Weekly Miles 3/22 - 3/28

Okay, so I broke a promise, but I swear I didn't mean to! I honestly thought that this week ended in April, but I was off by a week... So My promise not to touch 50 miles until April was not to be held. Regardless, I feel that it was OK because I only increased my miles from last week by 3 miles, so not like I'm jumping into crazy high milage or anything. Here's the week in full:

Mon- Easy 7.25m @ Wash Park x2 in 1:01:59 for a cruisy simple 8:33/m pace

Tue- Same as Mon 7.25m in 53:04, picked up the pace for about 5 miles to do a short tempo and was feeling good 7:19 total average, with tempo miles around 6:55/m

Wed- 7m @ work on the dreadmill, about a foot to 14 inches of new snowy slop had me on the mill but I mixed it up to have some fun with about 1000' of climbing in 1.5 miles (climb pace @ 10:00/m some at 10% some at 15% grade) if my math on gradient is correct which it's probably not. Also threw in some intervals at about 6:30/m pace just because I was indoors... 8:22 average

Thu- 7.5m @ WPx2 with a little more, good even pacing in the sloppy melting snow 56:14 time for 7:30/m

Fri- 4m @ the burbs... Just around the neighborhood but got caught in a nasty streak of sideways sleet and was frozen by the time I got home. 30:45 for 7:41/m average.

Sat- Off day, sick, played some Basketball with the little man on his new hoop!

Sun- 18m @ HCT with Gunner, good solid splits slightly negative with 8:35 out 8:30ish back for 8:32 average; total time 2:33:30. Positive run, felt pretty easy the whole time, which is good. I mean it's flat so it really doesn't have any telling on mountain racing, but the endurance is starting to come around a bit which is nice. I've only really been back to "training" for a month, but I felt like I could nail that same run much faster so that's a good start for Lean Horse at least. Next week I'm hoping to add the long run in the mountains, so probably much slower, but I've still got a lot of time to build before my real season starts in late May early June.

Total miles: 51m (6:54:06) of solid running. My legs feel infinitely better than last week's long run, probably from the dirt instead of pavement. Now with temps expected to near 80* this week we should be set for a nice trip around the trails this weekend!

Weekly Miles 3/15 - 3/21

Another positive week. Feeling like I'm regaining some fitness.

Mon- 5m @ Wash Park loop, moderate 7:53 pace. Felt good, good rhythm.

Tue- 7m @ THE TRACK! South High, ran into Adam Feerst of DTR/Run Uphill Racing doing 30 400's for his birthday. Fun stuff. I did 10 400's (what a wuss!) at 1:29, 1:29, 1:28, 1:29, 1:28, 1:28, 1:26, 1:31, 1:27, 1:27, 1:26, 1:21. This was my first legit speedwork in about a year. Felt pretty good actually, probably could have done more, but a good start.

Wed- 6m @ Runner's Roost, Nice St. Patty's fun run. Took Xavier and ran with super impressive currently pregnant Bridgette who was pushing her daughter Sarah (the Jogging Stroller is a good way to meet other parents). Nice pace for the stroller 7:50/m and had a lot of fun. The best part was the creamy pint of Guinness afterwards! These will be a bit more of a staple, though I've promised myself and Leila I'll make it out for one of the DTR evening trail runs.

Thu- 5m @WP loop, slow, horrible energy, almost fell asleep. It was late and I had been up doing homework, probably should have skipped the workout, but I did feel a little better at the end.

Fri- Off, unplanned but stuff just kept coming up and I never had a chance to get out, conditions were terrible so I'm not sure it would have done much good with a foot of wet snow on the roads.

Sat- 10m @ WP CC Trail out and back to the Civic Center marker. Good pace 7:58/m. Would have preferred the trail but the 14-22 inches of snow kept me away. Save my time away from family for a more exciting adventure, like a CRUD run, I'm just about back in that shape!

Sun- 16m @ Harvard Gulch, Platte River Trail, 19th, Cherry Creek Trail, WP and home. Shouldn't have run as far or as fast yesterday, but I made it through. 8:25/m which was the plan, but it was harder than I expected. This run made me realize why I hate running on pavement. My legs took a beating, but the day was gorgeous. Shirtless running is the greatest thing ever.

Total: 49 miles. Good base starting to come around. Next week should be similar, bit longer long run.

A better look at goals for 2010

My initial posting was sort of an afterthought,"I think my two main goals are to focus on speed/turnover, and hitting consistent splits."

Now that I have a better idea of how the year will pan out I'll better address some goals I have.

1) Speed/Turnover

Specifically I want to improve in two areas. Short speed and long speed. I want to go under 19 minutes (at least, preferably somewhere closer to 18 mins) in the 5K. To do this I'll be adding a real speed session to my Tuesday running slot, starting today. I'll be able to get some better pointers and advise once the Runner's Roost Race Team track workouts (Tuesday's at South High) gets rolling. Secondly, I want to go under 4:30:00 in the 50K and I think if I am diligent I can run under 4:15:00. To get here I'm going to do some long tempo runs slightly faster than marathon pace, these will be in the 13-20 mile range.

2) Consistent Splits

This is more of an overarching goal that I'm getting better at. Ryan Hall is quoted saying, "run the mile you're in." That's what I intend to do by having a plan for every run and developing more consistent mile splits. I've done a better job of this already this year. Obviously this won't be a major sticking point when on trail due to elevation gains and technicality, but I do run a majority of my runs on fairly even terrain.

3) Strength

I have a number of plans for this, but it includes hitting the weight room (something I've been reluctant to do thusfar) with a modified plan from what Duncan Callahan has been up to. Also, I'm hoping to add some peak bagging of Mt. Falcon a bit later on once the ascent clears up a bit. This would be from the Morrison lot to the West lot and is a solid 2000'+ of gain, but I need to find a good time to fit this in, and it might be a Thursday night adventure after the park is technically "closed"...

Race Wise, I have some goals as well.

4/25 Cherry Creek Sneak 5K-----------------PR, hopefully go under 19:00

5/29 Sageburner 25K -------------------------Run around 2:05ish (not really sure yet) Win age group

6/19 Big Horn 50K ----------------------------Run under 4:45:00 (hard to say on a new course, technical downhill is good for me though)

7/17 North Fork 50K --------------------------Run under 4:45:00 (again hard to say, but I'll have the opportunity to get out on the course prior)

8/14 G-Town to Idaho Springs Half ----------Finish strong (my first half marry)

8/28 Lean Horse 50K --------------------------Go well under the soft course record, under 4:30:00 and really try to get under 4:15:00, and win (soft field 2nd year event with a fast course)

9/18 Steamboat 50 -----------------------------Take a minimum hour off my time from '09 Hopefully go under 9:00:00

*10/16 12 Hours of Boulder---------------------Still not sure on this, but 71 miles sounds right 78 would be a stretch goal

I'm also going to try to take in as much knowledge as I can from other runners. There is a lot I don't know and I'm hoping to just continue learning as I go. Last year was really insightful and I'm starving for more...

Weekly Miles 3/8 - 3/14

A positive week for my training, feeling like I'm in a good spot considering I'm only a month out of injury:

Mon - Off (a promised day off after last Saturday's shenanigans)

Tue - 7m @ DU/Harvard Gulch/Wash Park loop. No watch but it was an easy effort, probably near 8:45's and felt like I could let 'em rip but held back. Really noticed the 2 rest days.

Wed - 5m @ Wash Park loop. No watch and a moderate pace, feeling good.

Thu- 5m @ Wash Park loop. Went 3-2-1-2-3 slower to faster to slower, 7:40/m avg with the apex mile at 6:50. Felt good, not a big effort.

Fri- 8m @ Wash Park/Harvard Gulch/DU loop starting in the park after playing with the little man. No watch but guessing 8:00/m ish.

Sat- 5m @ Mt. Falcon

Sun- 14m @ HCT 8:18/avg. A bit longer and faster than intended but I felt really good, slight rain/snow mix with a subtle wind but the cooler temps were perfect running weather. My Go-Lite Ether wind jacket was a perfect choice along with my Go-Lite visor and Pearl Izumi shorts and REI tech long underwear. Never was cold or hot, just right! One of my goals this year was to run more even splits and I got a good start today, a few outliers were one 8:30 and one 7:57 mile but otherwise I was right on the button at 8:18. I had originally planned on running 8:30's and 13 miles but I felt to good to quit at the turnaround at 6.5 so I gave myself an extra mile. I'm feeling good now actually with minimal soreness. The only bummer was that I got a gross blister between my big toe and pointer toe on my left foot, weird place to get one, but it was wet out so my feet were damp. I'll be sure to run in some Injinji's for the next few days to see if that helps.

Total Weekly Miles: 44m

Feeling stronger and more fit now, and this is a good start for me considering my layoff. I'll still back off the distance and only take a shot at 50 miles in September at Steamboat. Otherwise, I've decided not to run the Bear Chase Race even though it's in my backyard because I'd WAY rather go back to Steamboat and the two races are just too close together. BUT, I think in my run towards 100 next year, I'm going to perhaps give a run at the 12 hours of Boulder to log at least 100K (I think I can do a minimum of 71 miles, but it's hard to tell when it's further than you've done before, I think I'd take a shot at 78 and try to hold onto the pace as long as I can).

Hope your week was good as well.

An "easy" run

So I promised myself an easy run today, but I also wanted to get into the Mountains, and I needed to be back home early so I could hang out with the little man. So I decided to run at Mt. Falcon (Green seemed just not right this morning) because I knew the open exposed ridges would be free of snow. The only difficult thing about doing an easy run at Mt. Falcon is that there is so much vertical. About 2500' gain over the five miles I'd run, so I did what I'd been meaning to do and brought out my camera to take some breaks! Camera fartleking I'd say. Was able to keep it slow, well the trail did that too... about 10 minute miles... Here's some of the photos!

A brief intermission to see a man about a horse...

Gotta go down to go up!

Frozen Mud

Westerly View

Going up!

Looking Southwest

Now I'm off to spend some time with these two!

Weekly Miles 3/1 - 3/7

Whew! A mentally challenging but fun week.

Recap:

Mon- 5m @ Wash Park, no watch, feeling stiff and took it easy.

Tue- 5m @ Wash Park, progressive miles from 8:00 - 7:00/m felt easy/moderate

Wed- 7m @ Wash Park/DU/Harvard Gulch loop mile warm and cool 5@ 7:20 felt good

Thu- Planned to go out, but just didn't work out. Wasn't feeling great so it was probably a good thing

Fri- 8m @ HCT, slow out 8:40/m and felt terrible, sped it up to chase down a guy in the distance and was 7:12/m in, felt better as I sped up

Sat- 10.5 @ Lumpy Ridge Loop in Estes Park. Gunner and I decided to try out a trail in hopes the snow had sufficiently melted...HA! We started out on the trail with southern exposure from the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead. Actually the trail for the first mile was OK, slushy but not horrid. This section (first 2 miles) were straight savage primal climbing, and could be a great way to teach someone on the joys of altitude headaches. Near the top there was a great 50 yard ice rink that I had some trouble on, and Gunner pretty much dominated me for the last .5 mile up and was sitting up at the summit (actually a frozen pool)taking my picture. Seriously, that was as good as our efforts got as almost the entirety of the rest of the way was postholing... As I speak my shins are horridly sore and scabby :) Sat in the hot tub for a long time and it was probably not a good idea, but it felt great.

Sun- Off

Total: 35.5 miles

Well, Sunday I felt horrible and took the day off. The LRL run with Gunner was the hardest (and slowest) 10 miles I've ever run and I felt it. My knees were stiff and my left ankle and shin were screaming so I promised my body I'd give it 2 days off. I'd meant to hit 40 miles again, but I'm not worried, I'm glad I'm running again. I feel pretty good today and it was hard for me to not run, but I did it. I'll ice tonight again, and wake up with the good fortune of running. Runner's Roost Team meeting is Thursday, should be fun!