Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Week Log: May 19-25

Mon-AM: 18 miles (2:20) Garden of the Gods+barefoot
Really enjoying this spate of warmer weather. Took it nice and easy, but the legs actually felt pretty good. Afterwards, refueled with several plates of appetizers and glasses of punch at CC's graduation reception.
PM: 5 miles (:40) North Monument
Legs felt surprisingly good. Ran in the FiveFingers for a first time in a while.


Tue-AM: 16 miles (2:01) North Loop then South Santa Fe Trail
5x2min hard/1min easy, 1xmile in 5:25, 3x2min hard/1min easy
This wasn't a great workout. It was hot and windy; I was dehydrated, starving, and sleep-deprived and that one mile was quite a bit tougher than it should've been so I bagged the last couple of "on" segments and just jogged it home.
PM: 7 miles (1:03) Palmer Park with Jocelyn
This was a great run in the FiveFingers. I felt way way better than this morning, and adding a pair of insoles to my FFs provided the perfect extra little bit of protection that my foot needed.


Wed-AM: 16 miles (2:08) Broadmoor/Cheyenne Mt. Zoo
First time I've really explored around over there and there ain't much exploring to do because of all the exclusiveness ridiculousness.
PM: 9 miles (1:29) 666-Mt. Buckhorn Loop w/ Jocelyn and Koch
I'd planned on doing more than this, but we were so hungry by the end that Jocelyn and I just went straight to Chipotle and Josh and John's instead.

Thu-AM: 10 miles (1:30) No Name Creek and back from Manitou w/ Jocelyn
I was planning a much longer run this morning, but for some reason my body was still feeling beat down so I just decided to make it an easy day and have the weekend come a day early.

Fri-AM: 52 miles (7:05) 666-Pipeline-Frosty's Park-Baldy Summit-Frosty's-701-Jones Park-7 Bridges-Buckhorn-Monument Loops ~7000' climbing
This was a great great run where I was really cooking a lot of the day. Baldy is 12,349' and I felt pretty good getting to the summit in 3:31 from my doorstep. However, it was super windy and pretty cold on top and started snowing just as I was leaving and the snow actually chased me all the way back down to 8000' or so. The route I took back down (701) contours at ~10,000' for a long time so the storm had a while to catch up with me. Overall a very good run.

Sat-AM: 43 miles (6:00) 666-Jones Park-Pipeline-Beaver Meadows-701-Frosty's-Mt. Rosa Saddle-St. Mary's Falls-Buckhorn-Monument Loops. ~6000' climbing
Another very solid long run. I was definitely tired/sluggish most of the day, but I just settled in and went with it. I'm really enjoying exploring all the trails up there above 9000' that I never really got to last summer. The trail down off of the Rosa Saddle (11,000') towards St. Mary's Falls is especially cool--I want to run up it sometime soon.

Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:02) Garden of the Gods
Tired from the last couple big days.
PM: 6 miles (:54) Bear Creek from Wal-Mart w/ Jocelyn
Felt horrible. Just a bad time of day. Got some heat training in at least, I guess.

Total: 197 miles (27:12)

Kind of a weird week. It didn't go exactly how I wanted it to, but the back to back long runs were perfect. Showed some restraint on Sunday in that I didn't add on to the horrible evening run just to get 200 miles for the week. Right now it's all about listening to my body while still trying to cram in as many miles as possible. I'm just listening a lot more closely than I did last year.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Week Log: May 12-18

Mon-AM: 16 miles (2:10) Garden of the Gods+barefoot
The first hour my body was readjusting from being sick, but then it turned into a pleasant run.
PM: 9 miles (1:20) Williams Canyon out and back w/ Jocelyn
Nice, easy, pleasant run on one of my favorite trails. Jocelyn was tired from her blazing 17:22 5K this weekend.

Tue-AM: 25 miles (3:05) 666-Buckhorn+barefoot
666 Hill Tempo in 34:10 (didn't go quite tempo effort), then, 15x1min hard/1min easy back through Bear Creek (Matt C Special)
Solid workout; good to go fast again for the first time in a while.
PM: 5 miles (:40) North Monument

Wed-AM: 25 miles (3:15) 666-Buckhorn+barefoot
Wow, pretty worked today. Had to go slow. Happy to be done. Wore the new 790s and they were great.
PM: 5 miles (:43) King Soopers and back to drop off movie

Thu-AM: 27 miles (3:30) 666-Buckhorn-Capn Jacks+barefoot
Felt way better than yesterday, but still not quite completely on it. Sickness is still just barely lingering. It doesn't help that every run this week it's been raining/snowing at higher elevations.
PM: 5 miles (:41) North Monument+barefoot

Fri-AM: 10 miles (1:30) King Soopers and back plus Monument Loops and barefoot

Went nice and easy; not too tired.

Sat-AM: 52 miles (6:30) 666-Jones Park-Frosty's Park-up Baldy Road then down to Old Stage-Gold Camp-Buckhorn+barefoot
Really good run. I know it seems really fast, but after climbing to 11,200' on Mt. Baldy I turned around and had a 19 mile downhill on gravel roads to 7600' that I ran in 2:03 (6:20s pace), so when you're running that fast for that long the miles stack up pretty quickly. I felt very good on the 5000' climb, rocked the long downhill (it's really hard not to), climbed another 1000' over the Buckhorn ridge, and then cruised it home. An added bonus was that the first really warm day (temps in the 80s) gave me some good heat training. Despite being turned around at 11k' because of snow, it seems like the warm weather will make quick work of any remaining snow in the high country. The new 790s performed beautifully on this run.

Sun-AM: 34 miles (4:33) 666-Lake Moraine Road and back+barefoot
Another good run. It took me an hour or so to really get warmed up and feeling good after yesterday's run, but I actually felt OK on the 4000' climb to Lake Moraine (actually a reservoir) at 10,500'. I'm so excited the snow is disappearing! I turned around and ran back down the hill at a very solid clip all the way back home. Don't think I ate enough for dinner the night before so I was really starving for a lot of this run and had to take a couple of gels. More good heat training in the upper 80s.

Total: 213 miles (27:57)

A great kick-off week to the real meat of my WS preparation. I felt sort of off all week coming back from whatever virus I had, but then I was clearly over it by time the weekend rolled around. Tuesday was a nice transitional workout with the hill tempo/fartlek, but I hope to maybe get in a more conventional, flat, get-down speed-type workout next week. Also, I'm super psyched about getting on the WS course next weekend. Not sure if the high country portion will be accessible, but I plan to see at least everything from Robinson Flat to the finish line and hopefully will get in another 50ish miler (Robinson to the River?).  Hopefully I can get an idea about what type of splits might be possible, plus some real heat training.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Week Log: May 5-11

Mon-AM: 25 miles (4:04) A-Frame and back plus Mt. View out and back on the way down ~6000' vertical
Yes! Finally some high altitude running! Ran to Barr Camp in 73:42 (from Hydro Street...even though I start most of my Manitou runs at Memorial Park I always time from Hydro because I need a little warm-up time) and there was NO SNOW the entire way. Above BC there was a fair bit of snow, but it was all runnable as it was pretty crusty/slushy/icy so I could stay on top of it. By A-Frame (12,000') the trail wasn't followable anymore, though, so I turned around and cruised it back down. Felt OK on the uphill, but really felt solid on the downhill and the excursion over to Mt. View at 10k' in order to get some more altitude time. Cranked downhill faster than usual (~48min from BC to Hydro) and then ran some extra at the bottom to make it 25ish miles. Great day.
PM: 6 miles (:47) Shooks Loop Backwards
Easy in the 152s, but feeling good. Stopped at the Safeway to pick up some tortilla chips.

Tue-AM: 25 miles (4:35) Pikes Peak Summit then down to Mt. View over to Barr Trail and down ~8000' vertical
Awesome to get to 14,000' for the first time this year, but ~8000' vertical in ~10 miles is pretty brutal. Felt good except for the last couple thousand feet. It is so steep in some spots. Rocked the downhill solid to get in some great downhill training for Western. Took two gels and snagged a Snickers bar at the Summit House that saved me the last hour and a half. Jogged around a little in Manitou to get in 25ish.
PM: 6 miles (:50) North Loop+barefoot
Easy in the 152s but I somehow felt really good. Gorgeous evening. For some reason when I only take 3-4hrs after a long run I always feel nice and peppy on the 2nd run.

Wed-AM: 30 miles (4:00) Jones Park-7 Bridges Loop+Monument loops and barefoot ~4000' vertical
Rainy all day, so I didn't get out until almost noon. Slow at first, but then I felt good on the climb up 666 so I just went for it and decided to do the full loop because I was having so much fun. Above Capn Jacks there was new snow on the trail (that my NB 152s weren't so happy navigating) and there was rain coming down, but I had a blast. Kinda bonked the last 30 minutes or so because I didn't take any gels or water (did have a muffin for breakfast, though).

Thu- zippo, woke up with a sore throat, headache, body aches, queasy stomach, no good

Fri- 4 miles (:37) Monument+barefoot easy with Jocelyn
Just jogged around with J, but that might have been a mistake. I felt better afterwards than before, but I think I just need rest right now.

Sat- 0
No running today because I didn't really see any improvement in my health from yesterday. I'll just look at this as "stress fracture insurance" and hopefully will be able to start solid running again Monday.

Sun- AM: 5 miles (:42) North Monument

Jogged around easy to just test my health. Feeling better, but still pretty off. Should be ready to go tomorrow, though.

Total: 101 miles (15:35)

Great first half of the week, worthless second half; not much else to say.  I really don't like to believe that going for a longish run in the rain can make one catch an illness...but it probably does compromise the immune system a bit.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Week Log: April 28-May 4

Mon-PM: 11 miles (1:31) Baca Grande road out and back
In Crestone, CO with Jocelyn. Wore the NB 505s because my foot is still bruised. I felt so shitty on the way back that I stopped running and just walked the last hour. Time to take some down time.

Tue-PM: 5 miles (:40) Baca campus road out and back w/ Jocelyn
Felt pretty terrible.

Wed-AM: 5 miles (:40) North Crestone Road out and back
Almost felt normal by the end of this run, I think.

Thu-AM: 5 miles (:40) Baca Grande singletrack+road w/ Jocelyn
Finally feel like a human being again. Felt good enough to do a lot more this morning, but there's no hurry.

Fri-AM: 25 miles (3:01) Buckhorn+Monument Loops+barefoot
The first few miles were a bit funky, and I actually felt like I'd lost some altitude fitness on the Buckhorn climb, but I felt really really good the second half and had a lot of sub-7 minute miles. Really cookin' at times.
PM: 6 miles (:51) Shooks Run Loop w/ Jocelyn
Nice and easy in the 152s.

Sat-AM: 32 miles (4:14) 666-Jones Park-Meadow before Lake Moraine-7 Bridges-Buckhorn and back home.
I didn't feel great climbing on this run but it was awesome because I ran on basically snow-free trails all the way up to 10,000'. Yeah! I'm ready for summer! Felt really good on the downhills, and actually moving good all day until I started bonking the last 3 miles or so.

Sun-AM: 8 miles (1:11) Pipeline trail out+back in Manitou w/ Jocelyn
Decided that I would rather spend the whole day with Jocelyn than go running all day; especially since this "easy/down" week would've still been over 100 miles if I hadn't taken today so easy. Felt good. I love this trail.

Total: 97 miles (12:48)

I guess my body really needed this week after the last very very solid 8 weeks of training and racing. I just figured that if I don't give myself a nice physical and mental break right now then my body/mind will be NEEDING it in a couple of weeks when I'll needing to be putting in the meat of my training for Western States. I was happy with the way I felt by the end of the week, so I'm excited to really get after it now--especially since he high altitude trails are melting out!