Thursday 28JUL2016

Some light soreness from getting back it yesterday.  Just over an hour today, picking up the speed slightly over the effort and then ending with some strides in the last couple of miles. 

Wednesday 27JUL16

Back at it.

I headed over to the Eagles XC practice.  I was up around 7 even though we did not get in from DIA until 1 and I was probably not racked out until 1:30.  It was good to get out as it had me beat the heat of the day, catch up with Greg, etc.  It was nice to be back home with these great kids. 

With no running this past two weeks, and Burro Days this weekend I decided I needed to get a few miles today but nothing crazy.  I just wanted to get in a good 80 minutes to bump me back into form a touch and drive through any “oh you have not done this in a while” sort of soreness you can get.  It was good, easy 8s with no issues.

In the late afternoon, I went to check in on this guy.

Northern Tier Canoe Trip

So I have been off in Canada for the last two weeks in the Boundary Waters, camping and canoeing with my son, his Scout buddies and a few other parents.  The trip was out of the Atikokan Ontario Boy Scouts of America base camp.  We started our trip to the camp on Thursday the 14th, flying into Minneapolis, then staying at a Minnesota National Guard Armory that night outside of Duluth, then driving up to Ontario on the 15th.  We were dropped off about an hour and a half from the base on Saturday the 16th and we paddled, portaged, camped around 115 miles until Monday the 26th.  Yesterday we took the full day to travel back home to the Front Range.

I have about 300 pictures I collected and I posted most of those under my Facebook account.  I will put a few up here over the next few weeks.

It was an incredible trip.  One of those ones that blog post can’t really capture.  I mean, I could tell you how hard it is to portage a canoe and gear in crotch deep mud that is sucking you down.  Or what it is like to hear mosquitos banging on the side of your tent with their wings sounding like a squadron of Japanese Zeros so loud you are not sure if you’d sleep.  Or that we traveled over a hundred miles and only saw a sliver of the Boundary Waters wilderness and it was this huge untouched land of water, trees and wilderness.    Or what it is like to hear the mournful cry of a call of Loon as you look across the huge expanses of water.  Or how I was belly laughing to tears with my son in a boat as we fished.  Or how I stood in a grove of trees one day as the rain came down on us in buckets with thunder roaring over our heads and noticed that all our crew had simply fallen asleep in its glory.  But as they say, “you had to be there.”

We were “out there.”  I did use a GPS watch that I charged off a solar cell so that I could have the track of our route for memory sake.  I also had a my phone as a camera, but there was not a drop of cell signal.  This trip represents the longest I have been “off the grid” in terms of time in well over two decades.  No contact with home, work, or anyone other than the people I was on the water with and the few others we’d cross paths with out there.  We saw three other Scout crews, maybe three boating fisherman, and passed less than a handful of secluded cabins over our ten days. 

There was no running.  It was just not going to happen.  We stayed on small islands where the cover beyond our camp was so dense that it was not even possible.  I didn’t miss it really.

The route …

Wednesday 13JUL2016

AM – I slept hard and late (TZ had to wake me) and felt sluggish all morning.  45 minutes with the BrHS team very very slow.  Tried to make up for the lack of spunk in the ABC drills, lunges, squats, dips, planks, push ups, myrtle, pull ups but was floundering all throughout.

“Last week I trained 56 hours”

I was asked recently what are the paces I am training at.  Generally I on the flat stuff that is easy I am somewhere between 7 and 8 a mile.  But with the heat and hills, that can flub up a minute a mile on average.  Anything that is a significant climb or with Jack is usually averaging a bit slower, but can be pretty variable (especially with Jack).

Afternoon – I ran down to Wal-mart as I met the family down there for some last minute shopping for the Scout trip.  50 minutes.  Hot, but I actually made like four phone calls on the run.

To clarify, JZ’s Eagle project proposal was approved.  He has not attained that rank yet.

I am about to slip into a bit of a running break as JZ and I head off to Canada for a bit to do some canoeing.  The break is probably a good thing as I feel I have sort of trained up to a bit of a hole / edge where I’d need to shift somethings up.  See you all in a few weeks.

Tuesday 12JUL2016

AM – 50 minutes with the XC team.  Started slow but then rolled up and then the kids I got with started to roll and we ended up moving fairly well.  Followed it up with core, light weighted squats, some bench work, pull ups, push ups, etc. 

In other news JZ got his Eagle project approved last night. 

Watching the coaches work the football players continues to be a source of amusement for me.  They pushed this truck a lot.


This was a picture from Saturday from the backyard of the house that was next door to where we used to live in Nederland.

Amazingly his house is still standing.  As is the cabin we once lived in.  A couple of others close on Ridge Road did not make it though. 

Link stuff: 

• Mario’s shakeout takes on Lagat’s 5k win at the OT.  Seriously, we should be at least asking the question when a 41 year old outkicks the field of guys in a 52. 
• Running faster is more efficient than running slow.
• Stappy is out doing the CO Trail self supported
  

Afternoon – hot, and I was holding some general soreness fatigue in the legs, but managed okay once I got going.  30ish minutes.

Monday 11JUL2016

AM – 20 minutes easy with Lucy dog.  She is good for about 25-30 minutes before she starts to gimp a bit.  Not bad for an 11 year old dog that has had three leg tendons redone as she ripped them up in various ways chasing squirrels.  I felt a bit sore and was happy to keep it “Kenyan easy.” 

Six weeks ago, going into the Georgetown burro race, I was seriously doubting that I’d get to the line of the Fairplay race.  I had battled the Achilles thing for about two months at that point and it seemed to be going nowhere quickly.  The last month and a half I have done at least some work that makes me think I should be able to get around on the 29 mile course.  I definitely did not have that back in April and May. 

PM – an hour-ish.  It was warm but not as bad as yesterday.  I was slow and sore to start but eventually I found a bit of a better grove. 

Over the last couple of days I have seen folks out playing this Pokeman Go thing.   I have mixed feelings on it.  Just seems like another game with the phone for everyone to play.  But then again, it does seem to be getting the kids outside, and in some cases with their parents.  So maybe there is some good in that.   But to the guy who asked me if I was playing it as I eyeballed the smoke pillar coming out of Nederland yesterday … really?

Sunday 10JUL2016

A hot Sunday in July. 

Ya’ know, there ain’t a lot of jobs that I think, “yeah, I’d do that” even though it might **** me up right away or that I don’t have the meddle for it.  But that wildfire firefighter thing sort of sets that spark (pun intended) for about 5 seconds before the reality of age, lack of mental and physical strength kicks in. 

I would so wimp out. 

Makes me think those folks are pretty bad ass. 

It was a lazy Sunday.  Hot.  Walked up the hill a few times with TZ to look to the west and contemplate the house we use to live in and wonder if it was still up.  I talked to one of our neighbors up there who told us that both his place and our old place was still up.  He had dug a fire break with the fire fighters to help out.  And who wouldn’t if it were your place?  It was good to hear his voice.

I jogged super easy, and had to break in the 98 heat a few times.  It was a slow run, but it was nice in any case. 

A good week of jogging with friends, donkeys, getting some turn over, some vertical, some time up high, some time with the boy and his BrHS team, enjoying the furnance blast of summer, looking to connect with folks rather than divide, and trying to be gracious in what I have versus pining for what I don’t.   I think things moved forward a bit, even in fitness some (but still seeing that there is work to do). That is about as good as it gets, eh?

Cold Springs Fire

We don’t live in Ned any more but we did when we moved here in the mid 90s.  The Cold Springs Fire that is going on right now seems to be pretty damn close to where TZ and l lived when we moved out here.  We got married in the meadow in front of our house. (the house in the shot that is in the meadow was not there then).  I was less than happy to see pix of the house in the camera this AM. 

We lived in the brow cabin that is up to the back of the first shot and all the way to the right in the second shot.

Saturday 09JUL2016

Bob, Boog, Jack and I headed up to Fairplay to get some eyes on the upper loop of the Fairplay Burro Days course.  It was a beautiful can’t ask for better sort of day.

Bunch of running, walking, climbing, descending, burro-ing and enjoying time up high.

KZ recent day trip to Cologne

KZ sent me a few shots from her recent day trip to Cologne. 

Friday 08JUL2016

AM – I was a bit tired from the bigger day yesterday but headed up to the Switzerland Trail with TZ, JZ and the BrHS team.

I got an hour in.

• Glad to see this guy regularly blogging again.
• Latest ATUC.  There is some extensive MAF conversation in there that I find entertaining.  Sort of remind of days gone by where I was debating those concepts with Lucho. 
• Nike owns the Olympics.
• HS Phenom Hunter goes pro.  Can’t say I blame him but he is a long long way from doing anything at that level.

I could have got a second run in, but I could feel a bit fried on the edges from the hot effort yesterday.  So I kept it to the one session.

Thursday 07JUL2016

AM – 40ish minutes with Greg and BrHS team.  Afterwards, slightly uphill strides and ABC drills.  Then hit the gym for slightly weighted squats, planks, pull ups, box jumps, other core work.    Half the fun of the weight room is watching the strength coach work the kids.  It is all comical stereotypical stuff they say, but it still is a crack up to me. 

While I remain a reluctant but always suckered in fan of T&F, I can’t help but conclude for all but the geeks of the sport (guys like me, Bob, Lucho, Greg), it is a dead game.  Most people who run these days are more likely to recognize Anton or Killian (nothing against those guys at all) than Galen or Ryan Hill.  Well, with the latest ESPN Bodies Issue they might know who Emma Coburn is, but Olympic elite track athletes don’t hold the sport cred the way they use.  Everyone knew who Jim Ryun was, Al Oerter, Jim Thorpe, Bannister … mix in that TF is a sport riddled with PED issues everywhere, corrupt agencies, Nike bullying everyone, and that major media can only show 20% of a 10k (instead spinning to the shot, swimming, and commercials) – there is really not broad audience for it.  Add on that Rio seems to be setting up to be a complete charlie foxtrot affair and people already have their fun in sport with football, baseball, basketball and even hockey … yeah, some guy who has not even enough meat on his bones to make chicken soup hurling around a track with tape on him with little blades on it that make him supposedly makes him aerodynamically faster …

Nope.

Afternoon – a couple of hours with Bob, Jack, and Boog. 

Wednesday 06JUL2016

AM – headed up for a run with Bob and Lucho.

Can I say the run kicked my ass?  The run kicked my ass.  That Bacon Strip hill has obviously got more steep over the years.

We talked about kittens, unicorns, our inability to choose what Presidential candidate we want to vote for because they are all so wonderful and inspiring, our favorite Wham! album (might have got a little argumentative there for a tiny bit), what the best parts of the vegan – Paleo – ketogenic – gluten free barefoot diet are, and recalled very silly high school crushes on Molly Ringwald.  Then we all tried out a roll of aero tape. 

Gold medal or World Record … if you could have one or the other, which would it be?  (Q of the day for the kids).

Linky stuff

• Sharman’s WS write up is entertaining.  I can’t say that I would wear all my winter clothing in summer time to do heat training.
• You really get the sense that Jeff knows how to ride the line just right.
• “A few weeks ago, I almost quit the sport. After having a difficult, unsatisfying two years it no longer felt worth it.  “When I decided to run this race as a chance to have some fun doing what I love, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would win my first national title.”

Today’s listening:

Easy cruising 40 something minutes in the afternoon on the canal – Lake Link – Ridgeview loop.

KZ sent me this pic today.  She says she walks by this everyday.