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.
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