Thursday 29JUN2023

Wednesday - Up early and got it done because of AM phone calls.  7 miles.  A bit of a chore physically, but in the books.  Saw this while out there.  

But Shad, who is up in Fairplay at the ABC saw this:

Thursday - a bit cooler so shot for a longer run, and got 8.  My longest since coming back from injury.  Still all slow, slight soreness, etc.  But progress.  

By choice, have not had any alcohol since Friday.  That ain't a long stretch, but I decided I needed a bit of a dry out break.  It has been interesting to feel how it shifts things in my body a bit, including sleep.  More on this in future posts.

Tuesday 27JUN2023

Band practice last night.  

Some smoke from Parachute / Spring Creek fire made for an intense sunset.

6.1 with GW this AM.  7 or 8 100m uphill strides.

Monday 26JUN2023

AM - 7.2 miles.  Feeling a bit worked from yesterday and so it was easy.  The heat is now coming finally.  

Week ending 27JUN2023

Saturday found me up in Fairplay.  I got out for a short jaunt on the Ponderosa Mine loop.  Just four miles but the altitude was a bit of an arse kicker for me.

I checked in with Shad who is up there training for HR.  He had just done 25 miles over Elbert and Massive, with some 9k of vertical.  Damn.  He is fit.  

I found myself suddenly a bit jealous.  It came with seeing results from local miles, the WS results and chatting with Shad.  Racing, that sort of fitness ... it all seemed so far away.  

But that is because of choices I havc made.  

So back to choosing.  

Sunday I headed over to NCAR.  I got out on the Mesa Trail.  I wanted to do some trail running, but with the intent of getting in more of a run this week than last week's run on Green.  7.2 miles with about 1300 of climb.  

A good week for me for where I am:  near 45 miles, a session on the trails, a day at altitude, a run with some pickups.  The ankle maintains some degree of manageable soreness, more so on the technical trails.  I definitely am still way less capable on downhill running, so will look to poke at that some.   Next week - just keep inching on building on this. 

Friday 23JUN2023

Thursday: Long day to get back last night.  90 minute delay to get off the deck in DC, then t-storms along the Front Range shoved us up north and west of Cheyenne.  Ended up being a 4.5 hour flight (v. 3.5 on the outbound).

6.3 with GW at Eagle XC summer practice.  Did some fartleks in there with him on the ditch (30-45 on, 30-45 off).  First time I have turned anything over in a while.  Was not fast, but it was good to do it.  Again, just trying to move the ball a little forward.  

Friday - 5.5 with GW at Eagle practice.  Worked today.  And it was humid.  I was a bit of a mess but managed something I guess.  

Wednesday 21JUN2023 DC Day 2

Summer solstice today, right?  Seemed like it was last here yesterday.  

Rainy AM.  Five miles.  Back to CO today.  

Wednesday 20JUN2023 DC

I first came to DC back in 2010.  I was over in Arlington I think and went for a jog and ended up on the National Mall.  It ended up being a ridiculously long run because I was so excited to run it.  

Every time I come back I find it great.  This time was no exception.  Even though I got to the hotel and hit the rack around 1, I was up at 6, and found my way down to the Mall for a jog.  

I skipped the post meeting dinner ... I just wasn't feeling it (probably a post unto itself someday on that).  

So I went for another jog.

Way better than the dinner.

For what it is worth, I did that super slow.  I was concerned about an upping of the miles (6 in the AM, 4.7 in the evening).  But as it turned out - I felt really good (on the ankle, but I am still out of shape).

That gives me a 10 plus mile day.  It has been a minute since that.  Some residual soreness in the right wheel, but it seems more and more manageable.  Not going put anything on this other than ... thank you DC.  

Monday 19JUN2023

Warmest morning in a bit - got out for a half dozen with GW in the morning, but it was still sorta toasty.  

Yesterday was 4 with GW in the morning before gigging over at the local pool / tennis club (more on that in a sec).

Quads were a tad sore today from Green the other day.  The ankle was a bit barky yesterday but all at a manageable level.  

So, more basic slow building and progress.  I head out to DC for a few days - usually that makes for some inspired running at the mall - but it may be tempered by the smoke I have heard they are dealing with out there.  Would seem appropriate to target 40 next week, maybe with an 8 miler, and perhaps some minute on and minute off type of stuff.  

From open mic on Thursday.

From the gig on Sunday.

Saturday 17JUN2023 Back to Green

I took the dog for a walk up the hill from the house around sunset the other night and looked over the Front Range.  I know the profile pretty well from looking at it for years, and in many cases, having tagged many of the high points (or having JV point out to me the ones I had not done).

I looked at Green and wondered when, if ever, I'd get back to it.  And then I realized I couldn't remember when I last did it.

I texted GW and told him I was going to do it Saturday morning and he immediately responded with agreement that he was also in.  I wasn't expecting much other than to get my ass kicked.  I mean it always kicked my ass but this would be an ass kicking that would just take longer than it used to.  I was curious as to how my ankle would hold up, and recognized I might need to pull the rip cord early if I was jacking it up.  

As a bonus, JZ came home for the weekend last night and so he joined us.  We took the ASG up and Gregory down.  It was mostly a slog hike up, but with some slow running where we could manage.  JZ took off on the down - but I took it careful.  6.1 miles.

It had been 51 weeks since I had last hit this hill.  Definitely kicked my ass, but that is because I have not done this in a long time.  I am happy with how the ankle held up.  It was sore, but no more so than it has been the last week or so.  

Also was good to get this done early - it was turning into a bit of Disney Land as we finished up.  

Friday 16JUN2023

Got this comment from the Wednesday post:

Still…sometimes running a race can just be for the joy of a shared experience loaded with history (personal and otherwise), amazing public lands, and being part of a community of like-minded folks. One year slow and contemplative, doesn’t preclude a following year of being competitive. In fact, getting up the mountain after a tough stretch this year might up the motivation next year when you’re healthier.

It is a good point.  I haven't ruled out Pikes because of an ability to be competitive.  I might need to choose not to do it because I can't.

But that might be the very reason why I seek to do it.  I recall the first time I looked up the mountain from the start line and I questioned if I could do it.  It was daunting.  That became less so as I did it for a few years.  But it is now back in that category.

Thanks for the comment and thought.  It got me thinking.

Thursday - I got out on Ridgeview and did 2.5 out and back.  Hilliest run I have done in a while.

It was open mic at Rails Thursday night.  I did a full solo thing - "Mr Wrong" "Squeezebox" "Speedtrap Town" and "Feathered Indians" ... not bad.  

Friday - it just keeps raining.  It is great but - wow.  JZ came home for the weekend and we got out in it.  5 miles out along the west ditch.  Love running with him.  

Wednesday 14JUN2023

AM - headed over to Eagle XC practice and did 3 with GW, so 5 on the day.

Definitely felt like a day that I was making progress, but at the same time I was recognizing that Pikes is probably a ridiculous thought.  Just little uphills in suburbia are butt kickers for me; hard to imagine a 13 mile 11.5% climb to 14000 plus feet.

Tuesday 13JUN2023

It is really amazing how wet this June has been.  I can't recall if there has been a wetter June since I moved here 20 plus years ago.  Admittedly, I have lost track of those sort of things.  There could have been but it doesn't seem like it.  I love it.  The temps have been cooler, and everything is staying super green.  

4.3 miles this AM.  All the same, just day by day plugging a bit.  I try to keep the ankle flat versus dealing with it being rolled on a cambered road, etc.  

Monday 12JUN2023

Someone shared with me a post from 7 years ago where I did some race or something.  

Doesn't seem like 7 years ago.  Seems twice as long as that.  Like a lifetime maybe.  

I ain't that athlete anymore.  It seems like I have aged more in the last 7 years than I did in the seven years before that.

Some of that is age I guess.  But a lot of it is, if I am honest, shit choices on my part.  There is a lot to unpack there.  Maybe I will blog about that, but it ain't an unfamiliar story.  Just basically thinking that if I run and run and run, and be ignorant to the other 22 ... well, it would work out.

And it did.  I reaped what I sowed.  

So today was four miles.  Slow.  But continuing to claw back over this bum wheel.  Some progress.  

Sunday 11JUN2023

Saturday AM - did 3 with GW as part of his bigger run, then did another mile and half with TZ.  Sorta dumb because it left me gimpy a bit.  

Played a private birthday party gig Saturday night.

Sunday - 4 miles along the ditch.  Super slow.  I am outta shape if that needs to be said.  And gigs leave me pretty cooked on top of that.  But the ankle didn't feel as bad today.  

Mallard couple that has been hanging out in the yard as of late.

Friday 09JUN2023

A few days in Atlanta ... 

Got out each morning ... and managed to keep jogging, along with my on-going slow and easy build.  Good news is when only doing a couple of miles it only takes a few minutes.  2 miles on Thursday, 3 and change on Friday.  Woot woot.  Slow, outta shape, ankle still sore but all about the same.  

Found Piedmont Park down the street.  

Interesting dinner site.  

Wednesday 07JUN2023

2 easy miles ... ankle is still stiff, sore, but is all about the same it has been for a couple of weeks.  I am not gonna beat the daylights out of it yet but I'll continue to nudge it a bit.  

Off to ATL for a few days.  

Tuesday 06JUN2023

Another 10 miles of biking and did a mile and a half.  Sore in the ankle still but all just at the same level.  Feels like a thing I would have had I twisted it 3 days ago.  Body weight stuff = which these days is sets of 30-40 squats, lunges, and pushups.

Decided I'll make a call on Pikes by July 15.  I'll see where I am in five weeks.

Monday 05JUN2023

Not a ton of new stuff to report.  The ankle is slllllooooowly getting better.  But I can feel its crankiness in there as I turn it certain ways.  I am contemplating now if I am just being soft or perhaps being smart to let it heal.  I am now also telling myself that this sort of recovery would also be what I'd be dealing with if I had a surgery.   

But coming up on 2 months without running.  

Admittedly it is a bit depressing.  I had somebody tell me today they ran 13 miles this morning.  They also proceeded to tell me that they did it in 90 minutes.  Given the guy is in his 60s, several 10s of lbs overweight and also said he had a bad leg and did it in bad shoes, I wanted to call him a liar.  Of course I didn't, but I was a bit bummed to even be thinking about it.  I was considering jogging the infield a bit today to see where I was at because of it.  But I will wait.  

So, biking of course.  Nothing stupid big.  A 20 mile ride is about as much as I go.  The rain lately makes that a bit of a challenge but I even have been doing that.

Saturday was Denver Day of Rock.  So - it was Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers of course.  And I was front rowing it with the other crazys.  

Afternoon addendum - 10 mile plus ride until the t-storms blew in.  And then I was at the track and did core for a bit and jogged 1 mile really slowly on the turf.