally, his experience seems similar to mine in that lots of vertical work generally slows you down.  It seems to me that every runner needs to find the right mix of training fuel between long runs, fast runs, uphill runs, downhill runs and altitude – with an eye on specificity for their race goals and understanding what works for them.  As I note in the comments over there, I have seen guys run unbelievably well on just doing vertical, but that seems to be counterproductive for others. 

Also, I have been thinking a bit about fixed HR training again as of late.  When Timmy and I were chewing through that, I found it hard to conceptualize being able to run paces that were “challenging” at a low HR.  I see it occasionally now.  There are days where my HR is low, and so I am aerobically, cardiovascularly comfortable.  But it is as if my legs cannot keep up or get up to put the HR up.  So the aerobic system has developed over the ability of the muscularity of the legs I guess.  So it is easy running aerobically, but it is not easy running.  Interesting stuff.

On that front, I will continue to do strides to get some turnover work in.  I am doing these harder than I have in the past, and I am shortening them up (although yesterday they were probably still too long, and I probably did too many – but I really felt compelled to just thrash myself).  I believe I have the engine to go sub 17 on a 5k, but I don’t have the wheels.

PM – 8 miles steady in the Westminster Hills Open Space.

Joanie

I was amazed when I saw her in 84.  She still rocks today.
Q: What should runners know once they turn 50 and want to keep running competitively?

A: Everything in moderation. I'm certainly not doing the mileage I once did, though I'm still running around 80 miles a week, at least in preparation for this race. It's really a fine line sometimes. Recovering becomes more difficult as you age. It's important to remember to run your own race. I run my own race. You can't run anybody's race but your own.

Wonder if the kid from Spain will be nailing it when he is 53.  But if you set a Kili record, maybe nobody cares.

Tuesday 092810

Warm. Supposedly we set a record high today. I did feel a bit dried out towards the end of this run. Did 5+ with Iron Mazza, then tacked on another 7 with 15 hard strides in there. I did not wear a watch or a HR monitor for any of this (mostly because the watch battery had died) but I ran on known routes. For the strides, I counted them out at 30 single leg strides. 12 miles on the day.

Monday 092710

My regular PC took a header today so posts might be light.

AM - six miles.

PM - seven miles.

All easy (which is low 140s and usually is around 7:45 pace but is highly varied, due to terrain).

TZ was making a cake tonight. The buzzer for the oven went off and I went into the other room to tell her. I said, "Hey TZ, your cake buzzer is going off." JZ was there and he said, "cake? Well in that case, my cake buzzer is going off too!"

Sunday 092610

15 miles.  Headed out early and hit up the Big Dry Creek Trail.  Coincidentally, there happened to be a RMRR race going on there (a 10 miler and a 20 miler).  I slipped in to a pack holding mid sixes, just to get a bit of turn over in for about five miles before pulling off (as a bandit for a short period of time, I did not take any aid, told the guys in the pack I was not racing and tried to stay out of the way).  I could feel the strides in my legs from yesterday more than the 6:30 effort.

82 miles on the week, 10.75 hours.  298 miles on September, 40 hours.  3054 miles on the year and 473.5 hours on the year.  Decent week as I got in a bit of a long run (today, albeit not loooong), a couple of turn over workouts and I felt pretty fair on a few of the middle runs (Friday for example).   I definitely want to keep tagging the turn over stuff like what I did on Tuesday and Saturday.  Saturday was definitely a challenge in that I was working stuff I don’t typically.  I am hoping by doing that sort of stuff, I get some range and turn over back that I have lost – and ultimately paces that support a sub 17 5k come back as something I am efficient at.

Saturday 092510

I registered for the Denver Rock and Roll Half this AM.  I am intending to run the half as well as I can, then join a neighbor as he comes through for the marathon.  His goal is to get a BQ which is 3:30:59.  On paper, he ought to be able to do it as his half times as of late have been in the 94-95 minute range – but this is a bit of new territory for him.  Not sure what I can do a half in myself, but my PR is 78 and change (albeit, that was at 8000 feet).   Given current shape, I am guessing somewhere between 80-83 is reasonable.

Still trying to figure out Bear results, but I am hearing that Footfeathers landed 10th with a 23:05.  Congratulations to him!  Not sure on JT or Scott yet.

AM – walked with TZ and the dogs for 3 miles.

PM – I had thought there was a local 5k tonight, but I misread the calendar – it was last night.  I did not realize this until I got over to commons and saw no signs of a race.  Ack.  Well, I probably would not have raced last night anyway since we had headed to a local Oktoberfest party.  Decided to get a workout in, and Headed back the house.  Jogged over at the middle school fields, doing 10 hard strides of about 100 yards in there.  These were definitely using muscles that don’t get regular wear and tear. These were near maximal efforts but for short periods.  8 miles.

Friday 092410

Did not get out until the afternoon but it was one of those runs that felt great from the first step.  Within the first mile I was running under 7 and the the HR was the low 140s.  I just rolled with it, enjoying the ride.  Of course, in the warmth of the day, my HR rose but I felt great.  12 miles.

Thursday 092310

AM – 7 miles.  Left knee is still a bit agitated, and it seems to like going up hill the least.  To keep things flat I decided to head over to BHS track and do some fixed HR work.  HR at 150 or less averaged 7:20-7:25 for four miles.

PM – four easy miles

Wednesday 092210

Slept in.  Felt off when I woke up.  Crick in the neck.  A bit achy all over and hazy. Mid AM – 11 miles easy (AHR=141).  Worked out some stuff, as these sort of runs tend to do.

I really dug this podcast on fitness habits.  It has bearing on things much broader than fitness related behaviors. I think it also has bearing on organizations, as much as it does on people. Fairly quick listen at half an hour. 

For the second time in a week, I have had to dump a feed from the blog roll as its feed comes through tagged with some malware concern.  Argh.

Oh yeah, I guess that gives me 3008 on the year to pass that milestone.

Today is the last day of summer.  And it is raining here today, and at least in some areas, fall is very evident.  Days are clearly shorter.  Leaves are falling.  And snow is falling on some of the higher passes. 

With this turn, I see a fair number of folks, including me, contemplating the past year’s running and racing and planning next summer throw downs.  In our own way, this is our New Year’s Eve time – where we look back at what we did and consider what we could do next year.  Meditating on these things now seems much more seasonally appropriate and timely than in the dark cold days of December.  Heck at that point in the year, you are already on the climb back up to summer.

Of course, I realize that next summer is ridiculously far off.  There are so many instants between now and then – and as we all know, everything can change in an instant.  And because of that understanding, I want to savor where I am now and what this past year has been in running has been.  It has been incredible:  I have run more, but I feel more in balance with my running as to where it schemes in with the rest of my life and its importance.  I have run longer distances in beautiful places like the Grand Canyon.  I have done ridiculous runs like racing with a burro.  I have shared miles with friends and people I care about immensely.  I have challenged myself, failed, succeeded and have realized that I could go further.

And that realization is part of being human.  It is about considering where to go next so that you can learn, love and grow.  So while I am not ready to throw down a race schedule (yet), I will put out there a few things.

If asked today, I’d state I am going to go back to Pikes.  I certainly do enjoy the ridiculous simplicity of that race.  Even though I feel the Marathon is truly a stupid level of abuse, I intend to do it again.  I simply feel that I have not done what I am capable of there.  I realize I may never reach that objective, but, well … you don’t know if you don’t try. 

Also, I am going to take a crack at getting this damn 5k thing back under 17.  And I will look to do a 50 miler.

And that is just a start. 

Very nice brew.  I am a bit preferential to Odells as of late.

Sign of age?

I am not sure if this youth or age … I watched a City Council Study Session that was live streamed on the web (yes, for my town).

Tuesday 092110

AM – 6 miles, with 10 x 200m strides.  Tried to focus on form, opening up, and getting the knees up.

I recently saw this on the back of a runner’s shirt … just before I passed him. 


I forgot to mention a conversation I heard on a recent run.  Went something like this:
”Rattlesnakes.  I hate those bastards.”
”Yeah, but a rattlesnake bite is not like going to kill you … like, umm, some neurotoxin.”
”True, but it ain’t no mother****ing vitamin B shot either! I hate those rattlesnake bastards!”

PM – easy six with SM.  Left knee was barking a bit. Just checked and I am at 2997 miles for the year.  Day 264 of 2010; 101 days remaining in the year.

Monday 092010

AM – very easy seven miles.

Yeah, I got compliments on how my Pikes run went this year.  Then I read about the Mayor of Green runs sub 4:30 casually and I realize that I ain’t done there yet.  I get psyched to hear of Tony talking about Pikes, and now the Wolfman is talking about it too! 

I have been kicking around, via series of informal conversations how Green Mountain ascent on the front side (Amp, Saddle, Greenman) might loosely serve as a predictor for Pikes ascents.  Okay – so this means I am trying to predict or model what a run up Green on the Amp-Saddle-Greenman route potentially predicts for an ascent up Pikes.

Yes, I understand predictors don’t really mean anything – particularly in this case given the difference in the courses, a correlation might not hold up.  Green is 2 miles and 2500 feet to 8k in elevation.  Pikes is 13 miles and 7800 feet to 14k in elevation.  As they say, all models are wrong but some are useful.

Here is what I have in my head at the moment … it needs a bit of work (mostly in verifying times, etc), but I think it works at a high level meaning it can all be called total bullshit but … the premise here is a 1 minute swing on Green via that route is about a five minute swing on Pikes.  ASTERISK blah blah blah.

37 2:55 – I think Jim Peterson ran a 37 this summer
36 2:50
35 2:45 – Zack
34 2:40
33 2:35
32 2:30
31 2:25 – Hasn’t Tony done a 31 and a 2:25ish (albeit in “practice”)?
30 2:20
29 2:15
28 2:10 – Gates ran 2:16 on Pikes but had an off day – and his 28 was last year under questionable timing.

There are lots of exceptions to this – mostly because when Pikes deals you a bad day … it is very bad.

PM – 6 miles, easy but rolled up a touch as I felt good.

Sunday 091910

AM – 13 miles.  Met up with the FF group at 8 at Dowdy Draw and started running with them.  Peeled off and then caught up Selig and a couple of others at 9 at Vista and ran with them for a bit.  Dropped off that to keep it mellow.  I started in long tights and a long sleeve because it was in the 40s, but I ended up down to just shorts as it was hot towards the end.

    

76 miles on the week, 10 hours.  216 miles on September, 29.25 hours, 2972 miles on the year and 462.75 hours on the year.  Decent week in light of the business travel.  I was able to maintain some level of consistency with the mileage, despite being out of whack with the time zone and all the food available.  Three workouts with some turn over (2 tempos, 1 interval) and my first longer run nearing 2 hours since Pikes.

I find this video on form interesting (from Ace).  Unfortunately, I think it comes a bit short on recommending anything other than their very expensive microfiber reduction massage as a technique to correct these issues.  But in any case, the form /flexibility concepts are worth considering.  I have been toying with a variety of concepts that I think might be necessary to throw into the training mix to either sustain fitness or to take it to the next level.  In this, I have considered plyos, flexibility, because in part I have wondered if my loss of some speed over the last couple of years is because of a loss of range of motion.

Saturday 091810

It is good to be home!

AM – I elected to skip the Broomfield Days 5k.  Instead, JZ and I walked with his Cub Scout Pack in the parade.

We had a bat sleeping on our back fence yesterday.  It was gone shortly after dark.

 

PM – 11 miles.  2.5 mile warm up, then three miles tempo (which came right in at six minute pace) and the back to round it out.

Friday 091710

AM – 8 miles easy on ATT, and the Riddle Spur Trail.  I forgot to mention that every morning when I am out there (6AM ish), the Hillsdale HS band is practicing nearby.  Through the trees I can vaguely see the lights on the field, but I can I hear the booming drums, the horns.  Kind of cool.

Thursday 091610

AM – 7 miles with thirteen x 1 minute on, 1 minute off.  This AM I could feel an added weight of humidity that has not been here as much thus far.  Additionally, on these runs (which start in the dark), I get several “spooks” where various creatures run out of the woods (thick woods mind you – not that thin Colorado pine forest stuff) across the trail.  They are large enough to get your attention, but it is dark enough where you cannot figure out what it was. 

Anyhow, this week has been a bit of a discipline test for me.  With all day meetings, company meals (which are often and excellent), the time change – it sets up for an environment that throws me off a bit. Yeah, some of that is whining and I just need to get it done – but I need to recognize this adversity when I travel. It has not been an ideal week for training but I have managed this week “okay.”

Added the Jez Bragg blog to the blog list.

I saw this on FB and cracked up (there were a series of them):

Young and up and coming ultrarunner Dakota Jones interview.

So whether Broomfield will have med-pot dispensaries or not goes to the voters this November.  But there is, in the interim, a moratorium on them being licensed at all until next July.  In Boulder, wanna be med pot distributors are having a tough time filling out the application to get a license.  Shocking.

Apparently the fire in Four Mile Canyon was not caused by a car crashing into a propane tank as previously thought but a guy not putting a fire out completely his yard.  While trails have been opened back up, there is a total fire ban in OSMP land right now.  Including … cigarettes.

Boulder Marathon … rescheduled.  October 3.

Wednesday 091510

AM – six miles easy.  AHR = 124 – so, very easy.

The hot pepper eating contest outcome.  It went 14 rounds, ending with a Naga Jolokia pepper!

PM – I got a bit of a break from my meetings in the afternoon and took some head time to get out for a run.  It was a bit warm (and certainly more humid than CO) at 90 plus – but it really did not feel too bad on the ATT as it is fairly shaded in many places.  12 miles.  Ah … that felt very nice.

I saw this sign on a building last night:

Tuesday 091410

AM – American Tobacco Trail.  7 miles.  3.5 to wake up, then 3 tempo and a half mile settle down.

Monday 091310

AM – shaking out the cobwebs of travel, and the time difference on the east coast … 6 miles, easy – out and back on the American Tobacco Trail.  My hotel is a half mile from the trail head.  I went from downtown Durham (and by Durham Bulls ball field) to being in the thick of a green tunnel on this rails to trails project.

Evening – despite having two Stone IPAs with dinner (or maybe because of it), I jogged from the hotel up through Duke University – just to check it out.   Out to Cameron Bvld (which was just stupid in the dark), and around various parts of the campus. Very easy, mostly because getting there was pretty dark and I could not really see the footing.  6 miles.

Sunday 091210

12 miles easy in the AM.

84 miles on the week, 12 hours.  140 miles on September, 19.25 hours, 2896 miles on the year and 452.75 hours on the year.  

Because of post Four Mile Canyon Fire activity, the Boulder Marathon is DEFINITELY delayed.   Additionally several trails are also closed in Boulder (map view) 

Supposed Imogene results.  Word is that Tribbia won.  Right on.  Good guy from Boulder, and has been banging on training for a bit – nice to see him get the win.  The results remain sketchy as of this posting on Sunday – a full day after the race concluded.   IPR seems to remain content as a second rate run in terms of organization.  Too bad because it is truly an epic course (when it can be run).  I have not ruled out going back to IPR altogether, but – as the race is currently organized -I am not highly motivated to get back there either.

Jason’s bus ride post reminded me of some old JM posts.  Holy crap I was laughing about real life.

More back and forth (or back) on bikes on West OSMP trails. (and more).

Good write up on weekend action by Justin.

Saturday 091110

Nick Clark wins the Wasatch 100.  Incredible season by Sir Nick and great capstone to it with this win.

Peter M PPA report.

AM  - 4 miles easy.

Got my Webelo leader training completed today.

PM – Didnt feel so hot … so a couple mile warm up, and then 5 at the Broomfield Days course (or pretty close) at tempo pace (never really killing it).  Just a few ticks under 19 – all pretty much just a bit over six minute pace.  8 miles total.

Friday 091010

The Four Mile Canyon fire in Boulder may delay the Boulder Marathon event.

Met up with JV and Tony this AM for a jaunt over Green.  I got out a little early because I was already up.

As is well known, these two guys are phenoms at climbing.  That fact, combined with the extra helpings of dinner I have been enjoying lately  were very apparent to me as we hit the steeper sections of Gregory and I slowed, and Jeff and Tony basically walked away a bit.  I will admit a mild frustration, but maybe a bit more of a humbling - in watching these guys float away.

At the summit of Green, we took in the views of Boulder Canyon, Sunshine Canyon and the recent burns. Tony headed south to Bear while Jeff and I made our way back down to Chautauqua.  On the way down we ran into another ultra legend – Dave Mackey. 

While I was reminded physically as to how much work I need to do, I was buoyed mentally by sharing some strides and good conversation with these guys.

Even more evident to me is that I have become a total wimp on downhills.  Any skill I had as a downhill runner has been negated with a cautious approach – as I don’t want to roll my ankle or take a spill.  My klutz nature has become a bit of a joke, and there is an element to it that is a bit funny.   That said, it is seriously starting to slow me down on the downs.  Not a big deal right now, but it is definitely something I will need to work on in the future.

11 miles total with 3000+ of vertical.  Love to say it was easy, and while the pace was slow, I was a bit worked today.

Thursday 090910

AM – six miles.  No smoke here in Broomfield from the Boulder fires (169 homes destroyed, making it the most destructive measured fire in Colorado history), but you can see a haze settled in over the valley near Sanitas.

Interesting read:  And when Michael (Phelps) was 15, he set a new American record at an out-of-town meet. As Michael traveled back to Baltimore, Mother Debbie did the instinctive thing – she festooned the house with balloons, streamers, and yard signs commemorating his remarkable feat.  But then something unusual happened. A few hours before Michael arrived, Michael’s coach, Bob Bowman, came to the house and removed all the streamers. He popped the balloons. He pulled down the signs. And he threw it all into the trash.  When Debbie Phelps saw what Bowman had done, she was understandably upset – why was he doing this? Didn’t he understand that this was a big moment, a time to celebrate?  Bowman let her protest. Then he told her, “This is a journey of a thousand steps. If we celebrate now, like this, that leaves us nowhere to go.”

This guy cracks me up.  Burro racing, rock skipping and now hot pepper eating contest.  “HOLY CRAP THAT IS HOT!” 

PM – warm again.  8 miles very easy.

Wednesday 090810

AM – no smoke in Broomfield this AM, but it is sad to read that 92 homes have been destroyed in the fire in Boulder.  There is rain potential in the forecast today – so hopeful for that.

I headed the track, not feeling hot, but wanting to continue to do some work at 5k pace-“ish”.  It took me a bit longer than usual to get my stomach settled, but was able to after several trips to the port-a-john.  10 x 400 at 80 seconds, with a 300 jog to get full recovery.  I tried to focus on being smooth and relaxed on these, but I could definitely feel (and see in the AM sun rise shadow) that in the later repeats, in the last 150m, that I was “blocking up.”  Meaning that my stride was getting “blocky” and choppy (more so than usual).  8 miles total.

Yesterday I referenced that “what got me here, won’t get me there.”  While I believe my training needs to remain rooted in fundamentals, I am finding myself increasingly interested in what other activities, or commitments I need to consider to change the game up to possibly get to the next level.  On this, I think a good amount about diet (not a new consideration, but not one I have ever seriously taken on) and strength training, plyometrics, sprinting, stretching, and mobility work.  Some of the stuff that the Wolf-man has been saying has me chewing on this too.  I fully recognize however that I have a “budget” of training time, and I am pretty cognizant in how I spend it.  I like to spend it running – probably more for my head than my fitness.  The fitness-performance choice would to be shift to other activities – as those probably would result in a faster race, etc.  The question becomes if I am willing to commit to those, or sacrifice the other fun I have with running.  This is really no different than the “fun” question-paradox that has been raised here and on other blogs before.

Some interesting tidbits … vote for your favorite races in Colorado …. Bjorkland’s PPM record came just before a hospital admission for anorexia (more references to the required nature of cross training in there) … local Nan K’s report on her third place in the New Haven 20k …RETIRED 1500 meter runner Lukezic gets banned by USADA … Joe Gray’s blog post about the team silver at WMRC.  This looks, umm, hard.  Does anyone have word as to why Siemers did not travel?

PM – easy five miles.  Glad to see clouds and rain roll in.  I wore a shirt and noticed the HR monitor was doing its typical freak out due to static (which goes back to normal after about 6-10 minutes of running).  Just to check if it was really the shirt, I rubbed the shirt against the monitor as fast as I could (while running) for a bit and was able to get the HR to 216 within about 15 seconds.  Sweet.  New max.  But I think this also forced the normalizing of the read out more quickly (as it dropped to normal rates almost immediately after this experiment).

Tuesday 090710

Last night the smoke from the fires west of Boulder were all blowing north.  We went up to the hill side and watched the slurry bombers doing routes out of JeffCo airport then over to the Front Range.  As the sun set we could see several “hot spots.”

This AM the smoke has blown to the south, and there is ash throughout our back yard.  The Front Range has vanished in a cloud of smoke and ash.  The whole area smells like a camp fire (a minor concern in light of the destruction that has occurred).  4 miles (curtailed) easy.

These satellite images are rather incredible.  Picked up this time lapse video off of youtube this AM.

… very sad.

=============
Good cross post from Andrew on the scene in Boston in the 70s.

Kilian video – regarding his training, etc.

The Pikes 2010 video is orderable.

Regarding my running … I feel a familiar “re-booting” sequence occurring, that seems to come with this time of year, season.  I have a desire to run, to race, to chase the numbers, and I am considering what to bring with me, what to leave behind.  I recognize a balance of “what got me here” will not get me further, against good old fashioned basic principles that are required. 

PM  - 8 miles, easy. 

Monday 090610

PM  - 10 miles.  Felt like crud today.  Max HR =150, AHR = 138

More on the WMRC race.  Outside of the US men taking the silver, other stories that interest me are the apparent end of Wyatt’s domination, and the continued turning of the tide of African nations moving into the sport.

Breck Crest results.

Came down from the mountains to find this … (fire up Boulder Canyon)

 

Sunday 090510

10 miles all above 10k.  Easy.  I thought for a few moments about going over and doing the Breck Crest, but then let that go.

84 miles on the week, 11 hours.  56 miles on September, 7.25 hours, 2812 miles on the year and 440.75 hours on the year.   Decent recovery week, as none of these miles felt forced and I started getting some turn over stuff in as I contemplate 5ks for the fall.

Debate on bicycles on OSMP stuff west of town.

Looks like the USMRT kicked some tail.  Nice job all.

Up HIGH
 
Mount Lincoln in the distance. 
The boy with Silverheels in the distance
 
TZ … bride.
 
Grays and Torres in the distance
Quandry
 
Hmmm … where to go?
 

Racing the boy

Saturday 090410

10 miles.  I felt good today and decided I do some turn over.  As much as I am mulling over what is next, and possibly an ultra (50 miler), I am also interested in doing some 5ks, maybe even a mile, for a bit.  Today’s work was just injecting a bit of turn over at goal 5k pace to get the legs a bit familiar with that.  15 x 300 with a 200 jog recovery – except a 400 jog recovery after every 5th one.  As it turns out, this ends up being very nearly a minute on, minute off for me.  The 300s were just under 60, or about 5:20 pace (~16:40 5k, I’d like to get back under 17), which is a bit faster than 5k pace for me … for now.  None of these were “grab the fence” and I made the recoveries very easy.

John Cleese – different take:

Friday 090310

AM – 11 miles, easy.

Fleet Feet Team meeting last night … Left to right – Chris Grauch, James Johnson, Hans Funke, Matt Hill, Patrick Hunt, Justin Mock, Peter Hegelbach, Andrew Arminger, Andy Ames, Jayson Swigart, Todd Straka. 

The thought of the NF50 has crossed my mind over the last couple of days, but I am not ready to commit to that.  And since it appears that it may fill up, I don’t have a luxury of sitting around on a registration.  Also, that race is a week before Club XC Nats, and I might be there instead.

Mountain Running Championships this weekend … check it out via the the feed.  Good RT set up article.

Folks talk about how big Bolder Boulder is, or Peachtree here in the US.  In Japan, there are 32000 spots for the Tokyo Marathon, but close to 10x apply for those spots!

High intensity or low intensity?

Thursday 090210

Slept in this AM.  The weather is so beautifully primed for sleeping.  Cool evenings.  Mmmm.

I nominated (and he won) Keith Wood for “WOTW” on the Marathon Talk podcast.

World Masters Mountain Running Champs … someday I may go do this.

Afternoon – 7 miles with 3 steady in the middle.  Good pace, lungs/breathing were fine (hardly breathing hard), my legs are just wondering why the hell I am interested in sub six pace.

Evening – 5 miles around the soccer fields for JZ’s practice.

Wednesday 090110

AM – five miles easy.

Broomfield suspends its pot dispensary ban for now.  Sort of.

I have lost part of my love for elite track over the years.  For quite a while, I was enticed by it more than any other sport.  But with the carnival of drug performances and scandals, I found myself making a break from it. 

Brownie mentioned the breaking of the men’s 800m WR in the comments yesterday (twice by the same guy over the course of a week).  This video below of that performance reflects what I love about track and what I started to despise about it.  What I love about it:  the power and smoothness of Rushida.  Even his pacers struggle after 400 meters.  What bothers me:  Rushida appears hardly worked after running a half mile faster than any human ever has.  Every 800 race I have ever seen ends with runners holding their knees, gasping for oxygen as they have basically just drown themselves in sprinting way too far. 

I recall watching Hicham el Guerrouj run away from the World Championship field in the 1500, and while the field rigged up in the final straight, Hicham was blowing kisses to the crowd (while running close to his own world record).  Something just was not right about it. 

Hence, these days I enjoy watching the performances of guys Lucho and JV.

On a lighter note, JP and I were talking about The Cult at Brandon’s (and actually it was not the Cult we thought we heard but rather the Foo Fighters).  JP - This one is for you (love how the outfits change throughout the vid and the silly beer can jump through in the end.  Gotta love when rock and roll was lots of hair, a Marshall stack and wailing guitars).

Afternoon – 8 miles easy.

Interview with Leadville champs in this Endurance Planet podcast.  Good stuff with Duncan in there.