Week Ending April 14, 2012

Well, now that I have been training consistently for a few weeks, I am feeling pretty good and am ready for my first real race on the season on Saturday.  I ran a double on Sunday, which was basically 11 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon.  Monday was a 10 mile loop around Big Johnson reservoir.  Tuesday was a workout day after an easy 4 in the morning.  My last workout was uphill, so I stayed flat for this one.  I ran a 3 mile warm-up, then 7 x 1200.  I ran a nice long cool-down afterwards.  At this point in the season, all of my workouts are geared towards Mount Washington.  I have done a lot of uphill workouts and a lot of long runs on hilly terrain.  My first race, Xterra Cheyenne Mountain Trail Run, is on Saturday, and it is going to have a lot of climbing in it.  I will quickly find out whether I am in race shape or not and if I am prepared for Washington or not.  Because this race is not all that important in the big picture, I am not tapering or anything like that, and will simply train through it.  It rained on Wednesday and I ran a long run in the rain.  I did not dress very smart (long sleeve cotton shirt) for the rain, especially when it started pouring 55 minutes into my run (and 55 minutes away from home).  I don’t mind running in the rain at all, but this sucked.  It was pouring, then it stopped, but the wind was blowing pretty strong, and I started freezing.  I had a very cold, wet run and could barely move my fingers by the time I got home.  Thursday was much better:  4.5 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon.   I ran 10 on Friday, the day before the race.  Saturday was a 24k trail race at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.  I ran pretty well.  Apparently I was not too sore because I ran an easy 4 miles in the afternoon.  Before the race, I saw an advertisement for a trail race again next weekend.  I talked to a girl who is running it next week, and I think I might go too.  I know I am coming back to this park for a 25k trail race in two weeks.  If I run all three, which I am thinking about doing, then I will simply race myself into shape.  109 miles for the week. 

Race Report: Xterra Cheyenne Mountain Trail Run

The Xterra trail race at Cheyenne Mountain State Park was my first real test of the season.  I would quickly find out if I was in shape or not, and more importantly, find out if I was in climbing shape or not.  It was a pretty small race (60 people) and I know most of the other good runners in the area.  I did not see any of the big names at the race so I basically assumed I was going to win the race before it even started.  Bad assumption.  The race was a two loop course (repeat the same loop twice) which climbed, climbed, climbed up to the high point of the northwest side of the park and looped back down to the start area.  The gun went off and I started conservatively in a pack of three until we started climbing.  From then I hammered.  I wanted to climb hard and see what kind of shape I was in.  I felt great and was surprised there was a guy hanging on to me step for step.  I decided to surge a little and he stayed with me.  “Who is this guy?”  I thought to myself.  I am arguably one of the best climbers in the country and here was some guy I’ve never seen before climbing with me step for step.  We reached the high point and started descending.  I sprinted as fast as I could knowing most people can run downhill faster than I can.  Sure enough once we got off the single track and to an aid station, I grabbed a cup of water and he ran right by me.  A few minutes later and back on the single track he was already out of sight.  Wow he was fast!  I was hoping he was only running the 12k and would turn to the finish after one loop.  Nope.  Tim Bergsten (pikespeaksports.us) was taking photos near the end of the loop, and as I passed him I asked “Who is that guy?”  Tim said he didn’t know and was going to ask me the same thing!  Besides climbing hard during the race, my other goal was to run negative splits.  I didn’t come close.  My second lap was 4 minutes slower than my first lap.  Lack of motivation was a big problem.  I didn’t have anyone pushing me up the hill, didn’t have anyone pushing my down the first part of the downhill, I couldn’t catch the guy in front of me, and nobody behind me was close to me.  I met the winner, Marshall Thomson, after the race.  He’s a skier from Crested Butte who has only recently started trail running.  He wants to get into the trail and mountain running scene and is a going to be a force if he sticks with it.  Colorado is already loaded with talented trail runners and he welcome addition to our arsenal.   I was happy with how I climbed the first lap, and I was satisfied with my race overall.  I know I need to work on my endurance and my downhills (I always need to work on downhills).  I think I might run the Big Mountain Trail Run next week. 

Week Ending April 7, 2012

The week started with a double on Sunday.  I wanted to run 14-15 miles in the easiest combination possible and thought about doing 10-5 or 7-7.  I settled on 8 in the morning and 6+ in the afternoon.  Monday was a date with the treadmill and an uphill challenge in preparation for Mount Washington.  I wanted to run 4.5 miles at 10-11% grade and 7.5-7.6mph.  Unfortunately I was not feeling very good.  I ran 2.25mi at 7.5mph and 10% grade before I had to call it quits.  I ended up running 5 miles on the treadmill all above 7%, but did not hit the workout I wanted.  Easy recovery run on Tuesday morning and about 12miles in the afternoon.  I did basically the same route again on Wednesday.  Thursday was a big mileage day as I ran 10 in the morning and then went to Cheyenne Canon in the afternoon.  I ran a great loop there which included a lot of climbing.  I ran easy Friday morning.  I went to Pike’s Peak in the afternoon and ran an uphill workout.  After a 3 mile warm-up, I ran 10 x 3:00 up Barr Trail.  It was nice up there and I didn’t find any snow.  I did get cold on my last few intervals (being tired didn’t help) and was glad to go back down to warmth after my workout.  Saturday was a long run in Cheyenne Canon again.  I climbed the same route as Thursday and made some other loops during my 2-hr run.  104 miles for the week.

Week Ending March 31, 2012

I continued running big miles this week getting back into ‘training mode.’  I went to Cheyenne Canon for an uphill workout on Sunday.  I ran 11 x 3:00 uphill repeats.  Monday was a long run up Barr Trail for an hour before I turned around.  Tuesday and Wednesday were both doubles with a medium distance in the morning and short, easy runs in the afternoon.  Thursday’s workout was a short, but good one.  I ran a 3 mile warm-up and then did five sets of 400m then 1200m (8000m total).  I felt pretty awful during the workout, but got a second wind or something during the last set, and totally crushed the last 1200.  Friday was another long run on Barr Trail and Saturday was a double a lot like Tuesday and Wednesday.  Overall this was a really good week.  I got two solid workouts in and ran a lot of miles.  104 miles for the week. 

Week Ending March 24, 2012

I flew home from the Florida Keys on Sunday and did not run. I spend my last night in Key Largo on the beach and pulled an all-nighter. It was pretty cool to look out into the ocean, stare at the stars, and watch a boat or ship slowly go by every once in a while. Monday was the first day of me getting my ass back into shape and I ran a double. I ran doubles for four of the last six days of the week and averaged 15 miles per day the six days I ran. My second treadmill workout of the season was run on Wednesday. I hate the treadmill, but in preparation for Mount Washington, I want to hit the treadmill at least once every two weeks or so. I ran a 4 mile warm-up, then put the treadmill at 10% and 6.4 mph. I increased 0.1mph every quarter mile until I was at 7.9 mph and 10%. The first few quarter miles were not difficult at all, but by the time I finished it felt like I was sprinting uphill. Overall, this was a very good week of training and I’m glad to get back into the swing of things. 90 miles for the week.

Week Ending March 17, 2012

What a great week! I cannot complain about scuba diving in the Florida Keys. The temperature was in the 80s all week, the water was aqua-blue, and the diving was fantastic. My running kind of sucked though. We had to be on the boat at 8:00am each morning and the sun did not come up until after 6:45. That makes it hard to get in a long run in the morning. Plus, the Keys are very narrow and the only road to run on is US-1. My first run on Wednesday was down the shoulder of the highway in the dark, which I did not like, until I found a neighborhood. Once in the neighborhood, I had time for a quick workout before getting back to the scuba place for diving. I ran roughly 1600, 1200, 800, 400, which is a pretty weak workout. It wore me out though. The humidity and heat got to me even though I was running early in the morning. I ran again on Saturday (St. Patrick’s Day). I had time for a little longer workout and ran (approximately) 2x 1000, 1400, 600. I got 6000m of work in compared to 4000 on Wednesday and felt okay. 15 miles for the week.

Week Ending March 10, 2012

This was one of the worst weeks I have had in a long time. Between being very tired and getting ready to go to the Florida Keys, I was very stressed out and did not run much. What can be so stressful about going scuba diving in the Florida Keys? I am taking 11 high school students on a spring break trip. I am very organized, have the trip well planned, and did not think I had anything to stress about. Apparently just thinking about the trip and wondering if I checked all details stressed me out. Each day this week I came home from work and had to crash. I wanted to run, but was exhausted and took a nap instead. I ran 12.25 miles on Monday and did not run again until Saturday. My thought process on Saturday was “I might as well go hard because I haven’t run in four days and probably won’t run much next week.” So I ran 10 x 3:00 uphill intervals. With warm-up and cool-down, this was a 14.5 mile day. 27 miles for the week.

Week Ending March 3, 2012

This was a good week in terms of running volume. I ran an easy double on Sunday for a total of 9 miles. Monday was 1000s on the rolling trails near my house. I did a total of 9 x 1000, which was pretty difficult. Tuesday was a long 2-hour run. Wednesday and Thursday were both planned medium distance runs at a moderate intensity, and I did a double on Wednesday. Friday was another planned long run, but I ended up running a short, easy double instead. Saturday turned out to be a long day instead as I ran 20 on Fountain Creek trail. 95 miles for the week.

Week Ending Feb 25, 2012

The week started with an absolute killer workout. I hate treadmills, but have decided I want to run a treadmill workout about once per month in preparation for Mount Washington. I ran a 4 mile warm-up outside and then started at 6.3mph and 9% incline. I then added 0.1mph every 0.25 miles until I ran at 8.0mph and 9% incline. The 6.3mph was not difficult; the last few stages up to 8.0 were very difficult. Then I tried 8.1mph at 10% and only lasted about 10sec. Those last 6 or 8 minutes were really hard - it was like sprinting uphill. I slowed down and dropped the incline a little after hitting 4.5mi in 38:30 and ran a total of 6mi in 50min. Monday was a long run (2+ hours) in Cheyenne Canon. Tuesday was a moderate 10 on Fountain Creek. Wednesday morning was another 10. I had the not-so-fun experience of having to take a dump while running. There really wasn't a good spot to go so I hopped behind some tall weeds and squatted. Unfortunately I didn't have any leaves or soft grass around to use as tp. Without going into more detail, I used what I found, which was a collection of weeds more like sticks than grass. Ouch. Man, my butt was raw and sore for a few days - lesson learned. Wednesday afternoon was an easy run. Thursday was a long run and it was wicked cold. I bundled up the most I've bundled this year and took off. After battling the wind for two hours, I came home with numb fingers and was definitely happy the forecast called for warmer weather the next few days. On Friday I zig-zagged through neighborhoods. I found an entire new set of streets I had never run and found an elementary school I had never seen. It's amazing to see something like a school for the first time even though it is probably only three miles from my house. Saturday was another long run in Cheyenne Canon. I took a side trail I've seen many times but have not followed. It simply went downhill to North Cheyenne Canyon Road. I ran back uphill and continued my run on other trails. The good news for the week is the toe problem seems to be completely heeled. I still have a corn on my fourth toe, but it is not rubbing against the pinky toe anymore and is not causing any pain. 96 miles for the week.

Week Ending Feb 18, 2012

Okay, I had a great week last week, minus the toe pain, and was ready to roll. Sunday was a long run on Fountain Creek. It was cold and I wore shorts (I almost always wear shorts). This was one of the few days I wished I had worn pants. Monday was a double of 4 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon. By Tuesday my toe felt so much better. It was not 100% yet, but I could walk and run with almost no pain. It is barely noticeable and I predicted I would be 100% by Thursday or Friday. What a pain in the ass that corn was. Tuesday was a moderate run which turned out to be a little longer than planned as I zig-zagged through neighborhoods. Wednesday was a long run on Fountain Creek. Thursday was a medium run through the neighborhoods again. Friday was a double. I ran long in the morning and ran into Ali Williams (athlete) and Scott Simmons (coach) of the American Distance Project. Ali just finished 14th at the U.S. Marathon Trials in Houston, so it was cool to see her hammering a tempo on the trail (I turned around on my out-and-back just after we passed, and she stopped about a mile later). I look forward to meeting and seeing more of the American Distance Project runners this spring and summer. I ran easy in the afternoon and was so tired and my legs felt so heavy, I only ran 3.25 miles. Saturday was a planned easy day: 4.5 in the morning and 4.25 in the afternoon. 96 miles for the week.

Week Ending Feb 11, 2012

After putting in a good showing with 74 miles last week, I thought I was back in the swing of things. Then I got an awful toe pain. I had had a little pain in my toes (the pinky toe of the right foot and the one next to it) for a few days, but it was nothing significant, and I hadn't thought much about it. It got worse and worse this week and I finally stopped to look at it on Tuesday. I had what looked like a plantars wart on the side of my fourth toe. It was a small circular thing with a dot (like a seed) in the middle. I couldn't believe this was causing so much pain. It felt like someone was squeezing my toe as hard as they could with every step. The pain was worse on Wednesday; it was really bad the first several steps after getting out of bed or after sitting and doing nothing for a while. It was brutal pain when I put on shoes and my toes were squeezed together in the toebox of the shoe. I taped the toe with athletic tape and ran anyway. The pain went away after 15 minutes or so. Thursday was like Wednesday, but worse. My pinky toe was hurting too and it felt like someone hit it with a hammer. On my Friday morning run I was actually limping. I really thought I had broken one of my toes even though I had know idea when or how - it's like the pain just came out of nowhere. I didn't think it was smart to run anymore because I was afraid of doing something to my knee or hip as a result of the limping. When I finished the run, I had a huge blister on the inside of my pinky toe. The taped fourth toe rubbed against the pinky toe so much it caused a blister. I saw our athletic trainer Friday afternoon and she said it was a corn. What is a corn? I certainly didn't know. The simple little corn was causing all my pain. My pinky toe was not broken, nor was anything wrong with it at all. She had me soak my foot (an opened blister) in epsom salt and gave me corn covers and gel type stuff to put over the corn. The stuff she gave me worked because my foot felt so much better on Saturday, then better on Sunday, etc.
As for running, I did not run on Sunday and ran slow and easy on Monday. Tuesday was a long day on Fountain Creek and Wednesday was a medium day. Thursday was a double (while in pain) of 5+ in the morning and a long 16+ in the afternoon. The long run was in Cheyenne Canon and I managed to find two trails I had never run before (I thought I had run every square foot of that entire area). I ran on the Upper Columbine trail (western columbine) to the Helen Hunt Falls parking area - I had been there many times, but never on that trail. I ran back on the trail and took the fork to the Spring something trail, which ended right by the first tunnel on Gold Camp. I can't believe I'd never been on that trail. Friday was 4.5 in the morning and then no more running due to unreal toe pain. I wrecked my car on Saturday. I was on my way to Frisco for a snowshoe race and started fishtailing on the icy roads outside of Manitou. So I came home and ran that afternoon instead. It was really cold and I ran hill repeats near home for two reasons: I didn't know how long I would last in the cold and my toe still hurt. I ran 9 repeats on a hill that takes about 2min 30sec. 70 miles for the week.

Week Ending Feb 4, 2012

This was my last week of 'slacking' as I've been telling myself I was going to start training hard and putting in doubles etc. again in February. The week started great as I ran for almost 2 hours in Cheyenne Canon on Sunday. I found a new loop I like to do, which takes me about 1:20. This was the second time I've done the loop and I was a little sore after racing on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday were both medium runs. I really wanted to get 80 ro so miles this week, so I put in a double on Wednesday. I ran 10+ in the morning and 5+ in the afternoon. Thursday was a shorter day - 7 miles. I don't remember if I got out of work late, or if it was really cold, or what, but I didn't run much. Friday was a disappointing zero. It was another one of those days at the end of the week and I just could not run. I could not make it out the door and took a big fat nap instead. I've been saying I need to see a doctor for about a month now - maybe I should. Saturday morning was another great run in Cheyenne Canon. I ran the new loop again and some other favorite trails for 2 hours. 74 miles for the week.

Race Report: Pike's Peak Road Runners Winter Series II

Pike's Peak Road Runners Winter Series II, Colorado Springs, CO - 01/28/12
I decided it has been long enough since I last raced, so about 10pm on Friday night I got on the internet to look for races in Colorado Springs. I saw the PPRR were having their second series race on Saturday and assumed several of my friends would be there. There were two races on Saturday: 4 mile and 8 mile. During warm-up I chose to run the 8 mile. I did my standard 4 mile warm-up and afterwards found out the races had two different start times. I had an extra 15 minutes, so I ran another mile.
My plan for the race was to go out conservatively, get into a nice hard tempo pace, and negative split the out and back course. I didn't care if I finished 9th, 60th, or 3rd place. The gun went off and I was quickly in the lead pack. Ryan Hafer started to gap us so I surged a little to put myself in second and stay with him. Mistake. I went through 1 mile in 5:10, which is 16:01 pace for a 5k. There was no way I was planning on running 16 flat 5k pace for 8 miles. I immediately slowed down and went through 3 miles at a more reasonable 16:51. At 4 miles and the turnaround I was a least one minute behind Hafer, and assumed I had a minute on anyone behind me. Wrong. The next two guys were less than 30 (maybe 15) seconds behind me at the turn. I knew I couldn't negative split after the 5:10 opening mile, but I still wanted to run in hard. Miles 5-7 were 11:38, a little faster than the 11:41 on the way out, and the last mile was 5:42. i finished 8 miles in 45:42, good for second place. I was cool with my time; sub 46 was where I wanted to be for a tempo run/workout. Hafer and I ran a few miles together for cool-down and that was it!

Week Ending Jan 28, 2012

I ran up Barr Trail for the second time this year on Sunday. I ran about as far as I ran last time – somewhere in between the top of the incline and Barr Camp. It was really slick up there. Add in the wind and cold to a really slick trail and I wanted nothing to do with going farther. I turned around to get the hell out of there and ran into Peter Maksimow and Justin Ricks coming up. I told them to turn around and we all ran down together. An extra few miles in Manitou made it a 2hr 25min run for me, which was a great start to the week. Monday I ran a double of 11 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. This was looking like a great week and I finally felt that I hit my stride and was getting back into shape. Then on Tuesday I only ran 4. I was really busy and didn’t have more time to run. Wednesday was a medium day and Thursday was another zero. I was too exhausted to run again. Man, I really need to find out what’s going on. I don’t know why I’m so tired near the end of the week that I have to go home and sleep and can’t go out for a run. Friday afternoon was a great run in Cheyenne Canon and I ran a race on Saturday. A race? Yeah, I haven’t done one of those since Sept 11th. I opted to race a flat 8-miler in Colorado Springs. The plan was to run it as a tempo run/workout to see where I was fitness wise. That plan was shot to hell as I ran the first mile in 5:10. The rest of my miles were run at 5:40-5:50 and I finished in 45:42. It was a decent performance for a winter race with little training and no speed work. I definitely tell I had not run anything like that in a long time as I was sore Saturday afternoon and Sunday. 77 miles for the week.

Week Ending Jan 21, 2012

After only getting in 57 miles last week, I really thought this would be my week to top 70. I ran two workouts – one on Sunday and one on Saturday – and ran both of them uphill. It’s never too early to start training for summer mountain racing, right? I figure if I want to do well at Mount Washington, then I need to start running uphill at least once every few weeks. So on Sunday I ran 10 x 3min uphill on Cheyenne Canon trails. Monday was a medium day and Tuesday was a short 6.5 miles. Wednesday was another medium day and Thursday was supposed to be a long day, but turned out to be shorter than I wanted (sounds a lot like last week). Friday turned out to be a zero. I was so tired after work again that I had to take a nap. I meant to take a short nap and get up in time for a 30 or 60 min run before dark. Instead, I napped for 3 hours. Something must be wrong with me for me to need this much sleep and have to take naps in the afternoon. I mean I feel worn out all the time. I should probably go see a doctor and have some bloodwork done. Saturday was another workout in Cheyenne Canon. I ran 7 x 4.5 minutes. I need to get serious about training again, need to up my mileage, and need to start running doubles. I plan on starting all of this in February (assuming I’m healthy and can make it though a week without having to take a day off due to exhaustion).