FKTs

JV and I were yapping the other day, post his great unexpected PR up Green.  There is a concept of the FKT, or the "fastest known time." for these routes.  An FKT can be established on any route, via whatever means you like to attack it (run, climb, bike, etc).  For a while Bill Wright was maintaining a list of trail FKTs on his speed site, but it has fallen out of date (despite my harassment of him about it).  It appears that the Green route that Jeff and I often run (when we are dog free), has an FKT (from Chautauaqua) of an eye popping 34:08 by Nate Schultz (I broke 40 a few times last summer but nothing under 37 ...)

I am eyeballin some of the stuff up Shadow.  I think I can, with a good lead up to Shadow get under 50 for the Ascent up SoBo.

Drop Mr. Wright a note to push him to update the FKTs!

Saturday 053108, Green

Got on Green early with Hans, and so the "dog" route (out and back on Baseline, Gregory, Ranger).  Not feelin' zippy so I kept it mellow.  Got out of Chautauqua and then realized I needed the voice and site tag for Hans so I had to double back for that.  Ascended then in 46:30.  83 minutes total trip.

Planning chaos

I have learned that I am not real good at adhering to training plans (apparently, others have similar conditions).  Ideally, I'd outline a training plan and stick to it more days than not.

I find that various things in life get in the way.  You have a key workout planned and the weather screws it up (okay, yes - there are treadmills).  Or you end up wanting to go to a music recital for your kids.  Or you just feel like crap that day and it is better to shelve that workout for another day.  You know the drill - in the best laid plans, something pops up that makes it come undone.

As a result, I end up with a lack of detail in a plan for training - meaning if you ask me what I am doing tomorrow - I often don't know.  For some, this would drive them absolutely crazy.  For me, it is a necessity.

Instead, I have general goals for a chunk of training.  The general goals might be to increase volume in terms of miles or hours, or to do more speed work, or to do more hills, or to increase the length of my long run. Or to rest (and yes, there was a chunk last year post Pikes where I did not train, but just ... ran).

Pretty loose ... and I know that.  And so, in an effort to be "tighter" about that, here are my goals (in terms of running training) for the next five to six weeks.

• Maintain a volume of 9-11 hours a week
• Increase general length of long run to promote increased muscular endurance and to also experiment with various nutritional supplements (namely salt tabs).
• Do 2-3 runs a week on significant hilly terrain to keep increasing that strength.  These efforts can be done harder if I feel up to it.
• Do 2-3 runs a week on flatter terrain to regain familiarity with that sort of running.  These runs need to be easy however.

This approach over the last 3 weeks has been rounding me back into some semblance of fitness.  I need to balance that upward trend with life, when I want to peak, absorbing training, and what I can handle right now.  As that five - six week block shifts over, I will begin to change the goals to push these as the focus.  I'd see this as the set of objectives for the following three to four weeks.

• If I can handle it, begin to perform flat efforts at tempo and / or speed work (strides, 200s, 400s, 800s) - alternatively this could be a race like a 5K or a 10k ... doing races would be an ideal way to get in a good workout, stress the system, blow off the rust and to get a feel in the head for the race situation again.
• Do 1-2 runs a week on significant hilly terrain to keep increasing that strength.  These efforts can be done harder if I feel up to it.  At least one of these efforts needs to be done at 30-60 minutes of race emulation effort.  This sets up for 2 or 3 efforts a week where I am taxing the system in either an uphill effort (hard Green for example or maybe Lindens) or a hard flat (tempo run on dirt, road race). 
• Get to altitude and begin to do high altitude runs - as your long run
• If possible, begin to focus an effort a week where you press the downhill to dial in the "super computer."

Then I start the taper in the last two-three weeks.  More on that later... (meaning I still have not figured that one out).

Still pretty loose ... and part of that is because I am still physically scoping what I can handle in terms of my issue that shall not be named.  But this is the general plan.  There, are of course, a lot of other sub goals in there like ...

• be a loving compassionate father and husband and friend ... this running thing is folly and will mean nothing if you harm relationships along the way to a better time come race day.  People who love you now will love you in August, regardless if you run well or not, finish or not.
• sleep well
• hydrate well
• eat well (or eat food, mostly plants and not a lot)
• wear sunscreen
• bike to work a few times a week
• have fun
• Make the hard days hurt so bad your teeth sweat, and the easy days easy.
• Do light stretching, and goofy core exercises.

So there you go.  Feedback welcome.  Criticism taken appropriately.  Live it.  78 days.

Friday 053008, Easy at Waneka

I met Tim, Kerrie and Liz at Waneka Lake this morning for an easy effort. I jogged for about 15 minutes before connecting with them and then did about an hour with them - all easy jogging. Great getting out with this crew and talking some training, etc. 80 minutes total. Not feeling too beat up from yesterday's effort.

JV ran a PR up Green today. SWEET.

Thursday, 052908, South Boulder Peak via Shadow

I decided early today to do Bear via Shadow Canyon.  I thought it would be good to get some uphill work in, and since I start at the Canyon from my office most of the day ... it called to me. This is a good route, with a long climb up the peak.  The Shadow Canyon route has to be one of the hardest miles in Boulder ... breaking 20 (from the bottom post to the saddle top post) on this thing would put you in total  bad ass company.  OSMP maps (here is a mapmyrun one) have it at about 1.1 miles, although I am not sure that is true .  Gain is 2800' over four miles, so while it gives you a nice sting, it is run-able.

I was feeling pretty good to get after it, and was in for a good grind workout to assess where I was at.  I warmed up to the start of the Canyon (SBCT, Towhee, Mesa) in 21:11 - and had the pre-run jitters ... thinking I was not feeling so hot after after all.  Ah well - it was time to get to business ... and started the long slow grind through the Canyon.  The weather was perfect:  clear, warm, cooler in the canyon, slight breeze - I was shirtless but sweating pretty good.  I ran, power hiked, through the canyon and posted a surprising 23:41.  The mantra through the canyon was:  YOU MUST RUN (I recall Scott Elliott yelling multiple times this to Lisa G as she finished the Ascent last year - epic moment). 

So, it appears as if the uphill strength work I have been doing has is paying some dividends.  I took a quick bio break at the top post and then decided to go to South Boulder Peak - instead of Bear.  I had not been up this peak yet this year.  It is the one I get up the least because of its location, but it is as epic as the other two - with the best views of Pikes.  Got over there in 6:55 (total ascent was 51:47).  Sat for a bit taking in the views, and then started a descent down that I wanted to keep honest.

Five minutes back down to the saddle, through the Canyon down in 14:31 and then 13:31 back to the car.  On the down, particularly in the canyon, I turn on the "super computer."  This is where I let the brain focus on the rocks, the turns, the trees, the jumps, the skips, the leaps, at a high rate of speed ... hikers look at you like you are insane as they carefully pick their way through the trail with their trekking poles and you crash through with reckless abandon.  RT in 1:24:50.  Good workout.  Today's run powered on the IPOD by the Darkness (up) and Pearl Jam (down).

So last year, I did this on Shadow, Bear... (this came a day after I did 800s in 2:3x).

Thursday May 24, 2007 Ran Shadow to Bear with Scott and JV. We warmed up Mesa classic from South Mesa to the post in 24:54. They gave me a minute and two minutes respectively (as I had not yet bounced back from yesterday. I got passed by Jeff at 7:10 and then Scott at 14:48. I got to the Saddle in a working relaxed 24:15 (ve rsus 24:38 from a few weeks ago). Continued to Summit in 5:22, and the 52 to tippy top. Back to Saddle in 5:06. 13:39 to catch Jeff in the Canyon (versus 14:21 a few weeks ago) but then backed off to run with him (12:38 a few weeks ago, 17:34 here). Total was 92 minutes. Calling it 8.

When I have runs like today, I have had this silly dream  that I can still sew this altogether and actually run a respectful effort in 11.x weeks.  Then, at times that dream is offset with practical insights based on where I currently am overall ... I wonder if I am better equipped this year, not peaking too soon ... and magically I have the epic day ... On the other hand, I confess, I often wonder if my best days are past, and that I am chasing dreams of younger days or a younger body.  Maybe I just happened to have run my best time on Pikes, my first time.  These thoughts are quickly squashed when I see the efforts of guys like Ames, Gutierrez, Kloser ... cuz' those thoughts ain't gonna get me anywhere positive. 

So all I can do is ... all I can do.  And I am going make the best of that.  And try to get under 20 minutes in Shadow.

Various tidbits ...

• Apparently near our new home, there is a crack in the bedrock where water flows out.  This ground water fills our sump pit.  The sump pump pushes this water out to the side of our house, where there are about 2 dozen pieces of PVC pipe - that my son has taken to manipulate to irrigate various parts of the lawn.  Sweet.
• I have this desire to go an run in the desert as of late.  A co-worker of mine just got back from four wheelin' in Moab ... it has me thinking about runnin' the Grand Canyon, Zion.  Here is an example of a great trip ...
• In moving yesterday, I had a series of thoughts that, ala Jeff Foxworthy went along the lines of "...you might be domesticated ..." For example
  • You might be domesticated if you have a wheelbarrow.
  • You might be domesticated if you have a croquet set (although I have now been informed that several bachelors do have their own croquet sets for some drinking game)
  • You might be domesticated if you have more than three rakes
  • You might be domesticated if you have a hutch with dinnerware that you never eat off of but just look at in the hutch
  • You might be domesticated if you have underwear that is older than your children.  Extra points if you have a set older than your children's ages together.  Or you might not be domesticated and just might be very resourceful, gross, or both.
• I also had a series of thoughts regarding movers.  All I can say is movers ... MONEY WELL SPENT.  Watching these guys bust back moving couches, hutches, beds, dresser drawers, etc ... yup, good cash departed with for a damn good reason.  Win win.  I have a whole series of reasons why I'd not be a good mover, but that is an other post.  Let's start with the fact that I don't have a tattoo of any sort, particularly one of a scantly dressed woman on my arm.
• How the hell did we ever make it across the country in wagons?
• Prize money at Pikes is in question ... 
• This is nuts.

Wednesday 052808, Easy

Post a long day of moving (we are moved finally), that left me thinking quite a bit (when you put all your stuff into boxes to have it moved, you think quite a bit), I got out for a shakeout (more for my head) for a bit. Scoped out some of the trails around my new hood and I think I have a good four mile loop (33 minutes). Much to blog, but now is time to sleep.

Tuesday 052708, Mill lovin'

On the mill today so that I could control the effort and my time.  87 minutes breaking down like this:  2 mile warm up, with first mile at 15% (13:47), then one at 1.5% (7:47) ... quick bio break ... then 6 x 3 minutes on, 2 minutes off.  I am quite a bit off what I "used to be able to do these in" but woulda, coulda, shoulda ... started at 10 mph (6 min/mile) and dialed them into 10.6 mph over the repeats.  Nothing zippy, but trying to get a bit of leg turnover familiarity, balancing it against that thing I don't talk about, etc.  All these were done at 1.5% grade. Warmed down with 2 miles at 1.5% (8, 7:30), mile at 15% (13:41), and then one at 1.5% real easy  (8:50).  About 87 minutes total.  The lungs were fine on the repeats ... it is really my legs are wondering what the hell I am trying to do as they have not moved that quick in a bit.

Tomorrow is the day we move the big crap and make the shift - so built in recovery day (either really light or no running).

That little race in Boulder

So this blog is to keep me honest, right?  I mean part of the reason why I do this is so that I can look back at it someday and see where I was weak, stupid, crazy, over training, what broke and alternatively what worked.  So here is some honesty (and maybe it reveals to much?):  today my heart is growling about that little race that occurs in Boulder every year. 

I know this 100 percent stupid - and that understanding is my brain talking over my heart.  But if I am honest, I know there is a part of me that is wishing I could have lined up and run that race.  It is the greedy, selfish, gnawing part of me that often gets me into trouble.  Still, even knowing that, I feel this gnawing when I look at the results today.  I feel this gnawing when people ask me "did you run yesterday?" (well as a matter I fact I did but just not what you are thinking about). I feel this gnawing when I look at what the weather was yesterday (ideal).  I browse the results and wonder how I would have fared on that last mile that has worked me on Folsom so many times.  I wish I could have lined up with friends and competitors to do battle with the course, ourselves and the race.  To all those that put on the war paint and did battle in the thin air of Boulder ... congratulations.  I salute you.  I hope I can join you again soon.

Of course, if I had raced it I'd be a little more pissed today - simply because I was not ready to run well, and would have raced like crap and I'd be irked about that.  And it is a little ironic that I feel this way because I have lots of reasons not to do this race:  I was moving, I was injured in preparation, it is not a good course, it is not easy to get to a race that 50,000 other people are trying to get to at 7AM.  All those things are true, but it is also one of the deepest races in the world for competition (at my level).

The good news in this is that this event served as a little reminder ... spawning a series of mantras in my head:  "start focusing your diet and hydration as if the race were to occur next week," "make choices to prepare yourself, not destroy yourself,"

82 days.  Live it.

Monday 052608, Green

Bolder Boulder was going on in town, and the fact that it was gnawing at me.  Yeah, I had my excuses to not run it but there was still the call.  I decided to bury that cry by hitting Green.

Hans (father-in-law's dog) and I took Baseline, Amp, Saddle, Greenman up and down.  The top of the mountain socked into a cool, gray mist ... all clouds.  I think running in those conditions are my favorites.  Reached the summit in 47, and then came back in 27:30 (the down was a little sketchy today - wet rocks). 

Much to blog about but this move has kept me a bit more offline than usual (which itself is probably not a bad thing)

Sunday, 052608, 72 minutes flat easy

Still moving stuff.  A lot of stuff. 

From the new place, I explored some of the new trails with KZ (she was on her bike while I jogged).  Found some good stuff ... it was pretty warm though (just not used to that yet).  Legs grumbled about the load but that is part of the intent right now.

My goals for the week were to increase the overall training intensity a touch, get in a longer effort to drive greater muscular endurance, and to begin to mentally focus on the what I want to accomplish for the next twelve weeks. 

M - Treadmill,  mixed pace work out including 10 x 2 min on, 1 min off, 90 min total.
T - 75 minutes outdoors, "flat"
W - Green, 70 minutes (a harder effort)
Th - Green, 85 minutes (longer route w/JV and CC)
F - 45 minutes, outdoors "flat"
Sa - 135 minutes, Green and Bear, easy on the pace, longer effort
Su - 72 minutes, easy, outdoors, "flat"

572 minutes on the week (or about 9.5 hours)  Not sure on the mileage but, I'll guess around 55.  Also not sure of the weekly vertical but I'll venture around 10K. 

On whole, it was a good week.  I am getting back into the groove and mentally getting my head around dialing in ... I am not really going to talk about that issue I have ... I'll just deal with it and make the best of it.

Friday 052208, 45 minutes, easy flats

Crazy weather yesterday including a tornado in the area.

Busy with moving stuff, feeling this past week's training, and expecting to go a bit longer tomorrow - kept this at 45 minutes easy, on the flat dirt roads in Erie.

Saturday, 052408, Green & Bear

I wanted to get out for a bit of a longer effort - as I have a concern on general muscular endurance.  In other words, since Pikes is several hours, I need to be used to, well, being mobile for several hours.

Started early out of Chautauqua, up Baseline, then Amp and then Saddle.  Broke off Saddle to take the old NE ridge trail, then popped back onto Greenman.  I was going real easy as my legs did not feel so hot and I knew I had a good deal of work ahead of me in terms of time.  Got to Green summit and just kept moving down to the four way junction, Green Bear, Bear West Ridge ... the West Ridge Trail is one of the most beautiful out there (although there is a section of the NE ridge of Green that is quite epic as well).  You still do some work in this section, but as you have done most of the climbing already, it has a little less bite.  Summitted Bear, sat for a minute or two taking in the sun and then realized that I was going to be tight on the clock on getting back home (more moving to do!).  Dropped down the nasty Fern trail to the Mesa and then back to Chautuaqua.  Whole trip was pretty mellow in terms of effort - and I power hiked some of the steeper sections - so 2:17.  Will look to get out and do this again and perhaps even tag on South Boulder Peak for the extra credit. The effort left my legs hummin' in a positive way - I got what I came for.

Thursday 052208, Green

Various tidbits ...

• Good read on Rickey Gates ...
• Fun video ... if you don't smile a little while watching this you are too stressed.
• Competitive entries for Pikes are starting to get posted.
• Mount Washington entry (lottery) list is up (actually has been for a bit)
• Mount Evans, on the same day (June 21) is also up
• Western States (June 28) while we are at it and ...
• Leadville... uh, no start list.  What gives?
• The pretty kitty is back (check out the video at the end of the post ... think you can run faster than that?)

Was up early and out the door to join Claude and JV for trip up Green.  It was a misty, overcast morning - which was really actually a nice change.  We went up Green via Baseline, Amp, Saddle, Greenman, easy, power hiking portions, hitting the ascent in about 46.  Came down via West Green, Long and Gregory.  Descent was in about 40 (86 RT).  Great morning BS'ing with the guys, have a great run while the hummers buzzed overhead.

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

So I have this line of day dreaming (there is no way I can call this thinking) that goes something like this ...

... magically this hernia will slowly heal...
... And magically, this has been a blessing because it has held me back in my training a bit so that I don't overdo it, and so that I don't peak to early ...
... and yeah, maybe I peaked too early last year ...
... and maybe I will be able to work through this and put all the pieces together so that I have a better weekend at Pikes than I ever have had ...

So that is the day dreaming.  When I have runs like I did today, that dream starts to light more of a fire.  And that is a good thing.

Of course, I need to temper this with a bit of pragmatism.  I think to be the most ready at a race like Pikes, one needs to put together a program that includes (in no particular order I will say)

• Long runs  .. and because the marathon is not the typical marathon, the typical marathon long run is not prescribed here - it is more of the time variety)
• Fast work ... okay, call it speed work if you want or intervals or tempo or whatever.  But if you want to run fast, you need to be familiar with running fast.  There are no lack of ways to accomplish this, but I am convinced there needs to be two types of this work:  On hills and on flats.  There is no lack of debate, discussion, review, etc as to how much of this to do, how much rest to take, how steep to climb, how long to do a tempo, how much to do on flats and how much to do on hills ... And those are great conversations that you ought to have with yourself, your training partners, fellow bloggers, and your coach if you have one.  A key for me here though is that both fast work on flats and hills are necessary.  If you can only do one, do hills.  But I think there is a huge value gained in doing some on the flats as well.
• Altitude work  ... if you can get to runs at altitude, you should.  It is best to emulate the factors you will face on race day in training to some degree.  This work can probably be managed - introduced in the last quarter of the year leading to the race (so, like now).
• Downhill running ... while I don't recommend a lot of hard downhill running, I do think a certain degree of it is necessary.  This teaches skills that you need in mountain races that you won't get on running the cinder paths that are called trails.  It programs your super computer how to process in all the little changes to the race course:   the roots, the rocks, the light.  And sometimes that computer program crashes and so you will.  I find the mantra of "don't fall, don't fall, don't fall" helps me with that.
• All the other little things ... like core work, like eating right, like stretching, like getting on to the course and being familiar with it, like defining a race plan, like managing a solid volume of training through the whole program, like maintaining a good balance in life ...

And so when I look at my training I really only have a few of the elements:  uphill running (including faster uphill running), some downhill running, and all the other little things (well, not all of them).  Altitude work will come along (as the snow melts) but I am lacking the general faster flat work that compliments all this, and I lack the longer runs.  Yeah, for that reason between my navel and my crotch.   

So I am done talking about that reason.  I won't ignore it and I will still pursue its correction, but I am done talking about it since it is really not well spent energy.  It is much more fun to work on the dream side of the ledger anyway.

Live it.

Wednesday 052108, Green Mountain

Various tidbits ...

• The talk of who is going to do what in the marathon is starting over at the PPMB. I need to get back to posting some "tale of the tape" predictive stuff. It is a bit tough to wade through some of that stuff because a lot folks put their time based on their ascent or their best marathon.
• My doc called back and said, "hey - your CT scan looks fine. Nothing abnormal. Guess we should do an MRI." Whatever.
• I had yesterday off from work (well sort of ... off from my office job but moving boxes). It was probably the warmest day we had in the Boulder area all year (so far). I went to pick up the kids at school and was a.) in shorts, b.) in work boots, c.) did not have a shirt on. My daughter comes out, looks at me as I am waiting for her at the car and asks, "Dad, do you see any other Dad's here without their shirt on. You are so embarrassing."
  ... I guess I can cross that one off the list.

Did Green today on a warm afternoon. I did not intend to "tag" it but realized about 2/3 of the way up I was moving fairly well (intermediate splits were 5:10 at Baseline-Amp turn off, 21:30 at rock over look, 37:40 at first step to final climb and 42:50 at the top. On the way down I realized that I'd have a shot at breaking 70 for the first time this year and pressed the gas a touch (although not really stretching it out). 69:10. Might be something in the tank after all.

Tuesday 052008 75 minutes

It was a crazy day today with house moving activities, or more rather preparation for house moving activities.  In other words, signing a bunch of documents that provide a good deal of money to other people.  From the new place, I set out.  This meant running more flats than hills.  The issue with this sort of running is

a.) I have to keep it easy to keep stress on my groin at an acceptable level
b.) hence, I cannot run fast
c.)  I have not done a lot of this running as of late, so generally speaking my muscular endurance for these sort of runs is a bit compromised.  Overcoming this is the very purpose of these sorts of runs - simply build muscular endurance so that I have some degree of staying power over longer distances.

Today it was hot.  Not San Diego hot, but it was definitely the warmest day it has been all year.  It felt good to run bareback, smell the smoldering of my skin (okay, not literally), and to check out a whole network of trails near our new place.  The views are quite epic.  I am going to enjoy a lot of miles out there.  I did 75 minutes.  Felt good and got in good work.

A few comment responses ...

====================================================

Justin M wrote:  Geo, I wish you were healthy and not doubling at Pikes. I think we could have a true road v. trail showdown. You run hills and trails every day. I run around Wash Park, City Park, and Cheesman Park and maybe get on the trails on Sundays. I'm hoping to change gears in time for Pikes, but still, it won't be anything like you do.

Okay Justin, first thing:  consider the throw down on.  Bring your best game.  Loser buys the winner beverage of their choice (but you'll have to wait until post the marathon if you are paying up).

Second (and this is less geared at Justin as much as it is an observation I have made), I have been amazed at how I have been categorized now as a trail runner by road runners.  Trail runners consider me a road runner.  CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? 

Seriously, it is odd how we do this division of runners ... it is all running.   Most of the fastest folks at Pikes or on the trails are also pretty damn fast on the roads (Carpenter is often pointed out for "only" running a 2:18 marathon, but I have heard he also ran a 65 minute half - indicating a pretty strong pedigree there too).  Yeah, there are the exceptions, and yes, we all have things that we are stronger at.  My point:  to do well at a trail race like Pikes, it takes hill work, road work, track work, long runs, altitude acclimation and some stupidity to run out of your head on the down hills.  At this point I am more focused on hills because that is where I can get the most training for my buck - it stresses my aerobic / anaerobic neuromuscular / cardiovascular systems without straining parts of me that get hurt while running on the roads.  I'd love to be complimenting this stuff with road work, but I can't right now - so I am capitalizing with what I can do.

There is, however, a certain romance with guys that are strictly trail taking it to guys that are strictly track and road.  Sets up for that sort of Bob Costas commentary that we will all hear too much of out of China later this summer.

=======================================================

Matt ... Pikes is almost entirely up on the Ascent.  It is 13.x miles with 7800 plus vertical.  There are a few very short sections of down, but you almost dread them ... because it means that you need to go back up!  The marathon, of course is nearly all down on the return trip- because you run from the top back down to town after following the Ascent course.  This has redefined to me what is meant by pain.  See the course description, it has a ridiculous level of detail.  Or, if you are Google Earth ready, check out this fly over.

=========================================================

JV - I have had my ass handed to me by Mackey when he wore a shirt that had one of those "woman in a bikini" paintings air brushed on it.  And I don't think he had anything else on under it.  And seriously, I think he won the Bolder Basic in denim jeans one year.  We could start a whole thing of Mackey like Chuck Norris.

========================================================

Brett - I ain't conceding anything to Lance yet. Unless there is a bike involved.

Short shorts

The Daily Camera had an article on "running fashion" today.  My take:  I have got to wear the split shorts for races.  These are sometimes called short shorts.  They have fallen out of fashion and they flip today's average weekend warrior athlete out, as it exposes a wee bit more leg than they want to see.

There have been the occasions with the mountain races where I have gone with something longer, but that is because those shorts typically can carry more stuff (gels, gloves, hat, etc) that I might need in such an event.   But typically, give me the Euro style side splits.  Running in those soccer style or basketball style (well, 90s and beyond basketball style) shorts that go past the knee, it ain't for me.  I am wearing my shorts because they function well and are comfortable.  I need all the advantage I can get and I don't need to move additional material around on my legs.

I am past the days where I can judge a racer like a book cover and determine if I can beat them based on their short selection (guy with white cotton t shirt that says Bolder Boulder 2007, long shorts and 200 dollar Nikes that are bleach white pure as they have been out of the box 10 minutes -  still ain't beating me - hernia or not)

Yeah, I know that sight of my Lilly white near hairless thighs makes people throw up in their mouth.  That is understandable. But I gave up worrying about that along sometime ago, and at that time also embraced wearing dark wool socks with sandals and shorts while I cut the lawn. 

My wonderful wife still rolls her eyes when I wear my running shorts to the pool though.  She rather that I wear a more traditional bathing suit.  I wear my running shorts because they work and they dry pretty quickly.  I will continue to wear them to the pool until I find a Speedo that I really like.

Monday 051908, CT Scan, Treadmillin'

The day started early, with me at the local hospital getting a CT scan. I hit the in door at 6:30, and was out by 7:00. I have never had one before so I had to get a bit of briefing on how " 0.16 in 1000 people have adverse effects that result in death due to the iodine contrast solution." I also had to hear "you might get a hot feeling, a bad taste in your mouth, or the feeling that you just wet your pants." Thankfully now of that happened, all went well (technologist administering IV for solution: "I could hit your veins with a dart across the room!") and I should have the results within a couple of days.

I was pressed for time in the afternoon, so despite the mountains SCREAMIN' at me to come and play, I went the economical route and ran on the mill at work. Mile at 15% (13:40), then 3 miles at 1.5% at "tempo" ... tempo is pretty slow simply because my legs are not used to this pace. Aerobically, I am functioning fine at these paces, mechanically I am just out of "practice." (7:10, 6:30, 6:06). Then a mile relaxed at 1.5%, then 10 x 2 min on, 1 min off with the odd minutes at 15% and the even minutes at 1.5%. The objective here is to provide different stresses to the system: steep uphills, but then followed by rolling terrain. I then closed off with a few easy miles, the last being at 15% again. 90 minutes total. A decent workout: not super hard but stressed me a bit more than I am used to. Under different circumstances, I'd be concerned that this workout was not hard enough ... almost one of those middle "get lost" workouts, but this stuff is serving as a good transition for me right now.

I confess ... I get crazy ideas at times that even though I have lost a lot of training for this year, I could some how glue it together and have a good race. I browse results, look at entry lists, look at pix from last year and the mind starts racing and the fire rises in the belly ... thinking about workouts I want to do, workouts I ought to do, playing out the race in my head, who I am going to compete against. Reality reminds me of how big that damn hill is and brings me back to earth. Still ... there is a part of me that not thrown the towel in yet.

Various tidbits ...

• JV ran a great race down at Jemez 20k. Unfortunately, he got off course, and that jacked his time and his placing. He is rounding into shape nicely. Now if we can get him to do a bit of "speed" work ... ;-)
• Fellow Fleet Feet-er Justin Mock won the Colfax Marathon and has started a foray into the blog world. Nice work Mock, but shootin' the pistolas at the finish? I don't know about that. Hmm, Justin got pulled off course too. Wonder if there is something in the air with the full moon and all.
• JW won his age group at Xterra West this weekend. Watching the journey that JW has been on ... it has motivated me to put an Xterra event in that list of things I want to do someday, along with Leadville. JW bettered his time over last year by 10 mins. His lady BG ran a damn hot 21k and did awesome. You two - keep rippin' it!

Sunday 051808, Green, Week wrap up

I got out this AM for a jaunt up Green, electing to take the Mesa trail to Bear Canyon.  This route is longer, and hence the grade is not nearly as difficult.  My calves were still a bit fatigued from yesterday's road / flat effort (in a good way) so I went easy on this.  The weather was gorgeous although it was a bit chilly for my tank top & shorts in the shadows of the canyon.  I reached the "lower" four way post in 52, the upper post (at the top of Green Bear trail) in 65 and the top of Green in 70.  I came back down in 32 (as is typical these days).

Week wrap up

M - Flagstaff, 68 min
T - 90 min on the mill
W - 90 min on the mill, mixing speeds and grades
Th- Green - 75 min
F - Flagstaff, 2nd Flatiron - 75 min
Sa - 82 min road running
Su - 102 min, Green

Total time was 582, or ~9.5 hours of training.  On whole it was a decent week.  I will look to continue focus on mostly uphill efforts, mixing in a road run periodically to help with muscular endurance, along with an effort that is longer (time) to ready me for the length of the marathon.  Obviously, I will avoid short faster efforts that strain my groin.  Overall volume will remain around 8-10 hours a week.  My goal is to get as strong as I can on outright uphills, understanding that I will not be able to exploit faster paces at more level stuff - since I cannot effectively train that system right now.

On Friday night I went to the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.  I showed up around 7, so at the end of the day, just expecting to watch the 10K for the women and the men.  When I got there there were about a dozen plus women in a lead pack, 2K into the race, and moving, relatively slow (6min/mi pace).  I was struck at how gorgeous it was out:  the sun setting on the Flatirons, 60 degrees, no breeze to speak of (seriously, the flags on the flagpoles were hugging the poles).  I had come in from the east side and so I wandered over to the north end of the track to enjoy the race.  Standing there was the Iowa State distance coach.  Each time the ladies came around, there were nervous looks between them:  who would go?  when?  how hard?  One ISU runner kept looking at this coach, and with each lap he'd say "not yet," or "relax," or "wait."  Then with about 2 miles to go he said "Ok, press for a few laps."  The race that had been going at 90 second laps for the first two miles, then 84s for the next two was suddenly blown open by the race's eventual winner, who bolted off several laps of 76-77.  She won by over 100 yards, all gained in the last two miles.  It was quite impressive to see. To say that the conditions were idyllic would be an understatement.  There was a freaking rainbow cast over the track as the runners made their way around!

I made my way over the stands for the men's 10k, hooking up with the crew of Fleet Feet-ers.  In this shot: Rickey Gates, Andy Ames (these two guys are probably discussing what races to do in Italy or how they will rip Mount Washington), Dan Sturgis, Jon Peeters, Ryan Padilla, and James Johnson.   There were lots of other folks there too of course - distance events in Boulder always get a good draw.

CU men dominated this race from start to finish ... coming through 5K in 15:10, and just a group of CU guys working together through the race.  Their front pack was as large as four at one point, diminished to three, but they ended up taking the top 5 in about 30:40 - an amazing run at altitude.  Finish of the men's race (again this is cheap video!)

 

Of course, we were thirsty for a beverage after watching guys work that hard ... JJ and Matt Hill are obviously not interested in Ryan's throwing down of the Jackson but find Aaron's tatoo of his dog to be fascinating.

Despite being out late on Friday, we made it up early for the Erie Balloon Launch on Saturday morning.  Here are some shots  ... KZ and JZ watching the filling of a balloon.

 

There were balloons everywhere!

Looking up and into one ... flame on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think there were something like over 60 balloons launched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I spent a good part of the afternoon working on bikes.  I ended up replacing my front wheel on my mountain bike (as the axle was totally trashed, the bearings it were crushed).  With school ending soon for the kids, I am going to start biking to the office more.

Oh yeah - CT scan for the hernia is scheduled tomorrow.  I predict nothing will be found, at which point they will then recommend an MRI.  Then they will find some sort of tear, claim it is not a hernia and recommend long term rest to correct it - or wait to until it "herniates" so they can operate on it.

All that said, I realized on my trip up Green today, I was doing a couple of things that I would have found impossible not too long ago.  Running for 90 minutes?  Running up a mountain?  I take it for granted now - and am pissed that I can't fly up the mountain the way I like.  It was not too long ago that doing these activities would have been out of the realm of imagination - and that is when I was wholly healthy!

Saturday, 051708, 82 min

I was beat tired for most of the day - primarily a function of the late night extracurricular activities and the early rise for the Erie Balloon launch (more on these later in the weekend wrap up).  After a nap in the afternoon I got to what I had been putting off for most of the day:  actual running.  I had thought of sneaking to the hills but did not want to take up half the day away from the family, or haul butt into Boulder.

KZ agreed to ride bike with me while I ran.  I had no expectations of how far I'd go or how I would feel.  It has been a LONG time since I have run on open flats and roads without the excuse of a mountain to hold me back.  I knew I would take it easy, but I was still a bit nervous as to how this would play out. 

It basically felt the same as it did four months ago.  It hurts when I run.  I can bear it, but it has a debilitating effect on my stride, my ability to move well.  OH WELL.  I ran easy, chatting it up with Kali, figuring that if this thing ain't going to get better, I will just deal with it as well as I can. 

I thought we'd go for a half an hour or so before I'd circle back with her but she was enjoying the single tracks and the conversation - and I was loving her company.  One hour and 22 minutes later we found our way home, both a bit dehydrated as we were not expecting that length of effort.  It was real easy running - jogging actually.  My legs were enjoying the warm buzz of being taxed in a way they have not been for several months, but being out there with KZ; shooting the breeze about anything, everything, was the highlight of my day.   I was impressed with how far she went too!