Blog Timko

Track?

2012-03-03T10:15:00.002-05:00

Lucho said he thinks he can do a 100 around a track...that's mental.

And...This guy must have really liked the Western States flick....

I could get into track work and gimmick obstacle races

2012-02-22T17:28:00.000-05:00

Speed. This guy's got it.

Awesome video!

2012-02-15T11:24:00.001-05:00

Unstoppable

2012-02-10T23:21:00.001-05:00

Unstoppables from black train films on Vimeo.

Time to update my Amazon wish list.

2012-02-09T15:22:00.000-05:00

http://www.blackmilkclothing.com/products/muscles-leggings
I'm going to wear these to the acupuncturist or for my next sport massage. It hurts right here.

And while I'm at it....
http://junglegymmagazine.com/2012/01/26/first-look-cole-haan-lunargrand-wingtip-shoesneaker/

Anyone want this stuff?

2012-02-01T14:09:00.003-05:00

Despite downsizing from a 3bdrm with a basement + garage to a small 1 bedroom...with a closet. I still seem to have amassed extra 'stuff'. I figure I'd offer to my friends first at the super awesome price or free before trying to gouge people on craigslist.

I have an Eagle DoubleNest hammock + fancy straps like this.

Only without the people...and + the tree straps. I used it once. Maybe twice. It was a drunken impulse buy at Neptune after a Southern Sun jaunt. Anyone want it? I guarantee it will be cheap enough for you to not feel guilty buying this awesome thing you've ALWAYS wanted. Don't lie.

I have a Coleman old 4person tent. No leaks and works pretty damn good actually. Great for car camping. A mixed 6 pack from Liquor mart will buy you this sweet shelter.

I have an old Polar heart rate monitor. Not sure on the model, but it's not fancy. It was maybe 60$. Not even sure if it does track laps or anything. It may. probably does. but the HRM works well and stopwatch does, so if you know your running route...this will do. Free. You may have to wash off my chest oil/cocoa butter from the strap though...

Triathlon Wetsuits. 2 of 'em. Top of the line from http://www.desotosport.com/ - Here are the sizes. http://www.desotosport.com/products/sizecharts.php
The bottoms are both size 4 bottoms. According to the chart 5'7-5'10 and 150-165lbs
One top is size 3, one is size 4.

The tops are Black Pearl the bottoms are First Wave (recommended by Desoto)
They were used for one season. No tears or repairs. I only peed in mine a few times. Always washed and taken care of, but used mainly Salt Water. I'll let these go for much cheaper than I bet you can imagine. (They were initially $500+. ) These were VERY well taken care of.

Speaking of triathlon, I have a bit of gear too. A bunch of tri-singlets & bottoms. None of those funny looking full suits though. Brands range from Zoot to Sugoi to PI and are usually size M. Swim caps, goggles, and all that fun stuff too. Need a bib or chip holder? got probably a few of them too.

Running shoes--
La Sportiva Crosslites size: 9.5

I don't think these were ever worn on a trail! Worm a handful of times....to the grocery store. Brand freakin' new. Free as in Beer.

I have some old Vibram Five Fingers I'll pay someone 5$ (get it? 5$ 5-fingers) to take, But, the catch is you have to post a picture on your blog/facebook in them. No clue on the size and they were probably only worn for this picture. I'm a 9.5 in Cascadias and 9 in MT101's if that's any indication.

Water packs. Take your pick. For each water pack, I'll throw in a water bottle from a random 5k race that I was given in a goodie bag, that's in the back of my cabinet because it probably leaks from the top.

Northface Woman's Tenaya 1.5liter. It's womens, and has some purple on it, but if you dig purple and have manboobs, I won't tell anyone.

Ultimate direction single bottle hip pack. No bottle included because my wife probably melted it in the dish washer. If you want, I can include a fancy [insert cheap water bottle I got at a 5k here] bottle.

Ok, this guy is old. I've had him for a while, but honestly, this no frills pack is pretty sweet. simple. One of the original camelback classics.

I have a sweet long board I bought on another drunken impulse a while back. Heck, this thing still has the price sticker on it I think. It was used maybe 3x? It's this one. (but it's in my storage space). I'm sure I could sell it to some CU student for more than I'll give it to you for. (because you'll pick out better beer as payment)

I also have a sweet, only used a few times, regular skateboard. Thing is basically brand new. All good stuff. It's a Black Label deck, (maybe 8" wide, 8.25 at most) with Indy trucks, and spitfire wheels. Bones swiss bearings. If your kid is into skating, they'll know what all that shit means and say 'whoa, swiss bearings?!' It's black with an upside down cross and skull on the bottom, so if you're thinking about it for your kids who worship jesus, it might not be the best idea. If they are into satan, this is a major bargain. I don't even think I ever pulled off a nose/rail slide on the bottom that's how new it is. No pic, it's in my storage space too.

We've got a shit ton of old ipods too. Like real old and then maybe 1 or two 1st and 2nd gen ipod nanos. If you have a kid who has been wanting an ipod and is not a brat who's going to complain it's not the latest thing, these are for you. Or, if you need something for running, one or two of them are pretty decent.

I have a Panasonic point and shoot camera that's really awesome, I just don't use it anymore as my smaller Canon is much easier on the trails...but this thing has a zeiss lens, and 12x zoom...that starts at 28mm....and is sweet. takes HD video as well. It's a DMZ-TZ5 (in silver) here is a link to the specs in amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-TZ5K-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B0011Z8CCG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1328122781&sr=1-1

Zoom example. Pictures that I actually took...

It also takes better, crisper photos than any other point and shoot I've messed with.

I probably have a bunch of other crap too, but need to go through my closet still...

Motorcycle Photoshoot Video

2012-01-13T15:00:00.001-05:00

The video speaks for itself. Gregor is just an awesome photographer. I met Gregor through the NJ enduro/dualsport motorcycle riding circuit as well down in South Carolina in the rally racing circuit. He's a great rider and an even better photographer. From motorcycles to food (he did photography for this). Some of the best photos I have of my rally racing were taken by Gregor.

Scorpion BTS from Gregor Halenda on Vimeo.

Motorcycles

2012-01-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

Here is a good article/interview with the leader of the BMW Motorrads design team. Might surprise some.

For those who don't know, I'm a motorcycle enthusiast. I used to put together, build, rebuild, all kinds, but mainly vintage (pre-1965) Harley. My panhead is still in my garage in NJ, awaiting me to stop being lazy, get some money, get it out here, and put it 'back' together.

Some old ones I've had/built/sold/grewup

First bike I really built myself. Not a whole lot of fabrication and a lot of aftermarket. Learned a lot. Hate it now, but it was fun learning.

In Florida. My pants were a little too long. Douche.

a 66 triumph motor I rebuilt.

My Garage in NJ.

When I had to fit my car in there too.

I've also done quite a bit of rally racing when the US first allowed bikes to race along with cars (not side by side) back in 2006ish.

I've also done some long trip touring. Took a 3400mi trip up to Goose Bay a few years back. You can read about that trip, here.

I also dig on the technology of the superbikes. Doubt I'd own one as it's not my riding style, but I really appreciate the machines and technology. The Ducati 1199 in that article has me drooling, not from a 'I want to ride it' standpoint but from a 'beautiful machine' standpoint.

2012 - I'm going to make a motorcycle move. Whether it's bring something from NJ or get something new...not sure. I really dig the Ural sidecars as of late, but can also see a more nimble dual sport. One day when I'm retired and have a garage I'll tinker again, but now, I'm more of a 'want to spent more time riding than tinkering/fixing' kind of guy. Don't like having too many unfinished 'things' or projects. Now, less is more for me.

Obligatory Year End Post

2011-12-31T14:27:00.004-05:00

2011

Accomplishments (with report links):
5k PR
2010: 25:35/8:22 min/mi
2011: 22:53/7:23 min/mi (quite the saga)

10k PR
2010: 56:36/9:07 min/mi
2011: 52:31/8:28 min/mi (also quite the story, 2 days after my 50k blow-up)

Finished my first Ultramarathon (50miler)
Finished my second Ultra (Mountain Madness 50k)
Ran a 27.25mi trail marathon
Ran a 7hr self-supported 33.25mi training run

First snowshoe race! (In effing NJ!)

Failures:
DNF - Watching Winter Ultra - DNFed the 50k at mile 22 due to too much snow
DNF - Febapple 50k - DNFed after 10miles due to icy/crappy conditions
A bunch of shitty bonks on runs.
A few shitty races that I SHOULD have/was capable of doing better at.

2010

2012 Goals

Collegiate Peaks 25mi - Run a 'good' race without major breakdowns or issues

Mountain Madness 50k - Run the best race I'm capable of. Focused training throughout the year. I don't want there to be a 'well I could/should have done more/less of X' - No excuses.

I may have a few other races thrown in there, but they won't be of any distance and won't be the main focus of 2012.

And because that's pretty boring. I give you this hilarious picture of Rupp.

Stupid mask.

REI's return policy

2011-12-21T20:41:00.002-05:00

is funny. If I had no morals or ethics I'd take back my running shoes after 500 miles and say 'used for 500 miles, too big'

Winning

2011-12-14T18:22:00.002-05:00

Things and Stuff

2011-12-12T14:51:00.001-05:00

Remember when I said a billion times that there is no reason for me to go hit the gym/track? That I just love to go out and have fun running despite certain fun runs hurting performance and that I just love having fun running in the mountains? Well. fuck, never say never - right?

My 'Mountain Madness' has turned into MountainMadness50k. Meaning, I'm pretty obsessed with doing well in this race and trailrunning in general. I realize the sacrifices and they make sense.

When moving to a place like Boulder, from a place like NJ, it's hard for anyone not to instantly fall in love with the mountains and all of these awesome trails, right at our doorstep. I had to drive an hour to run a 'trail' in NJ. Boulder, and living ~2miles from Chautauqua,...is like putting a kid in a candy store.

...As if I was on a vacation and only had a limited amount of time. Well, guess what? I don't need to court this lady anymore. We're married. I live here. I can run all this cool stuff whenever I want. It's not going away! ever!! Thinking about that, I realized "How can I enjoy this even more" and the answer is "get better/faster". I had a good honeymoon in Boulder. I got a lot out of my system.

Game on.

It's going to be tough for me to temper the desire to head to Chautauqua to go up a peak or something while running on the comparatively boring South Boulder Creek trail or Flatirons Vista/Doudy/Marshall Mesa. Hell, I went out twice this weekend on some 'flatter' trail runs and the whole time you just look at the flatirons thinking 'I'd much rather be running there!'. But, at my fitness, that just means I'll likely be toast for the rest of the week. I'm going to have to sacrifice for a bit for a good return on my investment. It's hard though. Laurie and I finished up a ~13mile run yesterday, starting at Bobolink and heading over to SoBo creek up to Mesa and down Bluestem...with a spectacular view the whole time. I get back to the car and get an email from JV with an offer to head up Green about 4 hours from then. You know how bad I wanted to? I know a few people will...

Will it be worth it? We'll see. Worst case, the mountains aren't moving, and neither am I.

In other news. I did some experimenting on my sleep lately. I've never been one to have to use an alarm, so I never did. I could go to sleep at 2am and no matter how tired, I can get up at 3:49 if I needed to, no problem. Despite getting enough 'hours' of sleep (usually around 7-8), I've always felt the quality of my sleep has been shit. I get up 1-2x to piss, and about 3-4 more times just because I heard something, a truck driving by, a fart, anything. Laurie can ask me a question while sleeping and I'll be conscious enough to be able to intelligently answer (and remember it) immediately. We're talking without a 'Hey Rob wake up I need to ask you something'. Nope. I can be dead asleep and she can say 'What's 2+2?' and I'll be awake enough to say 4, immediately.

SO, I slept with my HRM on for a few days. Here is the strange part. My HR was on average, 10bpm LOWER when I set an alarm (even though I'd still wake up before it). Perhaps an anxiety issue? Pretty strange but maybe my brain says 'oh, sleep harder, no worries about waking up'? In any case, I think maybe I'll start sleeping with an alarm. Anyone have any insight?

Unbreakable: The Western States 100

2011-12-09T10:07:00.001-05:00

Review? It was great. A must-see for any trail/ultrarunner. It was a very well shot and cut documentary of an amazing race, in an amazing year. There is not much more to say.

I ordered the DVD (from here) and have this sweet theater with an 11' screen in my condo complex that seats ~22 so I'll have some sort of viewing around x-mas if anyone is game. Maybe a run up Green followed by the flick and some pizza/beer.

Here is the Q&A post movie with Geoff and Anton. Sorry for the quality, it's a small Canon point and shoot (which I found only takes video 10:00 at a time).

It's in 4 parts, I wasn't sure how to make a sort of playlist in YouTube (mucho frustrated with YouTube at the moment but not wanting to 'buy' Vimeo like the cool kids):

The Incline (my first)

2011-12-08T20:09:00.001-05:00

Went to the viewing of Unbreakable: The Western States 100 film last night in Colorado Springs. (I'll post about that in a bit) It was my first time there so I figured I'd play hooky today and Laurie and I would get a nice romantic room and I'd convince her to do The Incline. It worked, and it only took a cheap motel.

Here is a little video I put together. Mainly to put the new cover of Immigrant Song that Trent Reznor did for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie, but...youtube copyright filters suck. Sorry. You can listen to that version here.

Cool run, or rather hike. The bomb down the Barr Trail was worth the climb though. I can't see how Matt C can do something like low 18:00 up this though...insane.

Watchung Loop PR

2011-12-05T14:52:00.001-05:00

I had to go back to NJ for work this weekend. After being on airplanes the whole month of November I really wasn't looking forward to it. Also, Boulder was getting some snow and I was jealous that I had to be in NJ while people are breaking fresh trail. Nonetheless, I was very eager to get together with my NJ Trail Running friends for a loop around Watchung. The problem was, that I only had a short amount of time before I had to go to work on Saturday morning as this trip was strictly work and I'd be working 15 hour days. Not too much R&R, but I woke up early to get this in before being stuck in a data center for the remainder of the trip.

Watchung is basically the 'home field' for the group and it's one of the only things we keep track/FKT's of. (I think the FKT is around 1:30) It's a mild loop compared to anything in Boulder, but, I still couldn't really run the whole thing last year. It has a few technical/rocky sections but that's it. That last time I PRed it was a little over a year ago in November 2010. (After that, we had snow on the ground, basically, until we moved to Boulder). I was really eager to see what my PR would be and what a whole year of trail running in Boulder has done for me. Sure, I PRed my 5 and 10k's this year, but this...this trail & group that got me started trail running! This would cap off my year and really tell me how much I've improved.

Well, we started out in pretty perfect weather, low 40's, with a group of 8, the usual suspects that I used to run with (or behind) a new couple (Me and Laurie's replacements) and some French guy. ;) We ran at a casual pace, talking and catching up. We were way ahead of my PR, and I would say I didn't push it at all during the run. It felt easier than a Boulder Wednesday Trail Jog. I ran pretty much every part, which is a first as I used to have to walk some of the hills. I turned it up a little bit the last 2 miles or so to finish 10.8mi in 1:56. I never really looked at my HR or watch or anything but Chris kept letting me know we were doing pretty good. When I looked at my HR, it was lower than I usually 'easy' run in (and it felt it too!). Damn, now I'm curious what time I could do if I actually 'ran' it with some sort of effort. My avg HR was 150 which is an 'easy' run for me (a race effort for my at this distance has been averaging ~165 this year)

Previous: 2:08:47 11:46 pace
Now: 1:56:38 10:52 pace

The difference is 12:09 and 1:00 off my pace. NICE!

The awesome part is I wasn't even trying and my average HR was 8 beats average lower than the last PR.

Thailand 2011 - Episode II - Chiang Mai...Long Mai Roo

2011-11-25T23:51:00.001-05:00

Best to watch in HD

Them there are hills...

7-11 in the middle of the jungle...luxurious. Our fearless guides Bandito and Mr. C taking a break.

We ate one of these pigs shortly after this picture was taken, and it was delicious.

Lord of the Fly's or Lost?

Out trek guide, Mr. C. He drank a good 1/5th of Thai Rum we gave him that morning...before 10:00am. Caught many fish with a bamboo pole, and foraged the fuck out of everything (including this grapefruit). He. was. awesome. Regardless whether he hadn't showered in weeks or the boxers he was wearing as shorts had a giant hole where is giant balls hung out off.

A machete, rum, and some green trees we would eat for dinner that night...what more can you ask for in a guide.

"The bottom half"

Possibly one of the coolest experiences of the trip....

Beard be gone

2011-11-24T17:51:00.001-05:00

I decided I'd like to fornicate with my wife again, so I had to shave it.

5k PR while in Thailand - 22:53

2011-11-23T11:41:00.001-05:00

Previously - race - 25:35 - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32580657 5-8-2010

Previous PR that didn't count because it was downhill and Garmin Data

While you wait for my next installment of my Thailand trip, I figured I'd post this one up...

I didn't run much during my two weeks in Thailand. I spent 3 days hiking some gnarly trails in northern Thailand with some decent climb in the beginning of the trip and lots of walking. When we got down to the south, it was all relaxation, but that gave us some time to do a few morning runs. My legs actually felt really shitty, I think due to all the hard Thai massages we were getting way to frequently. (at 4$ an hour for a GOOD Thai massage, on vacation, who can resist?) The first run we did was a group run with Ton, Jo, Ton's dad and Laurie.

It was just 4mi on the beach at an easy pace. I think my HR was in the 130's for it and I just couldn't get my HR up and my legs felt pretty shitty even at high 10:45ish pace. For some strange reason I figured I could PR a 5k the next morning (and with some coaxing/prodding/instigating from Ton and Jo and some shit talking to them on their Tri they raced run splits) because it was pretty flat. It was pretty hot and extremely humid out (visibly humid). I warmed up for a mile with Jo and Ton and honestly, I was feeling really shitty at ~11min pace. We started the run and the first mile, even though I felt like shit, I held back a bit, slowing down from sub-7 a few times and clicked in at 7:16. Mile 2, around the turnaround I hit some hills ...twice... so it was a bit slower 7:32. I think that mile more mental than physical since I didn't expect the hills and was still not wanting to blow up. Then, hit up the last mile in 7:19 for a 7:23 average pace. Thanks Jo and Ton for running with me.

We actually passed a couple (husband and wife) of Austrian triathletes who were on holiday, on the run, which was weird to come across in the south of Thailand.

I felt far from 100% at the start. I think that I could have done much better on better feeling legs and in conditions not 85+ degrees and humid.

I can break 7:00 pace, I think if it were flat, and everything else was perfect with some inspiration to actually run fast on the road. (fuck, there I go again.) I didn't feel nearly as satisfied as I do PRing a trail. Jo made a comment about noticing I didn't really seem like I pushed it on the back, and when I thought about it, mentally I didn't. I made a comment about 'well, if I went faster, then I'd have to beat a faster time the next time I'm coaxed to do this bullshit'. I'm not good at the whole 'giving it all I got' yet on this type of running.

Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/130390461

Thailand 2011 - Episode I - First Taste of Bangkok

2011-11-22T10:44:00.001-05:00

I'm going to have to break this epic trip up into multiple parts. Here is the first two days in video

In this part we fly through Korea and arrive in Bangkok. The next day was a triathlon followed by just a taste of Bangkok for ~2 days where we massaged, visited the floating market and the Grand Palace...massaged...and ate...

Thailand Bound

2011-11-03T15:32:00.002-04:00

Leaving for Thailand tomorrow for a few weeks on some R&R&R (rest relaxation and maybe even some running).

I left the itinerary up to my two Thai friends who will be chaperoning me and I think it's going to be a good one that includes: some Chaing Mai trekking, beautiful beaches on tiny unknown islands, perhaps one night Bangkok, and best of all, great company.

I've been assured that, despite news reports, the flooding won't be much of an issue and Thailand will appreciate the tourist dollars.

แล้วเจอกันใหม่

Hill Repeats - NIST service road - 6x1min

2011-11-01T20:23:00.000-04:00

This is my second week doing these. I had an encounter with playful dog on repeat 4...and silly me trusted a fart on repeat 6. Never trust a fart after mile 2, or apparently on hill repeats. Recovery (I waited till I hit 138ish) took a little bit longer today than last week but my reps were faster. I had that 'yep you pushed it' puke feeling on the last one...might have been due to the shart though. My average and max HR's were consistent with last week. I was afraid I wasn't going to be 'ready' to do a hard workout today because of last weeks high volume, even hesitated before starting for a minute, but surprisingly I guess my 'really easy' easy run yesterday, despite leg soreness, shook things out and I was pretty much 95% today. Overall time is a bit skewed as I took a little longer to warm up today.

I also thought to start putting rocks where I start/stop.

Last week's data
This week's data

Weekly Running Summary - 10/24-10/30

2011-10-30T17:17:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who gave advice on last weeks post...Lucho and GZ gave some good advice on hills, nutrition, and what not. One clip I took from lucho was that my week should kind of look like this:
M RUN/BIKE-EZ
T. RUN-hill work 6 X 1:00 building to maximum effort on each.
W. RUN/BIKE-EZ
Th. RUN- medium long run with progression
F. RUN/BIKE-EZ
Sa. RUN- Long hill repeats of ~3:00-5:00 or hill fartlek/ tempo
Su. Run-long endurance (MAF/Z2)

Also snagged this quote from Matt Carpenter's Incline Club bio page thing..
"Consistency is the key. Make your hard days hard, your easy days easy, and do it consistently and you will go fast and far:-) "

So that's what I did this week. Not sure I nailed Saturday's exactly, as it was the Basic, but, Green in the snow/ice is certainly hill work for me. I did make the easy runs easy though. And, I did go into today's long run with some tired legs. Not sure I did it MAF/Z2 as I haven't quite figured out that calculation.

In other news...
I plan on watching this

The 3 people who read my blog, probably already saw the latest: Kilian's Quest Season 3 Episode 8 Kilian takes a break
My week...

Monday
3.1mi - Bobolink + 6.66mi - Bobolink BTR MMR
Distance: 3.10 mi Time: 28:60 Avg Pace: 9:22 min/mi Elevation Gain: 59 ft
Distance: 6.66 mi Time: 1:08:00 Avg Pace: 10:13 min/mi Elevation Gain: ? ft
Got to the trail head really early and with my blog post from the previous day and the advice that followed, I was a little motivated and went out for 3 easy miles before the group run. I also wanted to see if the trail was still closed down by South Boulder Road (due to momma bear). Concentrated on making the easy runs easy. My Garmin died a few minutes into it but got the data from Pete. Felt like maybe 147hr. Flashlight most of the time.

Tuesday
Hill Repeats - NIST service road - 6x1min
Distance: 2.91 mi Time: 32:18 Avg Pace: 11:07 min/mi Elevation Gain: 521 ft
I took Lucho's recommendation on this workout to help with my hills. I was pretty eager to get out there today despite the freezing rain. This is my first time really doing this and I figured the NIST service road that I take up to the base of Skunk Canyon was as good of a place as any to begin with as it's a decent grade and non-technical dirt. 10 minute warmup and cooldown. I am actually kind of surprised at my pace even for the 1:00. Although, the Garmin accuracy on such small distances isn't very accurate. Not sure what the grade is...whatever 70ft/.12 miles is maybe around 10-11%? In any case, this will definitely be added into the week.

Wednesday
4.6mi - Chautauqua BTR WTJ
Distance: 4.61 mi Time: 1:15:23 Avg Pace: 16:20 min/mi Elevation Gain: 877 ft
SNOW! We stopped a lot but good moving pace. Still a very easy effort. Here is my post with some pictures...

Thursday
7.61mi - Boulder Valley Ranch BTR HHR
Distance: 7.61 mi Time: 1:25:12 Avg Pace: 11:12 min/mi Elevation Gain: 360 ft
Snowy-Muddy slog-fest. Did two miles before the group run. Just...muddy. Wanted to do maybe 3 before the run but I didn't have enough time.

Friday
6.4mi - Boulder Creek Path
Distance: 6.39 mi Time: 1:04:37 Avg Pace: 10:07 min/mi Elevation Gain: 153 ft
Easy run with Laurie. REALLY tried to make this easy run 'easy'.

Saturday

9.35mi - BBMM

Distance: 9.27 mi Time: 3:05:26 Avg Pace: 20:01 min/mi Elevation Gain: 2,949 ft
Had a blast just hoofing it with Laurie. Bad decision not to bring microspikes though. Still, had a good time and got 3hrs/3kft of elevated HR and climb in. I tried the straight maltodextrin in my water instead of gels and it worked out pretty awesome! I'm not sure I'll ever go back to gels.

Here is my video

Sunday

15mi - Boulder Creek Path

Distance: 15.00 mi Time: 2:36:42 Avg Pace: 10:27 min/mi Elevation Gain: 402 ft
I felt really good but it's evident I haven't run this far on pavement in a while! Still, despite my hike yesterday, I think it was a solid run. I did the straight maltodextrin powder again only this time in 2 handhelds. 300cals in each with about ~16oz of water and a nuun tab in each...'boy are my arms tired', although, I'm never going back to gels, this is the bomb yo. I probably looked silly on the creek path with a giant water bottle in each hand...I was 'that' guy. BUT. I saw, twice this week on the path by the Highschool...a hobo wearing some Hoka OneOne's!! No joke! Not sure where he got em' from but I didn't stop to ask. Maybe I'll ask him if I see him again. Oh yeah, I actually weighed myself pre-post run. pre-157.4 post-156.8 (post was after 16oz of Recoverite when I got home)

Summary:
So how did my week go compared to the outline I posted above?
M RUN/BIKE-EZ (ran very flat and very easy)
T. RUN-hill work 6 X 1:00 building to maximum effort on each. (yep, did this like a boss)
W. RUN/BIKE-EZ (easy effort in the snow, basically a fun run)
Th. RUN- medium long run with progression (meh, I wish I got in more miles and they weren't so muddy, I did try to get a progression in at least as far as HR was concerned)
F. RUN/BIKE-EZ (yep, easy on the path)
Sa. RUN- Long hill repeats of ~3:00-5:00 or hill fartlek/ tempo (well, did the Basic, so def. hills but not very regimented a workout)
Su. Run-long endurance (MAF/Z2) (I think so...)
Well hell--dare I say the best week I can remember? Felt solidly good the whole week and made my hard runs hard and my easy runs easy! This 55mi week came easy and I don't feel burnt out physically. Granted, the easy runs were a bit boring, I didn't do much climb, and 15mi on the Boulder Creek Path staring at the mountains required extreme control not to divert. Not sure what the next few weeks will bring as I'll be in Thailand on vacation but I am going with a few of those high maintenance triathlete guys...so I'm sure I can drag them on a trail run out there in Chang Mai if I lie and say it doesn't have any hills...

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 55.54 mi (34.16-trail)
Time: 11:36:37
Elevation Gain: 5,331 ft
Ft/Mi: 95.98

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,387.02 mi
Time: 319:50:36
Elevation Gain: 153,923 ft

Just a basic Boulder group mountain run...

2011-10-29T21:04:00.001-04:00

Had a good time with some good people!

Wednesday Trail Jog in the Snow

2011-10-27T11:32:00.001-04:00

I was stoked to wake up to the snow yesterday. It's pretty crazy how in CO it could be 80 on a Monday and over a foot of snow on a Wednesday.

I couldn't wait to go running in it after work. The Boulder Trail Runners Wednesday Trail Jog (BTR WTJ), which is touted as the slower run "About 5 miles in about an hour", but is really always about 6.5mi in about an hour..or more...or something like that and oh...some vertical. In any case, it's a good group run for me at my level.

We met up at Chautauqua at 5:30 with headlamps on. Most people were wearing tights (pussies) but if it's 30 or up, I'm still in shorts. This Colorado 32 degrees is a lot 'warmer' than an east coast humidity 32 degrees where you get the blanket of bitter cold. So, just some smartwool socks, shorts, tech shirt, arm warmers and a light wind shirt, hat and gloves and I was cozy. Took of the wind shirt once I was warmed up.

I think 10 people showed up. We didn't do a crazy route only about 4.6mi with 880ft vertical, but we came down my favorite trail (not sure why, but I dig it) Skunk Canyon and it was a blast. We stopped a lot to enjoy the silence and scope the views. Boulder kind of looked like a snow globe at night.

I ran all last winter in the brutal snow we got on the east coast. (over a foot was on the ground from Dec 26th-Mar 1st! a record of I believe over 50" fell in NJ) so I'm used to it, but it wasn't hard, wet, NJ icy snow. So, bombing down the trails here was even more awesome. I do well in the snow. Maybe because I have a couple hundred miles in it from last season but it's no biggie to me. Love it!

Didn't hit up Green yet like a few fellas.

Podcast of the day & Video of the day

2011-10-24T23:08:00.000-04:00

Lucho's new "Ask the Ultrarunner" podcast is up on Endurance Planet. Check it out. My problems I mentioned in my last post are slowly getting some answers and advice. I'm looking forward to finding a hill for some repeats...perhaps the NIST service road up to Skunk or Four Pines up from work on lunch.

It was 78 out in Boulder today. In Denver, they had a record breaking Oct. 24th with 80 according to those smart guys at NOAA. I managed to get in almost 10 miles on South Boulder Creek path from Bobolink at an easy effort and it felt pretty good.

78 today and we're going to get some snow here in Boulder tomorrow! They are saying something like 6in. NICE. I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Mountain Peak Fitness put together a little video of The Mountain Madness 50k I bombed. Thankfully you don't see me in it. 2:28 is my favorite part where Len just looks thrilled. Great video but doesn't even put a dent into showing the gnarley-ness of most of the course.

2011 Mountain Madness 50K Trail Race from MountainPeakFitness.com on Vimeo.

Weekly Running Summary - 10/17-10/23

2011-10-23T18:42:00.002-04:00

Things and Stuff

My 2012 Goals:

Do well at Mountain Madness 50k in Oct. 2012 (top 50%, break 7:00). Focus on it.
Not get dropped on climbs or be DFL on easier group runs
PR Bolder Boulder 10k. PR it good. Sub-8:00 pace would be...good.
Be able to, more or less, run the entire Mesa trail (or similar trails) without hiking, and at reasonable, non-race, effort.
Break 50min up the backside of Green (currently at 57:23)
Be able to still feel good averaging 50mpw. Not that I think I need it, I want it. I just enjoy running the trails and there are times when I want to run more, but I can't.
Be able to feel better running in the morning

My Problems:

Hills & Climbs. No can do. I end up hiking. Usually my calves tighten up so tight and get like a shaken up 2ltr bottle of cola and my feet go numb. This happens a lot. I thought/think it might be exertional compartment syndrome, same symptoms. This happens even with slight inclines (sometimes even on the 2mi/150ft climb to work). I can barely make it up Bluebell Rd. from Chautauqua which is only .5 miles and non-technical. Trigger point acupuncture helps a bit. I also don't know how to get better at incline. My problem is often met by the advice - 'just run more incline!', however...do I run hills I can run, and gradually get steeper/harder? Do I continue to slowly power hike Green? Repeats? At what HR/Effort? Do I stop running when I'm at 190BPM or is that OK? How do I do this so that I can actually run the rest of the week and not be walking like a cripple!? etc...
Diet & Nutrition. I eat like crap when I'm not running. 158lbs 5'8" 12.4%BF. My problem is when I'm not running, I'm not just 'not running' - I'm eating and drinking. The ironic part is I'm a great cook.
I don't really know anything about plans or how to focus and train for a specific race.
I don't like track-work at all. It's a complete de-motivator for me and I'm not smart enough to do speed work or get faster just running trails.
My core and upper body strength is not very good (i.e. pushups is hard, yo)
I get pretty burnt out at about 40-50mpw. Not at all mentally, but physically my body says no, no, no.
I have to stop trying/expecting a PR on something every week/run.
I can't, for the life of me, feel good running in the morning. I've tried running to work both before and after breakfast, which is 2.25mi slight uphill (maybe 150ft?) and some days had to even walk (Calve tightness/feet numb issue is MUCH worse in the morning). It doesn't matter what I eat/drink in the morning it seems. I wake up no problem and I've never needed an alarm in my life, so I'm a morning person, just not a morning 'running' person.
I certainly don't seem to know how to race. I seem to do better on solo training runs. I don't know how to really feel if I'm going too hard and I don't think I know how to push it really hard when I'm supposed to either.
I like to understand every part of every thing. I'm a hacker--and that doesn't just apply to computers. The body is far more complex than a silly computer. An example: I ran a flat 10k training run at 8:51 pace at 162HR, then a week later, I bombed a trail 50k....(8:07:00! and almost DFL) and two days later, on bunk legs, I ran a HILLY 10k and PRed. Fastest 10k ever in my life at 8:28 pace and 165HR. Baffling to me!

My Plan:
Fix my problems, meet my goals. Simple right? How I'm going to do that, I have no idea. If my problems were that easy, I would have fixed them already. I'll figure it out. With patience, persistance, and consistency and through the help of friends or on my own. (So, dear friends, chime in!)

My Desire:
Not putting this in the goals section or problems section, because problems are often viewed negatively and if anything, it's the opposite. as a matter of fact, all of the above should not be taken as negative, but...positive.

I fucking love running, I love the mountains, and want to run more, longer, and faster.

Still, it's a little frustrating being close to DFL most of the time. I'm the guy who loves being out on the trails more than anyone and run as much as I can. However, as arrogant as it sounds, I'd like to be in the top 50%, or better than half the people out there running. Perhaps this stems from my hyper-focus 'disorder'. Whatever interest I have, I hyper-focus until I hit the 'Mt. Everest' of it. I think about it before bed, I dream about it, I obsess over it. I've only been at it the past three years. I'm not sure what my Everest is yet, perhaps shiny buckle, but, I know I'm not close and this one is going to take a looong while. The fact that this is challenging, I may never hit it, and I'm not real good at it now, puts a smile on my face.

So does this...

and this, Upcoming Boulder weather...Love it.

Oh yeah, before I forget; I posted a question on Facebook and I think people thought I was joking. I'm an East Coast guy and yeah we have far more bears, but these mountain lions...well, call me a Nancy, they scare the living shit out of me. Should I be as worried as I am about running pre-dawn and after sunset alone?

P.P.S. Any slower-pokes running the Basic? I feel somewhat obligated to do so my first year here, even if only for a small bit.

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
10k - South River Frost on the Pumpkin Course - PR
Distance: 6.20 mi Time: 52:31 Avg Pace: 8:28 min/mi Elevation Gain: 314 ft
Was still in NJ. You can read more about this one here as I wrote quite a bit about it. In short; Stopped by my old 10k road coarse in NJ and PRed by 30sec/mi. (the weirdness I wrote about up top)

Wednesday
Nada

Thursday
4.75mi - From work up Skunk-Woods Quarry-Kohler-ish
Distance: 4.75 mi Time: 1:03:14 Avg Pace: 13:19 min/mi Elevation Gain: 1,027 ft
Back in Boulder and I needed to hit something like this right from work. I practically ran out of the door. I didn't expect much after the 50k and PR the past couple of days. I just enjoyed what I love. I have passed by the little woods quarry trail about 50 times and never sprung up it so today I went up from the north side which is a pretty gradual climb and down the steeper south side. Next time the opposite. These little trails are what I love about the Mesa trail area.

Friday
5.08mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook Lollipop
Distance: 5.07 mi Time: 55:52 Avg Pace: 11:01 min/mi Elevation Gain: 593 ft
Laurie suggested this route today. We did well and ran the whole thing without hiking and she PRed. Quite a few mountain bikers to dodge. I love this trail as its one of the few I can actually run and it has great views, but it's also a popular mountain bike trail and I feel bad, with loads of non-mountain bike trails around to run, that I'm running on their trails. So, I always jump out of the way to give them the right of way whenever I can.

Saturday

8.75mi - Green via Gregory-Ranger down Bear Cyn to Mesa

Distance: 8.72 mi Time: 2:29:33 Avg Pace: 17:09 min/mi Elevation Gain: 2,745 ft
The plan was to chase Laurie up and both try to PR. I gave her a 10 minute head start. I never caught her. She was on fire today. I felt good, but as soon as I hit the 3 way, I knew I would have to push it hard to PR. So, I did...and hit the top 23 seconds after my PR time. Darn. I felt like I was going to puke so I sat down kind of in the middle up there. It was (too) crowded, with about 20-25 people staring at me as I contemplating yakking. Then, up out of the brush pops JV and Homie, so I had to put on my big boy pants. 57:46 up. I'm being told that puking is cool, but...I don't think I'm allowed to puke until I at least break 50:00.

EDIT: Dammit. I just re-checked my PR and it was 57:39 so I missed it by 7 seconds. Must have been the few times I pulled off trail to let some people come down...yeah, that's it.

Pic courtesy of JV

Sunday
4mi - Bobolink
Distance: 3.94 mi Time: 41:27 Avg Pace: 10:31 min/mi Elevation Gain: 67 ft
Easy run with Laurie. Had to cut it short as the (very serious) Ranger closed the trail due to bears.

Summary:
It was a fun week with great weather in Boulder. The PR in NJ on my old 'course' was great and motivating. Especially after my bomb of a 50k. Looking forward to the change in weather and the time change so I can get out and run in the morning before work...without worrying about big cats.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 28.68 mi (22.48-trail)
Time: 6:02:38
Elevation Gain: 4,746 ft
Ft/Mi: 165.48

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,331.48 mi
Time: 308:13:60
Elevation Gain: 148,591 ft

Some Mountain Madness 50k 2011 pics

2011-10-20T11:36:00.001-04:00

"Sweet Caroline" 10k Redemption PR

2011-10-19T00:19:00.001-04:00

I must be half-retarded. On the way to my hotel from work today, my last day in NJ, I found myself reaching into my bag and digging out some stinky shorts and changing while driving. I pulled up in front of my NJ house, got out, threw on my still wet trail shoes and clicked start on my Garmin. I went off to do the route that I did since day 1, the 10k local race route which runs by my NJ house. This was the race that got me started running. My legs certainly did not feel fresh, but they didn't feel bad either. I really didn't look at my watch but went at what felt like an easy effort for two miles or so, then I hit the first hill. This hill was THE hill (now, a pimple in comparison). Caroline Drive. "Sweet Caroline". I remember when I couldn't run up it. Well, I pushed it and picked up the pace. I felt pretty good despite some dead legs and a noticeable lack of turnover. I looked down and I was at a mid 8:00 pace. Nice. Well, I figured what the hell and continued on. Can't say it was race pace, as my legs were a bit limiting, but almost.

Stopped the watch at 6.2mi, 350ft climb, 8:28 pace, 162HR, 179max. This is the fastest 10k I've ever run. My previous fastest pace on this exact course was 9:07 pace with 165hr/185max on Sept. 28th 2010. A year before that, same course, (after my first year running) 9:23 pace 172 HR. Heck, the Bolder Boulder I ran in late may had half the climb and I only did 9:17 pace at 174HR

SO same course:
10/18/2011 - 8:28 pace, 162HR, 179max
09/28/2010 - 9:07 pace, 165HR, 185max
10/25/2009 - 9:23 pace, 172HR, 190max

Garmin Data:
New 10k PR: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/122733568
Previous: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/50957584

The only disappointing thing was my cadence was only 85...likely due to some dead legs from the weekend.

Someone please explain to me, how exactly 10 days ago, on a week with low mileage, I run a MUCH flatter, easier 10k in Boulder (the creek path), with half the climb, at 8:51 pace and 165HR!? (data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119931185) then, I run 31 hard miles in the woods and two days later I do this on a much hillier course.....at night, in the dark, with no light, at a lower HR. Can't be just altitude.

I obviously have no idea what the fuck I'm doing.

Back to the trails/Boulder tomorrow! But not until I pick up a new pair of Cascadias. I wanted to hate these, but they work well for me. These are trashed and will be donated to the hotel maid to save some weight in my carry-on for a cookbook someone gifted me. Only complaint is the toe tread wears a little faster than I'd like.

Mountain Madness 50k - 2011 Race Report

2011-10-17T09:42:00.001-04:00

31mi - 8:07 - 147 average HR and almost DFL.

Garmin Data
Official Results

Despite my ambitions and goals, I had a good race. I'll sum it up as this: I have a 50k under my belt, that I ran with good friends, where I learned a bit about how to actually run these things. The night before the race, I received some good advice from Lucho about pacing and nutrition and decided that I was going to try something a little different, and just try to run a good race without 'problems'. I wanted to break the race up into 3 parts. The Start (mile 1-8), The Middle to Aid Station 5 (8-22, the 'turnaround') and from Aid Station 5 to Home.

Pre-Race:
The 2 weeks leading up to the race I planned to taper. That first week, I cut back mileage a bit but not so much intensity. You can see that week, here. The week leading up to the race, due to work/travel, I was only able to run 5 miles on the Tuesday before I left.

The Start:
The first 8 mile loop is a mountain bike course loop in the park. This is the perfect warmup to this race. Generally, any terrain a mountain bike is allowed on is an easier trail in the trail running world. Per collective advice, I wanted to keep my HR average at 145-150 for this section. This proved to be very tough as, on fresh legs (which I haven't had in quite a while) and low altitude, I felt fast. I kept looking down at my higher than I wanted HR though, and my PE was easy. Still, I tried to dial it down a bit more, but the initial 'anxiety' of a race environment added a few beats per minute. I felt great. I blazed through this section of 8mi in 1:36:00 (so 12:00 pace) at a HR of 151 and this loop had an average climb of ~125ft/mi.

The Middle to Aid Station 5 at mile 21.5 (the 'turnaround'):
I knew there was a tough climb or two in this section. It also went from mountain bike trails, to hiking trails so they became much more technical. To give my Boulder friends a bit of description of NJ trails, I'd describe them as not really defined trails, but rather leaf covered bushwhacking with baby-head loose rocks underfoot. Not impossible, but a bit tiresome/frustrating after a few miles and a few falls. I still felt fantastic. My nutrition up to this point was drinking a lot of water, a salt tab (salt stick) on the hour, and a clif shot gel every 30 minutes. I'd pick up a handful of whatever at the aid stations as well, but I hate stopping at aid stations for some reason. I probably need to get over that. This section was tough, because I felt great and wanted to run some tougher parts a bit faster. My HR was creeping into 155-165 and while I was certainly capable of running these climbs and hard sections, I hiked to 'stay in the game' and run a smart race. I was still on track for around a 7hr finish so I figured what the heck, if I'm on track for a 7hr finish now, and I save my legs like I am, I'm going to do well!! Then, at mile 16, if my heart rate creeped over 160ish, I started getting that bonk feeling, I increased my salt sticks to every 30 minutes and I tried to eat as much as possible. It never got to where I was feeling bad, and with an extra gel or two, in a short time I became peppy and fresh once again! Crisis averted! (note: I need well more than 200 calories per hour at a HR of 155. Somewhere around double that methinks.) Only, I can only stomach two gels at most an hour, so I need to find another way. Cereal bars were what turned me around, but I'd like to try it in some sort of liquid form, I just don't know enough about this yet. I got to the turnaround at mile 21.5 in a time of 5:16 (so I dropped the pace to 14:45) at an average HR for this specific section of 155. My pace for just this section dropped significantly to 15:15. Ouch. The climb on this section averaged 205ft/mi.

Aid station 5 home:
I restocked on some gels and felt pretty awesome. I figured, "OK Rob, you've saved everything, you've done everything right up until now, now....NOW is the time to run, you feel great". I knew my fitness wasn't that great, so I knew I wasn't going to negative split or anything, but I expected ot be able to run a bit. Well, I grossly underestimated this section of the race, difficulty-wise, against my fitness and training. I ran for a bit then I hit some sections that I was just not fit enough to run or even hike fast. It was apparent my lack of consistency in my long training runs showed, as well as my general fitness on the technical climbs on legs that just move for 20 miles. My only somewhat saving grace was I still felt great hiking. There was no zombie walking it in. It was just cranking through the last miles and climbs. I jogged all the downs, but there weren't many and the climbs were tough and technical. I did keep thinking 'Meh, this isn't nearly as bad as Fern, or Sanitas' (two difficuly trails I hike a lot in Boulder), and I'm surely good at at least getting through those feeling not great. One thing Boulder has gotten me better at is hands-on-knees just pushing and it was easy on these little hills. Everyone from NJ kept asking me if I underestimated the difficulty of the trails/race, and I don't think I really did. The race is one of the MUCH harder on the east coast and the hardest in NJ, for sure, but I don't think the course was harder than anything I've run in Boulder. I ran in the last mile or so, and felt pretty decent doing so. Don't get me wrong, I was still hurting pretty bad, like I just ran 30 miles, but not like in the past where I felt like a zombie, sick, shuffling it in in a slow walk, just to simply finish. I finished in a time of 8:07 (so 15:45 pace), 18:00 for this section, at a HR for this specific section of 130 (ouch). The climb on this section averaged 148 ft/mi.

Summary:
I had some ambitious goals that I didn't hit, but I think I'm OK with that. Make no mistake I would have loved to run faster, but I think finally having a long race like this go somewhat 'right' nutrition/pacing/sickness wise, was really satisfying. Also, make no mistake, I'm going to kill it next year. Some things I need to work on:
- Not sure if I still paced this 100% right, but getting there...
- More consistent long runs and more miles running on tired legs.
- Fine out what is easiest, best to fuel with where I can get more calories than just 200 per hour.
- Loose some more weight. I was 156 at race start, and at 5'8 I'd like to be at least 10lbs lighter.

Last year I ran (or rather slogged) 4:33:00 for the 25k option in this race!!! If I look at it that way and doubled the distance, it would be 9:06:00. I doubled the miles, ran 8:07:00 and cut off an hour, I can't be that upset. The reality is, since I've moved to Boulder, I never really 'trained'. I just ran without any direction or plan and just simply decided to do a race. This race is awesome. It's NJ, it's a little rough around the edges, and for some reason, it means something to me. Maybe because it was kind of the first trail race I ever did. I've never had an actual race I felt passionate about...when I discovered trail running, I just loved to run with friends, but I think this race is the one. I know I can break 7hrs in this race, but I'm going to have to start working toward that, tomorrow. Speaking of which, my legs don't feel so bad today (Sunday). I walked around NYC quite a bit and I'll go for a short run today during lunch at work hopefully.

Until next year!

Mountain Madness 50k - Pre-Race

2011-10-14T00:17:00.000-04:00

Looks kind of dinky right? Yeah yeah, I know. But, it's still 5k ft of gain!

I'm ready. One thing I will say is - I've never, ever ever...felt more prepared/confident for a race. That's not saying I trained the right way, or 'trained' at all, or that I'm actually as prepared as I
should/could be or think I am. Quite the opposite actually. Moving to Boulder and actually running some real trails took a beating on my body being able to put in mileage. It felt like I had to start over. I'm still in that 'pre-newb' phase where the only real thing I can do is simply just run more. Some of my long runs have been complete cluster fucks. I should be nervous, but, I'm the exact opposite. I'm confident I'm going to do well. I'm excited. It's no Leadville or WS100, but it's a real big deal to me.

I've had a bunch of different groups of friends give some advice and predictions. Here are some predictions and quotes:

First, the "triathlon guys"...

"OK, I'll make the first guess of 7:00-7:15 and just barely make it into the top 50%."

"I don't know much about ultrarunning but I know that if I were to train for an ironman, a staple of my weekly training would be a 5-6 hour ride- nonstop, and at least at race intensity (which is possible for biking since IM race intensity is way below threshold). Going through your blog I don't see a lot of over distance (20+ miles) runs, and those that you've done either haven't been to your satisfaction or have been hike/runs.

It seems to be that you still haven't fully figured out the ultra-distance yet. (I don't blame you, it took me three years to figure out how to do an olympic distance properly, and I still haven't figured out the marathon). If I had to give an honest answer right now it would be 7:37."

"I'm gonna make this a little more specific. My assessment is that Rob has a slight tendency to go harder than he should at the beginning of races. Don't think nutrition is the main culprit. This would explain solid training performances but sometimes less-than-stellar races."

"My two-tiered prediction:
A - if your heart rate stays below 155 during first 13 miles... 6 hrs 50min
B - if your heart rate is above 160 for more than 15 percent cumulative time of first 13 miles duration... 8 hrs 10min"

And the "trail running" guys...

"I've never seen you so excited for a run. Your mind is 110% and for a runner at your level, that's worth more than 110%. I do not have a clue on time though as I don't know the course or the trails of NJ compared to what we run out here. I think not having long climbs is going to help you. You seem to hang on the short climbs and recover quickly on the downs when we've run together"

"What I think you are capable of and what I think you will do are different. I think you are absolutely, no doubt, capable of a sub-7, or even 6:45. However, I don't think you have the pacing experience yet to actually hit that. I don't think you will blow up, but I'm not sure if you're going to realize when to take advantage of pushing it. I'm going to say 7:20"

"For all the shit you've been talking, I'm going to say you BETTER come damn close to 7:00!"

"You have nothing to loose. It doesn't seem like you really race much, even though you do enter races. You are going to have to push it and try to ride that edge the best you can. Just always keep in the back of your head, "don't blow up" and "eat/drink". I'm going to go with 7:19 just because I want to beat X in the prediction contest. I will say regardless of your time this year, next year if you race it, looking at last years finishing times, the course profile, and running with you here...you're going to be able to finish in the top 20"

So, quite the mixed bag. Anywhere from 6:45 to 8:10! That get's me excited. My personal goals?

1st - finish in the top 50%

2nd - actually pace and execute it well
3rd - sub-7

4th - not shit myself (this is a lower priority as I'll accept shitting myself for a sub7)

The Boulder 100 is this weekend as well. I'll be looking forward to finishing and checking for updates on some runners.

Glad I'm not the only one who hates that fucking rock on Gregory. I bitch to my wife about that specific rock every time we run up Gregory and she just thinks I'm crazy for obsessing over it.

In any case, the next update will be my race report.

Weekly Running Summary - 10/3-10/9

2011-10-09T16:30:00.001-04:00

Woke up on Saturday morning and stepped on the scale. I haven't seen 155 in a long time. I usually hover around 158-160. Hoping to get to 145-148 eventually, but my nutrition self-control is absolutely horrible.

GZ had a link to some weight/speed gain articles/calculators...perhaps it's what made my Saturday run so fast (for me!)?

Monday
6mi - BTR-MMR Wonderland
Distance: 5.95 mi Time: 1:07:53 Avg Pace: 11:25 min/mi Elevation Gain: 547 ft
A 'take THAT' run to show my body whose boss. Felt great. Needed the torches pretty quickly today. Good recovery/mellow run. Legs feel fine. A slight fatigue but no soreness. In hindsight, it might have been good I had to walk it in yesterday as I was really itching to pick up the pace and go for a decent time and that would have killed my legs for MoMa. My legs feel perfect for a nice taper.

Tuesday
3mi - North Foothills - Headed west
Distance: 3.00 mi Time: 37:10 Avg Pace: 12:23 min/mi Elevation Gain: 289 ft
Easy recovery run with Laurie.

Wednesday
4.6mi - BTW-WTJ from Eben G to Dakota Ridge
Distance: 4.60 mi Time: 1:01:13 Avg Pace: 13:18 min/mi Elevation Gain: 872 ft
I didn't feel great on the climbs today. I do like the Dakota Ridge trail though. I've never been on that guy.

Thursday
Nada

Friday
4mi - Skunk-Mesa-Kohler lollipop from Work
Distance: 4.00 mi Time: 47:39 Avg Pace: 11:55 min/mi Elevation Gain: 826 ft

I was itching to just get out of work and blast out some end-of-work-week effort. It's pretty awesome that some of my favorite little trails are right from works parking lot. I think this is a PR on this run. I wish I could have run a bit more up Skunk, but I cruised pretty easily and effortlessly on the down. The weather was perfect.

Saturday

6.2mi - Boulder Creek Path

Distance: 6.20 mi Time: 54:50 Avg Pace: 8:51 min/mi Elevation Gain: 155 ft
Last weekend it was 88, today it was 39 and snow on the front-range! Since when do I run in the 8:00's? NICE. This is the fastest 10k I've ever run. Previous fastest pace was 9:07. I've only averaged in the 8:xx pace 8 other times before and they were either all downhill from work (2mi) or under 3.1 miles and at a much higher HR. It was nice and cool out but it was still t-shirt weather. Looking at the snow coming down on the front range peaks was pretty awesome and it took every bit of energy not to divert up to Chautauqua and hit Green. Tomorrow.

Ok. I couldn't wait. I came come and ate, watched some Kona, then promised I'd just go out and get some lunch...only I was still in my running clothes. I ended up detouring to Chautauqua for a hike up Green to play in the snow! I forgot the Garmin and wasn't worrying about time, just had a smile on my face. I. love. this. stuff.

Sunday
4.75mi - Green via Amphi-Greenman down via Ranger-Gregory
Distance: 4.73 mi Time: 1:34:42 Avg Pace: 20:00 min/mi Elevation Gain: 2,373 ft
Very casual hike with Laurie. Stopped a lot to goof with the new camera. We started up the front-side and debated taking the tough/alternate route as we'd never been up the front that way. At the junction we saw Tony coming down the tough route. After he described the route to Laurie (gee thanks buddy!), she quickly put the kibosh on that and we just went up the normal front-side route with her mumbling stuff under her breathe at me. She was not feeling real good today. Guess I'll have to save it for another day. I still managed to have some fun and played with the new camera a bit.

Not sure what made this in the middle of the road up to Gregory, but I wouldn't want to run into it.

Summary:
I really love this weather. The whole week I had a smile on my face and the weekend even more so. Especially hitting Green in the first snow, then again the next day. Taper, kinda? No long run but was so eager to get up Green in this weather that I doubled on Saturday and did Green two days in a row. My legs have never felt better though and with travel this week, I'll have a forced taper until Saturda. How do I feel about Mountain Madness? I feel fantastic. I feel like I'm in the best running shape, mental shape, physical shape I've ever been in. If my nutrition and hydration doesn't give me a problem, I'm going to kill it. I'd love to break 7 hours, but my real goal is to just come in the top 50% and leave it all out there. I'm ready. I'm confident.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all my NJ trail running friends and talking smack.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 28.48 mi (22.28-trail)
Time: 6:26:09
Elevation Gain: 5,062 ft
Ft/Mi: 177.73

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,264.31 mi
Time: 292:28:03
Elevation Gain: 138,529 ft

New Garmin 910xt!

2011-10-05T11:33:00.002-04:00

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/05/garmins-forerunner-910xt-sport-watch-begs-to-become-your-new-sw/

I've had my 305 'since the beginning'. It's served me very well. It's had some issues in the past,

(btw - this passed weekends heat/sun all day cleared up that water issue lickety split)

...but still works strong! I'm usually the first to upgrade to the latest greatest but I've been holding out. Holding out for a barometric altimeter. I skipped the 405 the 310xt, the 60-whatever. I ALMOST pulled the trigger on either a Polar or Suunto setup earlier, but glad I held off on the various gadgets. Just pulled the trigger on this guy.

This thing should easily knock 10seconds off my pace. AND I can't lie about climb anymore....

Weekly Running Summary - 9/26-10/2 Blue Sky Marathon

2011-10-02T20:51:00.002-04:00

Am I the only one who's mind is blown by the guy singing? I've heard this song probably a few hundred times. If you know me, you know I have much music like this on my playlists. The picture you paint in your head...

You can read about my clusterfuck of a race below, but, first a story about the night before. We camped out close to the start and it was hot so no rain fly or anything. I wake up to a noise at ~3am...and the first thing my eyes see is an 8or28pt giant mutant mountain deer sniffing my foot through the tent. You know, it's only a deer, but at 3am when you wake up and first, you haven't remembered that you are actually in a tent and not in bed, second, there is no rain fly so it looked like there wasn't a thing separating us from the thing. I about shit in my sleeping bag and jumped up almost taking the little 2 person tent with me. A heard of no less than 10 deer make some scary scared deer noises then run off. Shit. I wish I was wearing my HR monitor. I felt like this.

Monday
Nada- Planned on actually doing a shake-out from the previous days half-marathon but something at work blew up and worked a good 16 hour day. Instead of a run, I went to Southern Sun. Fail.

Tuesday
4mi - Doudy Night Run out and back with Laurie
Distance: 4.02 mi Time: 51:09 Avg Pace: 12:43 min/mi Elevation Gain: 465 ft
Night run. First one in a while. Felt like complete shit. Calves were solid tight and feet were numb. Spiders eyes glow.

Wednesday
5.6mi - BTR-WTJ - Enchanted Mesa-Skunk-Mesa-Bluebellish
Distance: 5.61 mi Time: 1:15:04 Avg Pace: 13:23 min/mi Elevation Gain: 1,070 ft

Felt pretty good. Tried out the new camera so went ahead at all the stops to get some video and photos.

Thursday

4.88mi - BTR-HHR - Marshall Mesa

Distance: 4.88 mi Time: 50:54 Avg Pace: 10:26 min/mi Elevation Gain: 267 ft
Felt good. Not too much climb and easy-ish pace. Probably a bit faster than I should have gone with Sunday's 26.2 but felt good. I think 18 people turned out.

Friday
Nada

Saturday

2mi - Boulder Creek Path with Laurie

Distance: 2.00 mi Time: 21:27 Avg Pace: 10:44 min/mi Elevation Gain: 41 ft
2 easy miles on the Path with Laurie to shake out the legs and make sure they still worked ok. Felt like I usually do the day before a big run...only a little better actually.

Sunday
Blue Sky Marathon - 27.25mi
Distance: 27.22 mi Time: 6:58:48 Avg Pace: 15:23 min/mi Elevation Gain: 3,521 ft
WHAT. THE. FUCK. IS WRONG WITH MY NUTRITION/HYDRATION?!
I was doing/feeling awesome. Super easy pace, treating it like just a training run. Low HR, everything. Then--Suffer fest from mile 19-20ish on. Same damn thing happens on runs over 3.5hrs, particularly in the heat, I bonk so hard I can't move. I have to sit down. This has happened more than just a few times on runs over 3.5hr. What it feels like is that if I do anything that raises my HR at all (i.e. anything faster than a walk at that point, especially even 1 step of incline) makes my stomach and head feel like they are both shutting down. Kind of a cold sweat too. If I sit down, I get chills. It was to the point where I spent 20 minutes at the aid station, got up, went to walk a few hundred feet, hit a small incline, then turned back around. really. really!?
Here was my nutrition/hydration:
Clif Shot gel: 1 at 45min, then 1 every 30 after that. chocolate, vanilla, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry (caffeine), chocolate cherry (caffeine)
Hydration: I went through 16oz of water every aid station. Some aid stations, I drank some, then had them top of off even. Here were the aid stations
4.7mi
9.2mi
13.0mi - Actually had them fill it with Orange Succeed
15.4mi
20.3mi - I did run out of water coming into the sufferfest start aid station, but honestly, I wasn't thirsty, or hungry.
22.7mi

Probably had close to 90-100 oz of water from miles 0-20.

When I finally left the aid station, at 20.3 miles, I took an S-cap and ate some watermelon. Gel wasn't going down well at that point. Felt hard to drink water without 'that shutdown feeling' coming back. Too much water? I have no idea. Help.

I came home and weighed myself. I was 4lbs lighter even after post race water, 16oz of cola, and a big sandwich. That says not enough water but everything else points to too much water. I did have a significant amount of salt caked all over me though....and it was hot, 88 at the finish. HELP. Should I start taking S-caps? Took too much caffeine? more/less water? how frequently? Too fat to just survive on a hand-held?

At mile 20.3, I just sat and waited for Laurie at the aid station. She came in looking fresh, so, I figured I'd just try to run her pace, but had to mainly walk it in. Walking it in sucks when you expect the course to be 26.5 and it was 27.25. Yeah. I came in DFL with 1 minute to spare on the cutoff time. That sucked. I suck. Running sucks. Walking it in, trying to at least beat the cutoff, blows asshole.

The race organizers, however, did a fantastic job. The aid station volunteers were great and well stocked. Spread out perfectly. Every aid station knew my name, sounds silly, but that was nice. I would have liked to see some gels at the aid stations though. Still, top notch. The course markings were great, no way you could get lost. I loved the course. I plan on hitting that trail up many times in the future. Eff that Towers noise though.

Post race, my legs feel fine. I had to sit for 20 minutes or so, then Laurie drove us home. My legs, feel great. Ok not great, but I feel like I can go for a run.

Thanks for Bryan T for the back and forth convo the first ~17 miles.

Summary:
I need to get this fueling problem licked between now and two weeks from now. Rest of the week was great.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 43.73 mi (41.73-trail)
Time: 10:17:22
Elevation Gain: 5,365 ft
Ft/Mi: 122.68

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,235.83 mi
Time: 286:01:54
Elevation Gain: 133,467 ft

Blue Sky Marathon

2011-10-01T12:53:00.001-04:00

Good luck to everyone running the Blue Sky Marathon tomorrow. If you see me, say hey, or pick me up off the trail. Call me a dick...whatever.

This is going to be my last long training run before my 'Big Dance' -- Mountain Madness 50k.

I didn't taper or cut-back or anything as I really wanted this to be a last tune-up/training run and after last weeks Half-Marathon we'll see what shakes out. Two weeks enough to heal-up/taper up for the 50k after this?

Laurie is coming off an injury, pretty much no training, and a half-marathon last weekend...should be a complete suffer-fest in the heat. Looking forward to it.

I have no idea on time, but I'm guessing(hoping) whatever shakes out will be what I do for Mountain Madness pace-wise. Mountain Madness has a bit more climb/mi and is a little more technical, but it will be cooler and at sea-level. Doubt I'll come in the top half as I'd have to pull a 5:15ish. But it would be nice to break my only other marathon time which is 5:16 at NYC marathon. Comparing the elevation profiles, and well....one's a trail...it might be tough. I'll have 'don't kill myself, you have a 50k in two weeks' in the back of my head too.

Also, still debating hand-held bottle or Nathan 2liter pack. I run so much better with just a bottle, but the pack is such a crutch, especially for holding gels and such. What say you? The isn't going to help the pack argument. There are certainly enough aid stations...do I become a big boy and bottle it?

Rob

New Camera - Pics and Video of tonights group run

2011-09-29T01:34:00.000-04:00

Bought the camera 20 minutes before the run, so still mucking with it. I dig it so far, SUPER small. Thank to everyone for the recommendations. Ended up getting the cheaper but much smaller Canon Elph 300 HS over waiting for the S100 or the newer Lumix as I really wanted something cheap and more importantly, small. Here is a goofy video I threw together. Not sure how to embed in HD (without it being huge), so make sure you look at it in HD and not 360p

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;H&lt;/p&gt;

Bear Chase Half-Marathon Pictures

2011-09-26T14:16:00.001-04:00

Weekly Running Summary - 9/19 - 9/25

2011-09-25T15:23:00.000-04:00

Right?

I hear the WR marathon time was broken in 2:03:38

I hear Lance didn't win the Xterra

Anton had a good post about FKT's (fastest known times). I didn't realize it until I read it, that when I talk to some triathlete and road running friends and I say FKT or "PR on a course", they probably look at me funny...

GZ had some awesome points in this manifesto...

My buddy who is the race director for a great majority of the NJ trail and ultra races is getting shit from the County. Apparently running anything over 15miles is dangerous enough to not allow running. Better outlaw hot dogs!

Not really much to report on this week. It was kind of a boring week for me. I promised myself that I'd take it a little easy this week and do mainly flat runs.

Monday
3mi - S. Boulder Creek out and back with Laurie
Distance: 3.00 mi Time: 35:29 Avg Pace: 11:49 min/mi Elevation Gain: 184 ft
3mi with Laurie. Her foot is feeling better and she's looking to get back into the swing of things. Felt like I needed a recovery run from yesterdays 19mi. Felt great actually. Nice recovery pace and heart rate.

Tuesday
4.35mi - S. Boulder Creek-Mesa-Lower Big Blue Stem
Distance: 4.35 mi Time: 45:38 Avg Pace: 10:29 min/mi Elevation Gain: 403 ft
HR Monitor was whacky today, so that's off, but nice easy run. Had to walk a bit and bushwhack around a hiker with a pack of dogs but other than that, no one out there on these boring trails today. People say these foothill trails are awesome because of the great views of the flatirons. Well, they are great views, but they just make you wish you were running THERE.

Wednesday
6.68mi - Bobolink BTR WTJ
Distance: 6.68 mi Time: 1:10:01 Avg Pace: 10:29 min/mi Elevation Gain: 155 ft
Group run, got a bit rainy and chilly but felt great. I love that weather. Felt as OK as you can feel on a trail/path like that. This boring trail shit is for the birds...

Thursday
4mi - Boulder Creek Path
Distance: 4.00 mi Time: 37:17 Avg Pace: 9:19 min/mi Elevation Gain: 90 ft
From home. Again, felt as good as I can feel on a boring path. Not bad pace though all things considered. Actually fastest flat 4miler I've ever done. Considering I took it easy, I should be happy about that. meh.

Friday
Nada

Saturday
2.85mi - Boulder Creek Path
Distance: 2.84 mi Time: 30:59 Avg Pace: 10:55 min/mi Elevation Gain: 48 ft
Ran to get a haircut and some breakfast with Laurie, then back. Feel kinda like I always do when I just wake up and run. Poopy.

Sunday
Bear Chase Half-Marathon
Distance: 13.09 mi Time: 2:16:31 Avg Pace: 10:26 min/mi Elevation Gain: 813 ft
Results 146/267 overall 17/19 AG
Good race. Felt a little 'eh' at the start but fell in with a decent group. I thought I was going out too fast. About mile 4 Laurie passed me for a brief minute. I was excited because she was running on a bum foot. I found some legs before the first climb and passed some people. Passed some people on the down and then settled into a group of a few people for the long boring stretch. Picked it up at the end. I'm happy with my results considering I didn't do the whole taper thing and it wasn't an A race. Goal was to break 2:30 which was my 2009 NYC half-marathon time.

The race was very well organized as far as course markings and crew were concerned. Top notch. Perhaps I'm spoiled but I didn't care for much of the course, especially that stretch by the road. It would be mind numbing to do 4 laps of it for the 50mile option...couldn't do it.

Summary:
Good week 'on paper' but boring and a bit mind numbing. I promised myself to stay off the hills for a bit of a rest. I don't dig on the 'path' trails.

Blue Sky Marathon next weekend in Fort Collins that will be my last training run before Mountain Madness 50k.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 33.96 (27.12-trail)
Time: 5:55:54
Elevation Gain: 1,692 ft
Ft/Mi: 49.8

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,192.10 mi
Time: 275:44:32
Elevation Gain: 128,102 ft

Oh come on, I'm not the only one thinking it...

2011-09-20T11:00:00.003-04:00

Weekly Running Summary - 9/12 - 9/18

2011-09-18T19:55:00.000-04:00

The past couple of mornings I've looked over, behind the front range, and have been seeing a fresh dusting of snow on the Indian Peaks...Most of it's gone by sunset, but according to other reports, it looks like our time is limited in the high country.

The traditional winter beard growing for MoMa has commenced. Should look like this in no time flat.

King Kilian's latest video.

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
5mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook Lillipop - PR
Distance: 5.11 mi Time: 51:05 Avg Pace: 10:00 min/mi Elevation Gain: 595 ft
I guess my short, shitty, week last week was worth it. Although, I'll probably pay for it. I felt really great starting out today. I definitely found my legs. I'd say today was the best I've felt that I can remember on a trail run. As I was going up the hill I kept thinking, "hold back, you just had a crappy week, don't mess up the rest of the week.", and, I did...I actually held back a lot. At least, I really really 'felt' like I held back a lot. (my HR may say otherwise) Then, with 1.25miles left, I looked at my watch and realized that I blew away my previous PR pace and the rest was downhill. I picked it up a little bit, but I'd say this wasn't even a 'tempo' run if I went by feel. Low tempo effort at most. Awesome. Almost in the 9:xx pace on a trail, it's about time. Granted, this is an easy cheesy trail, but I'll take it! I Even had to bushwhack a bit to avoid a lot of mountain bikers.

Wednesday
7mi - Boulder Creek-Blue Stem-Mesa-Shanahan BTR WTJ
Distance: 7.05 mi Time: 1:21:42 Avg Pace: 11:35 min/mi Elevation Gain: 1,025 ft
Awesome run in the rain! Felt great. Love running in this weather. 55 and raining, but enough to still go shirtless (and my fat ass did). Legs are very much back.

My Garmin, although back from the dead (just magically started working again), now has a new problem after this run. Tried a blow dryer...going to leave it on my dash board of my car at work for a day and see if that fixes it.

Thursday
Hit up the Reel Rock film tour premier at the Boulder Theater. Went to the early show and it was pretty awesome. It was cool to watch this as a guy who is completely ignorant to the sport(s),with a sold out standing room only crowed as passionate for the sports as I am for running. Awe inspiring. Still, many similarities in the crazy masochistic personalities of the athletes though. Check out the trailer

Friday
3.1mi - Boulder Creek Path
Distance: 3.10 mi Time: 29:23 Avg Pace: 9:28 min/mi Elevation Gain: 75 ft
Just felt like shaking out my legs.

Saturday
4.25mi - Green via Ranger-Down Ranger-Gregory
Distance: 4.34 mi Time: 1:37:19 Avg Pace: 22:26 min/mi Elevation Gain: 1,459 ft
Hike up pre-dawn with Laurie as she was getting bummed about her foot and need to get out and do something. I've also never experienced a peak sunrise before. I made her read Joe Grant's cougar encounter last night so she had a little anxiety at the start with all the green deer eyes. Hit the top for the sunrise very casually. She actually wanted to try jogging a bit down, so we did a little. She peeled off to go back to the car at Realization Point and I continued down Gregory to meet her, hoping to catch a glimpse of JV's bear. Saw a woman hiker on the way up who said she had to turn around due to a baby bear earlier, then saw people heading up, so she tried again and didn't see it. I was excited and on the lookout but didn't catch any glimpses.

Sunday

19mi - Doudy 8mi loop-then Mesa via Homestead-Down Blue Stem

Distance: 19.00 mi Time: 4:43:21 Avg Pace: 14:55 min/mi Elevation Gain: 3,221 ft

Started out in Doudy Draw parking lot. Felt OK, but my legs felt it from yesterdays little hike. Yes, after being here for months and running/hiking 5 days a week, my legs still feel a hike up Green. Hit up the 8mi loop, then refilled my water pack and headed up Homestead to Mesa for an out and back. Came down Big Bluestem, and planned on 20mi, but I guess my calculations/navigation were off. No worries. Experimented with better hydration and nutrition more-so than worried about running fast. Bagel for breakfast with coffee, gel at 45min, another 45min later, then a gel every 30 minutes. No bonk and felt fresh when I finished. Could have pushed it a lot more but tried to show some self-control, in hopes the upcoming week isn't a bust. Ran with someones dog the first few miles until he got thirsy and turned back. Perfect weather today. Saw a little girl (maybe 2-3?) hiking with her mom. As I ran by she said "But mom, why can't I step in the poop?!" - Good question.

Summary:
Great week. I'm really happy with how my runs went all week. I thought I'd blown up the week between Tuesdays and Wednesdays pushing it, but I think it turned out OK. One of these days I'll have a little more self control and start a long run with fresher legs. I feel good about Mountain Madness. It's without a doubt one of/if not the hardest 50k in NJ and I'm stoked to see what training in Boulder has done. The one thing I'm nervous about is instead of having longer/medium climbs then downs, while there is 5k of climb in the 50k, it's split up into many short/steep climbs, which, I don't really run. It's also much more technical than the trails out here in Boulder. Well, I wouldn't say more technical, I'd just say, less 'clean'. Since they aren't used much, they are rocky, and all the rocks are loose. We'll see!

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 38.60 (35.5-trail)
Time: 9:02:50
Elevation Gain: 6,376 ft
Ft/Mi: 165.1

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,158.14 mi
Time: 269:48:38
Elevation Gain: 126,410 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 9/5 - 9/11

2011-09-11T15:45:00.000-04:00

My quote of the week
"If I could just run as good as I can stack dishes in the strainer, I'd be...awesome!" - Rob Timko
Perhaps my skills are better left to Jenga.

Thailand trip booked and my itinerary is in the hands of my two Thai buddies...very much looking forward to this vacation.

Unfortunately, I might have to wait for my legs to catch up...

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
Nada

Wednesday
5.75mi - Chautauqua BTR WTJ
Time: 01:17:05 Distance: 5.78 mi Elevation Gain: 1,110 ft Pace: 13:20
Great weather! 57 and overcast. A little muddy. I personally felt like shite this run, my calves were way tight on the climbs, but still had a blast with some good people. Kept up on the flats and downs. Art and his 'jogs'...'let's add another mile and another 200ft of climb on!'

Thursday

3.5mi - Group run - somewhere I don't know

Time: 00:35:18 Distance: 3.50 mi Elevation Gain: 171 ft Pace: 10:05
JulienotfromPA moved out to the area and we met up at this group run. There was a talk afterward by Marshall Ulrich. I figured I never venture out of Boulder, why not? Felt like lukewarm poop. still. At least my knee is fine.

Friday
Nada

Saturday
7mi - South Boulder Creek West-Homestead-Big Bluebell
Time: 01:33:00 Distance: 7.00 mi Elevation Gain: 964 ft Pace: 13:17
I had planned to get up early, and hit some place for a sunrise. Had my torch ready to go and everything. Well, that didn't happen. Headed out real late. No legs. High HR. cool great weather. If someone finds my legs, can you please return them to me? They are likely on Fern.

Sunday

12.5mi - Bear Chase course preview

Time: 02:36:07 Distance: 12.37 mi Elevation Gain: 780 ft Pace: 12:37
Cool morning, still haven't quite found my legs, but getting there. Ran with Julie and Andrea after they caught up. Good number of people ran today. Color me spoiled, but the course wasn't too exciting.

Summary:
Shit week. Legs are still lost. Meh. For as many good weeks as I've been having and pushing it last week, I kind of expected it. Looking forward to this week. Hopefully Laurie's foot will be ok enough to join me as it's getting pretty lonely and I'd love to run with her in this great weather. Hoping that my body will let me put in some more miles come this nice weather.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 28.64 (25.14-trail)
Time: 06:01:31
Elevation Gain: 3,025 ft
Ft/Mi: 105.62

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,119.53 mi
Time: 260:45:47
Elevation Gain: 120,034 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 8/29 - 9/4

2011-09-04T17:25:00.000-04:00

Look, someone made a singlet just for me!

I teared up a little...worth 5 brainless minutes to watch for sure!
I vote JV to get the father of the year award. He tagged Green, solo with his kids...

Not once...but twice in one week.

Absolutely awesome. This gives me hope for when I have kids. To anyone who blames not being active on their kids...b.s., Jeff puts in quite a few miles pushing them in the carriage too.

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
4mi - Skunk-Mesa-Kohler lollipop from Work
Time: 00:50:16 Distance: 4.00 mi Elevation Gain: 835 ft Pace: 12:34
Lately, I just don't want to do flat runs. You'd think that because I stink so much at climbing, I'd dread the hillier runs and just hit some flat trails or even the creek path, but, I was pulling out of the work parking lot to go to the Bobolink trail head today and I immediately turned around, parked, and headed off running toward Skunk Canyon. I kind of dig this little loop and actually thought I did pretty well on this run for the amount of uphill! I did it last week and while it's not long, it's the perfect lunch/post work run. It mixes it up a bit, and I can literally add miles and miles to it of varying terrain and elevation. Knee still has the 'nit' but it's not getting any worse. The foothill trails around the Mesa trail/behind work out great as they offer such a varied terrain. I can go up Skunk which is pretty smooth and non-technical, hit Mesa then come down Kohler-Mesa which is all loose rock. There are a couple of sections on the upcoming Blue Sky marathon course coming down after Towers that are pretty loose rock so that's why I've been hitting Kohler. FWIW the first trail run I ever did, the Cheesequake state park, 'green' trail ~3mi was at 13:40 pace on 5/31/2009. The trail probably has 150ft of climb!

Wednesday
7mi - Rattle Snake Gulch from Fowler BTR WTJ
Time: 01:35:24 Distance: 7.06 mi Elevation Gain: 1,385 ft Pace: 13:30/11:59 moving
Nice run up Rattle Snake Gulch. Coming down the wind picked up as the sun went down. As soon as we hit Fowler on the down, the sun was beaming an awesome ray of light across the trail. Knee still has the nit, but only nits post run slightly. Pushed a few sections of the downhill, but nothing crazy. Decent run. I might pay for bombing a bit of the down...

Thursday
4mi - Boblink with Laurie
Time: 00:39:32 Distance: 4.00 mi Elevation Gain: 86 ft Pace: 9:53
....and I paid for yesterday a little bit. Legs are feeling the good kind of sore. Geez, my splits are retarded, even on a flat trail. Talk about negative...
1    11:26
2    10:47
3    09:18
4    08:01

Friday
3.1mi(6.2mi) - Boulder Creek Path with JV
Time: 00:21:59 Distance: 3.10 mi Elevation Gain: 9 ft Pace: 7:05
Made a stupid comment a long while back that I'd owe some people back home a significant amount of money if I didn't run 3.1mi at sub 7:30 pace.

The exact statement was..
"I'm going to say it - for the record - I WILL run a sub 7:30 pace, 5k, at altitude or not, by November, or I'll give each of you 100$"

There was never anything said that it had to be flat! I'm not sure why I said it, but I was probably frustrated that I couldn't keep up with someone here on a group run and wanted to put some monetary accountability on myself. There was an immediate response from a friend (one of those data obsessed triathlete guys...you know the type) that said my goal was impossible given my 'data'. (OK not impossible but 'Extremely Aggressive', yes, written in bold and said twice, and the only way I could do it is if I completely changed my training). Stupid mistake for me to bite, as it's whirl-winded into exactly the kind of running I hate for exactly the reasons I hate.

Nevertheless, I met up with JV and twins--Boulder's official PR pacers, and we warmed up for 3.1 miles up the creek path, then hit the watch on the turnaround. I actually really surprised myself. The whole way up I kept telling JV that MAYBE I'd break 8:00 pace, even on the down (5k PR on flat/sea level is 25:35). We 'warmed up' faster than I tempo run. In the end, I clicked off at 7:05 pace. Splits were:
6:41
7:06
7:28
7:09 for the .1

Latest internet meme that is awesome.

Stupid comment over with. I'm still getting jabbed on it being net downhill though. Unfortunately, there is really no incentive for me to try to prove anything on flat as said triathlete friend will come up with a reason on why he's still right about me hitting 7:30 on a 5k being impossible unless I change up completely how I run...meh. In his defense, I mainly run trails. He doesn't know a lot about trail running and focuses on triathlon where you can calculate performance a bit more accurately. It has to be hard to predict carry-over from trail to pavement by just looking at 'data'. He's a genius when it comes to triathlete data analysis though. I hate data analysis. Takes the fun out of running.

What's everyone else think? Is a sub-7:30 pace on a non net-downhill course doable for 5k? Not looking to be jerked off by 'you can do it!''s, just curious on reasons for yes or no as peoples outside performance predictions/bench racing/shit talking always intrigues me! Maybe I'll get a bug up my ass and be egged on by JV ad GZ to head out to South Boulder Creek or someplace without a net-downhill and give it a shot. Meh.

btw - knee is 100% post run. This run seemed to have fixed it. heh.

Saturday
7.75mi - Bear via Fern from Cragmoor - Down Bear Cyn
Time: 02:30:51 Distance: 7.79 mi Elevation Gain: 3,067 ft Pace: infinity!(19:22)
Needed to remind myself why I liked to run. JV suggested this route, and I had never done it this way. Legs actually felt great, though, it was mostly a hike. Great minds think alike. Anton also did this route the day prior. I just read his blog post. Even on a recovering broken leg, his splits blew mine out of the damn water!!! Hahaha, Damnit. "I'm going to say it - for the record - I WILL run a sub ....I'll give each of you ..." See how that shit happens? haha.

btw - knee is back to 98%. Felt a 'nit' on a few big drop offs coming down the top of Bear Canyon.

Sunday

5mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook lollipop

Time: 01:08:29 Distance: 5.09 mi Elevation Gain: 593 ft Pace: 13:28
I thought my legs may still have a medium long run in today. Was planning on maybe 10-13. Very quickly my legs informed me that I'd be much better off with some rest so I hiked. Silly 5k. Lot's of mountain bikers out as I got out there a little late. The extra glass(s) of wine last night I'm sure didn't help either.

Summary:
Awesome week. A 'hard' week for me actually even though I didn't put in a lot of miles. Lot of verbiage in my post this week, mainly because I've been keeping track daily, rather than just trying to remember runs at the end of the week. Some/most guys post daily, but my daily runs aren't necessarily that exciting one at a time are they? It was my first time running Rattle Snake Gulch, and even though I run around Doudy Draw once a week, I had never been up there. It's a nice addition to turn my 8mi Doudy/Goshawk loop into a ~15 miler with some views and uphill! I signed up for Mountain Madness 50k in NJ on Oct. 15th. It will be my first time at Sea-level since I moved out here. It's 5k of NJ climb so a lot of up and down rather than long climbs. The trails are 'rougher' so I'm curious to see how I'm going to do. I have some confidence I'm going to do well, and I've surely been shit-talking all my NJ Trail Runner friends enough that if I don't back it up, it will be pretty bad!!

I'm going to do some awesome data analysis here...bear with me my triathlete friends. Since May 1, around when I moved to Boulder, I've run: 672.84mi - 95,531ft in 159:34:25. That's ~14:15 pace at an average 142ft/mi. Mountain Madness is around 166ft/mi. Adjust for sea level altitude, carry the 2 and I predict: I'm going to...have a GREAT time running with some great friends. ;)

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 34.13 (27.93-trail)
Time: 07:33:40
Elevation Gain: 6,237 ft
Ft/Mi: 182.74

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,090.89 mi
Time: 254:44:16
Elevation Gain: 117,009 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 8/22 - 8/28

2011-08-28T21:11:00.001-04:00

AKA the 'I got to shit in the bushes' week.

First. UTMB went down this past weekend. Kilian took it, as expected. A lot of DNF's from some top US guys which wasn't so good. I feel bad for some as they put so much into training. I can only imagine. actually, I can't. Tough tough race.

Here is a video.

Fail? Says WHO? I say this is why the Kilian is so fast...I need to pick better pacers!

Okie Dokie, my week.

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
5mi - Doudy Draw Spring-Brook Lollipop w/ Laurie
Time: 00:57:12 Distance: 5.08 mi Elevation Gain: 594 ft Pace: 11:15
Felt pretty good. Laurie rocked it with a PR.

Wednesday
6mi - North Foothills BTR WTJ
Time: 01:12:41 Distance: 6.00 mi Elevation Gain: 464 ft Pace: 12:07
Great exchanging Leadville pacer war stories. I think 12 or so people showed up with most having paced Leadville last weekend.

Thursday
4mi - Skunk-Mesa-Kohler lollipop from Work
Time: 00:55:34 Distance: 4.00 mi Elevation Gain: 822 ft Pace: 13:54
Ran from the lot at work today. Not sure why I don't do this more often. Trails were empty, even the short stretch on Mesa. Didn't see a soul. More of a hike/jog today as legs are feeling it.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
5mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook Lolipop
Time: 00:59:32 Distance: 5.08 mi Elevation Gain: 593 ft Pace: 11:43
As usual, my 'morning' legs felt 'morning' and feet went a bit numb at mile 2.25. Took it easy though and felt otherwise good. My HRM seems to be a little inaccurate, no way my HR was that high. Going to change the battery

Sunday

17mi - Fort Collins Blue Sky out and back

Time: 04:06:58 Distance: 17.12 mi Elevation Gain: 2,103 ft Pace: ~12:00 pace until I got sick
Got stomach sick at mile 5.5, and then got sick sick at mile 14-15. Could barely make it back to the car. Otherwise...uh...great run? 2 weeks in a row I got the 'didn't shit in my pant's' medal. But, did shit in a bush. Sorry Ft. Collins trail runners. If it makes you feel better, I sacrificed 1 smartwool sock and those things are expensive! I'd like to say I was feeling great the rest of the run though...

Summary:
Not a bad week. I was disappointed I couldn't finish out that 17miler.....I felt great otherwise! Perhaps dehydration, but I drank 1.75liters. Knee has a little 'nit' I need to take care of from landing on it wrong a little while back. Doesn't 'nit' until I try to hammer a downhill which I really shouldn't do much off anyway...crested 1000mi and 100,000ft of climb which is pretty good for 'me'.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 37.27 (37.27-trail)
Time: 08:11:59
Elevation Gain: 4,577 ft
Ft/Mi: 122.8

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 1,056.76 mi
Time: 247:10:35
Elevation Gain: 110,772 ft

Leadville Trail 100 2011 - Video

2011-08-23T23:05:00.000-04:00

Video I put together of my experience crewing and pacing. Beware, for some reason it's really loud.

Not sure if I'll put together a report, I might just wait for Jasons. Some memorable moments though.

"I went off the road" me: what do you mean? "I just...ran off the road"
Jason trying to nap in the portapot at mile 76
Almost tripping over a sandwich
"Did I miss a spot" - Jason in reference to painting his face white with sunblock

Weekly Running Summary - 8/8 - 8/14

2011-08-14T18:09:00.001-04:00

My NJ Trail and Ultrarunner buddy Jason is in town. He arrived yesterday (Saturday) and I showed him around Boulder. Today we hit up Bear peak and now he's off to Leadville to stay at the Hostel to get used to 10k ft. He's never really been above sea level for long, but the guy practically sprinted up Fern. Fucker. He's going to do really well.

Was searching through gmail for something and came across some convo's I had with my other buddy Jason when I first started running in 2009.
1/23/2009
Jason: jesus
lori and I are entering a 7 mile run
10:27 AM me: 7 mile is TOUGH.
the 10k is 6.2 miles and its tough, i can barely do 2 miles in 30
minutes now on the treadmill
....
11:09 AM dude, i gotta beat someone who can run 6.2 miles in 1 hour and 1 minute
thats 9:50 minute miles!!
11:10 AM Jason: good luck
me: indeed.

So, I went poking around for some more and found a few gems from February 2009...
me: well, that's trying to keep my HR low in the 75% range
9:24 AM I need to get to a 9:50 mile and be able to do 6 miles
Jason: hah
me: im at about 13 minute miles now.

2/2/2009

me: just imagine being able to run 6 miles comfortably without taking
a break, at like 5mph, and not even breaking a sweat because your
heart rate is so low. thats a 12 minute mile!!!

Figured you guys would find that a little amusing. I hope to pull up this blog entry in 2 more years and have a chuckle at the below bullshit...

Hrm, what else...Oh, I was just turned on to this pretty funny ultrarunner comic strip..
http://ultrarunningguy.blogspot.com/ - bookmark (does anyone even bookmark anymore?) or RSS it.

THIS is laurie and I. Clickie.

So here's how my week went...
Monday
Nada

Tuesday
5mi - Boulder Creek Path w/ Laurie
Time: 00:49:09 Distance: 5.00 mi Elevation Gain: 109 ft Pace: 9:50
Felt pretty good. Pretty low HR.

Wednesday
5mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook Lollipop - PR
Time: 00:53:51 Distance: 5.08 mi Elevation Gain: 594 ft Pace: 10:35
Beat my previous PR by about 1:30, and gained it on the climbs for sure, as I REALLY held back on the downs. First time I actually ran the whole thing. Bad mistake as know I know I can do it...and every time I do it I'll be thinking about it.

Thursday
8mi - Mesa out and back from Chautauqua
Time: 01:47:38 Distance: 8.00 mi Elevation Gain: 1,639 ft Pace: 13:27
Ran the entire way up the steps on the back! Still can't run up the part before and after the Bear Cyn junction though. Don't think I PRed up bluebell today, but didn't really try. Took a bit to warm up but felt good on the back.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
8mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook-Goshawk
Time: 01:41:51 Distance: 8.00 mi Elevation Gain: 1,139 ft Pace: 12:43
Went out solo, about 9am. Just couldn't get in the groove today. Missed a PR by 53 seconds. My stomach hasn't been too great. Actually, my stomachs been fine, it's my diet that's been shit....actually, it's my willpower and lazyness thats...shit..shit.. well on this run....

Sunday
10.5mi - Bear via Mesa-Fern down Bear Canyon w/ Jason
Time: 02:52:42 Distance: 10.50 mi Elevation Gain: 3,323 ft Pace: 16:46
Hung out on the top of bear for quite a long time! (there were cute girls...) Jason had a NICE push up to Bear on Fern, kid flew! He's going to go great next weekend at Leadville. Curious to see what his splits are!

Click for bigger pano.

Summary:
Started out great, but the weekend runs were quite 'meh'. You'd assume that I over did it during the week, but I think I just had a bad weekend. Going to take it easy this week and do some flat runs to 'mini-taper' for crewing/pacing Jason in Leadville. Going to at least pace him from Fish Hatchery to May Queen, and probably a bit more. I'm a bit nervous about crewing and pacing as I've never done it before. I did manage to run the sections I'd be pacing a few weeks back and know the course pretty good.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 36.58 (31.58-trail)
Time: 09:01:22
Elevation Gain: 6,804 ft
Ft/Mi: 186

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 997.35 mi (shit, now I gotta go out and do 3mi shakeout tonight...)
Time: 232:46:55
Elevation Gain: 103,898 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 8/1 - 8/7 & Indian Peaks

2011-08-08T16:48:00.002-04:00

Stuff...

Great gift idea..

And burro racing...it's calling me!!

Snagged this video off of CGerber from Facebook...good trail running porn!

My NJ buddies 'Running with the Devil' video...(they ran up and down a ski slope for 12hrs)

My buddy Jason won it with 50miles and 18k feet of gain in 12 hours. Not too shabby. He's going to do well at Leadville.

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
5.35mi - Green via Gregory-Ranger PR
Time: 01:36:08 Distance: 5.42 mi Elevation Gain: 2,353 ft

See my report here...

Wednesday
6mi - Hogback Ridge loop from Wonderland - BTR - WTJ
Time: 01:25:09 Distance: 6.05 mi Elevation Gain: 980 ft
My legs hated me from pushing it yesterday up and down Green. Still was pretty happy with the run overall though. Moving pace in the low 10 high 9's aside from the climb. I like this route for a 'get better at hills' training route. I'll add it to the repertoire.

Thursday
4mi - Boulder Creek Path
Time: 00:37:23 Distance: 4.00 mi Elevation Gain: 90 ft
Not bad! 2nd fastest 4miler ever when I go to 'compare similar activities'. If felt good too, good as in 'just a regular training run not pushing anything after 2 days of hard runs. It's a confidence booster to see improvement on pavement every once in a while.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
8mi - Caribou 4wd roads with Laurie
Time: 02:07:49 Distance: 7.96 mi Elevation Gain: 656 ft
Camping trip close to home to check out Indian Peaks wilderness. It's great moving to a new state...even places close are 'vacations'. I figured we'd just do a easy 8 miles today. Encountered a water crossing that took a bit of time taking off shoes and such. Coaxing Laurie into the hurting cold water took some time too. You Coloradians are laughing, but on the east coast the water is WARM!

Sunday
15mi - Indian Peaks - King Lake - High Lonesome - Devil's Thumb loop
Time: 06:30:07 Distance: 15.03 mi Elevation Gain: 3,475 ft
Where do I start. Just getting to the start was a bit much. I figured I'd take the 4wd road to get to the Hessie trailhead from Caribou. Why not? I have a Jeep. Well, it was fine until the last few miles where even I had doubts the ol' Heep would make it. Teeter-tottering on 2 wheels at some points was a bit much for me. I have no problem using my Jeep as a tool to get places, it's what I bought it for, but I'm far from a recreational off-roader. Laurie was too white knuckled to take many pics, but I do have a gnarly video or two I'll have to upload later.

Where'd the road go?

Fine, we get there...~1.5 hours later. The trail head was PACKED. But, it quickly thinned out and we were the only ones going up Kings Lake trail after about a mile. What a trail! Beautiful, runnable (well not by me, but..) trail. I don't get out much, but this is the most beautiful trail I've ever run, especially towards the top. We pretty much hiked it, planning on running a bit down. We both weren't feeling so great after having massive headaches yesterday.

Wildflowers up there are amazing. Pictures do it no justice.

Columbine hunting for JV.

King Lake is pretty awesome.

We took it to the Continental Divide trail, aka High Lonesome in this section. High Lonesome runs along the divide, and well, it blows, figurative and literally. It was WINDY and that sucked. Beautiful views though. Oh yeah. running at 12,000' kinda stinks too.

You can't see from this picture, but I have a video I'll upload later of me trying to put on my windshirt. It was comical. It almost blew away. At some points the gusts were so much you could lean back and it push you forward.

The 'trail'

We went for a bit on this trail, which would have been awesome if it wasn't so windy, then came up to Devil's Thumb trail. From here it was all downhill, both...figuratively and literally. It was a bit steep going on the down and Laurie felt like shit...so we just hiked. yep. pretty much a 15 mile hike.

Some of my roadie/tri friends don't quite understand trails. That little patch of dirt above, that's a trail, we try to run on it whilst falling/flailing down it.

For Chris A. They're looking good right now...

Colder than the coldest ice bath. painfully cold. but worth it.

I have a video I'll put together a little later as well..
I'll be coming back here to run King Lake trail again, very soon!

Summary
I'm pretty happy with my week. A PR on Green and a great little 4miler on pavement. My 'long' 'run' this week was weak, as in 'hike', unfortunately. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do in Octobers marathon. I need a few more 'real' long runs to feel confident that I won't DFL. I'd really like to break 5:16 (my only other marathon I ever ran), and with a high goal of breaking 5:00. It's only 3300' of climb and 1k of that is in a mile or so climb at the beginning.

I looked at a basic, or rather 'intermediate 1' 'Hal Higdon's' marathon training plan to see where I'm at and I'm in pretty good shape and looking back at my training, it coincidentally matches up nicely....for what that is worth.

I'm not sure why I plan these super hard long runs at my level. They turn out to be counterproductive hikes. Way too ambitious, but with all these awesome trails all over, it's soooo hard not to. I'm going to 'try' to focus on more 'runnable to me runs' like Doudy/Springbrook/Goshawk loops or Mesa Trail, similar to Octobers marathon course with a spattering of toughies. My unfit-ass body is getting better, I can do 40-50mile weeks without much but I'm not nearly at the 70mi/week fitness level yet, maybe next year. I'd like to do the NJ Ultra Festival 50 miler again next year in March and not be DFL.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 38.46 mi (34.47-trail)
Time: 12:16:38
Elevation Gain: 7,554 ft
Ft/Mi: 196.41

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 960.77 mi
Time: 223:45:25
Elevation Gain: 97,093 ft

"I'm Not Dead!"

2011-08-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

My Garmin, it's not dead! The enter button magically started working again. I'm sure it won't last, and I'll still need to send it to the repairman (and also get a battery upgrade) but in the meantime.....

So glad. I'm usually a 'let's get the latest gadget' kind of guy, and yeah it's a few models behind, but IMO there isn't a better device on the market at the moment!

Green PR

2011-08-03T10:28:00.000-04:00

"I like it up the backside." Which, to be honest, other than Bear Cyn, it's the only way I've ever went up Green! My first time I ever peaked Green was on a hike back in December when we were looking for places to move to. I thought. Jesus fuck people actually run this shit? I'm a looong way from NJ. Granted, I still can't run it quite like JV, Brandon or any of these guys...(links taken from here), but, I betcha I 'ran' at least 1mi of the 2.68 to the top! haha. Highest I've averaged my HR over an hour since I've been here too which has been tough. I used to do 6mi runs back home at 170+ no problem, here I'm lucky to break 160 average. I averaged 166 to the top.

I've really only done Green with Laurie, where I usually wait up at certain junctions for her or take it easy. The few times I've went out to do it solo, one time I saw god/lightning storm and turned around quickly before the top. The other, was right after that and I tried it on piss-poor feeling legs. It's sad, but I guess I have to start 'somewhere' -- I never broke 1hr to the top with my previous PR that could be had by any hiker worth his weight in Patagonia.

The plan was to take a 20 minute head start from JV and Brandon and hopefully one of them would catch me up the last steps and we'd all PR. It seemed to have worked. I was a bit before the 4-way junction before the last push and I saw a guy behind me, I thought it was JV catching me, so I pushed it a bit...damn he's going to catch me. Only, it was someone else....Doh, at least it pushed me a bit.

However, JV did eventually end up catching me on the last steps and made it look easy pushing past. Brandon soon to follow. Both PRed.

My time up: 57:39 against a 1:04:18, if I can only get 6 minutes on it every time I run it...PR's are nice when you suck....the gains are usually more significant! Again, a reasonable hiker could probably hit this...but it's a closer to 55...and 55 is closer to 50....

I've gotten a kind of system where I know which sections I can run, I just have to keep 'expanding' those running sections each time. I think by November I can sub 55:00.

Leg's felt like mush on the down, no way was I pounding the road with those guys.

Weekly Running Summary - 7/25 - 7/31

2011-07-31T18:18:00.002-04:00

News/Stuff
After two years, and countless (ok not countless, I can actually tell you exactly if I wanted to) my Garmin has left the building. Ok, I guess it didn't completely die, but the Enter button no workie no mo'. I tried hard/soft/throwing resets and software upgrades to no avail. It 'works' but I can't change anything on it, or do anything that involves the enter key. My buddy Jason is sending me a replacement though! I researched a bit for the latest/coolest/most techy replacement, and...I'm just not interested in anything new that's out. I hate the 'touch screen's' on the new garmins, and the 310xt my wife has does nothing more for me than my 305 other than that it's completely water proof...I don't swim much. I also like Garmin Connect for tracking, but would absolutely switch if someone offered something that does built in GPS, Barometric altitude, HR mon and was Ant+ compatible. I know the 'spensive Polar does kinda all that, but it's expensive and requires 'pods' and such. I'll stick with a replacement 305...

In other news, the NJ crew ran up and down a ski-slope for 12 hours in 100degree temps.

Having never heard of this crazyness before until a few weeks ago, it keeps coming up everywhere I look! Video

Spotted on Broadway

"Haters gonna hate...on my jeans, sandles and race wheels.."

And and even more awesome guy...

At 'The Trailhead' bar in Fort Collins, walks in orders a PBR in a bottle (because it's 1.50 and to get it on draft is .50 more) and pours it over a pint of ice. Usually, someone who walks into a dive bar playing some Rockasilly music, orders a PBR, while there are 8 other good beers on tap, I'd call uberhipster...but when you're 70, and pour it over ice...you're just...awesome.

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
5mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook lollipop
Time: 00:55:19 Distance: 5.08 mi Elevation Gain: 593 ft

Made it running all the way to the split for once. Stopped for a pee break. PR run for this route.

Wednesday
Being on a conference call from 4pm-12am should count as mental training. I did so in my running shorts anticipating it wouldn't go on that long and I could just run out the door when I was done...

Thursday
5mi - Bobolink w/ Laurie
Time: 00:49:34 Distance: 5.00 mi Elevation Gain: 103 ft
Another PR for this route.

Friday
5mi - Mesa-Skunk-Four Pines-Enchanted Mesa Loop
Time: 00:58:42 Distance: 4.82 mi Elevation Gain: 921 ft
Got some new kicks so wanted to try them out. Placebo new shoe PR. 3 for 3 on PR's this week.

Saturday
7mi - Fort Collins - North part of Blue Sky Marathon course (Towers-Stout)
Time: 01:52:51 Distance: 7.00 mi Elevation Gain: 1,323 ft
Laurie and I signed up for this race a little while back. I think it's going to be my 'A' race for the year. I'd really like to do well. We figured we'll head up every so often and run parts of the course. The elevation profile is a bit hilly with one really significant climb (1000ft/mi almost) at around mile 4, then 2 other notable climbs in between the rolling.

We drove up in the AM, with our sleeping bags and tent packed, expecting to do a shorter run on Saturday, camp, then do a nice long 15mi run on Sunday, covering a lot of the course. After a bit of a GPS roundabout way go get there, we park and it's HOT. 94 degrees and getting hotter. I threw caution to the wind, lathered up in sunblock and decided to go shirtless, for the first time in my life. If anyone has reports of a fat ghost sighting on Towers rd. it was me.

We filled up our water packs and began the course. It was strange. There were a decent amount of runners running (most, also shirtless and more in shape than I), and every time we passed someone we kept getting "Good Job!" etc. Weird. These Fort Collins runners sure are friendly and encouraging! That Towers hill, is almost as bad as the Leadville powerlines...almost, so the encouragement was pretty awesome!

Not far up, we had our first snake sighting. Pretty big one but wasn't a rattler like we saw on South Boulder Creek that one time. Nevertheless I felt like Indiana Jones the rest of the run, a little jittery. I'm not used to the 'see snakes often' thing.

After getting to descent, and coming down, people are still giving the thumbs up/good jobs. We get back to the parking lot, and I do one of these....

I look around and the two cars next to me in the parking lot had these bumper stickers.

SOMETHING must be going on. So Laurie 'just happened' to go talk to a sweaty, tan, shirtless, far more in shape than myself runner who was filling up his water bottle and discovered that indeed there was an event going on. It seems that a group, maybe the Fort Collins Trail Runners? were spending the entire day just doing ups and downs (7mi round trip) of Towers...all...day...and since we were out kind mid day, I guess the other runners thought we'd been out there doing the same since morning!!! Ha.

Nevertheless, Fort Collins runners...props to you guys....seem like a great bunch of people and just as sick as the Boulder Trail Runners 'Bear Baggin it' or doing 24hours of Mt. Sanitas.

Good run. Took it easy and waited for Laurie as she was having not the greatest day. I think I'll go back to FC once a week and do that Towers loop to get some training for race day. I kinda dug it. It was like an extended Blue Bell up from Chautauqua or a more paved run up Green.

Post run we hit up the town for some lunch and ended up at two dive bars that were pretty awesome.

Then, we went looking for some camping...yeah right. The course is around a lake, with TONS of camping, only it's packed, tent to tent, or rather RV with screaming kids next to RV with screaming kids. We had heard of some camping that was a little more our style, about 20 minutes out (Buckhorn?) and tried to find it to no avail (and the GPS coordinates on the net were...way false) Then we figured we'd try a cheap hotel. No go. I'll have to investigate some places to camp so when I go up to run for the weekend, I won't have to drive the 70 minutes home. If any of you friendly Fort Collins folks have a recommendation. I'm all ears!

Sunday
8mi - Doudy Draw-Spring Brook-Goshawk loop
Time: 01:46:45 Distance: 8.08 mi Elevation Gain: 1,111 ft
Meant to do a bit more, but ran out of water and at the junction, the parking lot/dreams of Southern Sun won over doing a North Fork loop. NOT a PR for this loop, but dang, it was hot, and dang, I felt kinda shitty in the beginning.

Summary
I'm pretty happy that I PRed most of my runs this week. Didn't get in a lot of miles but the ones I did were pretty quality. I kind of did routes I've done a few times rather than anything new this week to see if I've had any improvement. I definitely have. With trail running it's pretty hard to track progress compared to flat road running, so I think this is the best way without getting all data crazy and messing normalized graded pace, etc. etc.. (and mainly because I'm too cheap/lazy...and...I run a Mac, to mess with Training Peaks and/or SportTracks where it will spit all that info out for me. Although, if anyone is a data freak and wants to compare a few runs for me, I'll be more than happy to provide some data! Otherwise, I'll just keep a list of common routes and PR's on them then look to see where I gained the time, on the ascent or descent.

Oh yeah, I went with clunky Cascadias as the new pair of shoe...it's not that I'm anti-minimal-hipster, it's that I'd rather have a little more under my feet and a higher heel toe ratio to help my troubled calves rather than loose a few lbs' and get a bit fitter...The Mountain Masochists I usually run in are even clunkier, albeit lighter, and are a little flatter than the Cascadias.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 29.97 mi (29.97-trail)
Time: 06:23:13
Elevation Gain: 4,052 ft
Ft/Mi: 135.20

July Totals:
Miles: 158.56 mi (131.62 -trail)
Time: 40:03:18
Elevation Gain: 25,295 ft
Ft/Mi: 159.52

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 922.31 mi
Time: 211:28:47
Elevation Gain: 89,539 ft

If anyone want's to buy me an early x-mas present

2011-07-28T17:02:00.000-04:00

Weekly Running Summary - 7/18-7/24 aka Leadville Camp/Run/Hike

2011-07-24T23:14:00.000-04:00

Not going crazy with the Garmin data this week, because frankly it's embarrassing.

Monday-Wednesday
Nada, sans some acupuncture work on my calves

Thursday
13.1mi/ 2,977 - From Mt. Elbert Trail head in Leadville to almost Twin Lakes and back
First run at 10k feet. Actually, I've only been at 10k feet for about 3 hours of my entire life. We both felt like we were wheezing through a straw. Couldn't get my HR up over 145-150 without going into oxygen debt first. Thank god the temp was very mild! This turned into more of a hike than a run. The descent into Twin Lakes was way more fun going than on the turnaround. Nice trail, almost like Mesa only 'more paved' and less people.

Friday
~19mi/2,169ft - Boat Ramp to Powerlines then around Turquoise Lake for a loop
FFS those power lines blow. What is it, like 3 false peaks with no shade? The run down to May Queen from the top was nice though. That section of the Co. Trail is pretty sweet. Favorite part of what we ran/hiked this weekend by far.

Saturday
Nope. Went Jeep exploring. Took a ride to Aspen to try to find Lance and pick a fight with him. Like Leadville has a sign when you enter about "great living at 10,200ft" Aspen should have "Aspen - Proof that even if you're old and fat, all you need is a lot of money to land a hot blonde" - We didn't even get out of the Jeep before heading back to Leadville and went to check out Winfield for when we crew for Jason. Jason, so sorry I won't be at the Winfield aid station for you...Sucks getting there.

Sunday
10mi/4,652ft - Mt. Elbert
Woke up at the asscrack of dawn and hiked up with Laurie and a bunch of old people.

Summary
Pretty awesome mini-vacation. Got in some nice reading, relaxing, running, hiking, camping...eating. Ok..mostly hiking. I'm not even a very good hiker. Got in a lot of vertical for me though. Legs feel fine as I couldn't make them move fast enough to make my HR go up enough to make em' even a little bit sore. We love Leadville though, we'll be going back a lot. Camping turned out OK and not too crowded up by Halfmoon, but wouldn't mind any other Jeep accessible suggestions where I can lay in my hammock balls naked. The ride home today on 70 almost made me wish I was running the powerlines again. Felt like the Garden State Parkway in NJ during Benny season.

Rather than post a shit ton more pictures, here is a super long video I made of our weekend with a non-Creed soundtrack that will keep you occupied while you fold laundry or something....

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 41.81 mi (41.81-trail)
Time: 15:52:03
Elevation Gain: 9,799 ft
Ft/Mi: 234.36

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 892.33 mi
Time: 205:05:33
Elevation Gain: 85,487 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 7/11 - 7/17

2011-07-17T19:07:00.000-04:00

Monday
PM - 3mi - From Work

Time:	00:28:11
Distance:	3.00 mi
Elevation Gain:	11 ft

Avg Pace:	09:24 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	09:21 min/m

Usual 4pm - Raining, Lightning, Thundering

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work

Time:	00:25:20
Distance:	2.25 mi
Elevation Gain:	151 ft

Avg Pace:	11:15 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	10:41 min/mi

PM - 7mi - Boulder Creek Path From Work

Time:	01:13:11
Distance:	7.00 mi
Elevation Gain:	127 ft

Avg Pace:	10:27 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	10:18 min/mi

Stopped for an emergency major bio break at mile ~2ish...you can tell by my elevated and erratic HR. Then headed over to Eben G. to oogle at the creek. Which looked like this...

Wednesday
PM - 5mi - Mesa-Skunk-FourPines-Enchanted BTR WTJ

Time:	01:07:12
Distance:	4.85 mi
Elevation Gain:	916 ft

Avg Pace:	13:52 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	11:56 min/m

Did pretty good today. Huffed it a bit up bluebell but didn't get dropped on any other climbs.

Thursday
PM - 4mi - Green (almost) via Gregory-Ranger

Time:	01:02:11
Distance:	3.90 mi
Elevation Gain:	1,535 ft

Avg Pace:	15:56 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	14:59 min/mi

Caught in thunderstorm and headed back before the peak...I'm a big wimp but figured it best when the 3 runners in front of me turned back too. Was doing really well on the way up, definite PR pace too. Seems JV had the same issue I did but we must have just missed each other on the trail.

Friday
Nada

Saturday
White Ranch 10k - Golden, CO

Time:	01:06:10
Distance:	5.94 mi
Elevation Gain:	1,015 ft

Avg Pace:	11:08 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	10:54 min/mi

Kind of decided on this race last minute. There was no pre-registration and it was 10$ the day of. Didn't think it was going to be a 'big' race, which is kind of what I like. On my Wednesday group run I was talking about it to another runner when he says 'Chris over here is the race director!' SWEET. I love running some place different. The course was great but really hilly (for me). The good thing though, is it wasn't the usual halfway up, then halfway down course, but rather a down-up-down-up-down-up.....lather rise repeat course. The bad thing though, is that the up's were steep. I think I managed to do pretty well all things considered. I got my HR up to where I wanted it, 166, and managed to come in 71 out of 113. Compared to last weeks 74 out of 88, I'd say I did well. The field in the front, and, overall I felt was a bit more stacked with a bunch of HS cross country kids in the front.

I've been pondering (and even pondered during the race) what separates back of the pack from mid pack, as I always seem to at best be front of the back of the pack...and with trail running, especially out here it boils down to 'how much of the climb you can run'. With the back of the pack, it's 'how much time can you make up bombing the downhills'....but no matter how hard you bomb them, if you're sucking the uphills, you'll never make up enough to land mid pack. With the front of the pack, it's just speed...

Talking with the usual group of friends about weekend racing, like we do every week, it's weird as I'm the only trail runner in a bunch of triathletes. So hard for them to quantify and me to convey a 'good' race via pace/time. So hard to quantify 'improvement' when the runs you do are different trails, etc.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot - What a well put on race! The course was great and marked well. There were 2 aid stations appropriately spaced at the top of the major climbs. Great organizing with the timing folks too. For 10$, I figured this would be a clusterfuck at best but quite the opposite. In addition, I won a Ultimate Direction water belt and Laurie won a nice Addidas running t-shirt...for 10$! Can't beat that!

Some pictures - Courtesy of Peter Schow

Sunday

8.75mi - Green via Gregory-Ranger down Bear Cyn to Mesa

Time:	02:22:01
Distance:	8.74 mi
Elevation Gain:	2,629 ft

Avg Pace:	16:15 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	15:31 min/mi

Hot and a bit crowded at the start. Blew out my legs between the race and my attempt at Green on Thursday so didn't even bother on the way up today. I think I've set some goals on the climb up Green in the future. Kind of progressive, but:

Be able to run from the powerline downhill before Ranger all the way to the Greenman junction
First though, maybe break up Ranger into sections, or be able to at least run the non-staired sections first.
Be able to run from the switchbacks to the 3-way...or at least from the start of the switchbacks until it gets pretty technical/rocky/steep...not sure the designation here though.

Anyone else run this and have silly goals/things like this?

In any case. Spent a few minutes at the top sucking a GU until I had an anxiety attack with the amount of people up there today. I must have looked like complete shit when I got up there...sucking down a GU and sweating/soaked with dirt all over me...and still someone asked me to take a picture. Started on the down from the peak and heard someone behind me gaining on me. I moved over to let them buy, it was a girl who was doing quite well bombing down! Though, as soon as she passed I SWEAR she farted. Shitty (no pun intended) move.

Felt awesome coming down Bear Cyn though. Had the trail to myself and cruised nicely, just me and the poison ivy.

My favorite single trail is by far coming down Bear Canyon from either Green or Bear Peaks. There isn't a section of this trail that I don't like/love. Feeling like a boss crossing over the creek a few times, and it being downhill...certainly helps! The long switchbacks by the powerline when you drop into the canyon are fun too....this section of trail, I guess due to the rocks/dirt...actually 'sparkles'. (or, it was REALLY hot today). This trail also has a kickass variety of flowers and such (such, being a bit of poison ivy). Cruising around the blind corners with the big boulders is fun. .1 miles into this trail you forget about the pain your legs/lungs were in on the climb up Green/Bear, and there isn't a chance that anyone can run this and not love trail running.

Summary
Pretty happy with my mileage and time this week. I didn't expect to run this much and especially this much vertical this week (don't laugh local guys). Next week is going to be pretty awesome. I planned out a little camping trip to Leadville. I'm crewing and potentially pacing for a NJ Trail Runner buddy who's running the Leadville 100 in August so we figured we wanted to get in a nice long weekend of camping, let's head to Leadville to run and do some recon!

If anyone has any suggestions, here is our 'rough' plan. Thank to JV for all the help/info.
Camping: We kinda don't like 'campgrounds' but since we've both never been to the area, Laurie and I will probably wing it with a campground (since they are all booked). Hoping for either Halfmoon or Elbert campgrounds? Unless someone can suggest something a bit more remote/private. We do like a campfire though, which was never a problem on the east coast, but surely a no-no out here unless it's a campground...not a huge deal but if anyone has any 'you HAVE to camp at THIS hidden spot' instead...we're game and have a 4wd Jeep Wrangler. Would rather not hike-in this time 'round.
Running: I know there are probably 100 awesome runs out there that AREN'T the Leadville course, but for the sake of this trip, I'd like to do some recon on the course since I'll be crewing/pacing on it, and well, the guy I'm crewing for can get lost around a 1/4mi track! ;) SO. I plan on running from around Fish Hatchery to around Lake Turquoise since I'll likely be pacing that part. Also, from Halfmoon to Twin Lakes. I'll skip the Hope pass this time around ;). At the suggestion of JV we might hit/hike up a 14er (Elbert or Massive) if our leg's aren't shot.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 35.66 mi (23.42-trail)
Time: 7:44:20
Elevation Gain: 6,385 ft
Ft/Mi: 179

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 850.53 mi
Time: 189:13:30
Elevation Gain: 75,688 ft

Boulder Creek be Ragin' Yo.

2011-07-13T10:47:00.001-04:00

Weekly Running Summary - 7/4 - 7/10

2011-07-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

Recovery/Cutback-ish week so not a lot going on other than the race...this format below makes it a bit easier for me to copy/paste from Garmin Connect. I'm lazy.

First, some links/stuff.

I'm thinking about taking this sport up...

That's all I got for this week...

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
Nada again - Instead, acupuncture session with Allison

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97381843

Time:	00:26:49
Distance:	2.25 mi
Elevation Gain:	150 ft

Avg Pace:	11:55 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	10:45 min/mi

PM - 2.7mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97381838

Time:	00:26:52
Distance:	2.69 mi
Elevation Gain:	0 ft

Avg Pace:	09:58 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	09:44 min/mi

PM2 - 6mi - North Foothills BTR WTJ
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97381834

Time:	01:13:43
Distance:	5.94 mi
Elevation Gain:	462 ft

Avg Pace:	12:25 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	10:10 min/mi

Nice easy, somewhat flattish run. Kept up sans 1 little climb.

Thursday
PM - 1.6mi - Boulder Creek Path
Not even worth posting...bad thunder/lightning storm..ran home fast. Didn't wanna die. Thunderstorms here are no joke.

Friday
Nada - Drove to Steamboat.

Saturday
Howelsen 8-Miler Race - Steamboat Springs, CO - Click for race report.

Sunday
AM - 5mi - Mesa-Skunk-FourPines-Enchanted
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98293919

Time:	01:08:13
Distance:	5.00 mi
Elevation Gain:	906 ft

Avg Pace:	13:38 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	12:47 min/mi

Hot and Humid run. Felt like poop, but I think I PRed up Bluebell rd...I have to check. I did make it all the way up it. I'll have to check...

Summary
Even though I had planned on it...the thunderstorms here this week seemed to come as soon as I wanted to go for a run and helped with a cutback/recovery week. I felt I did great in the race, but you can check out the report on that. Looking forward to the upcoming weeks! I think I'm doing a trail 10k next weekend, but other than that, no races planned.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 26.45 mi (19.90-trail)
Time: 5:15:26
Elevation Gain: 2,984 ft
Ft/Mi: 112.81

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 814.86 mi
Time: 181:29:10
Elevation Gain: 69,303 ft

Race Report: Howelsen 8-Miler Trail Run - Steamboat Springs, CO

2011-07-09T21:28:00.001-04:00

Week leading up to the race:
After 3 pretty heavy weeks for this noob, a little bit of recovery didn't sound like a good idea, but was probably necessary. Despite me wanting to get some more running in, life forced a recovery week through various things as crazy lightening/thunderstorms, which....are NO JOKE here. I managed to get in a few easy runs, mainly on Wednesday and felt pretty good. Thursday I managed to get in a measly 1.6mi before mother nature decided to maybe help out me out like she did Flash Gordon and strike me with a bolt of lightening.

We got into Steamboat Springs on Friday afternoon and walked the downtown. We weren't too impressed, but, we're not really ski/winter sport/resort people. We did scout out the race start, which happened to be at "Olympic Hall", or rather, where all the Olympians go to train for ski jumping and such...this should have been a sign. Apparently, Steamboat has produced more Winter Olympians than any other town in the U.S.A.

The Race:
Since I found that I run really bad first thing in the morning, we woke up extra early. I also found that caffeine seems to help me out a lot. I usually don't drink caffeine as I have trouble sleeping, but I'll definitely be doping on more caffeine pre-race in the future. The race start was at 8, so we woke up at around 5:30-5:45ish. Our stuff layed out in a Timko OCD ritual we were out of the hotel pretty quick and off to find some coffee and a muffin. With some Starbucks success and a quick stop to the thought closet (also a success), we headed off to the start. We got there early and warmed up a lot more than I usually do. Scouting out (aka being intimidated by) the field and the course, this ain't NJ.

Since there were two water stops and it was only 8 miles, we both decided not to take any hydration with us. The temp was around 55 degrees and overcast, which...was awesome. Perfect for me.

At 7:55 the race director gave a rather 'if you're a local you'll understand' course description, which made me a bit nervous as it sucks getting lost. From the race directors description and from the website, it seemed like a simple 4mi climb/4mi decent, with a water stop for 8 milers at the half-way point. Someone on the web mentioned 1200ft climb.

Laurie and I lined up toward the 'back of the middle pack'. The start for both the 4 milers and 8 milers was at the same time and followed the same course to a point. At a little after 8, we're off. The course started out in single track. When I say single track, I mean single track....it was impossible to pass anyone without risking life/limb bushwhacking, which, I did some of and passed a few people. The mud was not bad, but in a few spots cause some bad footing. Laurie stuck with me while passing some people. I had thought it was going to be a 1200ft climb in 4miles...but after the first mile of rolling, I thought the 1200ft of climb number was maybe 600ft up 600ft down as it seemed pretty easy. (ok, what I really thought was, fuck, there is going to be a steep climb right at mile 4) I got into a groove and didn't really pass anyone, but was almost stepping on the person in front of me heels. It was kind of frustrating as I felt I could go quite a bit faster, but, I wasn't sure of myself on the climbs and didn't wanna be that guy who passed, only to get passed by again. I chalked it up as them helping me not to go out too fast.

3 miles clicked away really fast. Surprisingly, I ran everything....every climb. This was the perfect start for me...steeper shorter climbs, and as soon as my calves started to act/tighten up, it eased off a bit. I really surprised myself with how well I did the first 3 miles on the climbs! I didn't get passed at all and kept a steady pace. Laurie was still behind me, maybe a 1 or 2 person gap. I stopped at mile 3-ish, the first aid station and the 4 mile racer turnoff to take a leak. Laurie caught up to me at this point, then went ahead...then we swapped again shortly after. The course was really, all single track in some pretty dense trees/grass where your ankles brushed the side grass. I love this type of course. Footing was nice, not too rocky/rooty.

Miles 3 and 4 were a little steeper, but still, in the middle of the climbs, I kept thinking "Shit, those Boulder hills are really helping, these seem not too bad!" (let's put this in perspective though, for any real trail runner who's reading, I was still in granny gear slowly cranking up the hills). At this point we were in the thick of the woods, still single track (the whole race was single single track), by myself. I couldn't see anyone in front or behind me. In my head, I was thinking, "man, after mile 4 it's alllll downhill...and I'm about to complete mile 4". Every so often the trail would clear on to a ridge before switching back and all you'd see below was clouds, which was pretty awesome.

Mile 4 is done, and I keep looking for that second aid station, where they said 'it's all downhill from there'....you know...the one that's halfway. I should know sadistic trail race directors by now. Well, 4.25mi goes by and it's only getting steeper....4.5 goes by...steeper yet...WTF? I'm outta climb at this point as I was anticipating a downhill! A little after 4.5 I turn the corner and see a wall of slate/rock, with trail markers going up. WTF. At least I can kind of see the top, and there is someone with some water up there. Hands-on-knees hike up and when I get to the top, mile 5 clicks off on the Garmin. I stop briefly for a cup of water.

I continue on the supposed 'all downhill from here' route. Well, every mile was certainly a lot of net downhill, but no mile went by without at least 60ft of climb, which to trail runners, is downhill...to Rob, from sea-level Jersey...is still a climb. Still, I was feeling really good. I really like twisty switch backed single track with a lot of trees and such. I recovered from the climb and in a short bit there was a steeeeep downhill through a meadow. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was a ski slope? There was tall grass, and a singly track going along the side towards the tree line. I spot someone in front of me! YES! The problem was...this was REALLY single track. You had to land your foot directly in front of you or it was banked....only room for 1 shoe. I tried running through the tall grass but that proved...a stupid fucking idea. I get to the bottom of the that hill (around mile 6.5) and see....11 runners across the meadow (yeah, I counted)...slogging up an uphill (I thought it was supposed to be all downhill!). I knew I could catch at least a few. In my mind, even if I couldn't I didn't want there to be too much of a gap between that last person in that group, and me.

I ran the uphill and I shortly passed one person...Then came a steep downhill and I hammered it pretty hard hoping to catch someone else, or at least not be passed. At around mile 7.4ish, I started passing people on the stteeeep downhill. I passed a total of 7 people, then the finish was actually down the side of a downhill ski jump hill....and around a bend. I finished in 1:33:34. I thought the time was sucky, looking at last years times and I wanted to at least break 1:30 and had a pie in the sky 1:25, but my only real goal was to have an average HR above 160 and running more of the climbs as I've been having trouble pushing it on trail runs and getting it higher than that. I averaged about 162. Despite it being a steep downhill I was happy with my last mile being 7:25pace. I was happy with all my splits actually. The climb actually came out to 1422ft or 176ft/mi. The average race elevation was around 7000 ft.

I crossed the finish line and waited for Laurie who came in shortly after me. They had some awesome wraps, cookies, and bloody mary's but I just grabbed a cookie and some water.

Data:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97990661

Results:
http://www.runningseries.com/results?id=27

Post Race:
I felt awesome. I felt like I ran a really great race. I couldn't tell the elevation from my Garmin readout by I figured the climb had to be a bit more. The course was very well marked and the race director put on a fantastic race. I really loved the trail. I felt that I started out kinda mid pack and no one passed me, and I passed 7 people in the last 2 miles. I don't think I could have been any faster except in the beginning when I was behind the train of people...but no use speculating.

On the way home from Steamboat, I checked the race results. Wah Wah waaahhhhhh. 74 out of 88 people who did the 8-miler. back of the pack. Man, I guess a lot of those people behind me at the start were 4 milers? Thank god I was able to pass people towards the end or I'd be DFL! O well. I'm super happy with how I managed the climbs, and this is definitely a PR for this amount of climb. I'm glad I got the HR up there too. Definitely...progress!

Some photos:

Race start. People were actually using the ski jump ramp/hill! I've never seen that before. Damn, those guys were in shape! Sick!

Post Race Bloody Mary's

Weekly Running Summary - 6/27 - 7/3

2011-07-03T18:00:00.002-04:00

First, a few cool links...
http://www.presmustache.com/ - This blog is always good for a laugh. The latest video is awesome.

Western States 100 has gone and passed, but this video showing the sprint finish between the 2nd (Kami Semick) and 3rd place (Nikki Kimball) women, is...unbelievable. Encountering a bear at mile 95, running for 99 miles, then being so close at the end, you have to sprint....after 99.75 miles...and your sprint still looks like a sprint...is fantastic. Here is Kami's race report... and below is video of the sprint finish.

Also, Elizabeth Carrion Azze from Mountain Peak Fitness (A few buddies from back home in NJ run for this team) had a SPECTACULAR finish. I'm sure her report will be up soon, but, the holy grail for many runners is sub-24hr finish, to get that sub-24 belt buckle...especially after previously running it and coming up a bit short...well...she did it. in 23:59:42. She was the last runner to hit sub-24. I can't even imagine the emotions/thoughts/etc. going through her head the last few miles. Here is what one blogger/racer/spectator wrote about it.

"Finish line at #WS100 is an awesome display of human achievement and exhaustion. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
That was my tweet a little after 5am on Sunday, after the last 24-hour finisher pushed around the track to cross the line with about 15 seconds to spare before the clock reached 5am. She got the 125th silver buckle on this cool 82-degree day. The physical and emotional effort was apparent as the medical folks tried to control her so they could take her vitals. She stood, slumped, eyes closed, breathing hard, and not responding to any of them. If you were not familiar with what she had just done you might think she wasn’t happy, but everybody in the stands was going nuts. She was exhausted both physically and mentally. Who knows how long she and her pacer had been calculating exactly how fast they had to go to reach the finish in time. She did it and everybody watching was energized by her achievement. Great stuff."

Here is a video of Elizabeth's Finish.

One last inspirational (to me) link....in a shrink couch mentoring session with JV, he turned me on to Brandon Fuller's blog. This week, I must have read every running post since he started blogging about running...and followed a progression of running a 4:07:00 marathon in 2007, to running 2:59:00, at Boston, in 2010. Or, the latest tale of taking an hour off his Leadville Half-Marathon time, since 2007. I heard through the grapevine that 10% improvement per year is 'unrealistic' (you know who you are!) This looks pretty real. Brandon, if you happen to come across this blog entry...apologies in advance for the creepy stalking...(and how come Cisco's firewall service modules in all my 6500's suck asshole?) -- Hope to run into you on the trails sometime.

Ok, back to my week....

Monday
Nada

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95564226
2.25mi, 146ft, 27:11 time, 11:58 pace

PM - 3.5mi - Bluebell Hill Repeats
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95564218
3.5mi, 853ft, 52:13 time, 14:54 pace
Warmed up for a mile then did 4x.15mi repeats up Bluebell. It's about 75ft per .15mi. I had planned on .25mi but with the heat and me sucking, I was barely able to squeek these out. Certainly not negative splits.
1 - 1:21
2 - 1:23
3 - 1:32
4 - 1:35
Then cooled down by hiking to the top of bluebell and running the trails down.

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95764904
2.25mi, 155ft, 29:35 time, 13:09 pace (11:00 moving)
Hit every. single. traffic. crossing. this morning. wtf. Legs still felt decent despite yesterdays hill repeats.

PM - 5mi - From Work + Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95764896
5mi, 62ft, 50:59 time, 10:12 pace
Despite this mornings legs feeling good, this afternoon they felt a bit heavy. Dang rain and 95 degrees out didn't help much.

PM - 3mi - Boulder Creek Path - Night run with Laurie post her work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95796907
3mi, 73ft, 31:08 time, 10:22 pace
I always feel much better at night. Wish I would have donned a headlamp though. Boulder Creek was pretty raging and splashing through the flooded underpasses in the dark was kinda fun. Wore the minimus'sisis and forgotten how much fun they are for short runs like this. Felt much better on this 3 miler than on the 5mi home from work.

Thursday
AM- 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95966101
2.25mi, 152ft, 28:15 time, 12:34 pace

Not bad actually. But legs do feel fatigued. I don't really try to 'run' these runs in the morning. First, I suck at running 20 minutes after I wake up, second, it's uphill, to work....so yeah...I don't mind stopping at the crossings ;)

PM - 7.1mi - Doudy Draw/Spring Brook loop + Doudy to Flatirons Vista and back

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95966085
7.1mi, 860ft, 1:24:32 time, 11:54 pace

Rough start on the calves but pushed through to a pretty good run for this course for me. I believe this is 30 seconds and off my PR for this trail, and I even added on 1.5mi. Sweet.

Friday
Nuttin'

Saturday
AM - 16.5mi - Doudy Draw-SpringBrook-Fowler-Goshawk-PrarieVistax2
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96344236
16.5mi, 1,767ft, 3:31:27, 12:47 pace
Nice long run with Laurie. Felt better on the flats today, hard warming up the first 2.5mi though. I suck at morning runs. Same ft/mi, and 1.5mi added on to last weeks long run, same pace. Sweet. Was a bit hotter too.

Sunday
AM - 8.15mi - Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96595332
8.15mi, 309ft, 1:16:47, 9:24 pace
Hot run. 93. For some reason these 11am Sunday runs on the creek have been great the past two weeks. Didn't bring any water and wore the MT101's. Felt great, not even a HINT of lower calve pain, I just don't get it. Despite the heat and yesterdays 16.6 hard miles, I didn't really feel thirsty and felt controlled the whole time. Had to stop and wait to cross streets due to flooding under bridges. This was probably a borderline regular run borderline tempo run but I even felt great on the uphill in the sun toward the end of the path. Cadence was spot on at 90. I did lose 3lbs during the run though according to the scale so I'm sure stopping at a water fountain would have been a good idea. I did have coffee this morning, a lot of it, despite not having any caffeine for over a week or so. Breakfast was a simple smoothie. Shrug...here's to a 50 mile week. A mile more than last weeks Sunday run, and a minute off my pace. NICE. Also, this is the ONLY 8mi run I've done where I've broken 10min/mi! Actually, I searched ALL my run data for the past few years for runs from 6mi-10mi, and...asside from 3 10k races on my old 'daily route', this is the fastest I've run..10bpm lower average HR...wow.

Summary
Man, another great week! 50mi too. So it's been 40mi, 43mi, and 50mi the last three weeks. for me, those are MORE than solid weeks. I can't remember breaking 45mi's many times with the exception of the 60miler before the ultra. I almost don't wanna have a cutback week next week, but I kinda wanna see how I do in the race if I do cut back to maybe an easy/flat 25-30mi this upcoming week. Any cutback week/taper suggestions? The only concern I have about the race is that I seem to suck at running in the morning. It's when my calves act up no matter how much stretching/rolling/eating/hydrating/voodoo I do. I'm going to try to get up SUPER early, maybe go for a 3 mile warmup jog beforehand. Trick my body into thinking it's around 11am! I found out that the race is 8mi with ~1200ft climb and it's basically an up/down loop. So, 1200 up in 4mi and 1200 down the last four. I've done a VERY similar run like this with JV and his twins.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91652074 - Which was 7.5mi with 1200ft climb, pretty much all up, then down. I managed around 10:30 pace, but unfortunately don't have my HR on this. Be nice to shoot for under that. I'll have to push it harder than I used to on the uphill, kinda like I did on that run, and trust I'll be ok, cruise/recover the first part of when it turns down, then the last three miles hammer the downhill.

Running is the hardest challenge I've ever taken on...and for that...I fucking love running.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 50.04 mi (27.12-trail)
Time: 9:52:11
Elevation Gain: 4,378 ft
Ft/Mi: 87.49

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 788.42 mi
Time: 176:13:44
Elevation Gain: 66,320 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 6/20 - 6/26

2011-06-26T16:35:00.001-04:00

Monday
Squat and not the strength training kind

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94009214
2.25mi, 152ft, 26:27 time, 11:44 pace

PM - 2.5mi - Tempo run From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94009202
2.53mi, 0ft, 18:55 time, 7:29 pace
Pushed it a bit on the way home. Didn't push it too hard as I had a fun day of running planned the next day/rest of the week

PM - Trigger Point Acupuncture session with Allison - One of the best sessions yet

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94236888
2.25mi, 152ft, 25:15 time, 11:13 pace
It was bike to work day so everyone had free breakfasts setup outside on the corners and free bike maintenance, etc...was pretty cool.

PM - 1.5mi - From Work to Chautuaqua
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94236871
1.5mi, 271ft, 17:43 time, 11:40 pace
Ran to Chautuaqua after work to meet up with the Boulder Trail Runners. Run is pretty steep uphill...didn't feel great as it was quite hot. Kept a low HR though. Last time I ran this at 11:04 pace though.

PM - 5.6mi - Mesa-Skunk-Enchanted-McIntlock-Mesa BTR WTJ
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94236874
5.58mi, 1,222ft, 1:18:31 time, 14:04 pace
Was HOT. ~12:00 moving time as we stopped a lot. Hilly route (for me) but felt great. Could have done a few of the climbs better but I'll get there. The last climb up McIntlock to Mesa, is the worst climb ever. It's not bad but always seems to come when you don't want it. One person bailed and went through Chautauqua at the base...I certainly thought about it. 150hr so didn't push it as hard as I wanted/planned to.

PM - 3mi - Chautauqua to Home
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94236849
3mi, 0ft (420lost), 33:49 time, 11:17 pace (hit a bunch of lights)
The downhill was aerobically welcoming, but legwise not-so-much. Took it easy and just jogged home at around 10:40 pace with 139hr.

Thursday
PM - 4mi - Doudy Draw out and back
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94410529
4mi, 527ft, 51:59 time, 12:50 pace
ROUGH start. Good thing I took it easy in the morning and didn't run. BUT, after about 1.5mi, I felt great, and wanted to run a bit further but decided to chill out and just take it easy today for the weekend.

Friday
Nuttin'

Saturday
AM - 15mi - Doudy-SpringBrook-Fowler-Goshawk-Doudy-FlatironsVista
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94778903
15mi, 1,599ft, 3:12:08, 12:47 pace
Started out at Doudy Draw parking lot. Ran with 2 guys on horses a bit. Did the usual loop, only I did Fowler first instead of Goshawk. Stopped a bunch for video and to take some pictures of the flowers to be like JV. Then, when I got to the three-way headed up doudy to flatirons vista, the hit prairie vista for a loop. Came down Doudy Draw and then hung a right on Community Ditch for an extra mile or two. Was 'almost' feeling like refilling my water and heading across the street to South Mesa but figured it would be crowded by then and Southern Sun sounded better. Post Southern Sun I bumped into Scott Jurek and Jenny in Neptune Mountaineering. I'd say running with horses, and running into the 7 time winner of the race, is the best way to spend the day, without actually running Western States..Here is a quick video I threw together of the run. Came home and sat behind the computer clicking re-fresh on the ws100 site the rest of the day.

Sunday
AM - 7mi - Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95022878
7mi, 194ft, 1:12:49, 10:24 pace
Legs actually felt....awesome. Surprisingly fresh despite the week. Was HOT 90, and didn't bring water as I only planned to do a few miles. A few of the underpasses were closed due to overflow flooding from the snow melt up in the mountains....creek is HIGH and raging. Ice bathed legs in the creek (was just trying to fit in). Great weekend running!.

Summary
BEST week running since I've been out here. Just had a ton of fun running. Saturdays long run was really nice. Today wasn't so bad on the creek path either. Surprisingly my legs, this year, seem to recover from miles a lot more than last. I didn't feel the 15miler at all in my legs today. Nada. I'm pretty happy about that. Means I can start pushing it on some runs now and then without being layed up for a week being sore/fatigued. We found an 8 miler in Steamboat we are going to do on July 9th too. I'm guessing it will be a lot of climb for me. Next week I'm going to try to get out and do some bluebell hill repeats on maybe Tuesday or Thursday. Keep the mileage the same with maybe a few miles added to the long run, then the week of the 4th I'll cut back since it'll be three weeks of higher mileage (for me). Until the race.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 43.12 mi (24.60-trail)
Time: 8:37:00
Elevation Gain: 4,116 ft
Ft/Mi: 95.45

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 738.38 mi
Time: 166:21:33
Elevation Gain: 61,942 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 6/13 - 6/19

2011-06-19T17:00:00.000-04:00

Monday
PM - 2.25mi - Tempo Run From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92268855
2.25mi, 0ft, 16:44 time, 7:27 pace
Damn, hit one traffic light!

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92490453
2.25mi, 152ft, 27:55 time, 12:24 pace

PM - 5.35mi - Green via Gregory/Ranger and back
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92490443
5.35mi, 2,326ft, 1:53:03 time (moving 1:39), 21:06 pace
Was feeling froggy so diverted our easy run to head up Green. I still can barely run 100yrds of this on the up...but there was no one at the top, we had it all to ourselves so we hung out a bit before heading down. I'd like to make it up in under an hour, since the record is what..33? 32?. I'm quite sure people hike it faster than I 'run' it.

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92706916
2.25mi, 152ft, 27:05 time, 12:03 pace

PM - 4.68mi - Mt. Sanitas via BTR Wednesday Trail Jog
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92706914
4.68mi, 1525ft, 1:35:55 time (1:19:17 moving), ~20:00 pace
Legs were feeling pretty 'Green' from yesterday but overall good run. Took me about 35 minutes to get to the top from where the FKT starts...Killian Jornet has it at 14:12 to the top. It's a good 1.6mi climb.

Thursday
Nada

Friday
PM - 5.25mi - Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91652074
5.25mi, 17ft, 56:30, 10:27 pace

Saturday
AM - 7.5mi - SoBo Creek West - Mesa - Homestead - Towhee - Mesa - Big Bluestem
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/93279001
7.5mi, 1062ft, 1:46:27, 14:12 pace
Today we decided to stay off the mountains...and kind of run in front of them. I've made a few videos of Bear/Green in the past, so figured I'd do something a little bit different. The beginning is a short drive there (about 2.5mi from my place), sorry I put that in there for family back home.... I get chased by a veal at the end....that should make up for it.

Sunday
AM - 9.18mi - Bobolink - SoBo Creek - Buff Ranch lollipop
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/93279001
9.18mi, 247ft, 1:45:40, 11:30 pace
Felt a bit like poop starting out but felt good after mile 4-5. Had to jump a few gates because some yoyo's locked them. Did a loop/half loop of the CU cross country course then back. On the way back (after hopping yet another gate) the guy who helped Laurie over the gate says 'watch out for the rattler' and we see a good 3.5foot rattler cross the path.

Summary
Good week. Starting to ramp up mileage and I did a lot of climb this week. Granted at hiking/slow pace. Legs felt good all week despite climbing a vertical mile. (you CO folk are laughing at that wimpy statement now aren't you?) No nagging injury or anything sans for the usual tight lower calve/compartment syndrome thing. I'd like to go out for a quick shakeout run this evening on the creek path but...will probably default to wine instead. I REALLY need to find some local, shorter races...I'm kind of going nuts...PLEASE help!

If anyone has any recommendations for upcoming shorter distance (26.2 or shorter, preferably 10k-13.1) trail races in Colorado area, lemme know. Most of the desirable 50k ultras are full, and the ones that aren't are a little bit too much climb than I can survive.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 38.71 mi (26.71-trail)
Time: 9:08:52
Elevation Gain: 5,478 ft
Ft/Mi: 141.51

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 695.26 mi
Time: 157:44:32
Elevation Gain: 57,826 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 6/6 - 6/12

2011-06-12T17:54:00.002-04:00

Monday
Nada - Rough day at work

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90907324
2.25mi, -151ft, 27:11 time, 12:04 pace

PM - 2.1mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90907321
2.1mi, -173ft, 15:54 time, 7:34 pace
Pushed it a bit, but still felt controlled, until I hit the Creek path and just ran into traffic, decided that was good enough for a quick tempo. Surprised myself on this based on the street crossings/sidewalks/traffic/and 86 degree sun/heat. The meatball sub, fries, and bowl of Jambalaya didn't help either!

Wednesday
PM - 6.43mi - BTR Wednesday Trail Jog
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91139020
6.43mi, 875ft, 1:17:48 time, 12:06 pace
First run with the Boulder Trail Runner group. Great group! Kept up OK until the one real steep steps, then got into oxygen debt. Moving pace was in the 10:00's which I was happy with.

Thursday
PM - 6mi - Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91313464
6mi, 157ft, 1:03:39 time, 10:36 pace
Comfortable pace. The Creek is raging though from all the snow still on top!

Friday
PM - Acupuncture treatment
Treatment with Allison of http://www.alternativecareofcolorado.com/

Saturday
AM - 7.5mi - EbenG to Chautauqua to Enchanted
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91652074
7.5mi, 1200ft, 1:18:30, 10:27 pace
Then up Bluebell and back with Jeff Valliere (and his twins). Not sure what I was thinking that I could keep up, but threw caution to the wind and gave it the ol' college try. Stopped the watch and forgot to start it again at a bathroom break on the top of Bluebell so had to manually edit it. Also forgot my HRM at home. Really wish I knew what my HR was on this one. Bucket full of fail! It still was an average pace of about 10:30, maybe a little faster pace. Which, is super fast for me...I think the fastest run I've done with that amount of climb. Thanks Jeff for letting me 'kinda' keep up with you and the twins! Next time I'm going to throw another 50lbs in the baby jogger so I'll have at a little better chance! I have a lot of hill work to do to get used to Boulder, that's evident!

Sunday
Nada

Summary
Cutback week, with lower mileage, but I tried to make the lower mileage a bit faster than usual. One of the fastest weeks I've had here yet! My calves were pretty good this week. Granted, I went on the hilliest run the day after acupuncture, but they didn't bother me as much as usual on the inclines, oxygen debt took care of that first, which, is usually the other way around. As I said above, I have a lot of hill work to do to get used to Boulder, that's evident. In the Jerz, I'm used to maybe .25 to .5mi little 'hills', whereas here, it's ALWAYS a long, sometimes couple mile, uphill for the first half of the run, followed by a downhill. I'm going to punish myself next week by doing repeats of bluebell rd...

Oh yeah - Laurie was in Jersey all week, which is mainly why I cutback the miles...she hasn't had good luck on the trails as of late.

P.P.S. - If anyone has any recommendations for upcoming shorter distance (26.2 or shorter, preferably 10k-13.1) trail races in Colorado area, lemme know. Most of the desirable 50k ultras are full, and the ones that aren't are a little bit too much climb than I can survive.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 24.28 mi (13.93-trail)
Time: 4:23:04
Elevation Gain: 2,384 ft
Ft/Mi: 98.1

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 656.55 mi
Time: 148:35:40
Elevation Gain: 52,348 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 5/30 - 6/5

2011-06-05T21:20:00.000-04:00

Monday
AM - 6.2mi - Bolder Boulder 10k Race
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89091705
6.3mi, 177ft, 58:30 time, 9:17 pace
Wrote about this last week...

Tuesday
PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89514094
2.5mi, -171ft, 24:22 time, 9:45 pace
Decided I hate waiting for lights on the way home so took all the underpasses/bike paths I could. I don't mind the lights in the morning...but on the way home, this is my new route.

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89514087
2.25mi, 151ft, 27:08 time, 12:04 pace

PM - 4.89mi - From Work/Boulder Creek Path Intervals (6x400)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89514084
4.89mi, 59ft, 49:00 time, 10:01 pace
Ran 2mi from work to the Boulder Creek path by my place. Met Laurie and did 6x400 intervals, yasso-ish, jogging for the amount of time it took for the 400's. Kinda pathetic how slow I am. But...I made a bet to run 3.1mi in sub7:30 pace by November, so I guess I gotta do some speedwork or that's never going to happen. If anyone in Boulder wants to show me how to run faster, I'll cook a mean dinner!
My split paces:
8:20
8:19
8:14
7:53
7:26
7:22

Thursday
PM - Acupuncture treatment
Treatment with Allison of http://www.alternativecareofcolorado.com/.

Friday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89917653
2.25mi, 151ft, 27:12 time, 12:06 pace

PM - 8mi - Doudy Draw/Spring Brook/Goshawk Loop
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89917644
8.08mi, 1,131ft, 1:40:59 time, 12:29 pace
Great run! Only stopped once to take my sock off and check my foot out, and once for Laurie to stretch her Achilles. Based on this run, I think Laurie can kill a Watchung loop now! I'm not sure what way would be quicker then I get to Goshawk. I might try the opposite direction next time. So far, because it's about 'at my runable level' this is my favorite run.

Saturday
AM - 13.1mi - Green and Bear via Gregory/Ranger/Green Bear/Bear Peak/Green Bear/Bear Cyn...to the King Soopers....what a debacle.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90152571
13.1mi, 3960ft, won't even post my time/pace....
Ran out of water, Laurie--on the flattest, cleanest trail, takes huge spill and gets some nice trail rash. Coming down Bear Cyn I bonked HARD and was REALLY dehydrated...had to sit down a few times. Any sort of incline, even a little bit...I felt like I was going to pass out. My hr was super low sitting (60bpm and I was pouring sweat just sitting). Ended up just going down Bear Cyn to the road, then called a cab from King Soopers on Table Mesa! Sad part is, the cabbie says as soon as we get in 'Chautauqua? Bonked huh?'. I think I bit off more than I can chew. I can't even sustain an 8:30 pace on flat for a few miles...I need to work on that before I try to double peak in a day at any sort of effort. Maybe just stick to try to summit Green in under an hour. Considering these guy's do it in 30-40minutes...I think 60 minutes up the backside is a good goal.

Sunday
AM - 2mi - Boulder Creek path from Home
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90375679
2mi, 38ft, 22:15 time, 11:00 pace
Just a run on the Boulder Creek path from home to make sure I could still actually run. I wouldn't call 11:00 pace a run, but my legs moved...

Summary
Meh. Good week but I guess I need to stop playing around and actually try to get from embarrassingly slow to solid back-of-the-pack-but-not-quite-dead-last some time. The good thing is, I seem to have a great base. My legs feel great, and I seem to recover pretty good. Even after Saturdays run, today's run on the creek path, my legs weren't sore at all. I've been avoiding it since I started running 2 years ago, I guess it's time to try to get a little faster. 2x speedworks a week is my goal at least to start out. Tues & Thursdays.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 41.38 mi (21.20-trail)
Time: 11:18:12
Elevation Gain: 5,669 ft
Ft/Mi: 136.99

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 632.27 mi
Time: 144:12:35
Elevation Gain: 49,965 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 5/23 - 5/29 + Bolder Boulder 10k Race

2011-05-30T18:06:00.000-04:00

Monday
PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87635331
2.5mi, -183ft, 25:49 time, 10:20 pace
Short run home from work. Even after this weekend though, I wanted to hit up the Creek path for a few more, but impending doom (black clouds) and rain put a damper on that. Best I rest a bit anyway.

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88056572
2.25mi, 153ft, 28:20 time, 12:43 pace

PM - Acupuncture treatment
Treatment with Allison of http://www.alternativecareofcolorado.com/. Great session.

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88056566
2.25mi, 151ft, 26:10 time, 11:38 pace
Not bad considering I usually feel like shit and had been stabbed with needles in my muscles the day before.

PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88056562
2.5mi, -171ft, 26:17 time, 10:32 pace
Going to start taking the bike path underpasses to avoid the lights.

PM -5mi - Doudy Draw/Spring Brook loop
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88056559
5.09mi, 594ft, 1:03:00 time, 12:22 pace
Felt great this run. Stopped a few times for Laurie to catch up, but this is actually one of the only runs around here that's completely runnable by me for now...

Thursday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88241724
2.25mi, 148ft, 26:08 time, 11:36 pace

PM - 1.5mi - From Work to Chautauqua (a little road hill)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88241721
1.5mi, 238ft, 16:34 time, 11:04 pace
Not bad for me.

PM - 3.33mi - Bluebell-Mesa-EnchantedMesa-McClintlock
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88241719
3.33mi, 788ft, 42:06 time, 12:39 pace
Great quick run with Laurie before the Scott Jurek talk at Chautauqua. Fastest I've made it up bluebell hill. 7:06 Likely because it was my 3rd run of the day. Feeling much better on the hills. Starting to get used to them a little bit.

The talk Scott gave was in regards to sports nutrition. Thought it might be a granola crunchy vegan thing, but he assured me it wouldn't, so we decided to go. It was a really great talk with some very useful information.

Only picture I snapped of the evening. It was a packed house. Scott and Joe Grant

Friday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88385798
2.25mi, 151ft, 27:02 time, 12:01 pace

PM - 7.5mi - Walker Ranch Loop
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88385794
7.5mi, 1,557ft, 1:58:22 time, 15:46 pace
Our first time on this loop. It's a fun loop. It got a bit warm and wish I had some more water, but it was a good runnable trail, that...I'll have to work at to be able to actually run the whole thing.

Sat & Sunday - Boulder Creek Fest, just some walking and relaxing.

Monday
Bolder Boulder 10k 2011
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89091705
6.3mi, 177ft, 58:30 time, 9:17 pace
Felt great, no problems, decent pace, (a PR for a race, although I did a 10k run in Oct. that was a little faster). Would have liked to do a little better, but given the altitude and my fitness, I'm pretty happy. Managed to average a 174hr, which is something I haven't been good at doing here. I did notice the altitude though. Overall, I'm pretty happy. It sent the benchmark for what I need to do over the summer, which is obviously some speed work on the track/Creek path so I'm not embarrassingly slow anymore. I don't mind being slow, and just love running, but it would be nice to be just a little faster...

The race itself was pretty awesome. Similar to NYC Marathon in energy that's for sure. The stadium finish and being able to watch the Elite race is awesome as well. Surprise were the paratroopers/flyovers and the memorial day presentation. I must say they have it really organized too. 50k+ people for a 10k, and by the time I got back to my apartment, the start looked like nothing happened!

Summary
Felt great this week overall. Will try to work in some speed work/800's/tempos very soon. The acupuncture treatments help significantly.

Weekly Totals (not including Today's race):
Miles: 31.41 mi (15.92-trail)
Time: 6:39:51
Elevation Gain: 3,781 ft
Ft/Mi: 120.41

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 597.19 mi
Time: 133:52:53
Elevation Gain: 44,472 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 5/16 - 5/22

2011-05-23T12:01:00.000-04:00

Monday
PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86155072
2.5mi, -173ft, 23:33 time, 9:25 pace

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86365617
2.25mi, 151ft, 24:43 time, 10:59 pace
Actually felt pretty good this morning. Swapped to the Mountain Masochist's. Must be the placebo already for this afternoons acupuncture session! haha. j/k.

PM - Acupuncture treatment
At the reco of my NJ TP Acupuncturist, I had my first treatment with Allison of http://www.alternativecareofcolorado.com/. Great session. I'm hoping to keep the Compartment Syndrome at bay a bit via losing 15lbs, more support in the shoes than just 101's, unfortunately, acupuncture, voodoo, strength exercise, stretching, and if all else fails, medical marijuana. Everything short of getting any surgery. The (trigger point) acupuncture treatments seem to help a lot.

Wednesday
PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86527083
2.5mi, -174ft, 24:07 time, 9:39 pace
Damnit! fastest moving pace today, the lights/crossings hung me up. I probably overdid it with overconfidence from my acupuncture treatment...but...

Thursday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86724519
2.25mi, 155ft, 32:00 time, 14:14 pace
Walk/Run. Morning. Hell.

PM - 4.5mi - Bobolink
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86724509
4.53mi, 92ft, 53:26 time, 11:46 pace
Laurie's friend Jacquie is in town staying with us and visiting, so we took a run with her at a nice easy pace. Slow pace but felt nice, almost like we were ultra training again. Unfortunately feet went numb at mile 3 again.

Friday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86896781
2.25mi, 155ft, 30:19 time, 13:29 pace
Le Crap. Gotta be something to this 'running a very short run to work sucks every morning' thing.

PM - .25mi - HAIL STORM
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86896773
.22mi, 49ft, 2:30 time, 11:28 pace
So, I tried to get out of work a smidgen early to hit up a nice run from Chautauqua on the Mesa trail with Laurie's friend, to show her some more trails. As we were stretching (which, for me is 'pretending to stretch') I saw some clouds, but...it was sunny to the east! Started heading up bluebell road...made it .11 miles...and I said. "I think we should turn around" - Laurie said "really?" I said really. We JUST made it back to the ranger station and as SOON as we got there, it started to......hail? like a boss.

an hour later? just fine. so....round 2.

PM - 3.75mi - Mesa Trail
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86896768
3.75mi, 668ft, 55:16 time, 14:40 pace
Try number 2 to run for the day. With Laurie and Jacquie who's visiting from NJ. Since this was Jacquie's first real run in Boulder, we just figured we'd show her Mesa. Ran to the steps then decided we'd prefer Southern Sun instead of the mud bog so headed back...Took the trail back instead of bluebell road. I like it a bit better than the pounding on bluebell road!

Saturday
AM - 5.5mi - Green via Gregory-Ranger
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87096352
5.5mi, 2,319ft, 1:58:24 time, 21:30 pace (17:00ish moving)

Hiked up with Laurie and Jacquie but came down solo. Perfect weather today.

Saturday
AM - 12mi - SoBo and Bear via Towhee-Shadow-SoBo-Bear-West Ridge-Bear Cyn-Mesa

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87447639
12.08mi, 3,765ft, 5:28:58 time, 27:12 pace (17:00ish moving)
Hike with some running sprinkled in. Waited for Laurie and our guest from NJ, Jacquie at each trail head/turn so they didn't get lost...Bumped into Scott Jurek and Jenny on the way up Shadow. That made Jacquie's day as she has a little crush.

Video I took.

some pictures from the weekend.

Summary
3 peaks in 2 days...I guess I'll take it. My calves are feeling, 'meh', I hoping a few more treatments and what I mentioned above will help out. Can't wait to actually try to 'run run' some of these peaks/trails. Overall, a good week.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 37.85 mi (20.73-trail)
Time: 11:33:21
Elevation Gain: 7,353 ft
Ft/Mi: 194.26

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 559.47 mi
Time: 126:14:31
Elevation Gain: 40,515 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 5/9 - 5/15

2011-05-17T23:27:00.000-04:00

Monday
PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84638182
2.5mi, -181ft, 24:54 time, 9:35 pace

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84866706
2.25mi, 151ft, 26:51 time, 11:55 pace
CESC not feeling so hot on the slight incline. Might need to get back into some beefier shoes for a bit.

PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84866702
2.5mi, -182ft, 25:52 time, 10:18 pace

PM - 5mi - Bobolink
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84866695
5mi, 105ft, 51:29 time, 10:18 pace
I think I'm almost acclimated. Compared to all other ~5mi runs in my database, this is the 3rd fastest for me that wasn't a race...and at a lower heart rate. This run was also after I had already run to and from work. Nice! Just wish I could feel this good on the hills without my lower calves getting tight as shaken up coke bottles!

Wednesday
PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85051819
2.5mi, -183ft, 24:24 time, 9:45 pace

Would have KILLED it today, if not for the stupid stupid lights....oh well, "it's all in the game"

Thursday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85243534
2.25mi, 148ft, 24:39 time, 10:57 pace

Calves suck.

PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85243523
2.5mi, -182ft, 22:51 time, 9:09 pace
Damn lights! 8:20 actual moving pace.

Friday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85243523
2.25mi, 151ft, 29:05 time, 12:55 pace
Walked a bit. Acupuncture needed. Appointment made.

Saturday - 5mi - Doudy Draw/Spring Brook Loop
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85638177
5.13mi, 593ft, 1:17:33 time, 15:06 pace
Crazy Muddy Run! But fun. Mud stuck to your shoes so bad, you had to stop to get it off. I love this quick loop. Option to make it longer too. Practically no climb too. We stopped a lot to explore/take pictures, laugh at the rain/mud/falling.

Sunday - 10.6mi - Mesa-Fern-Bear Peak-Shadow-Mesa loop
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85965604
10.6mi, 3,672ft, 4:53:47 time, 27:42 pace
aka. Hiking. Laurie had a hard time due to a bad chest cold, so turned it into more of a hike. Felt great. Calves felt great. (I wore the MM). Trails were in good condition (for the weather) sans some mud and a bit of slippery rock.

Rather than pics. I made a video...

Summary
Need to cool it down and swap back to some shoes with a bit more support until I get used to the climbs here. Also need some triggerpoint acupuncture treatment. Done and done! I did run every day this week though, that might be a first.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 37.49 mi (20.73-trail)
Time: 10:01:20
Elevation Gain: 4,820 ft
Ft/Mi: 128.56

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 521.63 mi
Time: 114:41:09
Elevation Gain: 33,161 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 5/2 - 5/8

2011-05-09T21:55:00.000-04:00

Monday
3.1mi - Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83351727
3.1mi, 69ft, 29:21 time, 9:26 pace
Felt good. Didn't plan on running at all today, as I usually try to rest on Mon and Fri. My body just never used to be able to do 7xweek runs...but Laurie was enthusiastic about running so we ran from our apartment. A quick run on the Boulder Creek Path. I was surprised how quick (for me) I went.

Tuesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83351720
2.25mi, 150ft, 24:49 time, 11:02 pace
Started running to work. Wow. Awesome. Period. I figured I'd use these garbage miles as ways to fix form, and work on things while...getting to work. The way to work is 66ft/mi climb, all uphill, which for here, is not a damn thing, but compared to runs at home, it's just different. I'm going to start playing a game, since I have to cross a few major roads and wait for stop lights, to see how fast I can make this run, even including the waiting at crossings.

PM - 7mi - Mesa Trail
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83351713
7mi, 1,547ft, 1:44:23 time, 14:45 pace
Went for a run with Laurie from work. Met her after work and ran from Chautauqua and did 7mi on the Mesa Trail. It's a wimpy trail for most trail runners out here, but for us it's pretty challenging. (I'm writing that in hopes to laugh at what I wrote, a year from now). Felt really really good this run. Would have kept going if not for not having any water. Despite the hiking pace, we actually 'ran' a lot of this.

Wednesday
AM - 2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83534344
2.25mi, 146ft, 25:23 time, 11:21 pace
Just loving this short run to work.

PM - 2.5mi - From Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83534338
2.5mi, -185ft, 23:18 time, 9:17 pace
Wow the run home is muuuch quicker. I had a sub-9min moving pace...if it weren't for the stop lights. Granted it's downhill but based on my heart rate and such, I think I could break my 5k PR.

Thursday
8mi - Mesa Trail with Ton and Laurie
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83699119
8mi, 1,605ft, 1:46:26 time, 13:17 pace
Wow, Great run with Ton! Pretty fast pace for the climbing we did! Longest run in Boulder so far. I think I'm finally getting a little acclimated. Or, at least enough to make it through a run. I miss 15+ mile runs....Some pictures.

Ton, we haven't even started yet. That .5 mile little hill was just to get to the trail....

"Rave Run"

And a video....

Friday
2.25mi - To Work
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84638192
2.25mi, 152ft, 27:55 time, 12:25 pace
Took advantage of the stoplights...a little sore this morning.

Saturday
36.2mi Cycle Loop with Ton

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84288877
First time on a bike this year! Not a bad beginning of the ride....although diagonal highway blows...literally. The wind on Diagonal highway sucked..or blew...need to find some better routes.

In the evening, I went to go see Caballo Blanco (Micah True) speak. It's almost corny, now, with the popularity and barefoot bandwagon that surrounds the book Born to Run, but Micah was a Boulder resident before doing the Mexico thing, and his story telling is great. The event went from 7pm to almost 10, with Micah telling some great, no b.s., no publisher edited, stories. Most, not even much 'running' focused. I'm glad there are things to do like this every week in Boulder. Corny as they may be. It was in a church....and PF Changs actually donated a ton of food and there was a bunch of free beer and wine too...20$ was the donation and I won a 25$ gift certificate to Boulder Running Company. I'd say about 40 people showed up.

Here is a picture.

Sunday
3.1mi - Sanitas - Up and Down
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84638186
3.1mi, 1,290ft, 49:36 time, 15:59 pace
Well, I 'thought' this was going to be a quick 5k...but it was hand over fist climbing to the top. People apparently run this...I could barely 'hike' this. Really really fun though! Kinda fun exploring unknown territory.

Summary
Great week! I'm started to be able to ramp up the miles a bit. I can't wait to do some longer 15+ mile runs again. I wish I was a bit faster...but I think the tempo running to and from work, focusing on form and cadence and such, will help that. Believe it or not, I don't have many 'regular' runs in the low 9:00 pace...so the fact that 2 weeks into moving to Boulder, at altitude, I'm doing that at a low HR...I'm pretty excited about that. If I can just conquer the climbing a bit better....where my calves didn't tighten up like shaken up coke bottles. I think I'm in need of some trigger point acupuncture again.

By the way, the Jeep is permanently topless and door-less for the summer, now that I park in a parking garage! Hard to capture the beauty of the Rockies, but is still tons of snow on top (you can see the range in the background), despite the 80+ degree weather in Boulder.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 30.54 mi (18.18-trail)
Time: 6:31:23
Elevation Gain: 4,957 ft
Ft/Mi: 162.31

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 484.13 mi
Time: 104:39:49
Elevation Gain: 28,341 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 4/2 - 5/1

2011-05-01T22:04:00.000-04:00

Monday - 4mi - Boulder Creek Path
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81849776
4mi, 82ft, 41:46 time, 10:27 pace
Checked out the Boulder Creek path from our Apt. Ran in the Minimus with Laurie. After yesterdays trail run we wanted to take it a bit easy as we're still getting acclimated.

Tuesday - 4mi - South Boulder Creek path from Bobolink
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81849768
4mi, 83ft, 40:53 time, 10:12 pace
Just exploring our new town. Weather looked a bit grim so we kept it close to the apartment and went to this trail. It was pretty fun. Flat path running through (literally) cow fields...feeling good pace wise.

Friday - 4.8mi - Mesa-Enchanted Mesa-Kohler-Road
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/82599150
4.8mi, 836ft, 1:01:50 time, 12:28 pace (moving)
Fun exploring run. Seemed like more climb but I guess not...made it .3 miles up the first hill before I had to walk. Next time .35. Laurie pushed me hard on the last mile doing hill repeats up Baseline to Chautauqua. I love boulder.

Sunday - 7.5mi - Up Flagstaff mountain via a few trails I don't remember...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/82893382
7.42mi, 1,542ft, 1:56:58 time, 13:44 pace (moving)
Straight up, straight down...I'm pretty sure it was a bit longer than 7.5 but the garmin doesn't do so well with climbs/altitude. Ran with Scott Jurek and Marshall Ulrich...no biggie ;)

Here is a video from the run..

Summary
I love Boulder. I love running in Boulder. I love the trails. That is all. Just really really enjoyed my first week here and can't wait to hit the 'real' trails very very soon!

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 20.22 mi (16.22-trail)
Time: 04:21:30
Elevation Gain: 2,544 ft
Ft/Mi: 125.81

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 453.59 mi
Time: 98:08:25
Elevation Gain: 23,384 ft

Weekly Running Summary - 4/18 - 4/24

2011-04-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

Sunday - 6mi - Mesa
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81289576
6.05mi, 1,284ft, 1:26:03 time, 13:31 pace (moving)
First trail run in Boulder since moving here! Stopped a lot to take in the views. In Boulder, it seems even the FLATS are Climbs...not a damn thing flat about the Flatirons. 6 miles on the Mesa trail from Chautauqua with Laurie. Still getting acclimated, but actually feeling really good. Moving pace of 13:32? I'll take it. I've had slower loops around Watchung! Weather was 40, but shorts and a tshirt! Started to snow a bit but was...warm. Weird. Still need to get used to weather here.

Summary
Well, I haven't been putting in the weekly miles since the Ultra, mainly due to moving my life and wife (who..is my life...) across the country. Driving for 3 days, then unpacking, furniture shopping...I'm mentally exhausted. Glad to at least end the week with a run. Looking forward to getting into a good groove this week!

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 6.05 mi (6.05-trail)
Time: 1:26:03
Elevation Gain: 1,284 ft
Ft/Mi: 212.23

Year-to-Date:
Miles: 433.37 mi
Time: 93:46:55
Elevation Gain: 20,840 ft