Training Week 15 to 21 Dec 2014

Totals:

Miles Run: 43.25
Miles Biked:15
Total Training Time: 8 hr 46 min
Elevation Gain: 7,700'
Beers: 5 or 6


Wow. Where have I been. Fell off the radar since January on logging training. My training fell almost as steeply last year partially because I peaked too early and partially because I became a fan of Mr. Money Mustache and began biking to work and cutting down on spending which meant not driving across town to run on better trails several times a week. In return, I spent a good amount of time riding. I got bogged down with school and was irrational about a middle ground. Bottom line was that I still had a pretty successful year at racing, although it could have been better if I stuck with what I was doing in January. Problem is that life has a balance. You have to juggle family, work, school, church, money, friends and all of these pursuits and prioritize against them. I don't desire to be an elite runner some day but I do highly value my fitness, experiencing beautiful places, and somehow challenges that are physically hard. Anyhow, I figured with big plans for next year, I can get serious by blogging my training again to keep me accountable. I am a bit behind where I was last year at this time as far as what shape I am in at my given MAF heart rate but I think that is ok. I am coming off of a rest period for a couple of months where I only ran if I wanted to and not because I had to and am hoping not to peak too early like last year.

What are my big plans for this year? Well, I put in for Hard Rock 100 and Western States 100 for the lotteries but I didn't get into either with my roughly 2% chance. I have failed over to Plan A since those were plan B as I did not see it possible getting into them. Plan A is the Leadville Leadman Race series which is a series of Running and Biking races over the summer that begins with a trail marathon, includes a back to back on consecutive days 50 mile mountain bike race and 50 mile foot race, a 100 mile MTB race with a 10K running race the next day, and finally a 100 mile running race the following weekend. I may squeeze in some other races here or there but this will be my focus for the year. I signed up for the Salida Run Through Time Trail marathon in March again as a progress check. I also plan on doing the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50 miler in early May before kicking off Leadman with the Trail Marathon June 20. I think it totally physically possible to run the San Juan solstice 50 mile that has been pushed back a week to June 27 the following weekend. The problem might be logistical/time off work though so I will have to decide soon for registration. I don't have anything planned for after Leadman although I may want to do another race late season after I recover such as Run Rabbit Run 100 again.

My goal over the next several weeks is to establish a baseline of roughly 50 miles running per week and 100 miles of biking or roughly a total of 12 hours training. This would hopefully include 10,000 +/- 2,000' K elevation gain on average. Once I can get this consistently, I would like to start moving them up little. While I won't consistently train at high heart rates or do speed training, there may be days or times where I will allow my HR to float up a little higher than my MAF of 154. I probably won't start adding in a bit of speed work until mid feb or so to boost the Salida race. After Salida, I probably won't speed train again until late May in prep for the Leadville Trail Marathon. The hard thing to do will be to balance bike training time and running training time when it comes to the long efforts. Ideally, I could do a long trail run and then hop on the bike and ride the same route or vice versa or perhaps ride across town to some of my long runs. The key player is time. There is never enough to do what I want.

Here is what I have for the week:

Mon 15 DEC: Felt ok. Was a bit chilli but layered right. Slightly sucky wind out of the W but did as expected after running a fatass 2 days ago.Did the normal lap around hte hood linking rock Island to Stapleton and some neighborhood trails. Ran this after working a mid shift and not sleeping first.
 
Running Stats:

• Miles: 8
• Time: 1:16:00
• Pace: 9:22
• Gain: 220
• Surface: 50 50 Gravel/Pavement
• Additional: NA
• Feelings: Legs still a bit sluggish from Sawmill 50K fatass but otherwise great. Was very gassy too!
• Weather: Low twenties and 10MPH W wind
• Route: Rock Island to Stapleton back down through the hood.

Tues 16 DEC: Less windy but colder and more humid than yesterday. Got another loop of 8. My MAF put me at a slower pace today. Also had a hard time warming up after. Maybe didn't wear enough?
 
Running Stats:

• Miles: 8
• Time: 1:20:00
• Pace: 10:00
• Gain: 220
• Surface: 50 50 Gravel/Pavement
• Additional: NA
• Feelings: I felt ok. The temp felt colder than yesterday so I added arm panties. My fingers got numb and I was colder than I wanted to be. Humidity was high. Temp was upper teens.
• Weather: Cold
• Route: Rock Island to Stapleton back down through the hood.

Wed 17 DEC: Unplanned rest day. I was exhausted from night shift transition. Crappy excuse...
 
Thurs 18 DEC: Another unplanned rest day. I worked on the car and then didn't feel good so I didn't run. Did bike about 2 miles when I took some packages to the post office.

Fri 19 DEC: Finally got in some miles. Did about 11 miles after dropping the other car off at the mechanic. Didn't wear gloves and it was a bit chilly. Even after 2 days rest, the heart rate was jacked. My pace was over a min per mile slower than normal. Frustrating.
 
Running Stats:

• Miles: 11
• Time:1:25
• Pace:
• Gain: 1,500
• Surface: 40 60 Gravel/Pavement
• Additional: NA
• Route: LHM Toyota down to Austin Bluffs. Up Greenway on N side up to powers. Followed trail on W side of powers to Briargate, up to Union. Down through the neighborhood and hopped on paved trail W. of Fire station on Research and took all of the way back up to Woodmen and Austin Bluffs.

Sat 20 DEC: Happy Birthday me! I was going to get up early to run before a planned MTB but didnt' make it. Should have gotten up when the kiddo awoke at 4 AM. Ended up biking the Falcon Trail at the AFA for the first time in over 15 years. Went with some friends. Only 3rd ride on my new Hardtail I got just for Leadman. Still trying to figure out descents but climbing is awesome. tried to tame heart rates on climbs but it was hard not to skyrocket. AVG HR was 150 but I was spiking to upper 160's on climbs and floating back down in the 120s on descents.
 
Biking Stats:

• Miles: 13
• Time:1:20
• Pace:
• Gain: 1,800
• Surface: Dirt and rocky trail with snow.
• Additional: NA
• Route: AFA Falcon Trail Clockwise

Sun 21 Dec: Long run. Went out with Incline club for the new Ute Pass trail to Longs Ranch Road. I have never done this route with the club so this was a first. It was STEEP but I managed to run the entire way without walking at all. Lower Barr trail was among the iciest that I have seen it. Stuck ok without spikes but folks were slipping all over. There was a blood spot on one patch of ice and lower down a lady with a broken leg or something and search and rescue was there with more on the way up. It was pretty windy up there as well. I was wearing a long sleeve tech shirt and thin gloves with a balaclava on my head folded like a beanie which was warm enough but I was scared to go higher as it was a bit cold for my outfit. I wanted to go to Barr camp to visit and refill water but I would have been to cold if I would have had to walk some and I realized I would not get to see my son at all for the day if I didn't turn around and beat feet home.
 
Running Stats:

• Miles: 16.25
• Time:3:15
• Pace:12:00
• Gain: 4000
• Surface: Snow, trail, lots of ice
• Additional: NA
• Route: UPT to LRR to Bobs Road, a ways up Barr and back down to Barr to the car from Memorial Park in Manitou.