3 x Centennial Hill Repeats ( 3:20, 3:25, 3:22 ) + 50 minutes
Parked my truck at Pineridge west lot and ran up to the "Y". Then proceeded to run 3 up and down grunters on Centennial hill. Legs felt good...lungs were burning.
Some of the trails in town are closed due to muddy conditions, and the ones that are open are a mix of slop and a snow packed ankle twisting crunch. so after my last repeat instead of hopping on the trails I ran an additional 50 minutes on Centennial road. Out and Back.
--- Tuesday - 02/13/12 ---
Track Workout
3 x 1 mile (5:17, 5:19, 5:16) - 2 lap recovery + 30 minutes in PM
1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.
Felt great running this pace. Nothing blazing, just wanted to keep them under 5:20. Hard effort without red-lining.
Ran an additional 30 minutes around the neighborhood after dark. Nice and easy.
--- Wednesday - 02/14/12 ---
Pineridge - 38 minutes
Starting from Maxwell TH, I ran one loop around Pineridege. Trail conditions were sketch, with hard icy crunch in most spots and random patches of muddy slop in others. Easy pace..slow going.
Good easy recovery day.
--- Thursday - 02/15/12 ---
3 x Centennial Hill (monster hill) repeats (3:22, 3:26, 3:20) + 20 minutes
Ran up to monster hill on Centennial from Pineridge west lot and ran 3 hard lung burning hill repeats. Similar to Mondays workout only on a different hill. Legs have been feeling strong on these hill climbs which is encouraging.
Ran an easy 20 minutes as a cool down afterwards.
--- Friday - 02/16/12 ---
Spoke with my Mom before work and informed me that my Dad had another "mild" stroke earlier in the week and was at a rehab hospital in Loveland. After speaking with my Dad during lunch break I planned on meeting him at his rehab hospital after he ate dinner.
So right after work I squeaked in a short 30 minute trot around town. Then grabbed some dinner and spent an hour or two with my Dad.
Andrea, Eli and myself had planned on going down to Denver to visit bro in law for his birthday on Saturday, but after talking with my Mom in the morning I decided to stay here and visit my Dad, while the girls spent the night in Denver.
After visiting my Dad I got home only to realize that I had accidentally locked myself out of the house. After my run earlier I forgot to put my key back onto my key ring. Well Dang it!!
Locked out - temps in the low 20's - and just not feeling like dealing with this right now.
After making a few calls to friends in case I needed a place to crash for the night I decided to make one more attempt in breaking into my own home as a last ditch effort before calling it a night. And without going into it....I managed to get into our home with minimal damage :-)
After a long day at work, spending time with my Dad, and getting locked out of the house it was now 10:30pm and as much as I wanted to crash....I needed a short run to unwind and relax before I hit the sack. So I headed out for an easy 36 minute scamper around town at 10:40pm...in the cold.
total time on the day : 66 minutes
--- Saturday - 02/17/12 ---
20 minutes.
I had wanted to get up early but slept through my alarm. Woke up at 10:15am and missed my chance to get in a long 2-3 hour run for the day. I had made plans to meet my Dad for lunch today. So I was only able to squeeze in a short 20 minute jog around the neighborhood before heading down to spend a couple of quality hours with my Dad. After time with my Dad I headed straight down to Denver for my Bro in laws birthday. Got home late.
--- Sunday - 02/18/12 ---
Horsetooth Mountain Park - 1hr 53 mins
After a couple of days of sketch running....it felt good to get in a nice trail run today up in the mountains. Temps were in the mid 30's, overcast. The trail conditions were a mix of packed crunchy snow, slippery mudd, and patches of dry dirt. Mostly packed, ankle twisting, icy snow.
Workout went like this:
Horsetooth liquor store > Main TH > Falls > Spring Creek > Towers > Westridge > Wathan > Spring Creek > Soderberg > South Ridge > Main Th > Liquor store
I didnt bring any food or water with today and so I was pretty thirsty when I got back to my truck. The first hour I sorta felt "off", maybe too many things on my mind with my Dad and all...not sure. But after the first hour I found a nice groove and felt great the rest of the way.
Would have ran longer if I had time, food and liquids....but a nice solid run nonetheless.
Got a nice courtesy honk and wave from Nick as he drove by as I was just about back to my truck.
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Off the topic of running but I have some things to say:
Obviously the health of my Dad is something that has overshadowed this past week. He is okay, depending on what your definition of okay is. Heart disease and strokes are something that run in the family and actually is one of the main factors in why I run in the first place.
Besides my competitive nature and the fact that I simply love to run and compete and push myself beyond what I think I am capable of, it is the lifestyle choice in running, that I choose to help prevent such diseases from invading my body. Its why I studied Sports Medicine, its why I do what I do.
My personal decision to get my arse off the couch and do something productive on a daily basis to strengthen my heart and body .....without lame excuses, is something I choose to do. We all have a choice..make yours count!
This is my Dad's 6th "mild" stroke. Which is something that I will never understand. A stroke is a stroke, there is no middle ground. There is no such thing as a "mild" stroke, just like there is no such thing as a "mild" gun shot wound. Just call it how it is.
For the better part of my adult life (since high school), I have been told how "crazy" I am or that I am a "health nut"..or whatever, for running everyday in the wind, rain, cold, hot, snow, mudd.....Basically, if I have air in my lungs and functional legs, I am running.
However I find it as I am growing older that it is these same people who sat around calling me crazy for my dedication and sacrifice of being physically fit through running, that are having all these physical ailments: high cholesterol, dangerous no carb diet side affects, popping pills, back issues, eye trouble, weight gain.....basically falling apart one limb at a time. And it will only get worse with time if nothing is done to correct it.
This topic is something that sits deep within my heart and I take it serious.
So who is really the crazy one? The remedy is simple folks, and I have said it for years....get up, get out, and get moving! Once again, its your choice....make it count. Your body is a temple, treat it like one.
...Okay back to running and more lighter things.
Last weeks mile repeats felt great and the sub 5:20 goal felt spot on. I do plan to increase the volume of my track workouts in the upcoming weeks, which will last through the summer and fall months.
Still pretty stoked about the Quad Rock 50 in mid-May. I sure hope we get some snow melt on the trails soon, as this crunchy snow trudge and mudd is getting old really quick.
Here is hoping for warmer weather and a full and speedy recovery for Dad!
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