RECAP : Dec 19 - Dec 25

Monday - 12/19/11

Treadmill Climb.
Workout went like this:

10 minute warmup
20 minutes @ 10% grade @ 9:30 pace
10 minute cooldown

After Saturdays 18 miler on pavement I took off Sunday to let the ol' bones rest. I was definitely sore on Sunday, not from the miles (18 miles on 2 GU's actually felt fine), just a hunch, but I think it was the complete lack of stretching before AND after that led to the extra soreness and stiffness in the joints. Anyway, because I was a tad on the stiff side, I cut todays treadmill climb short. My left patella was super tight, as were my hammys. And any extension of my left knee was borderline painful to the touch, but mostly more or less a "stiff" feeling.

1,110'



Tuesday - 12/20/11

Track Workout:

3 x 800 (2:22, 2:25, 2:24)

1 mile warm up followed by 1 mile straights and curves.

Wow, I was totally surprised that I was able to bust out low to mid 2:20's right now. I was planning on keeping them around 2:30 'ish for this time of year, but after my first 800, I figured I would try to push out a couple more a little faster than I had originally planned.

The combination of hill climbs and track sessions every week have been gold!



Wednesday - 12/21/11

Horsetooth Rock Summit.

Starting from the Horsetooth liquor store I jogged to the main TH then ran:

Falls > Rock Trail > South Ridge > Rock Trail > Summit > Rock Trail > South Ridge > TH > back to truck


The trails were a mix of dry dirt and nasty, slippery packed snow (ice!) in the shady areas. I took my time on the climb as I wasnt trying to push very hard..just a nice day out to enjoy the views and fill up the lungs with fresh air. The last 1/4 to the summit was rough, and took over 5 minutes, as it was a complete sheet of ice! Try running up knarly climbs and steep descents on what felt like an ice hockey rink, wearing nothing but a pair of rubber on your soles.....Umm, yeah it was slippery and a SLOW go. The views up top were just great...as always. And the first 1/4 mile on the way back down was even slower than on the way up, as I did everything I could to prevent myself from simply sliding down...and off the trail. Once I got to dry dirt again...all was good and I was on my way.

Total Time : 1hr 16 min
1,500'



Thursday - 12/22/11

Treadmill climb.
Workout went like this:

10 minute warmup
38 minutes @ 10% grade @ 9:30 pace
2 minutes @ 15% grade @ 10 minute pace
5 minute cooldown

Ughhh....wow, this one stung! I was going to run the entire climb at 10% grade but at about 35 minutes in, I decided to crank it to the max for the final 2 minutes of the climb....15% grade! I did slow it down to 10 min pace for this brutal stretch. Even so, it was a lung buster! and my calves were tight from the steep grade. Anyway..super big grunt of a workout. Was glad to sit down and stretch for a bit afterwards.

2,317'



Friday - 12/23/11

Pineridge.

This has to have been the hardest "easy" run I have done in awhile. After a decent 10 inches of snowfall the other night, the trails have been pretty hard to run. Basically, it went something like this: Step into 10 inches of fresh snow, then land and crunch through the old layer of snow/ice mix of an additional several inches, then push off and slip....then repeat for several miles. Yeah, I basically did "high Knees" for 50+ minutes today. Quite the easy day workout.

Total Time: 53:25

Saturday - 12/24/11
OFF



Sunday - 12/25/11
OFF



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Overall, a very quality week of running. Surprisingly so, after my initial post long run soreness from last Saturdays lack of stretching. Speed session was faster than I had planned and had a couple of days of decent vertical. Saturday and Sunday ( and maybe even Monday ) were off days. A little down time, after a solid week of running...is always a great way to recover. And most importantly ....spend time with friends and family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day! A great time of the year to drink some Nog by the fireplace, munch on some truffles...and let the muscles recover and do their thing on these needed recovery days.

Which brings me to another area I have been thinking about. I have come to realize that consistency is a REALLY important tool in becoming more fit and achieving my running goals. And the evidence is in my weekly track workouts and treadmill climbs. Therefore, for my New Years resolution for 2012....I plan to run everyday of the year! Barring injury or illness, of course. And by running, I mean anything over 1 mile of continuous running. So that also includes easy recovery days and pre-race easy jog days. So because of that, it is actually a pretty reasonable goal for the year.
Anyway, I am pretty excited as I am sure that year-round consistency in training is one of the best things an athlete can do to achieve his/her running goals. Here's to 2012!!

Q & A

Over the years I have been asked my many friends and family members questions related to running. Whether it is a question about training, running shoes, workout plans, or what do I eat or drink before or after a race, my thoughts on this or that...etc.

I love it when asked a question regarding anything to do with running, as it not only gives me an opportunity to give some helpful advice, insight...etc. But it also helps me learn new things and allows me to think about things I might not have thought of before, or allows me to see something from someone else's perspective.

Anyway, I have created this little section on my blog to hopefully answer questions about running that you might have for me.

I check my blog just about everyday, so if you post a question here, I will hopefully reply a comment to you soon. And hopefully with a helpful or insightful answer as well!

...So let this place be the platform for any and all running related questions that you have!

RECAP : Dec 12 - Dec 18

Monday - 12/12/11

Treadmill Climb:

10 minute warmup
35 minutes @ 10% grade @ 10 min/pace
10 minute cool down

1,832'

Was busy all day so didn't get a chance to get a run in until late. After dinner and after Eliana went down to sleep. Got to the rec at 9pm to begin this workout. Thankfully they are open until 11:30pm, for these late night runs. I thought I would be tired, running a hard uphill climb at night, but I actually felt pretty solid the whole run. As the winter progresses, I plan to increase these treadmill climbs from 30 minutes or so, to 90 minutes. I strongly believe that running uphill for any substantial continuous amount of time will make you a stronger...more patient runner. Surprisingly, these treadmill climbs are becoming my favorite workout of the winter!



Tuesday - 12/13/11

Track Workout:

1 mile warmup
6 x 200m (31,28,29,30,31,30) - 200m recovery
1 mile cool down

Another run after work...in the dark. It was chilly, about 25 degrees...but nothing like last weeks arctic track workout. Anyway, these winter track workouts are more of an off-season maintenance run. The total volume of these speed sessions that I have recently been doing are fairly short, which is intentional. As long as I keep the wheels spinning once a week this winter it will prevent the cobwebs from growing. And also prevent any chance of burn out or over-training. I plan to increase the volume and intensity of these workouts in the spring time. But for right now...I feel good keeping the volume and intensity on the low end.



Wednesday - 12/14/11

Foothills trails and Centennial Road. Trails were a super sloppy mud pit today. As the snow and ice melt away, the trails become nothing more than a slip-N-slide, muddy mess. Needless to say it was a slow go up the hill behind the stadium....sliding back down several inches with every mud stomping stride. A great overall workout, but not very efficient....and mostly more frustrating than anything. So once I got to solid ground up on Centennial I decided to avoid the slippery downhill on the way back down, and instead ran the road. On the way back down Centennial I turned right at the Stop sign, heading up the long grinding hill for an extra few hundred feet of vertical before turning around and heading back down to the Maxwell TH.

In summary:
Maxwell TH > Foothills Trail > Centennial road > Maxwell TH

45 minutes



Thursday - 12/15/11

Treadmill Climb:

5 minute warmup
38 minutes @ 10% grade @ 9:30 min/pace
2 minutes @ 10% grade @ 8:00 min/pace
5 minute cool down

2,236'

My first treadmill climb reaching 40 minutes, and over 2,200 vertical ft. Also my first treadmill climb workout running at 9:30 pace, instead of 10 min/pace. I felt great on this run, despite upping both the time and pace when compared to my previous treadmill runs. A true testament that these uphill treadmill climbs are working. After running 38 minutes at 9:30 pace, the last 2 minutes I cranked up to 8 flat pace @ 10% grade...a lung burner! 30 minutes in, and I felt good. About a month ago, 30 minutes in and I felt like falling flat on my face. A sure sign of cardiovascular improvement.



Friday - 12/16/11

An easy night run throughout the neighborhood. Earlier in the week I got a message from my buddy steve (yes Steve likes bacon). Anyway, I got a message from him asking me if I would like to join him for his long run on Saturday morning. He is training for a marathon that takes place in mid-February. Since I havent really ran long in awhile, it sounded like a great idea. Plus having some friendly company along the way is always a plus. So with all this in mind, I decided to take Friday easy and just jog a few miles....to be rested for a longer run in the morning.

28 minutes



Saturday - 12/17/11

Long run with Steve. I met Steve at his house at 6:30am. It was dark. It was cold (15 degrees), and I was tired. I got to bed late last night (12:30am) and woke up for Eliana at 3am for a random night feeding. So yes...I was....sleepy. But I was also pretty excited to be running for a few hours as well. Steve wanted the pace to be slow, roughly 8:45 pace, and basically just jog and have a conversation while we run. Nothing hard or tempo like. So with an UD hand held and a few GU's...we were off and running.

The workout went a little something like this:

Starting from Steve's house (near Taft and Harmony), we ran on Harmony west, up the hill to Centennial. Turned onto Centennial Road then ran down to the Maxwell TH and ran to Overland. Took Overland North to Elizabeth and took Elizabeth East to Shields. Turned North on Shields to Mountain Avenue, then took Mountain Avenue East to Mason. Took Mason South and eventually hopped onto College all the way South to the intersection of South College and Spring Creek trail. Ran on Spring Creek trail all the way West to the dog park on Horsetooth. Turned South onto Taft, and back to Steve's house.

Total time : 2 hours 33 minutes ..... 18 miles even.

The first 50 minutes were in the dark. Then the sun rose and temperatures rose to a balmy 25 degrees for the rest of the morning run.



Sunday - 12/18/11

OFF



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The long run on Saturday morning felt great. It felt good to get in a longer run for a change. On a racing note, I am considering registering for my first 100 mile trail race. Which has a Quad busting 22,000 vertical ft! And also a local 50 mile trail race. Which also has a nice 11,000 vertical ft over 50 miles! I will update in a few weeks if I decide to go through with registering.

RECAP : Dec 5 - Dec 11

Monday - 12/05/11

Treadmill Climb:

10 min warmup
30 minutes @ 10 % grade @ 10 min pace
5 minutes @ 10 % grade @ 8:30 min pace
5 min cool down

1,910'

This is becoming a staple of my winter workouts. Eventually I plan to get to 60-90 minutes of uphill running on the treadmill, by late spring. It is hard to get in a continuous climb for anything lasting an hour or longer in the area. Once the summer rolls around Rocky Mountain National Park offers some nice trail options if you are looking to get in a decent climb...but thats a ways out from now.



Tuesday - 12/06/11

Track Workout:

Ok, so it was 11 degrees outside after work and getting dark, and the first 3 lanes of the track had an ice/snow crusted slickness to them. Despite these conditions, I still wanted to try and stick somewhat to the schedule as this is my "track workout" day of the week. Although I was at the track, this workout was by far the "easiest" track workout I have ever done, due to the frigid temps and iced over track. It went like this:

1 mile warmup (laughable in 11 degrees)
20 minutes of straights and curves. (Basically striding out on the back stretch and home stretch, and a simple jog on the turns. Ran in lane 4)
1 mile cooldown (I was already a frozen popsicle..but hey, its an extra mile in the books)

...then hopped in my truck and proceeded to defrost.



Wednesday - 12/07/11

Horsetooth Mtn Park. With the consideration of running the chubby cheeks 50k this upcoming weekend I wanted to check out the trails, since most of the trails lately have been pretty sloppy. And by sloppy I mean packed snow and ice, knee deep trenches, slip and slide mud pits...and the occasional "dry spots". Seeing the trail conditions of a section of the race course one last time would either make or break my decision to run 30+ miles on Saturday.

Workout went like this:

Horsetooth Liquor store > Main TH > Rock trail > Soderberg > Spring Creek > falls > TH > back to truck

50 minutes

After running the trails, I decided to opt out of the chubby cheeks 50k for Saturday. The trails, for the most part, were runnable. Icy in parts and 2-3 foot snow drifts here and there, with the occasional dry patch. But I really wanted to run this one hard and open it up on dry terrain, not on crusty packed snow/ice mix. Nice to jog on. Not nice to race on.



Thursday - 12/08/11

Maxwell TH > foothills trail. easy 33:30
Ran up the hill behind the stadium and then turned around when I got to the road. Ran in the dark on the way back with a flashlight in hand. Trails were packed snow in most areas and cold, 20 degrees.



Friday - 12/09/11

OFF - deep down I was still undecided about the 50k on Saturday, so took the day off in case I changed my mind last minute. I wanted to be rested for the 4-6 hours of running that might be on Saturday.


Saturday - 12/10/11

At 6am as I sat in my warm cozy bedroom I stared at the nicely folded pile of running attire I layed out for myself the night before, which was stacked alongside a pile of GU's and my hand held UD water bottles. Contemplating the idea of running 4-5+ hours in the snowy mountains....then with a "sigh", I rolled over and went back to sleep.

That night however, I figured out how make 25,000 people disappear. Run through campus at night the weekend before finals! Not a peep in sight.
At 8pm I ran from our house to campus via the mason street path, then ran a lap around the oval and cut across campus to Moby and back down Shields to Horsetooth > back home.
Cold and dark. 25 degrees.

1 hour even (well...1 hr 40 seconds to be exact)



Sunday - 12/11/11

Pineridge. Starting from the dog park I ran a lap around Pineridge. Rolling snow covered trails are fun to run on. Not easy, but fun.
An easy day of jogging in the snow...44:24

A few pics of Pineridge trails covered in the snow:

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A good week of running. Its been cold and icy/snowy everywhere as of late which made the track workout feel like I was running laps in my freezer. But the treadill climbs have been a good consistant hard effort each week.
I am looking forward to the 2.5 weeks off work during Christmas and New Years.
Time to relax, reflect upon on the year, look ahead into 2012, and of course...get in a few quality runs!

RECAP : Nov 28 - Dec 4

Monday - 11/28/11

Lunch : Horsetooth Mtn Park, 1hr 16 mins. Parked at the Horsetooth liquor store and jogged the mile or so to the trailhead. Then ran: Horsetooth rock trail > South Ridge > Audra Culver > back down Horsetooth Rock trail > Soderberg > Spring Creek > falls > to TH > down the road to truck.
Felt great on this run! Ran most of it at a moderate pace. The last mile from the falls I pushed hard as I was wanting to break an hour for the TH to TH loop. I jogged to the trailhead (TH) in an easy 9 minutes then got to Audra Culver in 26 min flat (17 mins from TH). The footing on the trails were great and the weather was warm. I actually overdressed and had to shed a layer of clothes on the way up, and picked them back up on the way back down. Just after reaching the falls I looked down at my watch and realized I was at 55 minutes on the clock (not including the 9 minute jog to the TH), and decided to open it up a bit and try to hit the sub hour mark. Got to the trailhead in 59:48 :-)
I think I can go even faster as I wasnt really running hard until the last bit, felt great throughout the run. One of those days that I wish today was race day. Felt like I could run all day and still feel good. Why cant more days feel like this? lol
then jogged easy 8 minutes or so back down to truck.
total time 1:16



Tuesday - 11/29/11

Lunch : Track workout - 4 x 800 (2:32 - 2:28 - 2:29 - 2:27) .
Another strong day. Fastest 800's I have ran in awhile. Legs felt strong and quick. Eventually I want to get these down to sub 2:20's, but I'll take it since it was only my 3rd or 4th track workout since May. Ran these with 200m recovery and a 1 mile warm up and 1/2 mile cooldown, followed by walking 80 yards back to my office ;-)



Wednesday - 11/30/11

Lunch : Foothills trail - 47:49. Starting from the Maxwell TH, I ran up the hill and then at the "Y" fork I turned right (North) and ran that all the way down to shoreline. Hopped on that and ran back South and eventually back down behind the stadium to the trailhead. Make it 3 days in a row of feeling great. I think I am finally getting my legs under me. From the trailhead to the top of the hill (there is a small sign there), about 100 yards before the "Y" fork, I like to check my split here. And clipped out a 12 min flat time, which is a PR split for me. I wasnt trying to get a PR, but I was just feeling so good on the hill...felt like I was running on the flats.



Thursday - 12/01/11

Lunch : Treadmill climb.
10 minutes warmup
30 minutes @ 10% grade @ 10 min/mi pace
2 minutes @ 10% grade @ 8 min/mi pace
5 min cooldown

1,611 ft vertical

Another solid workout. I am beginning to see the results of running these treadmill climbs on a consistent basis. The more I run them, the easier the uphill resistance feels. I enjoy pushing the last few minutes of these workouts hard, by either uping the pace, the grade...or both! What I like most about these treadmill climbs is that it is a constant motion...a relentless pace that forces me to keep me at an honest pace and doesnt allow for me to slow down. I run on a Woodway treadmill at the Rec and these tredmills are nice and are designed for runners. Would be nice to have one of these in the garage!

Haile running on a Woodway treadmill



Friday - 12/02/11

PM : Pineridge - 38:22. Ran in knee to upper shin deep snow for this "easy" run after work. With soo much snow covering the trails it was hard to make out exacly where the trail that I was trying to run on, actually was. And for the most part I am pretty sure I was off the trail the majority of the run, which made it difficult. Tripping and stepping on rocks that are buried under snow is never fun. Thankfuly this was a short run, but even so I still took 2 spills. Nothing major, as I wasnt running fast enough and I landed in a pillow of soft powder each time. I actually stepped right off a small footbridge and dropped down like 2 feet on one step, as I couldnt see where the bridge ended and the ground began.
Anyway, finished in the dark with a flash light in hand. Cold front coming and the snow and ice will be lingering for awhile.



Saturday - 12/03/11

AM : Treadmill Climb.
10 minute warmup
25 minutes @ 10% grade @ 10 min/mi pace
5 minutes @ 10% grade @ 8:30 pace
10 minute cooldown

1,624 ft vertical

Wasnt planning on running on the treadmill this morning, but all the snow on the trails threw out any chance of a decent workout on the hills. So I decided to head to the warmth of the Rec and grunted out a good climb. Felt nice running this on a Saturday morning and not having the feeling of being rushed having to get back to the office. So I took my time and stretched and even did some core stuff afterwords.



Sunday : 12/04/11

OFF

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This last week I felt great on every run. I have been really feeling the benefits of the treadmill and track workouts. I feel stronger and faster with each one. We finally got a battery for our truck (after an anonymous person at our church donated $80 to our family. A kind and generous act that is appeciated beyond words. Thank you!). Since I now have my truck back in action, I was able to get out to the trails a few times and that felt GREAT! after a month of jogging to and from work each day on sidewalks and streets...it felt great to be running in the mountains again.

As far as workouts each week, I have decided that:

Monday and Thursday - will be treadmill climbs or hill repeats on the trails(weather permitting)

Tuesday - track workout

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - will consist of either easy long runs on the trails or treadmill...or OFF days.


....the weather forcast for the next week or so is cold. its actually 6 degrees outside as I write this. it feels good to be seeing and feeling the results from consistent weekly workouts.

Still not sure what races for 2012 I will be doing. Alot depends on the the ratio between the entry fee cost and the money in my wallet ;-)

RECAP : Nov 21 - Nov 27

Monday - 11/21/11

Lunch. Treadmill climb.
5 minutes warmup
30 minutes @ 10 min/mi pace @ 12% grade
5 minute cooldown

This one was tough. Legs were starting to feel the burn the last few minutes of this workout. I think 10 min pace at 12% grade, for any extended period of time, seems to be my current red-lining zone. Would have had a longer warmup and cooldown, but had to get back to the office. I hope to extend these uphill treadmill climbs to somewhere in the 60-90 minute range by the spring.

PM - easy 40 minutes jogging from work to home. Via spring creek trail and local backroads.


Tuesday - 11/22/11
PM - easy 45 minutes. Ran home from work. Took mason street path and a few backstreets.

Wednesday - 11/23/11

OFF

Thursday - 11/24/11
OFF

Friday - 11/25/11
Easy 1 hr 20 minutes in the afternoon. Local roads.

Saturday - 11/26/11
OFF

Sunday - 11/27/11

Easy 50 minutes in the afternoon. Ran to dogpark and then onto spring creek trail and back home.

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On the running front this past week was fairly easy and for the most part, uneventful. I didnt get to the track this week because I thought I might be running the Thanksgiving day 4-miler, as my speed day. However, it wasnt until the night before when I decided to skip it. Trying to run a race, prep food in the kitchen for Thanksgiving dinner later in the day, and get all of Eliana's stuff packed and ready to get down to Denver by noonish.....would have have been logistically near impossible. Especially with one car in the household. Thanksgiving is at our place next year, so next year I will be entered and racing on Thanksgiving morning! :-)

The treadmill climb workouts have been the highlight of my runs, surprisingly. As I am not a fan of running on a treadmill, cranking up the grade, lowering my shoulders and grunting out a decent "climb" is always a great feeling. I think 12% grade at 10 min/mi pace is near the top end of my fitness right now.....at least for anything lasting 30 minutes or longer. I have been feeling the improved strength and cardio benefits of my last couple of workouts on the track and on these treadmill climbs, in my legs lately. Legs have been feeling strong and quick.

Planning to get the new car battery this week (payday!) and so a trip or two to Horsetooth Mtn Park is in the works for this upcoming week. As is a track workout and perhaps a run or two at Pineridge or foothills trails. I have missed running on the dirt this past month.

Feels good to be getting back in shape and feeling strong on these climbs and track workouts. Looking forward to getting back on the trails this week.

Eliana'a birthday was on Tuesday, and we had a little gathering for her to celebrate her 1st birthday! :-)

Enjoying some birthday cake! :-)

RECAP : Nov 14 - Nov 20

Monday - 11/14/11

Lunch - Treadmill climb. 30 minute climb at 10% grade, with varying pace. 1,514 vert.

10 minute easy warmup
10 minutes @ 12 min/mi @ 10% grade
18 minutes @ 10 min/mi @ 10% grade
2 minutes @ 8:30 min/mi @ 10% grade
10 minute easy cooldown

First time on the treadmill for a workout and I actually enjoyed it. I felt good and it felt great to run uphill for an extended period of time. Could have gone longer, but had to get back to the office. Felt strong and comfortable. I plan to make this a weekly workout (maybe even twice a week) during the winter months (Dec - March). 30 minutes of climbing felt good for my first treadmill workout. Although 60-90 minutes of continuous uphill running is what I am aiming for later this winter. (once or twice a week).

PM - 21 minutes. easy. Ran home after work via the mason street path.


Tuesday - 11/15/11
AM - 22 minutes. Easy run into work. via mason street path.
PM - 55 minutes. easy. Ran home from work via the spring creek trail > dog park > horsetooth and back home. Last few miles were in the dark.


Wednesday - 11/16/11
PM - 53 minutes. Same as yesterday. Ran home from work . Campus > Spring creek path > dog park > horsetooth and back home. another easy run in the dark after work.

Thursday - 11/17/11
AM - 21 minutes, jog to work. Via mason street path.
PM - 19 minutes, jog back home after work on mason path. Easy day of jogging to and from work.


Friday - 11/18/11
OFF


Saturday - 11/19/11
Track Workout
Woke up at 6am and jogged the 3 miles to the track from our house via the spring creek path. To my surprise, we got about 2 inches of snow on the ground that night! And the temps were in the low 20's. So I jogged to the track and of course it was covered in about 1-2 inches of snow. I was hoping that the snow, for whatever reason, would not be sticking to the track.....but it was. After my 3 mile warmup jog I ran 2 x 800, 1 x 400 and 1 mile of striders. Ran the repeats hard, yet at a comfortable pace. Then an easy 3 mile jog back home as a cool down.
I would have thrown in a few more 800's but the track was fairly slippery and with each step I took, I could feel my feet slipping (which was frustratingly annoying). I was running in my road racing flats, not my track spikes. So the effort it took me to run my repeats was much more difficult than the actual times appear. I figure equivalent times on a dry morning would be at least 3-4 seconds per 400m faster than this wet and snowy morning at the track.

Anyways, I ran:
2x800m (2:37, 2:38), 1x400m (1:12)....and 4 laps of jogging the turns and striding out the straights.


Sunday - 11/20/11
OFF

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This past week it felt really good to get on the treadmill and get in some nice uphill running for a welcomed change. I am not a fan of the tredmill, but I suppose it does have its advantages during the winter months when getting to the mountains are not an option. continuous uphill climbs are great workouts to increase your overall strength and endurance. Running uphill for anymore than 30 minutes straight means heading to RMNP, but in the winter thats not an option, as snow covers the trails up in the high country during the winter months. Which makes the treadmill a handy tool in the winter if you are looking to get in some vertical.
Getting to the track more often has also been a perk in my running these past few weeks. Even if one of the workouts was altered because of the snow, it still was well worth it. Improving my leg turnover during these track workouts this winter is something I feel will help improve my downhill trail running come next summer.
My truck is still out of commission and have been running to and from work a few days a week. Not sure when it will get fixed, maybe in the next week or two...whenever payday gets here.

Saturday we celebrated Eliana's 1 year birthday! Her birthday is officially on the 22nd but we had Family and friends came over on Saturday. We had about 20 people in attendance to celebrate Eliana's big day. She ate cake and ice cream, played with her new toys, got lots of hugs and kisses and judging from the smile on her face throughout the day...I think she enjoyed every minute of it! :-)

Eliana the ultra crawler!

Look what I found!

Simply delicious!

Eliana enjoying her new puzzle!

Happy 1st birthday to our beautiful little Princess!

RECAP : Nov 7 - Nov 13

Monday - 11/07/11
40 minutes. easy. Ran in the evening around town. felt good.

Tuesday - 11/08/11
AM - 22 minutes. easy jog into work via mason street corridor pathway. Wore camelbak.

PM - 45 minutes. Ran home from work. Ran along spring creek trail to horsetooth dog park... back home.

Wednesday - 11/09/11
50 minutes. Ran at night after dinner. I havent been on the trails in awhile since my truck has been offline, and since some of the trails have been closed anyway. So I decided to run from my house down to Pineridge to check out the trail conditions, and run back. Trails Still closed. Legs had some good spring in them and the full moon, no breeze, cold and quiet evening out on Pineridge where you could here a pin drop.....was really cool.

Thursday - 11/10/11
Noon - I had some spare time at lunch and since the weather was nice and I had my track flats with me in my office, I decided to walk the 50 yards to the track from my office door, and get in a short workout. I havent done any speed on the track since May or June. So I had no idea what to expect. After a 1 mile warmup I ran 2 x 800 and then another mile cooldown. A very short workout, but a great way to kill some time during lunch break.
Ran 2:30 and 2:33. I wanted to run these repeats at a hard, yet comfortable pace. I didnt look or record any splits, just the start and the finish. Overall, I am pleased, as I thought I was running in the low to mid 2:40's for both of them. I plan to make it to the track for a workout once a week during the winter. ...rain, sleet, snow....etc! :-)

PM - 22 minutes. Easy jog home after work via the mason street corridor.

Friday - 11/11/11
40 minutes. Another run home after work. easy.

Saturday- 11/12/11
OFF

Sunday- 11/13/11
OFF

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I am finally starting to get into more of a groove as far as getting in certain runs during the week. The track workout this past week was nice. Felt good to open it up a bit and still feel fresh. Next week I plan to do another speed day at the track, as well as a hill climb on the treadmill.
I still havent done anything long, for over an hour, in quiet some time. And this is something I definetly want to make more a priority at some point. I desperately need to get a new pair of shoes, as the shoes I am currently running in hurt my feet if I run in them for anything too long. I have even cycled in my racing flats for some runs, just to make what I got last longer. Thats part of the reason why I havent gone long in a while. Not having a truck to get to the mountains, and just not finding the time...are the other reasons.

I might run the 4 mile thanksgiving day run in town. Its a great race if you want to go out in 5 flat for the first mile and not be in the top 20! Competition is pretty studly to say the least. And the temperature will be around 15...maybe 20 degrees for the start! fun times!
I should have a few more speed days at the track (and hill climbs) prior to thanksgiving day. I have no idea what sorta time I will put up if I decide to run it...but I do know that I will give it everything I have.

Elianas 1st birthday is only a week or so away (the 22nd). Wow! I have been going through pictures of her these past few days of when she was really little, and its just something I do from time to time as it always puts a smile on my face and gets me in a good mood. :-)
Andrea is making a chocolate fudge and banana cream cake for her birthday party. Fresh bananas, whip cream, fudge....I cant wait! lol

RECAP : Oct 31 - Nov 6

Monday - 10/31/11
45 minutes. Easy.
Ran in the evening around town at an easy pace. Local trails (outside of blue sky/ Horsetooth) still closed for muddy conditions.
My truck broke this past weekend, so all running will be most likely on the road this week, as getting around with one vehicle will have to suffice for the time being.

Tuesday - 11/01/11
AM- 24 minutes. Easy. Jogged to work via the mason street pathway. Wore my lightweight camel pak carrying a change of clothes for the office.

PM- 1hr 10 minutes. Easy. Ran home after work. Took the long way home via the spring creek trail to horsetooth dog park and then hopped on Horsetooth Rd and east back home.

Wednesday - 11/02/11
AM- 22 minutes. Easy. cold 12 degrees, icy and foggy! Jogged to work via mason street pathway. I think my eyes froze on this morning jog to work...super cold in the AM! We got a few inches of snow last night, but the paths are clear. So made it great for an easy jog into work. Wore camelbak again.

PM- 55 minutes. Similar to yesterdays route except I got off the spring creek trail at Drake and took some back roads home. Slighter shorter route. chilly. 30 degrees.

Thursday - 11/03/11
AM- 19:30. Easy jog into work. Icy patches all over mason street path made it an interesting easy jog into work.

PM- 45 minutes. Basically ran through several backstreets and took a long out-of-the-way route. After several days of pounding on cement I was ready to run on some "softer" asphalt for a change.

Friday - 11/04/11
35 minutes. Easy running around the neighborhood.

Saturday- 11/05/11
OFF- Spent the day and evening down in Denver visiting family.

Sunday - 11/06/11
OFF- Busy day. Plus Eliana wasnt feeling that well so we made it a "stay inside" kinda afternoon. We did visit friends in the evening who was gracious enough to invite us over their place and made us a delicious spaghetti dinner! Yum!

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Overall, another blah week of running.
Truck is still out of commission and until I can get my hands on an extra $75 for a new battery it will most likely stay that way for a bit. Running to and from work isnt my favorite workout in the world, but it gets me up and moving early, so I guess thats good.
With only one car right now, I havent had any time to check out any of the local trail conditions. But hopefully I can hit the trails again soon, this pavement stuff isnt my favorite.
Also, and probably the biggest disappoinment this past week, is that I will most likely not be running in Leadville 100. A race I have looked forward to running for about 2 years now, is gonna have to wait...(sigh)

Right now, with one car out of commission, and another badly needing a new pair of winter tires (they are slicks!), the list of priorities on spending $290 (tax included) for a race is unfortunetly near the bottom (err...at the bottom).
The race will fill up quickly, so even if I win the lotto in the next few weeks, most likely it will be too late.

One alternative I am thinking of running, is the Pikes Peak Marathon. I have never ran it. And it is around, if not the same, weekend as Leadville. I have run the Ascent in 2009 and the Barr trail race several times. But the marathon might be an option for me, and is another race I have been wanting to do. And it is less than half the cost of Leadville, I believe.

Until we get both cars working again, running will be more of a "whenever I can" sorta thing. So planning specific workouts right now might be a challenge.

This I do know, I plan to run: 1 long run (3-4+ hours), 1 hill day (repeats or long climbs via Towers or treadmill), and 1 speed day (track), per week as a minimum, as my staple for winter training. Just not sure which days of the week they will be until I can get around again with my truck.

Pretty bummed about Leadville, kinda stinks that races are soo dang expensive...the entry fee alone weeds out those who have a fat stash of cash lying around and those who, well, dont. Makes me wonder how many other runners opt out of a race, who could be a contender, just because of the entry fee. its a shame, really.

RECAP : Oct 24 - Oct 30

10-24-2011
Mon - 45 mins
Pineridge. Easy

10-25-2011
Tues - 50 mins
Foothills Trail. Easy

10-25-2011
Wed - 40 mins
Pineridge. First snow of the year. About 8 inches in town. Felt great to run on the soft powdery trails. TONS of tree limbs broken off everywhere. Cold, 30 degrees.

10-26-2011
Thurs - 30 mins
Pineridge. Another easy snowy day. Temps got down to about 12 degrees at night. Snow wont last long as the temps will get back up into the 50's this weekend. Making it a muddy slop fest on the dirt.

10-27-2011
Fri - OFF
All the trails in town were closed off due to muddy trail conditions. I am sure blue sky and HT is open but didnt have the time for the drive over there after work. bummer.

10-28-2011
Sat - OFF
Same as yesterday. Another busy day and had no time at all to get out for a run. Andrea had a girls evening and so Eliana and Daddy had a fun time eating dinner and watching some cartoons together :-)

10-29-2011
Sun - 53 mins
With the trails still being closed and muddied up, I hit the road for an out an back run. Starting from the dog park on HT I ran Overland to the drive in theater, turned west and ran up the long grinding hill at the end, turned left at the stop sign (onto centennial) and ran to the top of the hill. Turned around and ran back down the same way. Definetely felt the pounding of the hard road on my shins and ankle. Actually as I am writing this, my right ankle is actually pretty tender/painful at times. Not sure what is up with that.

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Another easy week. Im not a fan of taking consecutive days off, but thats just how some weeks go I guess.

Some pictures from my run on Wednesday :

Pineridge looking South from Maxwell TH

downed trees...

....more downed trees....

...even more downed trees (seeing a pattern here yet?)

yup, another downed tree

my favorite pic of the morning!

The weather has cleared up but the forecast is calling for another 6-9 inches of white powder starting this Tuesday night through Wednesday. Should be (hopefully) a fun time out on the trails! Hopefully I can find time to make a trip or two to HT Mtn later this week.

Still working on my winter base training schedule. Hopefully I will have it completed later this week.

Just found out Leadville 100 costs $275. Ouch! there goes my lunch/eating out/dinner/entertainment... money for the month. Simply ridiculous fees!
Guess I will get by with eating Ramen and cheerios the next 4 weeks. I think I seriously need to think about getting a second job or something. These race entry fees are just killing the wallet.

Also on a side note: my truck broke. (maybe the battery...not quite sure) Havent had time to get it looked at yet. But looks like I will be making the 20 minute jog to and from work this week. Just Super!

RECAP : Oct 17 - Oct 23

10-17-2011
Mon - Off

10-18-2011
Tues - 55 mins
Pineridge + Foothills trail. Super windy afternoon. Easy effort after the last 2 days off, but that head wind was brutal. 40-50mph gusts!

10-19-2011
Wed - 45 mins
Pineridge. Easy. Legs felt good.

10-20-2011
Thurs - 50 mins
Foothills trail. Ran the ups hard. easy on the downs and flats.

10-21-2011
Fri - 1:20
Horsetooth Mtn Park. easy. Felt great. took several photos along the way. felt strong on the climbs. Parked at the Horsetooth liquor store parking lot and ran the mile to the TH. (no parking pass)
Falls > Spring Creek > Soderberg > Horsetooth rock > South Ridge > Horsetooth Rock > falls > 1 mile back down to truck.

10-22-2011
Sat - Off

10-23-2011
Sun - 35 mins
Troutman Park. Easy. Ran a few miles, on the grass..in the dark..at 9pm, throughout troutman park + 10 striders X 100m each (roughly).

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Overall another fairly easy week of running. I am enjoying this easy downtime as I know heavier traininig is just around the corner.

Saturday was super busy and we spent most of the day down in Denver visiting family and didnt get home until about 9:30 pm. Too exhausted to get out for a run that night. And Sunday was also busy (Tebow time!), but managed to squeeze in a short scamper through the park by our house at about 9pm. Striders on grass felt good for a change.

Still havent ran at the track yet or run anything super long....but that will slowly come into the picture starting in November.
I plan to slowly pick up the mileage and include some speed stuff Starting the beginning of November, in preparation for a long base building winter season.

Not sure what was the cause of my stomach issues last week, but whatever it was..it is gone.
Still looking ahead at the racing calendar for 2012, and besides Leadville, Im not sure what other races to register for. Since it is my first true go at the ultra stuff, I dont have any prequalifying times to get into several races that require a standard for entry. Perhaps in 2013, I will have a few ultras under my belt and can use those times for entry qualification.

But for 2012, I do have some local (in colorado or wyoming) options to choose from. Plan to start seeing what race options are out there starting in November. Hopefully 1-2 100 milers and 2-3 50 milers for 2012 (with a handful of local 5k and 10k stuff here and there)
....we'll see.

A few pics from Horsetooth Mtn on Friday:

Rocky trail heading over to the falls

looking back down on the falls trail and valley, just before the falls.

Intersection of Spring Creek trail and top of Horsetooth Falls trail

Heading up the trail towards Horsetooth Rock

...more steps on the way up!

Looking South from South Ridge trail

Looking East towards Fort Collins and the Reservoir from South Ridge

RECAP : (10/17 - 10/23) Total Time : 4hrs 5mins

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On a side note, Eliana turned 11 months old this past week!

Eliana playing with Daddy in the grass

Andrea has been working hard on her birthday invites. Its amazing how fast time goes by! Looking forward to watching Eliana dig into her slice of cake on Nov 22! ;-)

Eliana having a super fun time with Daddy!

RECAP : Oct 10 - Oct 16

10-10-2011
Mon - 47 min
Pineridge. easy

10-11-2011
Tues - 33 min
Foothills. easy

10-12-2011
Wed - 36 min
Pineridge. easy

10-13-2011
Thurs - OFF

10-14-2011
Fri - 50 min
Pineridge + Foothills. easy. I was feeling some spring in the legs and decided to give the 1 mile section along the west most trail at pineridge a little push. Rattled out a 6:12 mile on the rolling up and down stuff running South to North on the trail. Not all out by any means, but it felt good to up the tempo a bit and let some fresh air fill up the lungs.

10-15-2011
Sat - 1:08
Horsetooth park. Ran with Steve. Originally was planning on running: Inlet Bay > Soderberg TH > Shoreline > South Valley > Mill Creek > Towers > back to truck...
However, The combination of taking a wrong turn and having digestive issues right from the go (had to drop trou' 3 times!)..ugh! we decided to cut it short and basically turned around at the Arthurs Rock parking lot and came back the same way.

10-16-2011
Sun - OFF

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Another easy maintenance week by my standards. My legs are feeling fresh and strong and have barely broken into a sweat during most of my runs during the week. I dont know what it was, but for about 3 days last week my digestive system was not feeling it. Which is why I decided to take off on Sunday. The run on Saturday morning was cut short because of this. I was really looking forward to the climb up Mill Creek, as I wanted to give this section a solid push. But that wasnt going to happen based on how I was feeling. Planning on running this route sometime in the near future though for sure.

Registration for the Leadville 100 opens up in a few short weeks and I am amped about getting my name on the entrant list. Once my name is officially on the list.....let the training begin!

It will be hard to slack off this winter knowing that I will be putting myself through 100 miles of quad busting and lung burning pain.. all above 10,000 ft come next August. And I cannot wait!

In the meantime, I havent done speed work in months (literally since June I believe). I think I will be throwing in random fartlek workouts this winter on the trails, as well hitting the track on occasion. It just feels good to run fast sometimes! Also getting in some quality long runs with a good amount of vertical is something I plan to do once a week as the winter season approaches.

Another easy week of running is planned for this next week. Hopefully without any stomach issues.

Cooler weather is finally here, and it feels great to be running in the cool refreshing air that is Colorado right now. The crackling of multi colored leaves under my feet as I run down the trail is pure bliss
:-)

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RECAP (10/10-10/16) - Total Time : 3 hrs 54 mins

RECAP : Oct 3 - Oct 09

10-03-2011
Mon - 43 mins
Pineridge. Easy running. Really enjoy the west trail along Pineridge. tacked on the little extra climb near the west parking lot. A small climb that ends at the bench overlooking a nice view of Pineridge.

10-04-2011
Tues - 1:02
Horsetooth. Inlet Bay > Towers > Stout > Spring Creek > Falls > back down to truck. Felt great to run on different trails for a change. Always a fun time on Horsetooth Mtn.

10-05-2011
Wed - 45 mins
Foothills Trail. Easy running along foothills trail starting from Maxwell trailhead.

10-06-2011
Thurs - OFF

10-07-2011
Fri - 1:05
Foothills Trail + Pineridge. Easy.

10-08-2011
Sat - OFF

10-09-2011
Sun - OFF


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Overall a very easy week of running. I decided on the nay for Silent Trails 10 miler. A part of me wanted to run it and a part of me wanted to have a relaxing morning with the family. I decided on the latter. Which was probably a good idea as the weather in Fort Collins Saturday morning was in the upper 30's and raining. Which meant the the weather in Laramie was probably colder and maybe even snowing, and perhaps windy!
Coffee, fireplace, Sweat pants and TV sounded much more appealing at the time.

I actually wasnt planning on taking the weekend off, but decided to anyway. This is an odd time of the year in regards to running and training for me. I am not really training for anything at the moment. I might run one or two races later this fall and winter, but nothing major. Nothing I would consider actually training for. More like "hop in" races just to keep the wheels moving.

Looking into the future I know that next spring and summer I hope to be training like an animal with the hopes of finishing my first 50 and 100 mile mountain ultras. And with that being the focus I need to make sure I maintain a certain level of fitness this winter, without burning out or feeling the need to take time off just as I am about to ramp up the training next spring. I hope to feel fresh and ready to bring it next summer. So with that being said I think a good plan of attack will be for me to maintain my fitness this winter without overdoing it. Which means lots of easy and off days mixed with some longer days and perhaps a handfull of times at the track for some shorter up tempo stuff. Nothing brutal, just enough to keep my endurance and speed in check during these winter months.


The weather forecast has this week in the 60's, and this morning my truck was covered in ice for the first time this year. Hopefully a sure sign that cooler weather is here to stay.
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RECAP (10/03-10/09) - Total Time : 3hrs 30 minutes

RECAP: Sept 26 - Oct 2

09-26-2011
Mon- 45mins
Pineridge. easy run thoughout pineridge trails.

09-27-2011
Tues - 1:10
Foothills + Pineridge loop. Moderate pace. felt good.

09-28-2011
Wed - 40mins
Pineridge. Easy running. Was planning on a speed session at the track but had no time throughout the day to make it happen.

09-29-2011
Thurs - 45mins
Foothills Trail. easy. Woke up late so no run in the morning.

09-30-2011
Fri - 45mins
Pineridge. easy. Same as yesterday.

10-01-2011
Sat - 1:30
Pineridge + Foothills Trail. Woke up late. Ran fairly hard overall. Was planning to run 3 hours this morning but cut it in half due to a late start getting out of bed in the morning. felt good. Had a fresh pair of knobs.

10-02-2011
Sun - 35mins
Ran throughout a few neighborhoods pushing Eliana in the baby jogger while Andrea rode along side on her bike. First official run with the jogger and felt good. A few slight adjustments to breathing, arm movements, and focusing on the cracks in the pavement and debris in front me than I normally do when running. But overall it was fun! We might make this a weekly family routine.

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Last week was a super busy week at work. On the running front I didnt get a chance to run at the track (despite my office being about 70 yards from the homestretch), and at least 3 times I attempted to get up early before work, but was simply too exhausted and chose the extra 90 minutes of rest instead.

Saturdays run was intended to go for about 3 hours, but instead of getting up at 5:30am, as planned, I woke at 8am instead. Having family plans later that morning I opted to cut it in half, but still managed to get in a quality run.
I guess my body was just telling me to rest, and when my body speaks to me, I generally listen. I felt really fresh and well rested, throughout the week and weekend. A nice perk to having an easy week of training.

I am not sure about running the silent trails 10 miler this upcoming weekend. I may, I may not.

The weather lately has been brutal. low 90's! Ugh! Where is the cool, 55 degree overcast Autumn weather? Looking forward to cooler temps for sure.

I am hoping I have more time this week for some longer runs. Work has been busy, and I didnt have the time to run anything else besides Pineridge or Foothills trail. But hopefully it will die down soon and free up some time so that I can get in a few runs out in Horsetooth Mtn Park, Blue Sky...etc

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RECAP (09/03-09/11) - Total Time : 5hrs 1 minute
RECAP (09/12-09/18) - Total Time : 7hrs 22 minutes
RECAP (09/19-09/25) - Total Time : 5hrs 44 minutes
RECAP (09/26-10/02) - Total Time : 6hrs 10 minutes

September Total Time - 24 hrs 18 minutes

RECAP : Sept 19 - Sept 25

Last week was mostly centered around the Sombrero trail race. Which didnt go exactly as I had hoped on the rough downhill sections. My ankle doesnt hurt, it just doesnt respond the way I would have liked on the tech downhills. I know that over time this will go away, and I need to focus on the bigger picture. The winter is approaching and I am not planning on running many races this winter, so I have all that time to simply enjoy the trails and let my ankle get back to normal over the course of the fall/winter months. And then I can look forward to the 2012 spring and summer, which for me, will hopefully include a few trail ultras.(something that I have been eagerly anticipating)

This next week I might head over to the track for a quality speed session, and get some zing back into the legs. Thinking about running the Silent trails 10 miler in a couple of weeks and I am hoping to get in some quality leg turnover sessions from now until the race. (if I decide to run it) I would also like to get in a handfull of long runs in the next week or two as well.

The remainder of 2011 fall/winter will be focused on slowly building up my endurance in preparation for a handful of ultras next year, including Leadville 100 next august, which will be my main focus race in 2012.



Weather has been warm of late (mid 80's to upper 80's) ugh! ...I am hoping the Autumn weather returns soon.

Total Time : 5hrs 44 minutes

Sombrero Trail Race

Course Profile

Have you ever had a dream where you are running as fast as you can, and still you go nowhere?....well, more on this later.

Woke up early on Saturday and felt pretty good, somewhat nervous, but overall good. The weather was great, got some good rest...a perfect morning.
Myself, Andrea and Eliana headed out the door together for the 1 hour scenic drive up to Estes Park. I had only heard about this race a few weeks prior and it sounded interesting. I figure it wasn't too long of a race, but had some good climbs, was fairly local and great mountain views! It sounded like a good "feeler" race to really test out the progression of not only coming off an ankle injury, but also to test out my nearly 5 weeks of sedentary time as a couch potato...the entire month of August, and a tad in early September.


Arriving an hour early left me plenty of time to register, warmup and go over the race in my head a few more times. To my surprise, even getting there an hour early we had to park 1/2 mile from the start, as the road was crammed with parked cars all along the shoulder of the road and people walking and jogging back down to the registration table. A packed house!


After registering, clipping my timing chip to my shoe, and pinning on my race number I had a solid 30 minutes before the start. I took this time to jog the first part of the course up to the first climb of the day....ever so cleverly named, Piss Hill.
I sucked down a tangerine flavored GU and jogged back down to the start. With 10 minutes to go, I stripped down to my racing get-up, and hung out at the start line until it was time to race. The weather was great, low 60's, clear sky, and no breeze.

With a couple of minutes to go before the start, the race director had some last minute updates and noteworthy suggestions on the course. One being that he said that there were over 1,000 little flags all along the course to help prevent runners from going off course. This was a true testament to the hard work and preparation that the RD, volunteers and staff had made for us runners. I am thankful.

Toeing the line:
I toed the line and didn't really know what to expect, both from me and from the course itself. The race went off and a surge of runners took off, myself included. The first (and only) flat part of the course is the first 300m, before turning up Piss Hill. The first mile of the course is singletrack rolling stuff, nothing too technical (YET!), with loose sandy dirt as the main part of the trail. I actually ran most of the climb up Piss Hill just off the trail, bushwacking it, as the ground here was hard and packed. Got to the first mile in the top 10, about 20-30 seconds behind the leaders. At this point we were all running in a single file line up the mile long hill with about 2 or 3 strides separating each runner. Clear view of the leaders, not feeling over worked, legs and lungs feeling good....time to make my move and work up the line of runners ahead...(or so I thought!)

leading up to the first mile, a rare smooth section of trail

mile 1

Shortly after the first mile, the trail gets very technical in sections, which felt fine on the flats and the climbs, but it was pretty clear right off the bat that my ankle was no where near to being able to "drop the hammer" on these fast moving descents. By the time I got to mile 2 I was somewhere between 10-15 place. I lost track after awhile. Every technical downhill (launching 3 feet off a rock, landing on a large tree root, and instantly launching off that and landing on a awkward diagonal slab of rock and then launch back onto the loose gravely rock trail), left me losing valuable ground on the runners in front of me. There must have been over a dozen sections of the trail that I slowed up because the technicality of the descending trail. That, combined with a semi bum ankle, had me moving over off the trail to let runners pass on by (I was obviously holding up the stream of runners behind me, as I was getting passed in groups of 4-5 runners at a time). Generally speaking I can keep my position on the downs and actually enjoy the technical stuff, split second decisions...etc, but my ankle was not having it. I tried on a few occasions to surge and "let go" on these sections, but I just didn't feel like my ankle was responding like I would have needed it to in order to make up ground.

Then as soon as we reached the bottom of the descents the trail generally went back up (aside from a few "flat" sections here and there), and it was during these uphill climbs and on the rolling stuff that I was able to almost instantly motor on by the runners who just passed me on the downs.

Honestly, miles 2-4 were really a blur, I don't remember much aside from trying as hard as I could to make up time on the climbs because I was loosing so much ground on every downhill section.

I would then proceed to catch back up, pass some runners and then get smoked on the next down by the same runners I just passed on the climb. This yo-yo and back and forth running was pretty much how the rest of the race went.

I crossed the line in 41 flat. I was hoping for a sub 35 performance, but that wasn't going to happen while poking along down the descents. I am not sure what place I came in...top 25? top 20 maybe? During the last 1.5 miles, once I realized I was at least 6 minutes off of my predicted pace, I put it on cruise control and just tried not to crash and burn on the rocky steep downs, and took in whatever views I could manage during the micro-seconds I had to lift my eyes off the trail ahead.
The after race grub was great!

Eliana enjoying some post race grub!

mountain peaks in the distance

I wasn't the only one who was spent!

Hopefully I will be back next year...injury free.

I took some things away from this race. I got some things to work on, but overall felt like I gave it the best I could considering how my ankle was feeling. The course was more technical than anything I have ran on in the last few months since my injury. I felt great on the climbs and that was encouraging, on that front.

Total Time : 41 minutes + 20 minutes of Warm up

Thursday : 35 minutes easy on Pineridge
Friday : 30 minutes easy on Pineridge
Sunday PM: 35 minutes easy around town in the evening. asphalt action!

Foothills Trail (9/21)

Today's run started out at the Maxwell trailhead, just South of the CSU football stadium. With a race a few days out, I wanted to make this my last hard effort of the week.

I basically ran a controlled tempo, "30 minutes out, 30 minutes back". However the second half of my hard runs are usually slightly faster than the first half, as I try to push a negative split in my hard runs in hopes of training my body to push harder and run faster during the latter stages of a race when I am generally more fatigued.

I ran the climbs and the downs hard, and easy on the flats. More specifically, I wanted to run the ups as hard and efficient as I could without redlining, and run the downs focusing on my footwork and putting more "trust" in my ankle.

I felt great on the climbs and pretty good on the downs. I still have slight hesitation on some of the more technical fast descending sections of the trail. I think this is more a mental thing, that will eventually go away with time...and more downhill running.

Anyway, felt good overall.

Up next...2 days of easy running, followed by the Sombrero trail race!

Total Time : 58:25 (30 minutes out, 28:25 back)

Pineridge (9/20)

The day after running a couple of short hard hill repeats up towers, my legs felt surprisingly fresh. I think the hard effort on Monday removed any cobwebs in my legs. Out with the old, in with the good!

Tuesdays run was a short, easy recovery day....one lap around Pineridge starting from the dog park.

This week I am focusing on short hard efforts mixed with easy short recovery days. And so far, this plan is working out great. I am feeling strong when running, and fresh when I am done.


...The weather is cooling off a bit and it feels great! Nothing like a crisp Autumn day out on the trails.


Total Time : 40 minutes

Stout to Loggers Repeats (9/19)

With an upcoming short (4.5mi) trail race next weekend, my goal for this week is to put in some quality up tempo runs and/or hard hill repeats, in place of longer slower runs. The race is fairly short, and will require climbing strength, speed (relatively speaking), and a fresh pair of legs.

I started my run at the Blue Sky trailhead and ran to towers road, ran up towers, and stopped at the intersection of Stout. The jog takes about 22 minutes. Running the first steep section of towers on the way to the Stout intersection can put a nice sting in the legs. After a short stretch I started my first of two hill repeats.

Running on towers from Stout to the Loggers trail intersection is about 0.45 miles with ~250 ft of vertical gain! (according to mapmyrun) I hope to get a watch with an altimeter sometime this fall/winter.

Ran the first lung busting repeat in 3:57, turned around and jogged back down to Stout and proceeded to run my second repeat in 3:52. When run hard, this workout will leave your lungs burning and your quads on fire. Sure signs of a great run!

After a brief pause after my second repeat to get my legs back under me, I continued on and took the turn onto Loggers > Sawmill > Nomad > Inlet Bay > Blue sky trailhead...and back to my truck.

A great hard push up a difficult section of towers is just what I needed. And the rocky run back down Loggers and Sawmill and onto Nomad was a nice way to finish.

Hill Repeats: stout to loggers (~0.45mi / ~250 vertical ft)

First - 3:57
Second - 3:52

Total Time : 1hr 25 minutes

RECAP - 09/12 - 09/18

Felt good this past week. Ankle appears to be strong and I can hardly notice any weakness since the sprain. I was able to get in a few quality hard runs this week, and felt strong and healthy overall. Despite a few sloppy muddy days I was able to increase the total volume of my training from last week to this week.

My goal for week 2 was to increase my total volume from week 1, which worked out well.
However, with my first race since mid summer coming up next weekend, I am probably going to increase the intensity of my workouts this week (tempo runs and hill repeats....etc), race specific runs.... and decrease my overall volume in hopes of having fresh legs on race day.

Enjoying the cooler autumn weather.

Saturday (9/17)- got off to a late start in the morning and had a TON of yard work (uprooting and removing several bushes from our yard), later in the day. But managed to squeeze in a Blue Sky trail run for 1hr 8 minutes.


Total Time : 7 hrs 22 minutes