Thursday 103113

“You go into a football game knowing there's a possibility that there could be discomfort. You go into a cross country race knowing that, if there isn't any discomfort, it's been a failure."

Holy crap … quite the video, and not for those who get squeamish with blood. …this dude’s BASE jumping goes horribly wrong apparently and he contemplates how he is gonna lose his leg.

Some of the HR-PB reactions from folks more in that community:  Andy, Brandon, and in defense of PB via a better late than never race report, Chris.  Clearly 100s become personal and passionate affairs.  And ones with the history and character of Western, Leadville and Hardrock create some strong ties to folks who do those races.  With each of those races going through some growing pains in some way, and in how they interact with each other – there is going to be some fall out.   All of those races are carving out what they are … and it does not necessarily always jive with what we want them to be or what they were. 

Reading all that stuff reminded me of a run I was on a few years ago.  I was cooling down post a 5k with some ultra guys.  They were kicking around HR, how hard it was to get in, and the lack of prize money.  They were considering just going down some time (other than race weekend) with a map, doing the course all at the same time with each runner tossing in a 100 bucks in a winner takes all unofficial race.  The mountains and the courses are there regardless of what the race does.

Beer free for a few days and then got invited to a poker game last night.  So I had a few.   We played in this guy’s back barn that has a basketball court in it.  Post the card game it turned into a near kill the man with the ball session of basketball.  I ended the night with a buzz, beat up and sore from that … and late.  So I was tired enough today, and there was enough going on with the kids that I decided to take the day off.  I could have forced a run, but it would have been just piling on.  Bad choices last night but I guess that is exactly what I wanted at that moment.

ISF’s top 100 men runners for the year … interesting.

Wednesday 103013

More trails, including access to the typical Boulder Peaks opened yesterday.

He still looks fit.

Part of the reason why I think OSU is still the team to beat at Nats.

150 pages on …. tada!  Cross country course design.

So Hardrock is changing its qualifying entry racehttp://hardrock100.com/hardrock-qualify.phps, including dropping (and taking a crack at) LT100 as well as Western.  Sure to ruffle some feathers.

10.3 miles in the afternoon.  Cool humid afternoon.  All easy, a bunch with Tar and DB at work. 

October is looking to become my lightest month on the year in terms of volume as measured by minutes and vertical.  Fine with that as it is mostly by design, flatter and faster running.

I am a bit tired of some of Phil’s stuff, but I see the broader validity in it.  So, I feel obliged to read his article on “why you are not getting faster” …

Tuesday 102913

… was one of those runs where I was wondering if I felt too many left over effects from Sunday or if I should go for it.  I decided that if I waited until tomorrow, I’d probably feel a bit crappier because I would end up going a bit too hard today without going hard.  Make no sense?  Anyway, 5 miles warmed up and then 7 x 3 minutes on, 2 minutes off, varying in pace but at 5k or slightly faster effort.   Was glad I did it.  The pace was not wonderful but it was good work.  11.3 miles on the day.

Monday 102813

The most powerful weapon in an endurance athlete’s arsenal.

Dude can run but apparently is not so great at golf.  Love the fire in his eyes anyway.  And how he nearly catches the ball he just hit in some shots. And seriously his stride is prettier while running with a golf bag than most folks straight up.

Interesting to look at the merge of the state results.

Good interview over on Competitor Radio with the Grip, Mark Allen.  His thoughts on the “closed energy equation” of IM for Kona are pretty interesting.  Basically, only 2 men have combined a bike under 4:30 and a run under 2:50.  On the women’s side it is the same with 5 hours and 3 hours. 

Apparently a 12 year old finished the 100 miler at JJ.  Mixed feelings on that but clearly a kid needs to have a lot of self motivation to do that.

More on Pac12 XC coming up this weekend.

6.3 easy miles – recovery.  Cool and wet out.  Not raining but a big old cloud of wet just descended on Broomstock .  About the opposite of yesterday.  A bit fatigued from yesterday’s work. Near full myrtle post and a 3 minute front plank.  Still tough.  Squat and lunge sets after dinner.

Sunday 102713

A good follow up on the State meet.    And another.

8.3 miles in the afternoon.  3 miles winding over to the park.  Changed into some spikes (without the spikes) to get used to running in that in the grass.  8 x a quarter with an equal jog.  78-80-78-77-78-78-77-77.  A little over a mile to round it out back home.  Didn’t seem to beat me up too bad.  I guess I will see how it feels in the AM.

Both of these shoes have a purpose for me.  Just very different. 

71 miles on the week.  The legs never felt great this week, but I am making some progress.  7 and 3/4 miles were quality, as either 200s, 6 minute repeats, quarters and even a mile.  So just a touch over 10% of the miles.  Probably right around where it needs to be, but I could probably increase that by dropping some miles or increasing the length of the workouts.  A lot of stuff in middle is steady – like run that built on Wednesday or even to some extent yesterday’s run.  I started that one at sub 140 pace and 8 minute miles but then it opened up a bit to some mid 150 stuff and 7:20s.    The rest of the stuff is easy – as in 8s.  Again, flat flat flat. 

Still not a lot of motion with changing the dietary habits much, or getting the strength stuff in.  I was off from work this week, and so as weird as it sounds, that sort of makes it harder to do that.  Excuses …

I think I can still do better to prepare for my workout days.  I think I fell into a trap a couple of times this week where the day before my workout I started the run feeling like crap, but then warmed up nicely and probably went a bit too far.  Maybe I should just go for the workout that day instead.

Bob pulled a 28:44 in NY for a race this weekend.  That gives me a bit of an indicator as to where I am as we have done a few workouts together recently.  Of course that is at sea level, and I am anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds behind Bob on our repeats so I am not in that level of fitness. 

I need a race.

Some recent pix

Interesting op-ed concerned how closures of trails could be a bellwether of things to come for climbers.

Here is the ESPN OTL podcast on triathlon deaths.  While I appreciate the story that is hear, I struggled with this slightly sensationalist nature of the report making tri’s sound like a prescription to kill yourself.  Despite the panel looking to drive the conversation the other way, it seemed to me that Bob Ley was more interested in painting participants as hyper type A folks that needed to be nannied by the governing body.  No mention of how many people kill themselves with not being athletically active of course.

Saturday 102613

Well, the BHS Boys XC did it – they won the state meet.  Wow.  I am not a guy that gets particularly built up over the success of someone’s team sport, but I found myself getting pretty up for these guys and their win.  Congrats men.

Ethan G was second in the boys race, but to hold the team championship up has to be way more sweet.

Latest ATUC.  Loaded.

11.5 miles in the afternoon – the weather felt closer to August than November.

Friday 102513

Eye exam today.  Let’s see … another old age thing to add to the mix.   Apparently I am on the edge of qualifying for bifocals.  The doc also said I had a big optic nerve (of course!) and that could mean a slightly greater likelihood for glaucoma down the road. 

Dialated …

Add in my prehypertensive state (they measured me at the eye doc as 130 over 90 this AM), some hearing loss, a right shoulder that seems tweaked so that I can’t rotate it correctly, graying hair and my psoas feeling like it is going to fall out – yeah, seems about right for 44. Or maybe a bit well worn on the tires.  I guess on the other side of it, I am running 70 miles a week, have no need for the little blue pill and don’t appear to be going bald yet

Got a call in the afternoon from David C checking to see if I wanted to get a burro run in.  IN LOUISVILLE.  Uh, heck yeah as it is 5 minutes away.  And I’d get to meet the NKOTB burros, Farnsworth (Pedretti’s burron) and Elroy (David’s).  Both of these guys are just over a year so it was essentially one of the first outing for them.
We did a little work with them on the farm, and got them out up on the Coal Creek trail as well.  Little bit of running, some trotting, and even a gallop occasionally.

Afterwards David and I hit the trail and headed west on the Coal Creek trail.  When we got to the golf course, we swung up onto it – enjoying the ridiculously beautiful day and the soft grass.  Sure enough the CU women, men were out there working the course and doing repeats in prep for the upcoming Pac-12 meet.  Wetmore was out there dishing out wisdom, and assistant coaches and Olympians Barringer and Nelson were also in tow.  A little star gazed for sure.  7.2 miles on the day.

Oh and later on the BP cuff at the pharmacy at King Soopers had me at 118/79.

I have heard that there is some back and forth on the state course for XC.  I stumbled on this and I guess that sort of lays it out.  Anyway, all the questions get answered at State tomorrow.

Ever gone to see a movie about a topic that you have pretty good knowledge about?  For example, any semi serious runner that has seen the movie “Pre” has to sit on their hands on some of the running scenes – if they are going to enjoy the movie at all.  Simply, they know more about running than the average person who is going to see the flick and they see stuff that does not really work.  But for that average person, it is fine.  I feel the same way as of late listening to this breakdown of the the software project healthcare.gov.  I know enough about software development that when I hear some of the coverage, and terms like “tech surge” (apparently now all government efforts need “surge” in the name) that I realize we are getting a highly diluted packaged and hence incorrect version of the story.  I guess you could say it is true of closures on OSMP as well.  To the average person, telling them the “trails are unsafe!” and “you will do MORE damage (to trails that were damaged by Mother Nature more in 48 hours than what we humans did in 30 years)!” – it is fine.  Okay, go about your business, nothing to look at here and keep doing your thing.  But to those that look a bit and might know a thing or two, it seems ridiculous.

Thursday 102413

Inspired that he shared how he voted, here is mine:  I voted against the near 1 billion tax increase proposed in Amendment 66, against the taxing of pot, for allowing Broomfield residents to keep chickens on their property, and against a referendum preventing fracking.

Today’s readings:  I have been in software long enough that when I heard the “tech surge” term dujour in regards to the recent healthcare.gov approach is ridiculous.  In 1983, 267 US men broke 2:20 in the marathon.  That is still just a wow statistic to me. Along that line, check out this great post on Kajelin’s, Ritz and Hall by Reavis.   Interesting read on “decision fatigue'” and how it plays into dietary choices.  Oh yeah, I am sure there will be quite a buzz about the new WS standards.

I have yet to finish “The Sports Gene” and also sitting on the shelf is Noakes “Waterlogged.”  I am stuck on working through some fiction (book four in “Game of Thrones” which I get five pages through every night before passing out … at 700 pages a book I should finish it before the kids go to college) and “Fundamentals of US Regulatory Affairs” (I am pretty solid on the device side but the drug stuff is not my wheelhouse … yet).  Part of what I looking forward to with “Waterlogged” is the discussion on cramping.

Mid day, hiked around the Flatirons out of Chautauqua with TZ. 

I am pretty sure they are still up there. 
Washout along the road leading out of Chautauqua.
This used to be a little trickle of water where a bridge went across.
My guide …

The beard project is progressing but that gray is growing in color.

Your government in Boulder hard at work protecting you from dangerous trails


We skirted around the base of the Flatirons, including a section near the Flatironette that I had not really explored before.

Afternoon – I had a short window before I needed to get JZ off to soccer.  I did a mile and a quarter warm up, then did a mile at 5k effort (5:30, slightly downhill to promote turnover) and then jogged over to the BHS track.  Did 6 x 200 meters on, 200 meter walk jog.  36, 35, 35, 35, 35, 34.  Then jogged home (5.3).  JZ off to soccer and then did a very easy 5 miles over on the Big Dry Creek. 

Wednesday 102313

12.6 miles.  Started easy but it built, just fun.

Today’s reads:  This might be my next race (XC, in Boulder and soon)  Eyeballed this article on healthy drinking limits.  I have a whole set of thoughts related to how I drink, but I will leave that chambered for another post.  (Side note - I have one on fracking too, as I have had pro and anti frackers come to my door as of late.  In short, I am left to wonder if any move towards being energy independent will be satisfactory to some.)I won’t make it to the State Meet this weekend but I am hoping these guys create some of that havoc. A current map of what is closed, what is not in Boulder and when it is targeted to open.  A cool quiz from the Scouts on emergency signals.  Read on why Iditarod Sled Dogs are really the Engergizer Bunnies of the world.

I should cross 3000 miles on the year tomorrow.  Same old strength and weakness there I guess.

Crazy biker video of the day that falls into the category of I am not sure I’d want to run that.

I love my children.  But if they eat all the ice cream and put the container back into the freezer again, I might have to do something drastic.

The Oatmeal is awesome.

Tuesday 102213

Today’s reads:  Friel on reverse periodization, the best last word on the Grand Slam Clark debacle,  there “ain’t nothing wrong with going shorter” and this guy failing on the Nolans.  Also, I don’t think they should have this spot yet, but the Buff Men XC team are ranked 1 in the country (Camera read on the PAC 12 race coming up in a couple of weeks).  Finally, the OSMP meeting with the public was last night.  It seems unfortunate that night access was not addressed.  There are so many things that OSMP is saying that I just can’t agree with.  For example:  In some cases, like the Mesa Trail, Reeder said that means building bridges where there were none before. There is no way to let people back on the trail until then, but, he said, "I think the citizens are really going to love the view that they get from that bridge."  Why is there NO WAY the trail can be opened until we have a bridge?

I am taking the week off from work – getting stuff done around the house, and staycation of sorts.  When I go to put on my supersuit to run with someone like Bob, it is noticed.

AM – with Bob on the Mesa.  4 x 6 minutes this week.  Again, I felt like I had more lungs than legs (the legs have just been wobbly on these outings the last two weeks) so nothing great – but improvement … I ran these on the same rest (2 minutes) at the same pace or faster as the 4 and 3 minute sessions (from the last two weeks).  Covered anywhere to just over a mile to just under a mile on each.  11.1 miles.  Always awesome to run with Bob because we can wax about old guy stuff, like how fast we used to be, how it sucks that nobody knows who the guy who is timing all the high school meets is a dude that made the Olympic squad in the marathon in 1980, how awesome our beards are and make secret plans as to who want to take down in XC in February. 

Been toying with taking this blog in a slightly different direction, expanding it to discuss more things in the political realm, the fun and challenges (and hence my failures) of parenting teens, other weaknesses.  A bit more raw, which might be therapeutic for me but perhaps a bit too transparent.

Monday 102113

The  results from the USATF 5km XC race in NJ yesterday are up.  With four guys running right at 5 minute pace for 5k (damn), ATC is hard to beat.  Give credit to USATF, they work a race circuit – no lack of masters races this year.  Did we really need a 5km XC championships too?  But, hey, build it and they will come I guess. 

10 miles in the AM, easy.  3 minute plank post (hard).

Trying to watch this but having trouble getting it to play (an interview with Pedretti and Velin from Haulin’ Ass).

Back to Sweeney Mesa tomorrow for a beating.

Sunday 102013

Figured I needed to do something to drive off last night’s four Inversion IPA’s (had with home made chili) so I slipped into Lee Troop’s Boulder Track Club run.   There are some pretty quick dudes in this group obviously, so I decidedly made my way to the back of the group from the start.  11.3 miles later most of the brew had been sweat out.

We did a loop starting at the Marshall Mesa (where I can’t park in the lot for free but I can park 50 yards across the street for free for now), heading out up into Flatirons Vista and then back.  I guess we couldn’t really drop down into the basin past the gate as it might be closed over there.  I didn’t look to test that out.  Trails were muddy in places, and even pretty heavily rutted in others, but nothing that left me concerned about the safety of myself or anyone else who chose to go out there.

Chatted a bit about HS XC with the Monarch coach Laura T as she is a part of this group (she invited me to pass her after I caught up to her on a downhill – which is to say she dropped me on an uphill, but I declined given she is about 2 minutes faster on a 5k than me about now).  I also saw (going in opposite direction) David C from the burro racing circuit and Shad who looked like he was out for a 100 miler out there. 

I only had two workouts this week, but I came in feel a bit beat up from the last week (Sunday) 200s.  On Tuesday I managed tempo run and on Thursday I did the 3 minute stuff with Bob not feeling hot but a bit improved over last time.  I was a bit surprised at how gassed the biking left me feeling on Saturday, and even had a bit of that today as well.  Nonetheless, I think nearly all of the runs – even the easy ones were sub 8 pace (with the exception of an afternoon dog jog).  There was no eye on the HR on any of this stuff, but based on how I felt, the 7:30s are easy pace this past week.

72 miles on the week.  I think it might be my fastest week overall in terms of pace per mile for those 71 (555 minutes) but that is what you can do when you have 2k of vertical on the week.  I will keep at this sort of thing (flat) as it is specific to what I want to do right now, and apparently doing hills like that guy in Old Colorado City means you run 20 minute plus 5ks in your 30s.  ;)

That said, with the pick up in the pace, I am feeling some of the creaks and niggles that I don’t typically feel with the load of summer hill training:  namely that psoas thingie in my right butt cheek is humming a bit.  Nothing killer but something I am aware of.

With that -  hat tip to Freebird for this find … while I am thinking short and quick, I still am a fan of this stuff.

If you got the patience for it, check out the interview with the Oregon team post PreNats.  Is it me or does it seem like they have already given up on the Pac 12 race in Colorado because it is in Colorado and at altitude?  Sheesh guys.

I’d like to make it to the State meet next week and Pac 12s the week after … not sure if I will swing either.

Apparently Oreos are as addictive as cocaine.  The video at the end of that post is disturbing.

Ultra season is over, right?  Eyeballed the start list for this race and apparently someone forgot to tell Joe, Hal, Jer, Ian, and a handful of others shooting for a sub 16 100. 

Saturday 101913

Really, you should go and look at Jeff’s blog that shows how high some creeks flooded based on the leaves on the trees.  It is really amazing.

AM – JZ soccer game.  Drives me nuts to watch other teams that are a year up in the league take great delight in trouncing the boys 11-zip.  Bugs me way more than my son though.  He seemed to still get some happiness out of playing the game. 

Legs fairly shot today.  7.1 in the AM.  Resting HR before it was 38.  But it did not take me much to get it up today.

I am making no consistent progress with weights or diet yet.  I mean, I have not really habitualized anything there really.  So far it is just a lot of talk.  I guess I do some little stuff different – the occasional myrtle routine, the 3 minute plank, the trying to avoid seconds on meals, etc – but nothing that is really a game changer I guess.  I am not bummed about that – just recognizing that when it comes to “really” wanting to make change for running sake, I am not putting up the numbers.  I am not wanting to put up an impression that I am turning a bunch of dials hard, when I might only be fiddlin’ with them.  There is want, and there is want.  There you go.

I have also started to notice that I can actually see some of the atrophy of muscle in my left leg.  I have noticed it for some time, but it is clearly there more than the right (probably reflecting the imbalances I have).  As I run, it is that looser skin that you often see on older people.  Where my quad was, it is less. 

Boulder XC site is up.  CU XC takes Oregon down in prenats (looking good for Pac 12 in Louisville in a couple of weeks).  Mick Byrne of Wisco might be almost as entertaining as Wetmore.  CO Middle School XC state results.  The daughter of my old training partner Timmy G took third as a sixth grader!

Interesting read on deaths in tris.  I am mixed on the “trend” data that OTL presents for a variety of reasons, but it is an interesting read.  Clearly something is occurring in the swim (particularly when compared to the run).

Afternoon – KZ recital: 

Recently reread this wonderful rambling.  And on the lines of him … Who broke Lucho’s record at Leadman?  Nope – not Travis Macy.  This guy.

PM – 3.5 with Lucy dog.  142.5 post run. 

Scott J’s story of the CT continues.  Pretty epic.

Friday 101813

Truly from the better late than never files, OSMP lifts the nighttime ban on its trails.  Really, being just “grateful” here is not the right response.  The question that needs to be out there is why was this thrown out there in the first place.  By the way – Broomfield trails that are closed.

I love me some Mark Wetmore.  This video could be today or 10 years ago … dude is solid consistent.  And good.

8.3 miles mid morning.  Walked with TZ for a couple of miles with the dogs and then got out for these miles after that.  I decided to check how I felt and went for a mile.  5:30 and the legs felt heavy.  All of the effort was in the legs – it seemed hardly came from the lungs.  I mean I was breathing hard of course, but there was none of that coppery taste that you get when you are really working the lungs.  It was silly – I knew right away that my legs were toast from yesterday but I figured, eh – why not push a mile and see what it is.  And if it stinks, well, just doing it can’t hurt.  Keep at it, and keep at it and keep at it.  Rest of it was just under 7:30 miles relaxed.  142 post run.  So, essentially nada as of late.

I then spent the afternoon over at the Commons.  The Region 3 meet for the 2A, 3A and 4A schools for XC was over there (translation, it determined who went to the State meet for those classes – top 4 teams and top 15 individual finishers).  My job:  bike out the leaders. In a couple of the girls races, like the 4A one with Ms. Cranny, we had to run two lead bikes – simply because the lead girl broke away so far from the rest of the field it was the practical thing to do. 

One short but decent hill in the race.  Maybe nothing for person that can bike but it was a get out of the saddle and drop the gears quick and get there a good lead ahead of the runners to assure I could get up the grass and snow slipped hill ahead of them.

I ended up with over 18 miles of biking as it was six races – and with a good amount of it being in the wet grass, trying to stay ahead of young men going 11 mph, and being a horrible cyclist – it worked me nicely. 

It was fun … always fun to watch folks toe the line and work it, and particularly in XC.  Oh yeah – no doubt:  my bike was older than every competitor out there.  By at least a decade. 

Thursday 101713

11.1 miles with Bob over on Sweeney Mesa with 6 x 3 minutes on 2 minutes of rest.  It went a little better than last week in that I was able to manage to hold the average of all of them under six minutes a mile each – except the uphill one.  Once the workout started not much socializing with Bob … just some grunts out of “10 seconds” when the next rep was about to start.  Felt like crud but that is probably because I had a bit too much wine last night. 

There are parts of the trails on the Davidson Mesa that are eroded to the weed fabric.  Not a single part of it is closed.

Hopefully a step forward in the trails getting opened up in the “open” space … a meeting being hosted on Monday by OSMP.

This is going to get the coyote problem threads going again. 

Some pix from this past weekend’s campout.  I served as the “grubmaster” for the adult group and did a good amount of dutch oven cooking (chicken pot pie and a peach cobbler).

Wednesday 101613

143 at wake up this AM.

More good stuff from Friel – including definitions of V02, LT, economy, dose and density.  The jury appears to be out about the healthi benefits of prolonged intense workouts for the aging athlete however.

Continuing this week’s conversation regarding weight and performance here is a calculator that is fun to play with.

Quite the analysis on Berlin vs. Chicago.

10.4 miles.  Started out thinking I’d jump on a workout but this turned into just a slog.  Probably should have called it sooner.

Tuesday 101513

Afternoon – 10.2 miles on the local and still open trails.  5 miles of it steady (sub 7) over the “parade of homes” route, so a moderate tempo of sorts.  Everything else relaxed.

Results from the Boulder 100 are up.  Ebel’s winning time should read at 16 and change  and not 28 and change.  Looks like only seven did the full 100 out of 17 attempting it.  A guy did do 111 in the 24 though.  There is a part of me that thinks I am not done with that nutty race.

This is pretty cool.

Some good back and forth on weight in the comments from yesterday’s post.  While I am becoming increasingly convinced weight loss would probably have more bearing on my performance than training at this point in my “career,” I am also increasing convinced that there is a difference between fitness performance and health performance.  For the vast majority of Americans, there is little difference here:  becoming more fit is to become more healthy.  But to reach optimal fitness performance does begin to mean a compromise to health at some point.  Weight is clearly one of those areas where people could get fit and healthy, but the roads can diverge when getting to the point of performance fitness.  140-145 is probably healthy for me.  130 probably wouldn’t be but I’d probably be faster.  For a little while at least.  141 today post run.

 

Good advice.

The whatisultra posts are pretty funny.

Apparently Julian Myers, Marina Del Rey won his age group at a recent Huntsman Senior Games in the 800 meters.  His time?  1:19:01.85.  That’s right and hour and twenty minutes.  His age group:  95-99.  He also took the silver in the 50 meters 2:41.66 behind gold medalist Daniel Buckley who beat him by over 2 minutes – posting a 15.47.  As they say, sometimes the race is sometimes won by those who keep running. 

Monday 101413

More good stuff from Friel on aging. 

The Chicago marathon was fast (and with Kimetto doing it in 61:52 and 61:53 fashion ridiculously even paced), but not as fast as Berlin with Kipsang’s 2:03:23.  I appreciate this sort of perspective on that.  As a side note, Ritz will probably get bashed for not PRing and Tegenkamp’s 2:12 will be seen as a ho-hum debut.  All this goes to show how crazy fast the front end of marathoning has become.  A dozen years ago, that would be considered a very good debut and 2:09 would win most races.  Solid overview post on Chicago but the interviews with Ritz, Teg and his pacer crew of Solinsky and Cragg on Flotrack are excellent as well.  I find Ritz on going battle with cramps late in the marathon to be interesting. 

The trail closure conversation seems to be amping up with frustrated and shut out users in Boulder. 

I still need to catch up on how IM in Kona and the Boulder 100 played out.

I am expecting to be over at the Commons on Friday afternoon, helping out with the Region 3 2A, 3A, 4A races.  Apparently this is happening in Broomfield as Lyons is not able to host given the recent flooding.  There is also one of the 5A region races going on over there on Thursday but I am not sure if I will be able to swing that.  There is also a middle school state champ meet on Saturday in Littleton.  I doubt I am going to make that given soccer obligations, but that could be fun to see if it set some sparks off in the younger crumb grabber.

10.1 miles.  A bit stiff from yesterday so I was very easy and relaxed on what was a quintessential fall day – windy, cool and clear. 

Increasingly I am convinced my diet is a bigger factor in my performance now than what I do for training.  Here’s the issue – I am a regular habitual trainer.  I am undisciplined habitual unconscious eater. 

Today’s listening (inspired from a recent Ace C podcast show) … perhaps appropriate.

 

He does some freestyle stuff too that is pretty incredible but NSFW.

Sunday 101313

… tired from camping, but a good tired.  No running yesterday (Saturday) and fried today …

 

I managed to get out to get something in.  Mentally I was too cooked to muster up the discipline to hold pace for longer efforts.  So over to the track I went and did 16 x 200 on a 200 walk jog.  I get something out of this physically (not a lot admittedly, but it hurts a bit the next day), and I can focus for 35 seconds on each.  Funny that these used to be pace for the quarter repeats not too long ago.

Hardly the training week I expected or wanted.  Low on miles, quality work was not where I wanted it to be, and motivation on some days actually was not huge.  51.2 miles on the week, and about 6 hours.  Knock me down 7 times, get up 8.

Friday 101113

5.6 miles.  Day got away from me, and then when I got out I felt like I was running with two left (or two right legs).  Decided to cut it short and see if I can make up for yesterday’s less than wonderful speed workout with a better one tomorrow. 

Carolyn Holmberg space is still closed. 

More Interesting Info on Max Heart Rate.

Off to camp for the weekend.

This pro wants beer and betting in track.

Thursday 101013

Attended an out of state college fair with KZ over at Monarch High last night.  Multiple this by about four and you get the idea.

As she is a sophomore, the goal was really just to get her to consider different colleges … big, small, urban, rural, public, private …

I also noticed this as we headed into the gym.  The 5k record is held by some guy that did well on the Skyrunning circuit this year.
 

A read on the current state of national park closures due to the government shutdown.   While National Parks are getting a lot of the attention, also in these closures are USFS and BLM lands.  Of course, the shut down could get really nasty with this sort of stuff.   BTR (Boulder Trail Runner) guy Basit weighs in to the Boulder City Council regarding the OSMP closures.  Word of what I am hearing from last nights OSBT meeting is that those folks intend to keep some trails closed until January, and inclined to never opening some trails again. 

Listening …

Got together with Bob over the Davidson Mesa.  I had thought we’d do 8 x 4 minutes at faster than 5k pace (2 minutes rest).  It was clear after the first one that I was not going to even effectively manage 5k pace for any of them.  Meh.  As I griped to Bob, 30 years of running and racing and I often don’t know if I should bag these sessions as soon as I see it coming or hold on.  Today I held on and adapted, withstanding 6 of the efforts.  I I guess it sort of depends on the day.  I just couldn’t even go that hard to hurt much.  11.3 miles. 

Saw Clint Wells out there.  GHX has quite a few runners …

Wednesday 10913

It is pretty heavily slanted to the northeast because of its location, but the USATF Masters National Championships for 5k was over the weekend.   Lot of guys under 17 there and a good number under 16.  Then again, when you have 60 year olds running 32 and change for 10k, I guess this is not that fast.

Spoke to my daughter’s XC coach the other day and he works at a local running store.  This will be the flag that I look to get a squad of masters guys to run under for XC Nats.  The good news is that there seem to be a LOT of guys who are interested in this.  I imagine about half of us will bail with other commitments, injuries, etc by the time the gun goes off – so it is good to have potentially 3 dozen guys fighting for spots right now.

Apparently I am not high carb or low carb.  But I am an impressive training logger.
If you are interested in this study that is going on at UCONN, let me know and I can forward you the information.

More trails are opening.

The other brewery in Broomfield making progress.

Scott’s CT record run reports are still eeking out.  Good stuff.

Got some rope work in today.  The left legged single legged jumps are getting better but are still not as strong as the right.  Will keep working at that.  I did some squats, but unweighted and not as deep as last week.  And some lunges, and planks.  As I am looking to make the teeth sweat with Bob tomorrow, I kept the run capped at no more than an easy hour today.  7.2 miles, 56 minutes easy.

The Dog V. Squirrel showdown continues.

Tuesday 100813

I try to avoid general politics … well, I look to steer clear of it in this blog but … really?  The government is shutdown.  Unless they are fining you.  In other closure news, someone I know recently posted this on FB.

Apparently there is an OSMP BOT meeting tomorrow night where the public can voice concerns on these matters.

…a tempo run can be simply defined as a 20 minute run at threshold pace which is 25-30 seconds per mile slower than current 5k pace or a run at 90 % of your maximum heart rate. Of course if you feel 90% is too hard then 75-85 % of max heart rate is also tempo intensity as is a run of 20-25 minutes in duration at between 10k and 15k race pace.If you are very fit it’s your 15-21k pace. It can also be defined as 70-80% of your aerobic capacity or a run of 20-25 minutes at 20-25 seconds per mile slower than your 5k pace or 40-45 minutes at 15-20 seconds slower than your 10k pace. The fastest pace you can manage for an hour is another common way of describing tempo intensity….

So while youngsters like Cranny have been cleaning the clock of collegians by winning races outright, it is apparently occurring via old fogeys as well.

How come I can see Timko staging something like this?

Easy jogging today, the Owens loop from the office, twice and once with Steve M.  10.4 miles.  Tired – not surprising.

Monday 100713

… there is no research I’ve ever found which even suggests that there is “damage” done to one’s aerobic development in the Base period by doing infrequent high-intensity training.

Given some of the recent conversation on how some road runs were boring, I found this post to be appropriate.

I am stoked to see Lucho considering posting some again.  Part of it is that we are both focused towards the same goal (XC Nats in Boulder in February), part of it is that is cool to see him fired up again, part of it is seeing what he does different. 

Cool beer chart. 

Got out and I thought it would be an easy run.  I felt fair, and the itch was there so I tossed in a hard mile to see what that would be.  5:14.  About what I ran in the 8th grade.  I might have paced it about the same as then as well too – poorly. 

I am gonna make this work to also targeting breaking 5 again.

Then jogged over to the Commons and did hard strider diagonals on the grass soccer field.  9.4 miles.

Poor KZ.  Her jaw has changed since her braces came out so she is back in braces for a bit. 

JZ and his buds reworking their patrol box yesterday.
 

Sunday 100613

17 miles.  Didn’t mean to go that far when I headed out but it worked out.  Ran down to the Big Dry Creek where I met David P for some miles on the trail.  First time running with him and it was good.  I was not feeling particularly spry after yesterday’s effort, but he was kind to me while keeping me honest (averaged 7:40 pace even with my slower stuff before and after him).

70.9 on the week.  Nine and a half hours and another flat week with 1705 of climbing.  2 solid workouts (Wed, Sat) and today’s long run was ssolid on tired legs.  Keep on truckin’.

Lessons learned this week include considering where to put the leg weight work in the mix, and consideration of my brew habit.

I don’t have much of a bucket list.   I am not the sort that sez I have to go and get these things done by way of putting them on a long term list.   Perhaps I have a bunch of shorter lists.  Or no list.  But there are some things that draw me.  Hardrock, at least pacing again, draws me.  Winning another burro race draws me.  And the Nipmunck Trail Marathon draws me.  I did so many miles on that trail walking, jogging, sharing with folks and following its blaze that it has an attraction that calls to me.  Call it a draw me list.

I had a bunch of stuff written on LT runs. LT runs being those runs where  the lactate begins to collect in your blood faster than you can flush it or utilize it, get confusing.  We call them all sorts of things.  Tempo, LT, threshold, marathon paced runs, etc.    And hence they get confusing. 

Research says that the largest contributor to athletic decline in the masters runner is loss of V02 max.  V02 max is part of the “big three” in run training (with the others being economy and lactate threshold).  The other two factors in the conversation don’t decline as much.   While I have been a consistent trainer over the years, I have slowed 11-14% over the 5k distance over the last dozen years.  Some of this is attributable to age, but some of this decline has been because of less focus on V02 work. 

There is significant research out there however that concludes the most effective path to fitness gains is not V02 work, but is ACTUALLY LT work.  V02 max work is going to be those intervals in that 2-5 minute range, and are going to be at paces that are faster than 5k (like the half miles I did on Wednesday).  VO2 max or even the stuff that is shorter and faster (200s and 400s) work come with the greater risk of injury, and at some point don’t prepare you for the longer outright effort of a race.

Side note 1 -- If one is an ultra runner, VO2 max focus as they age may not be as important - as economy is probably the most important over great distances.  Personally, I am of the belief while specificity in training is key, gains in one area help bolster the others to some degree.  It comes down to how you want to spend your training buck. 

Side note 2 –- what I see many HS coaches focusing on is not so much LT, or even VO2 max but that slow growth via increasing mileage, or focusing on economy.  In other words, a kid focusing on miles is probably a better way to move their results than taking a 40 something who has run for 30 years and having them focus on MAF… Maybe.

I guess I still have a lot written on them.  But I have still not said what they are.  These are those runs where you are fine holding that pace for the medium period (let’s say 20 minutes to an hour) , but feel that build grow to the point of it becoming pretty damn hard over the course of the miles. 

For me, in the mid 90s, this was a run that was where I connected up with guys for an easy run.  And they are running easy.  I thought I was but I was not.  I was a bit over my head but can clearly thought I could handle it … and I did.  For a while. 

If you really want to calculate your LT, it is like V02 – you need to go to a lab and have them prick your finger to measure lactate values.  Or you can model it based off of your other efforts.  Again, all models are wrong but some are useful.  The most basic rule I have heard in calculating and that I would subscribe to is what is your race pace for an hour, or maybe a 10 miler (or even half marathon). 

Good set of articles by Crowther over here.

I guess I still owe a post on what an LT run is.