Week Ending April 16, 2011

The week started with the Platte River Half Marathon, which was a disaster. My time of 1:16:36 was my slowest half since at least 2004 (and maybe longer - I'm too lazy to look at results, but I know I haven't run a half slower than 1:15 since then). Monday was a medium recovery day and I ran 4 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon. I ran a workout on Tuesday. It consisted of a 3 mile warm-up, 7 x 1200, and 3 mile cool down. Wednesday was a long run of almost 17 miles and Thursday was another medium day (double). Friday was an easy morning run before a Saturday uphill workout. I went to Cheyenne Canon and ran uphill repeats on Cap'n Jacks. A 3 mile warm-up was followed by 5 x 6:00 uphill repeats, and an 8 mile cool down. My training is still focused on the New Hampshire races in June (Mount Washington and Cranmore). So, while I'm still upset about the Platte River Half, part of me really does not care. I'll bounce back and I'm focused on races two months from now. 100 miles for the week.

Week Ending April 9, 2011

After several high mile days to end last week at 100 miles, I wanted to hit 100 again this week. Monday was a long run up Barr Trail. Monday was a typical double (6,6) and Tuesday was a workout. I was back on Barr Trail and did 5 x 6:00 hard and then 3:00 hard to finish. This was not a great workout because I found I could not maintain a really hard effort for six minutes. Afterwards, I thought I should have done three or four minute repeats instead. Wednesday was another long day: 4 in the morning, 16 in the afternoon. Thursday and Friday were medium days. Saturday was going to be a long day, but I decided went a little shorter in preparation for the Platte River Half Marathon on Sunday. 100 miles for the week.

Racing Schedule

Tommy Manning Colorado Springs
This is my tentative racing schedule for 2011:

Jan 22 - Colorado State Snowshoe Championship 5k - 1st
Mar 26 - Running for Rachel 5k - 1st
Apr 10 - Platte River Half Marathon - 6th

Apr 23 - Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race 25k, Colorado Springs, CO
May 30 - Boulder Boulder 10k, Boulder, CO
Jun 5 - Teva 10k Spring Runoff, Vail, CO
Jun 12 - Garden of the Gods 10-miler, Colorado Springs, CO
Jun 18 - Mount Washington Road Race, Gorham, NH
Jun 26 - US Mountain Running Championships, North Conway, NH
Jul 17 - NACAC Mountain Running Championships, Ajijic, Mexico
Aug 20 - Pike's Peak Ascent, Manitou Springs, CO
Aug 28 - Berry Picker (Vail Ascent), Vail, CO
Sep 18 - Pony Express Trail Run, Woodland Park, CO
Oct 9 - Coal Creek XC Challenge, Louisville, CO
Oct 23 - Mount Lemmon Marathon, Tucson, AZ

Week Ending April 2, 2011

I wanted to run 100 miles again this week and with only 22 miles after two days, I knew it was going to be a challenge. I ran 6 easy on Sunday and 16 on Barr Trail on Monday. That run was my second uphill workout this year as I ran 7x4:30 uphill. It was a hard, hard workout and I was surprised by how well I did and how far up the trail I got for my first time to 'push' up Barr Trail this season. The weather was awesome too, as I ran through a snowstorm up there (and was freezing). Tuesday was a long run and I had a lot of trouble. About two minutes into the run my stomach was turning and did not feel good. About 10 minutes into the run I thought about changing my long run into a 40 minute run and wish I had. Instead, when I was about 5 miles from my house, I had to take a nature stop in the woods. I debated turning and going home then and stupidly chose to push on instead. About and hour later, after I had turned around and was heading home, I had to make another pit stop. This time my body gave me very little advanced warning (mere seconds) and I jumped behind a tree only a few feet off trail and in plain view of anyone around (it was either that or go in my shorts and luckily nobody was around). My stomach had hurt the entire run and I felt completely fine after the second stop. My only explanation is it must have been something bad I had for lunch, but I don't know. Wednesday and Thursday were moderate singles as I did not have time to run doubles during the week. I only had about 58 miles by Thursday and did not think I would be able to run 100 miles this week. Friday was my long day and I ran 15+ in the morning and managed to get out for 13 more in Cheyenne Canon in the afternoon. Saturday morning I ran about 9.5 in Cheyenne Canon again and squeezed in 5 more in the afternoon to attain my goal. 100 miles for the week.

Week Ending March 26, 2011

This was my first week back in the full swing of things after two relatively low mile weeks and paddling a kayak in the Florida Everglades. Sunday was a tough one as I ran my first uphill workout of the season. After a 3 mile warm-up, I did 10 x 3:00 uphill in Cheyenne Canon. Tough workout and a pretty long day overall. I followed that with a run up Barr Trail on Monday, which was my first time on Pike's Peak this season. Yes, it's time to get ready for summer mountain running season and the Mount Washington Road Race. Tuesday and Wednesday were doubles and accumulated miles. Thursday was a long run in Cheyenne Canon again. It was sunny and the sky was blue on my side of town when I drove over there. Dark clouds above the mountain made me wonder what the weather was going to be like over there, and sure enough, it snowed on my as I was running. I ran in a local 5k on Saturday. I do not run 5k's often and have run this one before (Running for Rachel) and so I gave money to a good cause and ran it again. I won in an unimpressive 16:42, but the course is slow because it has a hill for about 1.5 miles which is pretty steep for about a half mile. I did not really care about the time, especially because I ran a lot of miles this week and just wanted to get a long run in on Saturday. 100 miles for the week.