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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Training week 18-24 Nov 2013

Weekly Totals:
  • Miles: 60
  • Time: 9:39
  • Gain: 2,001'
  •  Beers: 6


  • Monday 18 Nov: Went for the franks and beans 8 mile double lap at Schriever. First 4 mi were with Sean. Then finished alone. Slight right IT band knee twinge last 2 miles gone after cool down.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 8.04
    • Time: 1:13:21
    • Pace: 9:07
    • Gain: 169'
    • Surface: First 4 gravel, second 4 pavement
    • Additional: None
    • Feelings: Pretty good.
    • Weather: Low 60s and 5-6mph wind.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: 3 Scrambled eggs with red onion, mushrooms, green hatch chilies, 6 oz vegetable juice.
    • Lunch: Leftover Eggplant Rollatini, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, banana, pear, string cheese, mixed walnuts and almonds.
    • Afternoon Snack: Salmon Pouch
    • Dinner: Dijon Chicken Strips, Cous Cous, Sautéed Bell Peppers red and green and onion
    • Dessert: 1 scoop Ice cream
    • Beers: 2
    Tuesday 12 Nov: I knew work was gonna be busy and I wouldn't get a lunch time run in so the plan was early AM but my knee felt funny at 5 am and it was dark and cold. I know, the first rule of ultras is No whining! I figured I would take my day off today instead of Friday or maybe both? I ended up getting in a late afternoon run between work and school. Still trying to work that 155 Heart rate for my Maximum aerobic function base building.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 6.09
    • Time: 54:50
    • Pace: 9:00
    • Gain: 110'
    • Surface: Pavement
    • Additional: NA
    • Feelings: Only felt knee during warmup and then went away. Warmups and cooldowns are so key and so amazing! They are the key to injury prevention.
    • Weather: Evening sun to start then sun went behind clouds and it got cooler. Upper 50s with 3-4mph of wind.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: Herbal Tea with Honey, 1 serving Oatmeal with 2 t. Brown Sugar, 2 cups black coffee
    • Morning Snack: Blueberry Muffin (carb budget buster)
    • Lunch: Ham and Cheddar Cheese Sandwich on Whole Wheat bread with mustard and homemade mayo, sugar snap peas, seaweed wrapped rice crackers
    • Afternoon Snack: Glazed Donut (What?), honey crisp apple
    • Dinner: Lamb Shoulder Chops with Mushroom Orange Chop Glaze over cous cous
    • Beers: 0

    Wednesday 13 Nov: Lessons in humility... While the weather was quite possibly one of the nicest days of the year in the mid to upper 50s with only the slightest breeze, it was ideal conditions for running to say the least. I can't believe its supposed to snow tonight. Working at my 155 Maximum Aerobic Function pace, I learned how to run a 10 min mile today. I never thought I could even run slower than 9 without ruining my gait. The goal was 1 hour or just over so I shortened my usual distance to keep the goal. It is my first goal week with 60+ miles planned which is a big deal for me. I wonder if the snow storm coming in tonight and the barometric pressure are effecting my body or am I denying the fact that I could be over training? Last week just seemed to be a cut back week and with no long run and I haven't been pushing it all nor do I feel stressed althouh I did go to bed about 30 min to an hour later than normal last night because of class and playing with the best tool online for logging my stats. After making accounts for several sites such as strava, runningahead, and others, I learned the power of Garmin Connect and that I could upload my workouts from to there to mapmyrun which I currently use and I might not have to change that. Anyhow today is long winded but while I mentioned my mileage goals, my real goal is to build to 12 hour training weeks and I'm in the 7 to 9 hour range right now looking to build my long runs to increase the time. Hopefully things lighten up a bit cause I have 20 miles planned for sat and 12 for Sunday with the 24 mile Brass Knuckle Shuffle next Sat.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 6.31
    • Time: 1:04:06
    • Pace: 10:09 (Slower than when I started running in January)
    • Gain: 126'
    • Surface: mixed but mostly pavement 
    • Additional: none
    • Feelings: I felt great and if I just listened to my body without the heart rate monitor, I would have gone anaerobic. Very much learned the importance
    • Weather: Weather was mid to upper 50s, sunny with the slightest breeze.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: 1 serving oatmeal with brown sugar, 6 oz tomato juice, 2 cups black coffee, 1 cup herbal tea with blue agave.
    • Lunch: Half before run half after. Before half: 3/4 c. pecans, string cheese, grapes. After: Ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, banana, sugar snap peas, blueberry yogurt, apple.
    • Afternoon Snack:
    • Dinner: Beef Fajitas
    • Beers: 0
    Thursday 14 Nov: Off day! After the heartrate incident yesterday and the family coming down with a cold, I had slight symptoms so I woke up and took tons of garlic, echinecia, vitamin c, and emergen-c. Did that a few times throughout the day and let my body fight it off without adding the stress of a run. Feeling jipped of a day of running but hopefully I can run tomorrow and let today be my off day. I will have to get out tomorrow and just see what my heart says  (no pun intended).

    Running Stats:
    •   NA     

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: 3 Scrambled Eggs w Mushrooms/Red Onion/Bell Pepper/Ham, 2 cups black coffee, 1 cup herbal tea with blue agave.
    • Morning Snack: 2 miniature blueberry muffins
    • Lunch: Spinnach salad with lots of veggies and eggs and cheese, small serving of rice and pork
    • Afternoon Snack:
    • Dinner:
    • Beers: 0
    Friday 15 Nov: I'm back. Regardless of the fact that it is colder than normal outside, my pace for a 155 Heartrate came back. The wife and son were getting a cold the other day so my heart rate monitor threw me a bone. Without it I would have not known that my heartrate was elevated and would have run faster on wednesday and run yesterday and probably gotten the cold that my body was fighting before I ever got it. Great feeling 8 miles in the mid 20's. Was sweatting a little to much with the light running jacket over a polyester tshirt due to the lack of wind. Also wore gloves and a headband. Weighed myself after the run today and um..... either the scale is broken or I lost 10 lbs in a week. I was just over 166 today on the same scale I always use. I'm still fairly certain that there is no way I am under 176 which is still awesome.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 8.09
    • Time: 1:13:56
    • Pace: 9:08
    • Gain: 163'
    • Surface: Wet pavement with some ice and snow
    • Additional: None
    • Feelings: Felt amazing throughout and after!
    • Weather: Mid 20s and almost no wind and not sunny.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese topped with salsa and sour cream, 1 large cup of black coffee, 1 cup herbal tea with blue agave
    • Morning Snack: na
    • Lunch: Spinnach salad with ham and other veggies and olive oil and vinegar, apple, grapes, string cheese, almonds.
    • Afternoon Snack: Quesedilla with green chilli and other stuff, mango mandarin sobe, sugar snap peas
    • Dinner: Old Chicago. 2 pieces pizza and half a large cobb salad
    • Beers: 1

    Saturday 16 Nov: Long run day. Another day in the mid 20s with no wind. A bit nippy for a run but definitely tolerable. I dreamed of this run long ago when I was driving to the Black Forest section 16 and I wondered if I would ever run there to do the 4 mile loop and run home. Its 8 miles to get there so a great 20 mile loop. I picked up a new 21oz. Nathan insulated handheld water bottle on sale last night  at REI while looking at hydration vests to find they only stock 1 vest. I rocked the bottle with my other 16 oz bottle that I dropped at around 3 miles for the end of the run on the return. I also bought some various electrolyte drink mixes to test them out. I tried Hammer Perpetuem in the big bottle and another kind in the smaller one and I also carried my belt with 2 8 oz bottles of water that I never ended up touching. While I was mostly on pavement which was a lot more than I'm used to, I got the Black Forest loop which was buried in about 3-4" of snow that maybe 7 or 8 people had already packed down slightly. All in all it was a great run that took patience to run that slow sometimes while trying to maintain that 155 target MAF heartrate I have been working on for base building.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 20.11
    • Time: 3:09:47
    • Pace: 9:26 (includes warmup and cooldown walking)
    • Gain: 836'
    • Surface: 70 percent pavement with some ice- 10% sides of road and 20% snowy trail.
    • Additional: no
    • Feelings: felt really great. Was actually feeling it in the leg muscles the last couple miles.
    • Weather: 24ish degrees with 2-3 MPH wind at the most.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: 2 Fried Eggs, 2/3 serving oatmeal with brown sugar.
    • Morning Snack: Hammer Recoverite after run
    • Lunch: Subway Oven roasted chicken on 9 grain wheat with all veggies
    • Afternoon Snack: gouda cheese, canned salmon
    • Dinner: 2 slices leftover pizza, chips and salsa
    • Beers: 1
    Sunday 17 Nov: Went out for a 12 mile to sum up the week. I was hoping to show up for the First Incline Club run of the season which was that distance but with elevation gain and the club photo but I had to get the house cleaned for my son's 1st bday which takes priority. About 3 miles into this very cold run, I realized this was a bad idea and my right knee was bothering me which I think is the IT band again. I turned around at 5.8 or so miles so I thought I was close to 12 and even took an extra loop at the end to only make 11.14 miles. This brought me to 59.78 for the week. I really really wanted 60 for the first time being that I'm a numbers guy as you can see like the last .22 miles really mattered. As such, I took the liberty to run up the stairs at home 30 times in my pajamas to make 60 and a very slight few feet of elevation gain compared to the couple thousand I missed this morning. Coming up is some rest and recovery so I can enjoy the Fat Ass Series Boulder Brass Knuckle Shuffle next weekend that is 26+ miles and 7000+ feet elevation gain and loss.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 11.14 (+.22)
    • Time: 1:57:34 (+5 min)
    • Pace: 10:33
    • Gain: 197' (+300')
    • Surface: Pavement (some covered with snow).
    • Additional: none
    • Feelings: My right IT band on Knee was hurting and I should have probably turned around at about 3 miles but I toughed it out and ended up having to walk a lot. Good simulation for an ultra but I don't know if back to back "long runs" are a good idea on a regular basis as I would prefer to not be injured.
    • Weather: Cold. 20 degrees and slight breeze.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: Veggie Fritatta, black coffee, lots of water
    • Morning Snack: na
    • Lunch: Ham and Cheese Sandwich
    • Afternoon Snack: Party! 7 Layer bean dip with chips, cake, ice cream, nutter butter cookies, root beer.
    • Dinner: TBD
    • Beers: 2  Left Hands

    Sunday, November 17, 2013

    Training Week 11 to 17 Nov 2013

    Weekly Totals:
  • Miles: 48.9
  • Time: 9:14
  • Gain: 2892
  • Beers: 7 and (2 wine)


  • Monday 11 Nov (Veterans Day): Did the Manitou incline with the family as a hike today. No running but will count the mileage since I carried Eli in a pack. I wanted to squeeze in an evening run but the time didn't work out. That is ok this week though since I am supposed to be recovering a bit. We started down at memorial park because I didn't want to pay to park and that's where you park now right? Really proud of Anna for doing this whole thing and not complaining even once and hasn't done it since before having Eli.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 6.63
    • Time: 3:06:17
    • Pace: 28:06
    • Gain: 2,060'
    • Surface: gravel, rail road ties
    • Additional: just more painting.
    • Feelings: Wore the Merrill Trail Glove 2 shoes and felt great.
    • Weather: Couldn't ask for a better Mid-Nov day mid 60s.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: black coffee, herbal tea with honey, 3 eggs, 2 strips bacon
    • Morning Snack: <1/4 cup almonds
    • Lunch: Chipotle Sofritas Salad
    • Afternoon Snack: NA
    • Dinner: Large Chopped Salad at Old Chicago and 1 piece Pizza
    • Beers: 1 (Telluride IPA)
    Tuesday 12 Nov: Slightly sore glutes from carrying Eli yesterday but felt great on the run today otherwise.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 8.03
    • Time: 1:02:06
    • Pace: 7:44
    • Gain: 164'
    • Surface: Rocks
    • Additional: 4 circuits of 25 pushups, 50 crunches, 30 bw squats, 30 lunges (15 each leg)
    • Feelings: Felt great and had some awesomely awesome splits without feeling like I upped effort or heart rate.
    Splits:

    11.0mi in 08:14
    21.0mi in 08:00
    31.0mi in 07:47
    41.0mi in 07:33
    51.0mi in 07:39
    61.0mi in 07:16
    71.0mi in 07:43
    81.0mi in 07:49
    • Weather: low 50s 5-8 mph wind.

    Diet Stats:
    • Breakfast: 2 cups black coffee, 1 cup herbal tea with honey, 1 serving oatmeal with brown sugar, 6 oz. tomato juice.
    • Morning Snack: Way too many monkey nuts which are like cinnamon rolls.
    • Lunch: Beef Stew, string cheese, banana, pear
    • Afternoon Snack: apple, 1 slice pizza, chips and salsa
    • Dinner: 1 serving curried chicken and spinach on white rice, iced tea lightly sweetened.
    • Dessert: 16 oz. chocolate frosty from Wendy's
    • Beers: 0

    Wednesday 13 Nov: Wow yesterday's circuits made my hammies a bit sore! Still went for 8 in the great shirtless weather. Added in the 2 mile bike warmup on stationary bike instead of running warmup.

    Running Stats:
    • Miles: 8.03
    • Time: 1:02:32
    • Pace: 7:47
    • Gain: 164'
    • Surface: rocks
    • Additional: 4X10 pullups with 3x20 decline situps inbetween
    • Feelings: Legs a little sluggish from yesterdsay's circuits and breathing was heavier. It also felt drier out.
    • Weather: Low to mid 60s and 8ish mph wind
    • Post run weight: 176.5
    • Splits:
    11.0mi in 07:44
    21.0mi in 08:03
    31.0mi in 07:47
    41.0mi in 07:35
    51.0mi in 07:47
    61.0mi in 07:20
    71.0mi in 07:58
    81.0mi in 08:15


      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: 1 serving oatmeal with brown sugar, herbal tea with honey, 3 cups black coffee
      • Lunch: Leftover curried chicken, spinnach, and white rice, 1/3 red bell pepper, 1/4 cup almonds and raisins, string cheese, pear
      • Afternoon Snack:
      • Dinner:
      • Beers: 0 (1 Glass Vendage Cab-Sav)
      Thursday 14 Nov: Ran a windy 4 miles with Sean. Went on the pavement today to change it up. Hammies more sore than yesterday than Tuesday's workout.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles: 4.01
      • Time: 32:29
      • Pace: 8:08
      • Gain: 118'
      • Surface: Pavement
      • Additional: Planks pushup 1 min, elbows 1 min, side elbows 30s ea, back with butt up 30s, each leg 30 s straight.
      • Feelings: Felt really good. The headwind on mile 2 was pretty cool. Probably was an 8:20 mile at normal 8 min effort.
      • Weather: upper 50s to 60 with 8 mph wind (slightly more than last 2 days).

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with veggies, veggie juice, coffee, tea
      • Morning Snack:
      • Lunch: leftover dinner, cinnamon roll bread, pear, banana, tomato, sugar snap peas
      • Afternoon Snack: mandarin coconut water drink
      • Dinner: Yummy Eggplant Rollatini (Eggplant, millet, spinnach, garlic, tomato, pine nuts, onion)
      • Dessert: 2 scoops Blue Bell Moolenium Crunch Ice Cream
      • Beers: 0 (1 Wine Vendage Cab Sav)
      Friday 15 Nov: Most gorgeous day of the year! Great day to run the perimeter of an entire Air force Base. Just went slow and long to enjoy the weather that picked up to 20mph wind after we finished. Great week to have a "rest/cutback." Note that I walked the first 3/4 mile to warmup and then slowly increased running to pace. I did the same for the cooldown at the end. It was nice to run with my buddy Sean. Nice chatty run as opposed to my normal quiet run where people from the outside might think I'm crazy singing out loud and jumping around all nimbly bimbly.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles: 12.19
      • Time: 1:57:12
      • Pace: 9:36 per mile but this includes walking warmup and cooldown.
      • Gain: 300'
      • Surface: Dirt/Sand
      • Additional: None.
      • Feelings: Stellar! Could have run all day.
      • Weather: 60, Sunny and no wind.

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces bacon, strawberries, grapes, 2 cups black coffee, 1 cup herbal tea with blue agave.
      • Lunch: String Cheese, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, apple, banana, leftover tostada casserole.
      • Afternoon Snack:
      • Dinner: Leftover Eggplant Rollatini, water, starbucks grande carmel steamer
      • Evening Snack- Chips and Salsa
      • Beers: 2 - Avery IPA

      Saturday 16 Nov: Day off of running. Felt great the whole day and got lots of painting done.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles: 0

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: 2 Multigrain Blueberry Pancakes with organic grade A maple syrup, 2 strips bacon, 2 fried eggs, 3 cups black coffee
      • Lunch: Spinach Salad with Salmon on top and 1 slice wheat bread with cheese
      • Dinner: Goose creek grits, bacon, turkey kielbasa
      • Beers: 2
      Sunday 17 Nov: Watch came in Friday. Finally got to do the first workout! Did a 10 miler mostly in the dark but it was no wind and Full moon. I was surprised to see how I had to slow down to maintain the 155 Maffetone heart rate throughout. The first and last half mile were walking and the half mile after and before those were warmup pace jogging. So much for cutting mileage this week but at least I got a break from the long run.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles: 10.05
      • Time: 1:32:41
      • Pace: 9:13
      • Gain: 86'
      • Surface: dirt/gravel
      • Additional: no
      • Feelings: Felt great throughout.
      • Weather: No wind! Full Moon!

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: 2 Multigrain blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs with veggies
      • Morning Snack:
      • Lunch: Leftover eggplant rollatini and leftover tostada casserole
      • Afternoon Snack: 7 layer bean dip.
      • Dinner: Salmon, squash, onion
      • Beers: 3

      Monday, November 11, 2013

      Training week 4 Nov to 10 Nov

      Weekly Totals: Overall this was a great week. I felt great and got a 3rd week in a row at 50+ miles. Somehow I need to take it easier next week and then ramp up from there on mileage for 3 more. Got the Boulder Brass Knuckle Shuffle planned for the 30th of Nov.
    • Miles: 52.05
    • Time: 7:27:21
    • Avg   Pace: 8:35
    • Gain: 843'
    •  Beers: 12


    • Monday 4 Nov: This was supposed to be an "off" day but I got to the gym for stretching and some core work and some meat heads were sucking up all the air. I grabbed the tights and headed out. I figured I would go fast the first mile so I wouldn't be cold and the pace ended up sticking. Not bad for jelly legs and 4 or 5 beers yesterday after painting.  Dinner was Chicken Breast, 1/2 corn on cob and 1 cup steamed broccoli.

      Running Stats:
      •     Miles: 4.01
      •     Time: 27:59
      •     Pace: 7:00
      •     Gain: 118'
      •     Surface: Pavement
      •     Additional: 4 sets 25 pushups and 4 sets of 50 crunches in a circuit then 3 sets of 10 pullups.
      •     Feelings: No IT band or any other pain so the choice must have been ok
      •     Weather: ?

      Diet Stats:
      •     Dinner: Chicken Breast, 1/2 corn on cob and 1 cup steamed broccoli
      •     Beers: 0


      Tuesday 5 Nov: Maybe yesterday was a little fast because my right IT and hamstring started getting a little tight at around 5 miles today. My Maffetone Big Book of Endurance Traiing came in the mail last night so I read the first 50 pages. Since today was cold and windy and I forgot my tights, I figured I would take the time to hop on the treadmill and do the Maffetone test. 180 minus my age of almost 30 = 150 then add 5 since that's what he said to do and my target HR was 155. After a 1.37 mile warmup to hit a 155 HR starting from resting at 60, I was worried I was delusional about how fast I should be training but those splits fall pretty much in line with my normal pace at that distance. This is also probably why I am losing weight like crazy. If you look at my last flat 15 mile run the week before last, those were almost my exact splits on the first several miles. A lot happens in just under 11 months as I was struggling to run 3 miles at a 10 min pace in January (probably at a 185-195HR). The 6 MAF miles came in at 48:21. Zero beers last night. Tomorrow is planned for another 8 mi but I may need to take a rest day. Next purchase is going to be a gps/heart rate monitor watch and a hydration vest. 

      Running Stats:
      •      Miles: 8
      •      Time: 1:10:00
      •      Pace: 8:45 (155HR MAF Splits: 07:38; 07:56; 08:06; 08:12; 08:13; 08:16)
      •      Gain: 0
      •     Surface: Treadmill
      •      Additional: NA
      •      Feelings: Right knee/IT and hamstring got a little tight.
      •      Weather: Hot inside super windy and cold outside.
      •      Post run weight: 180

      Diet Stats:
      •     Breakfast: 1 serving oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar and 6oz tomato juice, 1 hot tea     with honey, 1 cup coffee
      •     Lunch: leftover chicken breast (very small), 6 oz yogurt, 1/4 cup walnuts, carrot, celery, broccoli, red bell pepper, apple
      •     Dinner: 2.5 pieces pizza, banana chips, chips and salsa, 2 cups pumpkin soup, and ice cream.
      •     Beers: 0


      Wednesday 6 Nov: Was feeling the pinch in the hamstring yesterday afternoon, turns out 8 hours of sleep does wonders. I ended up running 10 miles with Sean for his long run today. Ran the good part of the Schriever perimeter which is double track trail.  Went 10 miles 270' of gain in 1:24:06 for an average of 8:24 per mile. The warmup was a little over 6 mins and the cooldown was around the same so the actual meat was probably more around 8:00 a mile. Felt great during and after and not insulin spikes where I was super hungry.

      Running Stats:
      •      Miles: 10
      •      Time: 1:24:06
      •      Pace: 8:24
      •      Gain: 270'
      •      Surface: Mostly Packed dirt double track, 10% pavement
      •      Additional: NA
      •      Feelings: Only very slight IT twinge for about the second half.
      •     Weather: about 60 with maybe 5-10 mph wind.
      •     Post run weight: 181

      Diet Stats:
      •      Breakfast: 3 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon with 6oz of tomato juice and 2 cups black coffee
      •     Morning Snack: 2 small breakfast burritos with eggs and sausage
      •      Lunch: Salad with turkey kielbasa sunflower seeds, lettuce, red and green bell, beets, and tomato with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, 1 string cheese, and 1 apple
      •     Afternoon Snack: 1.5 cups grapes and 1/4 cup almonds
      •      Dinner: Beef stew with beef potatoes, broth, carrots, and celery, lightly sweetened iced tea and 1 cup ice cream.
      •      Beers: 0

      Thursday 7 Nov: Went for the 8 at MAF pace for the middle 6 miles but with no HR monitor outside. 1st and last mile were warmup and cooldown and there was some walking before and after. It was sunny but a little breezier than yesterday.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles: 8.03
      • Time: 1:04:18
      • Pace: 8:00
      • Gain: 236'
      • Surface: Pavement
      • Additional: Pull up sets 6,7,8,9,8 Hanging leg raises 3x20 alternating between pullup sets, decline situps 3x15, 1 set good mornings, unloaded a 26' moving truck to storage.
      • Feelings: small twinge in knee in second half but not bad. Rest of body felt great during and after.
      • Weather: sunny but cooler than yesterday. Ran most with no shirt. 5-10 mph wind.
      • Post run weight: 178

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: Herbal Tea with Honey, 1 serving Oatmeal with 2 t.  Brown Sugar, 2 cups black coffee
      • Morning Snack: NA
      • Lunch: Leftover dinner beef stew, <1/2 c. almonds., 1/4 c. dried peaches, apple
      • Afternoon Snack: 1/2 c. carrot and 3/4c. grapes, 1 piece dijorno pizza.
      • Dinner: La Casita Super Mexican minus 1 tortilla- Cheese Enchilada, Beef Tostada, Beef Taco, rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, salsa, 1 flour tortilla
      • Beers: 3
      Friday 8 Nov: REST DAY! As bad as I want to get out and run and see my first chance at a 60 mile week, 6 days in a row is the longest I have gone so I am begrudgingly taking a mandatory rest day for my 18 mile long run tomorrow. Also bought the Garmin 310xt gps watch on amazon so should be expecting next week in the mail!

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: 1/2 pot black coffee, 4 oz tomato juice, 3/4 cup granola with milk
      • Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti, string cheese, apple
      • Afternoon Snack:
      • cottage cheese
      • Dinner:
      • potluck w wings, pizza, banana bread, salad, soup, rice , ham sliders
      • Beers:
      • 2

      Saturday 9 Nov: Ran to Peyton and back. Felt great throughout. That's 18 round trip and I was able to keep the pace really nice throughout averaging right at what my MAF pace was earlier in the week on the treadmill. I went to the Warren Miller Show later in the night and busted my alcohol budget for about a month all in 1 night with 8 or more beers (I lost count), a shot of rum,  and 6 oz of Stranahan's Whiskey. It was a great time though. Post run weight was 178.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles:  18.01
      • Time:  2:26:57
      • Pace:  8:10
      • Gain:  150'
      • Surface:  gravel
      • Additional: painting on house
      • Feelings: Felt amazing throughout. IT band in right knee was hurting after.
      • Weather:  36 start 42 finish w 5:30 am start

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast:  bowl of life with milk, 2 cups coffee, 1 can apricot juice
      • Lunch:  pork green chilli, chips salsa, 3.5 tortillas, beef enchilada,
      • Dinner: Uh. Alcohol diet. 1 7-11 Tornado and half a tuna sandwich
      • Beers: 9
      Sunday 10 Nov: Was supposed to run 10 today but spent most of the day recovering from the night prior. Finally quit puking around 11 and avoided painting for all but 2 hours. Managed to get in 4 miles after dark that felt great. I could have done 10 if I wanted.

      Running Stats:
      • Miles: 4
      • Time: 34:01
      • Pace: 8:30
      • Gain: 69'
      • Surface: gravel
      • Additional: NA just painting on house for 2ish hours
      • Feelings: great despite the long day before and a long night of binge drinking
      • Weather: Dark but t-shirt and shorts.

      Diet Stats:
      • Breakfast: -eaten at about noon - 1 biscuit and gravy, bacon, 2 eggs
      • Lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup and spinach salad
      • Dinner: Spaghetti and spinach salad
      • Beers: 0

      Monday, November 4, 2013

      Training Week 28 Oct to 3 Nov Review

      So I saw this on other blogs and thought I would give it a shot. I always see how people did on races but they are never very specific on their training so I thought it could be neat if you are new to the world of Ultra Running such as myself, you can see what type of results come from what type of training. As you can see by the dates, I start my week on Monday and end on Sunday.

      Monday Oct 28: Off Day from running. After my second ever 50+ mile week and my first one in a couple of months, this was an off day do get some much needed resto to avoid injury.

      Tue Oct 29: 8 Miles 1:07:55 so 8:32 Pace. 162' of gain. The week before I hit my PR on 8 miles at 56:49 on the same course which is like a 7:06 pace but my IT bands have been slightly sore so I figured I would just run but slower. I almost had a disaster on this run as I forgot to empty my bowels first. I ended up walking mile 2 before finding a restroom so my average was still probably faster.

      Wed Oct 30: 8 Miles 1:08:00. Same course as tuesday 162' of gain. In actuality I ran this even slower because I didn't have to walk a mile. Much of this was on the gravel next to the paved path though.

      Thurs Oct 31: Last day of the month. 9 Miles with Sean 1:11:24 @ 7:54 pace. 177' of gain. Totaled month out at Personal highest of 162 miles.

      Friday Nov 1: Another off day. I felt anxious to run but took the day off. Rest is important!

      Sat Nov 2: Woke up and looked at the weather planning to run at dark early and found the temp to be 24 degrees so I went back to sleep. Ended up dropping the kid off at grandparents and heading up to Barr Camp from Memorial Park in Manitou. I was happy to finally get some elevation gain. The round trip time was 2:36 for the 15.3 miles starting right by the fire station. I hit Barr Camp in a PR of 1:36, refilled my water and shot back down. I don't know my exact time total because I tripped and smashed my phone a couple miles before the end but I was hitting a 5:45 to 7:45 pace pretty much the whole way.  I threw in 1 hour as that was my slowest for that even though I knew I was faster. This averages me at a 10:11 pace per mile and 3668' of gain. While I felt great on this, I did not feel so great trying to paint my house going up and down a ladder the rest of the day. 2 Beers during and after training.

      Sun Nov 3: 10.05 miles first thing and it was SLOW!!! 1:29:20 is my slowest time ever but I was happy to be out there with the dog. Thats an 8:53 pace but I will note that I had a 15-20mph headwind on the way back on the out and back. The elevation gain was only 82'. 5 12 oz. Beers during and after painting.


      Weekly total: 50.3 Miles, 7:32 hrs, Elevation gain 4,251', Body weight 177 after long run. Back to 180 the day after.

      Saturday, November 2, 2013

      Brass Knuckle Shuffle 2013/Monster Marathon

      On November 30, I discovered the Human Potential Running Series at its fullest. With my first race with the group that I learned about from the CRUD group from Colorado Springs, I was fully indoctrinated. The race was supposed to be the Boulder Brass Knucle Shuffle but with the flooding earlier this year, it was changed to the Monster Marathon in Morrison, CO. The whole idea of this running series is that it is a FATASS series. It is 100% free in return, there are no awards, no t-shirts, no belt buckles, no frills, no whining, and no aid stations. Sherpa John LaCroix created the series a number of years ago to bring together front range ultra runners and build community. I would assume that you know what ultra running is but in case you don't, it is any race over marathon distance. This specific series was designed to keep ultra runners running and training properly through the winter months for their Summer racing season. After skiing at Loveland for the first day of the season the day prior, I showed up to this run ready to rumble! I had no idea what to expect but the course was advertized as 27 something miles and 7,000' of elevation gain and loss. Being that my camelbak is fully molded in the tube, I carried just my hand bottle and for some dumb reason, I left my fuel belt that I hate in the car thinking I would be fine. In addition, there was one planned aid station at around mile 12 or so and I put my "drop" bag in the car that would be over there with some extra water and snacks. With a few Honey Stinger gels and a baggie of SCaps (1 per hour), and 21 oz of Hammer Perpetuem mixed with water on me, I took off on the nice slow pace south towards Mt. Morrison from the start. The first little while was great as everyone was kind of bunched up and conversating. Then, shortly thereafter I found myself in the front few people in the group. I wanted to go ahead but wasn't comfortable with the course. Once we hit Mount Morrison proper for the grueling climb, I took the lead and marched to the top sweating my butt off and trying to keep my heartrate below 160 bpm. Shortly thereafter, I found myself at the top soaked in sweat on the concrete pad. I snapped a quick selfie and headed back down.

      I tried to take it easy on the descent as it was only a very steep social trail and very rocky. After hitting the top of red rocks amphitheater park. After dumping the rocks out of my shoes, I made my way to the bottom and met back up with other runners from the group when I met Jeremy Ebel, who won the Bear Chase Race 50 mile this year when I did the 50k. I ran with him and others for a while as we made our way to Dakota Ridge for the ascent. After a while, I was concerned about my climbing heartrate, so I backed off and let him go ahead. A ways up Dakota Ridge, we headed west down the side towards Green mountain. Thankfully, someone left a 5 gal jug of water at the parking lot just before C470 so I topped off my bottle and continued on to the planned aid station at mile 14 or so. It was supposed to be at 12 or 13 but I think it was closer to 14 in the Florida parking lot. After a quick refuel and filling my pockets with goodies, I took off for the first of three climbs of Green Mountain. I never thought much of this bald hill east of C470 but it is nothing to be scoffed at. At this point, I was trying to manage my heartrate to stay below 160 and really nearer to 155 so I let a few runners pass. After a while, I found my self descending toward the East and then once at the bottom I turned back Westish towards a steep trail going back to the top. I was beat at this point so I decided to walk the hill and eat a Chia bar. It was good until about the last bite that I spit out and couldn't handle it anymore. Reaching the summit rim trail at the top again, I sat down for a minute since I was so so tired. I ate some dried blueberries and a clif shot and killed the remainder of my water. I was out and there was a long way to the go until the end. It was depressing to say the least. I made my turn and the second descent. I was happy to see that we were nearing the crossing back over C470, when I realized that the directions were calling for one final ascent of this beast. At this point, I was at about 22 miles and already at 5 hours. I called the wife to let her know I was finishing a lot later than 5 hours. I thought I had at least 3 more miles to go and it was going to be rough without any more water. After the even more grueling hike up the hill, I started to eat more food from my pocket stash and finally reached the top and began to run down. Eventually, I made it back to the parking lot across C470 and I was surprised to see that there was some water left in the jug. I filled my 21 oz bottle and also saw that someone left some Hammer HEED, so I got a scoop and took off. After getting the water, my energy immediately returned and began to come out of my zombie hike and start running back dakota ridge and back down to the car which ended up being 27 miles from where I started. At 6 hours and 24 mintues, I was beat. Who would ever think that 14:xx minutes per mile average would be a decent time.

      With 42 starters, 34 actually finished and I think that although taking it easy, I was the 9th one to finish. I crawled into my truck not feeling too hot and after chugging a mini mountain dew, a gatorade, and some Hammer Recoverite, I drove down to the gas station near Bandimere Speedway. I grabbed a 1 liter dr pepper and chugged a lot right away. I think that was too much liquid and carbonation and it kind of hurt so I just laid the seat back for a while. Eventually, I drove home. What a great run Sherpa John put together and I had such a great time. I wish I would have ran a little harder because the next day I did a 9 mile run at a normal or even faster pace feeling just fine. I guess I should be happy about that.

      I have some photos so I will try and add them when I can.

      Until next time,

      See you at the top!