"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift"
-Pre

Monday, October 24, 2011

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:

















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!




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! ;-)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

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

Monday, October 10, 2011

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

Monday, October 3, 2011

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

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