OFF -- Super busy day. Could have gone out at about 10pm, but decided to call it a day.
What better way to start off the first week of a taper than by having a day off!
--- Tuesday - 04/24/12 ---
Horsetooth Mountain Park - 65 minutes
Workout went like this:
Horsetooth liquor store > Main TH > Falls > Spring Creek > Herrington > up Rock Trail to South Ridge junction > down South Ridge > Main TH > down the hill to truck.
Felt great today. Strong. Weather was warm and overcast. Dark storm clouds moved in and provided great shade throughout the run.
--- Wednesday - 04/25/12 ---
Foothills Trail (short loop) + 1/2 lap @ Pineridge - 47 minutes
Easy running today starting from Maxwell TH.
--- Thursday - 04/26/12 ---
Foothills Trail (short loop) + 2 laps @ Pineridge - 1 hour 36 minutes
Same as yesterday, only I tacked on 2 full laps at Pineridge after running the short loop on the Foothills Trail. Started from Maxwell TH.
--- Friday - 04/27/12 ---
Pineridge - 32 minutes
Easy jog pace around Pineridge starting from Maxwell TH. Windy day! 25 mph winds...ugh!
Just wanted to get out for a few easy miles in prep for tomorrows semi-long tempo run up at Horsetooth Mountain Park.
--- Saturday - 04/28/12 ---
Horsetooth Mountain Park - 2 hours 26 minutes
Today was a very interesting day of running. My original plan was to get to the trailhead by 6:45am and take off running. However, I woke up early to the sound of what I thought was our house getting blown over by a tornado. Well, it wasn't actually THAT bad, but trees were blowing all around in what appeared to be a relentless wind. I checked my phone and the temperature was 38 degrees with sustained winds of 25mph with gusts over 50mph!
Now, I am somewhat stubborn when it comes to canceling or post-poning a workout due to inclimate weather. And so I drove all the way out to the Horsetooth liquor store and arrived at 6:30am. I then proceeded to sit in my truck for the next 15 minutes talking myself into and out of running at least 10 times. (like the scene in Ferris Buellers day off). I even walked around my truck a couple of times to get a better feel for the wind chill in my shorts and t-shirt.
As my parked truck swayed in the gusty winds every few seconds, I finally decided to go home and take a stab at running later in the afternoon --- hopefully in warmer and less windy conditions.
Drove home, cleaned the house a bit, woke up Eli, ate breakfast and played with Eli until it was time for her nap......then headed out the door for my run....again.
By this time it was 1pm, temps were in the lower 60's and wind was 5-10 mph. Perfect.
Workout Went Like This:
Horsetooth liquor store > Main TH > Falls > Spring Creek > up Herrington > down Towers > Stout to Sawmill > Sawmill to Valley > Valley to Mill Creek junction > up Mill Creek to Towers > down Spring Creek > Falls > main TH > Horsetooth liquor store.
I wanted to use this run as somewhat of a semi-long tempo run in place of a super long jog....errr run.
The 10 minute warm-up jog to the trailhead was nothing more than a jog. Then I proceeded to pick up the pace and slide into a comfortable, yet up tempo effort. (all splits below are from the trailhead, not including the warmup jog up to the trailhead --- and include stopping for 2-5 seconds for each photo taken throughout the run).
Ran down to the falls and hit the Herrington / Spring Creek junction in 22 minutes flat. Then after running up Herrington, down Towers, onto Stout, Down Sawmill, into the valley trail, I hit the Mill Creek link/ Valley trail junction in 61 minutes even. Ran the 3.5 mile climb up Saw Mill and tagged the bench on Towers in 1:37 (36 minute split up Mill Creek). Ran down Spring Creek and got to the 2 hour mark about 1/4 mile after the falls junction. Continued the up tempo pace on the Falls Trail and got back to the trail head in 2:06 in change.
Then easy cooldown jog back to my truck down the hill.
Overall a solid run. I could have bombed the descent on Towers and Spring Creek, but decided to pull back the reigns a tad on those sections. The run up Saw Mill was good, I felt strong...and looking back could have probably pushed it harder on some sections of the climb.
The rest of the run was good. A solid tempo run -- not race effort, but it felt nice to get the wheels spinning.
Trails were packed, especially on the Falls trail.
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| Falls Trail |
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| Technical section on Spring Creek Trail |
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| Spring Creek Trail - much smoother. |
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| Valley Trail looking North |
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| One of the dozen or more technical sections up Mill Creek. |
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| Mill Creek |
Time: trailhead to trailhead - 2:06
Total Time : 2:26
--- Sunday - 04/29/12 ---
OFF -- After yesterdays solid semi-long tempo run effot up at Horsetooth I decided to take the day off. I usually would have ran today, but I really want to be more purposeful and intent on focusing on my taper the final 2-3 weeks leading up to the race. Taking the easy days, EASY....or OFF completely. 3 words of the week: easy, easy, easy (repeat).
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With my first 50 mile mountain Ultra less than 2 weeks away, the run on Saturday was just the confidence boost I needed. I felt great the whole way.
One thing I need to focus on in these next 2 weeks is my taper. No more long, hard, grunt-tastic workouts before race day. Instead, I will focus more on shorter runs mixed with either fartlek type running, or just easy jogging -- with a day off here and there.
The goal is to feel completely rested and healthy come race morning. All the hard work has been put in during these last several months, anything more now might actually do more harm than good. Time to take it easy, enjoy some shorter quality runs and get mentally ready for 5am May 12.
Last week was a perfect week of running for my first week of my taper. A long quality tempo run, a few short easy days and a couple of days OFF.
This upcoming week will be an extension of last weeks training, minus the long tempo run.......Giddyup!
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