RECAP : Jan 1 - Jan 8

Monday - 01/01/12

4 x 1/2 mile Centennial Hill Repeats (3:27, 3:33, 3:36, 3:32) + 30 minutes on Foothills trail.

Since the Rec center was closed because of New Years (so no treadmill climb), and the trails have been a hit or miss with either an icy crunch or a sloppy mud fest, I decided to get in some hill repeats on the road....Centennial Road. For those that don't know, Centennial road on the West side of Fort Collins is filled with a handful of decent 1/2 mile or so long uphill climbs, so it is always a good place to go when wanting to get in some hill repeats.

Workout went like this:

Parked my truck at the West most parking lot at Pineridge. Then ran the 1/4 mile or so uphill climb to the "T" in the road. From the stop sign I did 4 x 1/2 mile repeats up the hill. This hill gains about 250ft of vertical over this half mile stretch of road!

The first couple of repeats I was feeling good, but the last 1/3 of the 3rd repeat really put a good sting in my legs for the 4th and final repeat. I had to dig down deep on the last one....wheww, feel the burn!

After my 4th repeat I decided to tack on an additional easy 30 minutes of running. From the stop sign I turned North on Centennial Road and ran up and over monster hill, and then dropped down the back side of the stadium along the Foothills Trail, then ran past Maxwell TH and up the short climb in the road to my truck. 30 minutes even.

The trails were pretty sloppy, but I wasn't running hard, so I didn't mind the slipping and slopping down the trail.



Tuesday - 01/02/12

OFF- SICK

and when I say sick, I mean SICK! woke up at 4am early Tuesday morning and on top of having my face hovering over the toilet, I had muscle aches, cold sweats, involuntary muscle contractions, nausea.....yeah not good.
Spent the next 20 out of 24 hours sleeping in bed. I could only muster up enough energy to drink some OJ and head down to the kitchen and consume whatever food I could handle...then back to laying my head on a pillow.



Wednesday - 01/03/12

OFF - SICK

Woke up this morning feeling better than yesterday. Of course, "better" is all relative. Gone was the nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, cold sweats...etc. However, I was super fatigued and flat out exhausted. I slept in till 11:30am and worked a half day. However, I use the word "worked" very lightly. Came home from work, ate dinner and took a solid 2.5 hour nap, before waking up, eating some food and going to bed.



Thursday - 01/04/12

OFF - SICK

I felt better today. Technically I probably could have got out for an easy run, as my energy levels were back up to normal. However, I didnt want to risk it. So I took this day off as a precaution day. I figure an extra day off would serve a better purpose then getting in an easy 30 minute trot around town. When not sure, err on the side of health and safety.

Temps were in the mid 60's, so it was hard to let a perfect running day get away from me. But oh well, there will be more warm days in the future.



Friday - 01/05/12

Horsetooth Mtn.

Feeling better, and itching to hit the trails after feeling ill and fatigued for the last 3 days, I decided to head up to Horsetooth Mtn park for a solid trail run.

Not having any energy whatsoever for the last few days I had no idea if I was gonna get 10 minutes into my run and feel a wave of fatigue hit me and just take a nap on the trail, or if I would feel nice and fresh since I haven't ran much this week. Thankfully it was the latter and I had a fresh bounce in my step.

Workout went like this:

Horsetooth Mtn liquor store > Main TH > Falls > South Ridge > Westridge > to Wathen, turned around at Wathen > back down Rock Trail > South Ridge > TH > back to truck.

I originally was going to run the summit of Horsetooth Rock, but the further up I ran, the more and more ice covered the trails. There were a couple 1/4 mile and longer sections of trail that turned from dirt to ice. Making traversing up the trail very difficult and a slippery mess. I decided to turn around at Wathen (after realizing I wasnt about to ice climb to the summit of the Rock), and thought I could continue on my way running the Horsetooth trail race course. But the trails were covered in ice and I had no traction whatsoever. As I looked up ahead the trails that got sunlight appeared to be dry, but once again I didn't feel like slipping and sliding my way to get there.

The run down the Rock trail was much drier than the run up South Ridge. I should have taken the Rock trail up.....but ohh well.

A section of trail showing the ice covering

view looking Southeast from South Ridge

A few deer on South Ridge with Longs Peak in the backdrop

A more technical section of the Rock Trail

Total Time : 68 minutes



Saturday - 01/06/12

Foothills Trail.

A pretty chilly afternoon made all of the lower elevation trails in the area turn from a muddy slop, to a hardened mud trail...easily runnable.

With this being the case I decided to head over to the Maxwell TH for an easy trail run.

Workout went like this:

Maxwell TH > up the hill behind the stadium > foothills trail on West side of Centennial > looped back around down the hill > back to Maxwell TH

This was a planned easy run, as it was only my second run since Monday after being sick earlier in the week. Felt good today. Had a nice bounce in my stride. I could have easily ran further than I did, but I didn't want to tax my body and get sick again.

It felt good to get out and hit the trails on this chilly afternoon.

looking South from Foothills trail. Pineridge in background.

stormy clouds floating over head.

looking South.

Bambi on the trail.

Foothills trail on the way back

Total Time : 40 minutes



Sunday - 01/07/12

Blue Sky + Rim Rock loop

Starting from the Horsetooth Mtn Liquor store I ran over to the Blue Sky TH (an easy 1 minute jog).

Then proceeded to run South on Blue Sky. My legs felt good throughout this run, a sure sign that whatever bug got to me earlier in the week was gone.
The first part of this run had me running on a thawing mud pit. Thankfully it was still early in the morning and the cool temps were keeping the muddy sections fairly hard and easily runnable. When running these muddy sections you just gotta take short quick steps, and think "tap, tap, tap, tap" and traverse your way across the mud in pitter patter steps. At least that's what works best for me.

Just one of several muddy sections of the trail

I haven't ran The Rim Rock loop, or Coyote Ridge for that matter, since we moved back to the Fort from Loveland a couple of years ago. Living in Loveland at the time, Coyote Ridge and Devils Backbone were my regular stomping grounds for about 5 years while we lived there. And so it was nice to run the trails in the south valley for a change.

Blue sky trail is always a fun run, as it is filled with up and down rollers for several miles.

Blue Sky looking South

From Rim Rock, looking South in the Blue Sky valley

Blue Sky Rim Rock intersection

Rim Rock loop is a fairly short loop that is made up of a combination of dirt trail and rugged technical rocks (hence..rim ROCK)

Yes, this rock path is the trail!

another section of technical trail

Blue Sky trail looking North. Horsetooth Rock in the distance.

Total Time : 72 minutes



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Well, on the running front the week started off strong with some solid hill repeats. Then spent the following 36 hours feeling ill and sleeping 20 out 24 hours a day. Then recovered, and had a few nice runs over the weekend.

I really wanted to get in a long 20+ miler over the weekend. And although I felt well enough to do so, I didn't want to take a chance taxing my body to that extent after getting the flu. If I was 99% healthy I didn't want the remaining 1% to come back and bite me and send me back to the medicine cabinet. And so I took the weekend easy. I am glad I felt strong and had a good pep in my step on my runs because I thought I would be fairly fatigued and have some sort of flu-like hangover on my first few runs feeling healthy again. But it was the opposite, I felt really good.

A great way to end this week.
Looking forward to a healthy running start of next week.

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 : 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

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)