Weekend 12OCT-15OCT

With the heavy travel this week, it has been a tough week for exercise.  I knew time would be limited, but the multiple late flights also set me up with less than great sleep.  I thought I’d be just pushing the quality in short windows, but I ended up with short slow jogging for most of the runs this week.   I managed to start to get a bit of a reboot on Saturday with a fair effort in the 50 mph winds but most of the week I felt like I was running in deep sand, and just succumbed to that.

I thought I’d perhaps have a good go on Sunday, but I travelled out very early to Florida and was hit with near 90 temps and plenty of humidity when I got here (there).  I ran fair for about five miles but then I was a sopping mess, overheating and dragging for the rest of the run. 

42 miles on the week, and not much in terms to show for it other than a bit of consistency.
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Friday afternoon was a trip up to Fort Collins for the conference meet with the Eagles.  For all but about 2 dozen of the kids on the team this is the end of the season.  From here on out, it becomes a smaller set (9) that go to the regional meet, and then from that a smaller set (7) that would go to the State meet (if the team is one of the top four out of the region – otherwise you have to qualify as an individual).

As I have stated here before … I love an XC meet so much.  And Friday was no exception.  The Fort Collins HS course reminded me of the HS course I ran on – loads of turns, barely any grass, and long stretches of road, sidewalks and parking lots when a school attempted to define a route within the confines of their campus.  It is hardly an ideal XC course, but the beautiful weather and the backdrop of it being the season finale, set up that place I love to be.
The Broomfield Eagle girls did what that have done almost every time they have raced in the last three years – and that is win and do it in a “shake your head” sort of fashion.  Recognizing this meet is not the primary goal of the season, the girls were given instructions to start the race at a threshold pace and to run together.   This sets up for “the blue blob” that is hard to miss.  The “shake your head” part of it is that when you see it, you see the girls running rather comfortably, perhaps even chatting only a few dozen yards off the front while everyone else is drilling themselves as you’d expect.

At 2 and a quarter miles, the girls were given the green light.  Another school had four in the top seven and looked clearly positioned to win the meet and conference.  The Eagle girls were about 40 yards behind that position and told that to open it up and that if they could put the team in front of that runner it meant a team win.  Within 300 yards they had blown up the front of the field, put all seven of themselves ahead of that and continued to mow down other competitors.  The girls put 7 in the top 15, scored 31 points and won the meet by 39 points.

Success here or in the past is no guarantee of a wins in the future – especially since this season the Mountain Vista squad has put up the only two losses these girls have had in the last three years, but on this day it sure felt good to enjoy what these ladies have accomplished, and recognize they are positioned to make a good go of it in future meets.

The boys are not in the same position the girls are and will need perform strongly to make it out of the region next week to make it to the State meet.  The conference meet on Friday represented both an opportunity for our kids to show where they are at this point in their readiness for that and a last chance to fight for one of the individual slots on the team that would go to the regional meet. 

JZ had a fair race, about where he has performed recently, but the competition from his team mates around him has been coming on in the recent weeks, and enough kids were ahead of him that he ended up as the 10th man on the squad as the results were posted.

He was obviously upset about what this meant to him and what it likely means for his season at this point, but he also knew what it meant to his team mates to get that slot.  I found a bit of emotion rising inside as watched the JV race competitors come in, saw the clock and knew what it meant.  He congratulated his friends and team mates that had out performed him with a smile of course, but I could feel his disappointment. 

It is a hard part of this sport.  At some point in running, regardless of level of excellence, we come up against the brick wall of losing.  As backwards as it sounds, this attribute of it is part of its nobility.  I feel these moments teach us in many ways.  The performance sets up a moment to then allows us to decide – “now what will I do?”  And what we do is where we grow.   Or not.

I have seen kids face this of course, but it is a bit different when you see it with your son.  I recognized that while in the bigger picture that whatever happens with his season now, the outcome be good in the long term. I felt like any parent does when your kid is disappointed – you want to fix it and help them.  Regardless … I feel really blessed that I have been able to share this sport with JZ, and that he has taken to it with a passion, and for all that it is providing him. 

As a guy that has received an AARP card in the mail (multiple times now) I am certainly a part of that generation that can point at kids these days and say, “kids these days!”  This is usually followed with some sort of rant (that may have some slivers of truth in it) about their cell phones or their sense of entitlement or some other attribute that is probably as much applicable to the me and the other old people I am ranting to.  But I can look at most the kids at these meets, and in particular the kids on this team and say, “these are really good kids.”  I feel really lucky and blessed that I get to share a slice of their lives through this wonderful sport.  It is

Saturday 07MAY2016

Khol 5k … I could tell from the warm up over to the school with JZ that I was going to have a tough go of this as the Achilles was still not happy.  Nonetheless, I figured I’d be good enough to get JZ under 20 minutes. 

The run ended up being a tempo of sorts for me.  I settled into 6:20 pace – which was not hard for me aerobically or muscularly, but I just felt like I was hoping around on one leg.  My coordination is all off.  I was able to smile and wave and even chat with some people, as I was not working super hard but I was not really able to roll because of the right rubber band.  JZ tailed off, and I kept at it in hopes that he’d come back.  He didn’t but I slipped in on schedule at 19:55.  No soreness in the legs, no post race cough rattle hack.  Just a pissed off Achilles.

Then of course I was not even able to walk right.  I was all gimpy.  Basically I keep on screwing with this Achilles thing, thinking I am over it but then I slip back.  It was nearly back to some semblance of normal by evening … enough for me to even be stupid enough to consider running on it again, but I need to get over that.  Time to treat the ache and pain like the injury that it is 

25APR-01MAY2016

Another week … and just laying low.  Still jacked physically on a lot of fronts, really more than I care to admit about on the intertubes, so I am just looking to let it all heal up.  Sort of bummed about this break but actually a bit busy with other projects and effort to get overly worked up about it.   Instead I have been …

… cutting trees down in the yard.  Actually, cutting trees down in the yard also means planting new ones, but that is less of an exciting picture than Bob with a chainsaw.



Getting some one ready for their last high school prom.  Yes, the time does fly.

Much of prom prep here in Broomstock comes along with JAM – or the Just After Midnight after prom party.  The whole community pitches in.  Parents, companies, food vendors, administration, etc.  A significant portion of the school gets done over, including hallways, gyms, classrooms and even bathrooms in some sort of theme.  The theme is a secret to the kids until the night of.  The whole thing is an amazing blast for the kids and the public is free to go to it while the kids are at prom.  The community is then kicked out and the kids have the run of the place for the night.  They cannot leave and then come back and they are incented to stay until 3:30 when there are drawings for a variety of awesome prizes.

One of the big highlights though is the “senior poster.”  Each family makes a poster for their senior and it is used to create a “yearbook hall.”    We kept ours hidden from KZ until the night of JAM, so she did not see it until she went there. 


The entrance to this year’s JAM – which was “Cruise Around the World”



There were classic “cruise stops.”  New Zealand, Alaska, the Bahamas, the Med.  Various areas of the school done in those themes.








There are also classic arcade game areas. 



Even the bathrooms get total makeovers. 



The gyms are over the top with huge bouncy castle like games.

Of course, if you are going to have a party, you need to clean it up.  The community shows back up Sunday AM at 6:30, has some coffee and some eats and then breaks it all down and puts it into storage for next year.

Other than yard work, prom, other projects have been figuring out how I am going to get 16 people to Canada for 2 weeks of canoeing the Boundary Waters for two weeks.  A combination of planes, rental cars, and canoes.  Just a few logistics to work out …

… there is kids’ track.  JZ and KZ PR’d in the mile, and KZ in the 800 at the JV champs on Wednesday.  Nice way to end their season.  Both are pretty motivated to continue some basic elements of training through the remainder of the spring.  They are just a bit better balanced humans when they do that, so I am all for it.  I have spent a fair amount of time helping with the track team this season, and it only further validated what I already knew:  the development of a runner is way more about their head than their body.  I see this every day with every kid, with what issues they are dealing with, their confidence, their ability to work through a tough race, what their peers are doing and how they interact with that, how they manage their effort, their discipline.  It is so amazing to get to see and be a part of.

… And of course, starting my own business.  Yup, I have left the corporate world, started a gig with a few of my trusted colleagues.  That sort of thing has me doing things that I had not considered doing even a few months ago.  It is exciting, educational, challenging, and fairly time consuming.  More on that as it plays out. 

So, not a lot of running, but a lot of other things going on to take up my head instead.  Arguably, it has been quite a while since I have taken a few weeks off outright that it is probably necessary physically (although I don’t think my head needs it).  Plus it snowed like 3 days this week anyway.  I don’t mind the snow for its water here in the spring, but admittedly I am a bit ready for some warmer temps.

Other than that … a couple articles that caught my eye:

• Paid parking will also be considered.  Not surprising this is coming to Chautauqua given the demand and that Boulder started driving up paid parking in their lots that bordered Broomfield and JeffCo.  I fully expect that Boulder will go with a paid parking approach in the lot and along Baseline soon – whether that is just for out of towners or all remains to be seen.
• The age slowing calculator is pretty interesting.  The guy who ran my doors off in my first 100  tried his cross Atlantic bubble run attempt.  Again.
• But if you are getting slow, don’t sweat it.  You can use a robot to train against.
• Apparently Prince lived to the age where he was statistically predicted to.  And rappers are more likely to die from homicides, while punk rockers are more likely to take their own lives. 
• Good marathon stats read.  And more good stuff from London, this one looking at where Kipchoge lost that time.
• And then there is Whitlock.
• This is probably one of my more favorite blogs lately.
• This dude’s resume is incredible.
• Tawnee’s post is way more interesting on several fronts than anything you will read here.
• This guy says he needs to take DHEA for a normal sex life.
• Penn Relay’s this weekend?   Remember this race from last year (tune into 1130 in).
• Gary Vee is awesome. 
• To be honest, if people want to use drugs and compete in the races I’m competing in, so be it. If that’s the way they want to beat me, that’s fine. I see people building walls in our sport as just as greedy as the drug users themselves.
• Dave Dunham is going to put his Mount Washington book up on line.

Thursday 24FEB2016

Interesting to see the Forbes coverage of the women’s OT marathon.  Good read.

I was thinking last night about the stuff I end up talking about with folks when running but never gets posted here.  Stuff like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders  and least of all evil options guns, God, relationships, parenthood, careers, MAF fallacies, and race directors who blast big time races and then have a pay for club to do their fat asses.  I still don’t think I will post it here as this might all be public record that a potential employer can see.  It is amazing how divided we have become.  So if you want to hear that you will have to come for a run with us. 

Hat tip to Brett for this one.  11 year olds make up a better band than you.

Okay, that is a helluva rivalry.  And a lot of data to support it.

Afternoon – I jumped in with the HS kids and they were going easier today.  I found their 7:15 pace a bit more palatable than their typical sub seven and hung with them for a bit.  I tacked on at the end some and actually felt a bit more like a runner today than a slug.  Their conversation today was assigning each other a spirit animal.  Options that came up included wiener dog, slug, polar bear, etc.  Also best running movie … surprisingly they leaned towards Unbroken.

KZ had Jazz and Java concert at the HS tonight.  A couple of vids.  Wow.

Sunday 07FEB2016

So a HS kid breaks four, indoors …  in the running world it gets attention but this feat that would have been headline news in at least the sport sections of newspapers gets little play.  Just interesting.  I’d guess that probably a lot of folks I know in the MUT scene have no idea about such a thing.

The past week, on a training front, well frankly, it sucked.  The snow, the cold, a cold, work … they tested my resolve and discipline to move fitness forward and I simply failed to pass that test.  No hard workouts.  No longer runs.  Just flogging about.  I could give myself a pat on the back for at least getting that done, but telling what I am doing is good enough is not going to get better.  The goal in terms of running right now is to move fitness forward.  This week went the other way. The thoughts and aspirations I sputtered about on Friday seem a bit unattainable after a week like this.

Afternoon – around the neighborhood on roads and sidewalks, moving a touch better but still in a hole a bit.  It ain’t about how I feel but I need to manage how I feel about how I feel.

Scout Sunday …

Continuing the plank work … did 3 minutes today.  JZ did 3:05 just to send a message.  Complimented it with side planks, back plank, unweighted squats and an attempt at single leg squats (horrible).    The planks seem to hit my back more than my arms.  I think it is that I am carrying more weight in my butt and legs these days.

I am going to also try a bit of a regular regimen of vitamins … I think.  I might pop some occasionally but I am thinking of going with a regular multi, iron and magnesium. 

Some audio from KZ’s concert yesterday:

Evening was a Super Bowl Party at a neighbor’s.  TZ’s guac was unreal.

Saturday 06FEB2017

5.1 miles.  Weak.  Both in physical arrival and in the mental discipline.  I ended up out on the trails near home and that did little to help matters. 

But the evening was great.  We went to the culmination concert for KZ as a member of the Colorado All State Choir.  It was pretty awesome and very sweet to see KZ accomplish this.