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Saturday, January 31, 2015

January 2015 Monthly Training Summary

Actual Numbers:
Miles Run: 221.7
Miles Biked: 273.2
Total Running Time: 39:48
Total Biking Time: 16:52
Running Elevation Gain: 24,993
Biking Elevation Gain: 7,428

Total miles:  494.9
Total Time: 56:40
Total Gain: 32,421'



Loose Training Goals From Dec for this month:

Miles Run: 200
Miles Biked: 150
Total Running Time: 34 Hours
Total Biking Time: 15 Hours
Running Elevation gain: 25,000'
Biking Elevation Gain: 12,000'



As you can see I did pretty decent with my monthly Goals. Actually got in more biking than I wanted. Funny thing is that I did a 'rest' week this week instead of next week as scheduled. Listening to the body is key and I needed this week apparently. After getting consistent last month, the theme this month is adding in biking as I realized that it is something that has to be worked. That is the trick for Leadman. You cannot count on being a good runner and it carrying you through for the biking. While I'm sure I would finish in the cutoffs, I as always want more so I am determining the delicate juggling act of the two events to see just what will produce the best results. This week I got the cyclist's training bible by Joe Friel and have been studying what it takes to be a good great cyclist. I take volumes that Joe puts out for biking and then am basically slicing it in half and doing what I already know how to do with the running half. At this point I am not worried about biking technical skills as much as general fitness. I have a pretty good array of MTB skills already and I'm sure I will get plenty refined as I get trail time throughout the season. Looking at this month last year, I logged a total of 51 hours for actually my second biggest month of that year. It was all running though so still my highest running month. I believe 50+ hours a month from now until Leadman should sit me pretty right. While I wish there were always time for more, this is aggressive enough for me to feel confident in my results this year. Last Feb was a sad month with only 29 hours of training so it shouldn't be hard to beat. In fact, I am hoping to double last Feb. Here is to aiming high! I would also like to see my weight drop into the 170s again as I am still hovering around 181 to 182. Not willing to give up beer though. Just going to continue the mostly clean eating I do and for the most part try to maintain a lower carb diet.

Looking on to what is in store from Feb. Joe Friel (My virtual coach) via his book has shown that I need to get better with planning so I created a periodized spreadsheet that peaks at the Leadville Trail Marathon for the first time of the year and worked backwards with 4 week base and build blocks that are 3 weeks hard, 1 week easy. Because I took an easy week one early the last of Jan, I will be looking for 4 hard weeks in Feb with one easy week the first one of March. A good bit of this bulk will be the still base building but same laser focus on running preparing for the Salida Run Through Time Marathon in Mid March. I want to do this while still maintaining my increased bike load. Since January saw the gradual increases week to week, Feb will be the name of keeping that consistent. Last week of Feb, I am looking for one of my largest volume weeks of the entire training season at 18 hours as far as time for the week. Weeks after that will begin to end base building so intensity will increase and time will slightly decrease to accommodate. I will also begin upping intensity a bit that week for the running so I can get my speed back up where it should be for the Marathon. As always I plan to listen closely to my body and give it a break when needed so I won't burn out or get injured. This mean taking an extra day off here or there or an early training week as needed to ensure I stay healthy. Missed days are not always bad when it comes to training. As athletes hear time and time again... Training+Rest=Progress. You have to respect both parts. The training times and elevation gains are most important for me to hit over mileage as mileage can vary depending on if I ride road vs. MTB vs. trainer vs. in the wind etc. It will all be dependent on weather. For running, I plan to just stay consistent and hopefully log some weeks with close to 60 miles while still having the bike lingering in the background. I do hope for more time on the dirt for riding though if the weather allows for it.

Loose Training Goals For Feb:

Miles Run: 200
Miles Biked: 450
Total Running Time: 35 Hours
Total Biking Time: 25 Hours
Running Elevation gain: 25,000'
Biking Elevation Gain: 12,000'

Until next month...

See you at the top!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Training Week 19-25 Jan 2015

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 50.5
Hours Run: 9:03
Running Elevation Gain: 6,260'

Miles Biked: 125.6
Hours Biked: 7:25
Biking Elevation Gain: 3,753'
Total Power: 5614 kJ

Total Training Time: 16:29
Total Elevation Gain: 10,013'

Summary: Laid down a big week this week. Maintained my 50 MPH running base and continued to increase the bike. With newly added time on the trainer and rollers, I was able to increase volume a bit. Highlight was a 50 mi "long" bike ride on Sat where I rode the furthest of my life I believe. Funny thing is that I actually planned 40 and felt it wasn't enough so I added an extra bit. Given time, I had plenty of energy to go much further. I was able to do that one ride on a single Gu and probably could have done without it but wanted to keep energy up and at least some glycogen store for my run the following day. Between snowshoeing in the Falcon Blizzard, the long bike, and ice skating at Section 16, this week was an adventure for sure. I'm contemplating going to the daily post instead of weekly summary but not sure still.

Mon 19 Jan: No running today. Just bike home from work in the morning and back to work in the evening. Don't like taking early week days off of running but legs are a bit tired anyhow and 2 bikes is good during work days. Gotta have fam time too!

Biking Stats 1:
  • Bike: Cross
  • Miles: 14
  • Time: 59:33
  • Avg Speed: 14 MPH
  • Power: 201 W (718 KJ)
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 866
Biking Stats 2:
  • Bike: Cross 
  • Miles: 14
  • Time: 41:58
  • Avg Speed: 20 MPH
  • Power: 213 W (537 KJ)
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 151
Tues 20 Jan: A short bike today and then a medium run around the hood. Went to breakfast with the boss after work and we took my bike in his car. Rode from Sandy's back home. Afternoon, got out during nap time for a jaunt up Rock Island trail to Stapleton and up Eastonville to the HS, up around the Cross Country course around the school, across the construction site and back through the hood. Took a detour by water treatment plant and added another quarter to half mile of trail vs. pavement! Since HRM has been acting up, I decided to run free today and kick it up a slight notch.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 11.2
  • Time: 1:34:49
  • Pace: 8:26 /mi includes walking cooldown. 
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 269'
  • Weather: Snowy
  • Route: see above

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: Cross
  • Miles: 9.4
  • Time: 35:56
  • Avg Speed: 15.8
  • Power: 258 W (556 KJ)
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 651'
Wed 21 Jan: Was going to do the incline today but decided to wait for later in the week. Turns out early morn would have been the best time. I decided to ride on the bike trainer instead to get some spins in. Since my speed/cadence sensor I ordered hasn't arrived yet, I am going off the stats given the same time and effort on the recumbent bike at the gym last week. It proceeded to snow hard the remainder of the day. Not wanting to succumb to the dreadmill (still haven't yet this season) I decided while I could run in 6" of snow sans snow shoes, I would wear them to change things up and also pack the home trail. Last snow, that thing was pretty unrunnable for a week so I fixed that. Did about 6.5 mi and ensured I will be able to do standard runs until it melts off.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 6.5
  • Time: 1:22:12
  • Pace: 12:55
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 43'
  • Weather: Hard snow
  • Route: Rock Island to Stapleton and back

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: Cross on Trainer
  • Miles: 20
  • Time: 1:10:00
  • Avg Speed: 17.1
  • Power: na
  • AVG HR: na 
  • Gain: 0

Thurs 22 Jan: My rollers also came in the other day. I decided to ride those vice the trainer this morning. Felt much more real although it took more concentration, it seemed to pass the boringness of stationary riding better. Problem is that it is louder and woke up the wife so no more rollers when she is sleeping. Originally was going to do the incline again early today and spinners later but the roads were horrible to drive across town. I didn't mind that it was 6 deg but it was nice to wait for warmer. Ended up doing the incline in the afternoon. I decided to push a little harder since I didn't have my HRM and hoped to get sub 30 min. Not only did I do that, I think I got a PR at like 29:17 or something. A year ago today apparently was my last PR at 29:33. After descending back to Barr, I wanted to get 8 mi instead of 6.3 so I turned towards the mountain and ran up to No Name creek before turning around and descending. The trail was not well packed above the incline stem trail so it was interesting going. The descent, I had to keep stopping for the dog so he could get the accumulated snow out of his paws.  I'm contemplating my long run this weekend. Wanting mileage and gain but don't know how the trails will be. CRUD seems to be staying low and I don't desire to wait for Sun to do Incline Club because that means skipping the bike to and from work. Thinking about 3 or 4 full laps of the incline returning to memorial park each time. That or maybe Rampart range road will be packed well enough. Also thinking of pairing the sect 16 IC run from Memorial park with the incline for a nice 22 mi and 5k of gain. Need to start figuring in long bike rides dang ol'snow.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8
  • Time: 1:41
  • Pace: 12:35
  • AVG HR: 
  • Gain: 2,721
  • Weather: sunny to start then shady and low 20s to finish.
  • Route: Mem park to Incline, descend connector and up to No Name before returning to Mem park via Barr trail.

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: Cross on rollers
  • Miles: 17
  • Time: 1:00:00
  • Avg Speed: 17
  • Power: na
  • AVG HR: na 
  • Gain: 0


Fri 23 Jan: No bike this morning. I decided I should take at least one day off this week from biking. Planning on running 8 mi later and contemplating the weekend. Deciding between Long run sat with ride into work Sat night and home Sun morn and ride back in Sun night (missing a long bike effort), or possibly doing the long bike tomorrow, driving into work and running with IC on Sunday for less of a long run. Option 2 allows for a long bike but loses the bikes to work (that aren't guaranteed because of wind and weather) as well as probably the Sunday night bike to work. Overall bike volume for the week and next week would be lower in consequence for a longer ride on Saturday. I do know the long efforts are what really count for what I am doing though. Either way. The wife is not happy with my training volume as of late.

Ended up with an 8 mile afternoon run. Was a bit windy and had more snow than expected but felt good overall despite being slowed down.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8
  • Time: 1:14:41
  • Pace: 9:20
  • AVG HR: 143
  • Gain: 167
  • Weather: 12 MPH N Wind steady.
  • Route: Rock Island to Stapleton Up to path through hood back to house.

Sat 24 Jan: Ended up going with option 2. Slept in today and had breakfast with the fam before taking what I think was the furthest ride of my life although I felt I could have gone much farther provided the time. With biking the road, you go places... A lot of places. The plan was a 40ish mile loop in 2.5 to 3 hours and I ended up doing 51 in just under 3 despite the climbing and headwind. No run today. It was the first ride with my cadence/speed sensor I got that syncs with my watch so I got to monitor cadence. Primary goal was to average 80 RPM. I think I ended up at 76 so not bad. The HRM worked OK except for when my jersey was flapping in the wind. There were a couple of times, I looked down and it said 190s and I was just cruising downhill so...

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: Cross
  • Miles: 51.2
  • Time: 2:58:05
  • Avg Speed: 17.3 MPH
  • Power: 230 W AVG (2,453 KJ)
  • AVG HR: 156'
  • Gain: 2,089'
  • Cadence: 76 RPM

Sun 25 Jan: Got the long run in today. Showed up for Incline club but didn't want to run the UPT to LRR due to possible nasty Ice on Barr trail so I decided on Intemann to Sect 16. Today was my 4th show for IC this year so I am once again a real member and no longer a virtual member for the 3rd year standing. Even the way I went, I can confidently say that the trails were the iciest that I have ever run in my short running career. I have been fine all year and really all few years up to this point with no screws or traction devices but today I would have liked something. Intemann and section 16 were a couple inch thick ice most of the way. It was a lot of hiking and running on the side in the snow to stay afloat and on my feet. Somehow looking at Strava, I still got some second best times on things. Knowing how far I had to go to make my 50 for the week, I tagged on a bit extra from the end and ran up into the Garden and a ways up Rampart Range Road. Somewhere towards the first few miles of the run, a slip torqued my right quad in a weird way and it was pinching the rest of the day. I dialed back the final few miles after I got back on the roads to cater to it although I felt good and probably could have run faster. Will be probably dialing it back a notch this week. Looking at my training log, I made a big jump in the biking this week so I need to ensure I get adequate rest as well.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 16.85
  • Time: 3:10:58
  • Pace: 11:20
  • AVG HR: HRM still jacked... Grrr.
  • Gain: 3,071'
  • Weather: 25 to start. 50 to finish. Crazy.
  • Route:Mem park in Manitou up Crystal Park Road to Intemann, around sect 16 steep side first and back to town with extra bit up RRR.


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Training Week 12-18 Jan 2015

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 49.1
Hours Run: 9:49
Running Elevation Gain: 7,398

Miles Biked: 64.1
Hours Biked: 3:47
Biking Elevation Gain: 1,237'

Total Training Time:13:37
Total Elevation Gain: 8,830'

Summary: All in all. Very happy with the week. There was one point where I was thinking I would have a 60+ mile week but it didn't end up happening. While I barely missed my 50 mile weekly running goal, I did have more elevation gain than normal and I also had better biking numbers. I borrowed a bike trainer this week and also ordered some rollers on line so I will be using those on colder days to ensure I get the pedal cranking time. This week, I realized that Salida Marathon is only 2 months away so it is time to be serious. I will be still doing base building at MAF HR only the next 2 or 3 weeks and then begin to pick up intensity before that race for a few weeks. The goal is to maintain (if not slightly increase) weekly running mileage and time while continuing to increase biking weekly mileage. There is no reason why I shouldn't easily be hitting 100 miles per week minimum on the bike.


Mon 12 Jan: Was hoping to get in a last minute yog today before departing the South but my son decided to wake up at 3 this morning. After not going back to sleep for 2 hours, I finally drove to the store to get some milk to get him back to sleep. It was also raining and the legs were hurting from the pavement so an extra rest day won't hurt. I will get mileage forced this week with the fatass Saturday.


Tues 13 Jan: After getting home from traveling somewhat late last night. I was up early determined to get some verts after being deprived last week. Went and got the dog from my sisters on the way and rocked the incline. First time not carrying a kiddo since it has reopened. After being surprised on my warmup how I could cruise up at low heart rate, I had a pleasant time on the incline. There was a fresh blanket of snow laying down some grip on the ice yet. I am refusing screws in the shoes and so far so good. I just maintained the normal 155ish heartrate average throughout. The legs and calves were sore a bit still from pavement but I was happy with the result being just under 35 minutes first to last stair. Barr trail was also nice with the fresh snow coming down.


Running Stats:
  • Miles: 6.3
  • Time:1:23:46
  • Pace: 13:18
  • AVG HR: 149
  • Gain: 2,300'
  • Weather: 18 degrees at the start
  • Route: Mem Park to incline and return via Barr.

Wed 14 Jan: Got in 8 mi around the hood. Surprised at how long the snow is sticking around. Is this the East coast? Had to piece together a route that wasn't so deep. Ended up with more pavement than I wanted. Seemed hard to get the legs moving. Pavement and minimalist shoes last week really did a number on me.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8.0
  • Time:1:18:50
  • Pace: 9:45
  • AVG HR: 146
  • Gain: 185'
  • Weather: Mid 30s.
Thurs 15 Jan: Still lots of snow out there. What the heck? Got up early and went to the gym for 20 on the exercise bike. Tried to maintain 154 HR as well as possible. Seems much harder to do on a bike than running. Got 20 mi there and then an 8 mi run later today. The HRM dorked up again during the run. Maybe too much sweat got in there this morning. Legs felt normal at slower speeds but it felt harder to run at 8 min pace than normal. Was nice to wear a tshirt and shorts. Still wore gloves. Wished for ear cover still with cold wind.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8
  • Time:1:13:06
  • Pace: 9:27
  • AVG HR: Who knows
  • Gain: 165'
  • Weather: Mid 40s.

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: Recumbent bike.
  • Miles: 20
  • Time: 1:10:00
  • Avg Speed: 17.1 MPH
  • Power: NA
  • AVG HR: 151
  • Gain: 0'
Fri 16 Jan: Was planning on getting up early again for another 20 mi on the trainer but decided it was prudent to do schoolwork instead while the baby was sleeping. During nap time, I squeezed in a 30 mi loop around the area with a surprise climb on a wrong turn. Was good to turn the pedals for a couple hours. I took the MTB because I was still worried about lingering loose gravel. Moved back the clips on the shoes and my right foot is still going numb. Going to move it back more. Went out for a run after but called it a quitz very shortly. Legs were jelly and wanted to have something for the fatass tomorrow.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 2.1
  • Time: 22:19
  • Pace: 10:25
  • AVG HR: 144
  • Gain: 33'
  • Weather: Upper 40s

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: MTB
  • Miles: 30.2
  • Time: 1:55:54
  • Avg Speed: 15.6
  • Power: 225W
  • AVG HR: 144
  • Gain: 1,038
Sat 17 Jan: CRUD FATASS Today. Got in a good steady cruising effort. Never pushed too hard. Just had fun and ticked off the miles. Somehow ended up running alone after first long loop turnoff from there to the end. Still had fun running and then socializing afterwards for a while. No bike today although the weather was nice enough I could have ridden to work.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 24.9
  • Time: 5:31:49
  • Pace: 13:20
  • AVG HR: HRM quit working after a few miles.... GRRR
  • Gain: 4,715
  • Weather: Very windy to start. Got up into upper 40s down low. Never needed a jacket.

Sun 18 Jan: Just a bike to work today. After not sleeping well Friday night and getting up early for the Fatass and having no nap afterwards and working all night saturday night, I was not too enthusiastic about a run this morning. I wanted to sleep. So I did. After waking, I preferred family time to a Run so I skipped out today. Probably isn't a bad thing as recovery is important too although I'm not too sore. Was a nice night to ride into work though. I put some smoother tires on my cross bike and it made me pretty fast even at medium to easy effort.


Biking Stats:
  • Bike: Crossbike
  • Miles: 13.95
  • Time: 41:48
  • Avg Speed: 20 MPH
  • Power: NA
  • AVG HR: Monitor Finicky. Probably avg low 130s.
  • Gain: 200'

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Training Week 5 to 11 January 3015 Flatland Special

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 51.4
Miles Biked: 20.2
Total Training Time: 8 hr 58 Min
Elevation Gain: 1,995'

Summary: 
Started the week with a couple no elevation gain runs at home. While knowing we were going to Columbia, SC for a death in the fam, I decided to try and squeeze in a bike ride before we left as well. This was a shock as I thought my running would carry me better, but it didn't. My hammies were burning. Fished out the week with some good flat land running seeking out any hills I could find. Made the mistake of bringing Merrill trail gloves and mixed with all pavement running, my feet are hurting. I'm not used to pavement or long runs in those shoes yet.

Mon 5 Jan: 7th day in a row today! Didn't feel like going out with major lack of sleep and it looked windy. Was pleasantly surprised by the temps in the mid 40s which feels like a furnace after the Ice Hell week last week. Did 8 on the Rock Island trail in shorts and T-shirt with the pup. Was only going to do 4 but it was too warm out to pass up more. Also wanted to get a jump on the week as we are traveling to South Carolina on Wed morning due to a death in the family.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8
  • Time:1:15:02
  • Pace: 9:20
  • AVG HR: 147
  • Gain: 73'
  • Surface: Paved/Gravel
  • Feelings: Hands hurt.
  • Weather: Upper 40's with 10-12MPH cross wind.
  • Route: Rock Island to 4 mi tag.
 Splits: 11:59, 8:30, 8:22, 8:29, 8:48, 8:50, 8:43, 10:54

Tues 6 Jan: Wanted to get in a quality workout before going out of town so I decided to ride the MTB to Rock Island on the dirt greenway path. No real climbing, just steady pedaling. After a few weeks with no riding in the frigid cold, my hammies were tight. This means only running is not enough and a real eye opener to start doing more focused biking sessions. Finished with 6 mi running where the legs felt like dead weights. Also felt slow after rocketing on the bike. Found it hard to maintain MAF HR on bike throughout as muscles were behind.

Biking Stats:
  • Bike: MTB
  • Miles: 20.2
  • Time: 1:21:19
  • Avg Speed: 14.9 MPH
  • Power: 189 W
  • AVG HR: 143
  • Gain: 349'
  • Surface: Paved/Gravel
  • Feelings: Tight Hammies. Hard to keep HR in zone.
  • Weather: Upper 40's w 5 MPH Wind
  • Route: Rock Island to Peyton. Return to Stapleton and up to path through hood.
Running Stats:
  • Miles: 6.1
  • Time:55:02
  • Pace: 9:04
  • AVG HR: NA. Monitor dead.
  • Gain: 43'
  • Surface: Paved/Gravel
  • Feelings: Dead legs.
  • Weather: Upper 40's.
  • Route: Rock Island to 3 mi tag.
 Splits: 8:18, 8:26, 8:33, 8:53, 8:31, 11:29

Wed 7 Jan: Off day. Traveled very early. Weather delays all day. Ended up having to drive final miles rather than fly. Not dedicated enough for a night run after everything.

Thurs 8 Jan: So much for RED month. I never committed but was hoping for it. This is what happens when you don't commit but it is indeed much less stressful knowing it is not imperative to run every day. First flat land day. Don't know much of the terrain and didn't want to get too lost w/o a smart phone so I ran between 2 houses where I was familiar with route and somewhat knowing of the distance. I find that here I can average 1 min/mile faster at MAF when paying attention. I consistently found my pace slowing because I am used to slower.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8.2
  • Time:1:12:37
  • Pace:8:51
  • AVG HR: 146
  • Gain: 363'
  • Surface: Paved 100%
  • Feelings: Cold wind but feels good to run faster and not feel guilty about it. 
  • Weather: Started at 18 deg and 100% humidity and pretty windy.
  • Route: ...
 Splits: 11:17, 9:17, 8:15, 7:46, 7:45, 7:41, 8:19, 9:25

Friday 9 Jan: Another rest day. This was the day of the funeral and I felt like I needed to be around so the run got skipped. Had a couple alcoholic drinks at the reception and then didn't feel like going out later.

Sat 10 Jan: Long run day. With no big plans, the morning was reserved for a long run. Toured areas I knew first, them picked up Bro in law for a few miles and then explored a bit. Wanted more miles but feet were killing last 4 from all the pavement. Actually had to cut pace not due to HR but to feet pain. Bummer. Didn't record all HR due to monitor failing. Discovered it needs battery replacement. Supposed to last a few years but with my usage rates, I see it needing more often changes. Only carried water. Drank a total of about 1 qt over the run. Stopped at about 13 miles for food (cheese grits and OJ) and then got back out and finished.

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 19.8
  • Time: 2:50:16
  • Pace: 8:35
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 660'
  • Surface: Ouch. All pavement.
  • Feelings: Feet hurt. Shat in the woods behind a cemetery and didn't have TP. Luckily there are large leaves here. 
  • Weather: Low 40s.
  • Route: Random. 
Sunday 11 Jan: Goal was just to finish my 50 miles for the week. Feet hurt when I awoke and had a hangover from going out with family so waited until afternoon to get out. After changing HR monitor battery, it still wasn't working properly the whole time. Might have to send it back but would like to wash it first. Did one tempo mile the last running mile and felt solid. Saw a big hill that had no streets or trail but wanted it so I bushwacked. It was awesome as I felt my Colorado spirit!

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 9.2
  • Time:1:24:12
  • Pace: 9:06
  • AVG HR: NA
  • Gain: 543'
  • Surface: Paved/Random Bushwack. Tried to run on grass when possible. 
  • Feelings: Feet hurt but not as bad as yesterday. Tempo mile was at 6:49 and 1/2 was uphill.
  • Weather: 41 Deg, Heavy clouds, no wind, light drizzle towards end. 
  • Route: Random. Sought out hills wherever possible to get a small amount of gain. 




 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

2014 Strava Summary

Kinda lame. Kinda cool. My Strava 2014 vid. Wish the measurements were standard and not metric.


Monday, January 5, 2015

2014 Annual Summary

2014 Annual Summary:

  Warning. This post is long winded as it is a summary of the year. The stats are up top. Stop after them if that's all you want. Otherwise you will get the good stuff! Much of this makes up for many missed blog posts over the year that should have been individual vs. this monster.

 Miles Run: 1717.7

Running Elevation Gain: 194,452'

Miles Biked: 1,389

Biking Elevation Gain: 52,550'

Hours Training: 403

# of Races:  9

 Race results:

  • November 1, 2014- Indian Creeks 50s 50k- DNF
  • September 12, 2014- Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile Tortoise, 30th Place, 28:09:25
  • August 23, 2014- Devil Mountain 50 Mile, 6th Place, 10:12:27
  • August 22, 2014- Schriever AFB Sprint Triathlon, 2nd Place, 1:02:09
  • August 17, 2014- Pikes Peak Marathon, 34th, 5:06:50 (Ascent 3:06:58), 10th Overall Triple Crown Series, 2nd in Age Group.
  • July 6, 2014- Summer Roundup Trail Run 12K, 27th Place, 54:16
  • June 21, 2014- San Juan Solstice 50 Mile, 64th Place, 12:30:31
  • June 8, 2014- Garden of The Gods Ten Miler, 149th Place1:16:31
  • May 3, 2014- Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50 Mile, 51st Place, 11:21:15
  • March 15, 2014- Salida Run Through Time Marathon, 31st Place, 4:00:55

Reflection: The story of 2015

My First Full year of Ultra Running. What else can I say? Well lots actually. After running my first 50K last year at the Bear Chase Race, I was officially hooked. With help of Sherpa John LaCroix and the Human Potential Running Series through the early winter, I prepared myself for my path ahead.  At least I thought I did. With a strong January of 314 miles on track for a 3000 mile year, I was confident I would have a great year entering some 50 milers and on Pikes Peak Marathon. Then February came and I learned about Mr. Money Mustache. From reading about financial independence, I realized that I needed to kick my finances into gear as I do not want to be in debt forever nor do I want to work until social security retirement age. I would like to enjoy official extreme early retirement for the idea of freelance working, meaningful volunteering, extended family time, extra travel, and whatever else I want. After an all time high of an 84 mile week the first week of Feb, the training log doesn't lie as that must be when I discovered the Mustachian way since this is where my training dropped dramatically. At that point, I decided that I can't be driving across town multiple times per week for the sake of training since Mr. Money Mustache (AKA MMM) preaches to curb the clown like car habit to save money. In addition to cutting driving way down, ordering a commuter bike, and reducing several other bills such as cutting cable, dropping utilities by over 50% and many other things, my running came to a crashing halt. All in all we did pay off over 20K in debt for the year so that isn't a bad thing totally. Feb wasn't a horrible month as I ended up with 183 miles ran. Then enter March where I only ran less than 60 miles total and almost half was the Salida Run through Time Marathon. Surprisingly, I did alright in that marathon with being just 55 seconds over my goal. Problem is that my avg heart rate was something like l71 with my ascent half being around 185, it was clear I was under-trained and I paid the price afterwards in how sore I was. I still got 31st place out of a couple hundred where some big names really show up so that made me feel legit given my recent fall off the wagon with training.

While my running lacked in March, I did log over 250 miles on the bike as I began to commute to and from work even though I sold my beautiful Tacoma and got an older Prius and still put a couple grand in the bank towards debt.  While this was solid aerobic training, it was not run specific. With my April Miles being almost identical to March, I came to the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run in early May where I finished my first 50 miler.I did finish which is what counts with an ultra but it wasn't pretty... Check out that blog post here.

I should also note that a good part of my lack of training in April was due to my Job transition. I worked both jobs for a few weeks in transition and had hardly the time while still going to school for my masters. I also had to figure out new routine. This was necessary to maintain benefits and it was a nice chunk of change that allowed us to pay down enough of our stupid timeshare to sell the thing and become free of it forever! NEVER BUY A TIMESHARE! Lesson learned.

Not setting the tone well with training I still had to accomplish my next goal the San Juan Solstice as my only other planned race for the year. I was going to give up racing until I was debt free and wasn't even going to do Pikes Peak but I did sign up for this one. After passing up the Pikes Peak registration opportunity early in the year, I later learned (on the last day possible) that I could still get into the Pikes Peak Marathon through the Triple Crown which is a local series consisting of the Garden of the Gods Ten Miler, The Summer Round Up 12K, and the finale being either the Pikes Peak Ascent or the Marathon (only counting the Ascent portion for the series). Ultimately, this race is an easier in for locals who are around all summer since normal registration fills up so fast due to it being such a popular race. This could be my chance to better myself from last year although being a couple months behind on training. One would think that or the next month that I may have trained hard for the GoG 10 miler. Actually, I dropped biking almost completely and only ran minimally. Later, in the month of May, I took a fast hike adventure up some 12ers in Lost Creek Wilderness (Bison Peak and McCurdy Mountain) and another 35 mile mostly running loop up there but no significant speed training. Somehow, I still improved my Garden of the Gods Ten Miler by a couple minutes from the year prior. Thank you base! Another year of running under my belt helped tons as I had only a few months the year prior. You can see I worked hard to earn that time though with my 191 average heart rate. That's insane! I was hoping for sub 1:10 before training dropped but I am still happy with my 1:16:31. As you can see from the picture, I got this one with some sweat equity!

For the next couple of weeks in June, I only ran 3 times (all 10 miles are less) and didn't bike at all and went for the San Juan Solstice 50 Miler. Holy crap, I must be a real idiot thinking I can stroll into one of the hardest 50 mile races in the world and hardly train. Now wonder my results were the way they were. I already knew that I could walk the better part of 50 miles and I had tons of elevation training in the past while I nailed all 58 of the Colorado 14ers but dang. My results were stellar considering I was pretty much off the couch. Another I need to come back and get revenge when I am properly trained I guess. I ended up with 64th Place in 12:30:31. It should be noted that this race sees roughly 250 starters and about 100 didn't even finish this year. Just finishing this one makes me feel good. See posting here.

I recovered the following week by bike commuting every day. Then came the week of my next triple crown race, the Summer Round Up 12K Trail Race. The week of the race, I had some hard runs where I really pushed myself. The result: I had a dang good race. My time was 54:16 which was a 12 minute improvement from the year prior (I had a groin injury last year and was happy to even be running the race). They did change the course but still? Wow. And that was after a night of mildly heavy drinking for my Anniversary... My average pace in this was faster than the GoG 10 the month prior and there was more climbing and I had to walk much of the first half mile in the gaggle as the trail choked. I went from 10th Place to 5th place for Triple Crown in my age group in this one race and actually got the second fastest age group time for Triple Crown and 27th place overall. This shows my strength is not road miles but once climbing enters. At almost 2 months to Pikes Peak Marathon, I had some work to do yet as I desired to move from 5th place in the triple crown to top 3 as well as get under 5 hours for the Marathon. Didn't bike much the rest of july but did 140ish in Aug before the race. After a light week recovery from the race, I picked it up heavy as we went to our beach vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I ran every day and most days on the beach with a solid week. 

 Upon return from over a week at sea level, I ran a full round trip of Pikes Peak the very next day. Although running hard at sea level, returning to altitude and trying to perform proved tough. While I made it, it was a slow day. With a moving time of 6:21 and quite a break at the summit, I was leary of a sub 5 a couple weeks away. Just over a week later, I got another chance for a full round trip in 5:37 with another good rest at the top. Vast improvement in just one week with solid days in between and at the time I got, I felt like I wasn't 100% effort and had a decent shot at breaking the big 5 hour number on race day just 2 weeks away. The next 2 weeks, I began to taper mileage but maintained consistency for running and biking. A week out, I went up and did 3 miles down from the summit to A frame at a bolstering descent pace in a bit of snow up high and then the 3 back up trying not to over do it but simulating race day intensity of having run from the start to A-Frame. Race day came and I felt awesome. No strep throat this year baby. After hanging out at the summit on the day prior to view the Ascent with my son, I reviewed the numbers for my age groupers for the triple crown. I was going to need to beat my buddy Brian Wilfong's stellar time of 3:18:44 on the ascent which was faster than my last year's ascent of 3:26 and I still have to run down after. Feeling confident in this goal, I looked at who else was ahead. To get 3rd place still I was going to have to beat Adam Christians and close a gap of 5:18 that he got on me at the Garden of The Gods although I beat him on the Summer Roundup by about a minute. Looking at second place, I would have to make up a 14 minute disparity to Michael Gallegos to secure 2nd place. Seeing his rocking times smashing me at the GoG 10 miler and still beating me at the Summer Roundup, I didn't see a chance there. So it was settled, I was gunning for 3rd in the Triple Crown series for the Male 30-34 age group. How cool would that be to place despite my lack of training this year? Then, on ascent day, Michael ran a 3:19:26 which was slower than I was expecting him to. Suddenly, there was more pressure for me to push for second. If I could get a 3:05:05 or better for the ascent, I could secure this but it was going to be tough. I had a goal to be sub 3 Hour on the ascent and sub 5 round trip so it was going to be close given my lack of training early on. A lot of things can go either way on race day in a mountain race like this. See my blog posting about the race here.

Here is a compilation of some after race shots my wife got.

So I know you are waiting to hear. Did I make the 3:05:05 to hopefully secure second in the Triple Crown for age group hoping that Adam Christians or someone else behind me before didn't have a surprisingly good race to throw things off? Well at 23rd place in the Marathon to the summit, my time was unfortunately 3:06:58. I was short by just under 2 minutes. But hey I was proud. I beat last year's ascent by about 20 minutes. Looking at triple crown times, It appears pretty rare to run GOG 10 as slow as I did and move up as much as I did as far as Ascent time. Pretty big gap for people with my GOG time and where they finish Pikes Peak 30-60 minutes slower. 


With a total triple crown time of 5:17:45, It was good enough for 10th overall and smoked my total of 5:51:09 the year prior. It turns out I got second in age group after all due to technicalities. Neil McDonagh ended up in the top 5 so they pulled him out of age group leaving me to second instead of 3rd just to Michael Gallegos by less than 2 minutes. Getting him by over 12 minutes on the Ascent was not enough to make up for the disparity from the GoG 10 and my lack of early season training. Hats off to Michael for his smoking GoG time!

Ok enough of Pikes Peak. There is far more to the year than this one awesome race. Feeling great the day after the race and approaching the deadline for the Devil Mountain 50 miler just six days after, I decided to pull the trigger. I wanted this race last year but the timing didn't work out and I am glad after the fact that it didn't. I ended up with my great experience at the bear chase and would have gotten my butt royally spanked at Devil Mountain. This year I was ready. A couple of days running and biking recovery, and a couple of ten milers, I actually sneaked in a sprint Triathlon at Schriever on the Friday after the Marathon that was just on Sunday. I beat my time from the 2 years prior when I first started my running and ended up getting second place overall. After absolutely zero swim training, I was last one out of the pool in my heat and worried for the outcome of that race. I was so fast in transition in my state of worry, I had already passed at least four folks there and raced off on the bike to pass all but the first place guy within the first few miles on the bike. Coming in after the bike, I slipped on the running shoes and threw down a 22:34 5K even after the tire of swimming and biking. Was so glad to have my wife and son there watching and cheering me on. What a day. Immediately after, I went home, showered, packed, kissed the family goodbye and headed out for Pagosa Springs for the race. Find my blog posting here.  For being so close to Pikes Peak and having a sprint tri the day before, my results turned out quite well with an overall time of 10:12.

 

Immediately after Devil Mountain, I still felt great and that my fitness was at a good point considering the recent history. While partially worried about injury (although I did feel awesome), I decided I had one more big race in me for the year. Looking at what was available, I set my eyes on the Run Rabbit Run 100. Why can't 50 be enough? Shouldn't I save the 100 mile adventure for something to think about in the future and work towards. Was I really ready? Looking at the Run Rabbit Run race, they have Tortoises which the general mid pack runner runs and they have Hares for the competitive bunch competing for the largest known ultra running prize purse if $10k. Unfortunately, the tortoise spots were full. The only option was Hare. Looking at the 106 mile course with 21,000' elevation gain, I was relatively sure I could still at least make the cutoffs for the 30 hour time limit for the hares even though I wouldn't come close to placing or winning. I just didn't want the cutoff stress for my first hundy as they call it so I emailed Fred, the race director, and asked about getting a tortoise slot. He said just put in on the waiting list and I will get in, so that I did with less than 2 weeks to go before the race. I did so much prep, studying and planning in that short of time to prepare. It is amazing how many more logistics have to go into 100 miles when you are running through the night. You have to think about where to put warm clothing to have it when you need, where to have headlamps, where your crew will meet you, roughly when they should meet you etc. So many parts. I would say for my first go, I was pretty successful at 28 hours although I think my goal may have been 25 or 26 with a stronger goal of actually just finishing but I was so glad I ended up going for it. What a rewarding experience to finish my first hundy and that of a mountain one that is respectable enough to qualify for the Hard Rock 100.

I took off a week completely after the 100 race to get my body feeling mostly normal except for a knot in my shin that lingered for a couple of weeks. After the first couple days of hobbling around, I focused on doing more walking than normal. The following week, I did some short distance stuff and biking and then somewhere in there I just so happened to be the 900th person to like the Human Potential Running Series Facebook Page and thus got a Free entry to the Indian Creek 50's on 1 November. I was tempted to just not accept as I was planning on a nice break the rest of the year and was even hoping to possibly give the entry to Neeraj as a thanks for pacing me at RRR but he was unavailable. In hindsight, I should have asked to defer the entry to another year and just volunteer. Anyhow, I couldn't resist as Indian Creek has a special place in my heart where I fostered my love for mountain biking in high school back in the days and really love the area. That week was also when I crashed my bike hard one late night around 11 PM on the way home from work transitioning from a dirt road on a curve to paved. I showed up at the front door all bloody on one shoulder and knee with a throbbing wrist and bleeding hands even though I had gloves and had to have my wife get me all cleaned up. In January I still have major scarring on my shoulder and hands from this traumatic event. I even had rash on my face. The following week, I put in 50 miles with even a full 20 miler long run and felt great although my wrist was bothering me. Then it sank in that my wrist was really actually injured. The next 3 weeks I only ran 2 times as I did not want to risk tripping and hurting myself first. This should be when I definitely dropped from the Indian Creek race but I am too hard headed. This by far was my lowest and most depressing time of the year. I at least knew I was only going for 50K and not 50 miles and was going to enjoy a "short" day. Well... 3 weeks is a long time to not run at all and you lose fitness fast. I began the first climb of the race at a conservative pace and then kind of hammered the downhill (where I did trip twice and catch myself on the bum wrist) and next climb I pushed harder than I should have to the first aid station. My legs were already twinging by 8 miles. Then by 12 miles, I was reduced to already walking a lot. I was already feeling awful. Steve Bremner convinced me to continue through the 15 mile aid station where the cars were and just get into the second loop a few miles before I made up my mind. Walking into the aid station, I knew I was doomed and hardly felt like going back out but I didn't want to quit. So many different emotions went through my head as I went back out just hoping this would pass. I wasn't injured, I was just out of shape and did not feel like being there. I walked/ran the next few miles downhill and began the next climb. I got to mile 18 and still didn't feel any different. I didn't think I had another 13 miles in me to make 50k and I was sure Sherpa John packed in a few extra for padding for the day. I just wasn't feeling it so I decided I was done. I began my walk back up and out as many other racers behind me were still pressing on. Here is how awesome the ultra community is... Not a single person said anything negative or made some snide remark or comment which I was fully expecting but I guess since Sherpa was the director, he couldn't be out there to do this job lol. We like to give each other a hard time in good fun. As I continued to leisurely walk back up the long hill I tried to rationalize my failure. I already ran 100 miles this year and I completed the San Juan Solstice, so I have nothing to prove to anyone I thought. Even then it was still rather humiliating as I saw even the girl in the Pizza slice costume with a bloody bandaged knee was going to finish the course. Coming in the last half mile I saw Sherpa John there trying to ensure everyone had finished the first loop. He looked so puzzled as how can someone be coming back up this way. Was there something wrong? Was somebody hurt on the course? Nope! It's just my vagina I said to him. We walked back into the aid/Start/Finish together where he cordially gave me some whiskey along with a good hard time! all in good fun of course. There I decided it was too cold to just sit and mope as I waited for my carpool so I volunteered the rest of the day by checking in runners and assisting with the aid station as well as drinking beer and spiked hot cocoa. I met more new friends there for always a good time. I am going to have to come back and give this race a more serious go another year for sure. Overall a kind of a bummer of a day but a DNF is a DNF. Now I got my DNF cherry popped and out of my system.I will say that Sherpa John puts on a first class event that exceeds the expectations of any normal ultra in every way. If you want to seek adventure and be challenged with elevation gain, his races are for you. You will learn as I have to use his name as a curse word in your normal vocabulary :)

The remainder of November, I only ran and cycled a handful of times as I recovered this time emotionally from my racing season finally taking a full break both physically and emotionally from running. I also gained 10 lbs during this time since RRR until 1 Dec where I decided it was time to finally get back into the saddle with only one solid week that was 2 weeks after RRR. In those 2 months since the hundred I only logged about 150 running which is about 75 per month and about the same amount of miles on the bike. As December rolled in, it was time to start looking towards 2015. I put in right away for the coveted Hard Rock 100 Lottery and the obligatory Western States 100 Lottery with only about 2% chance of getting in either one. My backup plan was going to be the Leadville Leadman series which is a series of about 6 races that include running and mountain biking and includes the infamous Leadville 100 MTB and concludes with the Race Across the Sky, Leadville 100 Run.  As December progressed, I did my best to get back into a regular running routine. I started the month strong with a 50 mile week. Wanting to ease in, I backed off a bit the second week and took advantage of some unseasonably nice weather for December to commute to work on the bike a couple of nights and then did the Sawmill Fatass where Julian Smith tried to convince me to pace him at Hard Rock rather than do Leadman which has the Silver rush 50s on the same weekend and and then do Fat Dog 120 in Canada as my race since I didn't get in to Hard Rock or Western States. I seriously pondered this option as it would be cheaper and wouldn't involve bike races or nearly as much dedication in training. It also would have yielded me a chance to experience 2/3 of the Hard Rock course for free and learn what is all about and test my body in a new way over 120 miles along with make some serious effort at Nolans 14. Ultimately, I decided that I had to do Leadman. While a generous offer by Julian, I have Leadville beckoning my name and signed up on 1 Jan the very first day. The following few weeks, I averaged 50 MPW with elevation gain averaging at around 5,000'. Realistically, I can't expect much higher elevation numbers as I live on the plains and have to drive 45 min to get elevation unless I get awarded with a Fatass run. My goal is typically to get one good long trail run with elevation gain per week as well as the incline once a week for my gain and the rest of the training can be wherever. Getting back to this 50 mile base should set me up for success to really get serious about Leadman with a slow ramp up. By the 31st of December, I find that I am not where I was last year at the same time as far as fitness. I measure this by my Maximum Aerobic Function Heartrate of 155 using the Dr. Maffetone formulas. I am 30-45 seconds slower per flat mile at the same heartrate that I was a year ago but I am not worried since I know I had the late season hiatus. My body is handling getting back into the swing spectacularly and now I just have to figure out where to begin sprinkling in biking. While Leadman is a lofty goal for 2015 and the primary goal will be to finish the darn thing, my larger goal will be to Big Buckle in both 100 mile events. This has only been done a couple of times ever and in recent years so it's a large challenge that I am wanting to push for. Big buckle means finishing the 100 MTB in under 9 hours vs the 12 hr limit and under 25 hours for the run vs. the 30 hour limit. The focus of my training will be running as I think the run is where the Leadman is really won or lost. I will rely on a long base of technical biking skills as I have been mountain biking since age 13 and my aerobic fitness provided by running using biking for recovery as I currently do with a few focus weeks on the bikes around the times of the bike races. I have also decided to do a couple of other bike races prior to so I can figure out the ins and outs of bike racing since I never raced before. I would also like to incorporate mixed workouts such as biking to a long run and back home (time provided) or doing a trail run and then biking the same course. The bike crowd seems a little more elitist from what I see and not as relaxed as the ultra crowd but I guess there is only one way to find out!

2015 Goals

Miles Run: 2500

Running Elevation Gain: 275,000'

Miles Biked: 2500

Biking Elevation Gain: 100,000'

Hours Training: 500

Racing Goals:

 

  • March 14, 2015- Salida Run Through Time Marathon- Salida, CO- My goal here will be same as last year. Break 4:00 but hopefully break the 3:45 mark.
  • April 25, 2015 Ridge Line Rampage 50 Mile MTB, Castle Rock, CO. This race is tentative but I think it would be good to get me focused on the bike early to see what is going on and evaluate my training plan. Only goal would be to finish. 
  • May 2, 2015- Collegiate Peaks Trail Run 50 Mile- Buena Vista, CO. This race is my chance to show what I can do when I train consistently and boost my confidence for the season. Goal is to break my 50 Mile PR of 10:12 from the Devil Mountain race with 3K more elevation gain. Shooting somewhere in the 8-9 hour range for a finish time.
  • May 30, 2015- PV Cycle Derby 66 Mi MTB, Elbert, CO- Another tentative bike race. This one is too close to home to skip. A good biking test far enough from any important races to improve upon what I learn at the other race. Also a forced distance ride although it probably won't have near the elevation gain that Leadville gets. 
  • June 14, 2015- Garden of the Gods Ten Mile, Colorado Springs, CO- If I am free this week, this may be a good taper race for the First leadman the following week. This is somewhat tentative but I would love to be under 1:10 for this race. 
  • June 20, 2015 Leadville Trail Marathon- Leadville, CO- First leadman race. Seeing as though only one leadman ever has ran a sub 4 hour, I suspect I would not be able to either. The race is also less than Pikes Peak so I will be shooting for 4:30 for my goal which is very respectable for a Leadman.
  • July 11, 2015- Leadville Silver Rush 50 Mile MTB, Leadville, CO- The silver rush 50s are not both required for Leadman. You only have to do one but I took on the additional Silver King challenge to do these races back to back on consecutive days. I think a realistic goal for this race would be 5:30. I want to use it to get a good corral position for the 100 MTB as well as experience some of the 100 course and trail types.
  • July 12, 2015- Leadville Silver Rush 50 Mile Run, Leadville CO- Second Silver King race here. I would love to break 9 hours but even 9:30 would be awesome. Would be cool to at least match my CPTR time since that was earlier in the season but easier.
  • July 19, 2015- Barr Trail Mountain Race- Manitou Springs, CO. Gotta love a hometown race. Since I train so much here, it may be fun last minute if I feel ok from Silver rush. This is a definite maybe though.This weekend may be better spent at higher elevations.
  • August 15, 2015 Leadville Trail 100 MTB, Leadville, CO. The goal on this race is to have fun and also hopefully big Buckle in under 9 Hours.
  • August 16, 2015- Climax Molybdenum Leadville 10K Run, Leadville, CO. 5th race for Leadman and day after the 100 MTB on Jelly legs. I don't really have heavy goals for this race. Under 50 minutes is about all. 43 Min would be a solid time at the altitude on those legs but no need to blow out 6 days prior to the 100 Run.
  • August 22, 2015- Leadville Trail 100 Run, Leadville, CO. Not only do I want to big buckle in this race, I have big plans. With my focus being on running, this is where I want to kick it into gear. I think it is well within possibility to run under 22 hours if I stay consistent with training. Even a 24 would probably land me top 5. Overall, my goals for leadman are probably somewhat unrealistic as achieving them would place me in the top 3 and I don't know that I am really at that level based on my performances this year. In my rookie super optimistic mind, I feel like it is possible though. Better get strict with the training in 2015 and really lock it down early!
Sept through Dec- I hope to get one more hundy under my belt for the year as if one isn't enough. Thinking about going back to Steamboat in even better shape but it may be too close to Leadville. Also thinking about Bear 100 as well as getting revenge at Indian Creek. We shall see how my body holds up but I'm not committing to anything for this time frame until after Leadville is over. No need to pay race fees for a race I may not get to do.

Lastly, I plan on doing some ultra volunteering this year. If you are a RD or know a RD that is looking for volunteers for Colorado Races, hit me up. Maybe I can help! With all of these lofty goals, I will also be wrapping up my masters degree in Systems Engineering in May as well as enjoying my son grow up as much as I possibly can. Oh and since I am doing all this racing and whatnot and am not financially independent yet, I am going to still have to work full time. A wholly separate goal but since we have learned to live off much less than we used to, I would love to see us knock out another $24K of debt aside from normal payments on the house.  This means I may not get to eat as low carb as I want lol because carbs are cheap.

Thanks to reading and I look forward to an exciting year.

See you at the top!


Sunday, January 4, 2015

Happy New Year: Training Week 29 Dec to 4 Jan

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 53.62
Miles Biked: 0
Total Training Time: 9:53
Elevation Gain: 7,000'

Summary: 
Very cold this week. Atypical for Colorado. Usually, we have cold mixed with warm. Not the case this week with not a single run clocking in at over 30 degrees and most were under 20. One day was -3 when I stepped out the door. I have decided though that a shorter run out in awful temps is still better than the dreadmill which I am refusing to use for as long as possible this year.

Mon 29 DEC: Off day. Got off work late and was trying to not eat up family time. It looked cold so I took it as my rest. Turns out to be a bad choice as the rest of the week was much colder.

 
Tues 30 DEC: Talk about a cold day. The temp was -3 before windchill but had to get out. Wore too much clothing but not enough for gloves. Didn't want to be a woos with just 4 so was going to do more. Only got 4.7 haha. See the weather advisory for today below...
 
Running Stats:
  • Miles:4.7
  • Time:46:49
  • Pace: 9:58
  • AVG HR: 146
  • Gain: 73'
  • Surface: Paved/Gravel
  • Feelings: Hands hurt.
  • Weather: Extremely cold Cold and very windy.
  • Route: Random to Rock Island up to Judge Orr and back. Tried to avoid N travel for too long.
Issued by The National Weather Service Pueblo, CO

Tue, Dec 30, 3:53 am MST
  • ... WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM MST THIS MORNING... ... WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 8 AM MST WEDNESDAY...
  • * LOCATION... EL PASO COUNTY.
  • * WIND CHILL VALUES THIS MORNING ACROSS EL PASO COUNTY WILL RANGE BETWEEN -15 TO -25 DEGREES. FOR TONIGHT... WIND CHILL VALUES WILL RANGE BETWEEN -25 TO -35 DEGREES.
  • * IMPACT... IT WILL TAKE LESS THAN 30 MINUTES FOR FROST BITE TO OCCUR ON UNPROTECTED SKIN. DRESS WARMLY AND IN LAYERS.
  • PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
  • A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

Wed 31 DEC: Turning out to be the week from hell's inverse. It's so so so cold. 

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 6.1
  • Time:57:24
  • Pace: 9:27
  • AVG HR: 146
  • Gain: 43'
  • Surface: Gravel
  • Feelings: so cold.
  • Weather: Extremely cold Cold and very windy.
  • Route: To rock island 3 mi tag and back. 
Thur 1 Jan: Happy New Year. Was supposed to do first annual Beercline today but had hangover and wanted to do family breakfast instead. Looks like I missed out on an awesome adventure but the fam time was fun. Ended up doing the classic 8 around hood. Had beer shitz at about 2.6 mi in the bushes :(

Running Stats:
  • Miles: 8.0
  • Time:1:17:37
  • Pace: 9:38
  • AVG HR: 144
  • Gain: 152'
  • Surface: Paved/Gravel
  • Feelings: Still cold.
  • Weather: Had some beautiful snow on the last few miles. 
  • Route: Through the hood to stapleton up to RI and back down to the house. 
Fri 2 Jan: Thought I would get 26 in today. Ha! Was hoping for 2 laps of falcon trail over at the AFA but the snow ended up being too deep. Had a heck of a time between wearing dog booties, not having tights, having deep snow and exploring Stanley Canyon. HR monitor also not working properly. 

Running Stats:
  • Miles:13.3
  • Time: 2:45:34
  • Pace: 12:25
  • AVG HR: Watch was jacked
  • Gain: 2691'
  • Surface: 4" to shin deep snow
  • Feelings: Bleh.
  • Weather: 30s.
  • Route: Falcon Tr. 8 Mi marker by Commissary up to explore Tr. 713 (Stanley Canyon) and then up over high point of Falcon and exited around MM 12 at road and followed roads back up. 
Sat 3 Jan: Didn't have a lot of time today and HR monitor didn't work so it was jogging warmup and then negative split. Was easier because wind was in face first half. 

Running Stats:
  • Miles:6.1
  • Time: 50:16
  • Pace: 8:15
  • AVG HR: Watch was jacked
  • Gain: 44'
  • Surface: 2" snow on gravel
  • Feelings: Breathing hard for effort.
  • Weather: Low 30s or upper 20s 10 MPH N wind. .
  • Route: RI to 3 Mi tag.  
Sun 4 Jan: Barr Camp. 8 Degrees at the start in Manitou. 1/2" fresh snow on the trail to cover the ice down low. Got super windy as always above No Name. Wind was drifting knee deep and covering tracks within minutes in many spots. Maintained mid 150s HR for entire ascent and HR monitor stopped working during descent.


Running Stats:
  • Miles:15.42
  • Time: 3:15:50
  • Pace: 12:42
  • AVG HR: Watch was jacked. Averaged mid 150s for climb.
  • Gain: 4000'
  • Surface: Packed snow to knee deep drifts
  • Feelings: Pretty good and steady throughout. Did use one gel at 2 hr.
  • Weather: Start at 8 deg. Finish around mid 20s.
  • Route: Barr camp from Memorial Park

December 2014 Monthly Training Summary

Numbers:
Miles Run:190.1
Miles Biked: 83.3
Total Running Time: 33:58
Total Biking Time: 6:43
Running Elevation Gain: 21,930
Biking Elevation Gain: 4,118
Beers: Lots

I'm Back. That's the theme for December. After RRR 100 and then my bike accident in the fall, I took some much needed time off with no plan for running. I simply ran when I wanted to until this month when I finally decided to kick it back into gear and get ready for 2015. Overall, I ended up getting to do one Fatass to wrap up the year for my second time on the Sawmill Trail Run 50K (Thanks Sherpa John for hosting such a stellar event).  My running is now officially up to par for where I should be now with a plan for a slow ramp up after a couple months of base building. As for the biking... That's another story. December sure is a hard month to ride. I got in some good miles early in the month when it was unseasonably warm and then came the wind. Then came the cold. Wind and Cold already suck when running but they doubly suck when biking. It can really bite you when moving faster. Anyhow... Excuses excuses. After the end of this month, I realize that I am not where I was at Dec 31st last year. That said, I feel I am still in the right place. Last year, I did too much too soon paired with cutting off running and switching to biking in order to try and save money and get out of debt. My training ended abruptly and it reflects greatly in the first half season of my racing. Anyhow.  Cheers to 2015 and what it may bring to family, health, friendships, and personal goals.




Loose Training Goals for Jan as I start Leadman training officially with an unofficial plan:

Miles Run: 200
Miles Biked: 150
Total Running Time: 36 Hours
Total Biking Time: 15 Hours
Running Elevation gain: 25,000'
Biking Elevation Gain: 12,000'