Week ending 11OCT2026 (week 41 2026)

Yeah, fell off the blogging wagon and didn't even do a race report for Pikes.  In short, a pesonal worst - nearly 8 hours.   All the things - unsurprising given the limited training I did, the time I spent a sea level, my continue slide on being able to effectively descend.  Good to get back around on the whole thing again because I am not sure how much longer I will be able to do it - but also I can see how my casaual approach to it leaves me with a price to pay.

• Finish: 7:44:27 — 360th overall of 682, 7th in Open 55–59
• Summit split: 4:25:11 — 278th overall, 6th in Open 55–59
• Descent: 3:19:17

This past week ...
M - 7 miles AM
T - 7 miles AM
W - 3.1 miles on a short one before heading to Denver for the show
Th - AM - a wake up after a short night given the Rush concert the night prior - 2 miles.  PM, while taking calls - 6.4 miles
F - solo on the ditch out to Interlocken - 8.1 miles.  About every miles or so, I'd do push ups and or squats, and hit the pull up bar in Interlocken East.  Uff.  
Sa - AM 4 miles before band, PM post yard work taking out the sod - 4 miles with about a mile with JZ
Su - AM 8 miles, with about 3/4 of it with GW.  

Rolled through 2K on the miles for the year on Tuesday.  50 mile week.  

Some pix from the week:

Week 36 (ending 06SEP2026) August 2026

Monday AM - some miles with LF.  11.1 easy
Tuesday AM - before travel to east coast, run with JZ, 7.1 miles.  We did 10 x min on, min off
Wednesday AM - in Narragansett, 7.3 miles, got in a few with KZ too.  Rolled through 1800 miles on the year on this one.  Also turned 57.
Thursday AM - got in some with JZ, humidity was ridiculous - looked like a drenched rat.  8.2 miles
Friday AM - 7 miles, sorta dragging but hit the beach, so kept motivated

Friday mid day was also a 4 mile paddle, which was pretty sweet.

Saturday AM - solo, 7.8 miles, with a good chunk on the Gansett Loop trail.
Sunday AM - met JZ over at the Narragansett HS track.  Did 10 x 200, with them coming in a 43+ to 46+.  6.5 miles

55 on the week.  Bunch of walking too

Pix from this vacation coming in a future post.

Bib 330

Third wave for me this year:   https://results.pikespeakmarathon.org/regstats/2026/PPM/

Seems like I got some grace with an expected sub 4 ascent.  Not sure where that came from.  

Week 35 August 2026 (week ending 30AUG2026)

M - travel to Burlingame and then work obligations, so this was a zero
Tu AM - 8.4 miles with SS and AS from work along the Bay Trail.  Super easy
Tu PM - was sitting in the hotel in the evening so headed out again ... 4.5 miles easy
We - dragging in the morning.  7 miles.
Th - 8 miles in BUR
Fr AM - back in Broomstock, tied up for time.  3 miles.
Fr - PM - 5 miles on the loop
Sa - post a Pinebox gig, so legs were dead.  Got out with GW for some and ended up with 7.6 on the day.

Su - headed over to Green.  Up via the Enchanted Mesa to Mesa to Bear Canyon, and then up whatever that last stretch is now called (West Green?).  Back down the Ranger Gregory route.  11.5 miles.  

Managed nice zone 2 ish effort on the climbs, maybe tagging 3 on occasion.  Took it super easy on the down, babying the knee.  Round trip was about 3 hours.  I should have brought water - I was pretty parched post two hours.  

Shit ton of lady bugs on the summit.  Glasses were battery dead at start so went "raw dawg" for the run.  It was nice.  The weather was a huge help - nice and cool for most of this one.  

A 55 mile week - not bad considering I missed Monday.  

Week 34 August 2026 (week ending 23AUG2026)

Rolled through 1700 miles on the year this week and generally felt good.  A couple runs with GW, a workout with the Coyotes Wednesday AM, a run up Green with JV on Friday AM and some basic miles for the rest of the days.  

52.5 on week
M - 7.2 miles, most with GW
T - AM 4 miles on the ditch, PM 4 miles on the ditch
W - 5:15AM with the Coyotes.  4x700, 4x400.  6:30-6:45 pace on the longer ones, 95-98 on the quaters.  8 miles
Th - solo, and dragging.  8 miles
F - Green, up ASG, down over to Flagg, then down Ranger/Gregory with JV and Bill W.  6.6 miles.  Slooow.
Sa - AM with GW for a good chunk, 7.2 miles
Su - mid day so in the 90s.  Kept it mellow, trying to keep HR low.  7.3 miles out to Interlocken and back on Ditch

=====
Pikes is a month away and I will have at least three of those weeks at sea level.  I'll need to take my wedding band off for race day, as I am sure I will be pretty swollen at the top.  Might be a good time to churn through this classic.  Also, as I was chatting up results with JV,  I was sort of surprised to learn that only four people in the 55-59 AG have broken 5 hours.  And all those guys were 55.  

Then as I thought about it some, I was not so surprised.  

======
Today marks 642 days of being free of alcohol.  What started as a "I need a break for a week" that turned into a month, then a quarter has trended now to a habit.  It is not that big of a deal.  If anything, freeing to not be thinking about any number of things, like driving.

=====
Leadville yesterday on an altered course.  Not sure how much it impacted times or not.  Hearing the 10 mile aide station ran out of water.  My Goggins voice wants to say you need to be prepared for that, but my customer voice wants to scream - WTF, how do you run out of water at a 100 mile aid station?

=====
The latest Rolling Stone interview with Geddy and Alex from Rush is great.  The latest live album drop from The Tragically Hip is great.  Just two things out of Canada this week that are delivered free of tariffs and great.

=====
I have been doing a fair amount of walking.  This week (as of this writing) it was 7 miles, last week 12 plus.  It varies between 3 to 15 miles a week as measured walks (not just walking around the house).

Green with JV and BW 21AUG2026

Wednesday night, JV put the signal out for a lap on Green.  I joined him and Bill W this AM at 6.  We went up ASG, down Ranger, peeling off below the cottage to go over Flagg, before coming back down Gregory.  6.6 miles, but my watch screwed it up.  I stumbled near the begining and with my wrist flipping back on the watch as I caught myself, I stopped it.  I ended up wearing the watch upside down to not have that happen again.

Was definitely feeling the lack of mountain fitness, but the bigger issue is still the downs ... I can't really even get to a fitness problem ... my ability to descend on these knees makes it so I am unable to really work.  

A great morning out on the hill nonetheless

Wednesday 19AUG2026

About a year ago, probably a bit more, invited me to his AM run.  It is bunch of folks from his Catholic Church.  They have dubbed me, in good spirits, the sole member of the heretic division.  There have been other heretics that have shown up, but they ususally don't come back.  It might be the 0515 start that scares them off.

Every Wednesday they go.  In the winter it is at the BHS track, in the summer it is at BHMS.  Some of the winter workouts are tough to rally for ... heading out at o'dark 10 after is not easy when it is in single digits and the wind is tagging it.  But they must 3 to 10 people each week.  They call themselves the Coyotes because they saw one at crack of dawn on one of their first gatherings five years ago.  

This morning was a kind sixty something degrees, perhaps a tad humid for Colorado.  We did the typical ten minute warm up (too short for me so I add on a bit ahead) with a couple of strides and they talked through what they wanted to do.  This AM was 4x8, 4x4.  For the longer reps, it is understood that we will also "time out" the rep - meaning if the leaders hit the 8 in 3 minutes, anyone else short of that stops and jogs to the start.  This is done to keep us together on time (ish).  I was getting about 700 meters on the reps this AM, and then doing about 95 for the 400s.  

I have decided my only goal for these is to breathe hard, get the heart thumping vs. worrying about a specific pace.  It breaks me up from doing the typical 9 plus minutes stuff.  8 miles on the morning.  

Week 33 August 2026 (week ending 16AUG2026)

I have been plugging away with 50 mile weeks.  Hardly enough vertical to be considered a mountain or trail runner and so I will feel that next month if I line up down south.  I tend to bumble along around 9-9:40 pace, occasionally throwing in a day where I will do a some sub seven work, and occasonally even sub six.  

Yesterday, I did some bike riding with TZ up on the St. Vrain Greenway.  I looked at the watch and saw we were crusing at 11.5 mph.  I felt disgruntled and amused and a bit nostalgstic at the same time ... it used to be 10k pace on foot.  Ah, well.  

This past week was in Burlingame CA which meant AM runs along the Bay Trail.   These are almost always a grand pleasure.  

Been pretty consistent on the year so far ... 1670 miles.  

M - BUR evening - 7 miles out to Seal Point
Tu - BUR morning with SA - 7.3 miles out to Seal Point
We - BUR morning with NK - 7 miles out to Seal Point, PR'd the hill as NK kept me honest.
Th - BUR morning - 7.2 miles
Fr - afternoon before heading to ball game (so back in Broomfield) - 4.4 miles with some fartlek
Sa - later afternoon - 9 miles, sorta dragging on Interlocken ditch
Su - out on ditch towards HF, 8 miles, dragging again in the rain

May 2026 Wrap Up

I'd like to say I significantly advanced fitness in May, but I didn't.  I grappled with prioritizing the right training, struggled in the miles that I was doing, often felt I was fighting my own body and felt my knee degrade more.  

But I got some running in.

May 4 - Monday - 6 miles in Broomfield heading around the Sterns Lake Loop
May 5 - Tuesday - 3 in BUR and 3.1 in MPK to start the day
May 6 - Wednesday -  with LF in BUR.  9.5 miles, was also joined by NK and SA
May 7 - Thursday - with LF in BUR.  10.2 miles
May 8 - Friday - a half mile.  Then I walked with KZ to the grocery store
May 9 - Saturday - 10.1 miles on Interlocken Ditch
May 10 - Sunday - just wandered off with JZ after a Mother's Day hike with the fam.  We hit the CDT.  8.1 miles getting above treeline

50.7 miles
11.5 miles of walking

May 11 - Monday - 6 miles out and back on the Dam in Dillon 
May 12 - Tuesday - 7.4 miles on the Ditch
May 13 - Wednesday - 8 miles
May 14 - Thursday - 4 miles on the Ditch
May 15 - Friday - 9 miles up in Dillon out on the Dam, over old Dillon Res and exploring back
May 16 - Saturday - 8. miles, out and back on Interlocken Ditch
May 17 - Sunday - 9 miles down at Colfax Marathon to cheer on GW.  Ran with JZ.  Started at Crown Hill Park
51.6 miles
7.4 miles of walking

May 18 - Monday - 6.2 miles
May 19 - Tuesday - 4 miles 
May 20 - Wednesday - 7 miles with some pickups with Coyote Crew
May 21 - Thursday - AM four miles, PM 3 miles
May 22 - Friday - 8.1 miles, out and back on Interlocken Ditch
May 23 - Saturday - 9.5 miles
May 24 - Sunday - 5 miles
46.8 miles
6.5 miles of walking

May 25 - Monday - 9.3 on the Tenderfoot Trail, getting up to about 10.5 above Dillon

May 26 - Tuesday - 6.2 out and back on the Dam Path in Dillon
May 27 - Wednesday - goose egg, came back down from Dillon
May 28 - Thursday - 10.8, getting killed by LF
May 29 - Friday - 10.4, first half catching up with GW
May 30 - Saturday - AM 5 miles, PM 3.6 miles
May 31 - Sunday - out and back on the ditch in Interlocken.  Saw a bunch of pelicans.  7 miles

52.5 miles on the week
5.6 miles of walking

Week ending 03MAY2026

Mon - 6 miles easy
Tue - 7 miles with GW easy
Wed - 7.6 miles draggin.
Thu - goose egg.  Thought I'd go in the evening but was too wiped at the end of the day to pull it off.  Didnt even walk the dog and went to bed at 8PM
Fri - AM - 10,3 miles, most of it with GW.  We did a 10 x a minute throughout the run to get in some hard breathing
Sat - went to Denver and ran with JZ around the Cherry Creek Rez.  Great way to start the day.  8.1 miles.  In the afternoon, I tacked on a ditch run - another 3.8.
Sun - 8.1 miles screwing around on the Mesa trail.  Sorta dead legged.  

Met up JT and his better half, Shad and Donnie over at Frolic Sunday morning.  JT was doing a 5k.  It was nice to shoot the grumpy old man breeze with the gents.  Debated if I am fit enough to pace Shad at HR.  I don't think I am.

50 something miles on the week - about 3500 of vert, and another dozen of walking

Week ending 26APR2026

57 miles on the week with some climbs over the weekend.

Mon - 7 miles, most of it with GW
Tue - 9.1 miles, most of it with LF
Wed - GW had a long one (20), I did 7.3 with him
Thu - 10 with LF
Fri - 7.6 with GW in the afternoon
Sat - Green.  Total struggle bus.  Up the front (Amp-Saddle-Greenman) and it was mostly a walk.  Came down Ranger Gregory but was moving so slowly on the rocks I decided to come down Flag road for a bit at the Ranger Cottage bail out.  I then picked my way back through King's to Gregory.  The one advantage I got moving so slow is got to see this big Tom above the Ranger Cottage. 

6.9 miles.  Knees pretty unhappy and over two hours

Sun - decided I needed to force more hills but chose for the Lion's Lair as a tamer version - less vert and less rock step ups.  9 miles.

Biggest vert week of the year - and it is not that much (over 6k).  13 miles of walking with Sage as well.  880 plus on the year.

Week ending 19APR2025

Back to BUR.  A big week of work there but LF kept me honest-on track with running.  

Mon - 6 miles in the evening after a day in the office and travel to SF (with LF)
Tue - AM with LF - 7.4 miles (all these are along the Bay Trail)
Wed - AM with LF - 7.6 miles.  Running is certainly easier at sea level and on this flat.  Just ending up cruising just over 8 min pace most of the time.
Thur - AM with LF.   He called out 10 and so it was 10.6 when we were done.
Fri - travel back to CO and I was beat.  And then it was snowing here.  And I worked when I got home.  I scrubbed the day.
Sat - some solo catch up.  Ran into Colton and Sharkey and so I hung onto them for a couple of miles.  9.2 miles.
Sun - on the ditch out to Interlocken.  10.3 miles to round out the week at 51 ish.  Nada for vert this week though.

Had some good sushi this week with Matt.

Week ending 12APR2026

Mon - 5 miles in Surprise before heading out
Tue - 15 miles with about 7 and change with LF and another 5 and change with GW - and then some other in transit miles.
Wed - with the Coyote Crew super early and draggin ... uuf. 7.1 miles
Thu - 7 miles with GW
Fri - Sanitas with Lucas, up the traditional route and then back down Lions Lair.  6.1 miles.
Sat - 7.7 miles in Broomfield
Sun - 7.5 miles around Green, up the Second Flatiron Trail, over Greenman, and then back down Ranger / Gregory (with some Chaut add on). 

Good week with over 5K of vert, some speedwork and a longish day.

Week ending 05APR2026

Mon - super easy 6 miles in the AM
Tue - 7.5+ miles in Broomy in the afternoon
Wed - travel to AZ - 5.3 miles after getting here
Thu - AZ - AM 7.6+ miles,  afternoon 3 miles with JZ
Fri - in Surprise - AM 5 miles with JZ, in the afternoon 2 miles over to the in-laws before dinner
Sat - with JZ in Surprise - 10 miles before it got to hot
Sun - in AZ, post first ever pickle ball session - 7.3 miles.  Pretty warm (upper 80s) so just tried to keep it in check via HR (first keeping it sub 130, then 135 ... eventually it did tick up to mid 150s).  

54 on the week.  All pretty slow, not a lot of vertical given schedule.

Week ending 29MAR2026

Mon - 4 miles easy solo on the ditch
Tue - 10 miles in the AM with LF
Wed- AM - 10 miles with GW; evening easy 5 miles
Thu - AM - 4 miles easy on the Ditch;PM - 4.3 miles in Broomville
Fri - Dillon, out and back with JZ - 8 miles
Sat - cooked my shit good with a run out of Ptarmigan.  I went up about three miles out of the lot before the blow downs and snow were too much.  I then turned around and made the wonderful error of taking a different trail (I decided to do this knowingly) but it brought me away from the lot. 9.6 miles, about 2K of vert but seriously cooked.
Sun - 7.2 with GW

62 miles on the week with about 4K of vert.