Thursday 31JAN2019

AM - I eyeballed the temps and with the windchill it was -6 or something in Philly.  I went the route of the old timer and hit the hotel gym and did the treadmill for 4.1 miles, rationalizing it was a better run than what I would have got had I braved the elements, and that I'd get out in the evening.

Treadmills in hotels seemed to have come quite a ways over the decade I have been using them in hotels.  I don't even mean all the TV junk they build into the console.  They are just sturdier, better equipped to manage higher speeds, and have bigger decks.  And hotels seems to have at least three or four of them versus just one.  Maybe this is just a Marriott thing though.

For a treadmill run, it was pretty good.  When I ran on the mill in Singapore I was just slogging.  That might have been the humidity and the jet lag though.  I was a touch sore still from the weight work that I did on Tuesday, but I'll take that as a positive.
I did get out in the evening for 6.1 along the river trail.  It was pretty fun, and I wasn’t the only runner out there.  And there was even a guy doing the split shorts in the teen temps.






January ends in a weird way.  I got in some workouts (6), some miles (234), hardly any vertical (less than the Pikes climb for the whole month), and got some gym work (5 days I tagged as days worked out)  I have a right plantar that is not happy, and I spent a better half of the month (seriously like 2 damn weeks) fighting some cold flu funk.  It ain't the training month I wanted but it is the one I got.  Better now than in July. 

Keep on pluggin.  Back to CO tomorrow if all goes well. 

Wednesday 29JAN2019

AM – 10 degrees to start with Greg and Sydnee.  We did some (8 of them) hill surges on the upper part of Main Street at “mile effort.”  6.1 miles.  I can’t really grumble about the cold given that its cold enough at KZ’s school in the midwest that they cancelled classes today (-50 with windchill).

I was a tad sore in the quads from the front loaded squats from yesterday but I’ll welcome that for now. 

Yesterday I ran with Scott Elliott.  If you are tied into the history of Pikes, or have followed this blog for a long time, you probably know who he is.  But if not … he won the the Pikes Peak Ascent EIGHT times and then has a number of second place finishes (yes, when he ran into that buzz saw named Matt Carpenter guy). 

I learned a lot from Scott in the late 2000s when I was first getting into Pikes.  He introduced me to the Linden workout – a tough half mile road hill that emulated the grade of Ruxton - and the workout he’d do on the back side of Green (which JV and I later coined as the “Elliott stairs) as a way to prep for the Golden Stairs.  A great article on Scott’s training approach in the “hay day” is here. 

Off to Philly for a few days. 

Tuesday 29JAN2019

Chilly start to the day.  4.8 with Greg.  I took a nice digger on some ice. 

Chris Gerber took this shot which is way better than anything I could take with my phone.  It is a beautiful sunrise.

Back to work this week so I decided it was time to clean up.  And of course that means the progression of shaving photos.

In the afternoon I got a little running in with this legend.

Had a good set of weight work at the gym in the afternoon as well.  Apparently not everyone finds the snow to be all bad.

Monday 28JAN2019

True qualification lists are up for Pikes.  I start eyeballing these lists.  Knee jerk reaction is a bit of surprise at how few are listed having qualified with a Pikes marathon – but a road marathon or the Ascent.  Of course, I fall into that category at this point too. 

Admittedly, it is a bit hard for me to imagine grinding up and crashing down that mountain right now.  My “training” seems so far from that.  I am not feeling particularly fit or strong, physically or mentally, especially coming off that sickness.  The right foot is still a problem.  I know there is a long haul to go, but I’d sure welcome being in a bit of a better spot than I am at this point.

Yesterday I got back from Okpik and had intentions to run, but I ended up napping on the couch instead.  I get it … it is easy to say, “hey you were just gonna slog five miles anyway and not get anything really out of it so the nap was better.”  And that is right.  But it is also right that sometimes getting out and getting that slog five in and grinding through can make a bit of a difference.  And a lot of little bits can make for a big bit. 

3.3 miles this AM.  We were supposed to get an inch of the white stuff so it seemed like folks were caught off guard with this morning’s drop. 
I was first out before the plows on the paths.  Once one of them made a pass, it was clear to me how much the ankle deep stuff snow had an effect on pace.  For the same effort (easy) I went from 10:30 to 8:30 pace. 

Afternoon – 7 miles on the Sterns Lake loop.  Snowy.

Okpik weekend 2019

Okpik weekend with JZ.  This was our sixth year of doing it and fourth on staff.

It is a butt kicker of weekend to build the quinzee … or to train and support folks who are doing it, but JZ is the best partner at this ever. 

Friday 25JAN2019

Syd kid had a workout over in the Commons so I joined her and Greg for that. 

As early as it was and as cold it was and with the filth still covering my lungs, I was less than eager to get on the gas, but the group think got me going.  It was good to have ten miles down before 7:30. 

Thursday 24JAN2019

Kept it super mellow today, trouncing around in another new round of snow.  5.2 miles. 

Wednesday 23JAN2019

Joined Syd for her workout this AM.  Greg was there, as was a friend of Syd’s – Sam.  It was another chilly morning, and there was a pretty good wind going too.   Syd was to do 10 x 500 just around 6 minute pace.  I was not particularly feeling the workout but decided to ignore that.  I could tell I was not on, and with the hack still in the mix, I figured I’d do five.  Then I told myself I’d do six.  Then 8.  And then I just finished it with the ten.  It wasn’t a great workout -  I probably was better in the miles a few weeks ago, but it was better to do a something like this than to slog miles again. 

Afternoon – 4.2 with Greg as the kids did a workout.  It was one of those stupid windy days.  Did some gym work post, including front squats, splits squats, lunges and some upper body thrown in between.

Tuesday 22JAN2019

AM – Greg and Syd were kicking around the idea of a workout (as part of Syd’s Boston build up) but the roads and track were icy from another front that blew in last night.  Syd pushed it to tomorrow – which seemed like a fine idea with the nasty wind coming out of the north at 0600 this AM.  Greg and I jogged for a bit – 4.2 miles in the dark.

PM – 5.8 miles … screwed the GPS thingie and I was on a call the last mile so that was really slow but about 8 minute pace in the cold otherwise.

Monday 21JAN2019

AM – 5.5 miles including some “nomination” fartlek between 30 and 60 with the team.  Hacked a bit before and after but it was good to get a bit of movement at sub sixes again finally. 

Week ending 20JAN2019

Well, the week – actually the last ten days have been a wash, but I sort of feel like I was starting to emerge a bit more back to normal self today.  There was still a lot of dry hacking but I felt a bit more on top of things.  Hopefully I can get back “on the path” this coming week.  I did no workout, and nothing in the gym this week, but go out for a few miles to hopefully sweat out the crud and make it move a bit in my lungs.  TZ thinks that is just setting me back, so we don’t quite see eye to eye on this.

Mid day – 7.6 miles at 8:10 pace.  The plantar thing seemed a little better but I’ll continue to baby it in Hokas as much as I can (I need to stay out of those NB flats)

Dusk … 20 minutes of jogging.

The 20PAD project has floundered but I have been getting my education of sorts with listening to the Rosario show (high school coaches), catching up on episodes of Jocko.  Not the best justification but somethin’.

Saturday 19JAN2019

Got around to bottling KZ’s Kolsch.

TZ mentioned that I might have walking pneumonia.  I dunno.  AM – 3 miles with Greg.  It was like a skating rink out there.  PM -

Friday 18JAN2019

Still not a 100 percent but significantly better than yesterday.  I think I ought to live a bit longer.  That was probably not in question on Sunday but I was thinking about it a little bit given the way my guts were ripping about that evening. 

We got walloped with a good quick snow again today.

This is a bit different than yesterday. 

I’m still just scratching this week to be a "going through the motions” week.  No weights, no workouts, just treading water.  I have been a bit too screwed up to do otherwise.  It drives me a bit nuts because I feel that each week or even day I am not moving forward I am moving backward.  I recognize that is ridiculous to some degree … in January. 
8.1 very slow snow filled miles.   Still sweatin’ and still hackin …

Thursday 17JAN2019

I got out for an easy 7 today.  Still sweating like a demon and coughing occasionally so hard that I think I am going to hurl some part up. So there is that.

So as long as I am grumbling about being sick I may as well as pile on with other ailments.  The plantar thing on the right foot is pretty bad.  It almost feels like I broke the damn foot or someone put a nail in it or something.  So there is that too. 

Still I ran around 8 minute pace today … which is significantly better than it has been the last couple of days.

Wednesday 17JAN2019

Still coming out of the funk.  I have a very chest laden cold now – heavy coughing, and a lot of rattle in there.  It is the sort of cough where you do it enough that your head and the rest of your body starts to hurt because you are violently trying to get some ick out of your lungs.

I jogged over to the high school for practice and then did another five miles with Greg.  Six miles total … slooooow. 

Jammed in the evening with a couple of guys.  It might turn into  a gig that plays a local brewery or two.
  

I am pretty sure we sounded just like this.


or this

Tuesday 15JAN2019

I was horizontal at 5PM last night.  I slept some.  Then I tossed and turned.  I watched some WWII stuff on Nat Geo and got uptight about the Nazis and the Soviets for a bit.  And then I fell back asleep.  Then the stomach cramps – or I don’t really know what they were  - started and I was a wreck. 

And I was back up around 8AM.  The headache is gone but I have a very nasty hack and feel pretty weak. 

I got out for a very easy five in the afternoon, overseeing a fartlek effort for the team.  TZ really didn’t want me to run, but I promised to keep it slow and easy and not too much.